The good that came with it
It was a success in the context of commerce, the cricket league business is a revenue generating exercise, which creates opportunities for all parties concerned to make good money
I went to the PSL final on 5 March 2017, which took place in Gaddafi Stadium, a stadium which of late had become a food street, a commercial plaza and a wedding hall. For all practical purposes, after the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in 2009, there was a ban on cricket as a whole.
I am not a big fan of cricket and in all fairness my knowledge in the field will at best certify me as borderline literate. However, it did not take cricketing genius to figure out that the event was an overall success. From the security arrangements, the shuttle service, the closing ceremony and the match itself everything seemed to have worked out like clockwork.
It seemed as though we had gone back in time to the 90s, when cricket was a regular feature in the lives of the residents of Lahore. People used to visit the stadium the same way the cinemas are being frequented these days. The match was being played in Punjab between Quetta and Peshawar and there was no reason of conflict within the crowd either. It was as though the stadium was filled with people who had no political agenda, no apparent biases and for that matter no particular team, the crowd was there solely for a good time.
The match was a success, and this success was multi dimensional. It was a success in the context of entertainment, as it is understood that for a healthy and productive society there is a dire need for entertainment that has nothing to do with one’s profession, religious or political beliefs and for that matter anything serious, it is solely for one’s leisure.
It was a success in the context of commerce, the cricket league business is a revenue generating exercise, which creates opportunities for all parties concerned to make good money through ticket sales, advertisement and merchandise sales. Which in turn creates taxable income and employment.
It was a success in the context of image building for Pakistan. We as of late have been suffering from an extremely negative image in foreign countries. This country is being projected as an unsafe country with no law and order whatsoever. There is no denying that we have our set of problems but the negative image abroad is highly inflated. The PSL success to a certain degree has projected the country in a different light.
It was a success in the context of counter terrorism. This may seem a bit farfetched but terrorist activities are done with an objective. The terrorists’ objective is not primarily to kill or harm the immediate victims of terrorism, it is to paralyse a country and make its citizens live in fear and as a result refrain from all commercial and social activities. Having the final of the PSL in the city, which was under serious terror alert, is a statement to the terrorist elements that they cannot influence our way of life.
The PSL was also a success in the context of revival of cricket as the major reason why international teams did not come to Pakistan was due to the perceived security threat. With the success of this match cricket teams and the ICC have already started scheduling matches for Pakistan.
With the way this match was managed there is no reason to believe a similar sort of revival cannot take place in other social events of this city, for instance the festival basant, which was banned due to safety and security issues.
There has been criticism of the match from the leader of a political party. However it will be ill founded to blame him as it is human nature to look at our opponents as bad and hence everything they do seems evil, his criticism may not be warranted, but it can be empathised with.