Pakistan Cricket Team has finally done it. Now we are crowned the World T20 Champions. Hats off to Younis Khan and his boys for their magnificent performance. They played like tigers and they got what they fully deserved. From Afridi to Razzaq, from Umer Gul to Ajmal everyone contributed his bit in ensuring Living for ages under tyranny and extremism’s rule, Pakistani nation is all set on its way to emerge to the stature and glory that it always deserved in the community of nations.
It is a nation of sports loving, fun loving and peaceful people who had been taken hostage by militant mindset and extremist junta at the barrel of the gun. But the resilience that is so Pakistani, as has been demonstrated by the world cup performance, made the nation come out of the shackles of extremist hegemony and on the path of democracy. They have fought four dictators and they are fighting triumphantly (with sacrifices) the most ruthless terror machine in the world and has let it be on run.
Younis Khan and his boys deserve all the credit. So does the team management and board officials. But this victory is also a triumph of the system. First time in last thirteen years, since Nawaz Sharif appointed his crony Mujeeb-Ur-Rehman as the chairman of the PCB followed by Musharraf’s appointments of his cronies and generals, the cricket board is run by cricketers. President Zardari could have appointed one of his cronies to the PCB, yet like his way of governance all across he chose to go with the specialists and appointed Chairman of PCB a person who was experienced in international cricket and also cricket management. For this, the system, democracy and the President deserve applause.
Another thing that has been corrected by the new cricket board is countering the fundamentalist infiltration of the cricket in Pakistan. The infiltration of fundos into the cricket team (which had a cronyism centered around ideological likenings) has been replaced by a more main stream representation of players and return to the days of merit.
The fruits of our struggle have started appearing. This World Cup win is a sign of things to come. We have suffered a lot in last 30 years of fundamentalism and tyranny. It will take time to bounce back fully but we have started the recovery. It is not going to be easy. It is going to take time but our resilience has made us survive the tyranny will make us emerge triumphant out of it. We are a nation of champs and we are not afraid to be part of the world. For now, let us sing and dance in the joy. Let us tell the world how a lively nation celebrates.
