The mind goes back to November 4, 1987, when Imran Khan’s Pakistan were knocked out in the semifinal by Australia. The home team’s supporters sat down on the pavements outside Gadaffi Stadium and wept. The world had come to an end ahead of the universally expected India-Pakistan final. Five years later, The same captain weathered some incredible storms in Australia, took heart from a rather providential rain-affected match against England and went on to lead his team to a win in the World Cup with incredible authority. Is it just a coincidence that current skipper Inzamam was the only member of the present team to have been part of that history? Such is the amazing comeback in the game of cricket.
To return to the present, to Test cricket and the recently concluded series, Inzy will have to be part of a similar dramatic turnaround if Pakistan are to put behind them the stunning defeats in the first and the third Test matches. The decider at Rawalpindi was eerily similar to the Multan Test match played in reverse. The Indians in the second Test batted first, collapsed, saw their tails wag and than ran into a huge total. The mountain of runs created its own pressure.
In ‘Pindi the Pakistanis collapsed, saw their tails wag, and then ran into a huge tally. Actually this four- wickets-before-lunch bit has a longer history than Multan and ‘Pindi. Recalling Lahore of November 1978, I remember Omar Kureishi, then PR director of PIA, telling us after stumps on the first day that, notwithstanding Gavaksar’s marvellous hundred, India’s pre-lunch collapse on day one would determine the fate of the match. Pakistan won in a dramatic finish. All three Test had seen four wickets fall before lunch on the opening day!
In the heat of moment on either side of the border, it is easy to overlook the fact that all three Tests produced results and ahead of time. This is great for cricket. No longer we hope will there be dead wickets and defensive play. For the longer version of the game to survive and indeed thrive as it has done in England and Australia, this is of paramount importance.
It used to be said that in a series featuring the two Asian giants, a losing captain is history. Look at Bedi, Asif Iqbal, Gavaskar. But this time around in keeping with the spirit of the contests, it looks like Inzy will be there when the ‘Cup Passes’. This maturity was evident in the most vital area of the matches — the attitude of the players and the crowd. Apart from the matches being incident free, there was actually appreciation and applause of opposition successes by home crowd and the visitors. There was never any tension on or off the field and the stories of the magnificent hospitality were legion. I for one was stunned to see the magnanimity and grace with which defeat was taken by the players and the crowd, and while there could have been otherwise, even the umpiring did not become an issue. It might sound trite, but Inzy and his boys were outright winners when it came to winning hearts in a crucial series watched by the whole world. It was perhaps symbolic that non-cricketing media men were in Pakistan perhaps expecting trouble. Happily they went home unfulfilled.
At the level of the game, there is no getting away from the fact that the home team sorely missed the recently retired Wasim, Waqar, Aamir and Saeed Anwar. It has been a practice on both sides of the border to always prefer experience to youth in clashes between the two countries. While India had the battle-hardened Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Ganguly and Kumble, Pakistan had only one veteran warrior in their skipper and perhaps the out-of-form Moin and to an extent Youhana.
Home bowling on paper was impressive but was dogged by lack of experience coupled with bad luck with injuries, especially to the likes of Gul who might have done wonders at Rawalpindi. Also, there appeared to be a certain lack of strategic deployment of the resources. I have seen Pakistan play over three decades with spin bowlers always prominent — from Qadir, to Tauseef, to Iqbal Qasim and Mushtaq and later Saqlain, the last named devastating when in good nick.
The absence of a top flight slow bowler this time disturbed the balance of the side. India had Kumble; Pathan came good when it mattered and Balaji was the surprise package.
On the batting front, India were always ahead in technique. But this time they blended this with temperament. Thus it is that Tendulkar’s inconsistency was taken in the stride by the rest as Sehwag and Dravid played stellar roles. And what was heartening is that everyone chipped in Yuvraj, Ganguly and Patel.
We expected a lot from Yassir Hamid and Taufeq Omar. But these Indo-Pak matches appear to separate the men from the boys. Thus it was up to the incredible Inzy to shore up the home batting. Hats off to this unflappable run machine whose stoicism and dedication and indeed lung power is an object lesson to youth.
But in the end, cricket was the outright winner and Indians can savour, apart from sweet victory, the marvellous welcome and affection they received, and hope that soon when the Pakistanis come visiting we can respond with even a fraction of the mehmannawazi!
