Background
Sri Lanka toured Pakistan in 2009; that was when the last test match was played in Karachi. It was the same match where Younus Khan became the first Pakistani to score a triple century. At our very own National Stadium and globally the second Pakistani to have done so.
The match ended up in a draw. In conclusion, with double centuries by Jayewardene and Samaraweera from Sri Lanka and a century by Kamran Akmal from Pakistan.
The Incident
Unfortunately, the tour was cut short due to a bus attack in Lahore. Resulting seven people were dead, including six policemen, and another 20 injured. The injured included seven members of the Sri Lankan cricket team.
After almost a decade between which fear and distrust governed international sentiments, no one expected history to begin where it had stopped. Test cricket finally came back home with the same team it had managed to keep away for years, but this time to be welcomed with sheer confidence and in good faith and fortune.
Test Series Victory
This time around our victory was inevitable, both in retaining our trust and celebrating it convincingly against Sri Lanka by 263 runs at the NSK. Abid Ali became the Man of the Match for the 175 runs he scored in the second inning. Furthermore, he was named: The Player of the Series. Abid managed to establish a World Record for the first cricketer to score a century on debut in Test and ODIs.
The series showed us an improvement in our pace attack with Shaheen Shah and Naseem Shah both taking a five-wicket haul each. Furthermore, Babar Azam scored yet another century giving all the fans a master class to learn from. He brought his international century count to 15 on such a monumental occasion.
Indeed an accomplishment for Pakistan, and one to be remembered for years to come.
