Dasti !! Give us a break by Taimur Sikander

Just came across an excellent article written by Taimur Sikander, Sports editor of Dawn News.

Here we go again. It has barely been 24 hours since Younis Khan and some other members of the Pakistan cricket team landed back home, and the barbs are flying already. The Pakistan team is known to provide action even in inaction, and sometimes it’s actually entertaining. But there comes a point when you feel that enough is enough. Accusations made by Jamshed Dasti, chairman of the Standing Committee on Sports in the Senate are exactly such an instance.
While it was all fun and games reading reports in the Indian media of a possible case of match-fixing by the Pakistani team that led to India’s ouster from the Champions Trophy, Dasti’s accusation that the Pakistani team deliberately lost the group match against Australia and the semi-final against New Zealand are a slap in the face of all the fans of the national team. It is a shame because cynical fans now have a reason to fuel their disgust with and that too out of something that sounds completely absurd.

While no one can stop the issue from spiralling out of control now, and ultimately tarnish the image of the nation once again, it is interesting to focus on the credentials of Mr. Jamshed Dasti. Mr. Dasti is the same guy who absolved Pakistan Hockey Federation Secretary Asif Bajwa of human trafficking charges amid raised-eye brows. As the chairman of the Standing Committee on Sports he was also responsible for overlooking the ‘Lahore Attack’ probe and setting the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board straight after allegations of mismanagement. Both instances have produced no fruitful outcomes. He has further been accused of threatening the gang-rape victim Mukhtar Mai to withdraw her case and also of trying to takeover the District Education Office in Muzzafargarh (video of which is posted on YouTube and contains abusive language).

Now let’s look at the supposed ‘incidents’ that show the Pakistani team deliberate attempts of throwing a game.
Younis Khan’s catch: Ok so he shouldn’t have placed himself at such a crucial position at such a crucial stage in the match but let’s be honest, it was a clear case of being overconfident that led to him spilling that catch. But does that mean Brendon McCullum, who was under Cameron White’s top-edged pull for ages before dropping what was a simple catch for a man in gloves, also had mischievous intentions?

‘They lost to Australia just to keep India out of the tournament,’ Dasti has accused. Can the Pakistan team be really so good that they toyed with the Australians, put them under the sword and then decided to throw the final dice on the LAST ball of the game? Wow, anyone who has played even gully cricket could tell that Umar Gul had bent his back on the final delivery, and it was a perfect finish until Kamran Akmal’s throw failed to reach the non-strikers end before Nathan Hauritz could make his ground. And let us suppose if the Pakistan team was in fact so brilliant that it could pull the Australians on a string and pretend to be mediocre in certain instances, then wow…what a team!

As far as the New Zealand game is concerned, true it was sad sailing by the Pakistani batsmen. But were Umar Akmal and umpire Simon Taufel in cahoots? Did Umar tell Taufel precisely when he will play a ball from the full-face of his bat on to his pad for to be adjudged LBW and make it seem like Pakistan ‘really’ suffered at the hands of bad umpiring? If the Pakistani batsmen played lethargic cricket, what were the New Zealanders doing on such a flat track, albeit against a much better bowling line-up?
It’s not surprising to see accusations being hurled at Pakistan again. Would it have been different if Younis Khan sat out due to his injury (remember Wasim Akram World Cup 1996 against India)? Neither is it baffling to see foreign media agencies picking up on a sentimental remark made by a person who speaks before thinking (he is reported to have told Ijaz Butt to retire because he had done ‘10-year’s overtime’). How many ex-cricketers and otherwise insignificant politicians will take up our airspace? Please Dasti, give it a break!

As I post this blog, Mr. Dasti is being interviewed by a local television channel regarding his outburst. When the interviewer asks the senator to explain his accusations, Mr. Dasti conveniently distances himself from the remarks and goes to say, ‘we will ensure that these accusations are interrogated thoroughly…’

‘But Dasti sahib, you are one who accused the team, says the baffled interviewer, to which Mr. Dasti replies, ‘these accusations have come to our notice and as the head of the Standing Committee on Sports it is my responsibility to find out the truth,’ after which, the interviewer gave up. Seriously.Taimur Sikander is a sports editor at Dawn.com.