[PICTURES/VIDEOS] How happy are you with the return of cricket to Faisalabad for the Champions One-Day Cup (2024)

[Mohammad Aizaz]

The PCB has announced that the newly inaugurated Champions One Day Cup will be played at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad from the 12th of September. This marks the return of domestic cricket to Faislabad after a gap of almost a decade. The 2010-11 edition of the National T20 Cup was played in Faisalabad and since then, we haven't seen any competitive cricket in this city. How happy are you with this decision to give the hosting of the One Day Cup to Faisalabad & will it open PCB's search to having more international venues?

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Why was there no cricket in Faisalabad for so long anyway? Any particular reason ?

 

[FearlessRoar]

Yes, Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad is a great venue for the Champions One-Day Cup. The pitch is ideal for this format, being flat and slow, which allows for high-scoring matches and challenging bowling conditions. The turning nature of the pitch will also keep the spinners engaged, making it a well-rounded surface for an exciting tournament.

 

[Savak]

The PCB wants to take one of the Pakistan England test matches and a few psl games to Faislabad apparently

 

[FearlessRoar]

Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad is ready to host the Champions One-Day Cup 2024

 

[DeadlyVenom]

People in Faislabad have been starved from cricket for so long but I hope the pitch has improved.

I remember the last test there when Afridi opened the bowling and bowled seam in the second innings v Laxman.

 

[RidiculousMan]

Fans will be pleasantly surprised of the reception people of Faisalabad will give to this tournament.

 

[Markhor]

People in Faislabad have been starved from cricket for so long but I hope the pitch has improved.

I remember the last test there when Afridi opened the bowling and bowled seam in the second innings v Laxman.

Yes ! Afridi's pace wasn't bad either. But I also recall the incident packed Faisalabad Test vs England a few weeks earlier. For a draw it was so entertaining.

- A drinks canister exploded on the boundary (poor Trescothick was running like a hare to the pavilion).

- Afridi amidst the chaos auditioned for Strictly Come Dancing while spiking the pitch. Earlier with the bat he smacked a brilliant 92 in front of a packed crowd (which quickly emptied after his dismissal).

- Inzamam had his first obstructing the field dismissal (which later prompted his famous line "If I stop the ball I'm out, if I don't stop the ball I'm out."

Shoaib Akhtar almost broke the game open for us on Day 5.

That 2005-06 home season was so much fun. Decent pitches for 4 out of the 6 Tests. So many household names in the PAK, ENG and IND teams. That ARY Digital coverage with their famous blue oval logo (and infamous ads per over).

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Yes ! Afridi's pace wasn't bad either. But I also recall the incident packed Faisalabad Test vs England a few weeks earlier. For a draw it was so entertaining.

- A drinks canister exploded on the boundary (poor Trescothick was running like a hare to the pavilion).

- Afridi amidst the chaos auditioned for Strictly Come Dancing while spiking the pitch. Earlier with the bat he smacked a brilliant 92 in front of a packed crowd (which quickly emptied after his dismissal).

- Inzamam had his first obstructing the field dismissal (which later prompted his famous line "If I stop the ball I'm out, if I don't stop the ball I'm out."

Shoaib Akhtar almost broke the game open for us on Day 5.

That 2005-06 home season was so much fun. Decent pitches for 4 out of the 6 Tests. So many household names in the PAK, ENG and IND teams. That ARY Digital coverage with their famous blue oval logo (and infamous ads per over).

Those were honestly the good old days.

A quote from the office US springs to mind

"I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them."

 

[shaz619]

Yes ! Afridi's pace wasn't bad either. But I also recall the incident packed Faisalabad Test vs England a few weeks earlier. For a draw it was so entertaining.

- A drinks canister exploded on the boundary (poor Trescothick was running like a hare to the pavilion).

- Afridi amidst the chaos auditioned for Strictly Come Dancing while spiking the pitch. Earlier with the bat he smacked a brilliant 92 in front of a packed crowd (which quickly emptied after his dismissal).

- Inzamam had his first obstructing the field dismissal (which later prompted his famous line "If I stop the ball I'm out, if I don't stop the ball I'm out."

Shoaib Akhtar almost broke the game open for us on Day 5.

That 2005-06 home season was so much fun. Decent pitches for 4 out of the 6 Tests. So many household names in the PAK, ENG and IND teams. That ARY Digital coverage with their famous blue oval logo (and infamous ads per over).

Poor Trescothick went into a deep depression after that and would never tour again

Afridi was terrific in Tests, especially in asian conditions and Bob knew how to squeeze the most out of him. A big shame he didn’t have much interest in the format.

Ah those were the days, I think it was on ARY that I woke up super early to watch that Karachi Test in 2006 and witnessed that Hattrick in the first over, never would I have thought Pak would win after that, Kamran really did play one of the greatest knocks of all time and it was difficult to live up to that throughout his career, Akhtar did well to hang around to! he could bat when he was in the mood for it. A lot of the ARY footage is available on YT now, I feel like crying when I watch the highlights.

 

[shaz619]

Pakistan fans would sit through the scorching heat in a Test to watch the big names, I can picture the folk with their topis on in the crowd doing a dua when Inzi was on 99, and stadium would erupt as the big man took his helmet off and not really smile exactly, but had that ‘Yeah I’ve done it again’ look.

