Synopsis
KARACHI: When Australian super fan, Luke Gillian visited Pakistan in 1998, locals pelted him with stones when he went out in public.
KARACHI: When Australian super fan, Luke Gillian visited Pakistan in 1998, locals pelted him with stones when he went out in public.
Nowadays, everyone wants to take a selfie.
Gillian is touring Pakistan with a small group of Australian admirers for the first time in nearly a quarter-century, and she has been blown away by the warm reception she has received.
For the past 24 years, Australia, along with many other international teams, has refused to travel to Pakistan due to security concerns.
After a deadly terror attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in 2009, Pakistan was forced to play “home” games abroad for the next decade, usually in the United Arab Emirates.
The cricket-crazed nation, on the other hand, is soaking up the world’s top-ranked Test team’s current visit, which will culminate in a three-Test series decider in Lahore next week after draws in Rawalpindi and Karachi.
“It was perceived to be too dangerous to go outside,” Gillian said of his visit on Australia’s last tour in 1998.
“When I did get outside there were large groups of people walking in the streets and I had rocks thrown at me.
“And I went, ‘Nah, I am just going to go back home, I don’t need to put up with this’.”
Attitudes have shifted nearly a quarter-century later.
“I reckon, in Rawalpindi, 500 photographs were taken of me every day, easily,” the 51-year-old from Victoria said.
“I have been given I don’t know how many cups of tea, how many pieces of cake, bottles of Pepsi, water and just little incidentals people have given us as a ‘thank you’ — free haircuts, free laundry.”
Gillian, like most Australians, grew up playing cricket.
“You grow up with cricket in your blood,” he said.
“You often hold a cricket bat or a ball before you know how to walk, and as soon as you can walk, you mark your run-up to bowl.”
He’s travelled to every major cricket-playing country throughout the years, even socialising with Australian legends like Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Michael Clarke, and Justin Langer.
These days, however, players are subjected to rigorous social media inspection, as well as strict anti-match fixing processes to keep players away from “undesirable” components such as unlicensed bookies.
“Now there is a strong disconnect between myself and the team,” said Gillian.
“Let’s go back 15 years… I would still get text messages (from players), saying: ‘We are going to go for a beer in this place after the game, if you want to join us’. It’s gone and I miss it,” he said.
Australian super fan stated he wanted to go to Pakistan to assist Pakistan’s efforts to re-establish itself as a safe cricketing destination as much as he wanted to promote Australia.
“I am 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,” he said.
Socially, it’s a world away from where it was 24 years ago. It’s so much more convenient to be here. It’s a lot easier to enjoy Pakistan now.
“I think that love, and the embrace of each other and the game itself, if that goes across to the wider audience, then it can sell the great game and sell the connect between the two nations and two cultures.
“Win or lose, it doesn’t matter.”
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