KARACHI: Deserted grounds, deprived fans and falling standards - Pakistan has suffered badly from six years without hosting international cricket, but Zimbabwe’s planned tour next month could restore hope.

On March 3, 2009, Pakistani cricket suffered a cruel blow when the bus carrying the Sri Lankan Test team was attacked by militants near Lahore’s Gaddafi stadium, leaving eight people dead and seven visiting players wounded.

That tragic incident forced the suspension of all international cricket in Pakistan.

No team was willing to risk their safety to visit Pakistan, beginning an unwanted odyssey for the 1992 world champions, who have played most of their “home” matches since 2009 in the United Arab Emirates.

The security situation in Pakistan has improved markedly since the military launched a major anti-insurgent offensive in the northwest last June. And Monday’s announcement that Zimbabwe have agreed to come for a short tour next month has brought hope that big-time cricket could be about to return.

Zimbabwe’s trip is likely to be confined to Lahore and last only a week, but the sight of a Test-status team playing again in Pakistan will send out an important message.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan was understandably upbeat as his efforts behind the scenes look to be bearing fruit.

As well as Zimbabwe, an Australian army team are due in Pakistan next week to play their local counterparts, and Khan hailed the developments as “opening another door” towards full rehabilitation.

“We believe that shortly Pakistan would be hosting age-group teams, ‘A’ teams and women’s teams, and also, once confidence in our security arrangements improves, in due course senior teams as well,” he said.

Khan built slowly unlike his predecessors who tried to tempt bigger teams to Pakistan too quickly. “The idea was to go for what was doable,” he said.

But Zimbabwe have not arrived yet -- their security team is due to visit soon to assess the situation -- and even small steps to revive home matches have been stymied at the last minute in recent years.

In 2012, Bangladesh twice backed out after agreeing to tour, on both occasions their government declaring that Pakistan was unsafe. It all means that not only have Pakistani fans been denied any action at home, but also young players have missed out on the chance to groom their skills in familiar conditions.

A new generation of players, including new one-day skipper Azhar Ali and left-arm seamers Junaid Khan and Rahat Ali, has grown up never playing international cricket at home.

Head coach Waqar Younis recently told AFP he feared for the future of Pakistani cricket if the exile carried on. “No international cricket (at home) has hit Pakistan badly,” Waqar said.

“Look at the generation which took up the game in or around 2009 - they have not been able to watch international cricket and a whole lot of players havenot played in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2015

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