PAKISTANI cricket team’s marvelous and historic victory against English team has rightly sent waves of joy and jubilations across the country. The 71-run win in the third and final Test against England at Dubai on Monday inflicted a 3-0 whitewash humiliation in the process. The landmark event has narrowed the gap for Pakistan with the top four sides in the ICC Test championship table as the country entered the series in fifth position on 99 ratings points and moved to 108 points and within striking distance of the top four for the first time since 2007.
The victory is significant as it comes in the backdrop of intensive campaign launched by some vested interests to malign the country’s cricket team. It also underscores the reality that if merit and hard work is allowed to prevail then sky is the limit for Pakistanis. Unfortunately, Pakistani cricket has been plagued with various kinds of interventions and interference, favoritism, nepotism and even corruption. But the spirit demonstrated by the team in Dubai has revived the old glory of cricket and for that matter sports in Pakistan and augurs well for future of the game.
The success assumes greater importance as the team demolished pride of a team that is not only world’s number one at the moment but belongs to a country which, like democracy, is considered as mother of cricket. The English team faced humiliation at the hands of a tattering team against which it indulged in a shameful character assassination campaign and that is why some analysts are viewing the victory as a sort of revenge. The success was achieved by Pakistani team as each one of the players contributed his share and lived up to the expectations. We believe that like cricket, Pakistan has the potential to excel in other games as well as in every sphere of life provided enabling environment is created and everything is done purely on merit. While joining the entire nation in congratulating our team, we hope that it would maintain the standard, rather improve its performance further to carve out for itself the first place in the world of cricket, a goal not far off.