Forces of Nature part 3: Insurrection! May you live in interesting times. An old Chinese proverb seen as a curse to many. However in the case of Pakistan cricket it can be accurately called a moto or mission statement. Never is there a dull moment in the history of the most popular sport in the country. No country arouses such passion and unpredictability like Pakistan. Our neighbours have occa

27th July 2009

May you live in interesting times. An old Chinese proverb seen as a curse to many. However in the case of Pakistan cricket it can be accurately called a moto or mission statement. Never is there a dull moment in the history of the most popular sport in the country. No country arouses such passion and unpredictability like Pakistan. Our neighbours have occasionally emulated these highs and lows but even they have, in recent times, adopted the “professional” modus operandi. Not so our boys in green. From lifting trophies to batting collapses, the day in the life of a Pakistan fan can consist of joy, sorrow, anger, and utter elation in the span of an hour or a session. We hear the usual commentator mantra of unpredictability and inconsistency, oh how I continue to cringe at the constant use of the two words together when talking about our cricket. The fact is we may have the standard team wide “lapses”that lead to debacles like Galle and Columbo but one thing can never ever be denied and that’s our consistent trend of winning tournaments and series when no one gives us a chance in hell. Be it against the English at home or the Indians away. There is currently only one official ICC trophy that has eluded the team and that’s the ICC knockout champions trophy although it can be argued the first mini world cup in India called the Nehru cup was won by Pakistan. In the late 80’s and early 90’s Imran’s Pakistan were consistent, dangerous and talented. No team was immune to the force unleashed by the Khans unifying talents. The late 80’s and early 90’s changed the way we see cricket today. From doosra’s to reverse swing, from early pinch hitting to the revival of legspin, nothing would be the same again. Pakistan were in the thick of it throughout those two decades, taking on all and sundry at home and away. No one was immune to the force of talent.

The old order was being shaken in this period like never before. During most of this time the Australians resembled a shadow of their former selves. A team devoid of Lillee, Thompson and others. The retirement of these greats had left a hole and Border was given the job of filling it. In 1987 during the Reliance world cup, Border grabbed a shovel, proceeded to fill the hole and then punched a few giant holes into other teams for good measure. At the other end of the scale Imran’s Pakistan team had just beaten the Indians in their backyard for the first time ever, were riding high and embarking on a pivotal tour of the home of cricket. England and the West Indies had to be considered the best two sides in the world at the time, and out of the two the English would now be facing the brunt of the emergence of the new order. The old masters would have to face their old enemies and the new upstarts head on. By the end of the exchanges, world cricket would never be the same again.

Pakistan arrived in England during the summer of 87 a much changed team from the one that toured previously. This team was battle hardened on the fields of Calcutta and Chennai. The whole series was to be a watershed for Pakistan cricket. It was the first time English audiences experienced the full force of the never say die, street fighting cricket style that had developed under Imran. I always found it annoying in those days how a team or a player was not considered worthy of attention from the home of cricket until they had performed “over there”. Imran and his street fighters changed that attitude and made sure the English got a real taste of the winds of change. A few years previously Imran had introduced the Indians to reverse swing and now it was the Englishmen’s turn! There was no denying the Khan as he ripped through the hapless English batting in the third test. Swing, seam and pace, dominated the English second innings. There was no place to hide as Imran was unleashed. By the end of the drubbing the English must have thought they were back in the trenches of the Somme.

The next few matches were also dominated by Pakistan but Mike Gatting remained resolute throughout. Being the best player of spin bowling in England may have also helped. This talent especially came to the fore in the final test at the Oval. A blistering batting performance by Pakistan put 708 on the board. Imran, Malik and Miandad all scored centuries. It was in this match that Miandad scored his famous 260. An awesome innings of great character. The first innings of this match really put a marker down. It was as if Pakistan were not prepared to simply dominate their opponent but annihilate them in their own backyard. The English had to follow on and in the last innings were once again saved by Gatting. Qadir was the magician and took 7 wickets in the first innings. With England on 139/4 at one point it seemed inevitable that they would face another defeat. Gatting however fought bravely and managed to stick it out scoring a great century to see his team home. This would not be the last confrontation between the portly Englishmen and his Pakistani tormentors. Pakistan had won their first series in England and were jubilant. The home side however were not so magnanimous in defeat. The truth is, they never really recovered from the shock of 87 until Nasser Hussein’s men won in Karachi in 2001. Pakistan were the first former colony to really “stick two fingers” up at their old masters when in 1954 they beat the English in a test match. Ever since then, prejudices and preconceptions have dogged the relationship. 1987 was to prove the most explosive year yet. The series was marred by accusations of biased umpiring and the Pakistanis were fully prepared to give a dose of the same medicine when the return series was to be played.

