Two old-school warriors

Misbah and Younus familiarised Pakistan Cricket to what it never knew.

2007 was the cruellest year. 

A bit despicable too!

It changed Cricket forever. 
The gentlemen’s game bought a revolution. Bats got bigger. Strike rates hiked. Dot balls mattered. Bowlers switched from attack to mischief. Slower ones replaced deadly bouncers.

All above morphed a new phenomenon.

Terms like “containing” and “building” lost relevance. “Hit and Run” became the only notion of batting. Guys like Ponting and Dravid got fading. Stars like Gayle and Warner set rocking.

In the midst, two old-school gentlemen thrived.

                              *********

May 14th would be the last day.
No more Misbah. 

No more Younus. 

However it was, their era would come to the close.

When they took off, Pakistan had stars like Saeed Anwar, Yousuf, Inzimam, Ejaz, Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram. These two were hard to fit in. To make it, they were to toil hard.

Nearly two decades since.
And both are set to leave the game on a note higher than all their predecessors. They have outnumbered all the greats of Pakistan Cricket. They have scored more. They have won more.
And they’ve been acclaimed more.

                               *********

Why would a country like Pakistan need these two to reinvent Cricketing greatness?

Pakistan has a rich cricket culture. They have produced many a gentleman and some deadly fast guns. Two Ws were one of the most intriguing pace duo of all times. Anwar and Sohail were the finest opening pair of their times. Inzimam and Yousuf were true stars.
Even before all these, world had seen Kardar, Fazal, Hanif, Zaheer, Sarfraz and Imran.

In all of them, aggression was the key. A Pakistani star would be someone who would bowl really fast. Or bat extremely smart.
Yet despite being so richly talented, it was quite usual for Pakistan Cricket to be in the news.
Mostly for wrong reasons though.

Looking at the two old men, it is hard to find anything Pakistani.
Misbah is no Inzi. Younus is no Yousuf. They are quite average batsmen. On the field, they are even quieter sportsmen. They don’t create headlines. And they never get picked for selling beverages. Or seducing Shampoo buyers.

They just play Cricket.

                                 *********

As the norm goes, great sporting careers pick up in mid-twenties and breathe out in mid-thirties. Not that mid-thirties fade skills away, it is about age. Once one starts ageing, his attention spans start shortening.

Body declines.
Nerves cloud.
And a lazy end follows.

Misbah and Younus upset the established order. When they should’ve been sitting in some cosy commentary boxes, they were often found on the crease. Piling more runs, building more partnerships. And winning more games.

Not just they bent time and space, they also made it count.
Their old school gentle cricket produced more results than all the prior approaches. They have outclassed a lot of Pakistani greats in an altogether un-Pakistani fashion.

                                *********

Lack of fandom is bound to hurt a sportsman.
They do it for claps, chants and cheers. Cricket is for life. Fans fuel life into Cricketers.

The duo had fewer fans.
There were critics. 

More than anyone of their league got.

Yet, it didn’t hurt.
It only helped them.

For most part of their careers, they went unnoticed. No matter how good they played. Or how often they won. Little would be acknowledged. Frequently would they be told how ordinary they were. And how badly they had changed the culture of Pakistan Cricket.
It should be known for aggression and thrill.

They possessed neither.

A critique like that puts up a real challenge. For ageing sportsmen, it becomes the toughest. They are always questioned how far could they go.

Misbah and Younus wouldn't answer on press mics. 

They would respond on the crease.

                            **********

Before them, Pakistan were never known for stability and calmness. They were famous for collisions and collapses.
The duo changed all that. They stood for composure and control.

Over the years, they have proved their point.

Composure and calmness have borne more fruits than thrill and aggression. 

At least for Pakistan.

                               *********

Now that they are set to go, not much is left to be questioned off them. With their beautifully managed careers and nobly sustained characters, they have justified their greatness. Numbers shall remain the evidence.

Yet, the enormity of their numbers still remains a part. The real story is how they managed their careers not just through the most challenging phases of the game but also, unarguably, the darkest phase of Pakistan Cricket.

Years down the lane, when Cricket historians would read of the T20 revolution and the impact it created, they would certainly come across two noble souls.

