LAHORE - A sad day in our cricketing history, no doubt. Losing to India can never be an easy digest for us, the proud Pakistanis. We had our passion soar to the peak, our eyes wet in prays, our souls crave for it and our fireworks waiting in the wings. Alas, we lost. The painful memory may well linger on for a time to come, but no denying the fact the big game in itself galvanised all of us into one closely-knitted whole, all eyeing one thing Pak win against India. Defeat can never be justified, neither should a bid be made to this effect. But history tells, win or lose doesnt really matter when rising for glory. A game or duel, one (competitor) has to fall. This is how it goes. Win alone never makes heroes. Heroes are made by the valour, the will and the strength to take up the gauntlet. This is what our team, particularly captain Shahid Khan Afridi, did exactly. He gave hope to the game of cricket in Pakistan amidst the stifling of times in an era when our cricket was mired in intrigues and unending controversies. He dreamed for cricketing glory when Pakistan had been deprived of the very right to host international cricket due to the 'gifts of the terror campaign. He showed courage to lift the nations spirit when all of us had started to lose even the taste of being united. He and his teammates deserve applause for their effort. Beating India in India could never have been an easy task for any side in the world. The leverage of laying a favourable track in addition to the advantage of home crowd takes half the game away before the word 'go. Needless to say that once Pakistan had surmounted Indias inherent advantages, a lot better could have been done. But as said earlier, its not about winning or losing. Its about the aim. Its about the spirits. Its about the courage. None can deny our team failed to deliver on any of these. One the sidelines, they even got the political leadership the chance of cricket diplomacy, with Indian PM Manmohan Singh inviting our leaders to Mohali for the match. The opportunity should be utilised by our Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani visiting India to offer team India a full tour of Pakistan in a bid to revive international cricket in the country in addition to putting across a clear message on the thorny political issues. Afridi and his boys at least won the nation an opportunity to taste unity. Team Pakistan has did marvelous by silencing all the nay-sayers who had been predicting the close of Pakistan cricket for good. Afridi individually did what all heroes do show light and cause unity in despair. As far the game lost, all must remember, we will have more plays against India. We have lost a match, but our resolve to win stands undefeated. In the end, I would recall the loveable verse of a poem: Ye bazi ishq ki bazi hai jo chaho laga do dar kiasa Gar jeet gye to kia kehna haare bhi to bazi maat nahin