Once-formidable Pakistan, who contested the inaugural T20 World Cup final against India in 2007, are struggling to keep pace with the Indian juggernaut; Pak coach Hesson admits they ‘got squeezed’ in Dubai on Sunday
Pakistan coach Mike Hesson
How the mighty have fallen. A storied rivalry of equals has gradually devolved into one-way traffic, once-formidable Pakistan now struggling to keep pace with both the Indian juggernaut and the emerging trends in 20-over cricket.
Pakistan contested the final of the inaugural T20 World Cup, unsuccessfully, against India in 2007 and emerged triumphant two years later when they overcame Sri Lanka in the title clash at Lord’s. Since then, they have made only one final, going down to England at the MCG in 2022. They failed to advance beyond the first stage at last year’s World Cup in the USA, after going down to the host nation in the Super Over in a gargantuan upset in Dallas and then falling six short during a modest chase of 120 on an admittedly dicey surface against India at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.
Pakistan skipper Salman Agha walks backs after being dismissed for three off 12 balls against India in Dubai on Sunday. Pic/AFP
It’s only in the last few months, coinciding with Mike Hesson taking charge as coach, that Pakistan have initiated the process of shedding the diffidence that has come to characterise their batting in the last few years. Clearly, it’s a work in progress. Hesson conceded after his wards’ sub-par 127-9 on Sunday night at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium that his batters had sold themselves short.
‘We were a bit frenzied at start’
“With the bat, we were a little bit frenzied at the start,” the New Zealander acknowledged. “The ball held in the surface, we didn’t respond as well as we would have liked. We were in the game at the end of the Powerplay, and then we got squeezed.”
That squeeze was applied by Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, specifically. At the end of the six Powerplay overs, Pakistan were 42-2. In the next four overs leading into the drinks break, they added just seven runs while losing two wickets, the two spinners effectively killing the game off as a contest.
Agha under pressure
Pakistan’s travails were best illustrated by the approach of Salman Agha. The captain had been caught off a full-toss, first ball, in the big win against Oman earlier in the week and his tournament didn’t get any better as he dawdled in making three off 12 deliveries. India’s fielders were tight in the circle, determined not to concede easy singles, and the pressure told when Agha went for an adventurous sweep even though the length didn’t dictate that stroke, and holed out to deep backward square-leg to give Axar his second success of the night.
Sunday’s seven-wicket loss was Pakistan’s sixth on the bounce against India in limited-overs internationals (the teams haven’t contested a Test match since December 2007), and their second this year at DICS, after the six-wicket defeat in the 50-over Champions Trophy in February. Numerous times in the past, Virat Kohli (who made an unbeaten 100 in the Champions Trophy) has been their nemesis, pulling off the near-impossible such as with an electric unbeaten 82 in the T20 World Cup in 2022 when all seemed lost in Melbourne. Even in the retirements of Kohli and Rohit Sharma, India are as intimidating as ever.
Pakistan’s thoughts, meanwhile, turned on Sunday towards axed former captain Babar Azam, pilloried until recently for his T20I strike-rate (129.22 in 128 matches). Enough said?
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