When all the world rushed into new-school hit-hard madness, two old-school warriors steered one sinking ship to glory.
When Pakistan lost their home and hope, two old statesmen stood for it.


They won a lot more than cricket.
They claimed respect.

Respect!

An entity not so familiar with Pakistan Cricket.

If not for Holder himself

It could be Jason Holder.

If not for Babar Azam, it certainly could. 

And if not for those last seven overs. And if not for Carter bowling the last of those. 

If not for Walton overestimating himself and Lewis getting mixed up. If not for Hope losing hope and Jason Muhammed feeling so burdened. And if not for Nurse letting his ego so loose.

It could be Jason Holder standing out there as winning captain and maybe the man of the match too.

But if not for himself.

                                *******

When Ahmed Shehzad and Kamran Akmal fell in quick succession, Sarfraz’s words at the toss started mocking Pakistan. 320, he said he would like to put on. And they had lost both the openers inside of first ten overs. 

Very cheaply.

If Babar hadn’t restrained himself, they would’ve barely managed a hard fought 220 - at least a 100 less than what Sarfraz wanted to defend. Knowing that he couldn’t defend 308 the other day, the game would be over with a couple of hours to spare.

But Babar held on. Hafeez never got going. Malik didn’t want to. Sarfraz, the captain, couldn’t hold himself. Imad started ugly. All so but Babar hung on.

Holder was in charge for first three hours of the game. But in the next half, he looked like the dumbest captain WI ever produced. His bowling calculations were exasperated. His field settings very defensive.

Babar was waiting for his ton. Imad was the clumsiest ever.
Into the 40th over, it was unthinkable that Pakistan would even manage 250.

If not for Holder himself.

                   *******

Why would he bowl out all the spin before the last powerplay? Why would Gabriel not be retained for the last five overs? Why would he not go for wickets there? Why won’t he exhaust Babar and make him toil for that ton?

And why the hell would Carter bowl the last over?

At one stage, what could be a 240 to win, was now a 283 to win.

                  ********

But despite all that madness, this looked like a gettable total. They scored 309 in 49 overs only a day ago. Why couldn't they get 283 in 50 overs? They could. And they should. 

For it would be history. A series win against Pakistan, after 26 years.

Walton should fire today. He must be willing to make up for what he did in the last game. Lewis built a case of himself then. He should carry on. Hope is a smart batsman. He should work. Powell can do it any time. Carter can bat deep.

And then they have Jason Muhammad.

None needs be told who he is.

Isn’t that enough to conclude that WI are going to create history yet again?

                     *******

They saw off the first over. Amir bowled tight. He deserved respect. They offered him too. Cricketing instinct tells you they are well prepared today. It would be a smoother game. They might not need heroics like Jason Muhammad here.

Comes Junaid. He overdoes his lines and is punished. That over goes for 12 runs.

It looks WI are going to win it in style. They look like a calm unit here. They are respecting good balls. They are not sparing any bad one. They are on the go. They are a true WIndie side today.

But madness, as Joker put it, is like gravity. All you need is a little push. And that came from Sarfraz. Junaid was called for his second over. Walton was to face him. This was the method from Pakistan. Madness had to come off Walton’s bat.

That wasn’t the length to be lofted anywhere over on side. At most, it could be lofted over cover or easily played back. But Walton had no other ideas. Spontaneity lifted his bat even before the ball could pitch in front of him. Hassan did the rest.

All of a sudden, 282 starts looking like a big target.

The first ball Hope faced was keenly whipped off his pads into the fine leg boundary. That was the sexiest shot of the day. Hope offered hope. They are in no nonsense mood today.
But then, Lewis falls for no obvious reason. He wants to play it across the line but that one off Amir comes in sharply.

Again, in a blink, 282 starts looking like a huge target.

And then Hassan starts getting over their nerves. Carter falls. Powell falls. Even Jason Mohammed falls. They fall for their rush, a poor man's madness.

Here, 282 looks like a supernatural phenomenon. Even if all of them have another inning to trail it, they won’t ever be able to do it.

                  ********

There was something different with this Holder’s innings. He was soaking in. He was just watching the ball. He wasn’t thinking much. He carried some mystery around.
Jason Mohammed, their last and probably the only hope, fell but Holder didn’t seem bothered.

