I am sorry Pakistan

It is often said, “God helps those who help themselves” and for me this phrase’s perfect example was on-going Champion Trophy’s match between Sri-Lanka and Pakistan – considering the fact that it wasn’t even a Friday, yesterday. Anyway keeping jokes apart, I along with many others, to put it in simple words; under-estimated the Men in Green. Obviously the past few tragic and scandalous events involving the Pakistani cricket team, plus their inconsistent approach towards the game formed the bases of our opinion. But their courageous effort as a team and enigmatic win over Sri Lanka last night made everything in the recent past look like nothing more than a bumpy ride.

For a hopeless cricket lover like me, it was just sheer joy to watch them play their game with so much passion and more importantly with so immense faith in themselves and their fellow team members. At a point where the Sri Lankans were breezing thru with a score of 181 for only 3 wickets, stand-in captain Younis Khan saw his bowlers hit back by dismissing Sri Lanka for 253.

When it was their turn to bat, Pakistan should their positivism right from the word, Go. One would have thought that after loosing the wickets of Imran Farhat and Mohammad Yousuf at crucial points, the batting team would have taken up a defensive approach but Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Malik held their nerve and helped Pakistan knock on victory’s door with nearly two overs to spare.

Although Abdul Razzaq was named the man of the match, I sincerely feel that someone else deserved it more than him. No, I am not hinting towards another Pakistani player but instead their coach Bob Woolmer. Full credit of their amazing win last night should be given to this old English lad. Undoubtly, the Pakistani team has made a remarkable improvement since the time Bob Woolmer has been appointed their coach. His love for this team was so evident last night, when the roaming cameras flashed his happiness and pumped-up energy, on the big screen.

With this remarkable win, Pakistanis have proved that they don’t rely on any one particular player for their success. And are very much capable of threatening the opposition with their in-depth batting line-up and equally talented bowlers despite the absence of top players like Inzamam ul-Haq and Shoaib Akhtar.

Hopefully Dravid & Company have picked up some valuable lessons from their opponents, who have shown that they are very much capable of lifting the Champions Trophy and surely have their eyes set on the World Cup.