In Pakistan, the passion for cricket has always been infectious. But the most recent seven-match Twenty20 International home series against England shows that the game has entirely recovered from its ashes. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has insights to back up its assertions.
After a startling setback when the Sri Lanka cricket team suffered a terrorist attack on March 3, 2009, play at the home stadium nearly came to an end. The international teams avoided playing in Pakistan. Thus, the nation’s sporting venues’ floodlights turned on.
However, the unflappable resiliency of the Pakistani people has allowed the Pakistani cricket board to turn this around.
The PCB statistics show that the sport-loving fans welcomed the England series and packed the stadium in such a large number that they made history. They were eager to watch live action at their home stadium.
The board announced the good news to cricket fans and noted that 97.35 percent of crowd attendance for any series is the highest ever in Pakistan cricket’s history.
The T20I series between Pakistan and England’s Lahore leg drew at least 63,045 fans to the Gaddafi Stadium, according to the PCB. Three games at the Lahore stadium had 99.4% attendance overall.
The breakdown of the attendance is as follows: 20,969 spectators attended the fifth match at the stadium; 21,076 saw the sixth T20I at the stadium; and 21,100 watched the seventh T20I at the Lahore ground.
The board relates a similar success story of an unexpectedly huge turnout at the Karachi stadium during the first four matches. The board said 26,550 cricket buffs witnessed the first four T20Is at the National Stadium. The massive turnout showed 95.3 per cent attendance in the Karachi leg matches.
According to the PCB, 189,595 spectators passed through turnstiles in Karachi and Lahore to watch the seven T20Is. The number makes up 97.35 per cent of the crowd attendances.
