Perfecting the empty vessels syndrome

Yet another cricketing adventure by Pakistan has ended in a sham for the nation, which, of late, has only been indulging in bravado and doing nothing brave on the ground. This edition of the World T20 will be a tournament they will never forget in a long time and none of them are for any exploits in the middle.

Rather, they have done precious little to enhance their reputation as an enigmatic outfit that can be world beaters on their day. Having made an unceremonious exit on Good Friday, one that was worse than the showings by Afghanistan and Bangladesh, Pakistan seems to have taken over as the new punching bag, lambs to the slaughter, so to say. What is even more ironical is that the team has been in the news for all the wrong and politically incorrect reasons.

Shahid Afridi, a dreaded player in any form of the game, is to pay a heavy price back home. His comments have been so varying in nature that he is caught in the crossfire that would be akin to going to the altar for the final epitaph to what could be an otherwise exhilarating career that saw him enjoy more fan following in India than in his backyard.

It is perhaps this belief that made him to commit the cardinal sin of praising the India ‘home-stretch’, much to the chagrin of the bosses running Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). If Afridi has earned the wrath of ‘true-blue’ administrators and former players he need not get carried away because the critics are doing so only to ensure that their seats stay secured while Afridi and Waqar Younis are made the scapegoats.

There is bizarre functioning style to the manner PCB conducts its business. Fearing an imminent loss of face on Indian soil, they made all sorts of sounds to stay in the news. It did not bother the government-backed officials that every word would boomerang on them, which, is precisely what happened as the tournament drew near. In a way, the Indian government and the BCCI made the mistake of falling into the hands of the PCB bosses by shifting the India-Pakistan match venue and increasing the security cover when they should have treated Pakistan like any other opponent in the extravaganza.

The moot point is why should New Delhi bow to the diktat emanating from Islamabad when the fact remains that all cricket-playing nations were okay with the security provided in India? PCB is crying wolf because it knows that none in the global fraternity trusts it at face value.

Adding salt are the likes of skipper Afridi who one day opens his heart out only to later praise the support from Kashmiris, which is the language Islamabad understands and expects its ambassadors to emulate at every international platform. Any anti-India jibe is music to the ears of the authorities, who grimace when former Pakistan players spend more time in India as commentators. That is how the cookies crumble.