For a country that was once considered the frontrunner in cricket, hockey and squash, Pakistan has reached rock bottom in no time. Cricket is only played abroad when other countries have time for the green shirts either on their field or in Pakistan’s adopted grounds in the United Arab Emirates.
National game, hockey, is played just like any other sport with no hope of medal or accolades at the international level. As for squash, for five decades Pakistan ruled the courts but as soon as Jansher Khan’s career ended, so did the hope for another champion.
Once upon a time …
Pakistan was the country that gave the idea of the Hockey World Cup long before the advent of One Day International Cricket that debuted the same year as the Hockey World Cup in 1971. Not only did Pakistan emerge as the winner, they also initiated the Champions’ Trophy as well as other mega events -- such was the country’s hold over the game.
Even in cricket, Pakistan remains the only country to win a test match in its inaugural series against the opponents; be it England, India, or the West Indies. Pakistan produced the most number of champions in squash and besides Jahangir Khan, who holds the insurmountable record of 555 consecutive victories, there were others who did their country proud by winning at home and abroad.
In fact, there was a time when as many as two players (Munir Peerzada and Saeed Hai in the 1950s) represented Pakistan at Wimbledon and sprinter Abdul Khaliq was once dubbed as the fastest man in Asia, quicker than India’s Milkha Singh.
When Pakistan ruled the world
It was in the 1960s and the 70s that Pakistan enjoyed the golden era of sports. Teams from all over the world visited Pakistan, including the Indian Cricket team that lost the test series 2-0 in the 70s. Squash tournaments were held till the time when Pakistan was considered a formidable foe.
Even seven out of the first 10 editions of the Champions Trophy Hockey tournament were played in Pakistan and ball-pickers from those days remember the atmosphere with glint in their eyes. When Pakistan won the event, there was a national holiday the next day and everyone from Khyber to Karachi would celebrate the victory all day long.
The 1992 World Cup victory was celebrated like never before because it was something nobody expected, to be honest. In 2009, when Younis Khan’s men beat Sri Lanka to become T20 World Champions, it sent the cricket fans back in time. Roads were blocked and people danced everywhere. The war on terror was forgotten for those few hours and everyone who loved sports had the time of their lives.
A black day from the Wild West
The year was 2009; the month was March when the city of Lahore was attacked by a handful of miscreants who wanted to take down the Sri Lankan Cricket team. They failed in their main mission but managed to put a black mark on Pakistan’s ability to play as hosts, one the country hasn’t been able to remove since.
Call it fate or bad luck but that one incident raised questions over Pakistan’s infrastructure as a sporting nation; there was Governor’s Rule in Lahore on that one day when the incident happened there were loopholes in the ‘foolproof’ security and the fact that no signal free corridor was provided as the militants were waiting for the Sri Lankan Cricket team’s bus to enter their targeted vicinity.
Since that fateful day, Pakistan hasn’t been able to host a major cricketing nation, let alone hockey teams or squash players who continue to refuse when it comes to visiting Pakistan. These countries, especially Australia and South Africa, seem to forget that it was the same Pakistan where they came in 1996 and heaved a huge sigh of relief because they found the arrangements of the World Cup closer to home.
Taking sports for granted!
Pakistan has produced a great number of sportsmen ever since its inception but, sadly, none of them have had the pleasure of bowing down in style. From Islah Uddin to Shehbaz Ahmed Senior, Hanif Mohammad to Mushtaq Mohammad, Majid Khan to Javed Miandad, Mohammad Yousuf to Mohammad Asif, all these champions have been mistreated by the officials for reasons better known to the powers-that-be.
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Some retired early to save themselves from being axed, others held onto the straw that was provided to them by the officials at the helm. So, the decline in sports shouldn’t come out as surprise because it pains when you see the classy Hanif Mohammad sacrifice his first love -- cricket -- to save his younger brother, Sadiq’s career, the graceful Majid Khan making a disgraceful exit, the great Islah Uddin being unceremoniously shown the door when at his prime, Javed Miandad making a tearful press conference or Muhammad Asif travelling in rickshaw because the money promised to him after he won the World title never materialised.
When you don’t respect your stars, the decline is something that follows and whatever is happening to Pakistan is something the seeds of which were sown long before the terrorists fired the shots on March 3, 2009.
What the Pakistanis miss
The morale of any country can easily be judged the way its sportsmen perform on the field. Lack of sports activities gives rise to negativity and that’s exactly what has been happening in Pakistan for more than five years now.
Holding tournaments to appease Guinness World Records have no meaning for the sports-loving people of Pakistan who miss going out to the stadium, taking out their kids to sports festivals, or even get together at a friend’s place to watch a match being televised live. Some cite law and order as the reason; others blame the state of sports in the country for the decline in interest.
Senior sports journalist, Afia Salam, feels that lack of sports activities in Pakistan has contributed to a lot of shortcomings in our development as a nation. "Sports have always been an opportunity for expression of collective happiness. Other than congregational religious festivals, there are very few occasions for bonding and celebrating together."
She rightly points out. "This was so true of spectator sport where crowd involvement made any victory taste sweeter, as opposed to just the eyeballs garnered through marketing gimmicks. Loss of sports activities at home due to various issues has certainly dented Pakistan big time."