A moment to savour
It is difficult to downplay the magnitude of what Pakistan, and this Pakistan side in particular, has accomplished
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What cricket we have been privileged to and what a
conclusion we came to! In a rivalry bloated with
tales, this match will provide, for Pakistan, many
more. Bangalore 2005 will etch itself in the mind
neatly, alongside the likes of Bangalore and
Headingley 1987, Karachi 1994 and many more. We might
even come to cherish this one more.
It is difficult to downplay the magnitude of what
Pakistan, and this Pakistan side in particular, has
accomplished. They came to India with a team not as
inexperienced as had been made out, but one that was
still the weakest in recent memory. Without a
spearhead, a legspinner supposedly ripe for pillaging
and the memory of a 3-0 whitewash in Australia still
fresh, this series was as near to a foregone
conclusion as we can have between India and Pakistan.
Forget for a moment the claim that India was nearly
the second-best team in the world. Whether or not the
claim was plausible, this is still an extremely strong
Indian team, the strongest perhaps in recent memory.
Yet Pakistan have scrapped every day of this series,
desperately trying to hold on to Indian coat-tails,
overcoming the vast gap in talent and skill - and it
is vast - through sheer will and nothing else.
Bangalore has encapsulated, in a glorious manner, the
one certainty about Pakistan now: that somewhere, in
among the chopping, the changing, the intrigue, the
uncertainty, the lack of stars, there is a priceless
fortitude. Not all of them possess the individual
gifts endowed to past teams, but collectively they
form a stronger spine. For all those who still harp
with futility about the splendour of Pakistan teams
past, those who still yearn for Imran Khan's leadership,
Javed Miandad's genius, the reverse swing of the two W's and
Abdul Qadir's uniqueness, and bemoan the loss of grossly
talented mavericks, this Test - as well as Lahore last
year against India, Karachi against Sri Lanka and even
the Australian series - should be essential viewing.
That this win was constructed by so many embellishes
it. So many tales Pakistan will take from this match.
There will be that of Younis Khan, who has hinted that
Pakistan's leadership and one-down dilemma may not be
as hopeless as was once thought. There will be that of
Mohammad Sami too, justifiably pilloried for his
alarming ineffectiveness in the year just past, but
who in India has grown match by match and day by day.
He wasn't just quick today, he was effective. Above
all (and perhaps another supremely skilled fast bowler
from Rawalpindi might take note) he was tireless,
bowling spell after spell after spell without letting
the intensity drop.
Danish Kaneria too scripted a tale here, as much for his
refusal to bow down against the most violent
destroyers of legspinners as for his two wickets
today, and 17 in the series. Incidentally, it is a
return that few modern-day legspinners have managed
in India, including Qadir and Shane Warne. And what of
Shahid Afridi? He prised open a tight battle against
time yesterday in spectacular fashion, and today he
all but sealed it by dismissing first Sourav Ganguly
and then Sachin Tendulkar. Yasir Hameed's languid
composure yesterday and Arshad Khan's breaking of the
Wall, Rahul Dravid, carry their own tales too.
Finally, the story of Inzamam-ul-Haq. He has many faults as a
captain, maybe too many to ignore in the long-term,
but in his 100th Test, he has pulled off his sweetest
moment. He has been a little overshadowed here by
Younis's ebullience in the field, he has contrasted
badly against his vice-captain's energy, but he showed
again why he is so pivotal to Pakistan. His century on
the first day was his 21st, and 16 of those have
helped Pakistan win matches. More importantly, it was
his third as captain and all three have resulted in
comeback wins.
Today, he was as proactive and involved as captain as
he has ever been. He took advice, he gave it, he
tinkered with his fields and his bowlers, he screamed
and appealed excessively and expressed open
displeasure - he even got a one-Test ban for it - and he was
aggressive throughout (although, as he said, the
Indians allowed him to). Unwittingly, he also
discovered a Midas touch, when it was needed most:
almost all his bowling changes brought him wickets.
It might mark a turning point in this team's
evolution. Equally likely, given that it is Pakistan,
it might not. But that should not take away from the
now, from one of Pakistan's most significant triumphs
in many years and mostly, from a performance where the
will of the collective, rather than the genius of a
few, sparkled brightest.
Osman Samiuddin is a freelance cricket writer based in Karachi. He is following the Pakistan team on their tour of India..