Broken, not Shattered

PAKISTAN LOST, yet again. Yes it is not something new, not very fascinating and certainly not surprising. What it is, it is DISAPPOINTING!

The entire match can rightly be summarized with that one delivery from Wahab Riaz to Dhoni which found its outside edge and flew very comfortably to the right of our ONLY wicketkeeper (in a nation of 170 million people, having more than 45 official domestic cricket teams besides the regional teams and dozens cricketing clubs) Kamran Akmal who had to stretch, not only his arms (which were actually glued to his underarms), his legs (which were burried well deep in the ground) but his overweight and rigid body itself. Now, that is just too much of an asking from Kamran, who actually defied all odds and did manage to dive in and get his spongy slippery fingers to the ball yet barely leaving the comfort the ground and eventually DROPPING IT. It is not something new, not very fascinating and certainly not surprising. But indeed, very DISAPPOINTING.

Pakistan were certainly not the favorites entering into Mohali, it was India right from the point when they thrashed Australia in the quarters and Ponting commenting that "India will beat Pakistan in the semi finals". However, the Pakistan team had managed to instill a glimmer of hope within themselves and the overly supportive nation by their unified performances that they might actually pull this one off. But that glimmer was quickly squashed when the two of  their most experienced players (Younus and Misbah) succumbed to pressure and spilled out regulation catches of the highest run scorer in the world (which probably Mr. Gilani would have caught easily even if he was trying to run away from them).

That precisely was the difference between the two sides. India, a batting superpower, and Pakistan, a lordship of bowling, showcased their talents and strengths exuberantly and efficiently. What was going to count was not the dew factor rather the fielding. And unfortunately, it was Pakistan that displayed a poor show in that department. Certainly the Indian fielding was not very estatic and inspiring, it was the Pakistani fielders that could not really cling on to the occassion.

The last time Pakistan dropped two catches of a single batsmen early in the innings, they ended up chasing 302 (vs. Newzeland in WC 2011). Similarly, the way Mohali wicket started to absorb the bounce and grip the ball, chasing 261 was no less than chasing 300.

There have been many people critising Misbah's innings (56 runs off 76 balls) and that his slow approach early in the innings led to the eventual doom. Rather, it was his sloppy fielding that cost us the match. And to pile on the agony, Younus did nothing even close to Misbah's attempt to the least. Giving a chance to Sachin to go on and make his 100th 100, he did little to make anything of the Pakistan's chase

With everything said and all the fingers pointed and the guilty accused, we should not take any credit away from this distrauted team for rising through the ranks admist the ruins and the conspiracies. They have done sufficiently well, efficiently too, to play a WC semi final losing their two main strike bowlers (Asif and Aamir) and an openning batsmen (Salman Butt - though he's more of a BUTT(ocks)) and the possibility of playing that very semi final in Lahore. Our team has given us a reason to believe in them. They had not only the world's greatest batsmen fall four times in a single innings with ease but also the possible man-of-the-tournamnet (Yuvraj) bowled out on a GOLDEN DUCK infornt of his home crowd. That was sufficient for them to make a significant and quintessentail statement that we should never be ruled out of any competition even if we are stripped off of our spears and shields. This is Pakistan Cricket and lets believe in them.

Would you like to have a Broccoli or a Brownie?

Recently I visited Al-Noor Hospital to seek some medical attention for my elder brother’s wife when I happen to read through a poster on the wall comparing a Cup of hot steamy, green, cauliflower-ish Broccoli to a square piece of soft, creamy, chocolate dripping Brownie for their nutritive contents and advantages. As evident as it could be, 1 cup chopped Broccoli had minimum amount of calories and fat per serving when compared to a square piece of Chocolate brownie, with chocolate sauce dripping from its side. I have managed to gather some nutritive data from http://www.nutritiondata.com/ and duplicate the bar-graph depicting the calorie vs. fat.

The very end of the poster read in big red fonts “... HEALTH MATTERS MOST, YOU DECIDE?” Well looking at that poster it really did not leave much of a choice for anyone to decide over a Brownie or a Broccoli. After going through the poster i was set aback onto why anyone would chose Broccoli over Brownie. Yet, I feel that I should bring about justice to this dilemma and present analysis on Health and Taste for you to decide.

Health Wise:

One could find enormous data on the internet and even contemplate themselves the nutritive advantages and disadvantages of Broccoli over Brownie. Since out of my experience, it is relatively easy to comprehend graphical data rather than tabulated valves, I have opted to use graphical notation to help you better understand and make sound judgment. From one of the sources over the internet (http://www.nutritiondata.com/) detailing the nutrient content is as follows:

Brownie:

A brownie of the Nutritional Target Map is located on the lower left hand-side indicating less nutrients and less filling, that is one would need to eat more brownies to have their stomachs filled and even more to fulfill their daily nutrient intake.

A brownie on the Caloric Ratio Pyramid is located on the Top right side indicating High content of Fat, Carbohydrates and Less content of Proteins, that is small serving shall fulfill more than your requirements of carbs and Fats.

Broccoli:

Contrastingly, a broccoli on the Nutritional Target Map is located on the Top Left Corner indicating More Nutrients and More Filling that is small servings can make up a complete diet and fill your stomachs too.

On the Caloric Ratio Pyramid it is located on the lower right corner indicating More Carbohydrates and Less Fats and Proteins, you can have as much broccoli as you want without being worried of getting fat.

Well this analysis is self-conclusive that a Broccoli out weights the Brownie is all aspects of complete nutrition, diet and fullness!

Taste Wise

This definitely is the least talked about yet highly imperative criteria that governs the dietary habits of anyone. The Taste effect has not been analyzed in any circumstances yet! I have made an effort to take it out to survey the ‘Taste Effect’ and developed a few statistics based on that.

The survey is conducted on different groups of people based on ethnicity and ages (the number of people from each ethnicity and age group were kept constant as a control) were quizzed a simple Question “Broccoli or Brownie?” and the results charted below:

Ethnicity Test
Out of the lot that was surveyed (Pakistanis, Europeans and Indians) by far almost everyone opted for having a brownie instead of a Broccoli. And surprisingly, the percentage of Indians that wanted a brownie over Broccoli was more than any other ethnicity.

Age Test

The results were then sorted with respect to age and even though the likeness for Brownie was less as the age was higher the percentage ratio was still high for Brownie rather than a Broccoli.

Final Verdict:

It definitely is ones free will; or rather right, to chose a Broccoli over a Brownie, however as statistics reveal most people would prefer to have better tasting food than a more healthier one. Thus, a brownie submerged in dripping chocolate sauce would be more preferred than a soft boiled steamy vegetable like Broccoli.