Pakistan celebrates Sunday's Twenty20 World Cup cricket victory

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the Twenty20 World Cup at Lord's on Sunday will have gone a long way toward making up to its fans for the nation's inability to host international matches due to security concerns.
And considering that the ongoing army offensive against the Taliban in the northwest of the country and a series of suicide bombings will not allow international cricket to return to Pakistan for years to come, it was a much-needed boost to the country's millions of cricket fans.
The International Cricket Council acted early to move the 2011 World Cup matches that Pakistan was due to host and also awarded its hosting rights to the Champions Trophy to South Africa last year. However, the game's governing body will be under pressure not to isolate the nation of 160 million people - the second-largest cricket-playing population after India.
"They (ICC) won't be able to discard Pakistan after Sunday's terrific victory," said veteran columnist Zakir Hussain Syed.
Pakistan's lack of international exposure meant that the team went into the tournament with little international match preparation.
The world's top Twenty20 World Cup contenders such as defending champion India and Australia prepared for the competition by giving their players as much international exposure and practice as possible in the shortest form of the game, but Pakistan's players were forced to rely on just their domestic Twenty20 competition to prepare.
Pakistan's government barred its players from competing in the Indian Premier League just before the tournament was shifted to South Africa, giving all of their opponents whose players participated in the much-publicized and lucrative IPL a significant edge.
Pakistan became a cricketing pariah after gunmen sprayed the Sri Lankan cricket team's bus with bullets and fired a rocket and a grenade as it travelled to a match against Pakistan in Lahore on March 3. Seven players were wounded and six police killed before the bus sped off and eventually reached the safety of the stadium.
The result was that the ICC and other cricket-playing nations made Pakistan a no-go zone.
But all that was forgotten - at least temporarily - on Sunday as Pakistan beat Sri Lanka in the final.
Giant screens were put in place in the main markets of Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and Multan where thousands of men, women and children gathered to watch the final live.
When the celebrations of Pakistan's triumph die down, the country's cricketers and the sport's administrators will need to once again face the reality of living in an international cricket-free zone.
"No doubt for a while - may be for a year or so - we have to concentrate on organizing our matches at a neutral venue, but gradually when security improves, we should see international teams returning to Pakistan," Syed said.
Just when that will be is anyone's guess.

source: http://www.google.com