Dizzying highs and crushing lows

ABDULLAH NIAZI

The fact that Pakistan ended their tour of New Zealand by topping the ICC T20 ranking is a testament to the pattern of playing cricket that they have been following for the past couple of years.

The momentous 5-0 drubbing that New Zealand handed Pakistan, forced Sarfaraz and his men-in-green to eat the humble pie as they jumped back into the ups-and-downs world of tour cricket.

The tour of New Zealand, however, did not prove to be a complete disaster and with the T20 World No 1 ranking under their belt, the ICC awards and some historic cricketing milestones have put Pakistan in a position where they can say they have gotten off on the right end of 2018.

The whitewash was the first time Pakistan has faced such a situation in nearly a decade, the last time being against Australia in 2010 and before that the West Indies in 1998. That the team has tried out 27 opening pairs in the past five years, more than any other team only shows the instability that they face in this particular format.

With such harrowing milestones to show for, it was the Champions Trophy glory of 2017 that gave the cricketers and their fans something to smile about after Hassan Ali won the ICC emerging player award; a change from the umpiring and administrative awards that Pakistan normally gets during a good awards season.

What made the win even sweeter was that the last time a Pakistani, Mohammad Amir was nominated for the same award in 2010. He was later booted from contention because of the spot-fixing scandal in October that year.

And while Azhar Ali with his average of 62.30; three-hundred in Dubai, two-hundred in Melbourne and his two centuries in the West Indies must have been gutted to miss out on the ICC test team of the year, the inclusion of Babar Azam and Hassan Ali in the accompanying ODI list did much to lift spirits.

But it seemed that even these boons would turn bitter once Pakistan lost their sixth game on the trot, with a pathetic performance in the first Twenty-Twenty at the West Pac stadium. There was an eerie sense of Deja Vu given that exactly two years ago on January 22, 2016, Pakistan had been swept away for 101 at the same venue with nine batsmen caught out and the highest score was of 41 – a carbon copy of the stats from the first game of this series.

History did not repeat itself completely, however, after Pakistan came back with a sudden resolve, hitting New Zealand late and by surprise after scoring a domineering 201 in their first innings and blowing the Black Caps away within 19 overs.

In the final game too, fans would have been relieved that Fakhar Zaman constantly feared to be on the brink of turning into another Afridi and continued his run of form, giving the team a brisk beginning and supported by the sluggish but steady presence of the newly returned Ahmed Shehzad.

That the match went down to the last ball despite Pakistan’s tally of 183 does not show just how dominant the team was throughout the match. The only reason things went so far was a later burst by veteran Ross Taylor, but that too was a threat made null after Mohammad Amir won the game in a brilliant spell of bowling in the 16th over.

With a face-saving coincidence of ranking points to back their late surge, Pakistan will return home glad, to say the least. But with the same erratic principle in mind, the coming year is going to be one messy, confusing roller coaster ride.