SAMSUL AREFIN KHAN from Lahore

People call the city of Lahore ‘The heart of Pakistan’, owing to its rich history, cultural heritage and the fact that it’s the capital of Punjab, the most influential province of the country.

Pakistan, a country where millions of people live and breathe cricket, is now reeling from the heartbreak of their unceremonious exit from the ICC Champions Trophy, a tournament where despite being the host, Pakistan has become an afterthought.

So, it should not be a surprise that the symbolic heart of the nation has also put on a somber-look, leaving no signs of the fact that the country is hosting its first major ICC event in 29 years and that Lahore is set to host a semifinal on Wednesday.

Silence is usually hard to find in Lahore, which is Pakistan’s second most densely populated city, but on Sunday, it was there in abundance at the Gaddafi Stadium, as other than a few security personnel and some birds flying overhead, there was no other signs of life anywhere in the premises.

The reason why the stadium was empty even though in only two days’ time it will host the second semifinal of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy, is because none of the four semifinalists were even in Pakistan yesterday.

All four confirmed semifinalists – India, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia – were in Dubai, waiting for the semifinal fixtures to be confirmed after the last group phase match between India and New Zealand yesterday.

Australia and South Africa, who played their last Group B match in Lahore and Karachi respectively, left for Dubai after their respective matches and were waiting for the outcome of the Group A match between India and New Zealand to know who will be their semifinal opponent and where they would be playing it.

South Africa, who emerged Group B champions, will take on Group A runners-up while Australia, the Group B runners-up, will face Group A champions.

Whether India finish top of Group A or in second position, they would play their semifinal in Dubai while New Zealand will play the other semifinal in Lahore.

Pakistan Cricket Board’s director of media and communications Sami Ul Hasan yesterday confirmed The Daily Star that the teams who will play the semifinal in Lahore will arrive in the city on Tuesday, a day before the match.

“They will come in Pakistan on March 4 and will be doing a pre-match press conference before the match,” Sami said.

“That was on the schedule and the schedule was approved by the ICC after consulting with all the participating countries,” he said, admitting the irony of no teams being in Pakistan at the moment even though they are the hosts.

“That’ a fair point. But you should ask this question to the ICC. They should answer this question,” he concluded. If India fail to win their semifinal, Lahore will also host the final on March 9, otherwise, it will be played in Dubai.