Pakistan Cricket has never been short of drama. Earlier, it used to be within their cricket and the board. Now, the drama has extended to the global level, but they are gaining nothing. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reiterated his stance that he will not allowed the cricket team to play the T20 World Cup clash against India a couple of days ago, only to make a U-turn within 48 hours. What did they gain? Nothing? Only their cricket suffers all the time with the uncertainty around the biggest clash in the cricketing ecosystem.
Pakistan survived the Netherlands scare in the T20 World Cup opener, and they managed to win only because Max O'Dowd dropped Faheem Ashraf's catch. They huffed and puffed in the 148-run chase and are not even being backed by many to survive beyond the Super 8 phase. The recent boycott drama was just to show the cricketing world, or only ICC (read India and BCCI), what they are capable of doing.
The cricketing arena is so much used to this drama now that many had predicted that Pakistan would definitely make a U-turn on its boycott stance in time for the India clash. They did so, with a show-off statement from their government, but in the end, they agreed to play, showing to the world that they won in the battle. But what about cricket? When will they win on the field?
Remember the Asia Cup boycott drama?
Let's go back to the Asia Cup that was played in September last year. India and Pakistan faced each other three times in the tournament and on all three occasions, Suryakumar Yadav and his men emerged victorious. There was a lot of drama during the tournament and after the final as well. But Pakistan did threaten to boycott the group stage match against the UAE after being aggrieved over the fact that India didn't shake hands with their players.
PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi asked the team not to travel to the stadium just before the match, threatening to boycott the game. But eventually, the clash got underway two hours late, after keeping everyone on the edge.
What did they gain? Nothing. Just self-satisfaction that they made everyone dance to their tunes during that period. The same happened in the T20 World Cup boycott drama, and 10 days after their government announced that Pakistan would not be playing against India, they agreed to play.
The Pakistan government's statement indicates that it agreed after a request from 'friendly countries' to play and save the cricketing eco-system. But what did Pakistan cricket gain from this drama? Only and only uncertainty among the team and players who stuttered against a team like the Netherlands, who deserved to win against Pakistan if not for the dropped catch in the penultimate over.
After all this drama, there is one big question, fans would want to ask Pakistan - When will you play cricket and not create drama? When will you win the battle on the cricket field? Sadly, Pakistan cricket and the PCB might never care to answer this question.
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