July 5, 2019. As the sun started setting on the home of the Cricket and masses exited the North Gate going toward St. Johns Wood tube station on this July evening, an eerie feeling encompassed both sets of fans wearing Green. Bangladesh had already been knocked out of the world cup but Pakistani fans couldn’t get the full euphoric flavour of the their fourth straight one day win.That for a team who had only a month ago had lost their eleventh out of twelfth this year.They had been knocked out through an inferior run rate to the New Zealand, a rule that won’t take into account the fact Pakistan had beaten the New Zealand on head to head at Edgbaston 10 days earlier.As one of those thousands that evening, I just like many millions cursed on what could have been, rather than the journey home. “Ah, where did it all go wrong ?”
The easiest answer would be their world cup opener.After all, at Trent Bridge they only managed 105 against the West Indies, only to be chased down in 14 overs. It destroyed their run rate , something they couldn’t overcome in their five world cup wins.For the record, West Indies won’t win another match until their last game. Massive downer.
The Greenshirts stayed at Trent Bridge to pull a shock in three day’s time. They held out the hosts and the No.1 ranked squad, England at the time in a high scoring scorcher by 14 runs, reviving their hopes again.Root and Butler scored tons in vain and Mohammad Hafeez who was dropped earlier goes on to make 84, aided by Babar Azam’s 63.Wahab Riaz marked a return to form with some late reverse swing blocking the English tail.
It was a cup marked with turbulent weather with several games being washed out.The next Trent Bridge encounter between Black Caps and India and Pakistan’s against Sri Lanka in Bristol was huge, a 4 pointer effectively that provided all teams with a point but in the broader context would make it more challenging for the Greenshirts as they lost valuable ground ahead of their next two huge encounters. Both Australian and the India games would be ones to forget for them.
In Taunton , under grey cloud cover and without their ace leg spinner, Pakistan opted to bowl first. This invited Finch and Warner to blaze through with Warner ‘s first 100 of this world cup.Though the bowlers held the late order to just 30 runs off the last 6 wkts, with Mohammad Amir starring, 308 always looked a herculean task. This would especially hurt after being 136/2 at one stage.Imam ul Haq’s run out and the start of Hafeez giving wickets to part timers, Aaron Finch on this occasion, was very wounding. Shoaib Malik won’t trouble the scorers on back to back occasions and from then Pakistan would always be chasing the game; 41 short in the chase despite Wahab’s late lusty hitting keeping them within a distance.
The Humdinger at Manchester on June 16 was always hyped up to unlimited proportions.Rain was expected.However clearly knowing there were gulfs between the squads, another inviting toss meant India went to a flyer with 136. Pakistan and Hassan Ali especially looked severely off colour.Set up a massive 337 built around Rohit Sharma’s 140, there was some fight shown by Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman but the fall of that wicket at 117 was the beginning of the end.Hafeez would go to Hardik Pandya on this occasion and Malik ended his one day career with a golden duck, ending any resistance. The rain only muddied the margins to an 89 run D/L loss, although it felt much more. Many supporters from either side failed to stay until the last ball was delivered. Such an anti climax. Essentially they will need to win all their remaining games for any chance.
It only could have gotten better after that defeat, as it does. Enter Lord’s which has been quite lucky for the Greenshirts and back comes Haris Sohail for the depleted Malik. That 59 ball 89 was a booster badly needed.It projected them to 308.The Proteas who had a miserable world cup run just couldn’t come close and ended 49 short as Wahab and Shadab shared six wickets.Were they back ?
If any game in the Cup was going to define their progression,Edgbaston was the catalyst.Pumped up by one of the most partisan Greenshirt crowds in the eyes of many analysts such like Michael Vaughan and Steve Wilson,they showed up in numbers all through out the tournament but especially here, which spoke volumes of their passion, considering the back to back losses.
On the field,a 19 yr old Shaheen came to the forefront taking apart the Kiwis top order.Jimmy Neesham’s 97 would push Kiwis to a more respectable 237.The ball would turn square especially in the afternoon.In the chase,it was a defining innings for Babar Azam who capped his world cup record tally with an unbeaten 101.The lad from Gulberg had finally arrived.
Beating Kiwis was a huge morale booster.The Afghans who had lost all their games in the cup by now though would not bow down easily and though scored a paltry 227 at Headingley. Even that was generous it seemed because Greenshirts made a meal of it, in the quest of run rate improvement. Chasing at 72/1 the spin started taking effect. Muhammad Nabi created havoc for the middle order alongside Mujeeb ur Rahman. However with Gulbadin Naib in disarray bringing himself to bowl in death, Imad and the tail survived a hostile finish to scrape by 3 wickets.The volatility transpired in the stands into ugly scenes from the Afghan fans who couldn’t manage this particular loss to their neighbouring rivals.
Coming to Lords again, was very reassuring for their final game versus Bangladesh. However the pre-match calculations had them aiming for an unthinkable number, plus batting first to have any chance of progression. In the end Imam reached 3 figures, however Greenshirts managed only 315.The response was cut down sharply by Shaheen’s record haul of 6-35,capping his 16 wkts. It was a convincing win but Greenshirts despite winning were heading out.
What were the bright spots ? Certainly, Babar Azam led the way. Haris Sohail followed suit. Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz, who both looked unlikely to make the final cut bowled very well. Shaheen Afridi who only played the U19 World Cup a year back , broke in with a 16 wicket haul. Imad was limited but useful. Imam ul Haq was the second highest team scorer. But the bottom line was they didn’t progress and there was no doubt, that was the biggest disappointment for their passionate fans who persevered through thick and thin to push them in all their games.
Where was the Sarfaraz,the skipper in all this ? Well other than munching on Archies’ burger ahead of the mega clash and yawning , he scored a 55 versus England and took that fine Ross Taylor catch.His batting number was much under scrutiny as he wouldn’t bat up top and the toss decisions were poor at times.Some of the squad selections could have definitely been better.There were many cons in this squad.
With a truncated squad of 15 allowed according to rules, Mohammad Hasnain couldn’t get a single game in the tourney. Shoaib Malik’s total scores of eight runs in three innings was utter indignation. Mohammad Hafeez gifting wickets to part timers in 4 straight games ,appalling. Fakhar Zaman looked a shadow of the cricketer he was in 2017 as was Shadab Khan. Only two openers picked for a long tournament. Hassan Ali…. well let’s not even talk about his presence or the lack of.
I didn’t expect at the outset that they would be in top four. However, they played much better than expected and despite the selection blunders, poor preparation and team management for the game in Manchester as well as the crucial element of fielding, they almost came within a whisker. So close yet so far. It definitely showed from the three losses that mentally they were bogged out of the games in key moments and that is an area worth investing time and resources for the future.Not only do they need to learn this from more settled squads that provide that mental support, but they will need to de stigmatise as well. Not everything can be like 1992, after all.
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