Scandalous

In the end of his career Alan Border once said ” There is only one common denominator in the scandals of the last 10 years in cricket, Pakistan” Although i often do not agree with the arrogant, match winning robotic type mechanisms that the Aussies are i cannot help but bow down to his summarizing our last decade of cricket.

There has been just one net result from our toiling away in those green fields, no i do not mean inner punjab! I am speaking of the patches of green in the outfield where the game of cricket usually takes place. The result i speak of is being a scandal magnet par excellence. The Pakistan cricket team lets face it has never had a problem with talent during the time i am rambling about. We have had scores of it!! so much perhaps that our overflows of talent have even benefited the counties of other nations ala Surrey and Mushi. What we have really, seriously lacked is the discipline required outside the field of play

International cricket these days is no hit and run affair. It is a day in day out grueling marathon of matches, post and pre match media briefings and interviews and practice sessions ,mingled in with a little bit of fun.  The problem of our team is that they either take the “fun” part to their heads or they decide to not have any fun at all.

This rot started precisely the day we as a team decided to deal in extremes rather than balance. First we as fans bore witness to in flight prayers, in the isles of flights mind you much to the passengers chagrin and then from there we went straight to doping and 6 on 1 night club hullabaloos and what not. In the midst of all this Pakistan cricket got a little lost, ok i cant mince words any more “we just lost it”.  We have achieved the nefarious honor of being the first team to forfeit a test match, the first to send back its best bowlers from a major tournament because of drugs problems, the first to have all out fisticuffs in the dressing room, the first to have its coach murdered under dubious circumstances, and the list goes on endlessly.

Since when did our team forget that the overall ultimate aim in their various encounters with other nations teams is to win? No i do not mean winning 12 matches on a trot that the “New Aussie coach” and his lot keep banding about in the press. We seem to forget that we could have won any of these matches on half the team we have right now. No offense to Bangladesh and Zimbabwe but most of our local club teams can beat them hands down. This is not exactly what a winning streak comprises of ok! We need to win from reasonable teams or at least teams which have gained test status earlier than the last 2 years!

Its all ok to say that personal lives are meant to be just that but when our players are often seem behaving like animals in clubs and then conveniently forget pieces of opium in their wallets while traveling through the middle east it turns from “boys are having fun” to “boys are putting their ugly foot in it” For gods sake even a 16 year old knows the laws regarding drugs in Dubai and the serious penalties being associated with such an act. What are our team managers doing when cricketers representing our country are engaging in such stupidity? Because of the result of these actions we are left with a bowling attack which is totally listless right now, and amply proven so by India in the last 140 run thumping they gave us. Yeh i know, we won the final but it required two of our batsmen to make tons! How many times is that gonna happen?

We the fans have not backed our team through the various and numerous other ups and downs that our nations cricket has provided over the years for this. We are humiliated and demand an answer, and the only one we want is in the shape of winning back the hearts and minds of a nation which once stood proud in the halls of cricket . Its either this or pass that wallet around, we need some relief.

P.S To Muhammad Asif, since he does not “understand english”  someone say the next 3 words slowly to him in urdu or whatever he gets through his skull “STOP DOPING FUCKER”