When Indiscipline Blights the Cricket Scene
By H. Maker
Karachi, Pakistan
Last week, I was invited by Farokh Captain to watch the Twenty20 cricket match between Pakistan and Bangladesh at the National Stadium. I immediately accepted the invitation, as I always enjoy the festive atmosphere at these events which give me an opportunity to write on a lighter subject than the usual ‘doom and gloom’ scenario in Pakistan .
As I no longer have the patience to drive around in the chaotic traffic of Karachi, I hitched a ride with my friend, Afia Salam, who also happens to be an avid cricket fan and is the first lady cricket writer in Pakistan. She is well known for her articles and reports on the game.
As we entered the bright, flood lit stadium, with its flapping flags and colorful buntings, we were greeted with the sound of beating drums, chants of ‘Pakistan Jetay Ga’ and the catchy chorus of ‘A-O-A-O’. I had expected a much larger crowd, but the stadium was at half capacity. The general maintenance of the grounds was fairly good, though the vendors were far too few. The dustbins and security also appeared scanty though the evening was thoroughly enjoyable.
The festive mood reminded me of the football matches I used to attend at college and university on cold frosty days, where you could cheer and jeer with gusto and sway to the chorus of the old school songs. We used to rush on to the pitch after the match, to shake hands with the winning team and were usually chased off the field by whistle blowing Bobbies, for being disorderly, dodging and weaving, with college scarves flapping widely in the wind,. But it was always in good fun and there was never any violence or hooliganism that is associated with football matches these days.
The Pakistani team won the toss and batted first and for a change, was in firm control of the game through out the match hitting blistering sixes and fours and masterful strokes. The home team scored 203 for the loss of 5 wickets in the allotted 20 overs, which was their highest total for a 20-20 match. Misbah-ul-Haq scored 87 not out, his career best, followed by knocks of 47 by Younis Khan and 35 by Shoib Malik. Bangladesh were all out on just 101 in 16 overs to give Pakistan an easy win.
At the end of the match, the charming and exciting Hadiqa Kayani entertained the crowd with her hand clapping and swinging songs. While leaving, we had the opportunity to meet Hanif Mohammad, who is fondly referred to as the ‘Little Master’.
I came across the dark side of cricket when, many years back, I was asked by Cmdr. Gillani to hold a Straight Talk seminar on match fixing and ball tampering. The late Omar Qureshi had been kind enough to request Gen. Tauqir Zia, who was Chairman, PCB at that time, to be the Chief Guest and Justice (retired) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, who had headed the enquiry into the sordid affair, to chair the seminar.
Farishte Aslam, who had broken the story and Arif Abbasi, had assisted me in selecting the speakers, who included Zaheer Abbas and other luminaries of cricket. Since then, Pakistan cricket, as well as squash and hockey, have tumbled from the top of the ladder and from heroes, we have turned to zeros.
Cricket has gone through crisis to another, the most tragic being the sudden death of our former coach, the late Bob Woolmer. And now we have the raging controversy of the volatile Shoaib Akthar.
This decline in our sports and cultural activities, including our system of governance, is blamed on our inability to respect and practice the Quaid’s simple message of faith, unity and discipline and the lack of enforcement of the rule of law.
The controversial Shoaib Akthar has been in the eye of the storm for many years, but survived because of the lenient and lax attitude of the PCB, Now he has reached the point where the management has been forced to ban him from playing cricket for five years.
Banning someone or something is the quick fix and short-cut solution frequently used by governors, ministers and senior government officials, when they fail to enforce discipline or the rule of law, without caring about the consequences.
Pakistan has lost an extremely talented cricketer, who was considered to be the fastest bowler in the world. The ‘Rawalpindi Express’ would have still been thundering across the pitch, had he not been brought to a screeching halt because of PCB mishandling of his case.
The game of cricket is considered to be a gentlemen’s game and is associated with warm English summer days, elegant ladies in colorful hats and summer dresses, and 22 gentlemen dressed in white, playing the noble game under a strict code of conduct and behavior. Even the spectators are obliged to observe the same code, with polite clapping and soft calls of ‘well played’, as a mark of appreciation for the players.
The five-day test matches are still played in the old tradition, but the one-day matches and Twenty20 encounters are totally different and have become a mega moneymaking event, with colorful uniforms, TV rights, and evil that is associated with big money, including betting and match fixing.
Twenty international matches have been played since 2005 and an ICC World Twenty20 tournament is to take place every two years. The inaugural match was played in South Africa in 2007 with India defeating Pakistan in the final. In a short span of time, the game has spread around the cricket world very quickly and has become very popular.
One hopes to have the pleasure of seeing more of these matches in Pakistan with world-class teams giving off the best of their cricketing talent.
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