FIRST DESERVE THEN DESIRE

        

       Its 5o'clock in the evening. Almost every boy of aged 9 and above picks their bat and ball, calls his friends and goes out to play cricket. Either they go to nearby grounds and parks or even in the side roads. If you go for evening walk, you will also notice and realize that how the youngsters are cricket lovers.

       But alas! there is no international cricket in Pakistan. No international team has visited Pakistan since 2009 after the attack on Sri Lankan cricket team. No doubt, it was really an awful incident in the sports history of Pakistan.

 Around 12 gunmen fired a bus carrying a convoy of Sri Lankan team. The incident took place near Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, on March 3, 2009. After this, the door of international cricket was closed for Pakistan.

        Pakistan Cricket Board and Pakistan Government tried  to assure all foreign teams of full proof security, but all in vain. Some foreign teams, such as, Bangladesh national team promised to visit Pakistan but it never materialized. 

        Now what to do? We start accusing our Government of not doing much to convince foreign teams to play in Pakistan.Media is also not playing its role for easing the situation.

       We have to do something different. We have to work for promotion of cricket in Pakistan. Same as South Africa did.

       South Africa flourished their domestic cricket between 1982 and 1990. During that period SA was banned from international cricket as a result of the apartheid regime (an internal fight between black and white inhabitants in SA). And now they are in a race of top teams.

       

       We are facing almost same condition in our country. We are dealing with deadly terrorism. we have to go a long way to eliminate terrorism from our country. But at the same time we should promote our domestic cricket on a war footing. This should start from a grass root level. Schools. colleges, universities should arrange tournaments. Similarly, PCB should organize district and provincial level competitions to explore and encourage talents. 

Promote cricket

       A substantial budget should be allocated to each level for promoting cricket in the country.

     Such steps will draw attention of other cricket playing countries and they would love to play in Pakistan for their benefit. So, we have to follow the motto "First deserve then desire."  

BY:SANA SHAFIQ