The Pakistani cricket team has become a victim of ‘Islamization’ it seems. The process of Islamization had reached at its peak in the cricket team during the Pakistan’s World Cup campaign under the captaincy of Inzamam-ul Haq. Pakistani society has undergone rapid process of Islamisation in last several years under the leadership of general Parvez Musharraf.
Musharraf always wanted to make Pakistan the leader of Muslim countries across the world. Now, the Pakistani cricket team has been badly influenced by his thoughts.
The captain of Pakistani cricket team Shoib Malik has showed the same self-established false importance of leading the Muslim across the world by saying sorry to them for the defeat of Pakistan in the final match of Twenty20 tournament.
Malik’s stray remark was the clear indication that, unlike India, religion plays a big role in every corner in Pakistan, including the Pakistani cricket. Malik said after losing the game to India:
I want to thank everyone back home in Pakistan and Muslims all over the world. Thank you very much and I’m sorry that we didn’t win, but we did give our 100 per cent.
This was nothing but Shoaib Malik’s stupid attempt to reach out to Muslims across the world because he forgot that Indian Muslims were cheering for India, their own motherland, not for Pakistani team. He can’t be sure even for the Muslims living in other countries across the world.
The whole World saw that Shahrukh Khan was cheering for India greeted the Indian players by jumping in the middle of the ground after the great Indian victory over Pakistan. It was almost blasphemous and pathetic when Shoaib Malik said sorry to Muslims across the world that they could not win.
After the Pakistan team’s early exit from the World Cup in West Indies, a few team members of Pakistani cricket had reportedly complained that it was looking like the team was in the West Indies on a religious mission not to play cricket.
Malik, a victim of ‘pan-Islamic influenza’ has developed a misconception in his mind that he was leading the World Muslim XI rather leading Pakistani XI. One can smile on it and say … poor Malik. He had no idea that Muslim brothers were playing in the Indian XI against his team and the man of the match was one of the brothers.
Both of the brothers, Irfan pathan and Yusuf pathan, had an important role in Pakistan’s defeat in the match. It was like a poetic justice that the Man of the Match was a Muslim from Indian XI. The people across Indian were dancing on the same song…Chak De India…comes from a Muslim superstar of India.
There should not be any link between sports and religion. Cricket does not separate religions. Cricket is a sport where Muslims, Hindus and a Sikh are currently playing for England. Buddhists, Muslims, Christians and a Hindu are playing for Sri Lanka.
Hashim Amla plays for South Africa. A Patel youth plays for New Zealand. Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Hindus always have played for Team India. Shoaib’s remarks after defeat for Muslims around the world was looking like a ‘failed’ attempt to appease the ‘Boss’ sitting back in Pakistan.
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