Something to cheer about in a cheerless environment
With the pall of gloom so thick and all-pervading, in the main wrought as much by the mayhem created by a murderous TTP as the indecision and in insipidity in the government’s ranks, two scintillating wins in three days by Team Pakistan provided the nation with something to cheer about. One manifestation of across-the-country celebration was aerial firing: a condemnable phenomenon on an occasion that otherwise showcased the spontaneous solidarity of the people. With India every encounter is invariably a battle of attrition. Bangladesh, otherwise the minnows but always punching above their weight in their own backyard, were smarting from the pasting the new-kid-on-the-block Afghanistan had given them earlier. Keen to placate their battered pride, they came with a bounce not usually associated with them. The odds were stacked against Team Pakistan, and these only became far stiffer owing to exceptionally inconsistent umpiring which displayed its partiality in its decisions against the greenshirts in each session of the game over the two matches. That is stretching coincidence a bit far, but the fact that Team Pakistan had the nerve and chutzpah to overcome these challenges reflects its resolve to make its mark no matter what.
Both the wins were team efforts, yet in both down-the-wire final-over triumphs Shahid Afridi was the man of the moment, his awesome blitz quite spectacularly propelling Team Pakistan over the line with aplomb. As a consequence Pakistan has made it to the Saturday’s final already, along with Sri Lanka, rendering the matches on Wednesday and Thursday irrelevant. For a team that has not played at home for five years, being one step away from defending its continental title a week after its juniors, the Under-19 squad, had made it to the final of the ICC World Cup only to be scuppered by South Africa, means that the prognosis for Pakistan cricket remains bright. In the circumstances, it is safe to assume that if our cricket was not as mismanaged as it has been, as much now as over the years, our prospects of becoming numero uno and staying at that pinnacle would be far greater.
Sweet as both these victories are, and the inevitable state of euphoria these have spawned, the Team Pakistan and its support staff needs to be reminded that particularly in the game against Bangladesh our much-feared bowling attack quite unbelievably and our fielding predictably went to pieces in the face of an onslaught. One can shrug it off as a mere bad day at the office, but the proof of this contention must come with a much tighter performance against Sri Lanka in the finale. After all, there is little glory in losing at the last gasp.
