Pakistan’s performance at Taunton and good old fashioned cricket
Pakistan has been at the receiving end of scathing criticism from all over the world with the western media criticizing the country, whenever they find any opportunity of doing so. It is interesting how a tabloid story from a newspaper that is known for publishing false stories about celebrities and sports stars has taken the international media by storm.
Give poor Pakistan a break. Not only have they been fighting the war on terror on their soil, to ensure that the rest of the world is safe, Pakistan is at present facing the worst floods that could be termed the biggest humanitarian disaster the world has seen. However one news story that has constantly made its way on the media for the past week or so has been the involvement of Pakistani players in spot-fixing on their English tour.
There was once a time when cricket was simple. Where the sport was representative of old fashioned conservatism, and the bourgeoisie found much pleasure in taking their family to a weekend outing of watching a game of the gentlemen. Scandals off the field rarely mattered. It was the sport, more often than not, played in good spirit. The spirit of the game over the years has greatly been damaged with the advent of sledging that is now considered an “art”, where it involves straight forward abuse.
Pakistan’s performance at Taunton in what could be termed a close match between the team and English County Somerset has finally dismissed doubts over Pakistan’s cricketing future and has come across as a whiff of fresh air for cricket fans. It is true especially after the stale smell of allegations had exasperated cricket fans that desperately wanted to see some real cricket and not exaggerated accusations.
Pakistan’s batting was susceptible all throughout the summers, and yesterday at Taunton was no exception with Pakistan losing three early wickets with Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali and Mohammad Yousuf failing to make much of an impact. Pakistan team found themselves in trouble following the fall of three early wickets. However, Fawad Alam and Shahzeb http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lewis-Gregory-c72822 took 4 wickets in quick succession as Pakistan lost their last 7 wickets for only 53 runs.
Hasan reached his century in 117 deliveries to take Pakistan to a commanding position with 211 runs on the board and ten over’s remaining. Pakistan from there onwards managed to post a decent total of 264 runs, and managed to contain Somerset to 256. Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal shared 6 wickets between them while Afridi took two wickets.
Afridi has asked his team to focus on the rest of the ODI matches after Pakistan has been grilled by the British media following unsubstantiated allegations against Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif. Cricket must go on, as Yawar Saeed rightly mentioned, and so it did at Taunton on Thursday. Good plain old cricket. Just as the cricket fans like it.
Pakistan cricket has had to suffer a string of blows, following the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team that resulted in International cricket disappearing from Pakistan, and left the stadiums deserted. This year however, there has been a renewed interest by many who have called for a revival of cricket in Pakistan and rightly so. But before there are calls for bringing the sport back to the country, the PCB needs to start handling things in a professional manner.
What was witnessed at Taunton was a display of faith in cricket by the young players of the side, who are not yet ready to abandon the game. Despite facing heavy scrutiny from multiple quarters, the win at Taunton is a step for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 cricket in the right direction. The upcoming ODI series comes as an opportunity for the national side to renew their faith in their fans that have been extremely despondent following the allegations that have tarnished the image of the team and the country.
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