The dust of the city coated everything – the flags, the crisp new doboks, the hopeful faces of fathers shepherding their children. After 18 years, this was Karachi’s welcome: not a red carpet, but a gritty testament.

The National Games had come home.

The city, in its quintessential fashion, demanded a pilgrimage.

For the first Games on its soil after 18 years, it offered an obstacle course of its own making – cranes standing like sentinels over diverted roads that formed labyrinths of progress. But through the grit and the detours, they came. A river of colour, athletes from every corner of the country in their distinct tracksuits, and locals converging on the National Stadium. They arrived not for a mere ceremony, but in spite of the journey.

“I am almost covered in this dust,” a father told Dawn, guiding his young son in a taekwondo dobok toward the gates. “But we are glad. We are here.”

That sentiment, gritty and determined, was the unspoken anthem.

An 18-year wait, borne of the nation’s tumultuous cycles, had culminated not in polished perfection, but in the magnificent, unruly spectacle that only Karachi – impatient, passionate, and perpetually under construction – would dare to stage.

In the cool December sunlight, the stadium slowly filled.

Nearly 2,500 athletes – a vanguard of the 11,000 competing – along with thousands of students transformed the stands into a living mosaic.

Pakistani flags fluttered. Girls in cultural dresses posed for pictures; athletes snapped selfies. The air buzzed with the screams of students tumbling off buses, their energy infectious.

Then, the city’s notorious inertia set in. An almost two-hour delay saw the early carnival buzz curdle under the sun.

The vibrant dances on the field began to feel like a loop.

“They brought us here just to bake?” an athlete muttered in the open ground, echoing a growing restlessness. The band’s drills became background noise to shared sighs.

A roar, rekindled

But when the chief guest, Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah finally arrived, the spark returned violently.

Fireworks blossomed against the evening sky. The ceremony opened with the recitation of the Quran, followed by the national anthem. As the last note faded, it was swallowed by a roaring, unified catharsis: “Pakistan Zindabad!”

What followed was a parade of pride and personality – the reason for all the chaos.

Fourteen contingents marched, each led by its stars. Defending champions, Army, moved with the gravity of expectation, led by judoka Shah Hussain Shah. The Air Force contingent followed in sharp lines. Then came a burst of raw energy as Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s athletes spilled from their vans, the fatigue of their long journey shed the moment their boots hit the Karachi tarmac.

One by one, they flowed past:

Higher Education Commission led by Shareef Tahir, Commonwealth silver medallist in wrestling and Maheesha Ali, the Asian gold medallist in taekwondo; flag bearers of Islamabad were boxers Mazhar Fayyaz and Summaiya followed by Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Navy, Police.

An elderly coach from Balochistan paused, his eyes glistening, to salute a section of the crowd before hurrying to catch up. The hosts, Sindh, led by rugby player Areeba Noor, drew thunder from the stands. But the loudest cheers were reserved for the final entry: the Olympic champion.

The flame and the future

As the march ended, javelin gold medallist Arshad Nadeem – the nation’s brightest star – stood front and centre, holding the Pakistan flag aloft. The Navy band marched past with drums and flutes, a stirring prelude to the oath, taken by Mahoor Fatima and sprinter Mohammad Zubair Munir.

Then came the torch, carried on a journey that had begun in Karachi and travelled the nation. Passed from Olympian Qamar Ibrahim to athlete after athlete – Zameer Hussain, Anahita Fatima, Ayina Moeen, former sprinter Naseem Hameed, hockey legend Islahuddin – it finally reached Arshad.

He held it high, jogging a lap as every stand he passed erupted. From the Sindh contingent’s block, a chant rose: “Zindabad! Zindabad!” before melting into the stadium-wide roar.

With a final thrust, he lit the cauldron. Then, in a gesture that bridged ceremony and sport, he seized a javelin. With a familiar, powerful motion, he sent it arcing into the waiting net—a symbolic strike igniting the competitive spirit of the Games.

Bilawal formally declared the Games open. Fireworks flowered again in the sky.

On the field, little girls in colourful dresses waved handkerchiefs to the official song, while young karatekas in crisp gis showed off their kicks. The cold night had fully settled, but the stadium glowed with more than just flame.