Facing my colleagues in school every time England were humiliated was becoming a regular occurrence. I mean I was a Pakistani supporter and always had been but it didn’t matter to the school set. “Abay England ko maar puri bhaya”* “Abay tumhari team ko maar dalaa qadir nay”*.Karachi could be an unforgiving environment for an expat in those days. Explaining my loyalties never really seemed to work. “Abay Lamb ko Lamb buna kay Elizabeth ko bhej daingay”* was one of the more hilarious insults. In a way, loyalties were always divided when the two would meet. At times I longed for the morons at school to just shut up and although in my heart of hearts a Pakistan victory was always sweet, if England ever did win, at least I would have the pleasure of shutting “them” up. Nothing was better than bowling the naysayers out on a cricket pitch though. Especially when you’re an off spinner with a tape ball. Now that really does rile a street cricketer up.

The first test in Lahore was dominated by Qadir. The magician tore through the English and had them fuming at their own inability to play quality leg spin and what they perceived to be poor umpiring decisions. Nevertheless Qadir took 13 wickets in the match and the English were clueless. Western teams had always found it difficult to tour Pakistan in the 80’s and 90’s and 87 was no different. Imran had now retired and Miandad was in charge. The streetfighter was using all his guile and grit to make sure the Englishmen’s tour would be as uncomfortable as possible. I still remember watching John Embury and David Capel trying to valiantly save the day but ultimately Qadir just swept them all aside. It would be great to see the match again today to see if the decisions’ were really that bad. Ultimately perceptions took over again. “The Pakistanis couldn’t be trusted and everyone was against the English team”. The second test in Faisalabad would change things for the worse. Already fuming at the alleged bad umpiring in the first test, the English were again bowled out for 292 after a mini collapse. Qadir was destroyer and chief again. What everyone remembers from the match isn’t the cricket though. It was the ugly confrontation between Gatting and Shakoor Rana.

I sat their mesmerised. I hadn’t seen anything like it. All I could see was an ugly confrontation on the screen. It was actually quite pathetic for a visiting captain to behave in the manner that Gatting ultimately did. No matter how badly you think the umpires are officiating , you don’t go over and insult the officials in such a uncouth manner. The scene will never be forgotten by most Pakistanis’ who were around at the time. It was late in the day and Pakistan were 5 wickets down. I remember watching Malik padding up to one of the English spinners. A few minutes later Rana is seen to scream no ball from square leg while walking towards Gatting to explain why. After that all hell broke lose. Finger pointing from the England captain with Rana standing their giving as good as he got. The days play was abandoned and 6 hours were lost in the next day with England in a good position. Cynical members of the British press portrayed it as a well orchestrated plan by the clever Miandad and Pakistan. The natives were once again trying to humiliate the noble British Raj. Rana didn’t walk on to the pitch until he got an apology which is the least he should have asked for. Luckily things were sorted out behind the scenes and play eventually resumed. The series never really recovered.

One thing’s for sure, the players never forgot and it always motivated them when playing the English either home or away. The English media played it up as the brave righteous Englishman who stood up to the conniving natives. While in Pakistan it was portrayed as another example of English colonial discrimination against the brown former colony. The incident has never been forgotten entirely. The clamour for neutral umpires became even more intense ironically from Pakistan more so than from the English. The coup de grace was delivered when the England team returned home and a hardship bonus offered to all players on the team. Maybe they should have doubled the amount considering the way they played quality legspin.

School, after the incident was relatively quiet. Everyone agreed it was a horrible thing to happen. Most of us were fully sympathetic with Shakoor Rana. From that day onwards my loyalties were never divided again. Defending the indefensible was not an option. England hadn’t just shamed themselves but they had shamed all of their fans, especially ones like myself who would support them if Pakistan were not playing. Now it was anyone but England and it has always been that way.

England didn’t tour Pakistan till 2001 even though Pakistan were willing to tour England. The confrontation left an open wound that was exasperated by the frosty relationship the Asian boards started having with the ruling powers in the ICC. This was a world where England and Australia ruled the roost and the Ashes mattered above all else. The West Indies managed to muscle in by sheer willpower but it was the old guard that called the shots. For Pakistan to break down the order it would take more than just a win here and there. The ultimate prize was a win against the best team of the last two decades. The West Indies. 1987 for me, would always mark the beginning of the rebellion. An insurrection that blazed through the 1990’s and into parts of the mid 2000’s, An insurrection that changed the face of cricket forever. Today we are at the cusp of another such rebellion. World cricket is again ruled by those with money and power on their minds. It would be prudent for them to remember the late 80’s when a bunch of street cricketers looked the devil in the eye and slammed a sized 10 Bata “chapel” in his face. In Pakistan’s case history has a funny way of repeating itself.