Daily Times

The situation looks familiar. Pakistan starts its World Cup journey in the holy month of Ramazan, with a reasonably good record in England, losing 11 ODIs at a stretch before winning against the best ODI team.

The victory has come against a well-balanced team with a smart captain. The team is good to go.

Very few people realize that we are missing the plot here. As a nation, we hugely anticipate and cherish impulsive feats and tend to ignore and forget the “in between.”

We do not recognize that this in-between tells the difference between a mediocre performer and a true champion. Reaching the top is a lot easier than staying there. Pakistan might have won two World Cups and a Champion’s Trophy, but despite abundant potential, it has never really been a real champion team.

We easily forget that between the hard fought victories, we have mostly been below average. After the 1992 World Cup, we were left with unmatchable superstars who had made a potentially invincible team. The 2 Ws, the best wicketkeeper in town, opening batsmen like Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail, Inzamam, Ijaz, Basit, Mujtaba and Malik carrying middle order. Then came all-rounders like Azhar and Razzaq who were superb finishers, and what not. Even then, we could not justify our performances with the potential we had in the 1990s. Arguably, Pakistan had good victories during the 1990s and early 2000s. In fact, at times, they happened to crush and go through the flesh and bones of opponents like India, South Africa, New Zealand, England and West Indies and frequently giving a hard time to Australia.

Pakistan might have won two World Cups and a Champion’s Trophy, but it has never really been a real champion team

Now, just for argument’s sake, think of a 1990s Pakistan team without internal rifts, injury issues, match-fixing, ego problems and politics. Imagine, what that team could have brought to the table and could have achieved in the absence of the drag. Consistency defines it qualitatively, not mere and occasional feats. Robust systems come alive only if there is sincerity of purpose.

Despite the chaos in West Indies, Clive Lyod got a free hand, he identified the team’s problems, recruited great fast bowlers and rest is history. 15 – 20 years down the lane they dominated and intimidated every opponent. Before Dhoni, India were nowhere near what they are today. His flamboyance, sheer aggression and sincerity just bulldozed the negatives surrounding Indian cricket culture. Look at Australia; they merely stop dominating the cricket world for the last 20 years or so. England have now gone above and beyond their bureaucratic system. They are stamping their authority with class. Pakistan also had its chances in the past, Imran Khan and Miandad ran cricket almost flawlessly in the mid to late 1980s. After the 2015 WC, we saw a glimpse of hope in Sarfraz.

He has everything in him to become a Dhoni or a Sangakkara for Pakistan. He has brilliant individual and team victories under his belt. He has the authority needed to turn it around. The way he stormed his way into the team was exceptional, regardless of all the pressure of not being liked by the then management or the then coach or captain, for that matter. Sarfraz has managed the team well so far, but he has not managed himself well. A player, who made his place in the team as an opening batsman or at least a top order batsman, has dropped down whenever it is time to take responsibility as a batsman.

For four years, he has seldom played as a top order batsman. Whenever he has, he has scored and had an impact. As a top order batsman, he has everything Pakistan cricket has lacked for years. His street-smart approach, his fearless stroke making, his style of shaping his innings at a strike rate of more than 100 have been missing for ages. His attributes succumbed arguably to the system and he strangely went on to hide behind curtains whenever it came to take responsibility as a top order batsman. He has had that in him, but sadly, so far, he has been too slow to recognize and identify his own role. Had he tried, he could have easily proven himself bigger than the system and could have given Pakistan cricket the winning momentum after Champion Trophy 2017.

The lousy momentum has not left Pakistan cricket for ages. Due to this, Pakistan mostly lose match where odds remain in their favour all the time. Good momentum can get you highly unlikely victories. Our nation’s impulsive approach to supporting the idea of being unpredictable has only watered this burning fire. The irony is that we take pride in being unpredictable, while others are chasing continuous improvement and excellence. We never stopped cherishing unpredictability, and we are not even ready to come out of the euphoria of being unpredictable.

The writer is an old Aitchisonian, an aerospace professional and a cricket enthusiast