In the world of cricket, the home crowd usually begins to sparse out towards the end of a match, when they feel that their side is going to inevitably lose. But, it was a rare sight at Gadaffi Stadium, Lahore on Tuesday, September 12, as the crowd decided to leave the stadium a few hours before the match ended, even though the hosts eventually won the game by 20 runs. The World XI players had come a long way to play for a cause, that is, to bring back international cricket to Pakistan, a country that is crazy about the sport, despite the country having a history of security issues. Even they would not have expected this kind of behaviour from the Pakistan supporters.
Even before the first T20I of Independence Cup had begun, the tickets were sold out. The Gadaffi stadium was jam packed during the opening ceremony of the three-match T20I series. The Pakistan crowd cheered for their team as they posted 197 for 4 in the first innings after being put to bat first by World XI skipper Faf du Plessis. But in the second innings, the game got pretty one-sided as World XI players could not keep up with the required rate and kept losing wickets.
Though it became a rather one-sided affair, the Pakistan crowd ought to have stayed there to acknowledge the presence of World XI players and their efforts. More importantly, they ought to have backed their team as they won the first T20I. But, they probably went off to avoid traffic.
Pakistani sports journalist Fazeela Saba posted a video on Twitter a few overs before the match ended where one can clearly see that the crowd had begun to disperse.
Crowd going back #PAKvWXI pic.twitter.com/mB6vgkOvJ6
— Fazeela Saba (@FazeelaSaba1) September 12, 2017
Here are a few reactions on Twitter after Saba posted the video
Avoiding traffic jam
— Maroof Ali Mohyuddin (@MaroofMohyuddin) September 12, 2017
They are going back q k 5bjy se stadium mai thy ab jb pta chlgya k Pak will win so parking ka b issue hoga tbi sb jldi gaye..
— Aqib Siddiqui (@Aqibleo13) September 12, 2017
We’re winning so why are they leaving ???
— Mo Hussain (@Mohamme33006405) September 12, 2017
WTH man Ye kia bdtamezi ha
— Aamenah Khan (@aamenah_khan) September 12, 2017
This is not good, crowd should have sit there till presentation.
— Mohammed Irfan (@irfan_waris) September 12, 2017
Its not a weekend and many of them have to go back home for early morning office. Parking difficulties and traffic making it difficult
— Ali Irfan (@alilillah) September 12, 2017
In case of the accusations that the video had been pre-recorded, Saba was in the media box the whole time and even posted a few pictures and videos from there and outside the stadium.
From the hectic media box #PAKvWXI #CricketComesHome pic.twitter.com/JQpBmkH9Es
— Fazeela Saba (@FazeelaSaba1) September 12, 2017
Shuttle service inside Gaddafi stadium provided to make it easy for the crowd to welcome cricket at home pic.twitter.com/Ng6iHE8fTa
— Fazeela Saba (@FazeelaSaba1) September 12, 2017
If cricket is to return to Pakistan in future they will need the support of their home base. This was a match the hosts had won with a few hours before the final over. One can imagine how they would react if Pakistan were losing the game in a one-sided affair.
