The Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium exudes an old-world charm, nestled amidst the historic fabric of the city. Surrounded by narrow lanes and ancient houses, it stands as a bridge between past and present. From the stands, one can glimpse the old city’s rooftops against the backdrop of bustling neighbourhoods.
Home to Shoaib Akhtar, who earned the nickname ‘Rawalpindi Express’ due to his speed and roots, the venue has seen some of the iconic innings in the history of the game – including Rahul Dravid’s 270 against Pakistan in the third Test in 2004.
Walk around the venue and the first thing that one would notice are the enclosures named after the legends of Pakistan cricket – Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Akhtar, Azhar Mahmood, Miran Bakhsh and Yasir Arafat.
Hosting a global event after nearly three decades, the stadium has undergone quite a bit of transformation. Brand new bucket seats have been installed, the hospitality arena has got a fresh coat of paint, and the overall facilities have seen an upliftment to make sure that the players and the spectators enjoy.
While the corridors are filled with several photographs from Pakistan’s greatest cricketing moments, the giant honours boards chronicle the milestones set at the stadium, evoking nostalgia.
For Indian cricket fans, Rawalpindi remains a special venue as it was here that Dravid’s iconic innings paved the way for the team’s historic 2-1 Test series win, two decades ago. In that series, India started with a win in Multan, but its campaign was halted in Lahore as Pakistan levelled the series, before Dravid played one of the finest innings of his career to create history for the nation.
While names of Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar feature in the honours boards among others, the area around the media box has a huge collage of pictures from Australia’s historic Test against Pakistan in 2022, and inside the swanky media centre, there’s a board to acknowledge the efforts of some of the local media personnel.
Considered one of the cricket-crazy cities of Pakistan, a large number of spectators turned up for the group league fixture of the Champions Trophy between New Zealand and Bangladesh, hoping for the latter to win the game and keep Pakistan in the hunt. Even though it wasn’t a full house and two overseas teams were playing, the local fans made it a point to cheer for the players, every time they claimed a wicket or played a gutsy shot.