Tournament: Asia Cup, Match 6, India v.s. Pakistan
Venue: Mirpur, Bangladesh
Date: March 02, 2014
Result: Pakistan beat India by 1 wicket
Man of the match: Mohammed Hafeez
India, Pakistan ODIs: Head to head
(Pakistan's ODI record against India, to date)
The Last Man Standing
Eminem will be disappointed in Afridi but the Pakistani fans are on the other side of that feeling. The best interpretation of what goes through Afridi's mind when he takes guard, in my mind, is that as soon as he finishes marking, Eminem whispers in his head "Will the real Shahid Afridi please stand up" and pretty much every time Afridi responds with an ugly kitchen sink throw at the ball usually making the umpire set the stumps again for the next bat. Yesterday, however, Afridi kept sitting to Eminem's calls and played like we have begged him to for almost two decades to no effect.
When the adrenaline from that nerve wreck of a match settles, probably somewhere down the years, Afridi himself will wonder how different his career would have been had he approached every innings like yesterday? He had everything on his side, age, luck, fan following, energy, opportunity to be the Leonidas to our Sparta, yet more often than not he responded to his "real slim shady" call and sadly for a career spanning 16 years (and counting), that one thing never changed.
Pakistan's Favourite Journey; The See-Saw Road
How often has Pakistan proven that Pakistan is the adrenaline to the body of Cricket? It wasn't the fact that the iconic Bollywood actor/director Farhan Akhtar was in the audience that the script of the match was more thrilling than a James Patterson top seller, the only real explanation probably was that, "that's how we roll".
The fact that you don't know which side of Pakistan will turn up on a day makes them a dangerous opponent. It's a flaw that has been so ingrained in our existence that it now appears as a tactic, an approach, a usual way, a "just something we do".
The Hafeez Ritual
Performing against India in Asia Cups has become part of the package that Hafeez brings now along with his trademark LBW wicket of an Indian opener in the unorthodox bowling spell of opening the innings. Last time it was 105 and Gambhir LBW in 1st over, yesterday it was 75 and Dhawan LBW in 3rd over.
Kohli, The Captain, Arrives
Though he has lost 2 matches as skipper, to the noticing eye, Kohli has shown traits of a brave, innovative and adventurous skipper, hinting at interesting times ahead for Indian.
Shuffling the bowlers for 1-2 over spells, keeping Ashwin for the 50th over, not using the 5th bowler, when three of the used 5 were not doing as expected. These are signs of a leader who is not afraid to try unorthodox methods, who has the guts to take bold decisions in tough situations and make them work. A leader with such abilities and guts has traditionally brought the best out of average teams (Imran Khan in 92WC) and India certainly being above average can probably hope for a secure future post Dhoni.
When the adrenaline from that nerve wreck of a match settles, probably somewhere down the years, Afridi himself will wonder how different his career would have been had he approached every innings like yesterday? He had everything on his side, age, luck, fan following, energy, opportunity to be the Leonidas to our Sparta, yet more often than not he responded to his "real slim shady" call and sadly for a career spanning 16 years (and counting), that one thing never changed.
Pakistan's Favourite Journey; The See-Saw Road
How often has Pakistan proven that Pakistan is the adrenaline to the body of Cricket? It wasn't the fact that the iconic Bollywood actor/director Farhan Akhtar was in the audience that the script of the match was more thrilling than a James Patterson top seller, the only real explanation probably was that, "that's how we roll".
The fact that you don't know which side of Pakistan will turn up on a day makes them a dangerous opponent. It's a flaw that has been so ingrained in our existence that it now appears as a tactic, an approach, a usual way, a "just something we do".
The Hafeez Ritual
Performing against India in Asia Cups has become part of the package that Hafeez brings now along with his trademark LBW wicket of an Indian opener in the unorthodox bowling spell of opening the innings. Last time it was 105 and Gambhir LBW in 1st over, yesterday it was 75 and Dhawan LBW in 3rd over.
Kohli, The Captain, Arrives
Though he has lost 2 matches as skipper, to the noticing eye, Kohli has shown traits of a brave, innovative and adventurous skipper, hinting at interesting times ahead for Indian.
Shuffling the bowlers for 1-2 over spells, keeping Ashwin for the 50th over, not using the 5th bowler, when three of the used 5 were not doing as expected. These are signs of a leader who is not afraid to try unorthodox methods, who has the guts to take bold decisions in tough situations and make them work. A leader with such abilities and guts has traditionally brought the best out of average teams (Imran Khan in 92WC) and India certainly being above average can probably hope for a secure future post Dhoni.
