The Pakistani world cup might have been over , but the repercussions of the failure are not. Newspapers carry reports about players speculating retirement, or being sacked, selectors being blamed, public despising the entire team etc. In short, the world cup dream has turned into a nightmare for the Pakistanis.
For a team boasting of so much individual talent, such a shoddy performance in the world cup is highly inexcusable.
The cricket pundits are always almost unequivocal in admitting that Pakistan is the most talented cricketing nation. The country does not even have a domestic cricket structure, but continues to produce fiery fast bowlers and swashbuckling batsmen with unerring regularity. And that explains why they are called ’’the most talented’’, because they unearth raw talent and push them straight into the international game.
Exciting as it may sound, it could be the very reason for their undoing in the recent past. Barring a stray Inzamam or Yusuf Youhana, we have seen so many talented youngsters walk into the Pakistani national team, revel in the limelight for a while, and then disappear just as suddenly as they arrived. Whatever happened to the likes of Hasan Raza, Basit Ali, Shabbir Ahmed, Aamir Nazir etc etc...the list goes on.
The problem that the Pakistan Cricket Board should address for a long term gain is the Burn out syndrome. The Senior and the Ex cricketers should nurture these up and coming young talents and ensure that they dont get over exposed to success or failure. Unfortunately, the seniors seem more engrossed in politics than in giving something back to the game.
A classic case in point would be the self proclaimed speed demon Shoaib Akhthar. If someone would care to listen to me, i’d shout at the top of my lungs that he chucks, but thats another issue altogether. The point I am trying to make here is ...Shoaib may have achieved a personal milestone by crossing the 100mph barrier, but did that help Pakistan in any way? Not in a longshot. He was busy trying to outpace Bret Lee or issuing intimidating prematch statements to batsmen who would have to face him. Couldnt any senior cricketer have told him to instead concentrate on getting his line and length right?
Another case...Inzamam. The man whom Imran Khan called a better talent that Sachin Tendulkar when Pakistan won the World Cup in 92. Inzy was more concerned about proving a point to the press and the public about his weight loss, rather than concentrate on his batting failures. Ironically, his claims of increased fitness and reduced flab did him no good when he got himself run out in a ridiculous fashion against India.
What good is a team of individual talents if they dont help the team’s common cause? A team full of flashy shotmakers and wild pacemen might appeal to one’s imagination, but when it comes to achieving results, you’d still need the boring but more responsible players. Thats why the Rahul Dravids and the Shaun Pollocks are such indispensable assets to their teams.
Pakistan need to regroup and rebuild and get over the failure of this world cup. They have to figure out a better way to harness the plethora of talent that they have, and instill discipline and teamwork in the youngsters. Hopefully, for the next world cup, we should see a better and more balanced Pakistani outfit. Having said that, I’d still want India to beat them again, but atleast let them make a match out of it.