So we pulled out the win against Zimbabwe. It's a great relief for the whole country, but the man who was relieved more than anyone else was Misbahul Haq. The look on his face after the match was of relief and consolation. I'm not sure what was going through his head but it looked like he was thinking how bad the team is and he was smiling about how they got lucky to win this one.
He probably paid for Wahab Riaz's dinner that night. Wahab almost single-handedly won us the game. As a bowler, goes out to bat and smashes 54* with a strike rate of more than hundred, when all but one batsman failed. Misbah played well and carried the innings forward, but his 73 was at a strike rate of 60. Wahab was the one who gave us that last push which got us to 235 and picked up four valuable wickets. Irfan however was the pick of the bowlers. Every time Misbah tossed Irfan the ball, he got him a break through. He kept constant pressure on the Zimbabwean batting line up.
A win is a win, but we have to remember that we almost lost to Zimbabwe. It came down to the last over. And if Wahab Riaz hadn't had the best day of his life, we could very easily have lost.
Glad it happened though. The credit goes to him and the team to get the important victory. But can we rely on more than one person a game please? We are still sort of alive in the tournament but if we keep going the same way, it'll be a tough ask to beat Ireland, and let's just forget South Africa. They've made the same amount of runs in the last two matches as we have in our first three matches.
We made 235 against the Zimbabwean bowling in 50 overs with wickets in hand which was only just more than what Chris Gayle made against them. We haven't bowled well either. Couldn't get more than 6 wickets against West Indies and had India at 273 for just the loss of 2. That second wicket at 163 was also a run out, so no credit to the bowlers.
And the most embarrassing aspect of our team is the fielding. You can practice that and get better. It doesn't require much skill or talent. There is no excuse for bad fielding. The number of catches we have dropped and the fumbles on ground is despicable. A lot of teams have had batting collapses, even the top teams like New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. But fielding is one thing that every team can and does take care of, except Pakistan. And it's nothing new. We've always had fielding issues.
We always talk about Pakistan being a very talented cricketing nation. And I agree with that. We have had a lot of naturally talented players in the past. Not anymore though, I don't agree with people that are calling this team talented. I don't see the talent when the team is stranded at 100 for 4, 150 for 7 and 1 for 4 and 17 for 2 in 10 overs. No talent in letting oppositions score 300 at ease and not taking wickets. No talent in dropping five catches a match and three behind the wickets in three matches.
I understand where Shoaib Akhtar and Wasim Akram's anger and displeasure is coming from. Of course they're emotional and they've shown it in interviews. Shoaib went quite over board and was very disrespectful. A former player of his stature shouldn't be speaking like that. However, if you get anybody from the street, they'll have similar feelings.
With performances like Pakistan has had so far, they're sinking deeper in the massive hole they dug for themselves. They're losing a lot of support.
If you're still optimistic about Pakistan's chances in the World Cup, you'll be laughed at. That is how bad the situation is at the moment. We hear of similarities between our current position and our 1992 campaign. Talk about being down and out and the famous 'cornered tigers'.
It sounds a bit silly. We really need to get out of 1992. That's one reason why Pakistanis still have their hopes high, it gives them some belief and brings back good memories. But we also need to realize that half of our team wasn't old enough to have watched it live or remember anything if they did. That's how long ago that was. We shouldn't even talk about it. Can't believe we still use it to make ourselves feel better.
Who cares about 1992 anymore? Yes, it's a great moment in our country's history, great memories, the whole country was jubilant and still gets excited hearing about it. But, we need to move on. As supporters we need to have higher standards. We need more recent, more current highlights to motivate us and lift our spirits. It wasn't these guys who won the 1992 World Cup so we can't let them off or be easy on them and comfort ourselves with those memories.
