ON Jan 31, Dawn’s front page included a photograph of West Indies women cricket team stand-in captain, Merissa Aguilleira, and her Pakistani counterpart, Bismah Maroof, atop one of Karachi’s decorated camels. Wearing the cricket uniforms of their respective countries, the two smiled for the camera while holding on to the T20 trophy, ahead of the three scheduled matches. It was a friendly and innocuous photograph, but meaningful in the current climate of normalcy returning to a city that had experienced severe bouts of violence not too long ago. In fact, security concerns were the reason West Indies’ regular captain Stafanie Taylor decided to opt out of the tour. This is the first time in 15 years that the West Indies women’s cricket team has toured Pakistan. Two of the matches, also aired on television, have already been played at Karachi. Even though the Pakistani team has lost the series, much has been gained for the city of Karachi, for women’s sports in Pakistan, and for the return of international cricket to Pakistan. For too long, women’s cricket has been ignored on an institutional and social level, in contrast to the great hype and capital surrounding men’s cricket.

Since the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in 2009, when international teams decided to stop visiting Pakistan for security reasons, local cricket has suffered. It was amongst great fanfare that Zimbabwe toured Pakistan in 2015, followed by West Indies a couple of years later. The Pakistan Super League, which brings international players and coaches such as the legendary Viv Richards to Pakistan, was another win for the multitude of cricket fans in the country. The latest series also points to an improving law-and-order situation. And it shows that Karachi has the potential to become a sports hub once again. The provincial and federal governments should turn this into a mission from this point on.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2019