“Self-destructive”, “notorious”, “inexplicable”, “irrational” “enigmatic”, “unpredictable” are all words synonymous with the Pakistan cricket team. Those who follow Pakistan cricket closely know that no matter how dreadful their game, no matter how doomed they seem, no matter how mindboggling the selections are, one fine day they will wake up from the right side of the bed and simply demolish the very best of oppositions when no one has their money on them.
Pakistan’s rise and fall from grace is unfathomable to a person with logic. However, to a person who has followed Pakistan cricket it is just another one of those moments when the cornered tigers strike.
For Pakistan to become world beaters the stars need to align in a certain manner. The ingredients are anything but rational; but then again logic is something that can never be associated with Pakistan’s cricket.
Normally this is how it happens: the powers that be pick a team that defies logic; the team fails, stubbornness is shown to change things and finally a change is forced upon them. They play cricket in the oddest manner, injuries happen here and there and forced changes result in the most unlikely balance being found. One man comes out of nowhere and inspires the rest. The batsmen still fail, while the bowlers suddenly become superheroes capable of conjuring up miracles. Calmness goes out of the window; there is hullabaloo everywhere and then the team is pushed against the wall. There is no room for thinking; it is do or die and there is a feeling of “us against the world”.
The unlikeliest of elements combine to make a molecule that defies all the scientific laws known to man and that’s when the Pakistan team performs like no other. It becomes this unstoppable force which obliterates everything in its path. The sense of injustice unites the most diverse of personalities in the dressing room.
Go back to the World Cup winning team of 1992 or the World T20 triumph in 2009 and you will find that the stars aligned just at the right time. In both the campaigns Pakistan started off their campaigns in the most unwanted manner.
In 1992, there was a sense of injustice, two new white balls were being used; one from either and as a result the masters of reverse swing couldn’t practice what they were renowned for. Waqar Younis suffered an injury before the tournament and the greens had to make do without their X factor. In Waqar’s absence, a new superhero was born in the shape of Aaqib Javaid. Inzamam Ulhaq was terribly out of form but was persisted with to the dismay of many. The media and fans back home couldn’t rationalize some of the decisions taken by the management.
After losing to West Indies and India, Pakistan was pushed as far against the wall as possible. There was no option but to go for the kill. Pakistan had to win every match to bring home the most prized trophy. Conservatism went out of the window. The last group game was played against an unbeaten New Zealand and in a must win match the super heroes of Pakistan cricket rose, the bowlers came to the party and absolutely obliterated the formidable New Zealand batting lineup. In the semifinal, Inzamam came out of nowhere to score 60 of 37 balls to take Pakistan into the final.
Javed Miandad and Imran Khan; personalities poles apart had to put aside their differences and take responsibility. The two put on a match winning partnership in the final and then the age old Pakistani superheroes (bowlers) stood up and won Pakistan the World Cup. Cometh the hour, cometh the man: Wasim Akram was the knight in shining armor. He became the Man of the Match in the biggest match of them all.
In 2009, Pakistan started off the campaign in terrible form. There was media backlash yet again and the players felt isolated. Stars weren’t performing; Pakistan had many of its players unavailable due to the ICL heading into the tournament. Then came that Umar Gul spell versus New Zealand – another heroic performance from a Pakistani fast bowler. Pakistan scrapped through to the semifinals.
A man who seemed to have lost the idea of batting; a man whose batting had become the laughing stock for the world came into bat at number 3 versus the much fancied South Africa. Shahid Khan Afridi scored a brilliant 50 and inspired the rest around him. Pakistan reached a below par total; however the bowlers being superheroes again took Pakistan over the line.
In the final, an outcast, one of the ICL victims, Razzaq starred with the ball; he picked up 3 wickets. The heir to Pakistan’s original superman (Wasim Akram) announced his arrival to the world, a young Mohammed Amir dismissed the player of the tournament Dilshan in his first over. Pakistan’s favorite son, Shahid Afridi again scored a blistering fifty to take the greens over the line. Younis Khan the man who had earlier been crucified by the media for calling T20 cricket, “fun cricket” was the man who led Pakistan to the World T20 Champions crown.
Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik all were part of the dressing room – personalities you wouldn’t think will click, but somehow, in some twisted way they combined when it mattered the most to give Pakistan their second biggest international trophy.
Those stars are aligning in this World Cup as well. Call it fate or put it down to the lack of options remaining but the men from Pakistan have been cornered and the tigers inside them have no choice but to strike back. Step one was creating that feeling of “us against the world” which was triggered by the Umar Akmal decision being overturned against India when there was not enough evidence according to the rule books to do so. He did edge the ball but the evidence was insufficient.
Then came the media backlash of the loss to India, from Misbah to Afridi everyone felt the heat of the emotions back home. The loss to West Indies compounded the misery. Nasir Jamshed was put in the team; a decision that completely made no sense given his form. He was persisted with despite failure after failure and Sarfraz was completely ignored. Sarfraz was the first to be cornered and his comeback was inspirational, epitomizing the term, “cornered tigers”. The media curfew meant there was a rumor mill working full tilt in Pakistan and the players felt victimized to the point of some of them lashing out at random journalists in a case of mistaken identity.
Misbah’s captaincy was scrutinized, dubbed too defensive and then came the match against South Africa when he had no option but go for the kill against arguably the best batting unit in the world. Pakistan conceded at over 6 runs per over but kept attacking and won the match courtesy of their superheroes: the bowlers and Misbah’s all-out attack policy.
Junaid Khan’s injury resulted in a last minute call up for Rahat. Not much was expected from him. Many thought he wouldn’t even earn a place in the eleven. However, he has been extraordinary. He has the best economy rate and average of all the Pakistan fast bowlers in this World Cup so far.
In the words of Osman Samiuddin, “Pakistan begin to inflict their own chaos on the opposition, except that where they are using it as a force for good, the opposition is crumbling under the weight of it. If one moment accurately captures this frenzy – not the skill or beauty of it, but just the two-sided chaos.”
It is true, Pakistan cricket is not defined by planning, it is not defined by team work and it is not defined by an entire match. It is defined by moments, moments of inspiration, moments of magic, moments when the unsung become the sung, when the world starts rotating in the opposite direction, when the abnormal becomes the normal, when delusion becomes logic – it is when the stars align.
