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Well done, Pakistan!
Pakistan cricket is back and the international cricketing scene has become a lot more interesting because of it.
It is time to bury the hatchet and embrace Misbah. PHOTO:AFP
Fans of Pakistan cricket may need to be given a collective prescription for heart medicine. For as long as our team is on the pitch, we can never rest easy. For three and a half days of the second Test match against England in Abu Dhabi we were outclassed by a team that is relentless, packed with great players and high on confidence. Then in two glorious hours our spinners Abdur Rehman and Saeed Ajmal turned it out, bowling England out for 72 and taking us to a victory that is improbable even by the scarcely believable standards Pakistan cricket has set for last-gasp wins. Supporting the Pakistan cricket team can be a thankless task, with inexplicable defeats, nasty in-fighting, match fixing and assorted other dramas driving us to fury. But ultimately it is all worth it for moments like these.
Here’s something to keep in mind. Pakistan’s two best bowlers, indeed possibly the two best bowlers in the world at present, were not on the pitch because they were serving out a jail sentence. We were up against the number one ranked Test team in the world and somehow outwitted them in the most glorious way possible. Their captain is a veteran of over 10 years; ours is mocked by his own countrymen just because we aren’t sufficiently entertained by him. We may be unreasonably demanding fans but Misbah-ul-Haq now deserves to be elevated to the pantheon of great Pakistani captains. It was his batting, derided as boring, that kept us in the game in the first innings and it is his imposition of his personality on the team that has made us such a consistently winning team. It is time to bury the hatchet and embrace Misbah.
Beating England always has an added edge, not just because of our colonised past, but because of the bitterness that has always accompanied series between the two countries. This series, thankfully, has been played in good spirit and without incident. No accusations of ball tampering, match fixing and shoddy umpiring can take away from our dominance of England. This was a special win for us, more so because of the tribulations of the last year. Pakistan cricket is back and the international cricketing scene has become a lot more interesting because of it.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2012.
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Reader Comments (23)
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ballay oye
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Bravo Team Pakistan! In this gloomy atmosphere in Pakistan, you guys have sent a wave of fresh air and proved that we Pakistanis can do anything once we set our minds on something. Thank you Pakistan Cricket.
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Absolutely elated with what Pakistan has achieved, a fews months ago we were in shambles, reputations ruined, jail sentences awarded to the three talented cricketers we had. This victory is ours and we have every right to celebrate it in the highest of forms! GO TEAM PAKISTAN!
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Congrats Pakistani team, especially the Captain Misbah deserve much respect and Credit for playing like a unit. It was dificult task to captain the Pakistani team, But He did the best and bring Pakistani team out of crisis and now World Champs…!!!
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Great job Team Misbah…… great work. Finally we have a great captain , Misbah is exactly what we needed… A cool, level headed and intelligent captain. I hope pakistan continue to progress. Great job everyone.
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welldone, Pakistan.
What our players did no doubt they proved that pakistan is the biggest fan of cricket.
We have such telented players that can change the game with their skills.
Misbah did his job very well and make us happy.Recommend
wel done and good luck for the future, it wasn’t easy for Pakistan some 18 months before to show some positive results and its all due Misbah he gelled the team very nicely.
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Simply Marvellous !!!!!!!!!!!! a NEW team A NEW PAKISTAN !!!!!!!!!!!!!Recommend
i just went to make noodles for myself and when i came back england were all bowled out.. Can i say england team is as easy to bowled out as making noodles??.. good on ya boys.. Team Green:)
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Well played Pakistan team !!
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Well done keep it up. At this juncture I congrats all team members, officials and coach. If we need pride in sports and as a nation we must maintain discipline. Without discipline we can not improve in our all walks of life. We must not also forget about once anything fly high will fall badly. After keeping in view the over all match fixing episode during previous years now time has come for PCB to prepare following strict rules for the players and team management:-
The Team Manager must be sacked if any player may leave his room without permission.
No any player will be allowed to meet any known and unknown person separately.
No use of mobile phone / internet during the tour.
No any player will announce his retirement during the series. Once series will be
finished then player may announce his retirement or tender his resignation to PCB
Each player performance must be analyzed by the PCB on series to series basis not
match to match basis. Once series finished and player has not given a good performance then other new player may fill the gap.Recommend
It’s only the kids who haven’t “embraced” Misbah.
Anyone who is out of his teens is thankful for finally getting a mature, sensible captain in Misbah as opposed to a cheater like Afridi.
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This is the same English team which routed India a few months back . The ” Band ,Baaja , Baarat ” Indian team is carrying on this glory down under . I was so disgusted with my national team that I stopped following their fall from second test onwards and started tracking Anglo/ Pak series with keen interest . I congratulate Pak team for their superlative effort and think that this is probably the best spinning attack in recent years . Watching Misbah managing his team was a treat and how they were gelling together . My best wishes to them and congrats to entire Pakistani cricket fans . Well done .
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Excellent,..The best performance.
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I beg to differ the author here. England was at the top but we were not outclassed by them infact we were just hang in there. 70 runs of England was reasonable but no enough one since England had to play last and even score of some where near to 180-200 would had been a tough one to chase against quality Pakistani spin attack and thats what happened. Anyways congrats to Pak for an emphatic victory and job hasn’t been completed yet, go for the 3-0 kill.
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Well done Pakistan Cricket Team, Well done Board Chairman Zaka Ashraf and well done Pakistani cricket fans whose dream has come to be.Recommend
@Anoop M:
so nice to hear so nice words….we also extend best wishes for Indian team….may they be able to resurrect from current horrors…they are after all a very good team….
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@Safdar Abbas: Chairman of the PCB had nothing to do with how the players played. All the administration has to do is get out of the way of the players and not inject any politics in the side.
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Well done Misbah and Mohsin Khan for keeping it together for the team. Lets hope that the board decides a positive long term future for Mohsin who has done his job well by showing results.
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misbah ko maafi nai mil sakti i am sorry! :)
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Yes well done Pakistan team. Still can’t believe we won. It was beyond imagination. Keep the tempo of winning guys. Now we have high expectations. Play your best in third test.Recommend
it’s the “Ul-Haq” factor—————–the last time it was inzi, now Misbah…..waah!
a nation stands proud.after debacle after debacle-politically, and on the sports field,
a nation can breathe a sigh of relief…………….
the contrasting fortunes of two nuclear greats——————on the cricket pitch!
India, world number one—now deposed after twin 4-0 defeats, should learn lessons from this epic victory, and overhaul their eleven!
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Great job! Congratulations!
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