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| October 11, 2006 | Wednesday | Ramazan 17, 1427 |
Just another day at the office
Imagine if this had happened to any other team. First you get labeled a cheat by a hysterical umpire; then you pick a fight with the ICC, who punish you for over-reacting to an over-reaction; then as the team prepares to leave for a major ODI competition the captain-designate, by all accounts a national treasure and batting hero, is made to needlessly wait outside the board chairman's office; to which a figure no less than the head of state himself responds by sacking the board chairman; and the new chairman reinstates the miffed captain.
For any other team, these events would have spelled doom and disaster, shaken it to the core, disrupted its rhythm, undermined it spirit. For Pakistan, it's been just another day at the office.
Chaos, infighting, factionalism, and emotional over-reaction are nothing new to Pakistan cricket. As an institution, the Pakistan Cricket Board is weak, its administrative processes fragile and opaque. In the absence of a robust organizational infrastructure, dissent and differences are often viewed as personal conflicts, which inevitably spill over into professional interaction. In fact, this happens in all parts of Pakistani society. Why should the national cricket team be spared?
Yet as the nation continues to chug along, so too does the team. At PCB headquarters, as Shaharyar retreated to rue his misbehavior with Younis Khan, a seemingly confident new chairman took the reins and made imposing statements about a new vision, a new board constitution, and a new era free of politics and schisms. Within the team, Younis Khan got reinstated the very next day after resigning the captaincy, and Mohammad Yousuf silently stepped aside. The team left for India to launch its campaign for the Champions Trophy. Business as usual.
In all this drama, the fan base has blinked maybe once or twice, but that's it. They are used to such theatrics — not just from their beloved national team but, indeed, in every aspect of their daily lives — and have long ago learned to take them in stride.
Experience tells us that our cricketers are quite capable of leaving political bedlam behind once they have stepped on to the field of play. The board may be a joke and the dressing room may be a cold war zone, yet from this disorder can emerge rousing performances and memorable victories.
Pakistan's greatest cricket rivalries exemplify this well. Imran Khan and Javed Miandad sustained an adversarial relationship over many years yet when they batted together for the last time, at Melbourne on March 25, 1992, they cooperated in a partnership that resulted in a World Cup title. Then there are Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, who would go long periods without even talking to each other. Yet look at their record and reputation. No one today can talk about history's magnificent bowling pairs without also mentioning Wasim and Waqar.
This is a paradox, yet it sits well because Pakistan is a team comfortable with paradoxes. They will field with scandalous indifference; fail to ground the bat and run cockeyed between the wickets; play away from the body and across the line; and bowl more wides and no-balls than you can imagine. Yet somehow, they still manage to be one of the most feared teams in the world, and most analysts' number one pick to seriously challenge Australia.
It is the brilliance, talent and passion of Pakistan's players that has carved this place for the team on the world stage. It is a dizzying fantasy to imagine what heights Pakistan could achieve if the team wasn't burdened by a bumbling board, and enjoyed the same infrastructure and stability as Australia. For now, though, Pakistan is the only Test nation in the world whose resilient team props up its board, rather than the other way around.
Vaccinated against high drama, the team's prospects in the Champion's Trophy remain unchanged. Younis Khan has proven his skill and nous as captain. There is oblique talk that he and Yousuf are heading factions within the team, but it was just a couple of months ago that these two put on the third-highest partnership in Pakistan's cricket history. The smart money says they will continue to flourish together.
Meanwhile, the openers continue to be a recurring nightmare, and the fielding remains perennially uncertain. Yet the middle-order is robust, and the bowling potentially lethal.
All hell may have broken loose, but in Pakistan cricket life is still the same.
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