Pakistan vs Bangladesh, World T20: Be afraid, be very Afraidi

There was a question mark over his fitness ahead of Pakistan’s tournament opener against Bangladesh. He missed the team’s training session yesterday for being a little under the weather. Coach Waqar Younis had kept his fingers crossed over his skipper’s availability. But not only did Afridi play, but he led from the front and led by example.
In fact, it was a day when everything fell in place for him. He scored 49 off 19 balls (four fours, four sixes), took two wickets and roamed the playing arena with the air of a field marshal. He berated Umar Akmal when he walked to Tamim Iqbal with a response after being sledged. Success begets confidence and after a long while, Afridi had tasted some.

PHOTOS: Colourful fans descend to Eden

9, 5, 2, 38, 2, 0, 0 and 0, Afridi’s batting in the last eight innings — including PSL and World T20 warm-up game — had been more like a zip code. Younis, however, said his captain was just “one big innings away” from returning to form. Afridi chose the hallowed Eden Gardens to regain his mojo.

WATCH: Batsmen Power Pakistan To 55-Run Win

It must be said that Afridi’s job was made easier by a fantastic 95-run second wicket partnership between Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez. The former had been inexplicably left out of the Pakistan’s Asia Cup squad as Khurram Manzoor got the nod. Better sense prevailed for the big tournament and the 24-year-old opener was brought back to the fold. Shehzad had 290 runs in 10 matches in the PSL. In the warm-up fixture against Sri Lanka also, he got a start but failed to build on it. Today he showed better application.

Throwing the kitchen sink

Hafeez’s timely return to form is perhaps the best news for Pakistan. He had looked solid during his 70 not out in the warm-up fixture. Against Bangladesh, he was more authoritative in his 42-ball 64. The stage was set for Afridi to promote himself up the order and throw the kitchen sink at the opposition. He duly obliged.

“It was a fantastic decision, whoever made it,” Hafeez said after the match.

READ: Five talking points from Pakistan’s dominant win

Mashrafe Mortaza was the bowler to start with, coming in from around the wicket to cramp up the big-hitter. But he missed his line and length and bowled a short one on the leg stump. Afridi dispatched it to the long leg fence. The Bangladesh captain overcorrected his line and pitched the next ball wide outside the off stump. Afridi swept it to the cow corner for another four. A perplexed-looking Mortaza bowled a beamer. Afridi swung and swung hard. The ball cleared the deep square leg boundary. The swashbuckler was back in the mood, sending Eden Gardens to raptures.

Al-Amin Hossain was clattered for two more boundaries by Hafeez in the next over before Afridi cleared his front leg, freed his arms and sent him 10 rows back over the straight boundary in the last ball. Arafat Sunny was ramped over short third man for a four and Taskin Ahmed, Bangladesh’s quickest, was slapped over deep point for a six.

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Shakib Al Hasan, too, was taken to the cleaners and as Afridi approached his half-ton, the DJ raised the pitch. On 49, however, he mistimed a flick off Taskin and was holed out to Mahmudullah at deep mid-wicket. Fans gave him a standing ovation. Thanks to his charge, Pakistan posted 201/5 in 20 overs – just two runs shy of their highest-ever T20 international total; 203/5, scored against Bangladesh in April 2008.

Afridi, however, wasn’t done yet. With Tamim and Sabbir Rahman forging a decent partnership, he came into the attack from the Club House end and castled the latter with a faster one. He accounted for Tamim with a seam-up delivery and walked away with the Man of the Match award.
Beyond reach

To be fair, even on a beautiful batting pitch, a victory target of 200-plus was beyond Bangladesh’s reach against a three-pronged pace attack. And Mohammad Amir hit the ground running, sending Soumya Sarkar’s stumps cartwheeling. Shakib’s unbeaten half-century is perhaps the only positive the Tigers can take from this 55-run defeat.

Only about a fortnight ago, they had looked superior to Pakistan during their successful run on a seaming track in the Asia Cup. But this is a world event and high-flying Bangladesh had been give a rude awakening.

To make matters worse, they didn’t get much of ‘home’ support at Eden. Here too, Pakistan had the upper hand.