Cricket Special Report: How Pakistan turned the tables in their favour? - ICC World Cup 2011
After all the controversies Pakistan cricket faced in the last 18 months, the green shirts are back on the international stage with flying colours. Any other team might have taken years to settle down, after going through so much in such a short span of
time, but it was http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 and they have proved to the cricketing world that they are a force to reckon with. They have put a bandage on their wounds, to prove to the rest of the world that they were, they are and they will remain a big force in the cricketing
arena primarily because of the outstanding talent they possess.
It all started with a revolt against Younis Khan after the ICC Champions Trophy 2009 when a bunch of senior players took oath that they would not accept Younis as the captain of the team. As a result, Younis resigned from captaincy and announced a temporary
break from international cricket.
Mohammad Yousuf took over the leadership after Younis’s resignation but an awful tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 both on the field and off the field left Pakistan cricket in the middle of nowhere. Pakistan faced straight defeats in all the three formats of the game and
Mohammad Yousaf lost control over the team, such was the extent that he refused to take part in the final ODI of the series at Perth as he did not want Shoaib Malik to be in the playing 11. It was in the same match that Shahid Afridi chewed the ball.
The team came back home and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) made an appellate tribunal to investigate the cause behind a disastrous tour. The tribunal slapped bans right, left and centre against senior players as they were involved in disturbing the dressing
room atmosphere. However, those bans and fines were lifted or reduced with the passage of time.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 was named as Pakistan’s captain in all the three formats of the game but another controversy arose as he decided to quit Test cricket after the first Test against Australia at Lords. PCB appointed Salman Butt as the captain of the young Test
team which sealed a historic win against the Aussies and then in the third Test of the series against England at the Oval.
If all these controversies were not enough to demoralize the Pakistan cricket fans, English tabloid News of the World broke the story of the involvement of Pakistani cricketers in bowling deliberate no-balls in the fourth Test of the series against England
at Lords. As a result, International Cricket Council (ICC) suspended three of Pakistan’s key players from all formats of the game.
The spot-fixing controversy broke the back of Pakistan cricket and its image all around the world. To top that of, Pakistani wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider was found missing in the team hotel in Dubai during the series against South Africa and flew to London
without informing the team management. According to Zulqarnain, he was receiving threats from the bookies to underperform in the ODI series against the Proteas.
The series of events that followed, created a strong opinion in the cricketing world that Pakistani cricket should be suspended for a brief period of time in order to avoid all these controversies. Some of the big names of the game like Ian Botham, Malcolm
Speed and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sanjay-c88566 Manjrekar were of this opinion as well.
However, these people forgot that these are not just Pakistani cricketers who have been involved in spot-fixing or match-fixing for that matter. Players from almost all the countries have been penalized in the past because of their involvements in the wrongdoings.
These players include Shane Warne, Mark Waugh, Hensie Cronje, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Nicky-Boje-c2105. Obviously none of them had a Pakistani passport.
If any other cricket team had faced such kind of controversies, they would have been shattered. However, Pakistan converted their wounds into power and reunited like a family. They competed with England and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 in the worst of condition and then
registered Test and ODI series wins against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 in New Zealand. None of the cricket analysts were rating Pakistan as a force before the World Cup started but their performances in the first two matches have forced the cricket pundits to rate Pakistan
as the underdogs of the event.
Pakistan cricket brings a different flavour to the rest of the world and have a great fan following all around the globe. They are most dangerous when nobody is giving them a chance. The green shirts depend on their raw talent to compete with the most organized
teams of the world and if they play like a unit, they can be the most difficult team to beat in international cricket. As Shoaib Akhtar said during the mega event,
“we are a hurt side and we are here to hurt others”.
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