Pakistan’s marvellous victory over the world champion West Indies in the T20 and the ODI series could not have come at a more opportune time. Not having much success for a while the squad was finding itself struggling to put a zap in their rating and not surprisingly many experiments with the management as well as the team were being mulled. Hard on the heels of an awe-inspiring 3-1 victory in the five-match ODI series concluded last Wednesday, another stunning blow was dealt to the West Indies on Sunday when Pakistan’s superb battling and bowling made them clinch the final T20 series.
The final T20 taken by 11 runs was something of a close call; thrilling as it was like the first match of the series that our team grabbed by two wickets, it had to be fought out for the skipper Darren Sammay and Keiron Pollard seemed determined to deny green shirts yet another chance to humble them. Pakistan’s start was not good either. The openers could not hold their nerve but then came captain Hafeez, gave some stability until finally along came Afridi and well it was his day, the ball came just right onto the bat resulting in an incredible kamikaze. It surely says a lot about the skills of our players that they are adept at playing the 50 over ODIs as well as the fast and furious T20s and that too proving their mettle against the best in the game.
That is something to cheer about, but we must not rest on our laurels lest we lose the zeal that has brought us this glory. Unfortunately, the Daily Mail has chosen a time of celebration to make the boys a target of suspicion over ‘batting patterns’ it says it discerned during the ODI series. Finger-pointing that is without evidence would certainly be construed as an attempt to sag the spirit of the team. The PCB ought to look into these reports in order to separate fact from fiction and if found unsubstantiated must see to it that the mockingbirds pay the penalty.