These two are the immediate adjectives that come to your mind once you think about the PAK cricket team---thrilling and unpredictable. Pakistan, to me, defines true entertainment when cricket is going on. The team is one of a kind and does things its own way, its own manner. And if you’re fortunate enough against this bunch of multitalented guys, you will force them to collapse. Or else, beware, even a 300 plus can be chased and approx 100 can be defended by the team in an ODI contest if it is their day.

I have been a cricket fan ever since seven years old. And the day I started watching it, one team instantly clicked with me---Pakistan. Why? Because they sacrifice a lot to entertain their fans. They have the world record holder of 194 runs in ODIs (Saeed Anwar), they have the fastest century scorer in ODIs (Shahid Afridi), they have the fastest bowler in the world (Shoaib Akhtar), they HAD the best offspiner in the world (Saqlain Mushtaq), and they had arguably three biggest icons sports entertainment ever got via cricket (Javed Miandad, Imran Khan, and Wasim Akram)! All this has been possible for this side because they play in the name of entertainment. And although the technique of playing slower games, especially the test matches is absolutely justified, the Paki side always has kept the viewer in mind and has provided nonstop entertainment, no matter what competition they’re a part of! Whether you watch the World Cup 1992 final, the Sharjah Cups (all in a row from 1996 onwards), and some of their away games, you will realize what the talented team is all about.

Despite being one of the most entertaining, they are the most impatient and unpredictable too. That’s why they lose out in the race when competing against the likes of Srilanka and Australia, two of the top the world has to offer right now. Even England has been playing fabulously off late by giving world champs Australia a fabulous contest recently. So the fact is that even though Pakistan was always an intimidating team with their bunch of surprises, their skills were never really appreciated by the classes. The critics always defined them as a very massy side, who play for the sake of entertainment rather than going by the situation of a game. And that’s right when you see the World Cup 1999 final or for that reason the Natwest triseries final with Aussies (tournament included England)! Paki side bats first, and then collapses to around 150 in both the games, leaving a one-sided chase for their opposition. These are by far the most criticized Paki performances off late which never allow them to steady themselves on the top.

Add to it the recent revolution in the team where most of the veterans were excluded from the team and rookie youngsters got a chance to participate! And wow, the guys did struggle in the beginning, but as soon as they got their groove, they showed the typical nonstop entertaining Paki style to the world. What with them triumphing over India 4-2 in one days recently and 1-1 draw in tests. And what more, the Pakis played tourists. The young guys continued on their road to success by an away win against West Indies too in both competitions---tests and the ODIs. But credit also goes to the Indian side for that---they were the ones who defeated the young Pakistani side when the latter played at home. Paki youngsters surely learnt their lessons from Indian veterans and came back with tremendous improvement. Still however, despite having stalwart world class batsmen like Inzamam ul Haq and Yousuf Youhana, and talented upcoming batsmen like Shoaib Malik and Salman Butt, Pakistan is stereotypically defined as a very exciting yet low on substance side. Why? That remains to be seen. May be because of their all out entertaining fashion by which they mostly lost out on many test matches in the past by hurrying in. Besides, despite Shahid Afridi’s tremendous form off late with matchwinning strikerates, he needs to prove to the critics that he can also stay on the wicket, ditto like Shoaib Akhtar who can only give a shocking performance for the opposition once in a while and mostly is a shocking disappointment for his own teammates due to concentrating only on pace, not on the quality of bowling.

Pakistani side has had its share of off-field flamboyant personalities all the while. Imran Khan started the trent of female popularity and Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis continued it. Today, Shahid Afridi leades the race to woo female fans and attract them as cricket supporters world wide. Shoaib Akhtar follows up with his charisma too. Always, these guys have been in the news for their off-fielf incidents and personal life if not on-field incidents and professional life.

Overall, the Pakistan cricket team is a very talented side who can anytime, anyday, overcome any opposition. But today, their team stands on many young shoulders. And provided these youngsters mature themselves and overcome some of their little weaknesses in the near future, the side can race towards the top and steady themselves there, just what they need to establish themselves even in the view of their biggest detractors!

Who is your favorite sports player in this field?

Yuvraj Singh!