Why No Sports Team Wants to Visit Pakistan, Really

First of all, can I just vent my total and utter disbelief and agony at the depths that the Pakistani cricket team has sunk to? I mean, here we were, on the brink of winning our first test in Australia in 15 years (!) and we end up losing??! One always had an uneasy feeling about Pakistan's ability to chase anything over 150 - despite there being a full two days of play left - but even so, I calmed myself by thinking 'Pakistan just cannot be as predictable as to collapse once again.' Obviously, their unpredictability lay only in proving me wrong about their predictability. Aaaaaaargh!!! Bloody bunch of wankers!

Top three wankers-in-chief:

1. Kamran Akmal: Dropping not one, not two, not three but four fucking catches and missing one run out. And this is the man with the gloves! Oh yeah, and scoring a grand total of 25 runs in two innings and getting out to ego shots when your side needed you to stay.

2. Misbah-ul-Haq: A grand total of 11 runs in the entire match. If he's the "sheet anchor" in the middle, no wonder the ship is adrift. Shite anchor, more like. Remind me why he's in the side again?

3. Mohammad Yousuf: For his bizarre captaincy that allowed Pakistan to snap defeat from the jaws of victory and for his general persona that makes it seem he'd much rather be preaching. Five Rupees had a post on this recently, commenting on how he spends more time trying to convert other cricketers to Islam than on actual strategizing. Perhaps, today he was too busy thinking about how to get Ricky Ponting to attend one of his tableegh sessions. Idiot.

Which of course segues nicely into the reason that no sports teams, other than Bangladesh, want to visit Pakistan. This is from Dawn:

9 African boxers embrace Islam

Wednesday, 06 Jan, 2010

        

KARACHI, Jan 5: Nine African boxers embraced Islam on the sidelines of an international boxing tournament on Tuesday, saying they were impressed by the humanity and righteous ways of the religion.

 

The boxers flew into Karachi to compete in the contest named after assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and drawing participants from 20 countries around the world.

 

It was a landmark tournament for Pakistan, coming 10 months after an attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore killed eight people, all but destroying the country’s hopes of hosting top-level international sport.

 

Six boxers from Central African Republic (CAR) --- Yagor Gbodo, Selebange Welcome, Niamogui Songnekani, NGoko Bongui, Ndarash and Bongola --- all chose to convert on the sidelines of the contest, which runs until Friday.

 

They were joined by Mendoua Blase, Ketchemi Joseph Justin and Tchwem Justin from Cameroon who also converted from Christianity to Islam. CAR coach Mohammad Kalambaye said the boxers were impressed by the teachings of Islam and Pakistan’s hospitality.—AFP

Within and without, it seems we're more intent on proselytizing than playing sports. And you wonder why our "conversion rates" are touching the sky.