New Delhi: They call Pakistan an inconsistent team. They are wrong because this is the one team in international cricket that consistently brings the drama. Where other teams will cruise to the target in singles, the Pakistan team over the years will always find a way to entertain, not always by design.
Case in point being their thrilling three-wicket win (with three balls left) over Netherlands in the ICC T20 World Cup Group A opener at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo on Saturday. The match should’ve been won till it was almost lost before it was won again. A roller coaster ride that can simply be described as Pakistan being Pakistan.
Chasing 148 to win, Pakistan were cruising at 98/2 before they suddenly slipped to 115/7. At the end of the 18th over, the equation was a daunting one: 29 runs needed off 12 balls with Faheem Ashraf on 1 off 3 balls and Shaheen Shah Afridi on 4 off 8 balls.
Then, the wheels started to turn again, rapidly. The first ball of the 19th over from Logan van Beek was dispatched for six by Faheem. The second ball was a full toss and Faheem tried to give it the same treatment. But the ball flew towards Max O’Dowd at long off. He needed to run to his right but was in the correct position to take a catch; a catch that would have virtually sealed the win.
But as Pakistan’s luck would have it the catch was dropped. The knee hit the ground and the ball popped out. So did the match. In the next four balls, Faheem hit two more sixes and a four.
The over that could have finished Pakistan off yielded 24 runs and left Salman Agha’s team needing 5 runs off 6 balls. Faheem’s blistering 29 off 11 spared his team the blushes but the game was a nod to Pakistan’s indisputable mercurial nature.
In the 2024 T20 World Cup, USA got one over them. In 2022, they lost to Zimbabwe by a run. In the 2023 ODI World Cup, they lost to Afghanistan by 8 wickets. In the 2007 ODI World Cup, Ireland scored a famous win and in 1999, Bangladesh’s win in the ODI World Cup paved the way to them getting Test status. On Saturday, they came close to adding to the list.
“Heart rates go up and down, it’s happened so many times before, we’re used to it,” said Faheem, who was adjudged Player of the Match.
It has indeed happened so many times before but the rest of the world just can’t get used to it.
