Pakistan's resurgence - A project well-begun
Thu, Jul 23 2015 , by Kaushik Rangarajan
© AFP
Not too long ago, Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) decision to bring a certain Azhar Ali out of cricketing obscurity and hand him the reins of a floundering ODI team was subject to public derision. The national team's underwhelming run to the World Cup quarter-finals was followed by retirements of two of the team's strongest cohesive forces - Misbah-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi. Changes, as far-reaching as the ones made by the board, were looked at as populist moves to appease fans seeking drastic changes for the sake of change. The reasoning from the board was unstated but simple - things could only get better from here.
As fate would have it, Pakistan Cricket's ebb coincided with neighbour Bangaldesh's rise as an ODI power. A 3-0 series whitewash to the once proverbial minnows meant the 1992 World Champions were facing, potentially their biggest cricketing crisis. A proud cricketing country braced itself for the inevitable - non-qualification to the eight-team ICC Champions Trophy, a tournament that was supposed to have seen its last with the 2013 edition. Bizarrely enough, qualification to an ICC tournament scheduled to be played in 2017 closes as early as 18-months prior to its start.
Having reached a new low, it would have been easy for the board to abort its new project in the wake of the impending implications. In fact, in the past, PCB has shown that it is not averse to seeking short-term solutions by getting under-performing senior/retired cricketers to mitigate such situations. Too much cricket in the sub-continent is anyway shrouded in sentimentalism. But, for a nation preparing to start afresh, a nation preparing to welcome international cricket after a six-year hiatus, it was imperative to set a precedent. Willingly or unwillingly, the board ended up sticking with both Azhar and coach Waqar.
The selection committee in consultation with Waqar assured Azhar that he was in it for the long haul and handed him a team full of eager players but whose true potential remained grossly untapped. That is not to say that experience was compromised. In Mohammad Hafeez and the recalled Shoaib Malik they had players to shore both the batting and bowling departments.
But, as a modern scientist would say, chance discoveries of Penicillin are no more possible with the magnitude of investment being pumped in. Investors now want to know, in advance, what their funds are getting spent for. PCB didn't just put their eggs in the Azhar Ali- Waqar Younis basket hoping for them to hatch some day, they expected tangible results for their investment in youth. Their persistence paid off.
Responsibility has a way of making one feel valued. Despite his relatively meager experience, Azhar was quick to establish himself as a leader of men. His past achievements had little bearing when he hit the ground running and started racking up centuries. The onus was now on the likes of Hafeez and Malik to justify their places in the side. The younger lot, hard pressed to get a consistent run of games in previous Pakistani teams, were only happy to be a part of the changing times and duly put their hands up with meaningful contributions.
The series win against Zimbabwe at home brought a sense of togetherness in the squad. The side then went on to complete a rare Test series win against Sri Lanka. Even in the presence of stalwarts Younis Khan and Misbah, the younger lot held their own. Sarfraz's quick fire 96, centuries from Azhar, Asad Shafiq and Shan Masood were each reflective of the changing times of Pakistan cricket.
More of the same followed in the ensuing ODI series. Mohammad Rizwan, Imad Wasim and Babar Azam were put in and each of them responded to the show of trust with defining performances. Even the highly talented yet consistently erratic Ahmed Shehzad was spurred on to playing a series-clinching innings of 95, thereby all but assuring Pakistan a place in the Champions Trophy. And as Shehzad was quick to point out in the post-match presser, a bulk of the credit must go to Azhar and the team management for scripting a turnaround as quickly as they did, and with a style and panache not too familiar to the modern Pakistani fan.
Perhaps, the biggest positive of the Waqar-Azhar reign has been the bridging of the gap between the senior and junior players in the side. They have, thus far, also succeeded in getting the younger players to pull together like never before. The collective disappointment of the team, which had assembled on the balcony at the Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday in anticipation of a Shehzad century, was a poignant reflection on how far the team had started wishing for each other's success.
The job, as Azhar pointed out on Wednesday, has just begun. For a country bristling with cricketing talent, Pakistan has played far too long with the 'mercurial' tag. Azhar and Waqar have much to do to get the team to put in these performances on the biggest stages on a consistent basis. But it is a project that is well-begun. The current team may pale in comparison with some of the more talented Pakistani sides but has the potential to surpass the achievements of many of its predecessors. If these bunch of players, and others coming in the future, can hold on to their new-found discipline and work ethic, the future of Pakistan cricket may just have a taken a significant turn for the better.
© Cricbuzz
