2 huge incorrect assumptions
1. How many people were showing up for test matches in Pakistan when they were being held. I remember watching many Indo Pak tests with very few spectators. So, thats a complete myth. AB De Villiers is a super star. What has his home feats got to do with how many people come to cheer for ABD in India? Superstars are superstars because of what they achieve given whatever circumstances.
Totally disagree and I wasn't just talking about Test cricket. By the way if you look at the 2005 series against England and the 2006 series against India, as well as the 2004 series the test crowds were pretty good. Most Pakistanis cant be bothered when we play zimbabwe on a flat pitch on a scorching hot day. But if we're facing the ashes winners or India you can bet your bottom dollar that if we are competing a decent crowd shows up. Faisalabad has a decent crowd, Multan less so. Asif became a star after he demolished India at home, Waqar Younis became a star after he demolished new zealand at home and then in the UAE, Imran became a legend when he thrashed Australia 3-0 and destroyed India at home. Misbah and Younis if they got to win big matches at home would be even bigger stars then they are today. When Pakistan thrash india in karachi or smash england in lahore with say shafiq or azhar hitting big centuries, they become stars.
You talk about boring cricket, my friend chasing down a world record score in a day isnt boring cricket, hitting the fastest century in the world is not boring cricket. Imagine if Misbah was doing this at home? or if pakistan were on the verge of a world record at home? Not having cricket at home is a big big problem for us. Yes I agree many of our "stars" don't help themselves but that is only part of the problem. ODI cricket at home creates stars and good test cricket at home consolidates stardom. And thats not just me saying it, nearly every pakistani commentator Ive heard has said the same from rameez to waqar.
2. Pakistan was never seen as the problem. It was genuinely a team liked by people across the globe. I have really close Saffa and English mates who would support Pak over India anytime. But this was the old Pakistan. The current Pakistan team, no one even bothers watching their match.
Lol i suggest you take your rose tinted glasses off. You werent around in the 1987 series were you? or in the eighties? or the nineties? we were called cheats and all sorts of other racist stuff. Our fans are labelled as rowdy hooligans (yes many are but not all), our players were seen as dodgy car salesmen types not to be trusted and this was before match fixing reared its ugly head. pakistan was seen as a country horrible to tour and was a tour that needed to be finished as quickly as possible. How many times did Australia tour us between 1987 and 1998? three times. No terror, no 9/11 etc etc...why? in 1994 we were arguably the two best sides but they only toured one more time after that, and that also four years later. How many times did england tour us between 1987-2001? mnnh? no terror , nothing. So please dont give me this "everyone liked us revisionist garbage. The powers that be have had a problem with us since Kardar started his campaign to take power away from the old colonial overlords. After 2007 we became pariahs not because of the terror attack in 2009 but because the BCCI needed to consolidate its powerbase and that meant eliminating other immediate threats. Naseem ashraf helped them. If our team was so liked why did everyone think we murdered our coach? please. If we were so liked why did teams refuse to tour us when security was fine?
The facts say otherwise.
You should understand the difference in the current Pakistan team and that of the old. All the problems created are of your own volition. Including not being able to play at home or not having any superstars (your domestic structure). When there was no international cricket in SA, hordes of people would come to watch the domestic matches. I reckon there were more spectators in SA domestic games during apartheid than there were when Pakistan played international test matches at home.
No some of the problems created are of our own volition. Not all. Not everything is Pakistan's fault.And the sooner we stop navel gazing the sooner we can start to market and develop our cricket.
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