National Stadium Karachi - A Pakistani fortress Stadium

 

The National Stadium (Urdu: نیشنل اسٹڈیم‎; Sindhi: قومي اسٽيڊيم) is a cricket stadium in Karachi, Pakistan, owned by the Pakistan Cricket Board. It is the home ground of Karachi Kings and Karachi's many other domestic cricket teams. It is the largest cricket stadium in Pakistan with a capacity of 34,228 spectators.

The Pakistani cricket team have a remarkable Test record at the ground, having only lost twice in 40 Test matches (vs. England, December 2000–01, and South Africa, October 2007–08). The stadium has witnessed several memorable moments, such as Viv Richards 181 against Sri Lanka at the 1987 Cricket World Cup, Mohammad Yousuf's record ninth century of the year to break Viv Richards' record of most runs in a calendar year, and Kamran Akmal's famous century against India on a very difficult pitch in 2006, after Pakistan had collapsed to 39 for 6, as part of a memorable come-from-behind victory.

History[edit]

Location of National Stadium in Karachi

The stadium was established in April 1955. At that time, Karachi was the capital of Pakistan, but the only cricket ground was the one at the Karachi Gymkhana which had limited seating capacity. A plan was formulated to develop a new stadium for which a plot of land measuring 174.5 acres was acquired by the Pakistan Public Works Department through the Commissioner of Karachi. After which under the guidance of Mr. Kafiluddin Ahmed, a senior civil engineer from East Pakistan, the stadium was built which became Karachi's fifth and Pakistan's 11th first-class ground.

The inaugural first-class match was played at NSK between Pakistan and India on 20–24 April 1955, and it became a fortress of Pakistan cricket. In 34 Tests between that first match and December 2000, Pakistan won 17 and were never beaten. Their only Test defeat on the ground came in the gloom against England in 2000–01.

The first ODI at the National Stadium was against West Indies on 21 November 1980, and it went down to the last ball as Gordon Greenidge drove Imran Khan imperiously to the cover boundary with three needed. It has been a far less successful limited-overs venue, with defeats outnumbering victories. In fact, in a little under five years from the start of 1996, Pakistan failed to win on the ground. It also staged a quarter-final match in the 1996–97 World Cup.

Sachin Tendulkar and Waqar Younis played their first test match in this stadium.

In September 2019, the Pakistan Cricket Board named it as one of the venues to host matches in the 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

Return of Cricket 2018

PCB ex-chairman Najam Sethi had announced in 2017 that Karachi's National Stadium will host the final match of 2018 Pakistan Super League in March 2018. The condition of the stadium was improved for the final. The historic match, which was played between Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi saw the return of international stars to National Stadium after a gap of nine years, ended up being relatively one-sided, as the champions of first edition Islamabad United were crowned champions once again. The event at the stadium was the first major event since 2009 in the port city and it was highly welcomed by crowds and the stadium witnessed packed house for the big game. In order to make it a successful event many security forces were deployed in and around the stadium to maintain the law and order situation, by there efforts the event was held successfully. In 2017 PCB Chairman had announced that West Indies would tour Pakistan for 3 match T20I series which were scheduled to be played in Lahore, the fixtures were to be played in November 2017. However, early in November 2017, reports announced that the West Indies team would not be travelling to Pakistan over security concerns. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi stated that the original schedule was changed due to unforeseen weather, logistic issues and challenges with security. In March 2018, the PCB confirmed that the fixtures would take place in April at the National Stadium in Karachi after the conclusion of PSL 2018. The last time an international cricket match was played at the venue in Karachi was in February 2009, when Sri Lanka toured Pakistan. That series was cut short, following an 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team.

It was the first tour in Pakistan of more than one match against another Test nation since Zimbabwe toured in May 2015.

