Our Mercurial Tigers..

[Maula Jutt]

I've had this question in mind for a while now. Last night's loss prompted it to the front of my mind again.

Pakistani cricket team are known to be mercurial. They are also fondly called the "cornered tigers" for their aggressive play and wins in difficult and almost impossible situations. And we the fans take great pride in that, which is evident whenever our team snatches victory from the mouth of defeat.

But this is a two edged sword. Mercurial also means that along with winning losing matches, we also lose winning matches. If we can collapse a team from a losing position, we are ourselves subject to the same kind of collapses from a winning position more often than not.

I feel the main reason behind this unpredictability is the lack of attention to basics of cricket like fielding, batting, etc. Which is why we have these bursts of brilliance when the team is having it's day, and then these unbelievable collapses when the players don't click. There is no consistent technique.

Now if we do gain this consistency, we will become a little predictable and hence lose the "mercurial/unpredictable/underdogs" tag. We will know what to expect from each player and they'll deliver accordingly. This would give us a better idea to understand our chances of a win or loss ahead of time before a match. But there will be no "sparks of brilliance that turn matches around" and "victory from defeat" which we've all come to love so much. On the other hand, we wont have these unbelievable collapses and could count on our team to provide a performance at par with its abilities and prior record.

The question is - which one do we prefer? Unpredictability.. which will have these collapses too otherwise we can't be unpredictable. OR predictability.. in which we can count on our team to some extent to perform according to their potential, but there will be no "near heart attacks at the end of the match" where we usually win or lose a match, regardless of what was happening in previous overs? So which one is it?

Because we can't have it both ways.

--

[Indianfan]

For starters stop treating C grade low quality players like AFRIDI as Greatest Ever Pakistani Player and give due to all time gr8 talents like Inzy, Anwar, Yousuf etc....

You guys dont respect good cricketers and are frenzied over bit players like AFRIDI just because he hits a Six once in a while and acts like street fighter from the streets of Karachi....

[tdigi]

Originally Posted by Indianfan For starters stop treating C grade low quality players like AFRIDI as Greatest Ever Pakistani Player and give due to all time gr8 talents like Inzy, Anwar, Yousuf etc.... You guys dont respect good cricketers and are frenzied over bit players like AFRIDI just because he hits a Six once in a while and acts like street fighter from the streets of Karachi....

Dude this is your first post here. So chill. Most members here know the unpredictable nature of Afridi. He is still one of the most dangerous players around and you should know that he is in the team more for his bowling performance. You calling him a third rate C player shows your poor understanding of Afridi's cricketing abilities.

[Salazar]

Originally Posted by Indianfan For starters stop treating C grade low quality players like AFRIDI as Greatest Ever Pakistani Player and give due to all time gr8 talents like Inzy, Anwar, Yousuf etc.... You guys dont respect good cricketers and are frenzied over bit players like AFRIDI just because he hits a Six once in a while and acts like street fighter from the streets of Karachi....

OR maybe you're sore that this C-grade player won us the 20-20 WC whereas your Rockstar team of A-grade players crashed out in the first round eh?

[Salazar]

Originally Posted by Maula Jutt I've had this question in mind for a while now. Last night's loss prompted it to the front of my mind again. Pakistani cricket team are known to be mercurial. They are also fondly called the "cornered tigers" for their aggressive play and wins in difficult and almost impossible situations. And we the fans take great pride in that, which is evident whenever our team snatches victory from the mouth of defeat. But this is a two edged sword. Mercurial also means that along with winning losing matches, we also lose winning matches. If we can collapse a team from a losing position, we are ourselves subject to the same kind of collapses from a winning position more often than not. I feel the main reason behind this unpredictability is the lack of attention to basics of cricket like fielding, batting, etc. Which is why we have these bursts of brilliance when the team is having it's day, and then these unbelievable collapses when the players don't click. There is no consistent technique. Now if we do gain this consistency, we will become a little predictable and hence lose the "mercurial/unpredictable/underdogs" tag. We will know what to expect from each player and they'll deliver accordingly. This would give us a better idea to understand our chances of a win or loss ahead of time before a match. But there will be no "sparks of brilliance that turn matches around" and "victory from defeat" which we've all come to love so much. On the other hand, we wont have these unbelievable collapses and could count on our team to provide a performance at par with its abilities and prior record. The question is - which one do we prefer? Unpredictability.. which will have these collapses too otherwise we can't be unpredictable. OR predictability.. in which we can count on our team to some extent to perform according to their potential, but there will be no "near heart attacks at the end of the match" where we usually win or lose a match, regardless of what was happening in previous overs? So which one is it? Because we can't have it both way. --

This is a very good question, one I cant find an answer to.

In one sense, if we lose the mercurial nature, we'd be consistent beaters.. that'd be great, but then, we'd lose interest in cricket to be honest, what fun is a team that is soo consistent. It wont be Pakistani cricket. On the other hand, if we be beaters, we could gain new heights, which one would it be

[JeeraBlade]

Originally Posted by Indianfan For starters stop treating C grade low quality players like AFRIDI as Greatest Ever Pakistani Player and give due to all time gr8 talents like Inzy, Anwar, Yousuf etc.... You guys dont respect good cricketers and are frenzied over bit players like AFRIDI just because he hits a Six once in a while and acts like street fighter from the streets of Karachi....

Why are you guys persisting with a players like Yousuf "wanna be Afirid" Pathan?

[Salazar]

Originally Posted by JeeraBlade Why are you guys persisting with a players like Yousuf "wanna be Afirid" Pathan?

Now, he'll run

[zaid65]

Originally Posted by Indianfan For starters stop treating C grade low quality players like AFRIDI as Greatest Ever Pakistani Player and give due to all time gr8 talents like Inzy, Anwar, Yousuf etc.... You guys dont respect good cricketers and are frenzied over bit players like AFRIDI just because he hits a Six once in a while and acts like street fighter from the streets of Karachi....

Every time you type word Afridi on this forum, you will get thousand posts response and if you say something bad against him, get ready for the worst humiliation but being a Pakistani fan, I could not agree everything what you said in this post.

[Maula Jutt]

Afridi is a C grade player? That's news.

[Waseem]

Originally Posted by Indianfan For starters stop treating C grade low quality players like AFRIDI as Greatest Ever Pakistani Player and give due to all time gr8 talents like Inzy, Anwar, Yousuf etc.... You guys dont respect good cricketers and are frenzied over bit players like AFRIDI just because he hits a Six once in a while and acts like street fighter from the streets of Karachi....

It's pretty much expected to see "BARSATI KEERAY" crawling out after Pakistan's loss but Afridi is certainly NOT a C grade player. His bowling alone is better these days than your overrated Harbhajan (one of your best ever spinners) and his batting is always a bonus. He played a STUPID shot last night but he is still a top class player

As for original post, i agree with MJ.