Will the last time be the first time for Pakistan?

Published June 2, 2013
Edgbaston,Birmingham. -File photo
Edgbaston,Birmingham. -File photo

If something has never happened, it doesn’t mean it never will. For all things human, there always has to be a first time.

But if the Pakistani camp is boosting its morale with such logic, it must also take into account the simple fact that it happens to be the last time to try to lift the Champions Trophy for the first time.

And the performances against the minnows Scotland and Ireland, mind you, have not been too earth-shattering either.

In six previous attempts at the Trophy — from 1998 to 2009-10 — Pakistan has not done much to remember and excite the current lot to emulate. In fact, of the eight teams in the current edition of the Trophy, only Pakistan and England have never lifted the silverware. The rest — South Africa, New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Australia — have all tasted sweet success even though India and Sri Lanka did it by sharing the 2002-03 edition due to inclement weather.

Moving further, England still has done better by at least making it to the final in 2004 where the West Indies beat them down to a famous victory. Pakistan has never even featured in a Champions Trophy final, which is a bit of a dampener as the team over the years is known to be a serious contender in the shorter versions of the game.

The three other teams accompanying Pakistan in Group B have better records in the tournament. South Africa has played one final (1998) which it won in Dhaka; India has played two finals (2000-01 and 2002-03) of which it shared the one in Colombo; and the West Indies lifted the crown (2004) at The Oval in London in addition to being the finalists on two more occasions (1998 and 2009-10).

In short, overall and within Group B, Pakistan is the only side that has never gone all the way in what the hallowed Wisden once described as “the tournament that veers between being the second most important in world cricket and a ludicrous waste of time”. Now that it is having its final edition, Pakistan would be — at least, should be — the team most desperate to make a mark before the proverbial curtain comes down on the trophy.

The comments made to media by both Captain Misbahul Haq and Coach Dav Whatmore ahead of the team’s departure did indicate the eagerness to do well and to start the campaign with all the right intentions, but if words and intentions alone could do the job, Pakistan — and, indeed, every other team in every other sport — would have never lost a game. The outings in Scotland and Ireland did show chinks in the armour.

So, while we do have the right intentions, do we have the right combination and, more importantly, the right preparation to make it happen for the country?

Let’s start with the ‘preparation’ part. Unfortunately, it’s the same old story: a few good things and a few unbelievably horrid ones. There was a coaching camp with Wasim Akram in presence and it can only do good to those who have made the final cut in the squad. And then there was the appointment for Australian Trent Woodhill as the national batting coach. This came as a surprise to many and not without reason. If you look at the ‘batting coach’ issue, the PCB management has surely been double-minded — three, four, even five-minded. It sent Inzamamul Haq in that capacity on the team’s short tour to India, but didn’t retain him or sent any replacement when the team left soon afterwards on a lengthy and tricky tour to South Africa.

The playing conditions being almost similar, the team could have done without a batting coach in India, but there was one. In the alien environment of South Africa, the team needed a senior pro to help them sail through the torrent, but there was none. The result was there for all to see.

During the Champions Trophy training camp in Abbottabad, the batting tips were provided partly by Javed Miandad, but the batting coach in the competition itself would be the 42-year-old Woodhill who will only join the team in England on a three-week probation as he was part of the support staff at one of the Indian Premier League franchises when the decision was announced. What kind of rapport he would be able to strike with the batsmen — with the contingent at large — is something that only PCB feels comfortable about. Generally speaking, foreigners take more than three weeks just to overcome the language barrier in their dealings with the local lads.

In England, the ball does move horizontally and with the tournament being played early in the English summer, bowling conditions are bound to favour the seamers. In turn, this is bound to make our batsmen fish around the off-stump. How quickly Woodhill and his wards can sort out the location of their troublesome off-stump and the channel of uncertainty that passes close by is something that will determine what kind of partnerships we are going to get up front.

Making things a little more complicated will be the presence of a handful of potentially exciting exponents of the art of seam and swing — and, of course, sheer pace — in the rival camps. We all saw what it was like in South Africa just recently where Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Rory Kleinveldt and Lonwabo Tsotsobe, to put it mildly, made life tough for the Pakistani upper order. All of them will be here and the playing surfaces will not be as bouncy as they were back in the land of the Proteas, but will not be to the likings of many of the Pakistanis either.

The Indians, on their part, have Irfan Pathan and the relative newcomer Bhuveneshwar Kumar. They also have Ishant Sharma and Vinay Kumar, but English conditions will be a wonderful opportunity for Pathan to regain his lost touch with the seam which was deadly in his early days. But the kind of swing Bhuveneshwar was seen extracting out of placid tracks in India against the visiting Australia suggests he would be the one to keep an eye on. Moving the ball both ways and at decent pace, he would give Pakistani batsmen and their batting coach quite a few things to sort out.

