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

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Mohammad Aizaz

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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?
 
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.
 
The PCB wants to take one of the Pakistan England test matches and a few psl games to Faislabad apparently
 
Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad is ready to host the Champions One-Day Cup 2024

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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.
 
Fans will be pleasantly surprised of the reception people of Faisalabad will give to this tournament.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
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.
Click to expand...
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).
 
Markhor said:
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).
Click to expand...
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."
 
Markhor said:
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).
Click to expand...

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

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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
 
Markhor said:
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).
Click to expand...

Random fact about Faisalabad - it is the only Test ground outside of India where Dhoni has a Test Century
 
DeadlyVenom said:
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."
Click to expand...
Markhor said:
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).
Click to expand...

BouncerGuy said:
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??
Click to expand...

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

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It seems the crowd doesn't care which team is losing or winning

They're just here for enjoyment

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The raw young talent on display is below minnow level and in fact even BD and Srilanka has better young talent than us , they have young 150k pacers , spinners who can actually turn the ball with accuracy and modern day hitters , we have only Saim Ayub who is a modern day hitter who can handle pace and bounce easily but he lacks intelligence severely , Mubasir ,Mehran , Faisal and Sufyan can’t spin the ball much like Qadir and Usama , and we have none U21 bowler who can clock 150k
 
Happy it’s genuinely exposing two frauds amidst players who are clearly better than them
 
Pretty happy so far. We are now sure that there is literally no upcoming sensation in Pakistan cricket. Same old names pop up every time.

Saim played 1 good knock but it does not justify that he deserves a chance. Fakhar is still a clutch player, Mubasir is a great prospect in terms of spin all-rounder. Iffi chacha is mediocre. Shaheen needs to be dropped.

Sirajuddin is a bowler who can make waves soons.
 

‘Neglected’ Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad to host international cricket after 17 years​


International cricket is set to return to Faisalabad’s historic Iqbal Stadium after 17 years as Pakistan and South Africa face off in a ODI series starting Tuesday (tomorrow).

While excitement runs high among citizens over the revival of international cricket, serious concerns persist regarding the stadium’s neglected condition and lack of any upgrades in over two decades.

Despite generating millions of rupees annually, the stadium remains largely neglected. Nearly 90pc of the spectator stands lack proper seating, forcing fans to sit on bare concrete steps during matches, while the stands have no roofing.

The management of the Iqbal Stadium does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Punjab government or the Punjab Sports Board or the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Instead, the stadium is controlled by the Iqbal Stadium Management Committee (ISMC), which comprises nine government officials and local businessmen.


According to the documents obtained by a citizen named Naeem Khan under the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act, additional deputy commissioner (general) as the ISMC secretary informed that ISMC earned over Rs63 million annually, while its expenditures were Rs30.9 million.

Stadium is managed by the Iqbal Stadium Management Committee instead of the Punjab Sports Board or the Pakistan Cricket Board

Covering over 36 kanals and 15 marlas, the stadium complex includes more than 100 commercial shops, offices, restaurants, and recreational facilities.

The revenue from these establishments was deposited directly into the ISMC’s account rather than the provincial treasury.

The documents further revealed that during the Champions Cricket Cup 2024 (held at the country level, , the ISMC did not spend a single rupee on arrangements. Instead. the PCB earned over Rs15 million in gate money, while the Punjab government covered Rs35 million in security and logistic costs from the public exchequer.

Cricket fans have urged the Punjab government to transfer the management of the stadium to the PCB, so that it could be upgraded and maintained on the same lines as Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.

Meanwhile, all roads leading from the Faisalabad airport to the city were closed to traffic on Sunday during the arrival of the South African cricket team and strict security measures were adopted by the police.

Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1952787/neglected-iqbal-stadium-to-host-intl-cricket-after-17-years
 
Markhor said:
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).
Click to expand...
Your post brought back some memories
 
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