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None but aptain Shahid Afridi to be
blamed
What to say or, for that matter, what
not to say is the most baffling, trifling and mind boggling question I am
confronting now as I have picked up a pen to ink my truest inner feelings about
the 2nd T20 match played between Pakistan and New Zealand in
Hamilton, New Zealand which NZ won earning maximum laurels for creating the
ever best partnership in T 20 format.
No denying the hard fact, it is the undisputed
universal truth that in any match irrespective of the game which could be cricket,
football or even ludo for that matter, just one and only one team wins and not
both hence from that point of view it was quite but natural that either
Pakistan or New Zealand will win the match unless it could end in a tie.
Without prejudice to any one, to me, all those who played against NZ are equal
so from that point of view I will be quite impartial, unbiased and judicious in
my approach and analysis so as to it is completely devoid of even the slightest
favoring anyone or opposing someone as the case may be.
After reading most of the comments from
different people spread from east to west, south to north about the match in
our different daily newspapers, I am very much surprised to note that it is
very much crystal clear that just a very few, quite negligible to be truthful
to you, have raised any voice whatsoever against Shahid Afridi who, so far as I
am concerned, is exclusively and in totality is to be blamed the most but very regretfully
he has been spared altogether by others for the reasons best known to them only
and on the contra other players have been attacked and abused instead. I am not
defending those who have been criticized by many as they really did not play as
they should have played to be honest but yet captain cannot be spared
whatsoever.
I will now corroborate my statement
by saying that in the very 1st instance Shahid Afridi being the most senior
player had to come to our expectations to shoulder all the responsibilities and
obligations to discharge. Undoubtedly he
being the captain of the team must have to prove himself as the role model for
his fellow players so that his mere presence infuses new spirits, valor and their
morale is boosted and in turn on the ground they perform to their best capacity
and ability in all activities namely bowling, batting and fielding etc.
Moreover, Shahid who started his
career many years back as a batsman did prove as a good scoring machine batting
with confidence and speed but eventually with the passage of time he has turned
out to be a bowler as well and it is on record that Shahid not just once or
twice or even thrice but on many different occasions have stunned his opponents
by proving to be one of the most lethal bowler which tumbled many wickets and
terrorized the opponent batsmen. His outstanding performance both with both
‘Bs’ (Bat and Ball) eventually turned him into proclaimed all-rounder.
Today, very truly speaking, while
playing the second T20 match against New Zealand his performance was not only
bad but unbelievably horrendous and disastrous resulting in such truly unprecedented
humiliating defeat which cannot be forgotten for many years for sure if not
decades. He came to the crease at the time when the opponents have already put
us under very great pressure which could be felt by all Pakistanis whether
physically watching the match in the ground itself or watching it on television
though miles away from the play ground. Quite naturally at such critical
juncture the captain from each and every angle is supposed to be playing one of
his best innings so that he becomes instrumental by putting up very challenging
and competitive score so that it awes and frightens the host but alas it did
not happen as demanded and desired. He faced just 3 balls hitting a six and
netted 7 runs only and went back to the pavilion from where he has come. Is
this what was expected of the captain at the such a critical time when we were
dying for runs and the game had ended after just few overs later.
Honestly speaking, it was both official and personal
obligation on Shahid part to score maximum runs in the quickest possible time since
just a few overs were left in the innings at the time when he took the charge.
In bowling he was equally worst and very much shockingly he literally gifted, not
just gave, 38 runs in his allotted 4 overs proves that today he utterly failed
on both counts whereby none but he and he alone should be held responsible for
such a ridiculous defeat at the hands of the black caps. Incidentally Pakistan
scored at the rate of 9.67 whereas New Zealand figure was 9.67 per over itself
proves quite aloud that our opponents have come with full determination to play
with great speed duly punctuated with accuracy and that is what has been proved
by them from the very 1st over they played when came to bat.
Now it is very right and ripe time
for me I to show him the mirror so that he himself can see and feel awfully
sorry for hurting the feelings of millions of his compatriots both living in
Pakistan or overseas like me. I have my very serious doubts if any other
captain of any other country played like Shahid did today. Imad is much junior
player than his captain but yet he very emphatically and categorically have
over run over his boss simply because he very much surprisingly has scored 8
runs (1 more than Shahid) and gave away 32 runs (6 runs less than Shahid) in
his allotted 4 overs proving that he has slapped on both cheeks of his captain
who should be now punished I wish. Iqbal Hadi Zaidi / Kuwait
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