Look who146;s watching! Nobody

8220;There8217;s no excitement left in watching these Tests,8221; says Mukhtar Ahmed. It is becoming difficult even for the locals to explain why an India-Pakistan Test can8217;t draw spectators. 8220;Against England and even against Bangladesh, there was a better turnout,8221; reckons a local journalist. Khan, however, feels that the crowd here for the ongoing match is 8220;good8221;.

The PCB chief is not ready to buy the theory that the boards are no longer interested in giving 8216;undue8217; importance to Test matches and instead concentrating in marketing the ODIs for furthering revenue. Khan, although, accepts that ODI matches are 8220;more exciting8221;.

Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer has an interesting point to make on paucity of crowd. 8220;A five-day game takes time to make a contest out of it and the interests keep varying for different people at different times. It is not just about two teams facing each other, it is also about how a game gradually builds-up. Pakistan may have scored 679 runs, but a result was never guaranteed. The same, I guess, was the case at Multan last time.8221;

Agrees Iqbal, responsible for manning men at the counters. 8220;There were fans approaching for tickets on the morning when Younis Khan and Mohd Yousuf were heading for a double century. The wintry conditions are not the perfect comfort-zones for those watching cricket from the stands.8221;