If you are from the subcontinent and visiting the UK, chances are high that you will stop at one of the numerous eateries serving familiar food. Many are run by Pakistanis. Nabil works in one of those. On learning that a group of his customers are from India, he requests them to listen to a song. It’s by a Pakistani singer called Bushra Ansari and in a playful tone urges people of the two countries to dump the bombs and embrace each other.
In the World Cup’s biggest match lined up on Sunday at Old Trafford, expect Nabil’s team to remain friends with the Indians but do away with the brotherhood bit for a few hours.
There is a lot more at stake for Pakistan that India in this match. It’s a matter of survival in the competition after having won just one of their four matches, with one washed out. Defeat on Sunday will push them to a corner of desperation halfway into the league stage.
To make things worse, rain deprived them of a chance to train outdoors on Saturday. As soon as they arrived for practice, the heavens opened up, the covers came back and they were forced to head for the indoor facility.
That’s what they had to make do with a day earlier also. Chief selector Inzamam ul Haq was among those walking with a worried look on his face.
They say this is an unpredictable lot, which is true considering their victory against England in this World Cup and also what they did to India in the Champions Trophy final two years ago. But such inspired performances have become few and far between these days.
Because of their past, they are not counted among also rans yet, but an average of their performance in the recent past is not the kind associated with heavyweights either. They have won three and lost 14 ODIs this year.
Coach Mickey Arthur reckons it’s about putting everything together. He feels his team doing a lot of things right but paying for being unable to get everything right.
“We've been very close in most games. We just haven't grabbed the moments when they've presented themselves, and that's something we've spoken about as a group. There were moments that presented themselves for us to win, and we just didn't take the moments. That's something we're working on.”
But there is still something about this team that can upset equations. Unlike India, who are here to win the World Cup knowing that losing the odd match won’t matter as long as they do that, Pakistan can still find consolation from an unimpressive campaign if they win this.
That way, the pressure on them to win the title is less than India. There is a chance that certain things will be forgotten if they open their World Cup account against India.
“There's always pressure in any game, and these games carry exactly the same amount of points. Obviously, there's a massive hype created by the media. Our guys are prepared. We're confident that we can get out there and perform. If we put three disciplines together, we can beat anybody in the world,” said Arthur.
It’s actually as simple as that. If a team bats, bowls and fields better than the other, it usually wins. The problem with this team is, that’s exactly what they fail to do as often as they would like. That’s what their recent record shows at least.