Back to winning ways?
The revival of fortunes of the Test team has been cause for much joy for the country. People have had little to cheer for a while. The political situation remains edgy, power shortages made this summer particularly painful, and inflation and overall high cost of living have dulled most households. The terrorism problem, too, continues despite the success of Zarb-e-Azb. In such times, the remarkable cricket victory over the powerful Australian team brought a welcome bit of good news. And this was not just the return to form of a struggling outfit. The Pakistani team clearly decided to take the bull by the horns, and hammer its way out of a very tight corner, which is commendable. While the whole team must take credit for record after record that tumbled, it was star batsman Younis Khan who led the initial charge, and Misbah’s best captaining abilities to date came out at just the right time.
Sports are an important indicator of a country’s overall progress. There was a time when we were world leaders in a number of them. The Khan family’s long dominance over the Squash world has long been the stuff of legend. We were world beaters in international hockey, and always a force to be reckoned with in cricket. Those were times when the country as a whole was also progressive, and accepted as such by the international community. It was for a reason, after all, that the world’s most progressive societies were also ahead in sports. The two superpowers were also Olympic medal rivals in the days of the bipolar world. And everybody has noticed China’s advance in international sports as the country has risen to prominence. Recent regional competitions have seen a sharp rise in India’s profile, which their press has trumpeted as an extension of the country’s progress.
In Pakistan, unfortunately, we have regressed socially and politically, which is reflected in our sports also. And while nothing can diminish the substance of Pakistan’s effort against Australia and New Zealand, we also cannot turn from the reality that our sports system remains paralysed. There is no assurance that even these performances will last, at least till the world cup, and translate into one-day successes also. The PCB must treat this as a watershed moment. It must immediately institute changes that will revive the game at the grassroots, so future teams are more rounded, and individual flashes of brilliance are not relied upon as practice. Otherwise it will be difficult to build on even remarkable success as the Test series just concluded in Abu Dhabi.
