Lockdown in Pakistan: How does it affect THIS Delhi Capitals star and his teammates in Test series

The England cricket team have been left in a quandary on their three-Test match tour of Pakistan. Ben Stokes-led side have already won the first Test by an innings and 47 runs in Multan and begun the second Test at the same venue from Tuesday (October 15) morning.

The England cricket team were supposed to play the second Test in Karachi, however, the venue of the game was shifted to Multan at the last minute since the stadium in Karachi is undergoing renovation in preparation for ICC Champions Trophy 2025 next year. Pakistan capital Islamabad has been put under strict lockdown ahead of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting which will include Chinese premier Li Qiang and India’s Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar present as well.

The England cricket team have been based in Islamabad as they commute to nearby Multan for the second Test over the next five days. To boost security for the SCO meeting, the Pakistani government announced a public holiday in Islamabad for three days, starting on Monday, with schools and businesses shut and large contingents of police and paramilitary forces deployed across the city.

Delhi Capitals star batter Harry Brook, who scored his maiden triple century in the first Test in Multan last week, and his teammates are already playing the second Test on the same pitch which was used for the first one. Brook was bought for Rs 4 crore by DC before the IPL 2024 auction but pulled out of the T20 league due to personal reasons.

The tension on the streets of Pakistan’s capital city is palpable as the main opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan called for a protest on Tuesday in Islamabad if the government did not allow the former Pakistan captain’s family members, lawyers and doctors to meet him in prison.

TOSS ALERT

Pakistan win the toss and opt to bat first #PAKvENG | #TestAtHome pic.twitter.com/nnVbo6uDz1

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 15, 2024

England’s third Test against Pakistan is set to take place in Rawalpindi next week, starting on October 24. There was speculation that even the third Test could be moved to Multan looking at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party’s protests. However, England & Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould had to step in to scupper this plan.

The England team are staying in Islamabad, which neighbours Rawalpindi, for the series finale that starts on October 24. Gould, who reached out to UK tour groups and brought up the issue with the PCB after reading about the potential switch, was assured that the Test match would not be moved.

Gould was warned that the situation could still change but that the likelihood of England’s series being played entirely in Multan was now highly unlikely given the ramifications that would have on Pakistan’s international reputation.

The news is a relief to the 200-odd England fans in Pakistan. They had already been forced to make a major adjustment to their itineraries when the second Test was switched at short notice to Multan from Karachi, where ongoing ground improvements ahead of ICC Champions Trophy 2025 were not completed in time.

Having been unable to hold international cricket at home for a decade following the terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in 2009, any more last-minute changes to England’s schedule can put off other nations from touring Pakistan.

The England cricket fans are already perturbed that two Tests are being played in Multan, a city where security is so tight that foreign nationals are only allowed out of their hotel compounds if they are accompanied by armed guards. “England supporters do not expect to travel for a three-match series overseas and stay in the same hotel and stadium for the whole thing, especially as we are unable to move around the city freely without a military escort. I very much hope and expect the ECB will fight against this possible change,” Derek Myers of Sport Link Travel, was quoted as saying.