King bhai, you could have done something today

I was wrong. As always, the moment Pakistan began batting, the pitch suddenly seemed to turn into a surface on which it was almost impossible to settle in. Our batsmen went into “Misbah-style tik-tik” mode.

Instead of helping, that approach only made matters worse. The runs refused to come, while the wickets kept falling. Once again, Lord’s was packed with spectators on the second day, although the number of Pakistanis among them was noticeably small.

When Babar Azam was dismissed, I went downstairs in the lift, thoroughly disappointed. We may be journalists, but we are Pakistanis first, and watching our team struggle so badly inevitably brings frustration. Down there, I spotted a few spectators wearing green shirts.

One of them said to his companion:“Yaar, King bhai (Babar) could have done something today. We came to watch them bat, and he’s already gone.”For a moment, I thought perhaps they were leaving the ground and heading home.

But that wasn’t the case. They had paid a considerable amount for their tickets, how could they possibly just walk away? English love cricket.

They are not particularly concerned about which teams are playing; they simply come to watch good cricket. Today was no different. At lunchtime, I exchanged greetings with Ramiz Raja in the media centre.

Then, in the afternoon, the light suddenly began to fade again. The floodlights were switched on, but before long the rain arrived, and play was stopped. Given the unpredictable English weather, people here routinely carry umbrellas with them.

A few minutes later, the rain stopped but the procession of Pakistani wickets did not. The England and Wales Cricket Board has introduced a good initiative whereby journalists and others can take guests from other stands on a tour of the media centre.

They are issued temporary passes, allowing them to visit the distinctive and uniquely designed media centre at Lord’s during a match. Many visitors are visibly impressed by it. Today, former Pakistan cricketer Yasir Arafat had the honour of ringing the historic bell at Lord’s.

He may not have played much international cricket for Pakistan, but he made a considerable name for himself in English county cricket. I met him afterwards and congratulated him on the honour. During the tea break, Stuart Broad was also spotted in the dining area.

At that moment, a Pakistani journalist said to me:“What lie did he tell when he called Pakistan’s team poor? Yet all of you went after him. These Englishmen don’t mince their words; they say things as they see them.

Look at Pakistan’s performance now.”In the main building at Lord’s is the area reserved for members, where they sit and enjoy the cricket. There was a time when the atmosphere there was so restrained that members could barely hear even their own softly applauded claps.

The behaviour of spectators in this area was traditionally regarded as exemplary. However, that tradition was broken in 2023 when racist remarks were directed at Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja. The MCC subsequently banned some of its members from entering the Long Room.

The English often speak proudly about opposing discrimination, yet the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) only decided to admit women as members in 1998, 211 years after its establishment. Even today, women account for only around 3.2 percent of the membership.

You can get a sense of the imbalance simply by looking at the members’ area, where it is rare to see a woman watching the match. Journalist Ejaz Bakhri shared some fascinating stories with me.

When he asked an elderly gentleman how long he had been watching matches at Lord’s, the man replied, “Since 1922.”Another elderly member said that his grandfather, then his father and eventually he himself had been coming to Lord’s for years. He had no son, only a daughter, and sadly believed that the family tradition would now come to an end.

Every cricketer dreams of scoring a century at Lord’s and having his name added to the famous Honours Board. Unfortunately, given Pakistan’s current form, completing a team total of 100 runs can feel like an achievement in itself, let alone an individual century.

Young Azan Awais stood firm at one end while senior players such as Shan Masood, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan threw their wickets away irresponsibly at the other. Azan Awais eventually fell to a poor shot as well, but perhaps he had simply learned that lesson from his seniors.

Given Rizwan’s recent form, I personally would not have played him in this match. With Ghazi Ghori available as another wicket-keeping option, why not give him a chance? Perhaps he might have produced something better.

If Babar Azam had not been captain, maybe his close friend Rizwan would have been watching this match from the sidelines. The pace and short-pitched bowling of the English seamers caused enormous problems for our batsmen.

We badly felt the absence of genuine pace bowlers of our own. Considering the pitch, England had already scored 290 runs, a fairly substantial total. Before coming to England, I spoke to a former cricketer who :“The match will be over in three days.

Plan your travel accordingly.”Pakistan have now narrowly avoided the follow-on, so a three-day finish is no longer possible. But if the batting does not improve in the second innings, the fourth day could still be the final one.

I spoke to a part-time Pakistani journalist living in Britain, and he made the same observation: very few Pakistanis had come to Lord’s to watch the match this time. If performances like this continue, that number is likely to fall even further.

That could be seriously damaging for the Pakistan cricket. Now we wait to see what the remaining three days bring. At the moment, there are not many encouraging signs.

But the world continues to run on hope. Perhaps, over the next few days, something completely unexpected will happen.