Daily Times

Sir: I am a regular reader of the Daily Times and I am writing in refrence to your editorial, ‘Cricket World Cup’ (Daily Times, April 4, 2011). I found it fairly balanced and enjoyable.

I made a point to read all Pakistani newspapers just to enjoy the reactions of the people of Pakistan and feel their pulse on this issue. It was truly amusing to read so many commentators of otherwise rational minds indulging in the game of ‘what-ifs’. Many of these commentators speculated on possible scenarios and situations under which the Pakistani cricket team would have come out a winner but they conveniently forgot that the glorious game of cricket is always uncertain. Even if Tendulkar had got out by being caught early, Dhoni, Yuvraj or unbeaten Raina would have come earlier and might have changed the game’s complexion. There is ample evidence of that in the performance of Dhoni in the final and Yuvraj against Australia. All good bowlers have strategies tailor-made for each individual batsman in any important game. They tempt, cajole and eventually persuade him, under pressure situations, to indulge in risky behaviour manifested in bad shot selection to keep the required run rate ticking.

AJIT KUNDU

Texas, USA