da blaze casino： Over thelast week, of the seven teams that visited Jaipur, it’s been Pakistan whohave, ironically, appeared most relaxed
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan in Jaipur17-Oct-2006
Preserving their cool: Abdul Razzak and Shoaib Malik after seeing Pakistan home © Getty Images
On the day Pakistan landed in India for the Champions Trophy, in Delhi onOctober 8, Younis Khan and Bob Woolmer addressed the media. In theprevious 24 hours, the country’s cricket captaincy had been changed twiceand the chairman had changed once and one would have expected them to bediscussing serious matters before the press conference took place. Formost of it, the two communicated by scribbling messages on a piece ofpaper but don’t be fooled into thinking they were matters of nationalinterest. It was simply a discussion about whether to grant a televisionchannel an interview.On the day before Pakistan’s opening encounter of the Champions Trophy, inJaipur yesterday, the same duo addressed the media. In the previous 24hours, the team’s two premier fast bowlers had failed dope tests, nobodyknew what the future held in store and one would have, again, expectedthem to be discussing serious matters before addressing the press. Beforethey began the press conference, both – coughing intermittently -communicated some thoughts in hushed tones. Surely this time it wasserious. Instead they were trying to out-guess each other on the number ofquestions that were likely to be posed. One of them said 60; the otherreckoned it would be 70.These may appear insignificant incidents but they convey quite a bit abouthow this bunch managed to stay cool when the roof had blown off. Over thelast week, of the seven teams that visited Jaipur, it’s been Pakistan whohave, ironically, appeared most relaxed. People spotted them inrestaurants, movie halls and tourist sites. It was a side that appeared tobe thoroughly at home with their surroundings, thriving amid the fans andbanter.Younis spoke passionately about the period, adding that it had no doubthelped alleviate the pressure. “We’ve had a lot of fun over the lastweek,” he said at the end of a thoroughly satisfactory day. “We playedhard cricket, practised hard and had some competitive games amongstourselves. What I couldn’t do as a youngster, I wanted my boys to do. Iencouraged them to see movies, to have fun. We missed Inzamam a lot andspoke a lot about him, about his captaincy and his professionalism. But wewanted to forget the pressures. One day before the game we got another joltbut I always felt the boys were fit and wanted to play good cricket. Forme, before this game, winning or losing wasn’t important, all I wantedthem to do was to play good cricket. And we did.”And good cricket they played. A packed house of neutrals rejoiced inPakistan’s fightback with the ball before cheering every run in theirrun-chase. Their very unpredictability, their sheer bloody-mindedbounce-back ability, was a joy to watch. Just when the tension reached thehighpoint, they found in Abdul Razzaq a matchwinner who sliced through itlike a Rajasthani sword through silk. The standing ovation they grantedPakistan after the triumph was in direct contrast to the afternoon’sevents when the Shiv Saniks, a Hindu fundamentalist organisation, heldbanners asking Pakistan to ‘Go home’.Younis Khan didn’t make much of a contribution with the bat but his coolcountenance no doubt proved crucial. “There was definitely a bit ofpressure,” he said, “but I don’t normally put myself under pressure. Ofcourse, if we’d lost people would have got a chance to say things againstus. But the boys stood together, even though they were under pressure. Iwas asked at the toss if I’d slept OK and honestly I slept very well.Whatever pressure was there, it didn’t affect my sleep.”Over the last few years, Inzamam-ul-Haq’s monk-like cool, with an emphasison religion, has played a vital part in keeping the side together. It cameas no surprise when the side got together for a after thegame, thanking the God almighty for this fine win. Younis mentioned theimportance of faith, he added that their religious beliefs always keptthem strong. He didn’t mention it but sometimes you wonder what this teamwould do if controversies decide to take a back seat. The more thetrouble, more the joy.Comment on this