We observed recently that many people in India and Bangladesh support the Pakistani team.
KARACHI: Several Pakistanis say that they are not interested in cricket matches: ‘How can we support this ‘Pakistani team’ when nine players are from Punjab and two from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,’ they ask. This is indeed a point of view that runs deep within the public. However, we observed recently that many people in India and Bangladesh support the Pakistani team. During the Asia Cup matches, the celebration of Shahid Afridi’s sixes against India by students of a university in Meerut is now well known. In the ongoing World Twenty20 championship, Bangladeshi cricketing authorities have prohibited crowds in the stadium from cheering for Pakistan.
On the one hand, we are not united and are critical towards our national team. And on the other hand, I note the behaviour of Indians and Bangladeshis towards our team, which is much more charitable than the behaviour displayed by some of our own compatriots.
Saad Ahmad
Published in The Express Tribune, March 27th, 2014.
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