"Afridi could not win the Worldcup.But in these 30 days he converted the country into a united nation"
(Ramiz Raja)
People living in this materialistic world believe that results are necessary to prove yourselves.No one would believe when the performer says "I tried my best but could not reach upto the mark".Everyone wants first position.Below first postion and you won't be recognised and you won't be valued.But there are some people like our beloved Pakistani nation who still support their national cricket team inspite of the defeat Pakistan faced against its everlasting enemy India in the ICC cricket world cup 2011 semi final held on 30th march 2011 in Mohali, India.It was the most awaited match of the series, with the tickets being sold at the highest prices.The 'forever rival nations',India and Pakistan were busy in the preparations for the match since 10 days as if a national day was about to be celebrated.Youth all over Pakistan were confident of their victory.Same was the case with India.From Karachi to Gilgit,prayers were held in mosques for the victory of Pakistan in the big match.In Mohali the national team bowed infront of their Allah in the Mohali stadium before the match at the prayers time.
In India the Hindus bowed infront of their bhagwans praying for their side victory.The cricket match had turned into a war like situation because both nations love their egos.However situaion was different for the Indians and Pakistanis living abroad. Normally when it comes to the Indians and the Pakistanis, they are like the two repelling poles of a magnet..But when it comes to Indians and Pakistanis living in UK, USA, etc, the situation is opposite..They live together peacefully and get united to represent their Asian identity.These foreigner South Asians had arranged big screens at public places in the big cities of the wetern countries so that they could sit and watch the match together and enjoy together and then celebrate together.A public holiday was announced all over Pakistan and India on the big day so that people sit at home glued to their television and support and pray for their team.Youngsters allover India and Pakistan had arranged get together parties to watch the match together and have fun...Mohali stadium was over packed with the audience...It was quite disappointing for me when i switched on to the news channel and saw that there was only 20% Pakistani supporters in the stadium..."Doesn't matter" was my thought.It was the home ground of Indians and they had better and easy access to it than the Pakistanis.Celebrities were there to watch the match...From India there were the famous and brilliant bollywood actors Amir Khan and Imran Khan,politicians Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to support their team
Well thats not finished..from Pakistan we had our lively Chacha jee, the biggest fan of Pakistan cricket team who is always there in every cricket match of Pakistan, be the match in UAE or India or England or anywhere...Chacha jee is always there to cheer his team and the pakistani audience is always found to be surrounding him...A very old man, yet supports his team like a teenager.
Not to forget...the Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh had specially invited Pakistan prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to Mohali to watch and enjoy the match with him..This added a political tinge to the cricke match.
With so much protocol, cheers, supporters, viewers, one could imagine how important the match was for both the countries.It was the only match of the world cup tournament which I watched from the very beginning; from the toss till the after match presentation and ceremony. The match started with the crowd applausing. Pakistan bowlers performed amazingly well in the Mohali battle. However the man who owned the credit of leading the team to the semi final, Pakistan's fast bowler Umar Gul had a bad luck that day. No one could understand why Pakistan's F-16 could not take a single wicket in the entire match. The pitch was not at all suitable for him.
Inspite of all this, the Indian batsmen played under immence pressure. The Mohali stadium was like a pressure cooker with the Indian crowd boiling inside it and the pressure was all created by the Pakistani bowlers.Wahab Riaz is one name which should be written in gloden letters on the board of Pakistani bowlers.He was able to achieve 5 wickets in the match.
However when it was Pakistan's turn to bat, Pakistani supporters turned hopeless.Pakistan's young and not so experienced Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal could not compete with the bating performance of the Indian batsmen Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar, Dhoni and Yuvraj who were highly experienced and trained.And those amongst the Pakistani batsmen, who ere experience in playing against India, Misbah Ul Haq and Younus Khan thought that it was not their responsibility to lead Pakistan to the victory path. Misbah wasted almost 5 overs. Younus did the same. Afridi is an exceptional case.He is an unpredictable batsman, likes to strike aggressively and if the luck is with him then the ball goes in the air and into the audience and the umpire announces a SIX..But if the luck is not with him then the ball goes in the air and in the hands of the fielder and the umpire anounces out.
What happened with Afridi in the Mohali match is the second case.He couldn't make many runs for his team. Due to this poor bating Pakistan could not enjoy the taste of victory...victory which the Pakistani bowlers had made possible for the team.Pakistani supporters were badly disappointed due to the defeat.It was a big match for them and everyone had expected a lot from the team. But inspite of all the despair, inspite of the idiotic bating from Misbah and Younus and the poor fielding by the wicket keeper Kamran Akmal, the Pakistani supporters did not complain a bit. Because they had seen their team work hard throughout the tournament and reach the semi final.They had witnessed their team winning against the world champions Australia in the quarter final. Despite the loss Pakistani heroes, when returned home, were given a warm welcome by the nation with the words
"Be you the winners or the loosers, we will always love you"
No one had expected Pakistan to reach even the quarter finals. But our team showed the entire world that Pakistani cricket is not recognised only by the word 'match fixing' but it is recognised by the dedicated players like Afridi, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Saeed Ajmal and Wahab Riaz.And it was due to the hardwork of these players only that the Pakistani national anthem was sung in India's ground > the land where it is difficult for a Pakistani to survive.
Your love is always tested in hard situations because in easy conditions everyone can stand well just like everone can pass in an easy exam. How much you love your country is determined by your attitude towards your country when it gives you little and asks for more services from you. Someone has rightly said:
"Don't ask what your country has given you.Ask what you have given to your country"
And Pakistani nation proved itself and passed in hard exam. The nation stood united to support their team in the match against India and still stood united when the team lost and still more showed love to their team when the team returned back to their motherland because they knew that the team had worked hard and if they didn't win this time then it was not a big deal because there is always a next time and a next chance. Only with a little more hardwork the team can repeat the history of 1992 and bring the cricket world cup to Pakistan.
Only with good bowling Pakistan stands among the top 4 team in the worldcup 2011 tournament. A little more concentration and attention towards bating and fielding will make them the world champions because
"To the brave and faithful, nothing is impossible"
