The Cricket World Champion : Pakistan

With no recent cricketing activity of international level at home, no participation in the Indian Premier Profits League, on the back of criticism from their own chief selector and having being ruled out whatsoever to make it to the semis, Pakistan today showed the world what it is capable of.

The very fact that Pakistan stamped its presence in two finals in a row in itself speaks volumes of the cricketing talent of the country. Winning one of them and losing the other by mere five runs just adds to it. The unearthing of a 17-year old rookie, who hardly had any flesh on his body, and his resounding success against the likes of Graeme Smith and Tilkaratne Dilshan in crunch games is again a feature to be found in Team Pakistan. At this time, it is also worthwhile to mention the coach Intikhab Alam who was also responsible for the team back in 1992 when the boys brought the trophy home!

Before the start of tournament, when everyone wrote off Pakistan, there was one man still claiming Pakistan to be the favourites – hats off to Wasim Akram!
To all those who think that Pakistan’s win is merely a fluke, then remember that flukes are just one-off. This is some serious progress! Beating the two favourites of the tournament in the semi final and the final can not be a fluke. Also, both wins are quite convincing!

It is a time to celebrate and thank Almighty Allah for giving the nation something to cheer about.

It is surprising to see how a nation stuck in a foreign war and isolation can come out so strong. Again, this shows the character of the people despite the junk given to us by the so-called leaders.

Well done Team Pakistan!

If we just analyse this tournament for a minute, the turning point for me was the return of Abdul Razzaq. He provided stability in the team – his sheer presence made an effect and expectations rose. He didn’t disappoint either, taking three crucial wickets with the new ball in the final. His return also freed up Afridi, who was locked in at number 6 for some late acceleration. That task was given to Razzaq (was never really required in the end), while Afridi was promoted to have a ball. Afridi himself showed a surprising transformation in to a mature batsmen and for me, after YK’s retirement from T20, Afridi deserves to wear the captaincy hat. I’ve seen him doing well in the domestic T20s as a captain. Also, I’d love to see Afridi in Test matches!

Umar Gul topped the wickets table yet again – and that just shows the sheer quality of bowling talent.

This success will go a long way and hopefully bring back those people to cricket who left in disappointment.

Finally, the moment of the tournament for me was when Younis Khan went berserk on Mohd. Aamir when he failed to return to the stumps to collect Fawad Alam’s throw – which incidentally hit the stumps directly. Despite getting the wicket and sealing the match, Younis had more on his mind. Clearly, he was aiming much higher. I was not a fan of YK’s captaincy, but I must admit he has impressed me (a little ).


Good luck to Team Pakistan for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka, and all the future series!