Now, 282 looks nothing more than 282.

Out of nowhere, Nurse appears and starts hitting the ball into gaps. None of his strokes a fluke. Either he misses it completely or he middles it like anything. In no time, he reaches 40.

Pakistan start to panic.

It looks if Nurse batted for another hour or so, he’d ruin all the good numbers Pakistan bowlers have managed thus far. And a record partnership to seal a record win for WI.

                                ******

But then, there are no more illusions left in the day.

Nurse falls.

He has gone. Joseph has joined in. And Holder is still there. He must be up to something. A player like him won’t hold bars for too long. There must be something surreal behind it.

It occurs that WI need 96 off the last 11 overs.
It is known that Pakistan scored exactly the same of last 11 overs.

Amir comes in to bowl. He has bowled five overs for only 16 runs. Into his sixth over, Holder would face up to him. Before that over, Amir was 5-1-16-1. When that over finished, Amir read 6-1-32-1.

That could turn you on. But only if you didn’t know that WI had only two wickets left. Maybe, they could’ve chased it down in some forty overs or so. Maybe, they could’ve all learnt from Jason Mohammed. Maybe, they all shouldn’t have tried to be Jason Mohammed.

                          ******

In the end, Holder gets his career best with the bat. But those numbers mean nothing while WI stand on the losing side, with overs to spare. Holder is the last man to fall. 

But the way it all unfolded, he actually was the first one.

He could’ve made history.
But if not for himself.


                 

                 

When reality bent

It was just another day of average ODI Cricket. All so usual. Pakistan were leading. WI were lagging. It looked nothing more than another ODI game being played for no apparent reasons.

But then shadows lengthened in Guyana.
A Trinidadian stood up.
And the game started breathing.

Sarfraz suddenly lost his nerves. His fields went wrong. His bowlers bowled nonsense. Ball started flying all across. A simple cricket game turned into an opera. Melancholy echoed for Pakistan.
And WIndies started dreaming.

Jason Mohammed turns out to be the man.

                      *********

Why they sent Hafeez ahead of Babar? None on the planet had the answer. He struggled a lot. With him, Babar struggled. And Pakistan clearly lost the sight of a hefty total.

But in the end, that 308 didn’t look bad at all. It could be defended easily with Shadab, Hassan and Amir. The weaker links in Imad and Wahab could be covered by Malik and Hafeez.

So they did.

And this, too, stands for a fact that WI have never chased even a penny above 300. And this is a batting line not just battling for World Cup qualification while all their stars sit in India for money.

Nothing goes their way.

They can’t win.

Nothinh more, nothing less. It is a simple reality.

                   ********

But they thought otherwise.

Ewin Lewis was the first one. He behaved. Asking rate kept climbing but him and Powell held on. They showed intent. Sarfraz had to try a lot. Even when Lewis threw his head away, Powell took charge.

For all that steadiness, when Jason Mohammed came to the crease, WI needed 153 off 107 balls.
Even if you wished, you won’t like to think it could be possible.

That it could be real.

                ********

In Cricket, there is a certain sense of occasion. Few have that. Good knocks from average batsmen come here and there. But there would be nothing particularly memorable in them.
Hafeez could be the best example here. He has 11 ODI hundreds to his name, but honestly I remember none of them. Razzaq has only three. I can recall all of them. And I can never forget one of them.

It might smell like bias but it actually isn’t.
Hafeez would score big when he needed.
Razzaq would score big when we all needed.
He would rise up to the occasion.

It's just that sense of occasion that separates big ones from fine ones.

I would often wonder at the modern culture of WI batting. Though it has won them two T20 World cups but it needs a lot of interpretation. In ODIs, you'd always find them lagging behind time. They'd like to lose ten wickets for 250 in 25 overs rather to bat on for 50 overs and chase a 300. They are just like that, always trying to get ahead of the game but falling to the occasion.

Last evening, they undid themselves. They came from behind and won the game in no time.

                     ********

Captains are tested when reality starts withering away. When a nobody comes out of a nowhere and mocks at 11 men in the field, it all goes fuzzy. Bowlers try to hide. Captains start shouting. Fielders look tired.

