If further evidence was required to reinforce the fact that Pakistan was, is and will in all likelihood continue to remain, a country of bowlers, events in Auckland served to drive home this notion emphatically.
There were understandable concerns about the bowling going into the World Cup. Injuries and/or suspensions to the trio of Hafeez, Ajmal and Junaid had left the bowling unit down to the bare bones. Against a side which had amassed scores of over 400 in their two previous encounters, Pakistan, effectively with a second string attack defended a modest target of 231 and how!
Relentless. That is the first adjective that comes to mind after watching the South African innings. Amla and Du Plessis seemed in a hurry to finish off the match but the latter’s dismissal provided Pakistan the sniff and that was all that was required. Barring the frankly superhuman AB, subsequent batsmen were hunted down with method that was subtle and aggression that was apparent.
There were moments when Misbah could and in the past probably would have turned to Afridi but on Saturday, caution went out of the window. Almost as if to atone for his slow start with the bat, which arguably let momentum slip from the Pakistani innings, Misbah was not going to make the same mistake twice.
Under Misbah, the bowling attack for one reason or the other has seen a transformation. Fast bowling was relegated to the sidelines while the three pronged attack of Ajmal, Afridi and Hafeez came to the fore. With Ajmal and Hafeez absent and Afridi looking a little lost without them, it was the leg spinners turn to take a backseat. This was not the spin strangulation that we have seen so often in the recent past; this was the fast-bowling demolition that has formed Pakistan cricket’s quintessence throughout its history.
Irfan may be a giant in the literal sense of the word but does not often seem to be as imposing as he should be given his physical attributes. However, one could clearly see he was up for it as he took wickets at every time of asking. The send-off to Steyn was the cherry on top.
Wahab does not lack the fire; if anything, he has too much and sometimes gives the impression of the big bad wolf from the children story books that huffs and puffs. This time though, he brought the house down.
And what of Rahat? While the whole of Pakistan rightly feels smug about Sarfaraz’s vindication, they should by the same token make a collective apology to Rahat who has been a revelation so far. It was the kind of day when Sohail, arguably the weakest amongst the foursome, took the prized wicket of De Villiers. All four bowled their heart out, all four as Wasim bhai likes to point out ‘ran in hard’ but most importantly all four bowled with a sense of purpose.
It would be remiss to not mention Waqar, who has received a lot of criticism lately, mostly justified, for his part in the selection of the playing eleven and the subsequent strategy. In this day and age, where scoring three hundred runs has become a stroll in the park, only Pakistan can be insane and stubborn enough to have a strategy so dated and only Pakistan can be insane enough to pull it off. For better or for worse, the credit for that in no small measure must go to Waqar.
At some point, Pakistan will have to rethink their tactics. That point is unlikely to come during the course of this World Cup. It appears that Pakistan will be looking to compensate for all their short comings using the philosophy of the cornered tiger. Well, the tiger finally snuck its head out of the corner but time will tell whether it will actually be able to let out a full blooded roar.