So what if Pakistan lost

MUHAMMAD ASIM, finding virtue in failure, extols the Pakistan team

Winning and losing are both part of the game. Losing in fact is more a part of the game than winning because nothing fails like success. You don't learn from success, you learn only from failure. The Pakistan cricket team is great because it doesn't learn either way. It has its own ways of learning, better known to themselves!

One just fails to understand that why our cricket-crazy public is fuming after our heroes early exit from the World Cup. Defeats are nothing new to us. We are used to regular setbacks. Isn't it enough that we have already won two World Cups in cricket: one under Imran Khan in 1992 and recently another by our Blind team in India. We also reached the final of 1999 World Cup.

So it is good that Pakistan lost this time, we should give other teams a chance to try their luck. It will be a violation of human rights if we always kept winning. We should always take rare of other team's feelings and emotions!

In 1999 we lost to Bangladesh, which helped them to gain Test status. See what an eternal reward we are getting. Bangladeshi women pray for our country and cricketers first, before praying for their country and themselves! Isn't it great? There is no charm in winning; the charm is only in having great players in the team. Isn't it enough that Pakistan has a bowler like Shoaib Akhtar. He can send a ball at 100 miles per hour. So forget the World Cup. It's nothing; we still have Shoaib. After all, speed is more important than winning. A team can take more headlines in having the fastest bowler in the world than by winning the World Cup. All batsmen in the world fear him and respect him, off the pitch. Isn't that great?

We have a bowler like Akram. Goodness me, what a bowler he is - 502 wickets! Isn't that enough from him? What if we failed to win the World Cup, we have at least a record to cherish. Wasim has already done his duty and you say that he is due for performance? He always starts with a no-ball or wide. Even Glenn McGrath can't do that. Isn't that unique?

We don't need Saeed Anwar. He is a poor batsman. He plays too slow. We need Inzamam. He plays fast and never consumes too many balls. Anwar scores 100 in 125 balls; Inzamam scores a duck off the first ball and leaves the field without wasting time. So Anwar should be sacked before he himself retires.

Look at Afridi, the Tom Cruise of our team. Even old women love to see him in action, irrespective of whether he performs or not! One feels sorry for Azhar Mahmood and Mohammad Sami for not having their part in Pakistan's defeat and the premature exit. They must be very much disappointed for having learned nothing from this defeat. But they must have enjoyed their seven-week leisure trip. Let us hope they will be pi of the team's next defeat!!

Richard Pybus is a great coach. Forget Miandad; Pybus is better. Ever since he was reappointed as coach, other teams’ performance against Pakistan getting better and better. Isn't a positive sign. We should not always think of our team. Other teams also play to win. We have already won too many matches. Excess of winning is bad.

The Pakistan cricket team has a great fighting-spirit. Not just in cricket but in football too. Even Roberto Carlos would be proud of the way Inzamam kicks. Not just the ball, but also the co-players. When Inzamam will retire he should try his luck as a football coach. Otherwise, it will be a waste of talent!!

Why blame Waqar Younis. He has been a lucky captain for Pakistan over the last eight months. Under him Pakistan ha rewritten its (losing) history! And you say he hasn't achieved any thing. So what if he doesn't use his mind. How can a person use something which he doesn’t have? Have mercy on him, if not for him then for the sake of his beautiful wife and the one. God will reward you.

Why worry. Our team has achieved something which other teams can't even think of. Others win with so many overs to spare. We lose with so many overs to spare. We don't bowl full quota of overs in time, because we believe in the adage that haste makes waste! It's always better late than never! See how hospitable is our captain in inviting the opposition in to bat first because if we ourselves batted first, the other side might lose. And that's not fair! We cannot afford to put others at risk for our sake. Cricket teaches self-sacrifice and you know that we never miss the chance to learn. And lose!

This article was published in Daily The Nation (Sunday Sports) on March 09, 2003 after Pakistan’s shattering defeat in the ICC 2003 World Cup.