Looking ahead after Champions Trophy glory

• No matter how great this victory was, times ahead are not always going to be this rosy

Hasan Ali’s third ball of the 30th over draws a top edge from the number eleven Jasprit Bumrah, which is easily captured by Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed. And that’s it! Pakistan have won the 2017 Champions Trophy by trouncing India, with a whopping margin of 180 runs.

Pakistan are dubbed ‘unpredictable’ to such a point that it has become a bit of a cliché. But even for the men in green, who are known for their slow starts and then making a red-hot charge through a tournament, what transpired at Lord’s was something quite extraordinary.

Before the match, the cricketing world was convinced that India’s batsmen would put the match beyond Pakistan if they ended up scoring 300; to be fair, Pakistan’s recent history backed that. India scored 319 in the opening match and Pakistan folded for 164. Sri Lanka scored 236 and Pakistan had a tough time chasing it.

However, what actually happened in the final defied all predictions. The newcomer Fakhar Zaman—playing only his fourth international innings—hit a memorable 114 from 106 balls in one of the highest-pressure cricket matches of the decade. His fighting knock was so contagious that the middle order grew the total to 338 for 4, with even Mohammad Hafeez hitting the ball out of the park on three occasions.

Cricket pundits also agreed on the fact that the Indian team, which was regularly chasing 300 plus targets before the championship, will easily chase down anything above 300.

Again, Pakistan proved everyone wrong. Mohammad Amir obliterated the Indian top order in a scintillating opening burst, and then by the middle of the 14th over, India were precariously placed at 54 for 5. Hardik Pandya’s fighting innings only denied the inevitable.

After the emphatic victory, Shoaib Malik said: “It’s tough to describe this feeling in words. Back home, I’m sure roads will be blocked. People will be out dancing even though it is Ramzan. I would like to congratulate all the Pakistani people all over the world. This brings us united.”

And, yes, the roads were blocked indeed. Enthusiastic fans stormed to Lahore’s Mall Road to celebrate and dance in euphoria.

Pakistan fans were so starved of something memorable in the game of cricket that it was hard for them to contain their celebrations.

What was interesting to note, though, was the volte-face of some cricket pundits and ex-cricketers. The same team was ripped to shreds after the catastrophic defeat to India, where some were convinced that coach Mickey Arthur was not fit to lead the team, whereas some others believed that the bowling lineup was not quite up to the mark. The same pundits were now lionising the team and coming up with all the different adjectives to describe the memorable victory.

The cricket team were inundated with prizes, gifts and other goodies by different brands, individuals and the government and the army itself.

This is where folks need to practice some restraint.

No matter how great this victory was the times ahead are not always going to be this rosy.

The team, led by a young Sarfraz Ahmed, is bound to face challenges ahead. Some of the younger players, who were playing on pure adrenaline perhaps, are bound to discover a bad patch or a lack of form.

Many young players still need to work on their technique because it’s easy to burst on the cricketing scene when no one is aware of you, but hard to maintain that intensity once the opponents have figured you out.

Furthermore, the younger players need to be given a longer run in the team in order for them to develop their game and cement their place in the playing XI. It has been observed quite often that players are dropped after a few bad innings and then they are forgotten by the selection committee. The players go back to the first class structure and then hope for others to have a bad patch for them to make a re-entry.

The selection committee also needs to drop some players who haven’t been performing for a long while, despite being given multiple chances.

The coach Mickey Arthur is known for his tough attitude but he has now delivered at the biggest stage and should be given the confidence to groom the team for future.

Arthur’s intolerance towards Umar Akmal’s lack of fitness and Ahmed Shehzad’s poor fielding sent out a clear message. It boldly said what was allowed in the past is no longer acceptable. It also said ‘times have changed.’ The two may be young enough to make a comeback, but they will have to prove they have embraced Arthur’s approach in order for them to merit a place in the team.

Coaches in the past never acted with the decisiveness of Arthur. Several of them got involved in the complicated political mess of Pakistan cricket. Arthur, on the other hand, is fresh, bold and untainted. He only wants what’s best for the team; he doesn’t care if a former player alleges corruption or some politician demands a certain player needs to be recalled.

And it appears in Sarfraz, like Misbah-ul-Haq before him, he has a captain who is equally uncompromising, unfazed and canny.

He didn’t panic after the opening game against India and tried to instil confidence in the team.

“If we had tried to train any more, we as a coaching staff would have been seemed to be panicking,” he explained. “And that’s the last thing you want to do in those situations.

“We trusted the players. We trusted what we had put in place, but we had some good honest conversations. We had some conversation about stepping up. And the way they have turned things around is unbelievable.

“That first India game was an aberration. We didn’t play anywhere near our capability.

“So we just had to keep believing. We have to keep them trusting the techniques and game plan. And that’s why I say I’m incredibly proud of that dressing room. They kept on believing and they kept on trusting the game plan that Sarfraz and I had set up.”

Besides Arthur, batting coach Grant Flower and bowling coach Azhar Mehmood also deserve praise for their efforts for molding this time into a fearless unit. Young players can learn a lot from Flower.

The triumph was certainly not a fluke, but times ahead are not always going to be the same. However, in Sarfraz and Arthur they have good leaders to rely on, and the likes of Flower who quietly go about their work.