My Unhealthy Relationship with Pakistani Cricket : 1996-2010
March 11, 2010
You constantly let me down, embarrass me in front of my friends, and lately I’m told you cheat on me. From ball tampering, to match fixing (that’s the cheating part), to winning zero games in recent series’, and slipping in the world standings, I should probably move on. I’ve been loyal, passionate, and relentlessly defended you, but you keep breaking my heart.
And I’m not going to lie. After your loss to the Aussies last month, I was tempted to leave you, perhaps for the Kiwi’s, maybe even see Sri Lanka for awhile. But I didn’t stray; I was a good girlfriend. Then came today’s PCB decision, reminding me that you are subject to an absurdly inefficient authority so seeped in politics that I can’t deal with your baggage anymore. The drama has been progressively agonizing.
It’s like dating a teenager. Which is why it was so easy to love you when I was one. But I’m not a teenager anymore. I’m in my 20’s now and am seriously thinking about settling down. I need a cricket team who can reciprocate my love, show consistency and keep me amused. After a long day of work, yoga and blogging, I stay up till midnight and beyond (California time) to watch your ODI’s, even Tests and you leave me dissatisfied, night after night. It’s been 14 years, of ups and downs, which have been a sad series of “downs” in the past few years. When Shahid Afridi first joined the team and scored the Worlds Fastest Century in the nineties, I was captivated; you had me at hello. So I put up with the 1999 World Cup Debacle, the next world Cup Debacle, and have no idea what you’re going to pull in this next one.
So why do I still love you? I suppose because deep down I still believe in you. It’s irrational, impractical and against my immediate interests to stay, but I won’t leave. And after all you’ve put me through: if I still don’t walk away…..that’s gotta be love.
Zainab B. Jeewanjee
Zainab Jeewanjee 
I went through this same mental anguish many years ago, when Indian cricket was at its absolute worst. I can still remember being up at 4AM, watching India get all out for 66 in a Test innings, and wondering why in God’s name I was still watching.
I actually had a roommate who had long given up on the Indian cricket team and kept asking my why I put myself through so much pain. There is no real answer to that question — primarily because it is an inherently flawed question. To ask why we choose to watch our country play is to assume that there is actually a choice involved.
Long live our love for cricket… Pakistan cricket’s sunrise will surely come again soon. It has to.. If for no reason other than to have more amazing India vs Pakistan matches 🙂
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i believe there’s no need to look for reasons for our passion for cricket. love n passion ve nothing to do with reason or logic. love for cricket was in my blood. i learnt english by trying to follow the commentary on radio and by reading the sports page of daily Pakistan Times. i’ve seen live likes of Fazal Mahmood, Hanif Muhammad, Imtiaz n Shuja ud Din play. I’ve seen the greatest of the Pakistan captains making debut against West Indians at a tender age, none other than Mushtaq Muhammad. My father used to narrate to us the story of our victory at Oval when our cricket was in its infancy. 1958 to 2010 is a fairly long story of ups n downs. i’ve been a witness to all that kept happening during all these years and always keenly followed the game as well as the politics in cricket. i saw Javed Burki being catapulted to captaincy n that is where the first real dent in the unity of the team could be noticed. the team had a disasterous tour of England, the body language of the team said it all. This was the first gift to the team from a military dictator and the beginning of the troubles that were to follow.
We’ve always had talented players in Pakistan but our troubles have repeatedly stemmed from incompetent and unskilful Cricket Boards. We saw our cricket rising to great heights for short periods when persons of stature like Nur Khan took over the reigns of the Board or when luckily a lot many talented players got together just by stroke of luck.
Another major factor was a number of our players playing county cricket in England. A few may not agree, but the departmental teams in 70s gave a real boost to our cricket, a number of talented youngsters got financial support and were able to make it to the highest level.
Our cricket has never suffered so much at the hands of players as it has suffered at the hands of successive inefficient Board officials. We need someone whose integrity is above board n who could impose discipline at all levels, someone with a vision to organize cricket at grassroot levels and cleanse the admin setup of parasites.
If you are in love with Pakistan cricket you’ve to accept it as it is. try to make this relationship healthy, if not for any other reason, for the sake of your own well being.I’ve all the reasons to believe that we,ll be climbing up the ladder sooner than what most of us believe.
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A very positive article, indeed, for those who get frustrated to read the news about Pakistani cricket team and its players.
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A very entertaining post!
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[…] from floods, the war on terror, political volatility and economic insecurity and he knows that Cricket is what Pakistanis look to for […]
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you article is soo nice, i think match and spot fixing scandal is just a money making story and our cricketers have received their fee to act in this story, they are able to capture by our authorities for more investigations.
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shame on you………… not on pak cricket board
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