The rise and fall of cricket

Pinning hope with our cricket team that they would rise to the challenge was like asking for the moon. In a nation that considers any match with India as a World Cup final, you have as many critics and as many selectors as you can find. As the exceptional hype was created, so was the despair exceptional. Why? Because our pundits and the so-called experts never told us that the team was not capable of winning the World Cup.
The truth is that art, culture, literature and sports rise and fall with the rise and fall of nations as a whole. Politically and economically stable countries excel in all spheres, including sports. This is a fact. Decadence starts with the absence of merit and permeates in every field – small or big, minor or major, mini or mega. This is what is going on in our beloved Pakistan for decades together. We lost the vision of the father of the nation – faith, unity and discipline. We ignored the warning of our poet philosopher Allama Iqbal. Why should cricket be an exception then?
Rafiq Ahmad Chaudhary
Atlanta
USA