Living Moments - N°3 Edition 2015/16

The cricketers of Pakistan just smile quietly about the wages of Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. In their hometown they are real superstars, like Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi, known as ‘Boom Boom Afridi’. The 35-year-old leads a life of luxury, is pursued by models and yet he married the woman his parents chose for him. Cricket is not only a field sport in Pakistan, but a religion. The emotions of a whole country are reflected in the duel between the bowler and the batsman. ‘No matter whether the team wins or loses, somebody always has a heart attack’, Ineke Zondag says. She is a photographer and has, among other things, accompanied teams from Pakistan for many years. A woman alone in a man’s world – in every team, in every stadium. ‘I’m aware of my special role, but they all give me and my work great respect and trust.’The Dutch woman who lives in Dubai is, by the way, one of the very few to see a photo of Afridi’s wife. The Ring of Fire - a highly professional venue 2009 went down in history in Pakistani cricket as the black year. On the way to a game against Pakistan, the national team from Sri Lanka was fired upon and players were seriously injured. The safety situation didn’t allow any more home games, so the Pakistani national sport searched for a new home. A hard step, but Dubai has already accommodated the International Cricket Council, the world association, since 2005 and this is how the Emirates outdid cricket strongholds like Great Britain or Australia. So now the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi and the Dubai International Stadium are new home stadiums. The latter was built by the company which boasts the Allianz Arena in Munich as one of their references. Alpine Bau Deutschland “We are aware that cricket is closely connected to the Pakistan soul, this is why we want to make sure that really everybody is able to watch the games” Pakistanische Cricket-Test- spieler können einen Schlag für sich entscheiden Pakistan Test Cricket players claim a wicket 164 7TaTYR 8ZXPY_^ Edition 3 · 2015/16