Adil Najam
UPDATE:
India won the TwentyTwenty final in a thriller, after setting Pakistan 158 to win and then bowling Pakistan out (with three balls to spare) for 152. IK Pathan from India was names Man of the Match for very tidy bowling (3/16 from 4 overs) while Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi was named Man of the Series.
ORIGINAL POST:
I have resisted writing about the Twenty20 Cricket Tournament in South Africa till now. But now I can resist no more. All is set for a thriller final game against India.
What more could one ask for… well, actually, one could ask for Pakistan’s TwentyTwenty winning streak to continue into the Final game against India in Johannesburg on Monday!
Pakistan is on a roll. And this is no fluke. The victories against Australia and Sri Lanka were brilliant and breezing past New Zealand in the semi-final today proved that this is not just a lucky streak.
The young team under a young captain and a new coach seems to have finally found its stride. And it is about time…
Much of our cricket coverage this last year has been depressing. Umpire controversies, a disastrous World Cup Exit, death of a coach, players misbehaving, and more. So, this good news is very welcome. It is all the more welcome because other news these days is much less than welcome.
India, too, has had a spectacular T20 tournament. In fact, the most memorable moments of the tournament till now were the 6 sixes in an over by Yuvraj against England.
That the game between India and Pakistan in the T20 tournament had ended in a tie will make the anticipation about the final even more nail-biting.
Neither team goes in as favorites. Both go in on a roll. Its should be one great game!
It was 1992 when the Great Imran Khan and his cornered tigers lifted the world cup … it was a life changing experience for most Pakistanis. Pakistan had come from behind … having almost been eliminated fighting back to the end and lifting the World Cup at Melbourne. That single moment made a Pakistani out of me.
In many ways though to me Pakistan’s performance in 2007 inaugural T20 Cup was even more impressive, even if Pakistan lost out narrowly to India - its arch rival- at the end in the final game it should have won. In 1992 a mercurial Pakistan side led by an inspired great man had lifted the world… in 2007 Pakistan’s cricket team showed consistent greatness through out. With every game the team showed that it was a team which was not just wildly talented- as all Pakistani cricket teams always are- but is extremely professional as well… Pakistani cricket team does not need great men and mega-superstars anymore … the Pakistani cricket team has heart … miles and miles of heart. In the end there is a lot of truth to the saying - its not about whether you win or lose but how you play the game… on tonight Pakistanis have a lot to be proud about.
Even the narrow 5 run victory margin for India does not do justice to how narrow the margin really was. A little more bat on that shot Misbah played and it might as well have been Pakistanis with the trophy. Pakistanis bowled superbly … but the top order squandered that advantage. After being in tatters for a few overs, it was Misbah-ul-Haq… the seasoned T20 campaigner- who put India to the sword.
And yet as with Durban, he turned around the whole thing and yet failed to hit the winning runs…. a loss by a whisker as someone called it. Misbah, the tragic hero of Pakistan’s blaze of glory, will probably not forgive himself for a very long time for having come so close… yet again.
But whatever the case, I am proud of the boys in green. To me they are the real champions because they have displayed all the qualities that Pakistanis are legendary for i.e. resilience, courage and to never surrender and never give up. This courage under fire has what has kept this country going despite one disappointment after another, through trying times and through immense political turmoil. It is this resilience that keeps the common man on the Pakistani street optimistic about this country on every independence day… it is never surrender attitude that enables us to hold our heads high even when what the rest of the world wants to shove horseshit down our throats. We will go on, we will survive - that is what Pakistan is about… and the boys in green amply drove that point home.
Pakistan Zindabad!
ChristianPak,
I dont think he meant to let the minorities down, he clearly said, ” Muslims in Pakistan and around the world pray for us in the holy month of Ramadhan”.
very strange !! watching BBC & CNN, one can see they are making out of Indian ” victory” as if Raja Pourus had won the battle against Alex’s army. I think they are doing too much.
Very little difference between the two sides. Fantastic game of cricket. Misbah and the tailenders did the nation proud. That last shot will surely haunt Misbah for the rest of his life, but let’s face it, we would never even be in this situation if this guy hadn’t made a match of it. Super performances from him throughout the tournament. In the end the difference was just one hit, a few feet to the right and he would have become a living legend.
I do agree that they gave a 100%. A few tactical errors made by the team (Fawad should have played, Imran should’ve been rested or retired hurt when the injury resurfaced, sending Akmal at one down was a mistake) but I was still proud that they fought to the end. That’s what matters. Give it your best and let the chips fall where they may. The Indian team and country will always have this fear that you can’t count out the Pakistani team until the very end. They are a dangerous team under the refreshing leadership of Shoaib Malik, and the emergence of wonderful new talent like Suhail, Yasir and Fawad.
It goes to show you that this game is not about personalities but about your performance on the field. Hopefully the PCB and the nation will recognize that and reward the guys who actually perform and make an effort to improve themselves as professionals! Stop this blind worship of personality and focus on performance in all walks of national life.
After a long long time I was proud to see how the Pakistani cricket team performed in an international tournament.
The loss is painful but the shining ray of hope of what this new-look team can do makes me want to watch cricket all over again!
Bravo young men…
It was a thrilling end to a magnificient couple of days. I highly respect Pakistan in how they came back from the dead and nearly won the game. It shows the fighting spirit that the young side had. The previous Pakistani team would have just folded in the circumstances.
Misbah has done me proud, I was a bit skeptical about his selection over Yousuf, but taking nothing away from Yousuf, Misbah showed why he was selected, he had the perfect temperament for this version of the game (right amount of aggression and defense)
Would have love to see Afridi display something with the bat, sadly we will have to wait for later. Overall, you can take positives out of the win, Pakistani cricket is on the right track and I wish them the best of Luck.
Its amazing how gracious Indians are in victory.
Congratulations to both teams for giving us an excellent game of cricket. Never before has a World Cup final been so exciting.
I was skeptical about T20 when the tournament started, but the last few days has firmly established it as another, if not the most important form of the game. And while the rules are indeed loaded towards the batsmen, these two teams in particular have showed that bowling can win matches even in the T20 format. There is a lot of exciting action in the weeks and months ahead. With the Premier Cricket League starting in India and the Champions League at the international level, the game of cricket is going to see a paradigm shift. The players and viewers will both be beneficiaries of this change. I would like to see the 1-day and test formats survive and thrive though. It would be a pity if the richness of these formats is lost in the T20 frenzy.
Shoaib Malik “First of all I’d like to thank people back home and the Muslims around the world. We gave our 100%,” he says
Shoaib,
How about Hindu and Christian Pakistanis in the US, Canada and Gulf who supported the Pakistan cricket team? Don’t we count?