We can put away the fireworks for another four years. Pakistan extended its losing record to India in World Cup to a pitiful 0-6. That we were defeated is not unexpected; India are the reigning champions and a far superior team. It is the abject manner in which we lost that is so hard to fathom. The poor decision-making started even before the match when Misbah dropped the in-form wicket keeper Sarfraz Ahmed for the makeshift replacement Umar Akmal. Predictably Akmal dropped man of the match and centurion Virat Kohli. The bane of every Pakistani team ever – shoddy fielding – cost us dearly. Our inexperienced bowling line-up posed no danger without the steadying influence of Saeed Ajmal. A target of 300 should still have been chaseable against India’s mediocre bowlers. We did not even come close. Ahmed Shahzad and Shoaib Maqsood played criminally irresponsible shots. Younis Khan is woefully out of form. Umar Akmal was desperately unlucky to be given out by a third umpire in a decision that is sure to have conspiracy-theorists wagging their tongues about India’s dark influence on cricket. But make no mistake about it: we didn’t lose because of the umpiring; we lost because we deserved to lose.
The only silver lining is that this match is unimportant in the grander scheme of things. Sure, losing to India is a uniquely painful experience but we need to keep our eyes on the greater prize. To qualify for the quarter finals we only need to beat Ireland, Zimbabwe and the UAE. Knowing how unpredictable Pakistan can be this is in no way guaranteed but the odds are clearly in our favour. We are also somewhat fortunate that our next match is against the West Indies – the only team in greater disarray than us. That too isn’t a must-win match but it is one we need to boost our confidence. Right now the team will be distraught. They should keep in mind the experience of 1992, when we lost not only to India but also to the West Indies
and South Africa while only rain saved us from an embarrassing defeat to England. The tournament still has six weeks to run so while we may not look like a team with the quality to lift the trophy we have plenty of time to recover. An encouraging sign amidst the gloom was the way captain Misbah kept his head while all around him were losing theirs. He now has to instill that same confidence in the rest of the team.