Chowrangi

And so ends a beautiful dream, flawless till the very end and since it didn’t end well, all is not that well for cricket fans around the country. Lots of dashed hopes and broken hearts, Pakistan lost by 5 runs to India. Misbah-ul Haq, the redeemer of Pakistan team fumbled on a relatively simple delivery to send the prospects of holding the T20 trophy aloft, plummeting down. But no one ought to blame him. He was the lone ranger of Pakistan and after having pulled the team out of a pit, being an individual afterall, there were as many chances of faltering as there were of succeeding.

And if it had been a conventional One-dayer and the fans hadn’t gotten used to one-man shows (a 100 or a 50 by a batsman is like one-third of the score!) often on display in T20 where every random pull shot for a boundary counts and can hurtle fortunes, Pakistan wouldn’t have walked away with a straight face. For who else performed in the batting department except for Misbah? Reckless shots were played to make that achievable target appear so illusive. Commentators and analysts can go on ranting about the victory of cricket but was it really? If I were an Indian, I would be offended by that. They did a great job to restrict Pakistan and just one person eluded them and for all the effort that they put in, I wasn’t surprised when Dhoni appeared not to buy the idea of an even game. They were undoubtedly the better side.

A word for Misbah though. He showed great character to pull Pakistan from what seemed like an embarrassing end. Bad for him because such chances don’t come that often and considering his age, very improbable that he’ll ever get to relive that moment and turn it around, unless ofcourse they hold it every two years as Afridi suggested.

Despite the disappointing end, the team jelled together and played as a unit overall and it really was flawless till the end. The whole team contributed and this starless unit proved itself better than many.

Other posts by Asma Qadir

• elections all again...and much more too! - February 16th, 2008
• Elections 2008 - December 15th, 2007
• Back... - December 3rd, 2007
• Why the nation doesn't come out on the streets! - September 30th, 2007
• Two long weeks and stumped??? - September 29th, 2007
• Of symbols and rituals - September 22nd, 2007
• The Nawaz Sharif drama - September 10th, 2007
• Of follies and forgiveness - September 10th, 2007
• Encroachments - September 9th, 2007
• Imran Khan-a great call??? - September 5th, 2007