Pakistan Fall – Not to India’s might but to themselves
It’s the hope that kills you. It was not just once, not twice, but three times when Pakistan gave their fans a cause for hope. Three moments in Dubai where India’s juggernaut was seemingly on the verge of being toppled. But as the game heated up, it was India who emerged from the fire.
With Hardik Pandya sidelined and Shivam Dube left to open the bowling, you would think Pakistan would try their utmost to capitalise on the part-timer. Dube’s first two overs went for 12. Hardly what you would call ‘maximising the power play’. But Pakistan did swing. The opening overs were a package of wild heaves and desperate swipes. Sahibzada Farhan tried to apply pressure on India but found air, not leather.
But Pakistan did click into gear, the bat began to find the ball, and the innings got rolling. At the end of the 12th over, Pakistan were 107/1— the run rate at just under nine. For all of Pakistan’s bluster, the returns were far from extraordinary. By modern standards, nine runs an over is no stampede.
If you had just watched a package of all the aggressive strokes Pakistan attempted in the first half of their innings, you would think they’d been going at over twelve an over. They huffed, they puffed, and yet the score still read 107/1 after twelve overs. Despite this, Pakistan had plenty of cause for optimism.
India’s triumvirate of Bumrah, Kuldeep and Varun hadn’t made the inroads they would have expected, and Pakistan’s solid start had rattled India. Kuldeep Yadav reverting to firing the ball in, a sign that Suryakumar Yadav’s men had begun to feel the pressure. India’s spinners were not dictating terms; Pakistan had their platform. Do you dare to hope?
The middle order collapse shouldn’t have been a surprise. However, Pakistan seemingly prides themselves on their ability to consistently sabotage their own performance. Victims of their own pledge to fulfil the promise of T20 cricket’s new world, to say their wickets were thrown away would be too soft. One by one, they contrived to undo themselves. Pakistan’s huffing and puffing didn’t blow India’s house down; they toppled their own.
Pakistan lost their last nine wickets for 33 runs, and India would only need 147 to claim their ninth Asia Cup title.
With Abishek Sharma walking out to the crease, Pakistan’s first mission was to remove India’s personal steamroller. A man who in his last game plundered 61 off 31 deliveries. That 61 striking at 196.8 actually lowered his career strike rate. Lowered. The Indian opener plays a different version of the game to Pakistan, and if he was still standing by the end of the powerplay, Pakistan might as well have kissed the Asia Cup goodbye.
But he fell. Faheem Ashraf’s change of pace proved effective throughout the innings on a tiring wicket. SKY’s poor run continued, and Shubman Gill was unable to clear Haris Rauf at mid-on. At the end of the 4th, India was 20/3. Pakistan had asked their fans the same question again: Do you dare to hope?
Pakistan’s modest total gave Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson the luxury of time, and it was Tilak Varma’s ice-cold composure that pulled India through the fire.
The chase was also littered with characteristic Pakistan mistakes. Hussain Talat, who was one of the many Pakistan players guilty of a horror shot, also shelled a chance to remove Sanju Samson. Mohammad Haris also took longer than it does for a semi-trailer to make a U-turn in his effort to whip the bails off and send Tilak Varma back to the sheds.
Saim Ayub, by this point more of a bowling all-rounder than batter, continued to apply the squeeze bowling in tandem with Abrar Ahmed. At the end of the 14th over, India needed 64 runs in the last 6, with Abrar and Ayub having only conceded 34 runs from overs 8 to 14. Pakistan asked their fans to dream once more.
But instead of giving Abrar another over, Salman Agha instructed Haris Rauf to bowl the 15th, a gamble that cost Pakistan 17 runs and their grip on the game. Inexplicably, Abrar was brought back on in the next over, bowling from the opposite end from where he did all his good work, with his over disappearing for 11 as well.
Throughout it all, neither Mike Hesson nor Gautam Gambhir were content to stay on the sidelines. Numerous stoppages allowed them to dispatch players like messenger pigeons delivering advice from their generals.
Hesson himself gestured to Haris Rauf that he had to keep the bowl outside the off stump after Tilak Varma pummeled him into the stands. But all the advice in the world wouldn’t have been enough to stop Pakistan’s self-sabotage: Talat’s dropped chance, Tilak Varma’s reprieve, and Haris Rauf’s mistimed reintroduction.
By the time Abrar returned from the wrong end, Pakistan wasn’t only losing to India, they were losing to Pakistan.
Heading into the tournament, India looked inevitable. The gulf between the world champions and the rest of Asia had never looked wider. But Pakistan dragged this final to the last over, stretching India’s might. Even in victory, India departs with more questions than answers.
Under Mike Hesson, Pakistan’s first foray in the Brave New World of T20 cricket has produced flashes of promise, but also moments of farce. In a game of middling scores, Pakistan weren’t undone by India’s batting riches or some unstoppable new brand of cricket. Instead, it was old mistakes that left them unstuck in the end.
Different captains, different coaches, different mindsets, but the story is the same. For Pakistan, old habits die hard.
About the Author: Moosa Niazi
Brisbane kid who’s chasing narratives. Cricket, F1 and everywhere in between, trying to justify the hours lost watching them.
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