Boys 1,2, and 3 board the Daewoo bus bound from Lahore to Islamabad. They each carry a sports bag and wore crisp new white shirts with the letters "Under 19" engraved on the left side. 2 and 3 sat in the seat ahead of me whilst 1 sits right next to me. Their countenance project a sense of helplessness. 1 tells me that they had just been cut from the national under-19 side after losing badly to the Indians in Lahore. It isn't the loss that is bothering them though. Boy 1 fiddles with the window curtain, gets comfortable in his seat and begins:
My life is pretty much over. I'll be nineteen next year and most likely will end up playing for a first class team. Maybe hope to play for Pakistan A and Pakistan if I keep fit. This is my career. I sweat day and night out on the field for one chance and what a chance it was. I'm an opener you see, Mansoor Rana, the coach promised me a chance. He let me bat at #7 with the tail and I got run out on 7. I got to bowl two overs of off spin in which I managed a wicket. I've been cut from the team.
But, you see, mine is the happier stories of the three (2 and 3 looks back at us and smiles. 3 continues to look out the window, I could have sworn he looked like he was on the verge of tears. As if someone had just died). 3 over there"¦ he used to be the under-19 captain. He was in the world cup winning side last year. He's also an opening batsman, one of the best. Much better than myself (smirk"¦ giggle"¦ offers me candy which I take). He scored a 50 and an 85 and they still kicked him out! 2 has got a totally different story all together (2 looks back and shakes his head). He scored well in every match he has played and took wickets.
General X's son is also a middle order batsman who bowls off-spin like 2. The coach told 2 to change his grip and stance; he did so in the nets but reverted to his old style in the game and got penalized. The coach chose the general's son, easy choice if you ask me (2 looks back and throws a piece of candy at 1"¦ doesn't seem to appreciate his comment but 1 seems to look at the brighter side of things and tells 2, that his dad should have been in the army, that might have helped his cricket career.
Candy is flying everywhere, back and forth). They are all corrupt you know? They get salary allocated for each one of us. They keep 50% and dish out 5-7 thousand rupees a game to us, depending on their mood of course. The coach and officials are in on it. They cheat on the budgets and transfer money to their pockets wherever possible.
What really hurt me the most (takes a deep breath, becomes emotional, ready to deliver) is that all my life"¦ I've wanted to get the feeling of representing the country. I got that feeling when they gave us our first team caps and shirts. You might think they are only pieces of clothing but they symbolize what we believe in. The feeling you get when you get your first cap is un-matched. When they sent us back today¦ they took two of our shirts and caps.
In fact our team was never really a team because they keep changing it every game. We find out who we're playing with the day of the match. They chop and change the squad trying different guys everyday. Mostly from Lahore and Karachi. If you're from the Islamabad and north region, it is really tough that you would even get a fair shot. With all this randomness we never really had an Under-19 team. It was out of sheer talent that Under-19 Pakistan has won the last two world cups.
You should have seen the Indian team. They have state of the art equipment and clothing. They looked like an army on and off the field. We didn't even have enough team shirts! No sponsors, nothing. Some wearing green, some blue, some white. We looked like a bunch of last minute replacements. Pretty sad isn't it (I nod).
But it's not only me who's got the tough end of the stick. Najab Shah's¦ ever heard of him (I shake my head as that name doesn't seem too familiar). He is the fastest and best left arm bowler in the country. He'll probably only be allowed to surface to the national team once he is 27 or 28 past his prime. He's from our region and is the leading wicket taker domestically. They did the same with Rana Naved. Brought him in the team when he was past his prime.
There are a hundred Najab Shahs in Pakistan waiting their return. Either they are from poor families or they just don't get the opportunity. It's not like cricket can become our first profession like in India. People can take up cricket as a profession in other countries. Even Bangladesh has laid a strong infrastructure for their future. People like Brett Lee are told since the age of 18 that they are being groomed for a position in the team. People like Najab Shah are told to hang in there and hope for the best. What motivation would one have?
A lot of talent is wasted due to dying motivation to continue. Would you continue if you knew that all you've ever wanted, you're not going to get not because of the fact that you don't have the talent, but because you have bad luck? I got run out on a low score. That was probably the last time I would get a chance to represent my country at any level. And you know what the funny part is? When we won the world cup, Pervez Musharraf invited us for tea. He said that we had done the country proud and all that bull. He promised us 200,000 rupees each. We're still to receive even a penny. Either the President hasn't lived up to his word, or the PCB officials have eaten it up. Either way, we haven't got anything.
Why can't they find one opener for the team? They try one person and drop him as soon as he doesn't score. What kind of confidence is that person supposed to have. Every time you go out there your life, kids, career, salary depend on your innings. And when you don't perform, you are told to go home on the Daewoo bus. Not even a one way plane ticket in economy class.
I'll tell you why we don't have good openers. Why do Indian batsmen posses good technique. Even Sehwag plays with a straight bat. Dravid"¦ well what can you say"¦ you can't even get him out for days. The reason is that the Indians are used to playing 3 day and 4 day cricket since school. They learn from a very young age to defend their wickets and be stingy about giving it away. And what do we do? We play 30 overs, 50 over versions of the game where we have the coach screaming down our necks to hurry up and hit out or get out. What type of technique you think we're supposed to develop? Do you think Shahid Afridi would be persisted with in any other team in the world simply on his batting technique? Never! But don't you worry about me.
Just because I'm from a poor family doesn't mean I'll stop playing the sport that makes me feel richer than Bill Gates! There's nothing anyone can do, sir, the PCB will continue to make millions of dollars on each tournament, but the money will never trickle down, there's nothing you or I can do. Our stories end with this bus ride, goodbye sir. (The bus arrives at Islamabad. 1,2, and 3 grab their luggage, say goodbye and are on their way back to their respective homes in Rawalpindi).
http://www.chowk.com/show_article.cgi?aid=00007267&channel=gymkhana
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