“The favorites lost the match”, “New Zealand defeated Pakistan in the semi-final.. WHY!?” “Pakistan is out of the tournament. Sigh. The team screwed up again”

It does sound very disappointing. After having won so many matches earlier, Pakistan just couldn’t go through to the finals to face Australia. But the fact of the matter is, there is no need to be disappointed.. at all.

Read why, after the jump.

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NOTE

Skip to “2009 ICC Champions Trophy” heading if you want to skip-read.

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Once Upon a Time, A Cricket Fan…

When it comes to cricket, I’m not the biggest of fans. I mean, I was way back in the day… the Pre-2000s: When Pakistan used to win every match.

Ahhh! Those were the days! Scrutinizing each play and discussing it with everyone else in the family. Then actually playing cricket with friends in the evening, imitating the star cricketers…

World Cup 1999

Cricket went downhill after 1999 World Cup Final. The match at Lord’s was the most disappointing match of all time. Pakistan, favorites, WINARS. Thrashing every team. Afridi in full-form…

But then Pakistan; all out for 132 in the finals. Australia take home the World Cup without breaking a sweat.

I lost my love for cricket that very day. After that, it looked like there was no way up for the team. We were losing matches by the dozen. Losing to India. Losing to teams like Bangladesh. WE LOST TO FRIKKIN IRELAND!! :/

2007 + 2009 T20 World Cup

I probably won’t ever be as crazy a fan again, but I started watching interesting matches when T20, as new form of cricket, was introduced.

We loved it because it was all short and sweet. Enthusiasts didn’t like how ICC was changing cricket but it is really the general public ICC has to cater for and, in that, T20 has been a roaring success.

Pakistan almost won the 2007 T20 World Cup. Lost to India by 5 runs. One thing was for sure though: Pakistan was back.

Taken from an earlier post on artsyHANDS: Pakistan wins the T20 World Cup, Twitter and Hearts of Many

WE WON THE MATCH! WE DID IT! Now I will be able to tell my grandchildren someday that “Son, Shahid Afridi was our national hero” and that “Beti, Pakistan won the 2009 T20 World Cup when I was 16!” and of course that “Twitter thought I was some spamming robot” and that “Katrina Kaif was hot in our times” or the fact that “I like cookies, go get me some”.

I was obviously very happy.

2009 ICC Champions Trophy

Yes, Pakistan did not reach the finals. Most were angry. Countless depressed. Many were in a state of denial. But I wasn’t hurt the least bit.

Because I looked at the bright side of things: Pakistan defeated; nay, obliterated West Indies and our arch-rivals (as they are known) India. We almost won over Australia…

And besides that, our team just played soo well! Afridi entertained us with his signature big hits. Shoaib Malik played responsibly, Umar Gul and other bowlers kept the batsmen under pressure. Younus captained well. You could just feel that a concentrated effort was being made.

You win and you lose. That’s life. It’s all about the effort and determination. And I believe our team was, in fact, very determined, they just didn’t make the right decisions at the right time in the semifinal!

The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur.  – Vince Lombardi

Images Courtesy: cricinfo(AFP and Getty Images).

Published in Us Magazine

An excerpt of this article was published in today’s Us Magazine. Awesomeness!

Jeet gaya baeee jeeta gaya! Humara Pakistan jeet gaya! O BALLE BALLE! WOOHOOO! YE HUI NA BAAT!

Congratulations to the Pakistani team on such an amazing match! artsyHANDS prays that the team continues its winning streak and brings back the Trophy! Ameeeen!

Credit for (uber-hilarious) photo: Uzair Sajid aka UzEE.

NOTE

No disrespect for the team in any way. It was simply a Kanye West “I’ma let you finish” meme. We love the team. Just poking fun at some of their antics.

WINARS, WE ARE!!

Pakistan currently ranks 6th in the world amongst the test nations out of a total of 9 nations. Our name doesn’t exactly leave others quaking in their boots. The team lost to Sri Lanka in a three test match series two nill, and the third test still has to be played.

You would think no defeat could be worse than collapsing for 119 all out with a target of only 169 runs. And that too after reaching 72 runs with a loss of 2 wickets. That’s right. We were 72 for 2 and then the entire team fell like dominoes.

Read more about the current Pakistani cricket situation, after the jump.

A Brotherly Love.. for Ducks

There’s a lot of brotherly love between the players. If one person fails, the others refuse to perform. “Oye tension na le. Main bhi aa raha hoon, tu bas chai tayaar rakh.” The Pakistan team puts the ass in Bad-Ass.

Surely they couldn’t recreate the same craptacular form in the second test. But Pakistan is the master of collapse.

Now the second test match at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo, they crashed to 90 all out after opting to bat first. Check out the terrific scorecard filled with 1 digit numbers.

After a commendable recovery in the second innings, the batting crumbled again as Pakistan lost their last nine wickets for 35 runs to be dismissed for 320. Sri Lanka got their cake. And they ate it in less than a day. So now Sri Lanka has won the series. I shudder to think what the last test holds for Pakistan.

Inzamam Says

The terrific form of the Pakistan team did not go unnoticed by the retired veterans. Inzamam was so upset, he didn’t even start with his catchphrase : “First of all, thanks to Allah, God”.

The situation in the team is not good,” Inzamam said. “I can smell factionalism within the team and Younis is not doing his best to keep

the team united, and that does not augur well for our cricket.”

We all know that Inzi Bhai did not say all this in english. Even I don’t know what the fuck augur means. Inzamam gave his speech in urdu, which was later translated (badly) into the above. You will notice that Inzamam forgot to mention that the boys play well.

“Younis doesn’t have leadership qualities,” Sarfraz Nawaz said. “If a captain is not able to handle his players’ batting failures and comes out with lame excuses of playing less Test cricket, he doesn’t have the qualities of a good captain.”

The boys, they (don't) play well.

My Theory

My theory is if any team wants their old/new and struggling players to become world renowned they should start playing against Pakistan more often. For example, who would have thought Rangana Herath, who bowls a slow arm orthodox bowling would take five wickets in the second test and 4 crucial wickets in the first test? Not me. But our team believed in his abilities. I mean seriously yaar bacho se to na out ho.

Another prime example is Nuwan Kulasekra. He got 8 wickets in the second test match. These people are like the hobos at a cocktail party. No one wants them there. These are the guys struggling to get back into the Sri Lankan team. We were glad to see Herath Sahab named as a substitute for Muralitharan before the match, but he’s laughing all the way to the winner’s podium.

Other examples of superstars Pakistan created include Dilshan, Yuvraj Singh, M.S Dhoni.

Someone please tell me why Pakistan collapsed three freaking times out of four innings? It boggles the mind. Is it voodoo dolls?

But It Doesn’t Matter!

But don’t forget, we are still the champions of the world. And who did we beat to get there? Sri Lanka. So let them have their (insert name here) cup.  I guess we are still not out of the T20 cricket zone.