So then what should we do? Write your name on a piece of paper...frame it and place it on our walls with the demise of Pakistan cricket’s date underneath your name? Would that satisfy your sadistic lust or seeing the team lose?
Why don’t we just fold up our cricket board/side/ domestics+ grassroots if there is nothing that can be done to improve?
Let’s hear it
Pakistani fans have to lower their expectations. The real problem in Pakistan cricket is not the board, the coaches and the players. The real problem is fan expectations.
Pakistan has no divine right to be an elite cricket nation. No team does, but some teams reach that level while others don’t. Just like some players become legends while others don’t. It is just how life works.
Millions of fans across the globe in multiple sports support teams that are weak. They don’t moan about how weak they are because they are not delusional. They have simply made peace with their standing and their status and they find joy in it.
Support weak teams is also a pleasurable experience as long as you don’t raise your expectations to an unrealistic level, and that is what Pakistani fans do.
For example, Norwich City is one of the most passionately supported clubs in the UK. Their fans know that they will never win the Premier League but that has not deterred them from supporting the club.
They do not have realistic aspirations and do not demand the removal of managers and players if they do not finish in the top 4 in the Premier League. Instead, they find joy in achievements that are at their level, such as surviving relegation or getting promoted, getting wins against the big 6 etc.
The problem with Pakistani fans is that they demand achievements and the type of success that is not within our capacity. That capacity cannot be created because other teams are not going to sit idle waiting for us to catch up.
International cricket has moved ahead of Pakistan. A lot of it has to do with external factors as well such as economic health, reputation of the country, standard of living, security etc. etc., but they go beyond the scope of the cricket forum.
We cannot catch up now and we do not have any divine right to catch up either. We are a now a small cricket nation that is just about hovering above minnow level, and thus we should expect similar level of results as well and learn to find joy in small achievements.
For example, Pakistani fans should be happy if they are ranked 5th or 6th and can beat a top side at home. That would be a great achievement for a weak cricket nation.
But if they keep making castles in the air and keep playing fantasy cricket in their heads to envision a day where they will become an elite side with elite cricketers, then they are only setting themselves up for disappointment.
You can support and celebrate mediocrity. There is nothing wrong with that. Sports fans do it all over the world.
Unfortunately, Pakistani fans are unwilling to accept the status of Pakistan cricket and they keep looking for coping mechanisms. The gap between fan expectations and the actual capability and capacity of Pakistan cricket is enormous.
That is why our fans are the most deluded in the world. However, we should not be deluded. We should simply accept our standing in the game and be happy.
