For the uninitiated, the World Cup that just got rolling is the third in the sub-continent but the first where Pakistan has been denied the status of a host, though it initially was there when the rights were awarded by the ICC. This is sad in the extreme, but then with the security situation as alarming as it is in our neck of the woods, envisaging a different outcome, though not impossible would still be wishful thinking.
What made an already bad situation irretrievable was the harrowing security lapse that allowed the attack on the Sri Lankan team in March 2009 to take place. But then with a management as cavalier, and this is mincing words, as Ijaz Butts this fate and other mishaps should be taken for granted.
Incidentally, this is not Ijaz Butts only World Cup in office. He had nearly made a hash of it before, in 1987. Eventually we did a better job as hosts than India, and it was acknowledged by the more discerning and demanding as Sir Vivian Richards and Mike Gatting both otherwise none-too-happy visitors to this country.
In that quaint pre-Kerry Packer and satellite television era, the PCB was BCCP and todays equivalent of the chief operating officer was secretary, an office that Ijaz Butt held, under another Butt Lt. Gen. Safdar.
Safdar had landed the office because the BCCP in those Zia years was the fief of Wapda. This president of BCCP happened to know nothing about cricket, yet was shrewd enough to know the consequences of failure in an event of this magnitude. With only months to go and literally nothing by way of organisation having been done, the superior Butt brushed his secretary aside, and went literally on all fours to Pakistan Tobacco Companys managing director Malcolm Bannister to beg for the services of Taher Memon, the PTCs marketing man who by then had built himself a reputation as a doer.
Now a Memon being a Memon knew that with Ijaz Butt breathing down his neck, and with the event only a few months off, he would only be able to achieve a big blob. He agreed to becoming the Joint Director (the director was Yawar Saeed, some people do have this knack of always being there without doing anything tangible) if he only reported to Safdar and absolutely no intervention from Ijaz. Like a halfway decent general, Safdar Butt knew when his back was against the wall and conceded on both counts.
Pakistan managed to do a swell World Cup in 1987 and another in the mid 1990s. Then under Musharraf, wages of two decades of so-called jihad caught up with us, and, as if that was not enough, our cricket was saddled with Ijaz Butt.
Coming to the World Cup 2011, the line that it is one of the most open ever has already been done to death by almost every analyst worth his salt or not. But this is true. The Aussies are only a pale shadow of what they were since they hit the acme by defeating Pakistan in the 1999 final.
Under Ricky Ponting they would compete, even a near-dead Aussie would. And given a bit of luck, they might get deep into the knockout stage but, as is evident from the most recent outings, their full one dozen years of dominance are definitely history.
With their economic clout in cricket and otherwise on the rise, the Indians are vying for the top spot in everything but first in cricket. Already numero uno in the Test arena, with cricket crazy crowds filling the stands, Dhoni and his charges want to make a statement. But this crowd factor, while a great multiplier, has the propensity of bringing a kind of pressure to bear under which teams as good or even better than India have been known to sink.
That perhaps is why no team has come near winning the World Cup at home, and India has already flunked twice in 87 and 96. This time round it relies on its batting bullying the opposition out of the contest for its bowling has few real sparks.
With Bangladesh put in its upstarts place in the opening game by India, Sri Lanka is the other sub-continental side harbouring hopes to replicate the 1996 glory. A well-rounded outfit under Kumar Sangakkara, its prospects look bright. South Africa and England are the other two rated high by the punters and the aficionados alike and not without reason.
South Africa seems to have all the ingredients, power and pedigree in batting and fire penetration in bowling in an attack led by Dale Steyn.
It remains to be seen whether the Proteas can remove the irritating tag of chokers this time round, something England has already achieved last year. Having won the T20 World Cup in 2010 followed by an emphatic Ashes triumph, Englands confidence is high. In terms of resources, England has superb balance, and they have a match-winning off-spinner in Graeme Swann too.
Written off some months ago but somehow managing to bounce off the baggage just in time, other than the new-found spring in its steps, Pakistan must take heart from the World Cup history, where other than 1979, and, of course, 2003 and 2007 versions, almost every event has thrown up a surprise winner. May it this time round be Shahid Afridis Pakistan? Anybodys guess, but the good thing is that the side is oozing confidence and unity, and no opposition is taking it for granted. That said, it would have to punch way above its weight to last the distance.
The writer is Sports and Magazines Editor, Pakistan Today.
