We truly are a bipolar side
Pakistan’s win against England in the semi-final of the on-going Champions Trophy only goes to show that we are the most unpredictable cricketing side there is. We embarrassingly lost to India in our first group match by 124 runs. It looked as if we were a club level side playing scared and making mistakes.
The next three matches became a must win and analysts had written off Pakistan from the tournament altogether. We then beat South Africa – currently the best ODI side according to ICC rankings – owing to some great bowling and fielding that restricted the Proteas to a manageable 219.
Our match with Sri Lanka was a perfect case of two sides desperately trying to lose a match where one team does it better. On the day that was Sri Lanka with an appalling display of fielding with five dropped catches including two opportunities to get Sarfaraz while Mohammad Amir played a brilliant tail ender’s defensive innings lending full support to his skipper at the other end.
Going into the semi-final with England, who had not lost a single match, the general perception was that this is as far as Pakistan will go and at best they will put up a good fight but lose. Our pacers destroyed England’s top order despite having no Mohammad Amer due to back spasms. Fielding was on point with some great catches and a direct hit run out.
There was however still some scepticism about our batsmen being able to chase 212 and much to everyone’s surprise half the target was made by brilliant innings from our openers. We truly are a bipolar side in that we either play like complete amateurs or absolute pros – not much in the middle.
We never know which Pakistan is coming to play and whenever things go south the team is brutally criticised. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) escapes that criticism, which is one of the many reasons it is unable to develop a side that is consistent in its performance. It is high time that the board starts pulling its weight as well.
