Pakistan welcomes cricket back with a BANG! The right kind of BANG!
Pakistan's
highest successful chase in a T20 International came during the World T20 in
2012 against Bangladesh when they chased down a target of 176 with ease and won
the match by 8 wickets. Pakistan equaled that record chase of 176 in a T20
International in the second T20 against Zimbabwe on Sunday; and just two days
prior to that, Pakistan successfully chased a target of 173 against the same
opposition.
Essentially,
Pakistan recorded its highest and second highest chase in T20 Internationals in
the last two T20s played in Lahore! What a way to welcome cricket back into
your country. If someone was given the task to script a movie on the return of
cricket to Pakistan, they will not need to shift much from the events of Lahore
between Friday and Sunday.
It was
purely majestic; all the way from welcoming of Zimbabwe's cricketers at the
airport and at hotel to the hunt for tickets, queuing outside Gaddafi for hours
in sweltering heat, cheering for the teams as they walked on to the field
amidst mini fireworks, singing along the loudest sung Pakistani national anthem
ever, cheering at the sight of the screen that spelled out that this was the
first ever T20 International to be played in Lahore, raising sound levels by
various decibels at Sami's twin strikes, being entertained by Ahmed Shehzad's
imaginary selfie, witnessing two imposing innings by Mukhtar Ahmed that
involved some audacious shots, screaming at the top of our lungs when Afridi
walked out to bat, being pleased at Afridi hitting the winning runs off the
only delivery he faced on Friday and the towering six he smashed on Sunday,
watching Umar Akmal finally play an international match at home, guffawing at
the all familiar batting collapse on Friday and Sunday, biting our nails at the
close finishes, and jumping in cheer as Pakistan closed off two good chases!
No
scriptwriter could have written it better.
It is
debatable whether Pakistan would have managed to chase down the same targets if
they were playing anywhere else, but the likely answer to that is no. Being
perennial bad chasers, Pakistan's batting has been found desperately wanting in
recent times. In its entire history, Pakistan had successfully chased a total
of 150 or above only 3 times prior to these two T20s against Zimbabwe in
Lahore. In its past 4 T20s, Pakistan managed scores of 141-5 (20), 127 (20),
140-3 (19.1), and 96-9 (20). None of them were obviously played at home.
Mukhtar
Ahmed had a lot to do with Pakistan winning those games despite facing stiff
targets; however, I believe it also had a lot to do with the venue. Batting in
home conditions seems to bring out the best out of majority of the batsmen. All
records will show that. It definitely has something to do with the familiarity
of the conditions, but it also has a lot to do with the confidence derived from
knowing your conditions and the adrenaline from the supportive crowd.
Confidence and adrenaline does wonders to a batsmen's mind.
Mukhtar
struggled to a dogged 30 odd in his debut T20 in Bangladesh last month. In
contrast, his two innings in Lahore were commanding and dominating. Ahmed
Shehzad had struggled to even rotate strike effectively in the past 6-8 months,
yet he played a free flowing innings in the first T20 in Lahore, his hometown,
his home ground. For too long the world has seen the likes of Virat Kohli,
Hashim Amla, and Steve Smith dominate bowling attacks in their backyards and
for too long Pakistanis have been denied of watching their batsmen do the same.
Finally
cricket came back home. Finally Pakistan's batsmen looked dominant again!
Here's
hoping for more dominance in the upcoming ODIs and continued international
cricket in Pakistan.
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The tour of Zimbabwe has been a boon to Pakistan cricket. There is nothing like getting your confidence back on the home soil and this couldn’t have been possible without Zimbabwe willing to tour Pakistan. This is surely good times for Pakistan Cricket, which the Cricket Board now needs to ensure keeps the game ticking with consistency in the country.