HAFEEZ BHAI, YOU MADE HISTORY

10 years ago | Posted in: Articles | 2035 Views

“There will be no margin for mistakes” Hafeez had said prior to the match. One would think that if each and every one of the men in the playing 11 knew this then why were so many made during play?

What was with Akmal junior and his overthrows?

What was with Shahzad’s inability to get to the ball?

Why did Sohaib keep taking full 30 seconds before releasing the ball he had fielded?

Why is Gul constantly brought back at the death, given he is recovering from injury?

Why are Ajmal’s overs constantly being kept till after the 15th?

Why did Kamran hand Bravo a sitter?

Heck! Why was he, along with Malik, even included in the squad?

Why did Akmal junior walk further out of his crease rather than back into it once the ball was in the keeper’s hands, didn’t somebody tell him that not all keep the way his brother does?

What was with Malik and Afridi and their gymnastic returns to the dug outs?

Trust me I can go on and on with the questioning, we all can. But what pains is that we ask so much yet the answers we get are the same old scripted ones.

When Hafeez said, “best of luck to all the semi finalists, they deserve that spot” he stabbed the hearts of countless supporters with his words.

Hafeez, we deserved that spot as much as any of them did. If only you had believed that from the moment you stepped foot in Dhaka. No one wrote us off even when we entered the do or die stage since match one. The reason? Because Team Green is simply too darn talented. And there’s proof. Akmal junior’s blistering 94, Shahzad’s cocky century, Babar’s heroics, even Gul impressed a few times here and there.

Yes, winning and losing is an integral part of the game. We accept the fact that we lost by a shameful 84 runs in the quarter finals, a match we approached with the attitude of a warm up one. We accept the fact that at the end of the day the Windies were the far better side. We accept that this is the first Pakistani 11 that failed to make it to the semi finals of the T20 World Cup. A spot that we seemed to have a birth right to. A format that is completely ours. I will not waste my time writing what a shame it is that along with not appearing in the hockey World Cup, Pakistanis have also been deprived of a spot in the final 4. Both of which had been a Pakistani tradition.

Perhaps each player that played even a single match in the tournament ought to take a long hard look at himself in the mirror and consider what and where they would’ve been if this nation didn’t love them as much.

We will love you through your highs and your lows, but Team Green you ought’ a stop exploiting these  feelings, ‘cause everything has a red line stretched ahead of it.

The Pakistan that appeared before the Windies is the Pakistan that should cease to exist.

Afridi apologized after losing the semi finals of the 2011 ODI World Cup, we took it. Only because we knew of the turbulence the team had gone through in the recent past. This time round too the captain apologized though the format and the captain were different. Professor, though, is steering a 2014 model cruise ship. The latest, the trendiest, with not a single player sporting a black spot on his career.

So, Hafeez’s apology… I don’t take it. Professor you did it the last time, you could’ve done it again. You just left too many lose ends.

Now just one question. What is an apology going to set right?

 

By: Fatima Arshad

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13 Responses to “HAFEEZ BHAI, YOU MADE HISTORY”

  • Maheen A Khan says:

    I think match went well till windie’s 16th over thereafter a continuous disaster till Pak’s 5th over and match was over for the greens. I agree with the writer that Kami and shoaib should not be the part of 11 but I don’t agree with the author about Ajmal’s last overs views. BUT the problem is actually Pak team did not fight at all and showed a street team performance after 16th overs. It could easily be understood that the seriousness was not visible at all.
    Any ways now match is over and now we need to transparent accountability and a professional rebuilding of the team is now required.

    • Fatima Arshad says:

      A couple of Ajmal’s overs are usually kept till after the 15th over. When a team has wickets in hand and a few more balls to go, it doesn’t matter who’s bowling, the bowler WILL be taken on. If the same over had been bowled by Ajmal earlier then the situation and the total would’ve been different.
      We look to restrain the run scoring and taking the match till the last over. Why not look to let loose all your weapons and bag wickets and finish the opponent’s innings before the overs are even finished?

      A run stopping strategy never works, a wicket taking one always does.

  • Fatima Arshad says:

    I do not mean that the players should cease to exist. You got me totally wrong. I meant that the ‘form’ they appeared with should cease to exist, along with the attitude and technique that didn’t even seem to exist.

    I am an ardent Pakistani supporter and the advice you just gave me is something I deeply believe in and I do not go astray from my beliefs. I already support the men in green through all their highs and all their lows.

    We lost in the Asia Cup as well and fans all over the world accepted it, ’cause it was a defeat, we DID put up a show. But not that night. That night the Pak batting innings was a mere formality and a disgrace. THAT performance shall never be repeated. Because it was more then just a defeat.

  • Tariq Quershi says:

    I think game is a game we should not take it more serious then it deserves……Yes I agree with the writer that merit, accountability and fair play should be there

  • sohaib maqsood says:

    This is the first acceptable piece i’ve read on the team’s defeat.
    You sound like you’re related to some famous cricketer. Or is it me just guessin the future? Nice!

  • Faiza Ali says:

    Job well done! I loved the Kamran Akmal part!! XD

  • faizan says:

    “What is an apology going to set right?”
    So very true! :/

  • Fatima Arshad says:

    The decision should’ve been made by the board, this way we’re setting a trend that when the captain suffers defeat on a big scale instead of giving him a chance to learn from it we throw him out. (or he steps down)

    Afridi should’ve been T20 captain and now it’ll be so, that’s the pro out of all this.

  • Tariq says:

    @faizan at least somebody has a courage to apologize and step down we should appreciate him

    • Fatima Arshad says:

      I respectfully disagree sir, in sports apologizing is the easiest thing to do. Learning from the events that led you to apologize make you a strong and able leader, not stepping down and showing yourself as incapable of dealing with problems.

  • Tariq says:

    @fatima sometime it is appropriate that you should take responsibility and take a pause to review and plan for your future. on the other hand if he had not stepped down after this memorable defeat then all Pakistan would have been criticizing him for being stubborn

    • Fatima Arshad says:

      The Pakistani nation is very quick on its judgements and we turn a player into a scrapegoat after just one instance of not performing. This is a wrong attitude. Everyone has bad times but some people are made to live it out in the open glare of the public. We should support them. If he had been given a chance to learn from this we could’ve been positive about better results in the next edition.

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