Cricket vs the Taliban

Will a glorious sport rescue Pakistan from the Islamists? Thats what Tunku Varadarajan wonders in Forbes magazine. The cricket victory is the best news that Pakistanis have had since the departure from power of their military dictator, Pervez Musharraf, says the writer.

How moving it is that three Pushtun players contributed most to Pakistan's victory: the team's captain, Younis Khan, who is everything this once-proud nation ought to want to be: competitive, yet deeply gracious and good-humored; Umer Gul, their fast-bowling spearhead; and Shahid Afridi, the team's match-winner in the semi-final and final. What a very valuable example these three men provide the young in Pakistan