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When people of influence in office lose sanity and indulge themselves in absurdity then you start to wonder whether you were watching the same game like they were or there was something else to that.
May be they are the people who are a lot more passionate about it when watching a cricket match and have a lot more at stake than others which at the end of a match forces them to sway with emotions to cast aspersions on the outcome of the match and on the integrity of the players and the team.
It certainly is a matter of great concern that every time that the team fails to come to the expectations they are branded as cheats, guilty of influencing the outcome of a match or the progress of a tournament.
I suppose it all stems mainly from ignorance of the way sports is played or a deliberate attempt to tarnish the image of the players and the team to get into limelight as, in the case of Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Sports whose unfounded allegations left us wondering whether he has any knowledge of this game.
Not realising the fact the damage his allegations has already done to a country which is struggling to find its feet against all adversity, the lawlessness, the corruption and the Kerry-Lugar bill and all.
One may ask if he has done anything so far to get the Auditor General's report on PCB finances released from the President's office. Can he dare do that?
The Minister of Sports Pir Aftab Shah Jilani was sensible and rational enough in his statement in defending the players because he has played the game and knows what it is all about.
In my experience there are three types of people who follow and watch sports, including cricket. They are the good, the bad and the ugly. The good are those who play, love the game, watch and enjoy it with a positive frame of mind.
The bad are the ones who follow it without much knowledge of the way this game is played and, no matter what the outcome of the game, they will always find some flaw in it.
And the ugly are those who have no understanding of the game and brag about it as if no one knows better than them. Those I take as the 'cricket cowboys' the likes of whom are many all over the world. And they are already showing off.
Events in the last few days after Pakistan's failure to reach the final of the ICC event have been quite distasteful and it is disgusting to see Pakistan team being admonished by their detractors. Not realising the fact where teams like South Africa, Sri Lanka and India failed to reach, Pakistan did. That they lost to Australia in a mighty close game and in the semi-final against the Kiwis only because of their failure to rise to the occasion on the day.
Luck also plays its part. On the day Pakistan was not lucky. They batted poorly from the start. That they reached a defendable target was mainly due to the efforts of youngster Umar Akmal who at a crucial stage was unlucky to be given out off the bat. One hell of a blunder that was from Simon Taufel, one of the best around. He would regret that for long because he is an honest and a conscientious umpire, those who know would vouch for him.
Even a great umpire like Dickie Bird made mistakes occasionally, his great howler being the decision in the World Cup against Australia at Lahore when he gave Imran Khan out.
The captain Younis Khan dropped a sitter; yes he did, and it can happen. He is one of the best fielders in the slips and all round like Ricky Ponting is or Rahul Dravid or Shahid Afridi. It does not in anyway suggest that it was deliberate or because of the injury to his finger. It was just a momentary lapse in concentration that failed him.
Pakistan team stood to be immensely rich, even a lot more richer than they were made after their Twenty20 win last June. Those who know how the system works and how the bookmakers operate, their offer would be nothing more than peanuts had Pakistan won. The honour of being the champions would have been even greater and the modern players know that well, as did Australia who deservedly lifted the trophy, their fourth in the last five global 50-over competitions.
No one I am sure paid them to win the final. They did because they were the most professional and competent outfit, those who failed were not.
The former captain of Pakistan Rashid Latif summed it well to say that there was no dicey deals in the way Pakistan played.
We are, however, certainly not unaware of what goes within the game. But I can tell you that this is not less than preposterous to point your fingers at the team for being dishonest.
Those who do need to read a book How to Watch Cricket by the greatest ever commentator John Arlott to have a better understanding of the game. Or, for that matter, even read the editorial columns of this very newspaper's Friday edition and I am sure you will get the gist of it.
