The third Test match between Pakistan and England is equally poised in Karachi. Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and asked England to bowl first. However, the home side could not use the toss win to great use as they got bundled out for just 304 in the first innings. In reply, by the time of writing this article, England have lost four wickets for 140 runs with Ben Stokes and Harry Brook in the middle. The Karachi Test is seeing low footfall. The fans in Karachi have not embraced the Test format it seems as the whole of National Stadium was empty.
A few fans who have reached the ground to watch the match have been left disappointed. A fan named Sana Kazmi posted a picture of one of the stands at the National Stadium. The Twitter user wrote: “fyi this is the view from half the stand. even the vip stands have pillars in addition to this cage obstructing the view. hope @TheRealPCB
works on stadiums from a fan experience PoV, cuz team aur mulk ki mohabbat + excitement at the return of big names will only take us so far.”
That’s Iqbal Qasim stand right? Look at the condition of seats where I was sitting and the view from the upper row with a big pole obstructing the view. pic.twitter.com/J19O6RDYS7— Kormalover (@kormalover2) December 17, 2022
I went to watch pak vs eng t20 match, and was unable to see the pitch from my seat due to these pillars even from vip stand. It was so irritating.
— Abdul Baseer (@AbdulBaseer_k) December 17, 2022
Other fans who reached the stadium also tweeted the condition of the seats. They posted the pictures of seats which were very dirty, filled with bird droppings. The fans have also questioned the structure of the stands, pointing out the pillar which obstructs the view of the cricket match. “So frustrating as a fan. Feel like we’ve been complaining about these things for years but nothing gets better. in fact with the new roof, it’s actually become worse in the summer cuz the sea breeze gets blocked,” wrote the same fan who had tweeted the photo.
Low attendance has brought embarrassment for the organisers, with some fans asking PCB to never host a Test match in Karachi. However, the Karachi fans, have posted pics of the dirty stadium, citing them as reason for almost zero turnout for the third Test between Pakistan and England.