Adil Najam
How do I feel today with Pakistan having lost to India in the Semi-Final of the 2011 Cricket World Cup?
I feel exactly as I did on November 4, 1987. I was at the Ghaddafi Stadium in Lahore, as a sports reporter for the newspaper The Muslim, covering the Semi-Final match between Pakistan and Australia in the 1987 World Cup. Pakistan was the clear favorites. Pakistan lost.
How did that feel? Pretty much as today feels. It felt like this:
But as a reader wrote on my earlier post, I am sad, but not angry. Nor am I ashamed or dejected. In an odd sort of way, I am fulfilled. We tried our best.
Today was not our best day; but frankly it was not our worst day either. There have been many days in recent weeks and months when I was ashamed of what was being done in my name. Today was not one of those days. Today, I took many blows, but I stand tall. Today, I wait for tomorrow. Because, tomorrow is another day.
Congratulations, Team India on a well-earned victory.
Thank you, Team Pakistan, for a month full of thrills and chills and making us come together as a country again. Your fielding was rather pathetic, but you have made us proud nonetheless!
Really nice world cup Pakistan. We thought you couldn’t come this far but you have. It is sad that you lost but inshallah you are going to win the next world cup.
Well played INDIA, U batted and fielded better and thoroughly deserved to win!
Khel hum jeetay, muqabla koi aur jeet gaya!
Nawab Aslam Raisani!
Ahh… we all are sad on the deafeat but….. still we love our team… :) specially Afridi we are proud of u ,u are the hero of our nation DNt say sorry Afridi bhai u have taken our team to its peak , u have gave us a hope by reaching to semi’z and bringing that beauty back to cricket..!! u made the team united,u are the best the whole nation is with yew…… geo PAKISTAN …….
“TUM JEETO YA HAROO SUNOOOO,,, HUME TUM SE PAYAR HAI” :) :)
……………………..PAKISTAN XINDABAD………………………
Media has created so much hype… people were like that ” they have already won”…… this attitude was totally wrong i condem… but what can b done now .. now its media’s responsibility to support our team…and encourage them because they deserve the encouragement!! we love u Pakistani team!!
Some comments from the ATP Facebook Page:
– “OMG….what a nation… :’)”
– “n v still love our team….kion k ishq moqa nahi maangta!”
– “i hate u paki team u r bloody looser”
– “you gave words to our thoughts in this writing of yours.”
– “We should still all be proud of our team..if we didn’t win after all the prayers n all the effort that our team put in then i am 100% sure Allah Jee has something far better in store for us. Our prayers will definitely manifest in other ways. I am glad that pakistan made it so far after all that it went through. It really brought the whole nation together and got us in the habbit of praying for our great nation. Let’s thank Allah for all that he has given us and keep smiling and praying :)”
– “Brilliant post- Thank you so much! Yes we Love You team Pakistan and are so very Proud of them- and @Sam Khan and all the people like him: You don’t deserve to be called Pakistanis- i think its people like you who are bloody losers and not our team who actually did fight and gave us real good matches in the tournament. You Sam Khan and people like you should be ashamed of yourselves- BIG TIME”
– “AFSOOS RAHE GA… PAKISTAN IS TARHA INDIA K KHILAF KABHI NAHE KHELA JIS TARHA KAL KAHLA..??? PAK TEAM K MATCH JETNE KO KOI APPROACH NAHE THE???/ YOUNUS, MISBAH, RAZZAQ, AFRIDI…?? LAG RAHE THE K MATCH JETNA HE??? UMAR GUL K BOWLING AND FIELDING??? KYUN K IS FESLA TO MATCH SE PAHLE HO GAYA THA….”
– “THANKS PAKISTANI TEAM FOR A HISTORICAL WORST PERFORMANCE”
– “Tm jeeto ya haro,,hamin tm se peyar hai…”
– “There is a time to forgive and there is a time to forget! Unfortunately and in my opinion, Pakistan Cricket team’s loss to India in the SF because of POORER performance is simply unforgivable and unforgettable this time around!!”
– “although Pakistan lost , we’ve defeated the best teams of the world …we have fought , we lost , so wot ….. we did our best , the result was not in our favour , but we r proud 2 join & fight till end .”
Congrats to India!
And I am proud to see that Pakistanis are still very supportive of their team despite the loss to India. Considering everything, the high-hopes, the importance of the win against India given Pakistan’s recent tragedies the nation of Pakistan has acted with tolerance and magnanimity. To me the loss was almost predictable. That makes the loss a bit more bearable, for me at least.
Here’s to a great Final between India and SL. May the best team win. SL too has suffered a lot due to terrorism in past decades–which only ended after the Tamil Tigers where recently, finally defeated–and so a win for SL will be a good morale boost for them.
PS. Wahab Riaz should have been the Man of the Match. Not Tendulkar.