The unsurprising thing about Pakistan's route to the semi finals, in the ongoing World T20, is that they continue to surprise. A performance worthy of a club side against England has long been negated with a ripper of a win over New Zealand, courtesy Umar Gul's stunning exhibition of reverse swing. This long-suffering kiwi fan was on the verge of tearing his hair out, but instead sat down to a cup of tea and smiled knowingly; he'd been here before.
Pakistan cricket of the 70s has come to be defined by, and largely remembered for, its batsmen. Men like Majid Khan, Asif Iqbal and Zaheer Abbas, all regal elegance hardened by county professionalism. As that decade gave way to the next, the new-ball pairing of Imran Khan and Sarfraz Nawaz (complemented by the guile of Abdul Qadir) ensured the focus would shift, almost for posterity, to their bowling attack. The 'mercurial' Pakistan - teenagers plucked from obscurity, form swings, infighting, individual brilliance - which us children of the 90s are familiar with, can tangibly be traced back to one event; eighteen year old Wasim Akram being plucked from club cricket in 1984, taken under the wing of Imran Khan. Returning a ten-wicket haul in only his second test, Akram almost won Pakistan that game. Appropriately, the opponents were New Zealand, happy to escape with a win but unaware of what lay ahead in the years to come.
Between 1990 and 2003, the recurring theme of NZ versus Pakistan contests was fast bowling, of the full and swinging variety. The Wasim-Waqar combination, whose legacy was later carried on by Shoaib Akhtar, tormented, destroyed and scarred successive generations of kiwi batsmen home and away, in much the same way Shane Warne did to the Englishmen of the time. Whether it was Hamilton 1993 or Lahore 2002 the script was generally the same, and it pained this writer no end; two teams who were otherwise evenly matched, separated by that x-factor - a classy fast bowler able to reverse it to deadly effect. And, such carnage wasn't the sole preserve of the usual suspects. The 'Gaggumandi express', Mohammad Zahid, and the recent discard Mohammad Sami, orchestrated spectacular kiwi collapses themselves, circa 1996 and 2001 respectively. Of course, being confronted which such lethal bowling meant that the kiwis were forced to play out of their skins, and occasionally provided a stunning riposte - most notably Bryan Young and Shane Thomson scoring centuries to chase down 324 in Christchurch. However, it was all mostly one-way traffic.
As the sides geared up for the clash at the Oval last Saturday, I was quietly optimistic. Since 2003, NZ had beaten the Pakistanis in five of their last six one-day encounters; no doubt the decline of Shoaib Akhtar and the reduced pace of Pakistan's seam attack over the years were factors. Surely, those trial-by-yorker days were a thing of the past? Add to this the condensed nature of T20, and the kiwis might seriously back themselves, I thought. Then, Umar Gul happened. Sure, he was rated one of the best bowlers in this form of the game - but how did he manage to precipitate a rout - reverse swing and all - like that? Wondering out loud seems utterly futile, much like how it was right through the nineties. Of course, a depleted batting lineup featuring Jacob Won't-Hit-Today Oram and James Wannabe-All-Rounder Franklin in the middle order is asking for trouble. But my own disbelief, and the sinking recognition that came along with it, have stayed with me in the aftermath. The actors have changed, heck even the format's changed, but the script has remained the same.
It was this kind of disbelief, I feel, which caused Daniel Vettori to make an inquiry into the state of the ball after the game, insensitive and tasteless as it may have sounded. If anything, it should have been taken as a backhanded compliment, although in these times Pakistan cricket needs all the genuine compliments it can get. So, once again, I grudgingly raise this cup of tea to the mercurial Pakistan I've come to know so well. World cricket would be a whole lot poorer without them. As for me, I continue to dream of Shane Bond making his successful comeback and clanking a few Pakistani helmets for good measure. Did you know, he hasn't ever played a test against them?
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