Comment: Pakistan shine in siege mode

But it is in siege mentalities, where both the odds and the world seem to be against you, that people unite. A sense of ‘us and them’ is garnered and in such times of hopelessness, only the great survive. The great, and the Pakistan cricket team.

The most famous example of that siege mentality being harnessed came in 1992, when Imran Khan labelled his beleaguered charges — staring elimination in the face — the cornered tigers. From there, in desperation and despair, the Pakistanis emerged champions of the world.

That team is long gone, but that characteristic prevails. It came to the fore in 2009 when Pakistan lost their first match in the World Twenty20 against England but went on to win the tournament. It did so again in the 2011 World Cup when Pakistan, still reeling from the suspension of disgraced trio Muhammad Aamir, Muhammad Asif and Salman Butt, made it to the semi-finals and took India — the favourites India, at home India — to the wire. Against England in 2012, who arrived in the UAE the number one team in the world at the moment but left humiliated and whitewashed. And against Australia in 2014, when after an ODI whitewash, the team — shorn of all their bowlers due to injury and suspension — broke record after record on their way to whitewashing the mighty Australians in the Tests.

And if the Pakistanis are one thing, then they are slaves to their own nature. After losing both their opening matches, it was this siege mentality that the coach and skipper tried to instil into the players. A do-or-die message loud and clear — we are not yet out, but one more slip up and we will be.


Again Pakistan stared elimination in its ugly face, and again they refused to blink. Zimbabwe and the UAE were easy opponents but then along came South Africa and dismissed Pakistan for just 222.

Courtesy of Messrs Duckworth and Lewis, Pakistan were defending 232 in 47 overs. The Proteas had crossed 400 in their previous two matches. Pakistan, on the other hand, had conceded 300 against both top-eight opponents so far. South Africa had never lost against the men in green in the World Cup. They had no right to defend this. But neither did they have any right to win the 1992 World Cup, or the 2009 World Twenty20, or reach the semi-finals in 2007, or whitewash the likes of Australia and England. They still did all of that, and they still defended 232.

Pakistan not only played against eleven rival men but they played against everyone who had counted them out. They played against those who criticised them, they played against those who mocked them, they played against those who had burned their effigies on the streets of Multan. They played against the world — and they won.

Perhaps no one better epitomised this than that plucky little man from Karachi wearing the gloves behind the stumps — man of the match Sarfraz Ahmed. A run-a-ball 49 — more runs in one innings than Younus Khan and Nasir Jamshed, the two men preferred over him, have made in six innings combined so far — and six catches was the reply to his own coach and skipper doubting him.

But as South African coach Russell Domingo had said, Pakistan are predictably unpredictable. They may yet lose to Ireland and be knocked out. As things stand, however, they are favourites to finish third in their group at least.

The moral of the story is simple. Lay siege on Pakistan and there will only be one winner. The team seems to have only one comfort zone, and that is being outside their comfort zone. That beautiful catch 22 has made this team so exhilarating and so frustrating, so loved and so hated, so admired and so mocked. And long may they continue so.


Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2015.