Mecca calls for Pakistanis (22 June 1999)

22 June 1999

Mecca calls for Pakistanis

Charles Randall

Pakistan are visiting Mecca this week, allowing them an opportunity as Muslims to ease their disappointment after being beaten in Sunday's World Cup final.

Final arrangements were being made yesterday for Wasim Akram's party to fly out of London, with the exception of Saqlain Mushtaq, who has rejoined Surrey for the remainder of the season.

Dr Zafar Altaf, the Pakistan manager, said the team had been distraught at losing so heavily to Australia at Lord's, and he was expecting a sympathetic reception from the public for the players when they returned home to rest until September.

He felt a repeat of the 1996 World Cup experience, when abuse and threats were heaped on the Pakistan team for losing to India in the quarter-finals, was unlikely.

Dr Altaf said that this time the vast majority of people were satisfied with Pakistan's achievement of reaching the final. "Yes, they are emotionally involved and they want us to win every game - that's fine," he said, "but you don't win every game; that's not the way cricket is played.

"They want good stories of the cricket team all the time, and good news only comes when you're winning. There's been tremendous support from the public back home. They're all supporting the team. They're telling us not to worry that we've lost the final and that it doesn't matter. There's a bit of maturity there.

"There should be no problem when we get back to Karachi. There's a tremendous amount of hero worship in Pakistan."

Pakistani fans, however, vented their fury at their team's performance in the final by burning an effigy of Wasim during a protest in Karachi, while in nearby Hyderabad disgruntled youths burned tyres and pelted vehicles with stones.

Newspapers also reported that some Pakistanis watching the final fainted, others burst into tears, and one elderly man in the central town of Jacobabad died of shock.

That leaves the still unresolved matter of the Pakistan corruption inquiry, which appeared to have implicated at least one of the World Cup players. An announcement is due within a few weeks.

The Australians, of course, are assured of a hero's welcome on their return home, though joy has been mixed with sadness for the Waugh brothers, Steve and Mark, following the death of their grandfather.

Mark Waugh said: "I'll have mixed feelings. It's all very sad. I'm just hoping that he saw the game before he passed away."

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph