Glory and medals, but regret and prison cells too... 2011

From reaching the cricket World Cup semi-final to the dismal hockey  Champions Trophy, the year had it all on the field ... and some off it too.

An unprecedented year for sports in Pakistan, 2011 not only saw the usual roller-coaster ride in many disciplines that our athletes took part in but also exceptional performances on and off the field. Apart from team buses, some even experienced the inside of a prison van.

A pioneer in the past, Pakistan made headlines in a criminal court when Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were handed prison sentences. Some labelled it a punishment too harsh but it was cricket’s way of saying that it was a step too far. Respite, however, came in the form of results, ending the year not losing a Test or a One-Day International series and reaching the semi-final of the World Cup.

The national sport, but not the nation’s most-loved sport, was, once again, speckled with unfulfilled promises and dashed hopes. Beating Australia remained the highlight of the year but a dismal seventh in hockey’s Champions Trophy, a tournament that exists because of Pakistan, brought the Asian Games winners back down to the turf.

The real champions for the country, however, were the special Olympians and the blind cricketers. Not money, not fame but doing well for the country was their sole aim. Medals, series-wins and records came aplenty, not so much the nation’s attention or the love, unfortunately. Not household names despite the achievements – winning 17 medals at the Special Olympics and whitewashing India and Australia on the cricket pitch – the back-row heroes marched on.

And as they hope for more laurels in the coming year, the fans hope that sports continues to provide relief from the turmoil, the bombings and the atrocities within.

January

Quaid-i-Azam Trophy final held under lights, the first day-night first-class match

Wali sisters win gold and silver medals at 1st South Asian Winter Games

Pakistan win Test series in New Zealand

Indo-Pak Express crash out of Australian Open in 3rd round

Amir Atlas banned for six months

February

Pakistan’s first Fed Cup appearance in a decade ends in 3-0 loss to Indonesia

Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir banned by the ICC tribunal

Pakistan win ODI series in New Zealand 3-2

Blind cricket team whitewashes Australia 3-0 in Twenty20 series

Danish Atlas wins squash’s Persian Gulf Cup, Fajr International

March

Blind cricket team whitewashes Australia 3-0 in one-day series

Football team lose two-match series against Palestine

Beat Hong Kong 3-2 to reach Davis Cup semi-final

Shoaib Akhtar announces retirement

End Australia’s 34-match unbeaten run in World Cup

Beat West Indies by 10 wickets to qualify for World Cup semi-final

Lose to India in the semi-final; Afridi ends as the tournament’s joint highest wicket-taker

Danish Atlas wins Norooz International squash tournament

 April

Win inaugural SAARC Baseball Cup

Women’s team wins quadrangular Twenty20 event in Sri Lanka

Top-seed Mohammad Sajjad fails in Asian Snooker Championship

Farhan Mehboob loses Asian Squash Championship semi-final

May

Win ODI series against West Indies 3-2

Draw Test series against West Indies 1-1

Hasan Sadpara becomes the second Pakistani to scale Mount Everest

Lose Azlan Shah hockey final to Australia

Shahid Afridi criticises coach Waqar Younis, is issued a show-cause notice and removed from captaincy; announces retirement and NOC to play in foreign leagues is revoked

Win ODI series in Ireland 2-0

International cricket returns to the country with Afghanistan taking on Pakistan ‘A’

June

Afridi faces hearing and is fined and banned. All-rounder gets stay-order from court, sues PCB but an out-of-court settlement takes place

Bridge team wins Asia and Middle East Championship

Indo-Pak Express lose French Open quarter-final

Amir Atlas loses final of Jena International Squash Championship

Win four-nation hockey tournament in Ireland

Qualify for polo World Cup

Hockey team wins bronze at Junior Asia Cup

Danish Atlas wins Asian Junior Squash Championship

Indo-Pak Express crash out of Wimbledon in first round

Indo-Pak Express win ATP Gerry Weber Open

July

Special Olympics contingent wins 56 medals

Finish bottom in four-nation hockey event in Netherlands, draw two-match series with Belgium, lose two-match series to Netherlands

Mohammad Waseem wins bronze medal in President’s Cup boxing event

Fail to qualify for football World Cup after losing to Bangladesh

Lose Davis Cup semi-final to South Korea

Shahid Aftab beats former world champion Ken Doherty in snooker World Cup but Pakistan crash out in group stage

Saadi Abbas wins gold at Asian Karate-do Senior Championship, the first South Asian to do so

Amir Atlas loses Malaysian Open squash final

August

Win SAFF U-16 football championship

Crash out of World Team Squash Championship in first round

Waqar Younis resigns as Pakistan coach

September

Indo-Pak Express lose US Open first round

End Zimbabwe tour unbeaten in all three formats

Aleem Dar wins ICC Umpire of the Year Award for third consecutive time

Amir Atlas (two years), Yasir Butt (one year), Waqar Mehboob (six months) banned for poor show at World Team Squash Championship

Lose final of hockey’s Asian Champions Trophy to India 4-2

Win three bronze medals at King’s Cup Sepak Takraw World Championship in maiden appearance

October

Aisam wins Thailand Open with Austrian partner

Mohsin Khan appointed interim coach

Ijaz Butt’s tumultuous tenure as PCB chief ends, Zaka Ashraf appointed successor

Afridi reverses conditional retirement

Finish third in four-nation nine-a-side hockey event

Indo-Pak Express wins Stockholm Open

Win cricket’s Hong Kong Sixes

November

Butt, Amir and Asif sentenced after spot-fixing trial

Beat Australia in final of Tri-Nation Hockey Tournament

Win Test series against Sri Lanka 1-0

Afridi returns to national squad, becomes first player to score 50 and take five wicket twice in ODIs

Win ODI series against Sri Lanka 4-1

Indo-Pak Express win Paris Masters

Finish third in Kabaddi World Cup

Blind cricket team wins Twenty20 series against India 2-1, one-day series 3-0; extends unbeaten run to 27 matches

Bag 14 medals to win the inaugural South Asian Karate-do Championship

Women’s team loses qualifying event final but seal berth in 2012 World Twenty20 and 2013 World Cup

Indo-Pak Express splits

December

Win ODI series in Bangladesh;  sixth consecutive ODI series-win in 2011

Win Test series in Bangladesh, end up not losing any Test series in 2011

Crash out of SAFF Cup football without losing any matches

Finish seventh in hockey’s Champions Trophy

International hockey returns to Pakistan with a four-match series against China, win all the matches

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2011.