I am still in a state of shock and awe since Pakistan team has expedited their departure from the resplendent Caribbean islands. Cricket is the only passion which brings this often divided and deprived nation some joy and World Cup is the pinnacle of this sport. After the brief adventure in the Land of Proteas 4 years back Nation had high hopes this time around but again the poor Pakistani people were dumbfounded with the lack of application on the field from our superstars.
Since the Pakistan team reutrned form the successful tour of India, Pakistan team has not been the same in One day Internationals, altough they have been performing with credibility in the Test arena but their one day performances can be described as only whimsical at their best. Altough our bowling is often criticized and described as the weak link since the drug related escapades of our ace duo, its the batting which lets us down everytime. If we see the records of our recent one day performances Pakistan has even struggled to reach the 200 mark most of the time. I beleive they have made a mindset that you can only win if you score in excess of 300 , so all our mighty stars just go out there slash their bats and come back. There is no such thing as rearguard in this team. Its not a sin to loose your first 2 or 3 wickets early in the inning with the new ball but the problem arises when there is no middle over application to set up a launch pad. Younis Khan maybe our future captain but i still feel he doesnt even deserve his place in the one day team and his lack of technique makes him vulenrable at number 3.
It seems half our team loose their hearts when they watch a green pitch in horror due to their inept past performances in similar conditions, and it felt that ICC devised a nefarious plan to humiliate Pakistan this year by preparing the only greenish wicket of this tournament as neither our batsmen know how to bat on these seaming conditions, nor our bowlers have a clue how to exploit these conditions.
The next day events were so unexpected that the state of nation changed from anguish to somber and sorrow for the demise of our coach and so called adopted father of our superstars. Bob, I feel was underutilized with this team and I dont think he was the right person to blame for this failure. Well lets see how things turn now as i am still preparing myself to get geared up for this world cup again which got over before it started for us.
I sincerely hope that authorities take firm measures to improve the handling of the team and show more dedication to their responsibilites as these sporting victories are the only joys for us on the national front and cricket is the only platform when this eclectic nation unites.