And the game slips away.

Sarfraz never saw it coming. He had no answers to it.

When Jason Mohammed started lofting the ball, Pakistan didn't even look like a team. None wanted to look at the ball. None liked to run after it. None wanted to believe in the real measures of time and space.

When he hit it over Hassan's head, he held the pose for a moment. It was picture perfect. At that moment, he looked fluent. But he was far from home. What he did different was that he believed in game piety. He put himself behind it.
As a result, he could flirt with Wahab. He could smash fuller lengths off Amir into the stands. He could move his feet and toy with Imad Wasim.

Every shot off his bat looked sexier than the earlier. The ball flew all across. He bisected fields like a mathematician. He put himself behind the game. The game embraced him.


                            ******

Besides the pitch, there are three Pakistan captains standing. Sarfraz looks lost. Malik appears confused. Hafeez suggests something. Sarfraz looks at Malik. Malik stares into the stands.

They all want to get back to reality as soon as possible.

                         *********

In the end, it's not Jason who scores the winning runs. Nurse hits it. He runs for two. Entire WI seems flooding out of the dressing room.
They all run towards Jason.
They have made history.
But the looks on those faces say even they'd take time to believe that it all was real.

How short they fell

WI definitely had their plans. Put in to bat first, on a wicket that offered little for the ball, they should’ve got to a good total at first. What they managed in response, was a disjointed effort.

Walton seemed at his best. He used his wrists like a tennis ball player. His strokes were lovely. The way he was going, he should’ve dominated himself. But he thought otherwise.
He was nowhere near the ball yet he opted to go over Shadab’s head.
And in the process, he lost his own.

Samuels had another score to settle. This time, it was Wahab who got him last time. He was pretty much composed against Wahab though. He hit him twice over the rope.

Could it be his day?

If not for Simmons, it could be.
When it banged into his middle stump, he wasn't even looking at the ball. On other occasions, he would’ve played it through the line. But here, he wasn’t even ready to face the ball. That wrong call was on his mind. Not his fault but even if he blamed himself for Simmons not making his ground, he should’ve made up for it.
Rather he lost his own too.

In the end, only Brathwaite stood up to the situation. He hit the ball quite nicely. He showed them all how to put yourself behind the game, how to bat for the team.

But he was, as they say, too little too late.

                   **********

There was some real context to Ahmed Shehzad’s blistering knock.

A couple of years ago, he scored a century in T20I. It was his first. A day later, he was talking to the press. He sat there like a boss. Well, there is nothing wrong with being bossy when you’ve got a hundred, but it helps only if you can keep going like that.
But here was a certain sense of overconfidence. When he had his say, I thought to myself, “He won’t even get to the double figures in next game.”

And he didn’t.

He is that kind of a player. Tonight, he knew he had to score if to keep berth for the ODI side. And if he didn’t, certainly someone from the bench would replace him.
And he reacted very well.

He hit the ball when he needed. He cut it well. He read lengths precisely. And he also dealt slow bouncers keenly. With a boundary, he got to his fifty. He should’ve known that his job wasn’t over there.
With required rate way below run a ball, he could’ve easily taken Pakistan home. He could’ve played the series winning shot. It’d have spoken of his game sense.

But, the moment he raised his bat to welcome the applause, for him it was over.
Very next ball, he gifted his wicket.

That wasn’t an unusual length or an unplayable line. But it was his ego that hurt his soul.
He watched the ball only when it had hit the stumps. Everything before that was an illusion. The moment he got to his milestone, he was no more in the real world. He got high on himself.

However harsh it may sound but this was the real Ahmed Shehzad. Stuck on the off while the ball pitched miles behind him, he didn’t even lament himself. He walked calm. For he had got what he needed.

                     *********

There was some real energy in the field when Pakistan needed just 7 off the last two overs. Holder thought he could drag it into the last over.

WI believed they could create a drama here. It would become a Shakespearean theatre. All the batsmen would die for no obvious reason. And out of nowhere, Brathwaite’s men would turn victorious.

They were planning a lot. Fields were being shifted. Each ball took hours to be delivered. First of those missed Sarfraz’s bat. It hit him in the waist line. But he ran for a single. Next one was played with a straight bat but only towards mid off. Malik couldn’t run.
For a moment, there was a blink of belief in WIndies.

