When cricket loses its meaning...

The world cup has ended for Pakistan even before anyone could say “Which group is Pakistan playing in, again?”. Like every Pakistani I was (or rather, am) gutted. The performance of our players can’t even be described in words. I was going to delete the slog blog once and for all (not that it would’ve mattered), and promised never to watch a game of cricket again. But then Bob Woolmer died. For some one I have never met, Woolmer’s death did affect me a great deal. Not only has he been described by many to be the best coach for the game of cricket to date, he was a gentleman in the true sense of the word. Never have I ever read about him losing his temper or being involved in any negative incident at all. And I don’t remember anyone coaching Pakistan for nearly 3 years at a stretch. He’s had his critics, but all I can say is that Pakistan was doing very well under him before the Oval Test last year. After that, event after event saw the team wither away.

Bob Woolmer was probably the only coach Pakistan has had who was respected by all of the players. Everyone liked him. Maybe that is why his death is more saddening. One thing is for sure, all of this has given me some perspective. Sure, the selection of the squad was wrong, sure, the team played appallingly, sure, the captaincy was next to nothing… but in the end, it’s only a game. Cricket in the subcontinent has an emotional connection with the people, understandably, since there are very few things the general public can look up to with hope and anticipation given the political and economic situation of the country. But in the end, we must try not to forget that it is nothing more than a game; a game with a winner and a loser, and there may be times when we may end up on the losing side.