Join me in the quest of our very darling “face-saving” thread. What this thread will entail, you might be asking yourself. The curtains are now being removed.
Meh, where to begin. Just where on earth to begin. So many names to talk about, so many people to hang, such a mass hysteria. Less people actually, but mistakes that shadow a life sentence. Right on. We managed to win the test match by drawing. What did we draw? Was there anything worth drawing? Whose face did we save? All who are ready to put the garlands on Younis Khan, whose face did he actually save? The nation that rooted for him to step up to the plate and begged to display a barrel of a fight, or did he go on to silently save and add another number to his average against India? A food for thought. I simply do not understand the comedics of diving straight into your shell after what, ninth over? Very much agree on the fact that it was not a “start-your-gear-for-a-full-dive” target, but Good Lord, it was as if the likes of Munaf and Sachin had become a combination of McGrath and Warne, all in the same breath and sentence. I really don’t follow the logic behind what happened on Day 5. Salman Butt have been playing very decently since the start of this tour, heck, since his vice-captaincy post was given to the man who supposedly “saved the face”. He has been amongst the runs ever since, and is proved to be a good find at the top of the order, but Good God? Reading Harbhajan well is one thing, going completely into your private shell with a “Do Not Disturb” sign posted outside, not even nudging the ball around when it is asking to do so is just distasteful. Order from the top management, but who is sitting at the top? Younis Khan the captain? Shoaib Malik ‘assisting’ from outside? The “seniors”? Geoff Lawson? Regardless, the captain takes as much of the blame as anybody. Younis Khan should have pursued the target, albeit with caution, but it never entered into the picture. The word hardly ever dropped by in this equation. It escapes pure logic and thinking as to why would you not put an effort in and at least make it look like you are going for it, rather than sitting around and waiting for miracles to happen? Again, what and whose face did we save? One down in the series, it was a great opportunity to go head-to-head or better yet, go down but do it with a fight, with bravery. From to position, at the end of the day, it was a gettable target and we played it safe until cows came home. Might as well have called the fat lady and told her to sing when Yasir Hameed departed.
Kamran Akmal - where does he stand in the mix of things? One century is all it took for him to stamp his name in the team for Lord knows how many centuries. Just why is it always an oven-burning issue when the talk spreads about having a new wicket-keeper in the team? What’s the harm, and where is it? Such a defensive mindset, it is nothing but a pity. You don’t even consider the talent that is growing within our and your own roots. Where to look? The blame shouldn’t ever lie on PCB’s doorstep. It has just won a “Top ten best companies to work for” award. Another ‘face-saving’ moment.
The ups and downs have always happened, and will continue to, but it would be an icing on the cake (of your choosing) if this mentality is removed from Pakistan cricket. There is no reason to keep it, and all the more reasons to have it surgically removed. Fact of the matter is, at the end of the day, Pakistan lost without even putting up an inch of a fight. That, as Anil Kumble put it post-match, leaves us bare empty in the column of moral victory. We need to first establish the definition of what this phrase means and represents. Had Pakistan gone for the target from the start, which it looked like for a very brief while until the ‘word’ spread, and had we kept the scorecard in check going in at almost 3-4 runs an over; if such was the case and we had lost too many wickets at the end that only the possibility of a draw looked worth salvaging, that there, acutely defines moral victory. Pakistan not only lost a great opportunity in it’s hands and the test match itself but also gladly accepted the moral defeat, as if it had been waiting for it to arrive. It did. It hardly disappoints us.
Would love to read your thoughts, your own points of concern, room for improvement in all areas (this thread included).