The audacity of passion

Terror strikes. Not just once but seven times in a matter of few weeks. Twenty-four people were killed and 65 injured in the twin attacks in the month of May, 8 people died in the attack on June 3^rd and on June 18^th and then the Quetta, Parachinar and Karachi attacks which left at least 74 dead. These attacks are not in remote towns but the city centre. Time for red alert, travel advisory, cancellation of visits, rescheduling of venues and indefinite postponement of events. That is what happens in Pakistan’s case but when these attacks occur in the most ‘safe’ city of London no voice is raised and business goes on as usual. The ICC Champions Trophy took place in England and Wales with not as much as a whimper from the competing teams. That, perhaps, tells the story of how perception is more lethal than reality.

If Pakistan has suffered as a country due to this perception, its sports, cricket in particular, has been the main casualty. Since the terror attack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009 the game has become a forced export played overseas on foreign wickets. This is an indescribable handicap, an almost unsurmountable disadvantage considering how heavy the “home advantage” counts in cricket. Just imagine the ranking of any top team by deducting their performance in domestic matches. Take the example of India. Their win-loss ratio since the 2011 World Cup is 2.25 at home vs 1.52 overseas. Rankings would completely change if these teams had to go through the cricket exile that the Pakistani team has gone through.

But like all legendary tales, greatness is when you turn adversity to opportunity. Circumstances were typically impossible before the start of the ICC Championship. Our main one-day specialists like Sharjeel Khan and Mohammad Irfan became victims of spot-fixing investigations. Azhar Ali, a Test cricketer, would open with Ahmad Shahzad whose form and behaviour was at best variable. The mid-innings swashbuckler Umer Akmal was sent back from England as he failed the fitness test and Wahab Riaz seemed a forced inclusion despite a lingering injury. This was a side that was more of a make-do for completing the numbers. Came the first match against India and confirmed that all the hard work for a year and a half to climb from No 9 to No 8 was futile.

But logic is many times defeated by the audacity of passion. With a thrashing in the opening match against India, out went Ahmad and Wahab and in came Fakhar Zaman and Junaid Khan, and that just transformed the team. Fakhar gave the energy burst in opening the batting and Junaid gave the enticing bite in opening the bowling. The impetus became viral, Sarfraz Ahmed became calm and calculative, Hassan Ali a firebrand, the seniors had to measure up and Mohammad Amir produced the scintillating spell to make the Indian batting look spineless.



In all great feats; it just took the unbridled spirit of one individual to ignite a spark in others. Fakhar’s story of cricket obsession of foregoing his studies, sustaining it through a job in the Navy and then abdicating it to pursue domestic cricket just about sums up the story of talent in Pakistan. Starved of cricket at home, bereft of the chance of seeing their local stars in action, not being able to see their international role models up close and front except briefly at Pakistan Super League, the hunger to stand up and deliver at the highest level was evident in every shot Fakhar played and every wicket Hassan took. Befittingly and incredibly Fakhar who has just played four ODIs was the man of the match in the final and Hassan who has just played 21 ODIs the man of the tournament.

To be ranked 8^th of the eight teams and win an ICC trophy has never happened before. A debutant coming in an ICC Cup and consecutively scoring two 50s and a century has never happened before. No banned bowler has ever come back in a mega final and bowled a spell that shattered the batting might of India the way Amir did. Nobody has ever been beaten in an ICC Championship final by a margin of 180 runs. There are many once in a lifetime records that were made in this championship. In the end it was raw talent, sheer will power, pure passion and a never-say-never spirit that made a bunch of rookies hold the world in awe as they decimated team after team with impunity.

This team, unlike the ’92 Cup team, has a nomadic existence, witnessing country after country refusing to play with it in Pakistan. After India and Bangladesh, Afghanistan also refused to tour. Yet, they have performed miraculously and they deserve all the rewards we can give them. But we need to give them much more to make this less of a miracle and more sustainable.

We owe it to this team and the country a milestone plan for building an environment and support to harness this natural talent to enable them to give their best consistently. A three-pronged approach is required to make that happen. At the national level, a committee comprising ex-cricket stars and international cricketers should be made to create a lobby for bringing cricket back in Pakistan. Secondly, everybody agrees that domestic structure needs an overhaul. This is the opportunity to implement all the plans that have been made in the past to do so. Thirdly, these young stars need to be protected and groomed. Personal grooming, financial advising and mental coaching should be provided to them to give them the support and maturity to carry the burden of this stardom — as a small token to sustain this uninhibited spirit of daring, defiance and fearless passion.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 25^th, 2017.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.