SITTING alone and watching cricket matches, in the wilderness of a foreign country, with the hope that our national team, in consonance with the wishes, nay aspirations of the nation, will rise to the moment and show some semblance of a team which could snatch some moments of happiness for a nation in the grip of the worst times in our history was asking for the moon.

The debacle was followed by analyses of gurus and pundits of cricket who were, ab initio, responsible for creating hype on the media via TV channels.

Pakistanis started searching for gold from a desert of sand. Fault after fault were ‘discovered’ in the team, its selection, its management, and you name anyone or anything associated with PCB, past or present, save those who had nothing to say.

Well, the debacle did not happen in abstract or void or all of a sudden. It had started precipitating a long time back, culminating in defeat after defeat because of so many factors.

In a nation which considers any match with India as a World Cup final, you have as many critics and as many selectors as you can find. As expected, hype was created, so was despair. You could see hanging faces all over: on TV, in

streets, in bazaars, in homes and in public places. Everywhere gloom had taken over. Why? Because our pundits and so-called experts never said that the team was not capable of winning, being devoid of merit.

The truth is that art, culture, literature and sports rise and fall with the rise and fall of nations as a whole, in all spheres. Politically and economically stable countries excel in all spheres, including sports. This is a historical fact.

Decadence starts with the absence of merit and permeates in every field, big or small.

Rafiq Ahmad Chaudhary

Atlanta, GA, US

Published in Dawn March 2nd , 2015

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