If you’re anything at all like me, watching the Pakistan versus Afghanistan match last week probably wasn’t the best idea for your severely anxious brain.
With such a narrow difference in score and the crazy fluctuations in Team Pakistan’s performance, it really wasn’t until the last 2 balls that we knew with full certainty that we had won the match – which was incredibly crucial for our progress towards finals.
Even ICC acknowledged the close call as people across the globe watched the tension flex and ease every few minutes…the match really wasn’t meant to be watched by the faint hearted.
WHAT. A. GAME.
Pakistan beat Afghanistan by three wickets with two balls remaining.
Their #CWC19 semi-final dream is well and truly alive!#PAKvAFGicc pic.twitter.com/1qFscE1GEK
— ICC (@ICC) June 29, 2019
Although this was just a match, and also the first time we’ve ever seen Pakistan and Afghanistan in such a tense competition, things, unfortunately, did get bitter.
Some spectators, allegedly Afghan, tried to attack the Pakistani cricket team in the stadium, and things escalated to a point where our Army Chief was compelled to tweet about it.
https://twitter.com/peaceforchange/status/1145058438415867904?s=20
The sudden aggression from Afghanistan came as a bit of a shock to some Pakistanis. It snowballed into more unfortunate name-calling and brought out the worst in all of us. That’s when the self-proclaimed garage band, called ‘4 Paee’, decided to make light of the situation by providing their audience with a recap of the match…in song.
The band is formerly known for their 2015 T20 cricket hit ‘Man Ki Maan’ and has been quite active in posting about the ongoing cricket World Cup.
The video opens with the band-mates jamming and using what seems like random household instruments and a ukulele to make music. The lead singer then opens the song with a shout out to Pakistani player Shaheen, and the wicket he took.
They go on to imply that Shaheen left the whole stadium shook
…and thereon continue to sing about this out, saying that it broke Afghanistan’s hopes and that their captain Rashid didn’t look too happy about it.
They also mentioned Babar Azam – a name that’s been in everyone’s mouth since his breathtaking performance in the match against New Zealand.
They sing ‘Babar unlucky’, pointing out that he just ran out of luck that day, which is why he couldn’t play for long.
Next, they brought up the Afghan spectators that allegedly beat up a Pakistani outside the stadium.
Though the incident is widely believed to have been the start of the bitterness, they light-heartedly sing about the ‘yakki’ on behalf of Afghan fans.
They don’t only just appreciate Team Pakistan though. Fakhar Zaman, who was out without having scored, was called out by 4 Paee.
Fakhar’s score of zero is mentioned first, and they ask what sort of a banda he is immediately after.
The four begin chanting in appreciation of the Afghan team, thanking them for helping us win an unforgettable match.
Bhai wah
And of course – last, but not the least, they give an honorable mention to Wahab Riaz’s unexpected chakka, which helped turn around a match Team Pakistan could’ve otherwise lost!
They sing about how we had lost all umeed, and were mentally prepared to accept defeat when Wahab saved the day and turned things around.
The band closes off just dancing and laughing away, implying that it really is all in good fun and not meant to be taken too seriously. You can watch the whole thing here:
https://www.facebook.com/194215890619934/posts/2913882215319941/
Things have been heated between Afghan and Pakistani cricket fans ever since the match, and that’s quite unfortunate because it really is just a game. We need to be able to treat a sport like a sport and see the lighter side of things, always.
We’d love to hear what you think in the comments.
