When Australian cricket fan Luke Gillian last visited Pakistan in 1998, he was pelted with stones by his supporters when he left his home. Nowadays everyone wants to take selfie. Gillian is back in Pakistan with a small contingent of Australian fans on her first tour of the country in nearly a quarter century – and has been blown away by the reception she has received.
For 24 years Australia, along with several international teams, refused to tour Pakistan on security grounds.
The situation worsened after a deadly terrorist attack on a Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in 2009, after which Pakistan had to play “home” games abroad for a decade, mostly in the United Arab Emirates.
But the cricket-crazy country is enjoying the current tour of the world’s top-ranked Test team, which will decide on a three-Test series in Lahore next week after draws in Rawalpindi and Karachi.
On his last tour of Australia in 1998, Gillian said, “It was considered too dangerous to go out.”
“When I came out, large groups of people were walking in the streets and stones were thrown at me.
“And I went, ‘No, I’m just going to go back home, I don’t have to endure this’.”
After almost a quarter century, attitudes have changed.
“I think, in Rawalpindi, easily 500 photos were taken every day,” the 51-year-old from Victoria told AFP.
Mean talk
“I’ve been given I don’t know how many cups of tea, how many pieces of cake, Pepsi bottles, and water people have given us as ‘thank you’ – free haircuts, free laundry.”
Like most Australians, Gillian took up cricket as a child.
“You grow up with cricket in your blood,” he said.
“You often catch a cricket bat or ball before you know how to walk, and as soon as you can walk, you mark your run-up to bowl.”
Over the years he has visited every major cricket-playing country – even socializing with Australian greats like Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Michael Clarke and Justin Langer.
But those days are a thing of the past, with modern player social media under intense scrutiny, coupled with strict anti-match-fixing protocols to keep players away from “undesirable” elements such as illegal bookmakers.
“Now there is a stronger connection between me and the team,” Gillian said.
“Let’s go back 15 years… I still get text messages (from players) saying: ‘We’re going to this place after the game for a beer, if you want to join us’ . It’s gone and I miss it,” he said.
Gillian said that he decided to make the trip a shout out to Australia to support Pakistan’s efforts to re-establish itself as a safe cricket venue.
“I have come here for the game, to show the outside world that we can actually watch cricket and travel to Pakistan and be safe, be happy and enjoy it,” he said. “
Socially it’s a lot more relaxed than it was 24 years ago. It is so easy to live here. It is so easy to enjoy Pakistan.
“I think the love, and the embrace of each other, and the sport itself, if it goes to a wider audience, can sell great sport and sell the link between the two countries and the two cultures.
publicized
“Win or lose, it doesn’t matter.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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