Fears and frenzy of PSL 2’s Lahore final are safely past
The relocation of Pakistan Super League’s final 2017 from UAE to Lahore was a gamble, a dangerous one, but it succeeded spectacularly amid a huge sigh of relief, probably heard around the cricketing world. As sometimes happens on big sporting occasions, the on- field play turned out to be a totally one-sided affair, with victorious Peshawar Zalmi pocketing the $500,000 purse without much hysterics. Perhaps the loss to security concerns of stars like Kevin Pieterson and Luke Wright was the deciding factor in Quetta Gladiators’ collapse for a mere 90 runs before a jam-packed Qaddafi Stadium. All the foreign players, especially Zalmi captain Darren Sammy, fellow West Indian Marlon Samuels and leading commentator Dean Jones who came to Lahore, showing solidarity with the local fans, deserve the gratitude of the entire nation. But it was the off the field theatrics, the excitement, the light and music and festivity that captivated the country and overshadowed the whole show.
The Lahorites, as is their unique quality even at the worst of times, threw caution to the wind, and in contemptuous defiance of the terrorism threat, came out in their thousands to witness the final. Starved of cricket, they voted with their feet in favour of the match being staged in Lahore by thronging the ticket sales points. And, in an otherwise flawlessly conducted exercise of massive proportions involving the Army, Rangers, Police and others bodies, the one blemish in PCB management was the scarcity and non-availability of the lowest priced tickets of Rs 500. Hopefully, this first success will be a small but significant step in burying the memory of that terrible morning of March 3, 2009, when the Sri Lankan team was targeted.
But there is no room for complacency. Spirits may be uplifted, but our isolation is not over yet. The government needs to eliminate terrorism entirely before foreign teams venture here. The PCB too should take stock of its organisational deficiencies and also ensure transparency in the PSL working through regular audits.
