Beating by India.

Losing to India is not exceptionally shameful, as winning and losing are part of the game. Still, when Pakistan plays India, especially at cricket, expectations are generated on both sides, and an aura of pseudo-patriotism and ultra-nationalism is generated in the peoples of both countries. This was true of Saturday's match, but Pakistani fans were particularly pained by the drubbing the team received. It was not even a close contest, as Pakistan went down by seven wickets with almost 20 overs to spare. Pakistan had batted first, making 192 in 32.5 overs, failing to exploit no less than 17 of the 50 overs for its innings. What was so surprising was how Pakistan at one time seemed headed for a 300-plus total, which would not have been adequate, but which might have proved enough for its bowlers to make a fist of it. However, when skipper Babar Azam was dismissed in the 30th over, it proved to be the beginning of a middle-order collapse of humongous proportions, and the nightmare did not end until the entire team was dismissed, and that too for a woefully inadequate total.

Winning and losing are indeed part of the game, but the lack of fight shown in resisting the Indian bowling attack made it particularly painful in the way Pakistan has been treating its own...