 For a
nation that is beleaguered with terrorism, violence, corruption and
political unrest, what glorious moments of relief, joy and jubilation
Younis Khan and his boys gave to the countrymen. Pakistan's victory at
the T20 Cricket World Cup 2009 might not be a solution to the country's
ever-increasing problems, but certainly has temporarily embalmed the
pains and wounds the common Pakistanis have been carrying for a long
time.
It is true that what sometimes big and illustrious efforts often fail to
achieve, sports can do very easily. And for the people of the Indian
sub-continent, it is probably most applicable. India, Pakistan, and Sri
Lanka have always found ecstasy, glory andpride and honor in the success
of their national sports team-that is,cricket. Cricket is not just a
game here; it has its place next to God. So, when the national teams
enter the cricket field, it has the national patriotism, pride and
fanaticism of millions of its countrymen rooting for its support.
And ultimately, as it happened, the final of the grand event of the
newest version of cricket that has rocked the cricketing world in the
recent times-the Twenty-Twenty (T20) World Cup final in 2009-saw two of
these cricket-crazy nations competing against each other- Pakistan and
Sri Lanka. Ironically, Pakistan also reached the finals of the inaugural
tournament in 2007, ultimately won by India.
 Pakistan's success in this year's
championship is definitely a tale of rags to riches. One of the most
talented but mercurial teams of the cricketing fraternity, Pakistan is
mostly unpredictable in their performance. Moreover, in comparison to
other cricket-playing nations, the recent story of Pakistan was
certainly different. Pakistan's already bruised reputation as an
international cricket venue was shattered on 3 March this year when
insurgents launched a gun-and-grenade attack on the Sri Lankan team as
they traveled to a match in Lahore. The brazen assault left seven Sri
Lankan players and their assistant coach injured, as well as killing six
policemen and two civilians. After the attacks, the International
Cricket Council stripped Pakistan of its share of World Cup 2011
matches-the second major event shifted from the country after the
Champions Trophy 2009 was moved to South Africa. Even before the
attacks, foreign teams were refusing to tour the country because of
security fears. Australia postponed a tour in March last year, forcing
the one-day series to be played in the United Arab Emirates in April-May
this year.
 As a result, Pakistan's team traveled to South Africa for the World Cup
quite deprived of match practice as they had very little matches to play
in the recent times. Moreover, their defeat to archrivals India in the
warm-up game to the main tournament came as a great shock and matter of
concern as even their supporters started doubting the team's ability.
In the preliminary round, Pakistan was grouped with England and
low-ranking Netherlands. And, what a beginning to the tournament it was,
as pushover Netherlands edged past England to set the event on fire.
Pakistan too, had a very bad start as they lost their opening match to
England at the Oval by 48 runs, submitting to the batting prowess of
English batters, primarily Luke Wright and Kevin Pieterson. However,
Pakistan rose to the occasion when it mattered as they annihilated
Netherlands by virtue of an all-round performance in their final group
match at the Lords by 82 runs.
  Subsequently, elevated to the Super Eight stage, Pakistan was placed in
group F-where it had to play with Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Ireland to
gain a place in the semifinals. India, England, South Africa and West
Indies were the other four teams clubbed in Group F at the Super Eight
stage. Pakistan's first match at this stage was against the Sri Lankans,
which eventually, became the line up for the final-but it was Sri Lanka
who called the shots at the group stage. They defeated Pakistan by 19
runs, when the Pakistanian team failed to chase 150 runs in the
stipulated 20 over. Under contention of bowing out from the World Cup,
Pakistan had to win both their remaining games in style-and they did
exactly that. A strong contender for the title, New Zealand lost their
way before the vicious-paced bowling of speed-star Umar Gul who took 5
wickets for 6 runs and bundled the Kiwis for a paltry 99. Pakistan won
the game by 6 wickets with 41 balls to spare. Eventually, Pakistan
trounced Ireland, the surprise of the tournament, by 39 runs, leveraging
on batting prowess by Kamran Kamala and bowling by Shamed Ajmal. In the
process, Pakistan set up the semifinal clash with South Africa, while
Sri Lanka was all set to take on a resurgent West Indies.
 Interestingly, the tournament had its fair share of upsets. The
uncrowned champions of the cricketing world-the unputdownable
Australians-failed to make it even to the Super Eight stages, thus
raising a question about their ability in this shortest form of the
game. Hosts England was also shown the door in the Super Eight stage,
and so were the Kiwis. Bangladesh, though were not of the superlative
category as other test playing nations, but their defeat in the hands of
Ireland and subsequent exit was also a notable event in the tournament.
But-the biggest bombshell that shocked the cricket lovers all across the
world was the unceremonious exit of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team
India-the reigning T20 World Champions in the Super Eight Stage.
