Defeated - yet again

A Pakistan-India cricket match is not just a sporting contest. It’s an occasion. And Green Shirts failed to rise to the occasion – for the umpteenth time. The stakes were far higher this time, given the hype in the wake of the Pakistan boycott saga. A victory, thus, did not only have a sporting significance.

Undesirably though, the much-anticipated round match of the ICC World T20 between the two teams, held in Colombo this past Sunday, proved to be a dull, one-sided affair – thanks to a notoriously erratic Team Pakistan, which once again stood exposed as to its ability to withstand the pressure of playing India.

Opting to bowl first after winning the toss, the Salman Ali Agha men conceded so many runs, 175, and then lost the track in chase from the word go, getting all out for just 114 with two overs to spare.

For Team Pakistan, losing to India looks like a well-entrenched hobby now. They have had so many collectables already. Let’s count them. Since winning the ICC Champions Trophy in June 2017, the Green Shirts have collected 13 defeats from the Men in Blue in the 16 white-ball games played between the two. These defeats include eight of the nine games played as part of the T20 World Cup.

The only time Pakistan won a T20 World Cup match against India was in October 2021. And that was the last time Pakistan had registered a win in a white-ball contest against their archrivals. Archrivals?! Well, yes, you have to agree with Surya Kumar Yadav, the Indian skipper, that non-competitive games make no rivalry.

The humiliation on Sunday, meanwhile, raises some serious questions about the reigning cricket set-up in the country. Full marks to Mohsin Naqvi, the PCB chief, for outsmarting BCCI, which enjoys de facto control over running international cricket, on attempting to weaponise the game of gentlemen for strategic gains.

But truth be told, Pakistan cricket needs a full-time sporting technocrat to helm the PCB if the target is stop the country’s most popular game from sliding down a pitiless abyss.

And yes, the two sides failed to get back to handshaking terms. By the way, it is the winner who is morally obligated to initiate the handshake to demonstrate sportsmanship, magnanimity and respect.