Many people were not expecting such a brilliant comeback from the Pakistan cricket team as they reached the final of the ICC Champions Trophy to meet archrival India at the Oval today (Sunday).

The way Pakistan started the campaign in England with a sluggish performance and losing the opening match to India by a big margin of 124 runs then meeting world No 1 South Africa and Sri Lanka in the following matches, the prospects looked bleak. Even the legendary cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan was disappointed and criticised the entire structure of Pakistan cricket after the defeat at the hands of India.

Former all-rounder Shahid Afridi also predicted there will be no good news for Pakistan in the Champions Trophy. But two persons remained hopeful. Former Test captain Misbahul Haq predicts that Pakistan will finish the event respectfully.

But a stronger prediction came from renowned former Urdu commentator Muhammad Idrees. I received a call from Mr Idrees after Pakistan won the first match of the event against South Africa on the basis of Duckworth-Lewis method. He predicted that it will be a Pakistan-India final and Pakistan will be victorious. Hardly anyone could believe it, but later it ended up being an Indo-Pak final for the first time in an ICC event.

Mr Idrees cited three reasons for his prediction. First, the way India defeated Pakistan in the opening match broke the hearts of Pakistanis, who were praying for success in the holy month of Ramazan. Second, Pakistan won its sole cricket World Cup in 1992 also in Ramazan. Third, in 1992 also, incumbent premier Nawaz Sharif was the prime minister of the country.

The way India defeated Bangladesh in the semifinals and Pakistan trounced strong host England in its pre-final were signs it would be a hard-fought final. Winning against India is not easy but if Pakistan play a similar game that it exhibited against English in the semifinal, victory could be ours.

While Pakistani and Indian cricket teams will be fighting at the Oval, London in the final, a few kilometres away both neighbours will also be locking horns in the field of hockey the same day in the World Hockey League semifinals. But it seems the ICC final will eclipse the hockey show.

Chances are bleak for Pakistan to beat India in hockey. Pakistan have lost both their matches in the contest: to Holland 0-4 and Canada 0-6. The defeat against India may eliminate all chances of Pakistan playing next year’s World Cup for the second consecutive time.

Pakistan had failed to qualify for the World Cup 2014 also. Though lifting the Asia Cup, to be held in September, is another chance for Pakistan to qualify for the World Cup, but winning that is not an easy job either in the presence of strong teams such as India, South Korea and Malaysia.

Cricket crazy fans have been eagerly waiting for today’s final and they are hopeful for the victory. Media, especially electronic, is giving much hype to the match. The same attitude has also been reported from not only India but also London. The UK is home to thousands of Pakistanis and Indians who are expected to throng the Oval Stadium to watch the high-octane final.

It seems the Punjab government’s project to install floodlights at the Lahore City Cricket Ground will not materialise this fiscal year ending on June 30. The government released Rs70 million in its fiscal budget for 2016-17 for the Sports Board Punjab eight months back. But still work had not started at the ground.

First the contract was awarded to a company that had to purchase all the equipment from China. An objection was raised that the board had a policy against purchasing from China. So the contract was cancelled.

Next, a German company tendered for a contract worth Rs100 million. But as Rs70 million had been earmarked for the project, this was not acceptable either. Now, another foreign company has offered a tender of Rs50 million, which has been accepted.

But Dawn has learnt that in a meeting of high-ups of the Sports Board Punjab, presided over by Hanif Abbasi, a PML-N leader warned the authorities concerned that the chief minister will not compromise on quality, and asked them to review the contract. Now the SBP authorities are reviewing it, leaving no chances of further delay and ensuring it is completed before the end of the current fiscal year.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2017

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