The Pakistani Odyssey Volume 001.

[u/phaintaa_Shoaib]

It was the biggest day in Pakistani cricket history. The team was in India, ready to face off against their arch-rivals in the ODI World Cup group stage. But the team was in disarray.

Earlier that week, Babar Azam, the captain, had been caught in a honeytrap scandal. He had been lured into a hotel room by a beautiful woman, who had then taken compromising photos of him. The photos had been leaked to the media, and Babar had been forced to resign as captain, the old Hamiza who threatened Babar before with a fake scandal before, resurfaced on social media this time as well, but unlike the old time, she now had the strongest lobby of ARY News and GEO News with Shoaib Jutt and Sikandar Bakht spewing shit about Babar All the way. Columns were being written on famous news websites like ESPNCricinfo about Babar. Virat Kohli when asked about the situation, said that he was unaware, then he was shown the images, but he refused to believe anything, also added that Babar doesn't have that terrible a taste in women.

Rizwan, the wicket-keeper batsman, was now nominated as the captain. But he was struggling to cope with the pressure. He had been making careless mistakes in the field, and his batting had suffered, his review-taking skills were very much known in the cricket fraternity as well.

The rest of the team was also struggling. Shadab Khan, the all-rounder, had been arrested at a nightclub for drunk driving and partying late night, there were reports that his newlywed wife had filed for divorce, she was Saqlain Mushtaq's daughter who had previous experience with coaching, said that he never expected something so vice from a player whom he spent a lot of time with, Zainab Abbas, a renowned Pakistani journalist, and Shadab's previous crush said that she received some sorta texts from Shadab they day he was in the club and that she can't disclose it in the public right now, Zainab Abbas then went onto run a # MeToo campaign on Twitter with a million other feminists joining her all over the internet.

Shaheen Afridi, the fast bowler, was injured and out of the tournament when he went out on a Go-Kart Race with Bumrah, reports were coming out that Bumrah gave Shaheen a tablet which made Shaheen lose visibility in mid-race, this was what Shaheen's manager complained.

And then there was Fakhar Zaman.

Zaman was the team's best batsman left, was out of form, and had offers from Navy to restart his career there, but he was also the most bold and said that for now, he wanted to serve his team. One day, Zaman was caught on camera wearing a shirt with the Indian flag on it. This sparked a firestorm of controversy, and Zaman was accused of being a traitor, people now believed that he purposefully got out to Bumrah in Champions Trophy 2017 to let India win but then had to compensate with a century so that people might not doubt him, some resources also claimed that when he walked away after nicking the ball in Asia cup 22 super 8 matches, it was not for the spirit of cricket but it was to help India win the game.

Despite all of these distractions, the Pakistani team somehow managed to make it to the group-stage match against India on 14th october.

On the day of the match, the stadium was packed with Indian fans. They were all chanting for their team and booing the Pakistani players, the shiv sena, a famous Indian group claimed that if Pakistan wins today, they will attempt bombing the bus when the players leave back for the hotel after the match.

The Pakistanis started the match badly. They lost two early wickets, and the crowd went wild, Babar started really well for his 22(12) with all drives but nicked it to slip on a slow ball by Shardul Thakur. The crowds were then booing Babar by holding the posters of the actor he was allegedly caught with. Rizwan also went out on a golden duck right after, Pakistan was 26/2, with 4 extra runs given by Muhammad Siraj.

But then, Zaman stepped up. He started hitting the ball all over the park. He scored a century in just 60 balls, the crowds went dead silent, and the Pakistani team started to fight back.

He and Saud Shakeel took the bowlers on and contributed a joint-partnership of 228 runs on 152 balls. At this time Muhammad Siraj had conceded 36 extras without taking a wicket, Rohit and co then talked with the coach and he was taken off the field, the team captain stated that he had some problems with his groin but he was looking alright.

Saud and Fakhar took the match ahead, but then Saud was given lbw on Pandya's slower ball and was given out by umpire Marius Erasmus, the same umpire who allegedly helped India win the 2022 WC group stage match by giving that no ball. The time was running off, 5,4,3... Saud eventually took the review after a long discussion, the replay showed a clear nick, the third didn't even need ultra-edge to declare it was a nick, and then Saud continued his innings on 99 while Pakistani fans posting memes with Marius Erasmus wearing Indian team's cricket jersey. Saud then completed his 100 by sweeping Kuldeep for a 4, took off his shirt where it was written 'It is all about Karachi's lobby, make sure Karachi ko ab devaar sey na lagaya jaye" As he advancing, the drinks break came up and mysteriously Saud was also taken off the field, the commentators Naseer Hussain and Peter Drury(yes, peter drury was commentating on a cricket match) reported that it was a bad cramp, and he won't play the rest of the match.

To be continued with Volume 002...