Guyanese fans left high and dry by Pakistan exit by AFP

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Event:

ICC World Cup 2006/07

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DateLine: 31st March 2007

 

With the local mosque decorated in the green and white colours of Pakistan, Wazim Karim dreamed of watching the Asian giants play in the World Cup Super Eights here.

 

But like many others around the world, the 28-year-old was left devastated and angry after the early exit of Inzamam-ul-Haq's team.

 

Another fan, outraged by Pakistan's shock departure, ripped up the 50 tickets he had bought for matches here.

 

A chef by profession, Karim agreed to work as a volunteer at the tournament so that he could see the Pakistan team, who were scheduled to play three matches in Guyana, at close range.

 

Instead, he had to settle for watching debutants Ireland, who beat Pakistan in the first round, begin their Super Eights campaign against England at the National Stadium on Friday.

 

"For the Muslims of Guyana, it (Pakistan's early exit) was a big wound," said Karim, wearing a Pakistani shirt after playing cricket outside the Grove mosque.

 

"They are our fellow Muslims and we would have got some good lessons in cricket and Islam from Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq," Karim said of the former Pakistan captain and batsman, who now sport beards and also preach.

 

Yousuf converted from Christianity to Islam in 2005 and said his conversion helped him achieve more discipline and success.

 

For some, cricket is a common religion here in a country which also sees Hindu and Christian festivals celebrated with equal fervour.

 

"I am missing both India and Pakistan for we have people here of Indian origin and, without Pakistan and India in the tournament, we don't like to go and watch other teams," said Mark D'Souza.

 

Ireland dumped Pakistan out of the tournament with a three-wicket win, while India lost to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to suffer the same fate in the first round.

 

For the emotional Mohamed Asif, who claims to bowl like Pakistani paceman Shoaib Akhtar, it was something which could "kill" him.

 

"We can never comprehend what happened to Pakistan and India. Pakistan going home has kept the people away from the stadium here," said Asif, who had initialy bought 50 tickets for Pakistan's three matches before tearing them up.

 

"You know it takes someone to work for one week to buy a Pakistan shirt here and we bought them in numbers, but it proved useless and the Muslims of Guyana are disappointed for we thought they had the discipline."

 

According to the Central Islamic Organization of Guyana (CIOG), there are about 125 mosques in the country with a population of 750,000. Muslims form about 12 percent of the total population.

 

"Islam has spread here by leaps and bounds. We had actually printed invitations for the Pakistani players to give and attend lectures," said Kamal Husain, the new Imam at Grove.

 

"The kind of attachment the Pakistani players have with Islam makes you more disciplined and we would still invite Yousuf and Inzamam as it would help because they can be role models for youth."

 

Mohamed Shaheed, who was Imam of the Grove mosque for 14 years, had come from the United States just to watch the Pakistan team.

 

"We have thrown our tickets in the bin," he said angrily.

 

"They let us down and let all Guyanese Muslims down. I wanted to meet (Indians) Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan but they too followed the Pakistani players."

 

Shaheed's brother, Mumtaz Ali, termed the performances of two big sub-continent teams a "disgrace" and said he would now back Bangladesh, surprise qualifiers in the Super Eights.

 

Wazim still feels where there is life, there is hope.

 

"We didn't have inter-mosque matches for a week now, but once the wound heals we will start playing and hope that some day we will see a Pakistani player in action in Guyana."

(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)