 

[FearlessRoar]

Faisalabad crowd is giving vibes like Rawalpindi crowd

 

[RehanG]

PCB should move on from Karachi and Lahore, and try other cities ie. Faislabad, Multan, Peshawar, Haydrabad ect more often which will bring in more crowd.

 

[FearlessRoar]

A decent crowd piled up later in the day

 

[Cricket Warrior]

A decent crowd piled up later in the day

Any player standing near the boundary must be facing heavy juggats from the faisalabadi crowd lol

 

[FearlessRoar]

The BoG during meeting with Mohsin Naqvi at Faisalabad, suggested that after witnessing the overwhelming response of the Faisalabad crowd, the PCB should take complete control of Iqbal Stadium and upgrade it to international standards, enabling the venue to be revived and host bilateral international series once again.

 

[FearlessRoar]

The BoG during meeting with Mohsin Naqvi at Faisalabad, suggested that after witnessing the overwhelming response of the Faisalabad crowd, the PCB should take complete control of Iqbal Stadium and upgrade it to international standards, enabling the venue to be revived and host bilateral international series once again.

Excellent response from the Faisalabad crowd! They deserve to host international and PSL games here.

 

[Savak]

The key is to not over burden any single venue with excessive international cricket because it leads to over saturation of interest.

Khi and Lahore had tremendous crowd attendances for international games when Cricket first returned to Pakistan but eventually interest dwindled and crowd attendances suffered.

Same is happening with Pindi. Need to urgently take the game to Peshawar, Quetta, Gujranwalla, Sialkot, Hyderabad, Abbottabad, Muzaffarabad etc

 

[BouncerGuy]

Faisalabad crowd coming to watch cricket. Good to see that.

 

[FearlessRoar]

The Pakistani swag

View this content on Instagram

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[DeadlyVenom]

Nice to see women and kids in the ground too.

 

[FearlessRoar]

The Pakistani swag

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View this content on Instagram

Houseful today

https://twitter.com/x/status/1835309689997050072

 

[msb314]

Yes ! Afridi's pace wasn't bad either. But I also recall the incident packed Faisalabad Test vs England a few weeks earlier. For a draw it was so entertaining.

- A drinks canister exploded on the boundary (poor Trescothick was running like a hare to the pavilion).

- Afridi amidst the chaos auditioned for Strictly Come Dancing while spiking the pitch. Earlier with the bat he smacked a brilliant 92 in front of a packed crowd (which quickly emptied after his dismissal).

- Inzamam had his first obstructing the field dismissal (which later prompted his famous line "If I stop the ball I'm out, if I don't stop the ball I'm out."

Shoaib Akhtar almost broke the game open for us on Day 5.

That 2005-06 home season was so much fun. Decent pitches for 4 out of the 6 Tests. So many household names in the PAK, ENG and IND teams. That ARY Digital coverage with their famous blue oval logo (and infamous ads per over).

Random fact about Faisalabad - it is the only Test ground outside of India where Dhoni has a Test Century

 

[msb314]

Those were honestly the good old days.

A quote from the office US springs to mind

"I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them."

Yes ! Afridi's pace wasn't bad either. But I also recall the incident packed Faisalabad Test vs England a few weeks earlier. For a draw it was so entertaining.

- A drinks canister exploded on the boundary (poor Trescothick was running like a hare to the pavilion).

- Afridi amidst the chaos auditioned for Strictly Come Dancing while spiking the pitch. Earlier with the bat he smacked a brilliant 92 in front of a packed crowd (which quickly emptied after his dismissal).

- Inzamam had his first obstructing the field dismissal (which later prompted his famous line "If I stop the ball I'm out, if I don't stop the ball I'm out."

Shoaib Akhtar almost broke the game open for us on Day 5.

That 2005-06 home season was so much fun. Decent pitches for 4 out of the 6 Tests. So many household names in the PAK, ENG and IND teams. That ARY Digital coverage with their famous blue oval logo (and infamous ads per over).

The thing is that ICC should step up in these kinds of matters but we know hey won't for obvious reasons. If a team is not wiling to play another team due to whatever reason, then this should stay same for every event as well. By 2 faced policies??

Totally agree.

Now it seems like a relic from the past..

Back when we played against India regularly

Back when cricket was not commercialized and gave unlimited power to BCCI

Back when no T20 cricket that made players greedy

Back when everyone played full strength teams in bilaterals

Back when we all had such amazing players

A wonderful era of cricket

 

[offstump]

I had the privilege of watching test cricket in Faisalabad and it was a wonderful ground. Great atmosphere and Faisalabadis are a passionate bunch. If they can upgrade the stadium it will be an awesome venue. We desperately need to expand cricketing venues beyond the big three and it’s good to see Multan in the mix as well.
Hyderabad is another ground that has fallen into disrepair and I believe the PCB is looking at improving it so it can host some matches. These other grounds are also crucial if we want the PSL to expand.

 

[mon858]

Amazing to see such crows for domestic and that too one day. Shows that hosting in different cities helps. Not sure what happened with Peshawar stadium rebuild maybe they could have hosted half of pakistan cup there.

 

[FearlessRoar]

This is the quality of the ground and grass quality, in my opinion it is not eligible for List-A level games.