Clean Bowled!
By Perwaiz Ahmad
Yorba Linda, CA
In the game of cricket, the World Cup tournament is played every four years by teams from various countries. This year 10 countries competed for the most coveted prize, the WORLD CUP SHIELD!
England won the World Cup after a thrilling and nerve-wrecking Final that was marred with controversy because of creepy rules. The Jury is divided and the comments from the greats in cricket have stirred a debate about revising the rules of the ICC.
Clean bowled, not really!! After a very dismal start, our team was tethering all the way to the end of the series, waiting for a miracle to happen so theycould reach the semi-finals.
Very early on our hopes were dashed to the ground when we suffered a huge blow from West Indies (WI): our team scored 105 runs in mere 21 overs while the WI replied with 108 runs in just 13 overs. Our players showed that they were clueless about the consequences if they did not perform. Four years of planning and practice came crumbling down like a sandcastle leaving the team demoralized and in disarray. Sarfaraz’s captaincy was in doldrums because in the two series preceding the World Cup, Australia and New Zealand had crushed our team, inflicting nine straight one-day losses.
Taking heed from a poet's verse,“Girtehainshahsawar hi maidaan-e-jungmein, Wohtiflkiyagirenge jo ghutnokebalchale”, the Pakistan team bounced back in the next few games by first beating England on their home-ground, then New Zealand and South Africa, Bangladesh and Afghanistan also lost but they gave Pakistan a nail-biting finish which was a wake-up call for the team.
Ricky Ponting said, and I paraphrase, Pakistan is a force to reckon with because they can come out of nowhere to beat any team, anytime, anywhere in the world, if they want to. If anything, it was a big morale booster for our team who gave a fighting finish with Australia.
Winning or losing is part and parcel of any game whether it is Cricket, Football, Hockey or any other game, it is the nature of the beast. Seldom does a game end in a draw, mostly one side enjoys the ecstasy of victory while the opposing team experiences the agony of defeat. But defeat is not the end of the world, it is a temporary phase in life as long as a team analyzes its performance, ascertains weaknesses and takes remedial actions before the next showdown.
We saw the golden age of cricket in our country under the inspirational A H Kardar in the early 1950's when debonair FazalMehmood got the title of the Oval Hero. Kardar, a good all-rounder himself, had the knack to pick cricketers with great potential. Under Kardar, Hanif Mohammed known as the Little Master, emerged as one of the cricket world’s greats who stood against the fast and furious West Indies to score 337 runs (world record ) in West Indies when the entire team had nearly collapsed. He stood on the wickets for 17 hours which is still a world record after 60 years.
After Kardar's retirement, Pakistan cricket experienced a free fall in terms of quality and world standing. In 1962 when the Cricket Board appointed a junior member named Jawed Burki (son of a Federal Minister, Gen Burki) as captain for the English tour, superseding many seniors like Hanif, Imtiaz, Nasimul Ghani and quite a few others, the writing was on the wall: Pakistan suffered the most humiliating defeat in 8 years since the last tour of England in 1954. Test after Test after Test we failed forcing the ICC officials to question Pakistan’s Test status and eligibility to play any Test match in the future.
After a decade, we saw Imran Khan (current prime minister) emerge as a strong captain in the 80's who lead the team by example and ruled with an iron hand. A tireless sportsman, he overcame many handicaps himself to become the fastest bowler and then the best all-rounder. He wouldn’t bow to any pressure because he had the self-confidence to face anyone, anytime. Imran had the courage to look into the eyes of the Management (PCB) and say, keep your hands off my captaincy if you want me to be the captain. Pakistan emerged as one of the best teams in a few years, beating every team on their home grounds. We saw world-class cricketers like WasimAkram, Jawed Miandad ,Sarfaraz Nawaz , Saeed Anwar, WaqarYounus rise to the occasion because Imran Khan was playing for the nation, not for himself. His cricket career culminated after winning the 1992 World Cup. In the last 26 years we have not demonstrated the fervor in cricket as we did during the Imran Khan era.
If we look at the anatomy of our performance since the early 1950's all the fingers point to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that has promoted a culture of nepotism, favoritism, cronyism and parochialism, putting self-interest over national interest. More so now than ever before because millions of monies are involved, lucrative salaries plus and product endorsements, unlike the past when players played to boost the nation's image in the cricket world for a paltry salary.
In the 2015 World Cup, we saw that Sarfaraz was sidelined for the first three games despite an impeccable performance in domestic and foreign matches. I asked MisbahulHaq when I met him in California about Sarfraz’s questionable omission but he had nothing to substantiate why the ace player was left out. Shahid Afridi, captain for T20, excluded Sarfaraz even though he was the vice-captain in that series. As Misbah approached retirement, Imran Khan categorically endorsed Sarfaraz Ahmed to lead Pakistan in all three formats because he saw amazing and proven talent in him. Sadly, some in PCB did not agree. After much speculation, Sarfaraz Ahmed was appointed to lead Pakistan.
Sadly, Sind, a province of 47 million never gets a fair share of representation in our national cricket team. At best, we see one or two cricketers from Sind and KPK whereas the rest of the team is predominantly from the Punjab Province which accounts for 62 percent of the population. It’s about time that the format Imran Khan has been pushing for decades is instituted because the current format limits the exposure and selection of talent. It is incomprehensible to justify that there is a dearth of talent in Sind because we have seen so many stars rise to dizzying heights to become record holders and outstanding competitors in the cricket world
It is unfortunate that the greats of our team like Jawed Miandad, WasimAkram, Saeed Anwar, Mushtaq Mohammed, Mohsin Khan, and Saqlain are sidelined in the management and coach positions which has placed a damper in recruiting new talents from all over Pakistan. We hope that Prime Minster Imran Khan’s dream to revamp PCB will materialize during his time in office and we will witness glory return to Pakistan cricket and other sports as well.
