Things Pakistan say, things Pakistan do, and the gap between them

There is something of a discrepancy between the things Pakistan say and the things Pakistan do. Since Mike Hesson took over as their white-ball coach in May, he has ostensibly been given the licence to remake their T20I squad in the image of his philosophy. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have been cast out into the cold until they can, in Hesson's words, "improve in some areas" - primarily to do with strike rate.

He made clear that batting depth would be prioritised over fast-bowling expertise, and called Mohammad Nawaz "the best spin bowler in the world" earlier this month. Pakistan, meanwhile, made clear that batters who demonstrate intent from the outset will not live in fear of their place or be penalised for low scores as long as they stick to the game plan required of them.

Those, anyway, are the things Pakistan say, and would presumably have said again if they didn't keep cancelling press conferences in the Asia Cup. And then, against India in their first Super Four game of the tournament came the things they did.

Pakistan could not have found themselves in a position more conducive to the cricket they insist they want to play. India put down three relatively straightforward chances in the first ten overs. Sahibzada Farhan, a beneficiary of that largesse in the first over, had just smashed Axar Patel for a six that took him to a fifty off 34 balls.

Far from the post-powerplay quicksand that India had enveloped them in the group fixture last Sunday, Pakistan had only accelerated since the fielders spread out. Thirty-six runs came in overs seven to ten, with that six off Axar the fourth off an India spinner in the last three overs. In the first six overs, Jasprit Bumrah had been taken for 34 off three, his most expensive T20I powerplay figures. It took Pakistan to 91 at the halfway mark in their innings, comfortably their highest ever ten-over total against India.

It established the perfect base to launch the sort of gung-ho attack that is the logical conclusion of this new-look Pakistan's stated ambition. The drinks break brought a wicket when Saim Ayub top-edged Shivam Dube for Abishek Sharma to take an excellent catch, but it shouldn't have mattered. Lost wickets are a consequence of high-risk batting, and this was just the second that fell. There were more power-hitters to follow.

But, like a child breaking free from their minder, unable to believe how far away they've managed to cut loose and suddenly catching a fright, Pakistan spent the seven overs post drinks reverting to the mediocre, comfortable environment that has now become their home. Having seen such limited recent success against India, it was almost as if their position of advantage was in itself a trap India had sprung, a threat they couldn't see but somehow must still guard against.

Hussain Talat, with a career T20I strike rate of 117 heading into the game, came into the side in place of Hasan Nawaz, who has a career strike rate of 158. Dube overstepped and gave Talat a free hit off the second ball of his innings, but those don't mean much if you lack the ability to hit freely. Talat hacked at air, and the discrepancy between what Pakistan said and what they were doing began to reveal itself.

The momentum Pakistan had built began to slip away, and along with it, the bravado which presented the only realistic route to victory against a better side. India's bowlers found their lengths, and Pakistan allowed them to set up camp there. Talat scored 10 off 11 balls, while Farhan, who had also dried up at the other end, miscued an offcutter from Dube high into the Dubai sky.

This time, it was captain Salman Agha who walked out to bat, another Pakistani inconsistency in human form making its way to the middle. For all the dim view Hesson appeared to take with a former Pakistan captain's scoring rate, Agha's strike rate of 111 is lower than all Pakistan batters with a minimum of 500 T20I runs, bar Salman Butt and Misbah-ul-Haq. Yet, he has been anointed the face of this progressive T20I side that Pakistan are adamant they have laid foundations for.

And so, Pakistan began to revert to type, and into their comfort zone. The seven overs immediately following drinks produced 38 runs, the lowest for any side all tournament. It included a 39-ball spell without any boundaries; in the final ten overs, Pakistan hit just two fours and four sixes. Nawaz saw off Varun Chakravarthy's final over, the 16th of the innings, with four consecutive dot balls, at the end of which he was on 7 off 13. He wasn't in the side for his "best spinner in the world" bowling abilities either, given he did not send down a ball during India's routine chase. Meanwhile, Nawaz, along with Agha and Talat, Pakistan's Nos. 4-6, scored a combined 48 runs in 43 deliveries.

Agha tried to defend that approach after the game, saying the pitch made it difficult for a new batter to settle. But then, again, those are the things Pakistan say. When the more naturally belligerent Faheem Ashraf emerged in the penultimate over, he had no such problems. The first ball was muscled over square leg for six, and the eight in total he faced produced 20 runs. That was three more than Agha, who came to the crease in the 15th over, faced 13 balls and could muster just one six; and just one fewer than Nawaz, who used up an additional 11 balls. Meanwhile, Mohammad Haris, used as a basher up top or a bludgeoner lower down, never got to bat, nor did Shaheen Shah Afridi, who has been Pakistan's best slogger this tournament.

Four years ago, at this very ground, Pakistan lost to Australia in a T20I World Cup semi-final after scoring 176. In the first 11 overs, Babar and Rizwan were exceptionally defensive, and produced just 75 runs, thus leaving their team-mates an almighty task to be competitive at the backend. It ignited a debate that has brought Pakistan cricket to a point where both men are out of the side because timidity up top is no longer acceptable.

Against India on Sunday, with 91 runs off the first ten overs, Pakistan solved that problem. In the second half, though, they were able to scratch together just 80, which, ironically, feels very much like a ten-over score Babar and Rizwan might have put up. The upheaval will be of little use if all Pakistan ultimately do is transfer their diffidence to the other half of the innings.

What will worry Pakistan supporters is not a defeat to India; those are commonplace and have, of late, become exercises in damage limitation. Nor does an India game offer any indicator of how far along Pakistan are in their journey of improvement - such is the gulf between the two sides in quality. This, however, was a litmus test in how committed Pakistan are to the idea that high risk and high strike rates are the only way to be competitive at the top table of T20I cricket.

For ten overs in Dubai, Pakistan threw themselves into the notion with the zeal of a convert. As the rest of the evening unfolded, it began increasingly to look like one of those things Pakistan just say.