The nature of Pakistani cricket fans is such that winning cricket matches isn’t enough for us; we want our players to be unpredictable, flashy and eccentric. That is why a hit-and-miss batsman like Shahid Afridi, equally capable of reaching dizzying heights of brilliance and moments of sheer stupidity, is a folk hero while the solidly dependable Misbahul Haq has never garnered much affection or respect. Now may be the time to change that view. Under Misbah’s captaincy, Pakistan has become what it never was previously: a team that is consistently victorious. If winning series in all three formats of the game against Sri Lanka was not enough to convince the sceptics then nothing will.
Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka are teams recovering from the loss of their best bowlers — Sri Lanka to retirement, Pakistan to prison. What our complete dominance showed is that we still have the best bowling reserves in the world. The surprise, though, was the batting line-up. Previous Pakistan cricket teams have had individual batsmen that rank among the best in the world but have also been prone to inexplicable collapses. The current batting squad is devoid of stars but heavy on reliability. As much as we love to moan about Misbah’s slow strike rate, his dependability is the glue that binds the batting. Given that both he and Younis Khan are in the twilight of their careers, it was also very encouraging to see the maturity shown by Azhar Ali and the late blossoming of Mohammed Hafeez’s talent.
Crediting our comprehensive victory against the Sri Lankans to the change at the top of the Pakistan Cricket Board may be premature but going forward it will be a welcome respite to have a chairman who doesn’t seem to go out of his way to antagonise star players. The return of Shahid Afridi, after his pointless feud with Ijaz Butt, also points to a new future, one where infighting and rivalries can be banished and forgotten. Given our history this dawn may be a false one and the cricket team could soon revert to type.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2011.
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاکِستان) is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west,India in the east and China in the far northeast.[7] Tajikistan also lies very close to Pakistan but is separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor. Strategically, Pakistan is located in a position between the important regions of South Asia, Central Asia and the greater Middle East.[8]
The region forming modern Pakistan was the site of several ancient cultures including theneolithic Mehrgarh and the bronze era Indus Valley Civilisation. Subsequently it was the recipient of Hindu, Persian, Indo-Greek, Islamic, Turco-Mongol, and Sikh cultures through several invasions and/or settlements. As a result the area has remained a part of numerous empires and dynasties including the Indian empires, Persian empires, Arab caliphates, Mongol,Mughal, Sikh and British Empire. Pakistan gained independence from the British Empire in 1947 after a struggle for independence, led by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, that sought the partition of India and the creation of an independent state for the Muslim majority populations of the eastern and western regions of British India.[9] With the adoption of its constitution in 1956, Pakistan became an Islamic republic.[10] In 1971, an armed conflict in East Pakistan resulted in the creation of Bangladesh.[11]
Pakistan is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of four provinces and four federal territories. With over 170 million people, it is the sixth most populous country in the world[2] and has the second largest Muslim population after Indonesia.[12] It is an ethnically andlinguistically diverse country with a similar variation in its geography and wildlife. With a semi-industrialized economy, it is the 27th largest in the world in terms of purchasing power. Since gaining independence, Pakistan's history has been characterised by periods of military rule,political instability and conflicts with neighbouring India. The country faces challenging problems including terrorism, poverty, illiteracy and corruption.
Pakistan has the seventh largest standing armed force and is the only Muslim-majority nation to possess nuclear weapons. It is designated as a major non-NATO ally of the United States and a strategic ally of China.[13][14] It is a founding member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (now the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation)[15] and a member of the United Nations,[16] Commonwealth of Nations,[17] Next Eleven economies and the G20 developing nations.
No comments:
Post a Comment