My last write-up was about a very personal and memorable experience, one that I cherish. What to write next? The search for the topic of my follow-up post hasn't taken me anywhere. Problem being that I find it difficult to write about events that I don't feel passionate about.

There is a lot going on back in my country to be passionate about. The politics of the country are in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. We have a self-appointed ditator who continues to insult the intelligence of everybody. We have an indecisve (read opportunisitc) opposition leader who recently returned to the country from a self-imposed exile, and can't seem to decide one way or the other about the position that she wants to take. We have a hand-cuffed judiciary that is not only propagating it's bias, but also shamelessly disregarding the very code that it's supposed to protect. We have a resistence movement - primarily championed by lawyers, activists and students - fighting for the core social and political freedom that we as a nation must have. So there is a lot that I want to write about as far as politics and society are concerned.

I was told that I can't use this platform to discuss my politics.

With the current hot-topic taken out of the equation, I was left scratching my head again. Did I mention I am a film enthusiast? I recently spent 2 weeks of doing nothing but watching good old cinema at London Film Festival. Some of the movies that I watched were pretty amazing, some that I didn't really get, and some that I ddn't like. I saw Amitabh Bachchan in flesh and blood. I sat through the talks by Sean Penn, Wes Anderson and David Lynch. I marked out when Naomi Watts, Halle Berry, and Sienna Miller walked the red carpet. "No Country for Old Men" is one film that I'll remember for some time. The whole experience was very heart-warming. More recently, I was pleasantly caught up in the frenzy generated by Om Shanti Om and Saawariya. Shahrukh premiered his film in London, I couldn't go but did manage to watch the movie. It was a trip - no story to speak about, but thoroughly entertaining. So I could speak about my love for cinema. But that too was shot down.

"It's a cricketing blog!" - Q/Obiad frustrated.

Of course there is a test series going on between the neighbourly rivals - it can't get any bigger than India v. Pakistan! Australia just dominated another team. New Zealand appears to be spiralling down and trying very hard to catch up with West Indies in the race to the wrong end. England are in Sri Lanka. T20. ICL v. IPL. There is enough cricketing material to sink my teeth in, and come up with a readable article. Yet I can't feel strongly about anything related to the game.

"Blasphemous!" - Cricket-lovers screamed.

The writers on this blog are covering the on-going cricket matches much better than I can ever do. The debate is both healthy and intersting on various topics. Q will soon replace statsguru search on cricinfo. Obaid is thinking out of the box to take the game forward. Nazhar brings the balanced view. Jeff is supposed to generate controversy. A new blogger is supposed to start who is known for his passion. What am I doing here?

"Traitor!" - WP's bloggers united.

This got me thinking. What is it that I love about the sport?

Is it the nationalism that makes a fascinating watch? May be - sometimes I enjoy a county match better than another Aussie domination.
Is it our collective fascination with the under-dog? May be - Pakistan's 92 triumph is a prime example. So is Windies win written by Ian Bradshaw.
Is it the competitiveness of the game? May be - the Ashes in 2005.
Or a combination of all of the above? Probably - the T20 World Cup final combined nationalistic compettiveness for 2 underdogs, that culminated in one cracking game.

"Bullsh*t!" - Somebody mumbled in my head.
"Back to drawing board" - I reasoned.

My philosophy about football and cricket are poles apart. I support Arsenal. There are no superstars in the team. But they play the most beautiful football in the country. Yet, Aussies domination is becoming a never-ending yawn for me. They have the stars. They have the method. They play the best cricket. Yet, I do not enjoy them as a team. It's too monotonous for me.

Realisation dawned. I love the moments.

Wasim's unplayables in 92 final. Inzy's greatest "century that was not" in South Africa. Afridi's century off 37 balls. Lara's 400. Ponting's decimation of Indian attack in 2003 final. Warne's 700th. Dravid's class. Sachin's brilliance. Waqar's toe-crushers. Akhtar's spread-eagled celebrations. Yuvraj's 36 off the over. Yousuf's grand run with the bat last year. KP's arrogance. Steve Waugh's never-say-die attitude. Miandad's 6 of Chetan Sharma. I love them all, and more. Nationalism, competitiveness, glory to the under-dog - everything else is a bonus.

A Sachin or a Lara or a Warne can hook me to TV for 5 days irrespective of their nationality. I'd be delayed from work if Akhtar is on song even if against Zimbabwe. I'd wake up in the night in anticipation of Murali overtaking Warne's record. I'd look forward to Jayawardane & Sangakarra's class in England series. I'd look forward to Yousuf batting in Ind-Pak matches. I'd look forward to Dravid's redemption in the series. I'd look forward to Tendulkar giving a masterclass about how to enjoy batting. I'd look forward to Dhoni's exuberance. Heck, I'd even look forward to Sreesanth's ridiculous madness.

Yes - I cherish the moments. I love the game. Not for the team, but in anticipation of a spark of individual brilliance. Sometimes ...

"It's a team sport DAMMIT!"

