In overwhelming India to win the wanted Champions Trophy title on Sunday at The Oval, not only has Pakistan cricket banished an old decade plague, it has also been given a salvation to compete in the 2019 World Cup.
The striking improvement by Sarfraz Ahmed and his team, who played fearless cricket throughout to succeed four games on the canter including the final after having been humbled by India in the opening game, has had the detractors searching for excellence.
For a cross in eighth place in the ICC ODI ranking, Pakistan has originated full circle, after discarding the preliminary trepidation and awkward the myriad odds stacked in contradiction of it.
There is, though, no more rewarding an attainment than beating India in the final, after suffering years of disappointment and conquest at the latter’s hands, especially in mega-events.
The bright show has now pushed Pakistan into sixth mess thus assuring them straight entrance into the World Cup.
Since the 2009 terrorist bout on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore, main cricket-playing countries such as England, Australia, South Africa, and India have rejected trips here mentioning security worries; other nations including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and more recently Afghanistan have deteriorated invitations after initially approving to appoint, thus compounding the separation of Pakistan cricket.
That has enforced Pakistan to accept the UAE as its ‘home’ site, grudging thousands at home of a chance to head to the stadium to lookout their heroes on the field, besides financially burdening the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Cricket here has further been undermined by the poor administrative policies of those at the helm in PCB under an ad hoc system that has caused domestic cricket standards to drop, besides leading to endless selection rigmarole.
Under Sarfraz, a shrewd, bold leader, this comparatively young team has revived the arrogance, the discipline and the potential that recycled to be the trademark of Pakistan cricket, particularly in the limited-over arrangement.
The win places the skipper in a better place to dictate terms on team assortment and players’ welfare issues that are integral to the game’s success. More notably, the entire cricket world and not just the International Cricket Council have taken note of Pakistan’s incredible enactment.
It is an emphatic cue of the tremendous young talent obtainable in the country talent that has shaped match winners like Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan and Fahim Ashraf. All this foretells healthy for the future.