Some History and Some World Cup Misery

15th January, 1894: It was Western Australia playing against Victoria in an Australian First Class match. There was a tree just inside the boundary. According to rules prevailing in those days, batsmen can run "any number of runs" before the ball crosses the boundary.

A ball hit by one of the batsmen got stuck between two tiny branches on that really huge tree. Since the ball was within the boundary, the batsmen started running. They kept running as the fielding team tried routine methods like throwing stones to retrieve the ball. The ball was not going to budge, like Rahul Gandhi refusing to take back his resignation.

Some tried climbing the tree with futility. It was like defeating Modi in an election, impossible. Finally they called the fire engine ladder to reclaim the ball. Over an hour had lapsed by this time and the batsmen had completed 286 runs. Batsmen too were on the verge of exhaustion, having run close to three and a three quarter miles between those 22 yards. That is the highest runs scored of a single ball in the history of Cricket.

Now, what has this tiny bit of history got to do with the ongoing World Cup ? Well, big brother Pakistan play little brother Bangladesh on "Friday" the 5th July, hoping to qualify for the CWC 2019 Semifinals. They have pretty simple equations before them.

For Pakistan to qualify, they must beat Bangladesh by...
311 runs after scoring 350 Runs
316 runs after scoring 400 Runs
321 runs after scoring 450 Runs


If Bangladesh opt to bat first on Friday, Pakistan stand eliminated even before a ball is bowled.

Now Pakistan are looking for a tree on which they plan to hit the ball, so that they can aim for that 450 plus target. But we must understand how cruel India have been. Not only did they lose to England to make Pakistan's job tougher. But hate mongering Modi sent Indian Airforce to Balakot with 1000kg Israel made Spice bombs to destroy the trees too.

In essence, Israel, RSS, Modi and Indian Cricket team have conspired together with multiple preemptive strikes to keep Pakistan out of CWC 2019 Semifinals. Unbelievable but true !

Govind Raj Shenoy for DieHard Cricket Fans