Daily Times

“When the greatest rivals collide, the world will stand still,” renowned actor Dwayne Johnson had quite appropriately hyped up the cricket match that had tens of hundreds, if not thousands, glued to television screens on an otherwise slow-paced Sunday.

More than a fair share of highs and lows, the clash at Melbourne Cricket Ground was an instant classic, oft-punctuated with heated sentiments, exasperated sighs and a few hallelujahs. To give credit where due, Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 82 off 53 in the final overs helped his team go beyond the extra mile. Our Shaheen Afridi’s fantastic 16-run cameo was just as impressive: giving a good run for the now-smug neighbours’ money while painting a parallel to the father-in-law’s gold nuggets. That the Blue Men’s strong nerves laced them with the enthusiasm to steer towards a thrilling victory by four wickets cannot be denied, but celebrating the marvels of a powerful rival should not discount an acknowledgement of our own shortcomings.

A win that appeared highly unlikely when India was reduced to 31/4–while chasing 160–was cemented by the likes of Mr Kohli. But the tables could have turned far too earlier had the Pakistani openers shown half his resolve in at least sticking to the pitch.

This ease in sending batsman afer batsman back to pavilion has become a painstaking trend, which refused to let our star performers shine as per expectations. Some dark horse manages to defy criticism and emerge as heroic player in every inning while the rest of the big names continue to fall like a house of cards.

How the PCB decides to change the batting layout or tighten the screws of those showing complacency would spell out its designs for international rankings? Are we already getting tired of this brief respite from the usual talk of doom and gloom? Matches between arch-rivals Pakistan and India tend to go beyond the realm of just sports and as sentiments rise, so do expectations. Sadly, the aficionados do not have much to count on because the teams haven’t played bilateral series for over a decade. Pakistan has won just two of the last eight mega-encounters, and this alone is enough reason to improve the quality of our game. The match may be over for now, but the next time, we meet for another megablockbuster, victory better be on our side. *