India saves face as Pakistan takes the series
It was just a match and India won only one match of the ODI series but their joy was parallel to a World Cup victory. PHOTO: BCCI
As an avid cricket fan, I always watch a match for the love of the sport. However, in case of a Pakistan versus India game, my intentions are for the Green Gladiators to crash and burn their opponents in blue.
During the third ODI between India and Pakistan, I desperately wanted to see our team perform a 3-0 whitewash. Although India’s target of 167 was not towering, in the end it was sufficient to keep Pakistan at bay. Hence a whitewash against India remains a distant Pakistani dream.
It didn’t feel right when Kamran Akmal was sent as the opener with Nasir Jamshed. Alas! My doubts stood true when Akmal lost his wicket without scoring.
I instantly began switching between channels because it wasn’t Pakistan’s day.
Instead of scoring consistent runs, Pakistan kept loosing wickets at regular intervals. Half of the team returned to the pavilion at the score of 119.
Jamshed, who scored two consecutive centuries in this series, could only make 34 (64). However, I’m happy that he earned the Man of the Series award – he deserved it.
While watching the Pakistani innings I felt as if some other group of players was on the field. This was definitely not the Pakistani side that I saw in the previous two games. There was no cohesiveness in the team and none of the batsmen could judge the line and length of the Indian bowlers.
Pakistani Skipper Misbahul Haq scored 39 (82) and remained the highest scorer for the side. This is ironic because in my opinion he should not be on our team in the first place!
I don’t think the third ODI was an ordinary match. It’s always a matter of pride for Pakistan and India to play against each other; however, with a series score of 2-0, it was India that looked confident.
Pakistani players didn’t show a winning spirit; this was quite suspicious. Whether it’s the magic of Aman ki Asha or a late night phone call with instructions, we don’t know yet.
Pakistani players should have displayed a higher morale for they had the series in the bag and were playing for the kill. But sadly that wasn’t the case.
However, winning and losing is part of the game. Both Pakistan and India have seen good and bad days on the cricket field and the third ODI was no different. One team had to lose so that the other could emerge as victorious. At the end of the day, India was the better team but the way they celebrated their triumph was plain tacky and just not necessary.
When Yuvraj Singh took the catch of Mohammad Hafeez off the bowling of Ishant Sharma, I was unable to fathom why the Indian team was celebrating with such rampant ecstasy. It was just a match and India won; only one match of the ODI series but their joy was parallel to a World Cup victory! It was just distasteful.
I think the Indian team will be seen as hero’s at home but Dhoni will face criticism for his lack of direction in the first two games of the ODI series.
I also find it incredibly puzzling as to why Mahindra Singh Dhoni received the Man of the Match award. He didn’t do much in the match; scoring 36 (55) isn’t extraordinary, or is it?
In my opinion, Saeed Ajmal should have received the award for his exceptional bowling where he took five wickets in 9.4 overs and gave just 24 runs.
Just like other Pakistanis, I am appalled at the performance of the Pakistani team for they were all out at 157. However, we did win the series on Indian soil and for the time being, this is enough to keep me happy.
Follow Omar on Twitter @omariftikhar
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of The Express Tribune.
Why do we think that the match was fixed? Is it very hard to admit that Pakistan had an off day. The better team won the match, but the best team won the series.
India were playing for pride in the last ODI, and I must say, that was an excellent performance from them. The fielding was top notch and everyone seemed up to the task. Whilst I am not happy about the loss, I still think a series win is a huge achievement. This was an excellent series. Thank you India for hosting the series and for the fans (genuine ones) for showing up. The way some Indians were posting on this website earlier would make you think that no one would turn up for the matches :/Recommend
Indian team was celebrating that way because they were under huge pressure (an understatement), they defended a measly total of 167 and finally, the match could have gone either way until the very end (remember Hafeez late burst in Ishant’s over?).Recommend
yes exactly.. i could not understand why Dhoni was given man of the match?? Jealous and self biased indiansRecommend
I stopped reading after I got to the line:
“Pakistani players didn’t show a winning spirit; this was quite suspicious. Whether it’s the magic of Aman ki Asha or a late night phone call with instructions, we don’t know yet.”
