It can be difficult to use the glass half-full analogy when there is no water left in the glass. However, even in the darkest of times, one can find a ray of hope. In the case of our current cricketing dilemma, let us see in the following lines if we can grasp onto that tiny glimmer of hope.
There is no doubt that Pakistani fans are frustrated with our current state of cricketing affairs, especially the revolving door of management. Even die-hard fans find it hard to offer words of support for our team, and for good reason. Ever since our loss in that T20 World Cup (2022) final in Australia, Pakistani cricket has been in a downward spiral. The coveted seat of PCB Chairman has always been game for political manoeuvring and powerplay. Teams are selected based on personal preferences, while team captains can be suddenly removed or reappointed, leading to groupings within the team, poor performance on the field, and successive failures across formats. This culminated into the most embarrassing moment for Pakistan Cricket fans in recent memory with an unbelievable loss to debutantes USA in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. That momentous defeat opened the floodgates of criticism from supporters and cricket commentators from across the world, who had had enough of watching the 'superstars' of the Pakistan cricket team capitulate again and again despite the funding, coaching and world-class facilities at their disposal.
During this period, a completely different sport captured the nation's attention. Fans, hungry for positive sporting news, turned their gaze towards another Pakistan sports team, unrelated to cricket. These players, who had been quietly honing their skills, are now showcasing their talents against top teams of the world in a series of remarkable victories. The Pakistan Volleyball team recently clinched the second Central Asian Men's Volleyball Championship held in Islamabad. Following this triumph was an even more impressive feat - the resounding 3-0 victory over the Australian Volleyball team. And on August 4, 2024, our U18 volleyball boys, under the leadership of head coach Saeed Ahmed Khan, secured a 3-0 win over Japan to claim the bronze medal at the 15th Asian Men's U18 Volleyball Championship.
Even before the Summer Games in Paris, he had already done more than enough for athletes in Pakistan than we can imagine. His biggest contribution is that he has shown the average Pakistani that there are other sports besides cricket that we can play and excel in at the global level
Another example of a sport that captures the attention of our youth is our men's and women's football teams. Pakistanis have always been interested in watching football, but thankfully, gone are the days when all we had to talk about was the Premier League or the World Cup matches of other teams. Due to a series of unprecedented wins on the international stage, there has been a sudden rise in the football fan following within Pakistan.
Our men's side made history by advancing to the second round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers for the first time in its history, after beating Cambodia 1-0 at the Jinnah Sports Stadium in Islamabad in 2023. In turn, it allowed us to play qualifiers against other footballing giants such as Tajikistan and Saudi Arabia (who made history by beating Lionel Messi's Argentina in the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar). It was a watershed moment for Pakistani football fans to witness a world-renowned football manager like Roberto Mancini pace up and down the technical area at the Jinnah Sports Stadium in Islamabad while coaching the Saudi national team against Pakistan. This was a sight that not many imagined to be possible until a few years ago. Similarly, our women's team made the nation extremely proud when they finished second in the four-nation cup in Saudi Arabia in 2023. They later went on to win their first-ever Olympic qualifier match, beating the significantly higher ranked Tajikistan 1-0 during the AFC Olympic Qualifiers.
The chief architect of this renewed support for sports other than cricket is Arshad Nadeem, our very own javelin thrower from Mian Channu. He is our Olympic medal hero from the Paris Olympics 2024. Even before the Summer Games in Paris, he had already done more than enough for athletes in Pakistan than we can imagine. His biggest contribution is that he has shown the average Pakistani that there are other sports besides cricket that we can play and excel in at the global level and, thus, be followed and supported by the public at large. Here is an athlete who, by sheer will and self-belief, took a risk and excelled at a sport that most Pakistanis could not even name. He won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham with his record-breaking 90.18-metre throw, ending a 56-year medal drought in track and field at the Commonwealth Games for the country. He followed that up with a 92.97-metre record-breaking throw at the Olympics to win the first individual gold medal at the Summer Games. Instead of holding a bat or ball - which he was passionate about as a child, he bravely picked up the obscure sport of javelin throwing, and today, he has become a household name.
With competent leadership at the top, an absence of political interference, a long-term vision, investment at the grassroots level, strict merit-based selections, and the right coaching setup, we can indeed compete at the highest levels and win
Then, there is Arslan Ash, a professional e-sports player, who has dominated the Tekken gaming world since his arrival out of thin air. He won the Tekken World Tour Finals in 2023 while he has helped foster an entire generation of Tekken players who have gone on to dominate the sports. No Pakistani sportsperson has been as dominant at a sport since the golden days of the great Khans of Squash - Jahangir and Jansher Khan.
The astounding rise of these individual athletes and teams from under the heavy shadows of cricket proves the untapped potential of non-cricket sports in Pakistan. With competent leadership at the top, an absence of political interference, a long-term vision, investment at the grassroots level, strict merit-based selections, and the right coaching setup (the volleyball team was trained previously by a Brazilian coach while our football team is managed by an Englishman, Stephen Constantine), we can indeed compete at the highest levels and win. The players, staff and these federations deserve a round of applause for setting the blueprint for other sporting bodies in Pakistan.
Nevertheless, we must acknowledge the plethora of challenges these athletes likely faced in pursuing their passions. Firstly, sports as a career is generally frowned upon in our society, as parents are driven to consider classrooms, textbooks or gainful employment as the only meaningful engagement of a youngster's time. Physical education is widely regarded as a 'pastime' - it gets infinitely worse for e-sports players whose virtual efforts are not even considered in the same competitive plane as physical sports. Secondly, there is negligible financial support from schools, colleges and even sporting bodies for sports other than cricket. , with everyone focusing only on cricket. Thirdly, even if these players brave through parental, peer and societal pressures to improve their craft without financial support, there is usually complete apathy at the government level for holding competitions of international standards at home so that our athletes can train with, learn from and compete with the best.
Let's look at our neighbour, India: their sporting authorities had the foresight to invest in sports besides cricket, such as badminton, table tennis, wrestling, athletics, shooting, weight lifting, boxing etc. In badminton, for instance, they repeatedly held international competitions featuring top-ranking Chinese athletes. Due to that international exposure, Indian players got better and broke into the world's top ten ranking for badminton players. P.V. Sindhu was the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at BWF Championships in 2019. Today, India is a force to reckon with at the Asian and Commonwealth level across different sports, and fares far better than Pakistan at the Olympics.
Our misfortune was that we neglected to invest our money and energies in any sport besides cricket or hockey, which undoubtedly won us many accolades. However, to progress as a sporting nation, we must look forward and invest in individual-based sports, where the probability of winning medals is much higher as it requires the brilliance and talent of one individual. Some examples could include sports such as Javelin throw, Shot put, hammer throw, discus throw, etc., which only require that we find and train a few gifted athletes for each sport for international competitions. One is certain that if there is proper talent scouting and training, we can find many more athletes like Arshad Nadeem's to raise our flag to new glories in future competitions.