The match against India in Colombo last night has left me sleepless again. That 61-run thrashing in the T20 World Cup at R. Premadasa Stadium—it's still replaying in my head like a bad loop, although I didn't directly watch, instead watched clips on CricInfo and CricBuzz, otherwise insisted on compiling my diary post instead, hence I thought I'd pour it all out here in my diary style, no fancy structure, no polished AI nonsense, just raw thoughts the way they come, straight from the gut.
We started decently with the ball. The pitch was slow, spin-friendly, and we squeezed them hard in the first half. Saim Ayub picked up 3-25, kept things tight with his spin, and overall, we restricted India to 175/7. On that surface, 176 felt chaseable, maybe even gettable if we batted sensibly. But then came the collapse.
Ishan Kishan smashed 77 off just 40 balls—10 fours, 3 sixes. He took the game away single-handedly. We had them under pressure, but one guy explodes and suddenly the target looks massive. Our bowlers did okay, but that one innings changed everything.
Then our chase... what a mess. 176 to win, and we crumbled to 114 all out in 18 overs. Top order failed again: Sahibzada Farhan out for a duck in the first over, Saim Ayub gone for 6, captain Salman Agha for 4, Babar Azam couldn't hold it together. Usman Khan fought with 44 off 34, Shaheen Afridi hung around for 23* at the end, but partnerships? Zero. Hardik Pandya (2-16), Bumrah (2-17), Varun Chakravarthy (2-17), Axar (2-29)—they bowled us out clinically. No fight, no momentum.
Lying awake, I kept asking: why does this keep happening? Heard a podcast the other day laying it bare—this is the same team that played against Zimbabwe, will play Nepal, faced Australia and New Zealand's second strings, and now gets thrown against full-strength India. Where is selection based on form? Nowhere. Same faces, same combinations. Fresh talent? New ideas? New pairings? Nobody cares.
Our management isn't running a cricket board anymore—it's turned into a marketing firm. Players aren't talents; they're products. Keep the sponsors happy, boost brand value, increase visibility. So the same bowlers, same batsmen keep getting picked. No room for youth, no bold changes. Heart wants to scream: Stop this circus! But who's listening? The people in PCB offices are too busy taking sponsor calls. What do they care about Pakistan cricket's future? Just sell the commodity, push the product.
Put the pieces together and the picture is clear: talent is being sacrificed, performance is being ignored, and all that's left is the shiny marketing glow. Last night's humiliation in Colombo feels like the latest symptom of the same old disease. India now leads 8-1 against us in T20 World Cups. And us? Same old post-match statements, same vague hope.
How long will this go on? Probably until we keep getting hammered in big tournaments one after another. Maybe until something explodes big time. Or maybe it never changes.
Where did it start? Probably the day selectors stopped being cricketers and became marketers and businessmen. Where has it led? To Colombo, to a 61-run defeat. And where is my heart now? Just sad, disappointed, and exhausted.
That's all for today. Tomorrow we'll see what happens next. Maybe something good turns up. Gotta keep some hope alive, right? Otherwise, what's left?
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