Sri Lanka vs Pakistan

In May 2019, at the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting in Singapore, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) made a request to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to play the two Test matches in Pakistan.In July 2019, the SLC sent a security expert to assess the situation in Pakistan, with Sri Lanka Cricket saying they were "likely" to play a Test match in the country. A further decision was taken by Sri Lanka after a security delegation inspects venues in Lahore and Karachi in early August 2019. The delegation gave Sri Lanka Cricket "very positive feedback", suggesting that Sri Lanka could be open to playing a Test match in Pakistan. On 22 August 2019, Sri Lanka's Sports Minister confirmed their agreement to play a three-match ODI and T20I series in Pakistan in October, but ruled out playing any Test matches. On 23 August, PCB announced dates for the ODI and T20I series. Sri Lanka were to play three match ODI series at National Stadium, starting from 27 September.This was supposed be the first time since 21 January 2009 that an ODI match will be held at National Stadium. But, the first ODI match was abandoned due to heavy rain. It was the first time that an ODI match at the venue had been washed out.^[18] As a result, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) rescheduled the second ODI match, moving it back one day to 30 September 2019, to allow the groundstaff more time to prepare the outfield. As a result, National Stadium had to wait for few more days to host an ODI match.^[19]

In October 2019, the PCB proposed hosting the two Test matches in Pakistan, instead of the UAE, at venues in Rawalpindi and Karachi. Sri Lanka Cricket said that they were "very positive" with regards to the progress of playing Test cricket in Pakistan. In November 2019, the PCB confirmed the dates and venues for the Test series. National Stadium hosted the second test match, starting from 19 December.

South Africa tour of Pakistan

 South Africa is going to tour Pakistan for the first time since 2007. In 2007 home series against Pakistan the South Africans literally dominated Pakistan beating the home side Pakistan 3-2 in ODI's and 1-0 in test matches. The South African tour of Pakistan in 2007 was Inzamam ul Haq's last international series in test cricket for Pakistan. Inzamam retired from all forms of cricket after South Africa defeated Pakistan 1-0 in test series thus finishing their tour of Pakistan on a winning note.  Mark Boucher the current South African coach played that series for South Africa. My concern for Pakistan team is not in the 3 Twenty20 internationals but my real concern for Pakistan cricket team is the two test match series that Pakistan play in their home series against South Africa.

  I am showing my concern in test series for Pakistan because we have quite a settled and decent Twenty20 team and also because South Africa are sending their second string twenty20 team to Pakistan. On the other hand Pakistan has quite an inexperienced and weak test team. 

 Pakistan has a weakness in every aspect of test cricket whether it being batting, bowling or fielding and South Africa has a clear edge and superiority in every department of the game over Pakistan. In batting we heavily rely on Babar Azam and we have a weak and unsettled opening pair. We have Abid Ali as an opener who's performance overseas is not satisfactory. Our bowling is inexperienced and lacking penetration and relying heavily on Yasir Shah. Our squad of 20 players for the test series announced by the selection committee consists of nine debutant uncapped players showing inexperience and extreme weakness. 

Cricket is a team game and we cant just rely on one or two players something which Pakistan does in test cricket as Pakistani cricket team relies heavily on Babar Azam and Yasir Shah in test cricket. 

My prediction is South Africa will whitewash us in the test series 2-0 and we might win the Twenty20 series 2-1. I wish Pakistan cricket team the best of luck for their home series against South Africa. 

Waqar Younis the sultan of swing

 

Waqar Younis alongwith his bowling partner Wasim Akram were known as the Sultan's of Swing. Waqar Younis was renowned to bowl inswing, outswing, off cutters and leg cutters and yorkers at will all at very high speeds. Waqar Younis used to bowl reverse swinging toe crushing yorkers which used to prove deadly and unplayable deliveries to not only tail enders but also to world class batsmen.

Both Wasim and Waqar used to win matches against the opposition which Pakistan were sure to lose only for Wasim and Waqar to bowl the opposition out and rescuing Pakistan by winning the matches for them in such tight situations. Wasim Akram was known to get the top order out regularly while Waqar Younis was known to get middle order and tailenders out regularly with his pace and reverse swing. Wasim Akram was known to get the batsmen out with new ball while Waqar Younis was expert with the old ball reverse swinging the old ball at high pace to bamboozle the batsmen. 

Waqar Younis took 373 test wickets and 416 ODI wickets to become one of the top wicket takers for Pakistan in their international cricket history. One regret Waqar Younis will always have throughout his career will be that he never was in the winning team for Pakistan in any ICC event or ICC tournament. He missed the 1992 World Cup with injury which ironically Pakistan won under Imran Khan's captaincy. 

Waqar Younis after his retirement after the 2003 World Cup in South Africa a tournament in which he was captain became coach of the Pakistani cricket team several times. He is currently the bowling coach of the Pakistan cricket team.

