I've often mentioned on my blog how Pakistanis get all worked up when it comes to religion - well, there's one more thing that makes them that emotional - cricket. Cricket is religion in Pakistan. Cricket is also what brings all Pakistanis together. Support for a certain player has nothing to do with what part of the country he's from, but how well he plays his sport. I started waiting for 2011 years ago because that was the year we were going to host the World Cup.
So yes, 180 million hearts were broken when we were denied hosting rights, when two of our top bowlers were banned, when we lost the semi-final. Yes, it would have been easy to console ourselves had our team played like it was actually playing a big game, just the way it had performed all through the tournament. The heartache could've been a little more bearable had we seen our team strategize, field better, not given Umar Gul those overs, taken the powerplay earlier. But in retrospect, there's more reasons to celebrate than to be sad about. It's true I didn't watch the group matches because I wasn't expecting much from this team. But look where we got? We ended Australia's unbeaten run to reach the semis. The young team played some great cricket. Afridi became the highest wicket taker of the tournament. It was after a long time we saw Pakistan playing positive - there was no politics and the team was united under one captain. The stark reality is that lady luck was smiling upon Tendulkar that day and ignoring poor Gul. The stark reality also is that the match gave us many sleepless nights and got us excited and gave us something to look forward to. It is heartening to see that people are praising the team even after the loss. This shows that we are not that fickle after all. This shows our love for this game and our patriotism for this country. This shows we are one nation, after all.
Like I've said before, Afridi need not apologize. We love this team and we are so proud.
Green for life.
 |
| The Vitruvian Pathan by Komail Naqvi |
Couldn't agree more!! We were all utterly miserable yesterday, but surprisingly, people were positive about our loss. It may have been that Allah saved us from some security issues that would've occurred if we won. But overall - this gives us a lesson that Pakistanis CAN unite for a common cause. It gave me hope :)
ReplyDeleteHaha btw I love the Afridi pic - totally stealing ;)
Awesome
ReplyDeletepoor review
ReplyDeleteThank you Ammarah and Anonymous#1.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous#2, although I respect your opinion, this wasn't meant to be a review of the match at all.
perfectttttttttttttt and sooo truee <3
ReplyDeleteTrue, it was great to see how Pakistani people were positive about the loss.
ReplyDeleteBut one thing really upset me, was a lot of people living in US, who are not really sure about their back homeland, if they belong to India or Pakistan, went on blaming Pakistan on being bikau. I hope they will soon realize that Pakistani cricketers played well this entire tournament!
yes..true..he need not to apologize...and i was so touched by the way people received afridi at the airport..jam packed with people cheering afridi's name..it was good!!
ReplyDeleteAlthough i have my reservations against Misbah...i think we lost the match because of him..he was weird..
Guys, it makes me happy to see this hope we have in the team. And Usama.. I didn't know the airport story.. that's fabulous!
ReplyDeletefor me, no excuses, a defeat is defeat,
ReplyDeleteIndian team having educated and trained professional all around, from selectors , coaches, field helping staff and most of the players.
IPL is a very positive addition to their cricket approach.
Pakistan basic weakness is education, only talent is not enough,
That is true. We joke about it by saying, "Oh they can't speak English" but the problem is much deeper. The lack of education shows in their incapability to make strategic, educated decisions.
ReplyDeleteYou totally ruined your post by putting Afridi's picture in there....now that pic is the best thing in this blog....
ReplyDelete