The sword has fallen.One final time.

Edward Aloysius Murphy wouldn't have dreamt in his most bizarre hang-overs that there will be an extension to his proposed philosophy by some margin-"What was always waiting to go wrong,will be forced to,by the people knowing that it could."

The fate of a country producing one of the finest cricketing talents in the world in the past many years has been at least officially sealed.By only 6 masked gunmen representing metaphorically,the hordes of people running the most debilitated political and social systems in the history of modern civilization.

Before this year,test cricket was organized in Pakistan 14 months ago.Some of the most ardent cricket lovers I am friends with,had difficulty making out a full 11 man squad of players from the team they last saw when asked to.Teams were petrified at the idea of flying down to Karachi International airport at the prospect of their planes being either hijacked or shot down by unassuming militia of either the Taliban or the LeT or the hordes of other so called "men of god".

It wouldn't be fair to just say that this marks a black day in the history of Cricket in general for it seems like competitive cricket was almost phased out from Pakistan,step by step,as easily as Hutch turned from orange to pink and from Cellforce to Vodafone,without most people even realizing it.People have almost come to terms with the fact that there shall be no cricket held in or around Pakistan(not counting Gujarat,but that's in India!)and even if there is an ODI series involving the 9th most failed state in the world,it'll probably be held close to some desert in a country,most people would ask for your bat to try and dig up a well of oil.

For the next many more months,or probably years to come,there shall be no cricket in Pakistan.At least with players of countries who still want their citizens to live on with all the parts of their bodies intact.There shall be many more Nadeem Ashrafs either made to be the proverbial scapegoat or actually taking a dip in the country's misery like it was all part of a "plan".Mumbai attacks or Ahmedabad blasts not withstanding,Pakistan in itself is going down to forces it probably has fed with fertilizers with it's own hands.Or so we should be thinking,for even this could be a neatly devised political agenda to attain the world's sympathy under whose scrutiny it faces immense diplomatic and military pressure.

But this has come a far way from Politics.Beyond any possible stage of repair.I only shudder to fathom the enormity of the repercussions had India decided to keep sports apart and toured the country like England did to us.Try to think of the kind of pressure Pakistan would have had to deal with had a bullet even scratched the shirt of someone like a Sachin Tendulkar.This is not to say that the lives of equally talented players from a Sinhalese kingdom far south are less important.No.But in that scenario,we could have possibly faced the prospect of an all out war.Mohammad Asif's drug sojourn and Shoaib Akhtar's night club brawls seem to deserve a reprimand from a kindergarten teacher in comparison.

It's the end of many a tumultuous decade;it's even surprising to say that turbulence can last so long.World cup,Champion trophies being far cries,a Rahul Dravid Lahore or a Virender Sehwag Multan seem like being one off events lost permanently to history.There shall be no such orchestras in the land of the Pathans.At least not in the foreseeable future.Pakistan can try harder now and promise even further security or even arrange for the Border Security Force to form a wall around the boundaries,if only a decent test playing nation wishes to tour.

But then it won't be cricket.No one wants to be in or around a playing field,where a batsman looks in circles trying to spot a sniper in the stands than look for gaps in the field to get some runs at the depth.

It's all over for a country indispensable for a powerful and selfish few,and hated by most for reasons including cricket alongside politics.But in hindsight,Pakistan cricket was the bad boy of world cricket.Everyone wanted it to be in the bar and loved to pick fights but still wanted it to stay.Now it isn't the same anymore.The end has come.It had to sooner or later for sure.But it still hurts.

For reasons even I can't comprehend,it hurts to know that a land where histories were re-written and symphonies orchestrated,there won't even be a band anymore.

It hurts.Truth always does.