Why do you get suspicious when the Pakistani team looses? Aren’t they human beings capable of error? There are 11 players in the team and it is almost impossible for all of them to fix the match. Are you saying that all of them are dishonest and not reliable? Then why are you watching these dishonest group of men play a game of cricket?
I hate it when the Pakistani mentality doesn’t go any further then getting suspicious when the team starts to loose the match. That’s the time I wish I wasn’t a Pakistani!!
I am proud of these boys and their series win but seems like the minute the other team starts winning a match our awaam gets suspicious!! Ridiculous!Recommend
they had to celebrate it like that otherwise their media and public won’t spare them :pRecommend
Everybody seems happy Pakistan they won series, India they safe face and …….. Only Sindhu could explain it why Dhoni given man of the matchRecommend
@Pessimist:
Good to see your sane comments. Frankly Pakistan outperformed India in every department and brought the famed Indian batting line-up down to earth – they deserve our appreciation for the former and gratitude for the latter. A year of such performances with no changes could have only ended on this painful note, and the Indian batting in the third match was just as pedestrian as in the previous two – and I can assure all Pakistanis that most Indians don’t consider this unconvincing win worthy of mention. I am just happy that Tendulkar chose to hang up his boots at the right time; to have ended his ODI career after being trounced by Pakistan in this manner would have been a bitter finale indeed. I see enough data points to project a dismal cricket season for India up ahead.Recommend
Indian team had to celebrate otherwise their media would not have allowed them a peaceful night ;)Recommend
Dhoni is the poster boy of Indian cricket. He captains an IPL team in which members of BCCI have stakes. He earns more than any other cricketer in the world and the BCCI needed reason to save his captaincy. In case you missed it, former Indian selectors have already alleged that when they tried to drop Dhoni from the team the move was blocked by members of the board. So basically, whether Pakistan won (1st ODI) or lost (3rd ODI), the man of the match was still Dhoni! Says a lot doesn’t it!
P.S. Some former England cricketer has also alleged that the match was fixed so we may not be far off from yet another controversy!Recommend
@Amer: Lets not forget Muhammad Amir and Asif :p still under the ban for match fixing :p Pakistani mentality has been forced over and over to think in that direction..you cant just accuse them of being illogical without opening your eyes to some bitter facts..Recommend
For Faraz H:
Let’s be honest. Without Dhoni, we would have a whitewash. Without his century in the first ODI, they would have been toast.
However, it was the thrid ODI which showed what an excellent ODI captain Dhoni is. For me the changing point was when he put a backwards slip (I dont know the exact term, sorry!) for Misbah when Ashwin was bowling. He basically made Misbah play a shot which went straight into the hands of the fielder. That wicket started Pakistan’s mini-collapse. Plus, his field settings were also good. I’ve always had respect for Dhoni. Along with Yuvraj & Dravid, these are the only Indian cricketers whom I have respect for.Recommend
For Faraz H:
To follow up my comments, India can not afford to drop Dhoni now. Can you name me an adequate replacement? I don’t think so. Kohli is too young and brash. Yuvraj may be a good shout, but he is still not completely back in form.
Dhoni won India the WC, he’s really good.Recommend
@Pessimist: I never said Dhoni should be dropped. He’s probably the best batsman in the Indian team at the moment. I was just stating the facts to justify why he was given the MoM award twice when there were much more deserving candidates on both occasions. To be honest, even with all that he has done and achieved, the Indian media and public was still calling for his head after the England series and the losses to Pakistan, so in a way BCCI have tried to save their golden boy. The reference to the selectors was to prove that BCCI have done it in the past as well when his performances were below par.Recommend
@Faraz H: If it’s true that this was a fixed match and there is solid evidence then it should be brought forward in a court. I think speculation is not healthy for the game and we should not jump to conclusions until there is solid evidence.
@Noor: Muhammad Amir and Asif were caught “spot fixing” not “match fixing”. There is a huge difference between the two offenses. Matches cannot be fixed with only two/three players in the loop.
