Since our humiliating defeat against West Indies, I have been bombarded with all sorts of memes, both ridiculing the team and a few in their support. That entire episode, which definitely isn’t the first time that it’s happening, compelled me to jot a few points down (unsolicited Khidmat-e-khalq, muft k mashwaray aur analysis since forever). Any devoted supporter would by now recognise how our team has worked since always (At least since I started following cricket diligently, ’99 world cup till present). We are unpredictable and here’s why:
- We are an overly emotional nation. A single defeat leads to a new vocabulary of cuss words, and the very next moment, a victory would make all of us exalt them to cloud 9. See the problem here? All of this has a profound affect on our players. They are very much like us. The additional pressure of ALWAYS performing well is a bit too much to ask. Specially from a team that is ranked no.6, it is impossible to produce remarkable sport against every opponent, every time.
- It’s not just us. India and Bangladesh are as emotional of a nation as us. Point in case; remember the reaction of the fans when Bengalis lost to Pakistan in Asia Cup final? You actually started feeling bad for defeating them didn’t you? This level of emotional attachment is seriously toxic.
- Our players get worked up when they face sledging/abuse on the ground. Emotional meter shoots up, the game plan is destroyed and there, you lose it. The gori teams understand us that way and most of the times use it to their advantage.
- The team goes in with surging confidence, but the moment there is any debacle in the field and we just struggle to recover. That’s where our emotions take the better of our cognitive powers.
- This entire emotional gush and excessive patriotism (limited to cricket only) is not always bad. At many a times this emotional trigger of ours has been the ultimate booster that has helped pave our way to miraculous victories as well. Remember those 2 sixes Afridi hit of Ashwin? That famous Miandad’s sixer and of course the very famous “Kohli nhi hota tujh se chase”.
Conclusion: We need to cut some slack to the boys. Keep ourselves emotionally resilient. Adapt to the unpredictability of this team and not pin too many hopes on them for every single match. Because no matter how great of an analyst you are, you can never be certain with this team. When they win, they win like a beast. And when they lose, oh well . There is definitely no in between. You just really can’t help it can you? It is what it is. That is the beauty of Team Pakistan (or the lack of it – Trying to quote in the haters too)
Let’s enjoy the biggest tournament of cricket in the spirit of watching quality cricket. 8 matches still to go. You never know with team Pakistan. Support them when they need it the most. Pakistan Zindabad
#NaGhabranayKiAadatNahiHuiAbhiTak
#ItIsWhatItIs
#BleedGreenForever
#WeHaveBeenDheetWeWillBeDheet
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