The rise and fall of Pakistan cricket's young mavericks
“Four bowlers are too few on a pitch like this, how many overs will a fast bowler bowl in a day? This is why England scored a lot of runs in the last session today,” said Sultan, a 20-year-old Pakistani cricket fan I was visiting in a government hospital in Istanbul.
Sultan’s story is a tragedy of sorts; misfortune besieged him when a bomb went off 25 metres from him outside a Shia mosque in Karachi. It took away his french fries cart and his livelihood. Under the burden of being a breadwinner, he wandered (illegally) to greener pastures abroad.
Further catastrophe struck him as he fell off a ladder in a factory in Istanbul. No insurance, no social security, no work permit and not even a passport to show for. For four months, Sultan lay in bed with broken bones without any professional treatment until he was found by one of God’s men.
Upon initial testing, the doctors suggested that his right leg has to be chopped off as a potentially fatal infection spreads through his body. The kid craves for his family, but going back to Pakistan is not an option. The treatment is unaffordable and chances of him surviving back home are minimal.
As Sultan and I say good-bye, we agree that England should declare in the first hour of play tomorrow.
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Next morning, Captain Cook — echoing Sultan’s sentiments from the previous night — explained how he was “proud of this young team, and of their awareness that Pakistan have only four bowlers. If they dig into them deep, they could make them pay”. He wanted a few more runs before he declared, he added.
Soon, Moeen Ali unleashed himself on Yasir, and Cook did what he had said: setting Pakistan an improbable target.