Playing against India, Pakistan would do well to draw inspiration from the 2004 encounter at the Champions Trophy that had also been played in England. In fact, the Pakistan-India match had taken place at the very ground — Edgbaston in Birmingham — where they are scheduled to lock horns this time round as well. India had been restricted to just 200 (49.5 overs) thanks to four wickets apiece for Naveedul Hassan and Shoaib Akhtar. Pakistan crossed the line with three wickets standing and just four balls to go. It was the experienced Inzamam-Yousuf partnership that had saved the day for Pakistan back then. Someone will have to fill those big shoes this time.

Ironically, if the Indian encounter can serve as a positive energiser, the one against the West Indies in that tournament will be the game the Pakistanis will have to force out of their minds when they take the field to meet the men from the Caribbean on June 7. Back in 2004, Pakistani innings had folded up at 131. There was no hero among the West Indian bowlers for it was more an implosion of Pakistan batting than anything else. There were five ducks and the highest scorer was Yasir Hameed with 39. The West Indians were comfortable winners by seven wickets in a mere 28 overs … sorry 28.1 overs!

Interestingly, the man who had no impact on that game at all will be the biggest threat on the field this time. Chris Gayle was always an exciting player, but the T20 format has clearly brought out the monster in him. Fed on the rather staple diet of IPL trundlers on flat tracks, Gayle now has the confidence to smash even the best in business to all parts of the parks … out of the parks mostly.

The fun part of the West Indies is their all-round strength. There is no genuine batsman apart from Gayle, Marlon Samuels and Ramnaresh Sarwan, and there are no genuine fast bowlers to be really afraid of. Tino Best, Kemar Roach, Ravi Rampaul and others are easily manageable stuff — except on days when an individual comes into his own and turn things inside out. The likes of Dwayne Bravo and Kiereon Pollard have shown in recent times what they are capable of, and once Samuels get settled in, he can hit as hard and as effectively as anybody else in the game. Pakistani bowlers will have their hands full against them all in their very first encounter in the tournament.

Against South Africa, they will have to get rid of the psychological scars of the drubbing they got on the last tour not long ago. While all the bowlers will be there to keep those scars fresh and engrave a few more, the batting of Hashim Amla, A.B. de Villiers, Faf du Plessis and company has been quite a well-oiled machinery in recent times. Though South Africa will be without their two frontliners — Jacques Kallis, who has opted out, and Graeme Smith, who got injured after the side was named — the South Africans surely have the depth to overcome the twin loss.

They have recalled opener Alviro Petersen who had been in ODI wilderness for almost a year despite being part of the Test side. Interestingly, South African selectors seem to have given up on Richard Levi, who topped the domestic circuit with 620 runs at 56.36, but has been miserably unable to translate his domestic exploits on the international scene where his technical problems against the short ball and spin stand a bit too exposed. And spin is likely to be on display during the tournament. Other than the Pakistani quartet of Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rahman, Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik, there will be Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra of India and Sunil Narine of the West Indies.

The game against India will have the pressure of traditional rivalry which will, as it always does, convert the game into as much a test of mental strength as of cricketing skills. Adding to the drama will be the fact that it will be the last pool match for both sides and there might be a neck-and-neck fight for a qualification berth.

Playing on the seaming wickets of England, the paper strength of India batting will also be under pressure. Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikar Dhavan will be tested, but Captain M.S. Dhoni has played some remarkable innings in tough conditions and his wicket will surely be the prized scalp any bowler would be looking for.

Pakistan itself has an unsettled middle order in Asad Shafiq, Umar Amin, Kamran Akmal and Malik. If the top order — Hazfeez, Imran Farhat and Nasir Jamshed — crumbles and Misbah goes into his customary defensive shell, it will be pointless to expect Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan or Saeed Ajmal to chip in with cameo of sorts. Shahid Afridi surely did not perform well enough to be named in the squad, but the team just might miss someone like Abdul Razzaq in times of crisis, especially since Umar Gul, who has often surprised even the best of bowlers with his own short-arm pull, is also not part of the team.

Abdul Razzaq could have surely added value to the side. One hopes his absence will not be missed and Wahab Riaz may do the trick like he did against Ireland, but there just might be the odd occasion when his name will crop up in some minds.

Cricket, as we all know, is a funny game, and Pakistan, as the world knows, is an even funnier side. It can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with a flash of brilliance, but it can — and often does — snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with a flash of rudderless inanity. Expect anything. But we have all been doing that since ages, haven’t we?

humair.ishtiaq@gmail.com

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.