I am just sick of the overall conspiracy theory in everything attitude that this nation has developed.Recommend
Oh yeah, it was confusing why he got MoM in the mentioned ODIs. Awkward, but that’s the past. Indians are just as passionate & emotional about cricket as we are, but I do think their media goes overhill sometimes. In this series the entire Indian top and to some extent middle order had failed. Why is Dhoni to blame for that? Let’s not talk about BCCI shall we, the ICC wont like it ;)Recommend
This whole drama of inviting Pakistan to play in India and loosing series to Pakistan is manufactured. This has been done to sublime and to equal the guilt of ” fixed winning of India over Pakistan in World Cup semi finals”.Recommend
@Historian 1: RUBBISH!!!Recommend
@Madhia – at first I wanted to ignore your comment, but couldn’t help….
Firstly, you should be thankful to the Indians for inviting Pakistan to play which was certainly a good building measure given the state of cricket in Pakistan.
Even I don’t agree that Dhoni should have been the MoM, but why flame the Indians for it? Calling them self-biased & jealous is outright puerile on your part. After all, every Indian wasn’t involved in the decision making, were they?! Is more of a referee/commentator’s call…
A non-Indian!Recommend
This match was fixed and a good money making opportunity for corrupt Pakistani players.Recommend
Cant you guys think of anything else??
If Pakistan wins,its Inshallah…We are the best blah blah
If Pakistan loses,they fixed the match,aman ki asha
For atleast once,give the credit to the players both at your side and opposition side….
Honestly,If I was a Pakistani cricketer,I would be unhappy to play in a team where people accuse my poor shot selection as match-fixing and praise Allah rather than my rugged efforts when I win….
Would anyone of you commentors be fine if random people accuse your work ethics without even understanding the situation??Recommend
I think In the name of aman ki asha, Indians allowed Paksitan to win the series, but they made sure that it was not a whitewash.Recommend
Let’s keep it straight. Well done India in the 3rd ODIRecommend
i think most of the people commenting here have absolutely no idea what’s going on..read some indian newspapers and blogs,all of them are considering the possibility that 3rd odi could have been fixed,and then an english player also tweeted about that..more indians than pakistanis believe that the match was fixed despite of the fact that they had won it…
and howcome any sane person on earth not consider the possibility of “friendly fixing” in that match?were you even watching the game?114-3 and then 157-all out?how did indian bowling became so dangerous all of a sudden..i don’t think so that indians played well enough to deserve that victory..Honestly!
everybody knows that bcci practically owns icc,,and can put financial pressure on any cric board and player..pak cric board is already in desperate need of money and losing 3rd odi after already winning the series was no big deal for them.but it really mattered for india,as a whitewash against pak could tear their team apart,,and obviously some industrialists in india don’t want dhoni to quit captaincy not to forget that
and i think that the way indians have outclassed ur team in WCs have definately developed a sort of inferiority complex in us…it really made me laugh when some one said that india played brilliantly?
and then why should we thank indians for letting us play,,are you out of your mind?all the matches were in india and definately all the financial profit went to india not pak..pak just had the advantage of boosting their morale ..
even a blind man can raise suspicions about 3rd odi so don’t be so ignorantRecommend
@sidra:
It’s amazing that you don’t try and find loopholes in your own conspiracy theories. 114-3 to 157 all out. If this was a fixed match, don’t you think it would have made more sense to space the fall of wickets out more evenly and a little less suspiciously? Or perhaps to have allowed the Indian team to get to a respectable score and reduce the scope of speculation? Or is that the bowlers aren’t in on the match fixing until they go out to bat? Industrialists don’t want Dhoni to quit – wow, that is interesting news. Why – what happens if Dhoni quits, pray enlighten us – will the Govt pull back on reforms/ stock market crash/ price of crude oil go up/ people stop buying products/ Indo-US nuclear deal fall through – which one (or feel free to provide your own take, which doubtless is better than anything I could think of). Instead of celebrating a well-deserved win, you people have to waste your time on conjuring up bizarre theories, hadh hai.Recommend
Thank you Sidra for writing something that makes sense! :-)Recommend
“only one match of the ODI series but their joy was parallel to a World Cup victory! It was just distasteful.”
Ahem…India did win the World cup, remember? I suppose habits die hard.Recommend
Still wondering what was the price paid to lose this match. There were so many indications from pk players to hold back and lose.Recommend