Cricketing spirit from once upon a time
Cricket isn’t nearly as popular as it used to be. Fans who grew up watching Imran Khan and Javed Miandad lead the team to respectable victories, climaxing of course with the ’92 world cup, grew tired of the Afridis and Akmals who just could not repeat the successes of the past. They had heard stories about the first win at the Oval under Kardar in ’54. Fazal was the match winner. They said he was the best cutter of the ball since Alec Bedsar. Hanif Mohammad’s throw resulted in the run out that gave Pakistan its first victory against England. England were led by the great Len Hutton. And the famous “less orthodox but equally brilliant” Dennis Compton was also in the team.
Then there were greats like the Mohammed brothers. There were stories of Majid Khan and Asif Iqbal, and the natural brilliance of Zaheer Abbas. In later years fast bowling became the team’s main strength, and earlier Abdul Qadir emerged as one of the world’s best leg-spinners. He was famous for earning Viv Richard’s praise when his googleys bewildered West Indian batsmen in the summer of ’86. In batting, after Miandad, the likes of Saeed Anwar, Amir Sohail, Inzamam, Yousaf and Younis were comparable to the world’s best.
But for the better part of the last decade, the team has been on a consistent decline. The old spirit, when individual brilliance would often save the day if a team effort failed, was gone. The team became like Sri Lanka of the ‘80s, before Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda Disalva turned it around. That going into next year’s world cup, the captain was a 40-year-old with a tuk tuk reputation, itself said much.
But then, after repeated humiliation, there was the turnaround in the Test series against Australia, which is continuing with New Zealand. It’s not just that the team started winning, it is more the manner of the victories, against one of the strongest teams in the world. The record breaking has been unprecedented. Record partnerships, record repeat centuries, equalling and breaking old records; Misbah equalled a record held by Viv Richards, Younis equalled one held by Don Bradman and Herbert Sutcliffe (the later was achieved in ’24).
Yet, extraordinarily, impressive as the return to form has been, it may still be premature to mark it as decisive, even though the record-breaking-streak is without parallel.
“It’s true that the achievements were remarkable, but it is important to realise that many factors played a part in these results”, said Hafiz Imran, a sports analyst and popular talk show host. “The pitches were favourable, a lot of chances went Pakistan’s way in almost all innings, and Australia were without a strong spin attack. Things would not have been as comfortable if the team had a good wrist spinner like Warne”.
The spin problem has been highlighted in the foreign press too. Ian Chappel noted a trending decline all the way from Sheffield Shield to the national team structure. In an exclusive interview with Pakistan Today, Javed Miandad said Pakistani totals would have been very different if Warne were still playing.
Things changed for the team, according to Imran, with Younis’s century in the first Test. “He came when Pakistan were 7/2 and it seemed another familiar collapse was in process, but his confidence spilled over to the rest of the team instead”, he added.
Observers have also pointed at the visible change in Misbah’s attitude as one of the main reasons for the new team spirit. It seems the PCB chairman’s vote of confidence after the Afridi episode gave him the opening he needed. His captaincy confirmed till the world cup, and the team disgraced after the one-day and T20 rout, he apparently decided to go all out.
“The chairman must be credited for making the right decision”, said Gen (r) Tauqir Zia, former PCB chairman. “That let Misbah institute changes he wanted without worrying about unnecessary distractions. It also helped, of course, that Pakistan won all the tosses”.
And, since the focus now is primarily on next year’s world cup, it needs to be seen if the Test form can be repeated in the shorter format. Australia presents very different conditions, and the team has never been comfortable there. Plus, some old-timers will come back for the one-dayers, and their reputations indicate they have a tough road ahead of them.
“One-days are very different, of course”, continued Gen Zia. “There will obviously be changes; Afridi, Gul and Umar Akmal will probably come back. And it remains to be seen whether the successes of the Tests can push them to achieve similar feats”.
It is also interesting that the Board has played no part in the team’s revival. For months it was locked in the back-and-forth between Najam Sethi and Zaka Ashraf. Now that Sethi is headed to head the ICC, it is clear that political connections continue to determine important positions in the PCB. And even if there were administrative will, there isn’t enough time till the cup to make deep-rooted technical changes. So it is up to the team, which means little has really changed, and however big the records, they can silence critics only so long as the team keeps performing. Yet however the road to Australia turns out, the Pakistani team deserves appreciation for its spirited comeback. And Misbah, too, deserves credit for his leading as well as his batting. There could not have been a better moment for him to overtake Imran and Javed’s record of most Test wins for Pakistan. The team has proved it still has what it takes to be at the top, and apparently also realises that (in the words of Bobby Fischer) ‘it is not enough to be a good player, you also have to play well’.
