IF the first two matches in the ongoing One Day series are anything to go by, cricket fans around the world would have realized by now what they were missing all these years. The good thing is that while cricket itself has been very tense, there have been little tension in the stands or on the streets. Yes, the passion is very much there, as it should, and the strain is quite visible on the faces when things go down to the wire, but there has been none of that animosity that used to mark Pakistan-Indian matches which were played on neutral venues in the last many years. This has been great stuff and certainly matches the excellence that is being displayed by the players on the field.
Coming to cricket itself, I guess it was not all that bad a decision by Inzamamul Haq to ask the Indians to take first strike after winning the toss in Karachi. I have seen some harsh criticism of the decision in the media, with people calling it a ‘bad decision’, a ‘negative decision’, an ‘inexplicable decision’ and so on.
Come to think of it, all these experts and pundits would have been praising the same decision had Sehwag not been dropped before he had scored, and had Tendulkar been snapped up on a legal delivery instead of the no-ball which it actually turned out to be. It all happened inside the first 18 balls and these included four wides and two no-balls. If Pakistan could have had those two prized wickets, which they should have had, in the first twenty minutes of play, who would have criticized the decision to bowl first?
The most mind-boggling criticizm came from none other than the Chief Executive Officer of Pakistan Cricket Board, Mr Ramiz Raja, who in a column for an Indian website slammed the decision. If a top board official finds nothing wrong in publicly criticizing the decision taken by the national captain, I can only look up to the heavens and wonder when, if ever, sanity will ultimately prevail in the ranks of the PCB.
Here is a CEO who was retained by the PCB, while others were being dumped, because of ‘the importance of the Indian tour’, and was given the task of managing everything, from tour itinerary and logistics to marketing and ticketing. This would have meant a busy life for any individual, but the CEO has taken shelter behind doing all this on a voluntary basis, and has found the time to go on air as a television commentator, and, as if that was not enough, to become an online columnist. With so much on his plate, it is only natural that he is struggling to strike a balance between where his interests actually lie. As a person, he has every right to hold whatever opinion he deems fit, but, being the CEO, he has to be cautious about what he wants to say in public. His criticizm of the national captain was in bad taste, and was reflective of his attempt to juggle the various hats that he has put on himself. Going with the popular sentiment is an enticement many self-styled experts fall for, but the fall of the PCB CEO was the worst keeping in view his official capacity.
While Inzamam’s decision in the first game came in for heavy criticism, no one said anything about his decision not to place a Third-Man when Shoaib Akhtar was bowling to Indian tailenders in the dying moments of the second game, which actually made it a much more close game than it would have been otherwise. I am sure that had Pakistan made those five precious runs in the first game, no one would have cared to talk about the toss. And, by the same token, if India could have made those twelve runs, this Third-Man thing would have been a major issue with the so-called experts. For them, nothing succeeds like success, and defeat is always an orphan. So much for cricketing expertise!
Back to cricket, it was a much improved performance by the bowlers in the second game at Pindi. I guess the nerves are beginning to settle down in both the camps and we are all in for a feast of cricket that would hopefully get even better. It is difficult to see how much better it can get after the two initial cliffhangers, but Pakistan and India always have the potential to raise the bar when it comes to facing each other.
IF the first two matches in the ongoing One Day series are anything to go by, cricket fans around the world would have realized by now what they were missing all these years. The good thing is that while cricket itself has been very tense, there have been little tension in the stands or on the streets. Yes, the passion is very much there, as it should, and the strain is quite visible on the faces when things go down to the wire, but there has been none of that animosity that used to mark Pakistan-Indian matches which were played on neutral venues in the last many years. This has been great stuff and certainly matches the excellence that is being displayed by the players on the field.
