Tags:
Journalism of Courage
As Pakistan’s chief selector Wasim Bari stood in the lobby of the team hotel waiting to congratulate his boys, match referee Chris Broad stopped by. Congratulating Bari, Broad said: ‘‘You have a very good team there. Tell you what, you don’t need Shoaib (Akhtar) for West Indies (their next month’s tour).’’
PCB chief Shaharyar Khan joined in. ‘‘We have proved all the former greats wrong,’’ he told Bari, hugging him. ‘‘Can you believe it, Javed Miandad has written a column on how to stop Shahid Afridi?’’
The wheel has turned full circle for Pakistan. Last year, when Irfan Pathan was inspiring India to win the series-deciding one-day match at Lahore, Imran Khan had told Shaharyar, ‘‘Inteha ho gayi zalalat ki. Unnees saal ka ladka hamein peet raha hai (This is the height of humiliation, a 19-year-old is beating us).’’
Coach Bob Woolmer called Sunday a watershed day. Taking a team of lesser names, leaving their one superstar at home, and turning them into a team. Backing unknowns, thumbing a nose at the ICC’s chucking rules, playing as a unit, thinking on their feet. It’s what India would do once upon a time; Pakistan took that formula and gave it their own twist.
A drawn Test series had given Pakistan the confidence and momentum for the ODIs. But after losing the first two matches, Woolmer had to change tack. ‘‘I told the boys that we would have to approach this series from here on as the World Cup knock-out stage. First is the quarterfinal, two semifinals and then the final,’’ he told The Indian Express.
The goal was set, the gameplan clear. ‘‘We decided how we would bat in singles, how we would bowl to Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. We impressed on our bowlers specific lines to bowl. If those failed, we decided to opt for plan B and change the line. If that failed, we would admit that they had done very well.’’
All through, the team was never over-confident, just quietly so. They continued to take bold decisions, such as the one to play Shoaib Malik in Jamshedpur, the third one-dayer. Malik had been reported for chucking and conventional wisdom had it that he couldn’t bowl.
But Woolmer was desperate. ‘‘We had to play the Malik gamble. When we did that we could afford an extra batsman in Younis Khan and we got the balance of the team right. His batting at number three was crucial for the team as was his bowling,’’ said Woolmer. So the coach went through the rules which said that, if called again, Malik would be given a 21-day grace period—that would at least see him through this series.
Malik was man of the match today.
When Pakistan reached Kanpur with the series 2-2, they had the clear edge. But Afridi hadn’t fired yet.
Just before play started, Wasim Bari spent 25 minutes with Afridi urging him to play straight. ‘‘I explained to him that when he plays across he has just the width of the bat to play with but when he plays straight he has the entire length. Even if the ball is mistimed, it will have enough power to go over the infield,’’ said Bari.
Afridi duly went on the rampage.
There was one element, however, beyond even Woolmer’s control. On Saturday afternoon, he took a look at the Kotla wicket, turned to his skipper and said, ‘‘The only thing you have to win tomorrow is the toss. Everything else will take care of itself.’’
Inzamam did. And so did Pakistan.