It glowed with a promise. The journey that began in the dust was now alight. For Karachi, and for Pakistan’s athletes, the true test would come at dawn.

The 35th National Games were declared open amid fanfare at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi on Saturday.

Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who served as the chief guest, formally inaugurated the multi-sport spectacle.

Sindh athletes Mahoor Fatima and Mohammad Zubair administered the athletes’ oath, after which the Games’ cauldron was lit by Pakistan’s Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem, hockey great Islahuddin Siddique, and South Asian Games gold medallist Naseem Hameed.

An estimated 11,000 athletes will feature in the Games, which will be contested across multiple venues in the metropolis.

“I want to welcome you all — welcome, welcome to Karachi,” Bilawal said in his address. “I hope all the people coming from all regions will enjoy the National Games. You will all compete and, [God willing], this beginning will help create a positive atmosphere for Pakistan and for the youth of this province.

“The passion you show represents the people of Pakistan, and our youth is our future. The children standing before me today will, tomorrow, bring medals home for Pakistan — and then we will remember that it all started here.”

Athletes were made to wait since before noon for their marchpast, which finally began after the dignitaries had completed their speeches. The participants waved to the cameras as they stepped onto the track, their excitement evident.

More to follow.

Mitchell Starc made a late-career bid for all-rounder status when he scored a half-century and grabbed two wickets under the Gabba floodlights to push Australia to the brink of victory at the close of day three of the second Ashes Test on Saturday.

Tailender Starc made 77 in a sparkling 141-ball knock to help Australia to a 177-run lead before working his magic with the pink ball as England staggered to 134 for six at stumps, still 43 runs short of making Australia bat again.

Ben Stokes and Will Jacks were both four not out, tasked with restoring a shred of dignity to an England side who were ineffective with the ball and foolhardy with the bat.

England have had many lows on Australian soil since their last Test win in Sydney 15 years ago but day three at the Gabba may rival them for infamy.

They started the day with genuine hope of at least containing Australia, who had a 44-run lead with four wickets in hand.

They finished it demoralised, with Australia putting 511 on the board before scything through their batting order like a knife through warm butter.

Stokes’s team are now staring at a 2-0 series deficit that should prove impossible to turn around.

Only one team in the history of Test cricket has ever come back from 2-0 down to win a series — Don Bradman’s Australia in the 1936/37 Ashes.

Michael Neser and Scott Boland joined Starc with two wickets apiece as England lost 6-89 in a calamitous night session in front of a crowd of 35,574.

The collapse came after openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett had raced out of the gates with an unbroken 45-run partnership in six overs to the dinner break.

“Great fun. We thought the ball was going to come alive in the night session and we just wanted to put as many balls as we could in the right areas. We bowled pretty well,” said Boland, who bowled Duckett (15) and had Harry Brook (15) caught behind.

Neser missed a tough caught-and-bowled chance to remove Duckett but got the next two to dismiss Crawley (44) and Ollie Pope (26), both batters falling with loose drives.

Joe Root (15) was also culpable, driving away from the body to send a nick flying to wicketkeeper Alex Carey off the bowling of Starc, who later had Jamie Smith caught behind for four.

Starc now has 18 wickets in two Tests of the series.

Earlier, though, it was all about the big left-arm quick’s batting.

He grabbed his 11th Test fifty and fifth against England to go with his six first-innings wickets.

Starc smashed 13 fours and combined with tailender Boland (21 not out) in a record 75-run partnership for the ninth wicket at the Gabba.

When Starc finally holed out with a miscued slog, Brendan Doggett (13) and Boland soaked up another seven overs before Doggett mercifully nicked the spin of all-rounder Jacks to wrap up the innings.

Australia put on 133 for the day after resuming on 378 for six, denying England any chance of batting during safer daylight hours.

Carey, dropped twice on day two, ended up scoring 63, one of five half-centuries in Australia’s first innings.

Seamer Brydon Carse finished with 4-152 for England, but conceded more than five runs an over. Stokes was nearly as expensive for this three wickets.

As to England’s shot selection, coach Marcus Trescothick was left to shield England’s batters in post-match interviews.

“We get it right sometimes and when we do we dominate opposition,” he said.

“And when we don’t…. we play bad shots and that gets highlighted. It is what it is. You’ve got to have some way of trying to play the game.”