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New Delhi: International cricket is finally returning to Faisalabad and there is a real sense of nostalgia in the air. The Iqbal Stadium will reopen its doors to international cricket for the first time in 17 years with Pakistan set to face South Africa in a three-match ODI series. It's more than just another bilateral contest, as it marks a homecoming for a city that once buzzed with cricketing energy before being left in 2009.
Iqbal Stadium last hosted an international game back in 2008, an ODI against Bangladesh. A year later, the attack on Sri Lanka's team bus changed everything, forcing Pakistan to move its home matches abroad for the better part of a decade. Since international cricket made its gradual return in 2015, fans in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan have all enjoyed hosting big games again. Faisalabad, though, had to wait as its facilities weren’t quite ready until now. With upgrades finally complete, the venue is once again ready to stage top-level cricket.
Pakistan's leading bowler, Shaheen Shah Afridi, who takes over the ODI captaincy from Mohammad Rizwan, will lead the charge. Afridi couldn’t hide his excitement about the return of international cricket to Faisalabad. “It’s special to play here after such a long time,” he said on Monday. “We want to give the fans something to cheer about and carry our T20 momentum into the ODIs.”
Pakistan's limited-overs record this year hasn't been convincing. They lost the triangular series final to New Zealand, failed to make the Champions Trophy semifinals on home soil and were beaten 2-1 in the West Indies. Those results triggered the change in leadership, with Afridi now tasked to steady the ship. He has been in the spot before as well, when he briefly led Pakistan in a T20 series against New Zealand last year, before losing his spot, but this feels like a fresh start.
