Adil Najam
I know today is the day. I have already confessed that I can think of nothing except about what may happen today. But today – and what happens today – is really about tomorrow. It always is. And tomorrow is another day!
Apologies for being unnecessarily philosophical. But today (there I go again!) calls for it. Maybe its my impatience for the great match to begin. Or maybe it is my anxiety about what will happen after the match ends.
I know exactly how I want this match to end. And I can only imagine what my own reaction would be if it does end the way I want it to end. What I can no longer even imagine (or want to imagine) is what my reaction will be if it ends differently!
And, maybe, that is what this post is really about. A reminder to myself that no matter how important this match may be, it is, after all, just a match! Pakistan playing India in India, in the Semi-Finals of the 2011 Cricket World Cup is clearly serious affair. Both countries are at a standstill. A holiday has been declared in most of Pakistan and India is, if anything, even more transfixed on this, the “mother of all cricket matches.”
Yes, I realize that this game is different and evokes the passions it does because it is between India and Pakistan. I want Pakistan to win against India today. Desperately. But let me be clear: I will not become more Pakistani than I already am if we win. Nor will I become a lesser Pakistani if we lose.
So, even as we prepare to engross ourselves over the next many hours in a tense haze of frenzy mixed with anxiety and sprinklings of passionate bouts of hope, despair, angst, anger, joy, and rage, glee, and all the other magical ingredients of cricket at its best, let us please never forget that this today may be the match to erase the memories of all other matches, but at the end of the day it remains just another match.
This is not war. This is not the validation or negation of who we are. This is not the full measure of our identity or even our reality. This is not the panacea to our problems. This is not the pinnacle of our worth.
It is, at least for today, the culmination of all our aspirations. But tomorrow it will be just another memory. Let us hope it is a good memory. Let us, in fact, ensure that it is a good one. And whether it is or not will depend not only on what the 11 men in green will do on the field today, but also on all the rest of us will do. Today, as well as tomorrow.
Here, then, is a prayer for tomorrow. A better tomorrow, that we must invent today.
Here, then, is a prayer for today. A today that may or may not bring us victory, but which must be dealt with dignity and grace. If we win today, let us show gratitude and graciousness. If we do not, then let us face defeat with resolute resolve.
Tomorrow, of course, will be another day. Tomorrow we will return to load-shedding, shouting TV anchors, angry puritans on all sides of all arguments, embarrassing politicians, a conniving establishment, corruption galore, maybe even bombs and blasts.
But let us return to that tomorrow with dignity and grace – a head held high in pride but not arrogance; a spirit that can take a severe blow but not shatter. Dealing with every today with such dignity and grace is the surest recipe of inventing a better tomorrow. And that – a better tomorrow – is the purpose of this today; indeed, the purpose of every day!
(Apologies, again, for this rambling stream of consciousness. Now, let us get back to cricket!)
Akmal brothers and Umar Gul need to be investigated for match fixing.
It was a good game of cricket, both on and off field. It could have been anybody’s day. Without the incredible luck that Sachin had today, and with better fielding by Pakistan, the outcome could have been very different. India’s batting lineup did not perform to potential, while bowling went beyond the mediocre levels it has been at throughout the tournament. Pakistan has the batting talent in addition to bowling where it is always strong. With some more discipline and better fielding, this team can go places.
Finally, thanks to the fans from Pakistan who added additional color to this game.
We should have many more of these. It won’t magically solve problems between us, but it is better to be fighting intensely on a sports field than in a real battlefield! And just maybe, it will create the atmosphere for solving the difficult problems. This has been a good week for India-Pakistan relations, with successful home/interior secretary level talks, and a cricket game with good atmosphere despite the high stakes. This momentum needs to be built upon in the coming few days and weeks.
You know, I thought I would be totally devastated if Pakistan lost. I am sad, but not devastated and not angry. It was good cricket and as this post says we came out with ‘grace and dignity.’ Adil Najam, I am ready for ‘tomorrow.’
Thank you for a great post that has helped soothe my nerves.
Never seen such fabulous bowling in recent times. Pakistan bowlers were let down by their fielding. Not sure why Sachin was given MOM… surely the Pakistan bowler who got 5 wickets deserved it more ? ( and I am a die hard Sachin fan)
also impressed by Shahid Afridi’s maturity and graciousness.
This game was played in good spirit with no sledging and no mocking.
Congrats to India. I would have loved to see Pakistan playing Sri Lanka in the Finals but it is still great to see an all South Asia Final.
We came farther than anyone thought we would. And we did it in good style. And the Pakistan team gave us a month full of confidence and pride