2017: Cornered Tigers (The sequel)
Let’s face it: On paper, Team Pakistan had no business winning the Champions Trophy. They barely qualified for the tournament with the lowest qualifying rank of #8 in ODIs. They had not one, but three uncapped players. A nomadic team that has not been allowed to host matches locally for the past nine years — playing in one country or another, but (tragically) not their own.
Yet here we are: Champions of Champions by defeating no other than our arch rivals India, and arguably the world’s best team.
So how did we get here? I think Osman Samiuddin was on to something when he purported the presence of ‘haal’ and the ability of this team to bend space, time and reality to their will.
Current form (or lack thereof) and ranking warranted that they be kicked out in the group stages. After losing the first game to India, they were well on their way to meeting this rational expectation. However, Sarfraz and (by some accounts) Shoaib Malik must have given the world’s best pep talk after that debacle. To be a fly on the wall during that team discussion…
The series of events that followed are complete and utter mind-benders. Our bowling recovered its long lost mojo. Perhaps it was waiting for Wahab to make an exit? His replacement Junaid Khan and Hasan Ali led with 5 wickets to bundle South Africa for 219. After a decent start, Pakistan decided not to take any chances and called upon the rain gods to end the match early. You know, quit while you're ahead…
Another great bowling performance ensued against Sri Lanka, who by sheer force of will, were convinced by the Pakistanis to play like sloppy amateurs. How else do you explain the sudden pathetic showing in the field by the Sri Lankans? — I lost count of the number of dropped catches. Consider Jarrod Kimber’s apt quote on one particular dropped catch (by we, he means Pakistan):
“Danushka Gunathilaka drops it, catches it, drops it, clutches for it, gropes for it, begs for it before scrambling around on the ground trying to pick up the ball so quickly everyone can’t see he has dropped it. We know that drop, we pioneered that drop.”
If you had a feeling of Déjà vu during this match, you weren’t alone. We know this opposition. We pioneered this opposition.
And then there was England. Just before the match, the bombshell about Amir’s injury. Ok then. Done & dusted. Your strike bowler gone before the semi-final match against the tournament favorites. Hope shouldn’t have lasted this long anyway.
But no, that’s not our reality. Swap him with an uncapped bowler recently discovered during a local T20 tournament, let him feed off the passion of Hasan Ali, the experience of Junaid Khan and the confidence of Shadab Khan (another PSL gem). Together, they made the ball sing. So enthralled was England by this display, that they were bundled out with 15 overs to spare. Stokes didn’t hit a single boundary. For my money, Moeen Ali top-edging a pull out to deep backward square — Juanid’s delivery suddenly growing big on him — was an accurate representation of the match. Pakistan growing big on England and by the time, it was clear what had happened, it was too damn late.
Final with India. Was it going to be the same nervy, emotional wreck of a team that always loses to India in an ICC tournament? Hells No. The kinks were worked out in the last three knockout matches. Fakhar Zaman, another near-debutant, with two consecutive fifties, in the haseen tareen form of his life, lit up the stage with a magnificent century. That he upped the ante was not surprising. The potential was there. But the way he accumulated those 114 runs! Such an air of command and that stamp of authority with the bat hasn’t been witnessed by a Pakistani fan in many a year. A team that has recently been scoring 250 on a good day, ended up piling 338 runs. Against India. Insanity.
To say that Amir was magical with the new ball might come close to describing his first spell. A wizard from the mold of Akram himself (and dare I say, better). He truly was saving his best for last.
It can be argued that the way he setup Rohit was as clinical as clinical gets. The first two balls swinging away and the third one swinging back in and trapping him leg before wicket. Rohit was so shell shocked that he lost the time to review — not that it would’ve mattered.
Then Kohli. The world’s best bat. Completely flummoxed with two of the best deliveries of the match. The first good length delivery menacingly moves away from Kohli, leaving him wanting with an open-faced bat — inducing the mother of thick-edges to first slip. Nirvana! Albeit for two seconds. When Azhar slowly and methodically dropped that regulation catch, every Pakistani cricket fan was thinking the same exact thing:
Expletive….Did he just drop the trophy?
The look of devastation and murder on Amir’s face. No, Kohli had to go. He was just going to make the catch go to someone ten times more athletic. Amir storms in and pitches a good length delivery outside off, Kohli looks to flick to the onside but he’s too early! Thick leading edge to point, and Shadab Khan takes flight, plucking the ball out of mid-air as if the ball was made for one and only one purpose, to land safely without an iota of doubt, in his hands. What the hell just happened?? Nasser Hussain is going ballistic in the commentary box whereas “Dada” Ganguly is at a loss for words, reason and sanity and ultimately lost the script, mis-identifying the catcher as Fakhar Zaman. A couple of overs later, Amir crushes the back of the most celebrated opening attack in recent times when he seduces Dhawan to nick it back to Sarfraz. Top three gone. India reeling 33/3 in 9 overs! And no, that’s not a typo.
“Yes Rohit — He’s just an ordinary bowler.”
Let’s not forget the fact that this Pakistani bowling attack hunts in packs.
Soon the likes of Hasan, Junaid and Shadab joined in for the kill. Though almost every wicket was gorgeous, Shadab Khan’s David vs. Goliath moment against Yuvi spoke volumes. A teenager leggie bowling to a giant (both literally and figuratively). Traps him lbw, appeals but the on-field call is “not out”. Shadab may be young, but his confidence at that moment belied his age and inexperience. The umpee can go to hell. He knows he’s got his man and convinces his captain to review.
“Pad Hai, Pad Hai”
To Sarfraz’s credit, with only one review to use, he put his trust in his bowler. It’s not only the third umpire. An entire country is in slow motion. Hitting in line, Hot Spot confirming Pad first and finally ball tracking showing the ball going on to hit the middle stump.
OUT!
As Yuvi was walking back to the pavilion, the match effectively over, I was suddenly thrust back to memories of the cornered tigers of 1992. This team would’ve done them proud. So what was it? The new found spine in our batting, the long lost oomph in our bowling, Sarfraz’s captaincy? Maybe it was all of the above or maybe the above has nothing to do with any of it. Maybe the fantastic rebound — the greatest comeback in the history of comebacks — was just a combination of our cricketers’ being in Osman’s posited “haal” with the collective hopes and prayers of 180 million people thrown in for good measure.
Whatever the case may be, Pakistani cricket fans will gladly take it. It’s been a long time coming.
