Greatest cricket conflict in Colombo

When you’ve traveled overseas just lately from Jinnah Worldwide Airport Karachi, you’d realize it’s not a straightforward course of. That’s why, for a 7 a.m. flight, I reached the airport at 2:30 a.m. There was already a line simply to enter the principle constructing. Forward of that was the queue for luggage scanning. Then the anti-narcotics officers had been selectively stopping some passengers for questioning.

The longest queue, although, was for Turkish Airways—I’ve by no means seen such an enormous line at any airline counter in Pakistan. Fortunately, the SriLankan Airways counter wasn’t too crowded. After getting my boarding move, I seemed towards the immigration counters, which appeared comparatively higher organized this time—extra counters had been lively, although crowds nonetheless constructed up rapidly.

Within the lounge, it was clear that giant numbers of passengers had been cricket followers heading to Colombo. Many had been touring with their households. I observed a person with some paperwork sporting a PCB shirt to assist some individuals fast-track by all procedures—later I realised he was dealing with protocol for Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) governing board members. On my flight had been Zaheer Abbas and a number of other different board members, touring as a PCB’s visitor to observe the Pakistan vs India match, one thing that’s occurred prior to now too.

The flight went easily, although the previous plane jogged my memory of PIA—the seats had been in poor situation, and the tiny display in entrance of me was concerning the measurement of a cellphone. To be trustworthy, I used to be a bit of nervous at first, particularly when unusual noises got here from the airplane earlier than takeoff, however as soon as we had been within the air, every little thing was positive.

For Pakistanis visiting Sri Lanka, it’s straightforward to get a web-based ETA (Digital Journey Authorization)—a easy kind, a $20–25 price, and also you obtain a double-entry visa inside 24 hours. I had accomplished this in December, however many mates informed me just lately that there have been delays on account of a surge of cricket followers. Sri Lanka resolved the problem by permitting visa on arrival, and lots of on my flight acquired theirs that manner. Immigration took simply 3–4 minutes.

When exchanging forex, I spotted the Pakistani rupee was barely stronger than the Sri Lankan rupee. On the way in which from the airport, I noticed giant billboards promoting casinos—apparently, many individuals go to Sri Lanka only for playing. Tourism drives a lot of their economic system; throughout COVID-19, when vacationers stopped coming, the nation went bankrupt.

From the airport, I went straight to the Sinhalese Sports activities Membership (SSC) to gather my accreditation card. Safety was tight on account of an ongoing Eire vs Oman match. Luckily, the media supervisor got here out and handed me my card—with out it, you may’t enter the stadium on match days.

Because it was Valentine’s Day, the lodge restaurant was crammed principally with {couples}, many ladies wearing purple. Exterior, giant screens had been displaying World Cup matches. After having fun with excessive tea, I went to my room to file my tales. Within the foyer, I met a Pakistani fan who had flown in from Dubai along with his Indian mates to observe the match.

I messaged group media supervisor Naeem Gilani, asking for updates, however even after two days, there was no reply—maybe he’s busier than Mohsin Naqvi and Aamir Mir! For dinner, I ordered from a Pakistani restaurant, which made me nostalgic for Dubai, the place you’ll find one of the best meals from each nation.

Speaking to some gamers, I realized that the PCB chairman had met the group to spice up their morale. Earlier than the match, the Indian camp appeared overly anxious about Pakistani spinner Usman Tariq, which led them to boost objections over his bowling motion. Each groups practiced individually.

Even throughout the press convention, Salman Ali Agha fielded many questions on Usman and defended him strongly. In latest days, extra individuals had been checking climate web sites than cricket updates, questioning whether or not it might rain on match day—however fortunately, the climate had been higher.

The organizers had introduced that stadium gates would open at 3 p.m.—4 hours earlier than the beginning—to ease safety checks. I arrived even earlier. Wherever a Pakistan-India match is held, it’s smart to achieve the venue as early as potential.

At R. Premadasa Stadium, there was heavy police presence inside and out of doors—I hadn’t seen such scenes at a cricket match in a very long time. Each groups had been staying at separate motels below tight safety.

After putting my laptop computer within the media middle, I took a protracted stroll outdoors the stadium to interview followers for Specific Information. I’ll share that story tomorrow, however for now, let’s head straight to the toss.

My sources had already informed me within the morning that the Indians wouldn’t again down—and once more, there could be no handshake between the captains. That turned out to be true. Curiously, former Indian participant Harbhajan Singh, who’s usually outspoken, did shake fingers with Sahibzada Farhan earlier than interviewing him. Even Sanjay Manjrekar has publicly criticized his nation’s “no-handshake” coverage.

Fortunately, this unusual “virus” hasn’t reached the media middle but—journalists from each international locations who know one another had been shaking fingers warmly. By that point, the stadium was almost full, with a big Indian contingent within the stands. Pakistani followers had been there too, although fewer in quantity.

I’ll share the remainder of the story tomorrow. For now, let’s be a part of the toss stay.