Hitting the fans: Heartbreak for cricket lovers just a day after Valentine’s

Country left distraught with Pakistan’s loss to India

ISLAMABAD:

Fans slammed Pakistan after a 76-run defeat to arch-rivals India in their opening World Cup match in Adelaide on Sunday, claiming their beloved team can’t bat, bowl or field.

Millions of Pakistanis across the country watched the match at home and in restaurants which had installed giant TV screens, but the defeat — the sixth in six World Cup meetings between the fierce rivals — has left them frustrated.

”I was very excited to watch this match but Pakistan lost,” said 22-year-old Farhat Irshad, who came to watch the match in a restaurant in Islamabad where up to 200 fans had gathered.



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Irshad said she had a bet with her friends on a Pakistan win, which she lost. “Now I will have to arrange a party for them [her friends],” she said. “I am really saddened but, no matter what happens, we love our cricket team.”

Another Islamabad native, 32-year-old Tahir Qureshi, was left just as disheartened. “Poor bowling, poor fielding and poor batting,” he said. “They had no planning. They came to the ground with no planning on the batting order.” 



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Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th,  2015.

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