Editorial

Now to the real deal

The win over Australia was truly momentous for it not only enabled us to top our group, it ended their unbeaten run.

Editorial March 21, 2011

Every time it looks like England has stolen Pakistan’s title as the mavericks of world cricket, we throw in a performance so unexpected it reinforces the notion that no team could be as unpredictable as ours. The March 19 win over reigning champions Australia was truly momentous for it not only enabled us to top our group, it also ended Australia’s unbeaten World Cup run that stretched back to 1999.

As a result of leading its group, Pakistan will now face the West Indies, the weakest of the eight quarter- finalists. If, as expected, we get through that match, our next assignment will be the winners of the India-Australia clash. Beating Australia once is fortunate; doing it twice in the same tournament may require a miracle. India, meanwhile, are the undeniable favourites and seem to be on a collision course with destiny. Conventional wisdom would say that Pakistan’s run should end in the semifinals.

But the very existence of the Pakistan cricket team, scarred by defeat and tarred by scandal, argues against believing in conventional wisdom. With the quarter-finals now ready to start, this is also a good time to take stock of the tournament so far. The biggest story of the World Cup has not been the players but the technology. The use and misuse of the Umpire Decision Review System has been the talk of the tournament. Both officials and players are new to the system and any problems that have arisen should be blamed on their inexperience and a need to tweak the rules rather than the technology itself. The tournament so far has also seen a burst of honesty from Sachin Tendulkar, who gave himself out when he knew he edged a ball, in stark contrast to Ricky Ponting who was involved in an ugly incident against Pakistan after refusing to walk. But then the World Cup is all about creating heroes and villains, something it has done to perfection so far.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 22^nd, 2011.

COMMENTS (2)

Anjabeen Shah | 13 years ago | Reply I wonder what would have happened if it was Haddin who had been pushed and jostled around instead of our Pakistani players. And I wonder more why we have not picked up the issue. Is it only our stars who have to pay fines and submit apologies for even the most meagre of situations that do not please the western world? All the best to our team tomorrow and till the end.

Dr. Saleem Siddiqi | 13 years ago | Reply Do or Die is the next stage. We wish all the best to Pakistan Team. We wanted a FINAL b/w Pakistan and Indian in Mumbai - but we may meet them in Semi-finals which will be a source of great show and fitness of both the teams. Let us see who performs well.

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