Going to a Pakistani stadium to attend a cricket match is an event itself, as everyone from the government forces is involved and all around there is mismanagement, but often in rare times, some things are well managed.
Getting to the stadium
Rawalpindi Stadium may be located on Stadium Road, but getting to it is not an easy task. The maze to the Rawalpindi stadium starts from Rawal Chowk, 6th Road, and Murree Road where every spectator parks their car in dedicated parking made by the PCB and then hops on a shuttle that takes all the fans to the murree road and drops them off mid of 6th road and stadium road, that is where fans from all the parking meet and the actual journey begins.
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Once you reach the drop-off area, the journey has already begun, but now is the time for the hurdles. The first hurdle is making sure to reach the inside of the stadium with all your belongings intact.
As the fans cross one checkpost after another, often watches, earphones, and any eatable item is confiscated by the security team. Women’s handbags are checked, and their make-ups are confiscated by the female police force. Oddly enough as the females dump their makeup kits behind, the Punjab Police female force is already testing the different shades of makeup they confiscated and planning to enjoy their loot in the aftermath.
Lucky are those who have been to a cricket match in Pakistan a few times, as they already are aware of what will be confiscated and what will not. Good thing our clothes are intact.
Fan experience in the stadium
After crossing 10 checkposts and walking 4 km, you finally make it. The sound of the crowd cheering excites you as you try to find the best spot to sit in your respective enclosure. But if you sit at the wrong spot, your whole game could be ruined which is what exactly happened to the spectators sitting in the mid-section.
PCB for some reason tends to oversell tickets as they don’t expect everyone to show up, but when everyone does show up, the whole viewing experience gets disturbed with fans standing and blocking the view of the spectators who are seated in their chairs. Interestingly, the Punjab Police officials roaming in the stadium are also not there to help but are more interested in making arrests for any political slogan raised by anyone.
Food prices as usual were jacked up as a 1.5 liter of Pepsi was being sold for Rs.400 and a single empty cup was for Rs.150. It makes you wonder where the PCB control is and why it is the main sponsor of PCB overcharging.
But with all the issues aside, the best part of the small Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium is that it gives you a great viewing experience as fans enjoy the shots and get a close-eye view of their favorite players battling out in the middle
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