We won an international tournament, did you want us to sit there and mope like you always do or actually enjoy the moment? Majority of fans don't care how good we are as a team, as long as we can win one off or important matches we are happy. Brighten up.
Their is a difference between enjoying a tournament win and mistaking it for dominance.
Just because we won consecutive games against South Africa, England and India comprehensively, our fans thought that we have become invincible.
After the Champions Trophy, some of our actually thought that we will beat any team anywhere and are the best ODI team in the world.
We had our first taste of a reality check in Jan 2018 when we were blanked 5-0 in New Zealand, but people again ignored the signs and brushed it aside as a one-off and made excuses like we weren’t prepared etc., but then the Asia Cup happened and all our delusions were laid to rest.
Prior to the Asia Cup, we were told that the generation of Hasan, Shadab, Fakhar, Babar etc. will have a mental edge over India because of the Champions Trophy, but the gave us a proper hiding without Kohli. In addition, we had an embarrassing capitulation against Bangladesh.
Unfortunately, some of our fans still don’t learn. They mistake being realistic for not supporting the team.
Just because I think we are rubbish doesn’t mean I don’t support the team. I think Pakistan have no chance of winning the World Cup, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want them to.
What will happen if we do win? People will troll me for a few weeks and then they will move on, but I was a Pakistani before I joined this forum and I will be a Pakistani after I leave.
Do you think it gives me joy to be proved right again and again over the mediocrity of our team? No it doesn’t. I don’t get a medal for it and it doesn’t make my life any better. In fact, it just makes me sad to see where Pakistan cricket is today.
I won’t use the F word, but the Champions Trophy was a very, very rare occurrence. How often has the lowest ranked side won a tournament?
It was a wonderful story, but it won’t happen again for a very, very long time. It was like Leicester winning the Premier League or Greece winning Euro 2004 or an amateur winning a PGA major.
We cannot put stock in our Champions Trophy success and seek inspiration from it because that would be a mistake.
We need to develop a systematic method of achieving success and the first step is an honest evaluation of where we stand today.
Whether you like it or not, Pakistan is the poster boy of mediocrity and we get smashed by the superior teams 8/10 times, and our recent record proves it. In fact, our long-term record proves that as well. Since mid 2000s, we have lost over 80% of our ODI series against the high ranked teams.
I am sorry for the rant but sometimes posters don’t leave me with a choice.
#9pts