Pakistan Cricket team in the Calendar Year 2020

 Pakistan cricket team reasonably did well in 2020. They performed well in Twenty20 internationals by winning 7 matches and losing just 3 with one ending in no result. Although the series wins came against weak teams like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe and they failed to win against stronger teams like New Zealand and England series wise. I would still say Pakistan performed better in Twenty20 cricket in 2020 as compared to 2019. I am saying this because Pakistan lost to a lowly rated Sri Lanka whom not only sent their second string team to Pakistan in 2019 but was a team missing several key players. Losing to that Sri Lankan team was very disheartening for Pakistan cricket and Pakistani fans. Although in 2020 Pakistan performed better losing the series only against New Zealand 1-2, and drawing with England 1-1 besides winning against infact clean sweeping Bangladesh 2-0 and also white washing Zimbabwe 3-0. whereas in 2019 Pakistan hardly won any series and were defeated badly by the opposition seeing their ranking drop from first to fourth in ICC rankings.

Pakistan started 2020 seventh in ICC rankings and finished seventh in the ICC rankings by the beginning of 2021. In five test matches Pakistan won just one test match against Bangladesh and lost two, one against England and one against  New Zealand and drew the remaining two test matches against England. Pakistan should have won the first test match against England in Manchester when having set a target of 278 they let England win by three wickets as Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes helped England to recover from 112 for 5 to 258 for six. By that time both Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes had scored centuries and they proved match winners for England's unlikely victory. If Pakistan had won that test match they might have gone on to win that series as the last two test matches were rained off. The fault that I found with Pakistani batsmen in tests in 2020 has been their overly defensive batting. Pakistani batsmen dont look for scoring opportunities as a result opposition bowlers find a way to get them out. 

In ODI's in 2020 Pakistan won two matches and lost one, all against Zimbabwe. The third ODI ended in a tie after full fifty overs with Pakistan losing the match in super over. I dont know why Babar Azam didnt bat in the super over as Khushdil Shah and Iftikhar Ahmed were sent in as a result we lost that match when both these batsmen got out cheaply to Zimbabwe bowler. 

Overall it was a successful year in Pakistan cricket with Pakistan having a positive winning percentage in Twenty20 internationals and ODI's.

Abdul Razzaq a fine Pakistani All rounder

 If any Pakistani cricketer who was ever to be unfairly treated by the PCB it has to be Abdul Razzaq. Abdul Razzaq was at one time in 2010 was becoming an even better all rounder than Shahid Afridi. This can be proven by his match winning century in an ODI against South Africa which was miraculously won by Abdul Razzaq's clean striking of the ball when he literally won the match single handely smashing South African bowlers all over the ground. Pakistan won that match by just one wicket after being set a target of 280 plus by South Africa, thanks to Abdul Razzaq. After the end of 2011 World Cup Abdul Razzaq was hardly selected in the team with Afridi especially giving the reason that Razzaq's bowling was becoming exceedingly slow. It was true that Abdul Razzaq was losing pace but he could have been selected as a  batting all rounder given his great big hitting ability. 

Abdul Razzaq made an immediate impact at the 1999 World Cup with his great All round ability with both bat and ball. As a batsman he was coming at No. 3 in batting order and played useful knocks in that position by seeing off the new ball and making it easy for the rest of the batting as in England batting becomes easier as the ball becomes older when it starts swinging less. As bowler he was bowling big inswinging deliveries at high pace making it difficult for opposition batsmen to score runs and picking up useful wickets. Abdul Razzaq played a vital role in Pakistan reaching the finals of that 1999 World Cup and was the find of the tournament for Pakistan.

The tournament which bought Abdul Razzaq instant fame was the Carlton and United Series in 2000 featuring Australia and India other than Pakistan. Abdul Razzaq's great all round performances with both bat and ball brought him the man of the tournament award in that triangular series in Australia.

Abdul Razzaq will always be remembered for his great all round ability with both bat and ball that made him a successful all rounder and also for rescuing Pakistan a number of times with his match winning performances with both bat and ball. He also played a vital role in Pakistan winning the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup by opening the bowling alongwith Mohammad Amir in that World Cup. If he wasnt treated poorly by PCB who knows he might have played beyond his retirement in 2014.

