Pakan have fond memories of Bengaluru: First Test series win in India, Inzamam’s 100th Test, Younis Khan double hundred | Cricket-world-cup News

The wailing of sirens from escort jeeps would finally remind the city that the World Cup is upon it. The busy afternoon traffic stopped when the Pakan team bus whled past Anil Kumble Circle. Curious onlookers craned their necks from the windows of their cars, pedestrians gaped in amusement. Vendors were scouting for places to set up stalls before the Pakan-Australia game on Friday.
At the entrance of the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, a few fans were unsuccessfully coaxing the guards to let them inside. Still in the split-second when Pakan team’s bus arrived at the gate, some sneaked a couple of selfies, without even knowing that the team bus was Pakan’s. When they came to know, they chanted the names of Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi.
“Isko mil sakte hain kya? Hum bahut door se aaye hain (Can we meet him? We have come from far away),” one of them pleaded with the guard, who wouldn’t budge.
Inside the stadium, a bunch of schoolchildren were waiting. The moment the Pakan players stepped in, the children, from various NGOs here, began to clap. As did the ground staff, officials and guards. They soaked in the sight of welcoming and familiar faces, as some journals from Pakan too had travelled to Bengaluru. Snuffing out concerns of a rampaging flu in the camp, all but stand wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Haris put in three hours of training too.
For nearly half an hour, they engaged and entertained the children, giving them throw-downs with plastic bats and balls, cracking jokes, giving them advice and tips, posing for selfies and group pictures. A wave of joy descended on the ground.
At the heart of the banter was Babar, who has been unusually leaden-footed, though at the nets he was free-flowing, and at times in ultra-aggressive mode, pulling and hooking with enthusiasm. At the end of the session, as he trudged to the dressing room, a pair of fans screamed his name. Babar had just gone past them, but returned and obliged for selfies.
So did Afridi, who waved at the crowd and heeded to selfies. Pakan’s premier speedster, rather off-colour this tournament, bowled at frightening pace towards the end of his session. At the receiving end of the bouncer barrage was Hasan Ali, who would duck and weave from the line. “Mat karo, yaar (don’t do this),” he implored Afridi.
In the adjoining nets, Haris Rauf was whipping up serious pace, watched a trio of star-stuck net bowlers. The moment they saw him wrapping up, they rushed for their bags. But the time they took out the cameras, Rauf had sped . He,though, came back and hugged them.
The Bengaluru crowd has generally been sporting towards Pakan in the past. It has been a scene of fond memories too. It’s here that Pakan won their first Test series in India; it’s here that Inzamam-ul-Haq played his 100th Test (and copped a one-match for showing dissent), a thriller that Pakan won to draw the series, it’s here that Younis Khan carnaged the Indian spinners for 267, the highest score a visiting batsman on these shores.
Reminiscing about that Test, Shahid Afridi, at a recent function, claimed that “stones were pelted on our bus”.Most Read
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No such events were reported in mainstream media then, but the crowd certainly booed then India captain Sourav Ganguly, in the middle of a barren run. In a sweet irony, three years later, he compiled his only Test double century at this venue against the same opposition.
If one watches the grainy YouTube footage of the 1987 Test, one could len to the occasional jeering as well as the thunderous applause and whles when Imran Khan, at the height of his suavity, received both the series trophy and the man of the series plaque.
Even in India’s famous defeat of Pakan in the 1996 World Cup, one could hear a liberal dose of acknowledgement during Pakan’s 84-run opening stand, especially when Saeed Anwar glided into his square-drives.