The Encounter

Here comes the encounter again. The passion, the excitement , the adrenaline rush, the hype, the discussions. Pakistan-India encounters (i.e. in the cricket ground) are a separate season on their own, the season of green and blue colors, season of aggression, season of excitement of such measure that people of every age group are getting it difficult to control their heart beats.

I have been reading the discussions across different platforms, the comments of the people, all the discussion on wrong selection, how one player should be selected over another, how the team combination is not perfect, how our players have been doing consistently bad in their recent performances, how they are not gelling up as a team, what should be done and what should not be done, how to squeeze out our required performances out from them.

I just wanted to take a minute out and thank our players for what they have been to us for so many years. They have given us hope, a hope that after every good performance, we will do consistently good, they have given us determination that after every bad performance, we will bounce back, they taught us that there is a light in even the darkest times, they showed us that to achieve something, you got to believe in your own self first. We are a nation deprived of our basic necessities, we don't have food in our houses, we don't have gas in our stoves, we don't have petrol in our cars. Our fathers, brothers, sisters, mothers are getting killed every day in different circumstances, but because of our team, our team in green, we can forget all this for a while and have some hope, some passion, some determination for a win, that will bring the smile on our faces, the smile that have been forced out of our faces.

So, I thank you on the behalf of our nation, I thank you on the behalf of those kids whose friends have been killed in Peshawar, I thank you on the behalf of kids whose fathers have been burned alive in factory fires, I thank you on the behalf of those sisters whose brothers are getting killed in firings, bombings in different parts of the country, that even for a moment you made us forget our grievances, you made us smile through your performances, you gave us hope that there are some good times ahead. So "either you win or you lose, we LOVE you".