The jury is out

As sports fans we have this inbuilt trait of being impatient. We always want our teams and the players we support to win; and when they don’t, we tend to scream bloody murder, and more often than not logic is exhaustively thrown out of the window. However, sometimes we take our frustration way beyond the line of sanity, and act like what in all honesty resemble psychologically malfunctioned baboons. Here are three cases where the fans’ baboon imitation has gone too far…
IN MISBAH’S DEFENCE
As Pakistan cricket fans we tend to redefine, time and time again, the aforementioned psychological malfunction; and occasionally we manage to make even our Indian counterparts – who are notorious for their over-the-top reactions – seem like sculptures of tranquility. The pride we take in hauling coals over our cricket team is pitiable, but the sheer joy we get from mocking one Misbah-ul-Haq is lamentable. Granted he did not deliver in the final T20 match against England – and neither did any other batsman for that matter – but that’s hardly the only reason why we have loaded our guns against our captain. It’s almost as if we’re looking for excuses just to somehow lay the blame for every single thing that is wrong in the country on Misbah; the man who transformed our cricket from being the butt of global ridicule to being a veritable power – and no the ODI and T20 series defeats against England do not change that.
We say Misbah does not deserve to be in the T20s, while conveniently forgetting his match-winning innings in the previous meaningful T20 against Sri Lanka in November or the fact that had it not been for the shortest format of the game, Misbah probably wouldn’t have been playing international cricket at all. Is the hatred because of ‘that’ semifinal in Mohali? When Misbah was made the scapegoat for – well, for bothering to stick around while the rest of the batsmen threw their wickets away and for being the difference between an embarrassing loss and a closely fought one. What is it that stands between us and embracing the best cricketing brain that this country has had for ages? Is it the rugged style; the emotionless persona or is it because he replaced our sweetheart ‘Boom Boom’ as the captain of the national team?
In the immediate aftermath of the final T20 against England, some of our new channels – most notably the ones under the hegemony of the powers that be from Karachi – were imbued with the clamour that Shahid Afridi should be the one leading the limited-over teams. Talk about knee-jerks! Do we need to change captains every time we lose a series? And what has Afridi done to deserve to lead the side? He has thrown retirement tantrums, broken most of the rules in the code of conduct, brewed politics in the dressing room, showcased irresponsibility of all kith and kin both on and off the field and been the emblem of inconsistency – we want to replace the man who has finally managed to curb the turmoil associated with Pakistan cricket with someone who is one of the primary causes for the aforementioned turmoil? It is blasphemous to utter anything against Afridi, but Misbah has done more for Pakistan cricket in January 2012 than our sweetheart has done in 17 years representing the national side.
As cricket fans if we choose to act all ‘high-maintenance’, there’s nothing wrong with it; but then why the double standards? Why do we scrutinise every little folly of Misbah and choose to forgive the mammoth sins of Afridi? Why is the man who has cost more ODIs to Pakistan with his nut-head batting, than Misbah has played, being touted as a hero? Why is the man who didn’t play Saeed Ajmal, – the top-three bowler in all formats recently – who didn’t drop Kamran Akmal, who made a mockery out of Shoaib Akhtar’s curtain call and openly criticised Waqar Younis – a living legend of Pakistan cricket – peddled as a great captain? Why do we bring the ‘he has hit the most sixes’ argument while dutifully defending him in a debate, while forgetting that almost none of them was hit when there was a genuine need? Why do we extol his ODI wickets tally and ignore that before 2008 he was a part-timer at best and hence, his match winning spells have been a rarity?
We love to hate Misbah, but we’d give all we have to defend the man who has created more problems for Pakistan than solutions. And then we whine about Pakistan cricket not performing consistently… Well it’s possibly because when someone with a logical head takes over the helm, we don’t bloody give him a chance.
IN MURRAY’S DEFENCE
Andy Murray is again someone who tennis fans don’t really warm up to. And again, it’s hardly because of his Grand Slam duck, or the fact that he comes unstuck in the biggest moments – players with much lesser accolades have garnered more following than the Scott. Murray’s straight set wins over Novak Djokovic in Dubai might have come as a massive jolt for the tennis aficionados, but when one digs into perspective the triumph doesn’t look quite as shocking. During Djokovic’s reign at the apex of world tennis it has actually been Murray who has looked the most likely of dismantling his hegemony, and as showcased by his one-sided triumph in the semifinal of the Dubai Tennis Championship, Britain’s number one has what it takes to right his wrongs in Grand Slams and work his way to the apogee of tennis.
It is becoming an annual custom that Murray has a powerful run in Australia, falls criminally short in the decisive moments and goes on a slide till Roland Garros. However, the fact that he has reached the final in Dubai – this piece is being scribed before the Federer Murray final – shows that he has finally managed to get a hold of his nerves and that a major triumph might just be around the corner. We need to keep a share of the approbation pie – one that the top three have customarily hogged – for Murray as well, who is vying to make a name for himself in the most competitive era in men’s tennis.
IN LEBRON’S DEFENCE
While Misbah and Murray are quiet and down-to-earth athletes, the same can not be said of LeBron James; which is why it is difficult to defend a case against his ‘more hype less achievement’ persona. Maybe LeBron should be asked to lead the Pakistan cricket side; for, he’s exactly the ‘self-pointing, limelight seeking’ sort that we dutifully admire. However, the American sports fans prefer to see achievements before bragging; which is why they tend to take their scrutiny wee bit too far – just like in the aftermath of the Heat-Jazz game yesterday.
With Utah leading 99-98 James chose to pass the ball Udonis Haslem for the winning shot instead of taking it himself – and this after he had an absolute beast of a fourth quarter. The dish didn’t work out as it was intended, and the doubting Thomases, who habitually scrutinise LeBron’s clutch-time play, were given another cause for nourishment. These Thomases conveniently ignore the fact that had it not been for LeBron’s 18 (out of 35) points in the fourth quarter, Miami wouldn’t have had been in the game. And also, considering the relative positions of LeBron and Haslem, the pass was indeed the “right basketball play” as coach Erik Spoelstra rightfully pointed out. All the same one feels that it’s probably the same with all sporting domains; once the masses or indeed the pundits formulate an opinion, no amount of perspective or logic would make them bulge from their rigid stance.