By K Shahid
Yes, we’ve won World Cups – one each in the two limited overs formats. We’ve also won Asia Cups, Sharjah Cups, the tri-series Down Under and a myriad of other tournaments.
We’d never won the Champions Trophy before yesterday. Pakistan had never even played the final of the tournament often dubbed the ‘Mini World Cup’ – it’s the second most prestigious 50-over tournament after the World Cup.
But that’s not why winning the Champions Trophy tonight might turn out to be the most significant limited-overs win in Pakistan cricket history.
This is not because they won the whole thing as the bottom ranked side, who had been walloped by India in the tournament opener, either. Pakistan have specialised in bouncing back in tournaments, and ‘peaking at the right time’.
What could make this the biggest win in Pakistan’s history is the sheer difference that a single tournament creates. In that regard, it has the potential of doing a lot more than the 1992 World Cup win.
Pakistan had a strong side in 1992. Despite the early tournament stutters, they were among the Who’s Who of world cricket before the tournament. In the 1987 Pakistan were among the pre tournament favourites and actually underachieved after being knocked out by the Australians in Lahore.
It’s hard to recall the last time Pakistan were truly considered as among the favourites for a world event. Maybe the 2003 side was the last one. The 2010 World T20 side, the defending champions, also had a strong billing. But T20 was fresh back then, and the top sides hadn’t really begun taking the format as seriously.
Pakistan have been nowhere in limited-overs cricket since the 2011 World Cup, when they made the semifinal. The team did win the Asia Cup under Misbah-ul-Haq and had away series wins in India and South Africa, but for the large part they were punching above their weight. The personnel deployed never truly had the look of a side that would challenge the best at the biggest tournaments.
That is what changed tonight.
Every single one of us before the final thought that the only chance Pakistan have of winning the match against India was to restrict them to somewhere around 250. Because there’s no way we were going to make anything more than that.
The 338 in a pressure game against India was unthinkable. Yet we made it with only four wickets down. Mohammed Hafeez and Azhar Ali, both of whom have been understandably criticised for playing an outmoded brand of cricket, scored fifties. Hafeez whose strike rate has been pedestrian all those years, for zooming in on the fastest ever 50 in an ICC world event final – it was Hardik Pandya who eventually broke the record in a failed run chase.
But what truly made the win possible was the influx of youngsters – the graduates of the Pakistan Super League: Fakhar Zaman and Hasan Ali. Fakhar was Pakistan’s top scorer and Hasan Ali the tournament’s highest wicket-taker.
They are the face of the new Pakistan side that would no longer be called out for playing ancient cricket.
Turning the corner is a bit of a cliché in all things Pakistan. But if there’s one match, one win that truly deserves that label, it was tonight’s win against India.
Pakistan have turned the tide of defeats against India at the ICC events, while at the same time growing as a side that plays a positive, exciting, brand of cricket at the world stage.
Of course, the win doesn’t right all the wrongs in Pakistan. It won’t make Pakistan the best side in the world. It won’t automatically make the team more consistent. It won’t fix Pakistan’s domestic structure. It won’t bring back international cricket.
But what it will do is lay the platform for Pakistan cricket to address all those issues, and take the team forward.
The starting point has changed from the 8th ranked side in the world, to now the champions of the Champions Trophy, two years ahead of the World Cup.
The World Cup would again be in England – where Pakistan won the World T20, where they’ve won the ICC Champions Trophy, and where they did their bit to win the ICC Test mace last year.
Before we get ahead of ourselves for the World Cup, let’s acknowledge there is a lot of work that needs to be done.
But let’s celebrate what tonight’s win was. It was a win for Pakistan cricket, a win for the PSL, a win for the PCB and a win for the entire nation.
When sports historians look back at the triumph, it might just be recalled as the most momentous win in the history of Pakistan cricket.