It was supposed to be a platform to rejoice. A win against an under-prepared (city-wise) New Zealand, two points in the bag and a step closer to the semifinal. It turned out to be a dog’s dinner instead, an unseasonal Colombo rain dropping like worm tablets from the veneer of dark clouds.
Buoyed by their convincing victory over Namibia, Pakistan dared to dream for the final. Shadab Khan berated the humble hacks, his compatriots, for talking a little too much about “one game” (no prizes for guessing which one). “We are here to win the World Cup” was his emphatic assertion.
For a side that revels in getting ahead of itself, just one point from the New Zealand game was a dampener. How desperately were Salman Agha’s troops thinking about a post-March 8 scenario when Shalimar Gardens in Lahore would be in radiant bloom and confetti would fill the air. Who cares that New Zealand has an all-weather batting unit led by the excellent Daryl Mitchell. The Indian spinners got a taste of his sweep (conventional and reverse) medicine during the home ODI series defeat last month. Pakistan have Usman Tariq, you know. He is the pause master, and while joining live shows from Premadasa Stadium after the washout, some Pakistan reporters were emotionally stressed that rain denied their team the opportunity to spank the Kiwis.
Pakistan have been in Sri Lanka for close to four weeks now, but Pallekele is a new place. All their cricket activities so far were restricted to Colombo. To make matters worse, some former greats have been calling for the inclusion of an additional seamer for Tuesday’s Super 8 fixture against England. The game would be played on Pitch No. 5 and it’s a fresh deck. A fast bowler of Naseem Shah’s quality is warming the bench. But does data support his inclusion in the playing XI?
Mike Hesson, the data-driven head coach of Pakistan, has already made a couple of baffling calls. His decision to bowl first on a slow Premadasa Stadium pitch after winning the toss against India defied every logic. Maybe, data showed that the turn would be a couple of degrees less in the second innings.
Against New Zealand, despite the rain threat and Messrs Duckworth and Lewis looming on the horizon, Pakistan had elected to bat after winning the toss. Maybe, once bitten, Hesson was twice shy. Or more likely, the data showed batting would be easier during the first half of the game. ‘AI coach’ could be an appropriate moniker for Hesson and the modern-day coaches of his ilk. But Pakistan cricket has always thrived on captain’s gut feeling and individual brilliance.
It was the gut feeling that had prompted Imran Khan to send Inzamam-ul-Haq at No. 5 ahead of Saleem Malik at the 1992 World Cup. It was the gut feeling that saw Imran bringing back Wasim Akram into the attack midway into England’s innings in that World Cup final. The great left-arm fast bowler finished the game off as a contest by dismissing Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis in successive balls.
By the way, rain is a good omen for Pakistan. Without it, they wouldn’t have qualified for the 1992 World Cup semifinal. Thirty-four years down the line though, Pallekele is expected to be sunny, err moonlit, on Tuesday. But Pakistan have never beaten England in the T20 World Cups.
England have one foot in the semifinal after a spectacular comeback win against Sri Lanka that gave them a serious net run-rate boost. For Pakistan, it’s a must-win affair.
Sahibzada Farhan, who is topping the batting charts with 220 runs from four innings, is their biggest hope for a good power play. Is he aiming for Virat Kohli’s record tally of 319 runs in a single edition of the tournament? “I don’t play for records and statistics,” the opener announced at the pre-match press conference.
A Pakistan player (we aren’t talking about the glorious exceptions here) is thinking about the collective rather than individual performance is such a heartening change. Bring on England.
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