Whenever one is discussing cricket anywhere, Pakistan is bound to come up. Pakistan has been there since it surprised everyone by beating India and England in a test match each in the early 1950s. Since then Pakistan has emerged as a powerhouse of cricket, producing greats like Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Majid Khan, Fazal Mahmood , Zaheer Abass and the list is endless. It has also beaten most teams at home and abroad and therefore is considered to have a great record in both the test and one day versions of the game. The crowning glory of Pakistan’s cricketing history was its triumph in the world cup under the determined and courageous leadership of Imran Khan...
Despite all the laurels and triumphs, Pakistan remains a very unpredictable team. On its day, it can beat the best in the world, on others it loses to minnows like Bangladesh. You never know where you stand with Pakistan. For a fan, an avid fan like myself, this is extremely disturbing. I personally have had it with all the adrenalin rushes one gets when one sees them play.
Pakistani players, talented no doubt, are ego-maniacs. They become successful and they start acting like they are God’s gift to humanity. Instead of working hard and getting better, they spend most of their time partying and drinking away their fortunes... is it any wonder that every now and then some Pakistani player gets caught breaking the law. It seems that they are the most ill disciplined lot in the world. In the recent world cup, they started beating each other up at a practice session... What more can one say?
This lack of professionalism and discipline is a national culture and psyche (and to think that the founder of this nation was a law abiding constitutionalist barrister like Mohammed Ali Jinnah!) ... same psyche has carried forth in cricket. The entire domestic structure has gone down the drain. There is no regional or even varsity cricket to speak off except ill organized tournaments between various schools. There are no sunday leagues... all you have is a bunch of Department teams and a few city associations going at it for the highest first class trophy ie Quaid-e-Azam trophy. The entire structure needs to be revamped if Pakistan wants to reverse the rot... but then that is generally true of many things in my beloved country...
Nationalist and patriotic I am more than anyone, but from now on I will be supporting Australia in cricket. Atleast there is some stability there!