BY the time you read this newspaper on Sunday morning, we’ll have a fair idea if Pakistan will be joining India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the quarter-finals of the World Cup. If Misbah-ul-Haq’s side gets the better of Ireland, it will be the first time that all four teams from the sub-continent have reached this far together: an occurrence of some significance in cricket.

India, struggling to find their bearings, turned into a juggernaut overnight, as it were, after the World Cup started. With an authoritative win over Zimbabwe on Saturday, everybody now sees M S Dhoni’s team as favourites to defend the title.

Sri Lanka’s batting strength, with Kumar Sangakara experiencing a quite remarkable `second wind’, have ensured a place for themselves despite the lack of a quality bowling attack. It is Bangladesh, however, who have won the richest accolades — justifiably so — after sending England packing back home.

In contrast to the other three, Pakistan have looked distinctly iffy. Bad luck cost them some quality players through injury, but this was compounded by some poor performances in the first few matches. Then came the unexpected victory over South Africa, sending a surge of self-belief in the players. As things stand, West Indies need to win their last match by a hefty margin to improve their net run rate, and UAE as opponents gives them more than just a glimmer of hope of making it to the quarter final.

Pakistan’s best chance is to win and throw the net run rate out of the equation. It won’t be easy. The Irish are doughty. But let’s not jump the gun on that: the fact that all the sub-continent teams are in contention for the title is redolent of a shift in balance of power, at least where ODIs are concerned..

On a broader level, the sub-continent is crucial to cricket because so few countries play it. There are only nine full members of the ICC with Test status, of which four are from this region. These four nations afford benefit to cricket because of manic passion for the game, population density which is predominantly young which gives the sport both enough number of players as well as audiences, and at least in India’s case, an economy that can sustain the sport almost on its own.

With the tattered administration in West Indies and Zimbabwe taking its toll on their teams, the need for India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to excel is even greater. But it also imposes responsibility on these countries of keeping standards and propriety — on and off the field — very high.

Truth, however, is that all four countries have, for different reasons, been struggling in this aspect. The BCCI has been going through a credibility crisis for the past couple of years. The Sri Lankan and Pakistan cricket boards finances are hollow, Bangladesh — till this World Cup — have not been able to meet the benchmarks.

Barring in India (and Sri Lanka to an extent), not enough has been invested in infrastructure, player academies, sports medicine, coaching and a stable administration: a robust domestic structure overall.

Consequently, it sometimes appears that cricket in these countries resides in a house of cards.

Pakistan’s case has been made worse by the threat of terrorism, which means there are no home series, the frequent occurrences of match-fixing scams, and I dare say, a cavalier attitude of those who’ve played the sport at the highest level.

There is only so much that pure passion can sustain. In modern sport, the edifice has to be built up with diligence, strong vision, integrity (of authority and players), marketing savvy etc, else it will remain vulnerable.

The success of sub-continent teams in this World Cup could be a starting point to set things right. The presence of Pakistan in the knock-out stage — with the mouth-watering prospect of an Indo-Pak semi-final — would add a thrilling dimension to the World Cup.

Published in Dawn March 15th , 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play