Cricket defeat

Expectations were appropriately low for the Pakistan cricket team’s tour to South Africa. Pakistan’s form in the longer form of the game has been poor for the last couple of years and the Proteas are particularly strong on their home. Still, we did not manage to meet even these low expectations and slumped to a 3-0 clean sweep in the Test series. Even a whitewash was hardly a surprise; rather it was the manner in which the Pakistan team was defeated that raises so many questions about its ability to compete. As the predictable rumours of dressing room divisions began to surface, our batting line-up collapsed time after time in the face of admittedly hostile South African fast bowling. Most worrying is the prolonged bad form of our most experienced batsmen, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq. Had there been any replacements waiting in the wings, one or both would surely have been benched by now. The bowling was predictably good but we cannot rely on that to bail out Pakistan’s batsmen time after time.

As tempting as it may be, there is no reason to panic yet. Pakistan is still the number one ranked T20 team in the world and its performance in shorter forms of the game is particularly exciting in a World Cup year. Teams with far more resources and opportunities than ours have come to South Africa and returned home similarly disappointed. If the past few years are any guide, Pakistan cricket will uncover a gem or two of a player during the upcoming Pakistan Super League. The main problem for Pakistan – and indeed much of the cricketing world – is the growing financial disparity between India, England, Australia and South Africa with everyone else. That the Pakistan team is still not able to play at home and is barred from competing in the Indian Premier League only puts it at a further disadvantage. Cricket has assumed outsized importance in the country to the cost of virtually every other sport. Our sporting fortunes are, somewhat unfairly, pinned to the performance of our men’s cricket team. This series against South Africa should be a reminder that, while cricket may be treated like it’s the only sport in the country, we are far from a cricketing superpower.