Test cricket returned to Pakistan for the first time since a deadly terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in 2009. Rain meant the match ended in a draw but nothing dampened Pakistan's enthusiasm.
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Test cricket returned to Pakistan for the first time in ten years, after terrorists launched a deadly gun attack against touring Sri Lankan cricket team's bus in Lahore in 2009.
Sri Lanka, the team that was the subject of the 2009 attack, returned to play the test match against Pakistan at the Rawalpindi stadium. Despite the historic occasion, the match ended in a draw on Sunday after being called off due to bad weather and light conditions.
Since the attack, Pakistan's national cricket team has played its test home matches on neutral territory, mostly in the United Arab Emirates, despite the game being the country's top sport.
Gates were opened to the crowds for free and around 12,000 cricket fans turned out on the fifth and final day of the match.
Playing at home is a 'totally different experience'
Pakistan opener Abid Ali became the first batsman to score a debut hundred in both Test and one-day international cricket.
Abid finished with 109 not out and Babar Azam was unbeaten on 102 as Pakistan scored 252-2 in reply to Sri Lanka's first innings total of 308-6 declared.
Dhananjaya de Silva, Sri Lankan batsman, also scored his sixth test century, scoring an unbeaten 102.
"It's a totally different experience (to play at home) and I want to thank the crowd. Everyone knew there wouldn't be a result but they all came out. As a team we've not had this kind of support for 9-10 years," said Pakistan capitain, Azhar Ali.
The 2009 attack took place about 500 meters from the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore. Eight people were killed including six policemen and several of the players and officials sustained shrapnel injuries.
Following the attack, Pakistan was stripped of its 2011 Cricket World Cup hosting rights.
Sports stars who moved into politics
The party of Imran Kahn a legendary former cricketer, has won the most seats in Pakistan's general election. He's not the only pro athlete to turn his hand to politics after hanging up his boots.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary
Imran Kahn – Pakistan's new prime minister?
Imran Kahn's Tehreek-e-Insaf party has won the most seats in Pakistan's general election. As a cricketer Kahn did it all. An "all-rounder," he claimed more than 350 test wickets with the ball and averaged almost 40 runs with the bat. Among his numerous achievements was captaining Pakistan to the 1992 Cricket World Cup title.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary
George Weah — President of Liberia
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Vitali Klitschko — mayor of Kyiv
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Manny Pacquiao — Duterte's successor?
Boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao has become a staunch supporter of hardline Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte since hanging up his gloves. Duterte has said more than once that he expects the former champ, now a senator, to succeed him as president. Pacquiao has stood up for some of Duterte's more contentious policies, like his war on drugs, mentioning his own drug addiction as a youth.
Image: Getty Images/M.Dejeto
Romario — '94 World Cup winner, Rio senator
Romario de Souza Faria wore the number 11 and partnered Bebeto up front when Brazil won the 1994 World Cup. Only Pele and Ronaldo have scored more for the Selecao. Now he's a sitting senator for Rio de Janeiro, representing the Socialist party of former presidents Lula and Dilma Rousseff.
Image: Getty Images/E.Sa
Judy Martz — speed skater and Montana governor
Judy Martz has often been first among Montana women. In 1964, competing in the 1,500-meter speed skating, she became one of the first two women from the state to go to the Olympics. In January 2001, she became the state's first female governor. At least for now, she remains Montana's only one. Republican Martz served one term, until 2005, and didn't run for a second.
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Ken Dryden — Montreal Canadiens, Liberal Party MP
Montreal Canadiens goaltender and NHL Hall of Famer Ken Dryden — so tall they called him the "four-story goalie" — won the Stanley Cup in his 1971 debut season. He went on to win five more that decade. By 2004, though, Dryden was drafted as a "star candidate" for the Liberal Party of current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He held a seat for seven years, and later even sought the party leadership.
Image: Getty Images/R.Wolowicz
Arnold Schwarzenegger — to California via Hollywood
Most know him either as The Terminator or as former governor of California, but it all began for Arnold Schwarzenegger as a pro bodybuilder. Aged 23, he became the youngest ever "Mr. Olympia." California's 38th Governor was first elected in 2003 in a special recall election, and was then elected to a second, full term in 2006. He later returned to acting and a Terminator reboot — "I'll be back."
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Bill Bradley — New York Knick, New Jersey senator
NBA Hall of Famer Bill Bradley is that rarest of things: a New York Knick with a championship ring to his name. He was part of the 1970 and '73 chamionship teams, the only NBA titles the Knicks have ever won. But he also majored in history at Princeton and grew up a political animal. As a Democrat, he served almost two decades as a New Jersey Senator, even seeking the 2000 presidential nomination.
Image: Getty Images/P.Newcomb
Sebastian Coe — gold in the 80s, organizer in 2012
Enlisting Sebastian Coe was quite a coup for Britain's Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher. Winner of the 1,500-meter gold in 1980 and 1984, Coe was an MP by 1992. But he lost his seat in the next election. He was made a Lord, a permanent member of Britain's upper house, in 2000. But he's best known for his work as an ambassador for London's 2012 Olympics, and as current president of the IAAF.
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Gustav-Adolf Schur — DDR cyclist and socialist
An A-list celebrity in the former East Germany, Gustav-Adolf "Täve" Schur was snapped up by the party apparatus early on. Aged just 27 he was already a member of the East German parliament, serving in it from 1958 until its abolition in 1990. After reunification, he served a term in the federal parliament for a socialist party. Some said he shouldn't have got a spot in cycling's hall of fame.
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Gerald Ford — Also a college footballer
Most remember the 38th President of the United States as the vice president thrown into the breach by Richard Nixon's resignation. But Gerald R. Ford was also an important water carrier for the University of Michigan's college football team in the 1932-34 seasons. In the first two of those, the "Wolverines" went undefeated.
Image: Public Domain/Gerald R. Ford Library
Ayrton Senna — Brazil's missed opportunity?
Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians lined the streets to bid farewell in 1994, after treble F1 champion Ayrton Senna was killed at the San Marino Grand Prix. An aggressive bully on the track, Senna was a different person out of the cockpit: fiercely religious, philanthropic and visibly pained by the plight of Brazil's poorest. Many in the F1 paddock were convinced he'd go into politics one day.