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Oct 10,2026 11:20 AM IST

T20 success brings joy in embattled Pakistan

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Sports Home Cricket News T20 success brings joy in embattled Pakistan

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T20 success brings joy in embattled Pakistan

Pakistanis rejoiced as their team booked a place in the World T20 final, bringing rare joy in a nation used to sombre news of bomb blasts and violence.

Read Time: 3 min

Karachi:

Pakistanis rejoiced on Friday as their cricket team beat South Africa and booked a place in the World Twenty20 final, bringing rare joy in a nation used to sombre news of bomb blasts and Taliban violence.

"We are delighted," Zaboor Khan, an electrician, told the private Geo TV station from outside the home of squad captain Younus Khan in Mardan town.

"Just a week ago we lost so many people in a bomb blast in Peshawar and we were not watching matches. But this win has given us a new joy -- we needed this in a state of despair."

A wave of Taliban-linked violence has killed about 1,995 people in Pakistan during two years of insurgency, and the unrest has also battered Pakistan's reputation as an international cricket venue.

Foreign teams were already nervous about touring the South Asian nation, and then in March this year gunmen launched a fierce attack on the visiting Sri Lankan team as they travelled to a match in the eastern city Lahore.

Eight people were killed and seven Sri Lankan players and their assistant coach injured, casting serious doubts on the future of cricket in the country.

The attacks forced the International Cricket Council to strip Pakistan of their share of World Cup 2011 matches, but Pakistanis are hoping that their World Twenty20 run of luck will bring redemption.

"No doubt the team has given us endless joy by progressing to the final. We have had very little reason to rejoice recently, but this is surely an occasion to be happy," former captain Rashid Latif said on Friday.

"I think the Pakistan team's progress is divine help to answer to all those who have isolated our country," he added.

Younus himself said last week: "We have no international cricket so if we reach the semi-final or win the tournament, the nation will stand up for us. I need a cup for people of Pakistan."

Pakistan, who finished runners-up to India in the inaugural World Twenty20 two years ago, upstaged South Africa by seven runs in a gripping semi-final at Trent Bridge, with Shahid Afridi sparkling with both bat and ball.

Afridi hit an aggressive 51 from 34 balls and then grabbed 2-16 with his leg-spin as Pakistan successfully defended 149-4 to restrict the Proteas to 142-5 -- leaving millions of fans in a frenzy late into the night.

Pakistan will on Sunday meet the winners of Friday's second semi-final between Sri Lanka and the West Indies.

Convincing teams to return to Pakistan when Taliban-linked bomb blasts and other attacks appear to be rising will be no easy task, however.

Earlier this year, India refused permission for their team to tour Pakistan after the attacks last year in Mumbai strained relations between the countries.

As if the isolation was not enough, Pakistan cricket has been regularly hit by controversies over doping, sackings and discipline problems.

Two of Pakistan's frontline paceman -- Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif -- tested positive for banned steroids in 2006. Akhtar was banned for two years and Asif for one year, although the bans were overturned on appeal.

Pakistan sacked their Australian coach Geoff Lawson last October soon after a change in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) set up.

Last week, Pakistan's chairman of selectors Abdul Qadir resigned, citing interference in his work from the PCB, captain Younus and coach Intikhab Alam.

But despite the controversies, cricket fans remain in a celebratory mood.

"Pakistan's win over South Africa has changed despair into joy," said accountant Kashif Ahmed, who stayed up all night in his office in the southern port city Karachi to watch the match.

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