Lahore will be organizing a test for the first time since the format returns to Pakistan in 2019
On Monday, when he steps on the pitch at the Gaddafi Stadium against Australia, Azhar will play his first test on what is his home country. The last test of the series, with no result so far, is the first in the city of Pakistan to have its headquarters since testing back in the country in late 2019. Pakistan has been playing tests in Karachi and Rawalpindi since then.
“It’s a really emotional feeling,” Azhar told the PCB website. “When you are young, Gaddafi Stadium is such an iconic place. Even if we were to pass it, I would think I really want to play on this pitch.
“I have played first class level here of course, but since my Test debut all our cricket has been outside of Pakistan. Once upon a time we felt like we would never play another Test in Pakistan. But finally we got a chance – we had such long waited to play in Pakistan, and then after returning we had to wait longer to play in Lahore.
Even though it’s everyone’s first test in Lahore, Azhar will appreciate it more than most on the site. Now in the last stages of his career, he was an essential part of the Misbah-ul-Haq era in which all of Pakistan’s most beautiful moments came from outside the country.
“My Triple Century, when I did it, it was such a great thing for me and you waved your bat to all the people to celebrate and appreciate it. When I started doing that, I opened up. a stand where about a hundred people were sitting. Then I turned to the other stands and there was no one left.
“In Pindi and Karachi, when we got centuries, it was a very different feeling, the recognition we get, the support, the adulation. So far we have not got that. And for the young people who get through it and for being on the team is a real motivation. “
“It’s a really happy opportunity for me,” he said. “After such a long career, I’m going to take a test in my home country. My family, my friends will all be on the pitch. It’s a very emotional moment for me.
“It’s just a very different feeling. I saw how we played cricket in Pakistan again, of course we had an idea that we missed it, but only after we played did we realize how many things we missed. Our achievements , our achievements, they have never received so much exposure before and we have not enjoyed it so much either. “
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