Some days ago, a friend and I passionately debated whether Saqlain Mushtaq was good enough to represent Pakistan after 2004. My friend’s argument about Saqlain was that by the time he returned, and subsequently carted by Virender Sehwag, the wrists had given way, the doosra was user-used, and Saqlain had become all too predictable. He argued that Danish Kaneria, despite Inzamam-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal, had become a better bowler by 2004.
There was, of course, more than a hint of truth in what he said. My friend didn’t mention this, but Saqlain was picked up and subsequently released by both Sussex and Surrey – an indication of the fact that the knees really had given up. Admittedly, I find it immensely difficult to accept that Saqlain did not play a Test match after that Sehwag carnage. This was a genius we are talking about; a man who was working on the teesra and chotha before injury hit, but one who many boys looked up to and modelled their bowling action on. If fast bowlers wanted to bowl like Imran, spinners – including former captain Shoaib Malik – wanted to bowl like Saqlain.
My gripe with the cricket board over having snubbed Saqlain is simply because of the lack of support given to him after he returned from multiple surgeries, on both knees. He was not even shown the door, more left to find it himself and not look back if he was smart enough. That Saqlain sat inside the New Zealand dressing room when Pakistan were playing the Kiwis grated on the nerves.
Fast forward to 2011, and we have a team but no heroes. Shoaib Akhtar now retired, Shahid Afridi, a man who embodies the erratic yet charismatic persona of an entire people, is relegated to T20 cricket (what with disagreements resulting in retirements), and Mohammad Aamir now playing gulee cricket somewhere. Our past derailed, our present frustrated and angry, and our future corrupted. Away from egotistical battles and accepting bribes, what we lost as a people were heroes – those who inspire, galvanise and give us hope for a better future.
There are of course other sportspeople that we have celebrated; Aisam-ul-Haq has made us proud, not least for his continued partnership with Rohan Bopanna in their Indo-Pak Express as did the hockey team by winning gold at the Asian Games after 20 years. But their star remains rooted at a level below that of our cricketers – in part because cricket is the one way we tend to gauge our self-worth. When we do well in cricket, other sportspeople also tend to get attention; when cricket fails to excite us, no other sport can possibly capture our attention.
It has been 64 years since my beloved country was founded. The armed forces spent much of this time ruling the country, but in a way, also strengthening the resolve of democratic and social movements to fight against dictatorship, create their own histories and throw up their own legends. There were idols on both sides, but few heroes. What united them perhaps were Imran, Javed, Wasim and Waqar. When democrats were messing up in the 1990s, Saqi and Saeed Anwar lifted us.
I don’t find it in myself to complain about all that is wrong. Others have done that, more eloquently and lucidly, but I do find it in myself to lament the fact there are no more heroes in Pakistan – people who could inspire, galvanise and give us some hope. The 1992 World Cup lives long in our memory because we saw plenty of heroes being thrown up – men who would carry Pakistan cricket forward for the next decade or so, until their eventual fall from grace that was the parting gift of the cricket board with every retirement. The attack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009, while robbing Pakistan of the right to host cricket, also ensured that heroes would no longer be thrown up on home ground, that legends were only to be made abroad. The fact that men such as Mumtaz Qadri or Malik Ishaq have replaced our cricketers as heroes says everything about where we are headed as a people: heroes are now borne out of warped causes, not of national honour and integrity.
Happy Birthday, Pakistan.
The writer is Deputy City Editor, Pakistan Today, Karachi. In Twitterverse, he goes by @ASYusuf.
