Pakistan’s eventful cricket season will come to end today when they will face England in the rubber-decisive 5th One Day International (ODI). And what a season this has been.
Down. Up. Up again. Way down. Up again. And, now, getting ready for a potential nail-biter to the end!
As of now 11 hours and 23 minutes are left before the fifth and final ODI game starts and I am feeling the excitement building already.
What do you say will happen in today’s game?
A season which has made the perpetually-habitually-allegedly bad guy Shoaib Akhtar look like a farishta as compared to what the novices have been accused of. And then there have been on and off ‘Butt-tameezian’ of Ijaz Butt. People are saying that Ijaz Butt was quiet when he should have been vocal (when the crises broke out first time and the team was looking for leadership) and he is vocal when he should have been quiet (i.e. 2 days ago).
Not all is doom and gloom though. One positive thing that Pakistan team can take heart from is their improving performance in the one day matches. Especially the last two games have clearly shown the fighting spirit of the team. And this performance came amidst a non-stop barrage of media gossips and accusations. Bravo to the team to have done well under such extreme pressure.
As now for the game history between Pakistan and England, these two countries have so far played 67 ODIs with each other. England has won 37 (56.92%) and Pakistan has won 28 (43.07%). Pakistan’s overall win percentage in ODI’s is 54.87% (722 matches) and England’s win percentage is 50.57% (541 matches).
Few hours ago I was discussing the idea of this blog post with Adil bhai and one thing we discussed was how we all have to learn that cricket is not the end of the world. If the cricket team wins tomorrow, it will be great and we can bask in the euphoria for a bit without reaching the cloud nine. It will bring a smile on faces that have not had much reason to smile recently. And that, of course, will be good. But even if the team loses, that is not the end of the world. There is too much more that is much more important in all our lives; individually and collectively.
So, let us enjoy the game. Let us hope for a win. But, let us remember, a game of cricket is just a game of cricket. No less. No more. As we have said before in a different context, ‘dekho! is ko take it easy lo.’
Credits: The word ‘Butt-tameezian” is the title of a book by M Younis Butt.
Only Pakistani team had the ability to come out of all this recent mess and perform at the highest level without its first end bowling attack.
On the other hand English team’s performance went down the drain after merely a press conference of Mr. Butt (which was definitely not a wise thing to do).
Pakistani team is not just playing against England but after watching the 4th match its obvious that we have to beat the umpire in this match as well.
We need this win dearly & darely.
“well… it isnt a good feeling when some body blames you without any proof and it makes me think that the pakistani player and fans would have felt the same when we were doing the blame game with out any proof after… all a man counting money in the video doesnt mean’s in any way that the players are guilty that guy was the manager for most of the players and would have known them for ages…. and it wasnt fair at all to ban the players without any proof when they were not even playing you still cant say they are guilty …. i guess ijaz butt played the same game with us and it has affected our players badly ….on and off the field you can see the difference clearly this isnt the same england team which we saw through out the summers….pakistani players are most entertaining in the world ….ammir alone has been outstanding and is great to watch bowl at 90 mph which is brilliant for an 18 years old .if there is any evidence against them it should be made public or stop blaming.”steve haymen
http://blogs.cricinfo.com/andyzaltzman/archives/20 10/09/an_outbreak_of_excellent_crick.php
This guy looks to me a sensible english.
Under the circumstances England’s cricket team is our number 1 rival, even above India.
A game of cricket is no more just a game of cricket unfortunately. It has been turned into a lame blame game. If your opponent delivers a no ball accuse him of fixing, If you had played a maiden over its fixed, if you drop a catch you could have been booked, WTH is all this?
British and Australian media has a habit to sensationalize and pressurize Pakistan team during tours, but this time they have made it BIG.
PCB should take it seriously if we have to take it easy. Pakistan’s name is at stake & from now onwards England will become the same rival as India is. Hoping for a nail bitter finish today.
Best of Luck to Afridi Eleven, Should win this one.
Nice.
I am waiting anxiously for the match. I agree we should not take this too seriously. But I really hope we win. It will mean so much to Pakistan.