spiteful dance ... tweet of Pak PM .. .. and an Indian win !!

The Indo-Pak encounter was ‘no match’ but lot seems to be flying around after that 7^th loss !! ~ all is not well with Pakistan.  ~ if one were to relate the poor bowling performance of Hasan Ali  9-0-84-1 to his spiteful dance at Wagah, perhaps people would ridicule but this criticism came from ace Paki bowler Shoaib Akhtar..

Much has been written about the ‘beating retreat’ at Indo-pak border .. .. The 'lowering of the flags' ceremony  is a daily military practice that the security forces of India (Border Security Force) and Pakistan (Pakistan Rangers) have jointly followed since 1959.  The ceremony starts with a  parade by the soldiers from both the sides, and ends up in the perfectly coordinated lowering of the two nations' flags.  A couple of years back, it was mutually agreed and the troops have abandoned aggressive postures adopted during the daily beating the retreat ceremony held at sunset.  As multitudes wait to watch the event unfold daily -    'Please don't raise slogans other than Bharat Mata ki Jai, Hindustan Zindabaad and VandeMataram,' the parade anchor repeatedly cautions the audience that has gathered to witness the beating retreat ceremony.

Emotions run high among all those who have gathered here.  Last year, the Pakistan cricket team visited Wagah border to witness the flag-lowering ceremony following a  request of Pakistan Rangers after concluding their training camp for the Test tour of Ireland and England.  The immature  bowler Hasan Ali entertained the crowd with his trademark celebrations without realising ever that this is a different field altogether and his gestures had no meaning.   Hasan Ali entered the drill and performed his signature wicket-taking gesture towards the Indian armed force.

.. ..we should be knowing is ~ we should refer this significant place as ‘Attari’ and not ‘Wagah’ !  ~ somehow you see the latter used in the media often !!

after that incident, Border Security Force (BSF)  said it was not satisfied with Pakistan’s reply over their cricketer Hasan Ali’s gesture towards its personnel and Indian audience during the beating the retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border and will write to them again. The BSF had lodged a written protest on April 22, a day after the Pakistani cricketer entered the flag-lowering ceremony area from the other side and made his signature wicket-taking gesture.  As per protocol, the ceremony is to be conducted only by the BSF personnel and the Pakistani Rangers from their respective sides. The BSF top brass had said that if the Pakistani cricketer was unaware of the protocol at the beating the retreat ceremony, the Pakistan Rangers could have stopped him when he was indulging in ‘provocative actions’.  In the video that went viral, Hasan Ali, the Paki cricketer was   seen tapping his thighs, raising arms towards the Indian audience and the BSF, and celebrating as he does after taking a wicket before a man in civvies escorts him back amid applause from the Pakistani audience. Foolish it was !!

on the much awaited Sunday, the  masses descended, coming on buses and in taxis from across town and on airplanes from across oceans, flying from home or some diaspora capital, wearing blue and green, carrying flags and colours. Fans outside Hotel Football, across a narrow, industrial canal from the famous Man United stadium, beat out a marching rhythm on a drum and blew melody on a saxophone.  Vendors sold scarves and flags and umbrellas; the weather report promised rain, and the cricket officials looked nervously to the sky. Somewhere from a speaker, a radio or television feed blared out across Great Stone Road, narrating the madness in a strange, meta way as everyone walked in range of the speaker and then out again; "... most anticipated cricket game of the 21st century ~ what a hype it was for that Indo-Pak encounter that turned a damp squib.

One great moment for Kuldeep Yadav  was that spiteful delivery, that drifted, turned, hung in air, beat batsman Babar all end and clipped the bails – a dream delivery  that broke the partnership and the backbone of Pakis.  ~ as also there was this drama of captain Sarfraz Ahmed not heeding to the advice of his PM Imran Khan on toss on twitter.  Not sure whether Sarfraz has a twitter handle and whether they would, rather would be allowed to – keep looking at twitter during or just before the match !!

Media reports state that PM of Pak Imran Khan, advised Sarfaraz Ahmed on toss, but Sarfraz ignored the suggestion and elected to field after winning the toss.  His decision backfired as Rohit Sharma notched up his 24th ODI ton and put the Men in Blue in a formidable position.  Hours before the much-anticipated clash between India and Pakistan in Manchester on Sunday, former Pakistani skipper Imran Khan advised Sarfaraz Ahmed to bat first if he wins the toss. In a series of tweet  ! – one of which advised the Pakistani team to field specialist batsmen and bowlers and not rely on ‘Raillu Kattas’, who crumbles under pressure situation. Raillu Kattas translates to a “wandering buffalo calf”, which means a sportsperson who fails to add any extra value to his team. Wishing the team luck, the cricketer-turned-politician also mentioned that the Men in Blue will go into the contest as favourites, but the Pakistan team should fight till the last ball and accept the outcome like true sportsmen.

As Sarfraz put India in, Rohit Sharma  with KL Rahul added 136 runs for the first wicket before Rahul was removed by Wahab Riaz on 57.  India did set a formidable target.  .. .. as Paki lost, more was to come from ex-cricketers.  Pacer Shoaib Akhtar slammed Pakistan pacer Hassan Ali and asked him to stop jumping around at the Wagah Border and focus on his cricket instead.  A dismal display in all the three departments from Pakistan players did not go down with former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar fuming. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Shoaib Akhtar slammed Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed and called him a 'brainless' skipper and then one by one took a shot at every other Pakistani player.

Lashing out at fast bowler Hasan Ali, Akhtar pointed out to Ali's antics at the Attari-Wagah Border where he performed his signature wicket-taking gesture. "Hasan Ali, who never shies away from jumping around at the Wagah border, couldn't apply himself when it mattered the most. Many of his deliveries were short-pitched. His mindset seems to be: I want to keep playing T20s and the PSL. But in the World Cup 2019, we can see that he has not shown any pace or swing that could trouble batsmen

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

18^th June 2019