Jason Mohammad ran in from square. The ball was nearing fine leg boundary. He ran hard and dived on it. Somehow, he managed to stop it. But he wasn’t clean. It should’ve been only a single if he collected it. But for that effort, Malik had ample time to make it home after two.

It might not have made a difference even if he collected it and stopped the second run. But for a moment, it reflected how keen were WI to win and how short they fell.

Brathwaite isn't watching it

Finally, WI have made a point.
Tonight, they proved they can help themselves. They can keep busy. And they can win it even if they don’t like to.

They showed they can be themselves under anyone. Even Brathwaite.

                           ***********

When Chadwick Walton collected the ball and hit the stumps, Imad’s foot was just about to touch the line. Walton was watching nothing but the daylight between the boot and the line. It had to be an ugly stumping case.

But with Walton it was so soothing, so charming.
He didn’t fall. He didn’t fumble. And he didn’t doubt himself. It looked as if he had been yearning for it.

It was pure zen.

Imad’s attempt was confusing, but only for himself. So late that by the time he could gather himself, Walton had finished him.
WI look busy today.
On a pitch where Sarfraz opted to bat first, they were 4-2 halfway through the very first over of the innings.

                    *******

Carlos Brathwaite’s men are smiling. Their smiles say they’ve waited for it. But more than anyone, Brathwaite has dreamt of it.

Those four sixes. In the last over of a World Cup final, facing a bowler as witty as Stokes, needing three sixes on six balls, wasn’t that a supernatural feat? We thought it was the rise of another WIndie great. But maybe.
But maybe WI should’ve dealt with Sammy reasonably. Maybe they should’ve let the team grow with Simmons. Maybe Brathwaite could’ve enjoyed himself before being assigned the job.

Couldn’t he be another Pollard or Watson or maybe even Sammy?
 
                      ***********

The ball is nearing the square boundary. Evin Lewis is running. Holder is running. They come close. So close that Lewis thinks Holder would like it. So thinks Holder.
The ball sneaks between.
Everyone is surprised.

Any other day, Brathwaite would’ve reacted to that. He is a captain. He has the right to do it.
But he doesn’t even stare at Lewis. He keeps his head down, just like Lewis. Had he reacted like before, it could’ve hurt his team.

He pushed none else but himself. He threw himself at every ball that came his way. He took a marvellous catch. He created a humanly impossible run out. He took wickets when they needed.
Eventually, he found himself being led by his team.

                     ********

The delivery that got Kamran Akmal at his best, was simply a low-key stupidity by Samuels.

Any other batsman would’ve played it on the back foot. It was a length that could easily be negotiated back for at least a single. Nonetheless it was awkward but more than it was Kamran Akmal when he got back to reality.

Samuels coming into bowl at that moment was no coincidence. There was a hell lot of reason behind it. When both Badree and Narine failed to get Akmal, WI needed a distraction.

It is just that element of wonder which can pull off the unthinkable.

Akmal didn’t expect this. He was hitting it all across. He could’ve easily got a hundred here. Nothing could defy him today.
At times, you don’t need a good ball to beat a set batsman.
You actually need a bad ball.

With Samuels, it wasn’t just bad. It was worse.
Kamran Akmal, on any other occasion would’ve got behind it safely. But it was that urge to hit Samuels, for he was the one who despised them the most. He knew he was in no position to play it. But he tricked himself into it.

Simmons takes the catch.

Akmal never wanted to walk off the field.

WI were playing something other than Cricket. They were being WI.

                        *******

When Lewis hit Shadab Khan for two consecutive sixes, it wasn’t for the match itself. They barely needed run a ball. But they needed a message to be sent.

Not to Shadab, Lewis sent it to the dressing room.
He exchanged no verbal blows. Unlike Samuels, he didn’t even look Shadab in the eye. He kept his head down. He kept himself busy.

There is Carlos Brathwaite sitting in the dressing room. He isn’t swinging the bat in his hands. Unusual for him that he is not looking anxiously at the scoreboard.

He is just enjoying himself.
He isn’t even watching the match.
It looks he had won it long ago.