Pakistani cricket is a bag full of surprises. I mean one day you hear Younis Khan, their batting mainstay, getting banned for life, then next Shahid Afridi of all people, who was not even in the test squad, named as the test captain. One test into the series, he retires from test cricket and Younis Khan’s ban for life is withdrawn. It all seems so unpredictable and bizarre. Mind you this is the state of their international cricket so what happens at their domestic level is anyone’s guess.
In all this mess what amazes me is the alarming rate at which they churned out absolutely fantastic fast bowlers year after year. I started following cricket about the time when Imran Khan was coming in and out of retirement. At that point Wasim Akhram was in his prime. Short run-up, awkward action with no final big leap in the air but my god what a bowler! I remember how Srikkant used to look like a rabbit waiting for his end, a few short balls aimed at the chin and it would be matter of minutes before he would be on his way back absolutely clueless of handling Wasim. That 1989 series is of course famous for SRT’s debut but along with him it was debut of Waqar Younis. Those in-swinging yorkers were such a thrill, batsmen had limited options: either get your toe-nails crushed and get out LBW or let the ball dig out the middle stump. Next in line came Shoaib Akhtar who was too self obsessed and perhaps his own worst enemy but again a tremendous talent. I don’t remember anyone between him and till Mohammed Asif arrived in the scene, who was just too good to be true. Gentle relaxed pace of run-up and amazing accuracy, pace and ability to swing both ways. Of course the cart got a bit derailed with doping charges, possession of cocaine followed by an unpleasant spat with Shoaib Akhtar. Umar Gul in the meantime took over and yesterday I saw another new kid in the block, Mohammed Amir. The way he toyed around with Simon Katich and finished him, he is definitely here to stay. While it was sad to see that Pakistan has to have their home series in England but the sight of the pack of these fast bowlers hounding for Aussies is just plain awesome. It can make you happily forget the drubbing you receive while presenting Murali with 800th wicket as a farewell gift.
Reminds me of that ‘refugee’ song “panchhee nadiya pawan ke ……….” meaning that birds, river and breeze don’t know boundaries, it is only human beings who are aware of them. I would like to add that even bowling talent knows national boundaries. Otherwise how can you explain this huge difference in talent right across the border?
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