By Syed Ahsan Ali

It seems as if all good things in Pakistan cricket come to an abrupt halt with mind-boggling false shots. Whether it was Misbah-ul-haq’s nudge over fine-leg in pursuit of last five runs against India or like today where Inzamam-ul-Haq ‘s career came to an end.

Pakistan’s finest batting talent bade farewell to the game at the Gaddafi Stadium today missing out on Javed Miandad ’s record of Pakistan’s leading run-getter by just 3 runs.

Adil Najam

One of the earliest posts we did at ATP was titled “Indians are laughing at Pakistanis.” It was about a comedians from Karachi – Rauf Lala, Irfan Malik, Ali Hasan and others – who were taking Indian audiences by storm in the hit Indian television show “The Great Indian Laughter Challenge.” 40 year old Rauf Lala from Pakistan went on to be voted the “Funniest Man in India”!

Today I heard from a former student telling me how a set of young Pakistani singers are winning Indian hearts in the ZeeTV hit show SaReGaMa Challenege 2007. Three Pakistanis reached the top-8 and one, Amanat Ali from Faisalabad, is now in the final three. The Super Final will be on the 13th of October and while the competition at this level is super tough, many are giving him better than even odds for winning.

Adil Najam

In introducing our last ATP Poll, I had suggested that the most important political questions demanding analysis relate to how Pakistan politics will shape up because of the events of the last year, but particularly in light of Gen. Musharraf getting himself elected as President again.

The responses from our readers suggests that there is great uncertainty about exactly what will transpire, but significant consensus that the instability is most likely to continue.