This is not the reason why Pakistan is bestowed the unpredictable tag.
Pakistan can lose games from winning positions, and win games from losing positions - this is where the unpredictable tag comes from, and this is why other teams believe Pakistan is a dangerous/unpredictable side, not because they can lose/win games like other teams, but they can win/lose like no other team. The only team that can make jokers look like Kings, and kings look like jokers.
Not even you, Indians, or Pakistan's worse enemies, thought Pakistan would be all out for 105 today. Pakistan continues to surprise!
While Pakistan feel dejected after today's performance, West Indies go into the next match thinking they have one hand on the WC. This is the effect of Pakistan cricket.
Pakistan is not the only team that has lost games from winning positions and won games from losing positions. It is also not the only team that has beaten better teams and lost to worse teams. That is how a mediocre, mid-table team tends to operate - In the last 15-16 years, for the most part, Pakistan has been ranked around 5th or 6th in Tests and ODIs. In order to maintain this mid-table ranking, you have to beat the top ranked sides and lose to the bottom ranked sides on occasion.
Statements like
"Pakistan is a dangerous/unpredictable side, not because they can lose/win games like other teams, but they can win/lose like no other team. The only team that can make jokers look like Kings, and kings look like jokers" is exactly the type of romanticism and glorification that we as a nation need to collectively overcome.
We need to stop taking pride in lazy cliches. There is nothing great in being unpredictable and there is nothing great in being a cornered tiger. We need to stop calling it the beauty of Pakistan cricket because their is nothing beautiful about being mediocre.
This mentality has infected not only the fans but the players as well. It was harrowing to see our captain claim on the eve of the World Cup that "it is good that we are unpredictable".
No, it is never good to be unpredictable. If you are not predictable in terms of winning games more often than not, you have problems, and you need to address those problems instead of taking pride in them.
Spending most of your time ranked 5th or 6th and beating the top teams on rare occasions does not make you dangerous. It means that you are an average team who can perform like a great team every now and then. What is so dangerous and unpredictable about our so-called cornered tigers?
- We have lost every single Test in Australia since 1995. Even Law of Averages has failed to lend a helping hand.
- We have not won a Test series in England since 1996.
- We have not made a World Cup Final since 1999.
- We have lost to India in every World Cup.
- We have lost over 80% of our bilateral ODI series against the top teams since 2006.
- We have only won 2 Asia Cups compared to India (7) and Sri Lanka (5).
Where is the unpredictability? We have been predictability poor, and have punched above our weight on a few rare occasions which is true for other mediocre sides like Sri Lanka and West Indies as well.
Since 2000, Sri Lanka have usually contested for the 5th and 6th rankings alongside Pakistan, but yet, they have won a Test series in South Africa and England, they have made two World Cup finals and have as many ICC trophies as we have.
They have also beaten a superior Indian side on a few occasions in the Asia Cup. However, you don't see Sri Lankan fans calling themselves unpredictable or dangerous because they don't glorify mediocrity.
Same is the case with West Indies as well. They have been at their lowest ebb in this millennium, but they have still won more ICC trophies than any team since 2000 except Australia and India (who have 3 as well). Again, you won't see Caribbean fans hiding behind cliches and romanticising inconsistency.
Even England, who were a mediocre Limited Overs team pre 2015, won a WT20 in 2010 in quite bizarre circumstances. They started their tournament with a D/L defeat against the West Indies, and they were struggling against Ireland before the game was called-off due to rain. After qualifying for the next round with just 1 point, they never looked back and won every game to win the title.
If Pakistan were to win a tournament in the same fashion, it will become another cornered tigers story and an example of how unpredictable and dangerous we are bla bla bla.
Our mentality is rotten to the core. This includes not the only fans but also the players, ex-players, media analysts etc. We thrive in mediocrity and inconsistency, which we repackage with a sprinkle of romanticism as unpredictability and cornered tigers mentality.
We need a complete revamp of our mindset and strive for consistency and high-achievements instead of settling for cheap thrills of so-called roller-coaster rides and surprising fans because you never know which Pakistan will turn up etc. etc.
Words like unpredictability and cornered tigers need to be banned from Pakistan cricket at every level.
