By That evening of 19th march when India outclassed Pakistan in the most awaited match of T20 Cricket World Cup 2016. The match was uncertain but what disappointed the Pakistani nation was the national anthem sung by the the very popular singer Shafqat Amanat Ali, it was fairly distressing to watch a skilled performer who is well celebrated for his singing attributes ended up with such an error. Yes, he was there to perform against India like the players . He just had one task to achieve that day and he sang his own country’s national anthem wrong.
Shafqat Amanat Ali had the biggest audience of his life – over a billion people and he blew it. It was an event that was planned days ahead of the match. Had he given it importance, No practice, no energy, no checking of sound and then have the boldness of saying to the nation that “I owe an apology” It’s a sheer example of non-professional behavior.
Having been chosen for that performance was an honor for Shafqat, but perhaps, he took it too lightly. Comparatively, Amitabh Bachchan’s anthem performance was more full of spirits, it sounded more genuine and his heavy voice which was a delight to listen to sounded more rehearsed. Apparently an actor did a better job as compared to a finessed singer, he failed to make an impression.
Big B, despite his stature and aura, seemed to have rehearsed his national anthem painstakingly and hence sang it immaculately. This is called professionalism, this is called nationalism.
Let’s move towards our players now. They too, had only one thing to do; and that was play cricket Results have already been articulated about the tough pitch of Eden Garden and weak captaincy of Shahid Afridi in that match. Utterly disappointing from Team Pakistan selection committee for consistently avoiding the required change.
So I would rather prefer to dissect another feature and that is the unpredictability of our national cricket team. It is often articulated that, “Pakistani team can give big surprises to its rivals, or Pakistanis are capable of making huge upsets.” The worst part of such statements is that they are given with a tinge of pride. Nobody in the World feels proud over impulsive performers in any profession. It is only our country where analysts say things like, “Agar Aaj Afridi Chal gia to kamal ker day ga.” (If Afridi clicks today, he will do wonders with his bat). Already a lot of questions were being raised on Afridi’s performance and captaincy but the board did not appear to be serious about it.
It is evident that taking things casually has become our national habit. Not just in cricket but in every aspect of life, we do not thrive for excellence. We keep our focus on short term successes. When relaxation and fun becomes priority of a nation, mediocrity reflects from every task people perform.
