MULTAN, March 25: The city is all poised to hold first Test of the ongoing series between Pakistan and India. The five-day match will start from Sunday at the picturesque Multan Cricket Stadium (MCS). The stadium had earlier facilitated two Test matches between Pakistan and minnows Bangladesh, one in 2001 and the other in 2003. Pakistan won both the matches.
The Pakistan-India fixture will be the fourth Test match being played on the soil of Multan in its cricketing history. Besides, the Pakistan-Bangladesh ties the city had witnessed a rain-hit drawn Test match between the home team and West Indies in 1980-81 at the now defunct Qasim Bagh Stadium.
Being rated as one of the most beautiful cricket stadiums in Pakistan, MCS is situated on the Multan-Vehari Road. Though, the Multan Cricket Association officials claim that the stadium has a capacity of 30,000 spectators but for the India Test it will offer seating to some 26,000 people, thanks to introduction of numerical seating plan and ongoing installation of about 5000 chairs at the Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, Waqar Younas, Inzamamul Haq, Fazal Mahmood and Imran Khan enclosures.
Tickets are on sale at some four points in the city for the last two days but the initial turnout of the spectators is somehow cold as no gate-crushing scenes have so far been witnessed at any of the ticket booths.
A local cricketer opines that the game fans may not turn up to the stadium in large number initially because of Pakistan's defeat in the one-day series.
"But, the sporting wicket of the MCS will ultimately attract the somehow disappointed cricket frenzy people with the progress of the match," he adds. PCB consultant on wickets, curator Andy Atkinson has also reached Multan and supervised wicket preparations at the MCS on Thursday along with local curator Bashir Kardar.
The local district administration has been putting in all efforts to make the event successful in all respects including security and facilities to the spectators, who are likely to come not even from various parts of the country but from abroad as well especially from India.
A local intra-city franchise bus service will operate a service in aide with 50 buses to transport spectators from various parts of the city to the stadium and vice versa. Meanwhile, both teams and their respective officials have reached Multan by a special plane in the evening. The teams will practice in nets on Friday at about 10am.