Shoaib Akhtar the Fastest bowler in the history of cricket

 I am a Pakistani and I am proud to say that Shoaib Akhtar has the world record of bowling the fastest delivery in international cricket. The delivery that he bowled against England in a pool match in 2003 World Cup at 161.3 Kilometers per hour was the fastest ball ever delivered in history of International cricket. Shoaib Akhtar was even quicker than Jeff Thomson and Brett Lee of Australia as can be judged by the comments of a Bangladeshi cricketer Alok Kapali who said that Shoaib Akhtar is so quick we use to fear he would kill one of our batsmen with his pace and we could hardly see any of his deliveries.

Shoaib Akhtar immediately made an impact after his debut in 1997 against West Indies when he bowled Pakistan to a memorable victory at Durban in the second test match against South Africa which also happened to be Pakistan's first test victory against South Africa. Shoaib Akhtar took five wickets in the first innings of that test match which was instrumental in Pakistan winning that test match held at Durban in 1998 against South Africa. 

The tournament which instantly made Shoaib Akhtar famous was the Asian test championship match in 1999 in Kolkata when Shoaib Akhtar clean bowled Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar of consecutive deliveries. Those deliveries of Shoaib Akhtar which he clean bowled Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar was regarded as the balls of the Twentieth Century as those bowls were bowled with extreme pace with huge late reverse swing. Pakistan not only went onto win that test match against India but also went onto win the test championship by defeating Sri Lanka at the Final at Dhaka in 1999.

Shoaib Akhtar played a vital role in Pakistan reaching the finals of the 1999 world cup which was held in England. In that World Cup Shoaib Akhtar not only bowled the ball at extremely high speeds but also swung the ball a great deal as English conditions are tailor made for swing making Shoaib Akhtar a lethal bowler. 

Shoaib Akhtar missed a lot of international cricket because of injuries as who knows he might have taken as many wickets as Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis if he had played more cricket. After playing the 2011 World Cup in India and Sri lanka and helping Pakistan reach the semi finals of that World Cup Shoaib Akhtar retired from all forms of international cricket. Shoaib Akhtar will always be remembered not only in Pakistani cricket but in international cricket history as the fastest bowler ever to have played cricket.

Pakistani Legend Saeed Anwar

 No Pakistani cricketer was ever as talented and was as perfect timer of the cricket ball as Saeed Anwar. Saeed Anwar in his playing days was ranked as talented and as gifted as Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar. The Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail opening partnership was ranked as the best opening partners Pakistan has ever had. One can notice that they were the best as Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail literally silenced the Bangalore crowd in 1996 World Cup Quarterfinal when Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail smashed Indian  bowlers to all parts of the ground amassing 80 runs in the first 10 overs of the Pakistani innings. Had Saeed Anwar stayed on for a little longer who knows Pakistan might have won the match and give the Indians a huge scare in the 1996 World Cup Bangalore Quarter final but that was not to be as Pakistan chasing a huge Indian target of 288 runs could manage only 248 runs in 49 overs in that World Cup Quarter Final.

Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail partnership was unique as Saeed Anwar was usually the aggressor while Aamir Sohail was more subdued and watchful. Saeed Anwar was always more talented than Aamir Sohail and had a tremendous talent and hand eye coordination than Aamir Sohail who was less talented than Saeed Anwar and had to play risky shots in order to hit boundaries. On the otherhand Saeed Anwar was more talented and hitting boundaries came easy to him.

In the 1999 World Cup Saeed Anwar hit two consecutive centuries against Zimbabwe and New Zealand to help Pakistan reach the final. Saeed Anwar hit a vital century against Zimbabwe who were proving to be dark horses in the tournament as Pakistan reached the semi final after defeating Zimbabwe in their final Super Six match. Pakistan had lost to both South Africa and India in Super Six of the 1999 World Cup tournament so defeating Zimbabwe was important for Pakistan to reach the semi finals and Saeed Anwar  helped Pakistan reach the semi finals by scoring a century. After pairing up with Wajahat Ullah Wasti, Saeed Anwar scored another century and helped Pakistan reach the finals after defeating New Zealand. In the final Saeed Anwar failed and so did the rest of Pakistani batting line up and Pakistan were defeated by Australia in the 1999 World Cup Final.

In 2003 despite scoring a superb century against India in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa Saeed Anwar retired from all forms of cricket after the disastrous Pakistani campaign in 2003 World Cup. Saeed Anwar will always be remembered as the best Pakistani opening Batsman of all time.