- It’s well-established that subcontinental cricket teams like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh are not easy hunting grounds for visiting entities to overcome challenges and triumph. Especially India and Pakistan who are not only superior to other teams from the subcontinent but also considered as the top cricket-playing nations in the world. Not so long back, India-Pakistan was hyphenated in everything and anything right from being qualified as poor countries economy-wise to other international sporting arenas to being subjected to a condescending opinion about how we are lagging so much in every possible human development index. However, the geostrategic and geopolitical scenario has dramatically changed in the last few years.
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- India as a country has surged ahead and is the fifth-largest economy in the world now. Indian society is not only aspirational but also has set eyes on becoming one of the most advanced countries in the world by 2047. It may sound ambitious, but not impossible to reach that exalted position going by the economic outlook for the next couple of decades. On the other hand, Pakistan has slipped down the economic order quite spectacularly battling to stay afloat as the country plunges from one chaotic situation to another. The cost of living driven by the spiralling inflationary trends has rendered Pakistan almost on the brink of economic collapse. The struggle of the country is visible in the way the Pakistan cricket team is playing of late.
- Pakistan cricket team is underperforming is stating the obvious. However, what is unfathomable is the way the visiting teams can blank them out in the classic format of the game. First, it was Team England who whitewashed the Pakistani side 3-0 while visiting. This was followed by the visiting Bangladesh Team – still considered not strong enough to upset established Test sides – blanking the Pakistani side 2-0. This must be considered as the last nail on the coffin since the legacy of the Pakistan cricket team is second to none and it was always considered a very tough place to beat the home team. Bangladesh could seamlessly steamroll the home side speaks volumes about the depth to which the Pakistani side has plunged in recent times.
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- When cricket connoisseurs and fans felt Team Pakistan could not perform any worse came the heart-shattering defeat against the visiting England Team in the first Test after scoring 500 plus runs in the first innings. Cricket experts must be scratching their heads in disbelief at the turn of events. Their abject surrender in the second innings saw England win the Test by an inning and some runs after scoring a massive 800-plus score in their only innings. Something is fundamentally wrong with the present Pakistani cricket establishment itself for it mirrors the players’ performance. Team Pakistan must regroup sooner rather than later for the good of the game. A competitive Pakistan cricket is extremely imperative for the overall health of the sport itself.
