new Delhi: Pakistan cricket is set to start a new chapter when the Babar Azam-led Men in Green lock horns with Australia for the third Test of the ongoing Australia vs Pakistan Test series. Pakistan’s Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore will host international Test matches after a long gap of 13 years.
Ahead of the historic occasion, legendary Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar took to social media to post an emotional throwback clip from 2006, the year of his last Test appearance at the Gaddafi Stadium. Akhtar has shared a video of his interview with the late Dean Jones during the Test match.
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The former Pakistan pacer captioned the post, “I guess this was the last test match I played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in 2006. Test cricket returns to the good old Gaddafi after that fateful March morning in 2009 Nice to see. It took 13 years.”
Akhtar also recalled the ‘fatal March morning of 2009’. It was on this day that the bus of Sri Lanka cricket team traveling to Pakistan was attacked by terrorists on its way to Lahore Stadium. Since then, for many years, countries have refused to visit Pakistan for security reasons.
I think it was the last Test match that I played in 2006 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
It’s great to see Test cricket returning to the good old Gaddafi after that dreadful March morning in 2009. It took 13 years. pic.twitter.com/vKGsWmkbJl— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) 20 March 2022
Akhtar, better known as the ‘Rawalpindi Express’, still holds the world record for bowling the fastest ball in international cricket at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. He became the fastest bowler in the world by bowling at 161.3 km/h (100.2 mph) against England in the 2003 Cricket World Cup ODI game in Cape Town, South Africa.