Stunning cricket

In the annals of Pakistan cricket history, their stunning ten-wicket triumph against arch-rivals India in the T20 World Cup opener in Dubai on Sunday night will go down as one of the really special ones -- perhaps, somewhere in the same bracket as the Miandad-guided Sharjah Cup win or even the 1992 World Cup victory. Never mind the fact that it was just the opening game of the T20 World Cup and it’s a long way to go before Babar Azam can actually put his hands on the coveted trophy. The sheer wait for this result makes it so very special. And the way the likes of Pakistan’s latest pace sensation Shaheen Shah Afridi and the batting duo of the sublime Babar and Mohammad Rizwan landed killer blows on what many saw as a superior opposition was the perfect icing on the cake.

Most pundits thought Pakistan had little or no hope of beating the high-flying Indians. On paper, India were clearly the favourites. The formbook favoured them as did history -- Pakistan had never beaten them in a World Cup game in 12 previous attempts. India’s preparations for the World Cup were ideal as their players featured in the second leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the UAE and had fully adapted to the local conditions. Pakistan, meanwhile, got a raw deal after New Zealand and England refused to play in the country. This meant all the seven T20 Internationals which the Pakistanis had lined up at home to warm up for the World Cup were cancelled. Pakistan took the field against India having played their last T20I almost three months ago.

This stark contrast between the two sides didn’t seem to bother the Pakistanis on a hot and humid evening in Dubai. They put India into bat and happily saw Shaheen land early, almost decisive blows. Everything fell into place as Pakistan stayed in a commanding position during the best part of the match, something that was later conceded by Indian captain Virat Kohli. It was the sort of clinical performance that separates a good team from a great one. Experts are now already singling Pakistan as the team to beat in this tournament. But what Babar and his men should do is to quickly overcome the euphoria and start focusing on the next game – against New Zealand in Sharjah on Tuesday (today). It’s good to see that Babar was quick to warn his players against over-excitement. Pakistan cannot afford to get carried away. The T20 format can be a leveler which means even relatively less-rated teams like Afghanistan, one of Pakistan’s league opponents, can fancy their chances. Sunday night’s heroics have proved that Pakistan have the ammunition to go all the way. But their big guns will need to continue firing just like they did in the memorable rout of India. If they do then Pakistan will have bright chances of regaining the T20 World Cup for the first time since 2009.