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PAKISTANIS appear to have tamed the wild ghosts within. Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif is at hand to receive the Pakistani cricketers who stumbled — and that too against India — when the world glory was only a couple of strides away from them. Refreshingly, the cricketers who come back from India are hardly reminiscent of the garlanded prisoners of war whose release ZAB had managed to secure some four decades ago. The throwback to the emotional outpouring of 1996 — when Pakistan lost to India in the quarter-finals in Bengaluru — or of 1999 — when the side went down against Australia in the finals without as much as a protest — have been avoided.
Mr Sharif, who is known for his penchant for seizing a popular moment when he sees one, implies this was not war but a game of cricket and for once everyone agrees. The praise he and other prominent figures have directed towards the national cricketers is aided by a wave of voices that has replaced the euphoria generated by a semi-final between Pakistan and India.
From everywhere in the country emanate statements that hail the team for progressing up to the last-four stage, at a time when few gave them any chance. Pakistanis have been graceful in defeat and have thus defied those who are, as always, trying to exploit the sentiments for good business.
The rumours about a sellout, revelations about bookies, the expert analyses that highlight tactical mistakes, even a reference to the intimidating partisanship flaunted by the hosts, these have not quite been able to so far catch the fancy of the Pakistani public. It is as if they are in a hurry to put this bad moment behind them and move on.
The Pakistanis have grown up and the reasons for the maturity they have displayed may not be too easy to put a finger on. In any case, it will be difficult to pinpoint all the ingredients that have contributed to this sober offering. Having said that, a few factors that are hampering sales by the ever emotional businessmen may be more easily identifiable.
For one, the pace has picked up and there is much more cricket now than was the case, say, in the 1990s. The introduction of the T20 format and the holding of the T20 world cup tournament every other year means that the opportunity to shine at an international championship is not as rare as it used to be. Even otherwise there is so much cricket going on and so great is the hype around it that it has enabled the followers to reconcile with their victories and their losses much better than they were able to in the past.
Recall the T20 triumph a couple of years ago. It was as if there was not enough time for celebration with another edition of the cup looming a few months on.
Hopes may seldom be proportional to potential but Pakistanis knew that theirs was a weaker side as compared to many others, including the Indian team. This was unlike the past occasions.
Pakistanis felt that they had been weakened by design and if the post-match conversations are a guide to public thinking, Pakistan has done sufficiently well to defeat the ‘discriminatory’ international system. This is in sync with the general Pakistani take on all affairs related to politics and their relations with the rest of the world.
The Pakistani side entered the semi-final as a ghazi and a shaheed at the same time. That they had beaten Sri Lanka and Australia in their pool and reached the semis was popularly considered in the country to be a singular feat given that they had been the victim of yet another ‘international conspiracy’ only a few months earlier.
The Pakistan cricket received a killer blow in the banning of two of its best bowlers who had carried their country’s hopes for a good showing in the tenth edition of the World Cup tournament. To the victims, the timing of the sentence given to Muhammad Aamir and Muhammad Asif — just weeks before the start of the world cup — was a reconfirmation of the international plot.
To many a common Pakistani the ICC was a body hell bent on ensuring a depleted Pakistan side for the tournament. Without the sinisterous pace of Aamir and the dexterity of Asif Pakistan’s World Cup campaign was ‘designed’ to flounder much earlier than it did actually.
As Pakistanis have defeated one conspiracy, and as we celebrate our maturity, perhaps some concern should be shown for another factor that may have played a profound role in shaping our non-arrogant reactions today. A people so precariously caught in a war, Pakistanis have mastered the art of how to come to terms with their grief.
In the circumstances, they lack the arrogance that is a by-product of security and confidence and is sustained and exploited to the maximum by the market, as may be the case in another country, say India. Constantly attacked by terrorists, the people of Pakistan have learnt how to forget and move on. Deaths and revelations and defeats do not scare us as much as they did in the 1990s. On to the next contest then — with a desire for win, but with our ‘no fear’ jerseys on.
