Cricket - We Love You

In a country like Pakistan, cricket is not just a game, it is a passion. This game is not only men’s game, our women, children, young and old; everybody loves it, every breath of their lives, especially when the game is being played. 

This game was created by the English and it is played and popular in places where they ruled for well over two centuries. It is generally called a ‘Gentleman’s game’. The reasons could be traced back to its creation that it was originated by the English elite. The game's dress, rules, conduct and almost everything else, which is associated with the game, are quite sophisticated. 

Before the creation of Pakistan, there was a sub-continent cricket team. And after the creation of Pakistan, the young country entered into this arena and made its name early on with its talent and hard work and some early notable successes. Over the years, Pakistan cricket teams have seen many ups and downs in their cricketing history anywhere from beating the great teams like England and India on their own turfs to getting bowled on the lowest One Day International (ODI) scores, and not to mention the match fixing scandals. Our nation is quite glued with their TVs when any international cricket game is played and the fervor rises infinitely when cricket is being played against India. Initially, our Sharjah fixtures were quite popular with them. 

Many of our cricketers made their name in cricket while performing on many important occasions. Among the most remembered are Abdul Hafeez Kardar, our first captain, Hanif Mohammad, the great ‘little master’, Mushtaq Muhammad, Javed Miandad for his famous ‘Sharjah sixer’, our 1992 World Cup hero Wasim Akram and most importantly our legendary captain Imran Khan. 

Despite of lacking cricket facilities and infrastructure in our country, we have an enormous young talent in every aspect of the game. Our kids in this country are so passionate and lover of this game that they manage to find a bat and a ball, with something else used as wickets and a small pitch and start playing this game with any number of individuals available at the time. Interestingly, many of our players came from the streets to play for the national team. So there is talent available in the country and the selectors only have to look at the right places to spot them.

Pakistan has made its name in cricket on all levels including ODI, Test Matches and now in Twenty twenty format. Pakistan has also managed to win 1992 ODI World cup and most recently, the twenty twenty world cup. Our team is considered one of the most ‘Unpredictable’ cricket teams in the world. On its day, Pakistan’s team can beat the best team in the world and on some days, it could lose against the most minion team in the world too. The ‘unpredictable’ nature of our team keeps our opponents on edge. Either way, we love this game and for that reason, expect our team to win against any opponent they are playing. And our team understands our emotions and feelings of the nation and they do their best on the field.