Pakistan: A rogue nation, a rogue XI

By John Cheeran
I had slipped away from my desk for a while and interesting things have happened by then and now.
There was drama at the Oval and it fits with a pattern that Pakistan cricketers disgraced themselves on the fourth day of the Test in England. Yes, Darrell Hair has quite a reputation but like the old ad for Lifebuoy soap, wherever Pakistan is, there is trouble.
For them as well as others!
Pakistan cricketers have displayed tendencies similar to suicicde bombers of the Middle East; by refusing or (delaying!) to come back on to the field so that play could resume, Inzamam-ul Haq has proved that what a poor learner he has been as a captain of an international side.
Hair is not the finest of modern umpires, (Peter Roebuck has reminded the readers of Hindu that he should have been cut from the ICC's list years ago, a point Arjuna Ranatunga and other Sri Lankans would readily agree with) but the Aussie umpire had a point to trigger the crisis.
The original sin has been the ball tampering and Pakistan fast bowlers are the masters of manipulating the cricket ball. They have done it in the past to deadly effect; it has to be noted that Pakistan needed to win at Oval at any cost to redeem their pride after losing the second and third Tests. And it is a pity from the Pakistan viewpoint that they frittered away their chances of winning the Test with a great show of injured pride. It was nothing but cricketing suicide..
There is a defining difference between India and Pakistan.
India is a thriving democracy that has withstood threats to its stability and integrity in an admirable fashion whereas Pakistan is a disease that can spread to the subcontinent and even to Mideast.
Pakistan's biggest export in recent times has been terrorism. In a nutshell, Paksitan is a rogue state.
And it shoud not come as a surprise to us that Pakistan cricket team appears as a rogue outfit. No sport team can remain in vacuum and Pakistan's ills as a nation are very much evident in their cricket team.
Again, another occasion when I thank the British for partition!