Former cricketer Wasim Akram was saddened to see Karachi’s National Stadium empty for the T20I matches between Pakistan and West Indies. “Where is the crowd and why?” he asked on Twitter.

“Incredibly sad to see an empty stadium in Karachi for #PAKvWIt20 especially after the performance of Pakistan Team in the last month,” he said.

The three match T20I series between Pakistan and West Indies took off on December 13, bringing international cricket to the country after several years. It was expected that a crowd would turn up in large numbers given the spectacular performance of the Pakistani team in the T20I World Cup last month. However, the speculations proved to be wrong.

“A team returned home after winning 10 out of 11 Int'l matches in the last 2 months before which 2 top teams refused to tour us, instead of rushing into the stands & welcoming them & showing what cricket means to us, this is what Karachites have come up with,” wrote a Twitter user.

In response to Akram's tweet, one social media user listed five reasons why audiences may have not come to watch the match, which included weekdays, early timing, the requirement of being vaccinated, poor marketing and unavailability of tickets at the stadium.

Another user said that the lack of interest could be due to the absence of popular players from the West Indies team among others.

Crowd or no crowd, the Pakistani team continues to break records by becoming the first men’s team to win 18 T20Is in a calendar year after beatinig West Indies by 63 runs in Karachi on Monday.