Pakistan Team – the latest affair

It has been long time coming now that the Pakistan team was accused of something. The British media has come out this time with accusations against Pakistan team players. I am a Pakistani and understand the mentality of my people, and it is not astonishing that they will believe that our players did it. We think so low of ourselves and those who represent us that we will ultimately accept any nonsense that comes our way.

I am not going to defend anyone but I want to present an alternate reality here. Why is it that our every tour to England is marred by suspicion? Is it because of the fact that the English media and their intelligence services are good at finding scams and irregularities? Lets not go very far back and think about the last test series we played there. We were owning the Brits there and then comes the ball tampering scandal. I do not salute Inzimam ul Haq on many fronts but the walkout he lead was the bravest thing any cricketer has ever done.

I gave this whole incident a thought and came up with my very own conspiracy theory. Coming up with a conspiracy theory is not difficult and you just have to think out of the box and realize the different things that could be happening. In 2009 we won the World T20 Cup and there we unearthed a gem like Mohammad Aamer. We already had Gul and, Asif was coming of age after his own scandals. Coincidently that was on English soil.

Down one year, the triple attack of Aamer, Asif and Gul has to be one of the best pace attacks in the world if not the best. They have the rare combination of pace, seam and swing and this makes them very dangerous. We saw their potency in the test series in Australia and England. Had our batsmen performed at a level half of our bowlers, Australia and England would be revising their strategies for the upcoming Ashes. Oh! I forgot to mention better captaincy too is an important variable.

Lets look at the way our players have been marred by controversy over the years. Every new bowler coming out of Pakistan is accused of chucking once he is out of the sub-continent. Is it because international umpires in sub-continent overlook chucking and are half blind. They unsettled Shoaib Akhtar and we have seen its consequences. Aamer is being likened to Wasim Akram, the best master of the ball ever. Asif is being likened to the new Glen MacGrath, and we all know how deadly he was. So I just want to pose this one question, is it possible they are, and I quote “Messing” with us. Before you make any judgements, think about it. And remember they have done that in the past and they can do it again. I have seen Shoaib Akhtar missing out on a legendary status, and I would implore you all to give Aamer and Asif the chance.

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