I am bad with dates and names. I am bad with statistics pertaining to the game as well. I can't recall when this affair with the game began for me - but I do remember watching Miandad score a century on the opening day of the world cup 1987 against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad. I do remember collecting coke bottle caps during the tournament to win the free scoring sheet that Coke had offered to its consumers. I do remember feigning stomachache and pulling a sicky from my class to watch the semi-final with Australia, tallying every run and wicket on the most prized-scorecard till Steve Waugh hit Jaffar for 18 in the last over. With the last over of Aussie innings not in my scorecard, I started afresh in Pakistan innings. Don't remember much, except that Bruce Reid clean-bowled Miandad and my scorecard remained incomplete, and down the throat of a dust-bin. I remember watching the Sharjah-6 by Miandad. I remember Imran Khan inviting Indian film-stars to raise donations. I remember Zia's crash, and I remember Nazia Zoheb's young tarang, where Ali Azmat sang Dosti with Jupiters (awesome song by a crap band).

But I think the affair became an obsession at the start of 92 world cup. Waqar was sidelined, and Miandad not selected. There was wholesale criticism about Imran, and everybody at my dad's press (where I used to spend my evenings getting acquainted to computers) proclaimed doom for Imran Khan. There is history here as well. Both Imran and Miandad had their exclusive fanbase ... and this was reflected by where a person was physically based in Pakistan. If you are in Karachi/Hyderabad, Miandad was the superman, and Imran was perceived to be this conniving dictator, who had this sectarian-based agenda of sidelining players from Sindh, and had a personal vendetta against Miandad on top of it. I was (still am) an idealist - and was extremely miffed by this sheer bias of my dad's folks as I could never understand how hatred for one person (Imran) and love for another (Miandad) would lead somebody to actually dismiss the entire Pakistani campaign even before it began. In one of those arguments with a bunch of over-patronising elders, I proclaimed "Imran will bring the cup to Pakistan."

Nobody took me seriously but myself. I would wake up in the middle of the night, make myself sehri, and watch the match. Good thing I was in the middle of schools, and was usually at home. I remember Ramiz taking ages to get a century in the opening match, and then Lara completely dominating Pakistan attack. I went through heartache after heartache in the initial stages of the campaign. Yet, every evening at Iftar at the press, I would stand by my captain, and more than anything, reassure myself that Pakistan would win - often under extreme pressure from the patronizers. There was too much going against Pakistan. Ijaz was our 5th bowlder. Inzy wasn't clicking and floated in the batting order. I hated Iqbad Sikander. Yet Imran, Miandad and Akram were digging in deep - and there was this immovable faith in Imran Khan.

Then came the crunch games, we shared a point with England, and our qualification was on the road. I remember praying for Aussies victory against Windies, and actually offering 2-Nafils when the semi-final berth was confirmed. The blind-faith in Imran was paying off. I was boasting off in my dad's office. It was as if I was giving all those patronizing sonofbitches a finger-salute. The semi-final gave us a star in Inzy. Miandad, Imran and Was were the support act. Moin's pull for a straight six was a classic. Aaqib's slower one to get rid of Greatbatch. The moments have been etched in my memory. Then there was the final, Wasim was the beauty, Imran the anchor, Miandad the shrewd, Mushy provided the guile, and Ramiz the finishing. The world cup was ours.

Imran had brought the cup home. I lined up on the street to welcome our all-conquering heroes. I even campaigned for Shaukat Khanum Hospital fundraiser at school. That was the beginning of my passion for the sport. Imran retired, and we've been see-sawing on the cricketing map since then. Some good, some bad and some downright ugly moments form the sports history post 1992 triumph. I sat down to list the best-11 for ODIs after 1992, and here is what I came up with:

1. Saeed Anwar


2. Aamir Sohail


3. Abdul Razak


4. Inzamam-ul-Haq


5. Mohd. Yousuf


6. Shahid Afridi


7. Moin Khan (WK)


8. Wasim Akram (C)


9. Waqar Younis


10. Saqlain Mushtaq


11. Shoaib Akhtar

It's been 15 years since that triumph, and only 3 players in the current setup find themselves in the best-11 post-92 triumph. This is an astoundingly worrying prospect as in these 15 years we have given ODI debuts to a total of 76 people. Asif and Younis are the only other players from the current team that can potentially challenge to displace somebody from this list - though highly unlikely as Asif is no Waqar and Younis is no Inzy. The future is yet unknown - the openers are a dilemma that doesn't seem to resolve despite Butt's resurgence (i still doubt his ability), Misbah is a finisher who never finishes, and Rao/Tanvir are average bowlers at best. And we are still missing Razzak's batting in late order.

I am waiting for the nextgen of Ws and Inzy to come through. And yes, I still believe in Imran Khan. I am waiting for my captain to lead us out of the rot, this time the task is even bigger - it's the country. Yet the faith has never been stronger - both in the captain, and in the ability of the country to produce the next best thing to hit the cricketing world.