Pretty Ugly

19th March, 2007 is a historical day in the world of cricket. Pakistan was strangled by Irish and Bangladesh stunned India with the impromptu display of modern cricket. It was a slap on face for all those analysts of cricket, who were writing off the inclusion of minnows in the world cup.

We got up early on Sat hoping to watch team India’s batsmen thrashing the ball black and blue all over the park, as soon as we heard the news of winning the toss by Rahul Dravid. But, to our surprise, the plan was working for Bangladesh. The team India batting lineup, which is the strongest, on paper, fell apart facing the disciplined bowling attack of Bangladesh. Eventually, India reached to a defensible score, thanks to Sourav Ganguly and Yuvi and some late fireworks from tail-enders. Even though, it looked impregnable, team India never showed the commitment and the inquisitiveness to start off the tournament with a victory. All that time, on the field, Indian players were looked gloomy and embarrassed and wanted to get back to hut as soon as possible, otherwise which could have been an easy fruit to pluck and pouch it in. on the otherside, Bangladesh played a disciplined and controlled cricket, making sure they stay away from complacency.

On the otherhand, it was pretty much disappointing day in the history of Pakistan cricket. The repercussions back home will be loud and strong and could be lethal. They struggled right from the beginning of the innings. Their batsmen never got settled in the crease. The top order succumbed to the swing and movement of the ball in the early overs. Even though, they showed some fight in defending the score, as expected, they could not quite pull off the thriller, which could have been a miraculous day. This could be the last match of Inzy, who is considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of all time. Irish showed the character and the struggle for existence. The two Minnow teams (can we say that now) played out of their skins. They played like slaves, who had nothing to lose, except the shackles that tied them with the tag minnow, if they could hit the target.

For team Pakistan, it is a moment of frustration, disenchantment, upset, aggravation and annoyance and etc. For team India, chances of getting into super 8’s are tough but not impossible. They have to show real character and courage in their next two games.

On the whole minnows outplayed juggernauts in every department, ball, bat,field and mind, body and soul. The big question is, can tea Pakistan withstand to the consequences that will be developed back home? Can India bounce back and keep billions of hopes alive? Only time will heel the wounds, hopefully.