FAISALABAD – Cricket fever with all its euphoria has engulfed the whole world irrespective of geographical barriers. Leaving behind the loads of socio-political and economic problems, all eyes in Faisalabad are focused on a single event – the upcoming Indo-Pak cricket encounter when the two giant teams will clash in a semifinal match at Mohali on Wednesday. The fixture has grossly prevailed over the national political scenes of both Pakistan and India as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh invited his Pakistani counterpart, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, to watch the event which is being called by the Indian media as the clash of ‘titans’ and ‘a fourth world war’ pointing out three earlier clashes between the two teams in the world cup history.
“Ours is surely a strong enough team to beat India on its home ground among its home crowd,” said a fan. “If it happens, it will be a day to change the course of history that testifies that Pakistan has never defeated India in the World Cup matches,” he said. “This is not merely a semifinal; it is rather the mother of all matches and we have to take it as a final,” said an emotional cricket lover. “It does not matter even if we lose the final from New Zealand or Sri Lanka but we must beat India to accomplish our longtime dream,” he stressed.
“In cricket, hockey or any other sport, when Pakistan takes on India in semifinals, the final match is always pushed to a secondary position,” said another cricket fanatic. “Afridi eleven has shown the world that Pakistan certainly has the ability to win the World Cup in India,” said an excited fan. “Though Pakistan is not hosting the World Cup matches, but it has the power to bully any side on its day and the match with Australia is the prime example of it,” he pleaded.
“The upcoming Pakistan vs India semifinal has refreshed the bitter memories of 1996 quarterfinal in India when Indian crowd at one stage forced the match to stop by agitation in the stadium just to save their team from defeat,” reminded a fan skeptical of Indians’ tolerance level.
“Has India matured itself or we are going to witness another true face of Indian crowd which cannot see any one else winning on its grounds,” he asked. “This is a game of nerves and the team that will control the inherent psychosis will outplay the other,” said a team well wisher. “Basically this is a mind game and the one with better mindset will steal the show,” he opined. “Pakistan team is playing good cricket and it will make history by defeating India in front of Indian crowd,” said a college student. “Pakistan side must play well and must not bow to pressure at all,” he suggested. “The magnitude of mental pressure on Indian side is much higher than normal in this match,” he concluded.
“India has the strongest batting order that always helps them to win; Pakistan, on the contrary, has one of the top bowling combinations,” said an analyst. “Stakes are very high for both sides as they are two steps away from the world championship title,” he added. Couple held for obscenity: Police raided a house that was allegedly being used as an undercover brothel and arrested a prostitute and her client in a compromising position. Sadar Police Station Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Ahmed Ali was tipped off that accused Yaseen and his wife Rani, residents of Chak No 214 RB, were running a brothel at their house. The ASI raided the house along with his team and arrested Qaisar and Asma during the immoral act while the owner of the house, Yaseen and his wife Rani, were also arrested.
HUSBAND COMMITS SUICIDE: A frustrated husband whose reconciliation bid was rejected by his estranged wife committed suicide. Reportedly, Imtiaz Ahmed, a resident of Mohallah Feroz Shah, had a history of quarrels with his wife who was living with her parents. The estranged couple, as a matter of coincidence, got together at a relative’s wedding party. Imtiaz asked his wife to go with him, but she rejected his plea and returned to her parents’ house. Imtiaz who could not stand his insult in front of his relatives at the wedding party came back home and shot himself dead with a pistol.
