Johannesburg surrender mirrors the state of national resignation
If these had been normal times, heavens would have fallen after Pakistan fell to its lowest Test total — a measly 49 — in Johannesburg last week. Imagine the fall from grace: the runs didn’t even match the 61 years since Pakistan was admitted as a full member of the ICC.
Perhaps, the cricket plunge is just a latest manifestation of how this nation-state is slipping away.
Cricket may be just a blip on the radar in terms of the overall state of the nation but it is still the number one getaway from the usual dreariness of our long lost lives. There is only so much you can absorb of the omnipresent institutional decay that has gifted us the energy crisis, unemployment, inflation and security concerns so deep they pose an ominous existential threat.
Cricket, then, has been a favoured saviour — helping us get our bearings back and retain that modicum of wit around us. Although we no longer boast the kind of stars that in the past used to send the adrenaline rushing, there have always been potions of magic available to get the kicks.
Sadly, we may be moving to a stage where we would have exhausted the supplies. As always, lack of leadership — with that raw hand of politics so evident — is to blame for this.
Consider: if that madcap plan to capture Punjab through the backdoor had not been put to the test, perhaps security for the amazingly generous Sri Lankan cricket team wouldn’t have been compromised and we wouldn’t have lost international cricket to the militants.
Pray, what has that got to do with the state of Pakistan Cricket, you ask? Everything. With no international cricket in a cricket-mad country — even that has started to sound like a hackneyed cliché — it was a cinch, we would lose our way. Gone with it is any semblance of interest to look after the stadia — some have been used to hold political rallies, and even offer the pitch to serve as a helipad for VIPs!
Truth to tell, even the interest in taking up the sport as a profession has waned — hardly surprising when you ponder the spectacular decline all round. The match-fixing saga involving key players, who put greed before the green cap haven’t helped either — and that is putting it mildly.
The fact is Pakistan has had a proud history of throwing up natural talent, who with a mentor half decent in terms of playing for the country, rose to heights that left us with plenty of role models for young men dreaming of making it big on the world stage. The cupboard now stands dangerously bare.
We have come to a stage where the likes of Misbah-ul-Haq are entrusted with holding the unit together. Pushing 39 and virtually hanging from the edge of the cliff as it were, you can’t but pity him and the situational tragedy that Pakistan cricket has become.
One does not want to belittle Misbah’s contribution of more than two-and-a-half years at the helm under trying times — of which the whitewash of then-No.1 England was a superb highlight — but most of the happy results were obtained on familiar territory.
The real test, one suspected, would always come on surfaces with juice for the practitioners of fast and swinging ball — be it South Africa, Australia or England. Last week, we saw how weak we are underneath that veneer of a delta force. It was a hop-skip-jump of a different kind — one dictated by fear, nervousness and self-doubt. The surrender was abject, but it wasn’t so much the lack of ability that hurt as it was the lack of heart to stand up and be counted.
Much has been made of the ferocity of the Proteas pace attack. Yes, Dale has Steyned (stained) them and more but these sinful eyes have seen faster and decidedly, more lethal bowlers unleashing themselves in tandem. Who can forget the quartet that terrorized batsmen throughout the 70s and 80s under Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards?
However, never did you see capitulation borne out of a sinking heart. (For the record, Pakistan did fold for 43 in an ODI against the West Indies in South Africa in the 90s but that was on one hell of a freak wicket which drew flak from all and sundry. Pakistan still managed to grab three wickets before West Indies limped home). The other exception was the twin fifty scores in a UAE Test against Steve Waugh’s all conquering team but it was down to incredibly poor shot selection, not loss of nerve.
The classic example is that of Javed Miandad whose technique never pleased the puritans, but give his wicket away you would never dream of. The 1988 Test series in the Caribbean was nothing if not the USB of courage that won over a skeptic like even Imran Khan.
Miandad scored back-to-back Test hundreds against the world’s most potent pace attack, taking several body blows but staying resolute like the boy on the burning deck. Pakistan drew the rubber 1-1 in what was billed as the clash to decide the world’s best.
Pertinently, the tourists went into the series with diligent, if unique, training. Imran made his batsmen practise with wet balls on cement pitches to prepare them for the rising short delivery.
No such luck with a far more skillful set of experts and facilities today. Lack of leadership explains it best. When you have a captain who’s fighting inner demons to hold onto his place, how do you expect him to turn around the fortunes of the team.
The irony? It will be nothing short of a gamble to replace Misbah as captain right now!
Go ahead and pull your hair out.
The writer is Editor, Pique Magazine. He can be reached at [email protected]