Clearly, the favorites, the Men in Blue, failed to live up to
expectation and displayed a disastrous string of performances that made
them suffer ignominious defeats in all their Super Eight matches at the
hands of England, West Indies and South Africa. Dogged by problems
galore, including fitness issues, soured coach/captain relation, poor
media handling, and then backed by failure to shine in the right
occasion, made the nation of 1 billion people wail in despair.
 However, the scenario in the neighboring country was not gloomy at all.
The entire nation pinned their hopes amidst a disturbed
socio-politico-economic crisis in the country on Younis Khan's band of
boys. And, indeed, they did not let their followers down. At Nottingham,
the first semifinal between the Pakistanis and the South Africans saw a
close contest. Pakistan, who batted first and scored 149 in 20, over
banking on Shahid Afridi's half century successfully defended the score
as the Proteas fell short by 7 runs. Afridi continued his all-round
performance by getting 2/16 and was the Man of the Match. In the other
semifinal, Tilekeratne Dilshan single-handedly took the Lankans to the
final as his power packed 96 off 57 balls that helped them register a 57
run win against a hapless West Indies.
 The stage was all set for a thunderous final as the two giants of world
cricket met for the finals. At the mecca of world cricket - the Lords,
on June 21, two nations, that breathe cricket, eat cricket and drink
cricket, competed for the coveted trophy. The trophy had eluded Pakistan
the last time, and for Sri Lanka, it was a matter of pride and
reaffirmation of their cricketing supremacy. But ultimately, it was
probably the heart that ruled over the head. The desperation and extreme
desire to win was probably strongest for the insurgent-hit Pakistan
team, as in the game, that mattered the most.
 It wasn't the edge-of-the-seat final that would have topped off the ICC
World Twenty20 in style, but that won't matter to Pakistan who gave
their nation a something to savor amid troubled times. From the moment
Tillakaratne Dilshan, the tournament's top scorer, fell in the opening
over, Pakistan had a grip on the match. Unbeaten innings of Kumara
Sangakkara's 64 and Angelo Mathew's 35 helped the Islanders amass 138 in
the stipulated 20 over; but it was not enough against a strong Pakistani
batting line up. In fact, Sri Lanka could never recover from the burst
of excellent play from Abdul Razzaq, who got 3-20 and reduced the men
from the emerald island to 4-32.
When Pakistan came to bat, it was a clinical, thought-out and utterly
professional display. For Sri Lanka, early wickets were key and they
didn't materialize as Akmal and Shahzaid Hasan played sensibly. The
wizardry of Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan, and the accuracy of Lasith
Malinga, have provided wonderful entertainment over the last weeks, but
on this occasion couldn't conjure the magic spell that was needed. In
the end there were no theatrics. The glory came with a leg-bye, and with
Lasith Malinga appealing for a leg-before. Then there was Shahid Afridi,
who emerged as their trump card, guiding his team home in the 19th over
with an unbeaten 54, standing with arms wide open, pointing upwards. It
was left to Younis Khan to raise the trophy in what he later announced
would be his final Twenty20 International, in front of a sea of
delirious Pakistan supporters.
 As Afridi, the player of the final, and Malik embraced mid-pitch after
the winning moment, the emotion showed what this victory means for
Pakistan. The teammates came charging in; a flag was produced; some of
the Pakistani players knelt to kiss the turf; and the stadium was awash
with green. Pakistan's rise from rank outsiders to champions is an
extraordinary display for a team that had to beat Netherlands by a
significant margin to even stay in the event during the group stages.
However, they have peaked at the right time and couldn't have produced a
more complete performance for a final. They fell five runs short two
years ago at Johannesburg, but this time there was no mistake Sri
Lanka's team that have been the model of consistency, were caught off
guard by aggressive tactics.
As the Pakistan team took their victory lap, the public address system
belted out "Dil Dil Pakistan," an all-time favorite rock song by Vital
Signs, a '80's Pakistan band. Later at the press conference, Younis Khan
described the win as a gift to the nation and dedicated the win in the
memory of their deceased coach Bob Woolmer.
 Back home, the historic win in the final sparked jubilation across the
country and worldwide. People took to the streets after the match in all
major cities of the country including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad,
Multan, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta, and expressed their joy in their
own way. They distributed sweets and danced to the beat of drums to
celebrate the much-needed victory. While some people resorted to firing
guns in the air, others set off fireworks, lighting up the night sky.
Theses were the scenes witnessed not only in Pakistan but also in every
corner of the world wherever Pakistanis are living. Whether it was the
streets of U.S. or Britain, the Pakistani flag flew high, conveying the
message of peace, and expressed that the Pakistani nation is a
peace-loving nation and fond of healthy activities.
The cricketers have done their bit to lift a beleaguered country. They
needed this success most and perhaps that drive was the deciding factor.
The country faces a difficult few years of rebuilding, but this victory
will have brought great joy and, hopefully, belief in a brighter future.
Quite true, that the T20 world cup triumph was not just another success
for the nation, but certainly a lifeline to regain the faith in
themselves.
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