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The Champions!

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With no recent cricketing activity of international level at home, no participation in the Indian Premier Profits League, on the back of criticism from their own chief selector and having being ruled out whatsoever to make it to the semis, Pakistan today showed the world what it is capable of. The very fact that Pakistan stamped its presence in two finals in a row in itself speaks volumes of the cricketing talent of the country. Winning one of them and losing the other by mere five runs just adds to it. The unearthing of a 17-year old rookie, who hardly had any flesh on his body, and his resounding success against the likes of Graeme Smith and Tilkaratne Dilshan in crunch games is again a feature to be found in Team Pakistan. At this time, it is also worthwhile to mention the coach Intikhab Alam who was also responsible for the team back in 1992 when the boys brought the trophy home!

Before the start of tournament, when everyone wrote off Pakistan, there was one man still claiming Pakistan to be the favourites – hats off to Wasim Akram!

To all those who think that Pakistan’s win is merely a fluke, then remember that flukes are just one-off. This is some serious progress! Beating the two favourites of the tournament in the semi final and the final can not be a fluke. Also, both wins are quite convincing!

It is a time to celebrate and thank Almighty Allah for giving the nation something to cheer about.

It is surprising to see how a nation stuck in a foreign war and isolation can come out so strong. Again, this shows the character of the people despite the junk given to us by the so-called leaders.

Well done Team Pakistan!

If we just analyse this tournament for a minute, the turning point for me was the return of Abdul Razzaq. He provided stability in the team – his sheer presence made an effect and expectations rose. He didn’t disappoint either, taking three crucial wickets with the new ball in the final. His return also freed up Afridi, who was locked in at number 6 for some late acceleration. That task was given to Razzaq (was never really required in the end), while Afridi was promoted to have a ball. Afridi himself showed a surprising transformation in to a mature batsmen and for me, after YK’s retirement from T20, Afridi deserves to wear the captaincy hat. I’ve seen him doing well in the domestic T20s as a captain. Also, I’d love to see Afridi in Test matches! :)

Umar Gul topped the wickets table yet again – and that just shows the sheer quality of bowling talent.

This success will go a long way and hopefully bring back those people to cricket who left in disappointment.

Finally, the moment of the tournament for me was when Younis Khan went berserk on Mohd. Aamir when he failed to return to the stumps to collect Fawad Alam’s throw – which incidentally hit the stumps directly. Despite getting the wicket and sealing the match, Younis had more on his mind. Clearly, he was aiming much higher. I was not a fan of YK’s captaincy, but I must admit he has impressed me (a little :P ).

Good luck to Team Pakistan for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka, and all the future series!


12 comments

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  1. MAK

    Yep u are right. Fluke can be once but not twice. They really played beautifully in semi and the final.

    Afridi had not only transformed his bowling but maturity in his batting could be seen. There were some minor shakeups but still he bated beautifully.

    Pakistani team had beaten all the odds to get this cup.

    Pakistan Zindabad

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  2. I know I promised not to comment until you did so on my memristors, but…ah, well…congrats! :D

    Piss off India! ;)

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  3. A great victory, and in my opinion, greater than that of 1992. Pakistan prove yet again, that those with passion, desire and determination are the real winners, not the technically superior. Lets hope that this is the start of an even greater victory.

    I have not known such happiness for some time, and I am sure that is case with most of the Pakistanis. Hats of to the team, and specially to Afridi, Gul, Ajmal and Younis. Younis’ captaincy was brilliant. I know many criticized him for giving important overs to rookie bowlers, but that is the same thing Imran Khan used to do. I know the results were not the same, but it was the gesture that was important. Lets hope PCB learns a few things from the team and stands up for the nation as the team did.

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  4. anas

    @MAK: yup no one (except Akram) predicted a win :)

    @Senilius: I forgot about memristors..ur such a girl :P congrats to u too!

    @Talha: Agreed. Also the win kinda overshadows the weaknesses of PCB, lets hope they have learnt the lesson. I can think of only one such criticism of giving over to rookie, in the semi when he gave to Fawad Alam. Even that, I think was a sensible move. Had it worked out, no one would have criticised, but not everything you try works :)

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  5. Raza

    Absolutely Amazing yaar. Too good! What makes it all the more beautiful is the manner in which we won, both the final and the semifinal. It was no fluke, no close last-over victories as twenty20 games more often are. Both teams (and both supposedly favorites to win against us) were beaten comprehensively!

    Something good for Pakistan was long, long overdue. And hopefully, this is the beginning of something good. Ameen

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  6. MAK

    Wasay i am surprised that nobody is referring to malinga action. I found it suspicious numerous times during the match. what do u think??

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  7. F off! :P

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  8. @Awais: Dude there is nothing wrong with Malinga’s action. Scientists at MIT and CERN have found that there is no other way for him to swing his arm to through a ball. Malinga was bullied a lot in school because he couldn’t show “The Finger”. But then he met Muralitharan, and his whole life changed. Murali told him there was a place for special people like him, a group of people who are going to treat him like a brother, like one of their own. So he joined the Sri Lankan Cricket Team. Later, he met “The Others”, people with special abilities like him, names such as Shoaib Akhtar, Paul Adams and Harbhajan Singh. They encouraged him, suggested doctors who will find some freakish way of justifying his action. This is how the he became the spearhead of Sri Lankan
    Team.

    Seriously, his action is OK, unorthodox but OK.

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  9. mubarkan bhui mubarkan
    it wasnt fluke, they played well Alhamdulillah. the first wicket was very well planned and so was the responsible, mature performance by Afridi. And yea, I still remember wen we were discussing that we didnt really like the idea of appointing YK as the captain but now its kinda different ;)
    A great match all in all.

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  10. anas

    I still think opposing YK at that time was right. He was visibly different now, learned a lot I guess. I remember what an ass Inzi was in his early captaincy days, but improved a lot towards the end.

    LoL@Talha: Yeah, just get med excuse for everything. I don’t think Malinga throws though. There is a definite arm bend but probably within the limits.

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  11. MAK

    lolz…yeah right. All i pointed was i felt there was a jerk in couple of deleveries and that was what i pointed out. I will wait for kangroes to play with lankans that will decide the fate.

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  12. Kiya hey yaar. Jeet gayey hum, khatam baat. I doubt Pakistan will ever report any Sri Lankan, or even Indian bowler for throwing.

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