Pakistan and Sri Lanka are all set for a final showdown of ICC World T20 Cup 2009 today in the Mecca of Cricket, “Lord’s Cricket Ground”.
Sri Lanka has had a roller coaster ride on their way to the big final, but on the other hand, Pakistan – as they say, “Slow Starters” – had to fight their way out to make sure they play in the Sunday’s all important game.
As a matter of fact, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have emerged successfully from the Liberty Shootout in Lahore in March when unidentified gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan team.
The harsh memories of the unfortunate incident still play in the minds of these professional cricketers as stated by Sri Lankan skipper Kumara Sangakkara Friday after his team’s win over the Calypso, “I think it is a fitting reward for the courage of the team in the way they have played in this tournament, all the players have got through," he said."
Even Younus Khan has very much the same to say when he addressed the post semi-final match press conference, "We are suffering from everything in Pakistan and everyone knows about all the fighting, a lot of fighting. If we can lift the Cup, it will provide great cheer for the people".
Pakistan didn’t get even a single Test match in the last year and as they were short of international matches practice, they started the tournament with a disaster; YET AGAIN. Pakistan has long been termed as “The Slow Starters” by the cricket experts for a long time. Take an example of the ICC World Cup in 1992, when Imran Khan-led Pakistan outfit started with a 10-wicket humiliation against the West Indies, and after the defeat against South Africans they were left to win all of their remaining matches to book a place into the final. They had to beat the tournament favourites, Australia, the unbeaten team, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka, but they managed to come up with match winning performances.
Whether it was Imran Khan’s magic or cricketing intellect that inspired Pakistan to clinch the 1992 World Cup or not, but this time around it has been a sheer hard work and tough cookie attitude by the young Pakistanis in unfavourable conditions of England.
Pakistan were outplayed by England in their opening match here but they gathered themselves remarkably to virtually kick out New Zealand and then upset a confident, well-drilled South African team in Thursday's semi-final.
Let’s take a look at the strengths of both sides. We start from Pakistan as they have everything that’s required to become the Champions. The main strength is their spin department, but one can’t rule out the fast and the furious Umar Gul and veteran Abdul Razzaq coupled with young gun Mohammad Amir. Pakistan’s spinners have been the untouchables in the tournament so far, thanks to mysterious offerings by both Shahid Khan Afridi and Saeed Ajmal. Especially Saeed Ajmal has proved to be a tough guy to handle with his great variations of off spins, flat trajectory deliveries and last but not the least “Doosra” that he mastered following Saqlain Mushtaq’s steps. On the other hand, Shahid Afridi, a leg spin bowler, is an altogether orthodox bowler. Very much like India’s Anil Kumble, he delivers a flat and faster leg break that hurries on to the batsmen giving them no time to settle against the pace and spin of the offering. Especially, his drifter has been a mystery for the English as well as Sub Continent batsmen and he has got some wickets through this delivery. Umar Gul has been the one bowler that every team would have loved to see off. The way he has bowled in the tournament, he has captured the eyes of the cricketing greats. As he gives credit to legendary fast bowler Waqar Younis, who worked on his Yorker during his tenure as Pakistan’s fast bowling coach some years back. Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Amir have played their role quite well so far and have stuck to their plans while bowling. Abdul Razzaq hasn’t been as prolific in his batting as he used to be but the threat that he shows to the opposition makes him a valuable addition.
Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan in the Super Eights game, but Pakistan didn’t have the services of Razzaq at that point of time. He is a big match player and all the cricketing pundits are expecting a classic show from him in the final. If we take a look at Pakistan’s batting, Younus Khan has been leading from the front. With Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik firing in the starting overs, Pakistan have the services of Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq in the death overs. One can’t really set aside Fawad Alam for his abilities with both bat and ball.
Shahzaib has been a good find for Pakistan and when he’s on song, there’s no one stopping him. A great hitter of the cricket ball, Shazaib can provide Pakistan with the start that could hurt the Lankans big time. Kamran Akmal is in tremendous touch as well and can pound Lankan bowlers with some clean and blustering hitting. The concern for Pakistan is the one-down spot as Sangakkara would be looking to dent Pakistan with his orthodox spinners and Malinga, so Pakistan need somebody like Younus Khan to come one-down in the final followed by Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq and Fawad Alam. This combination would make sure that skipper Younus is there to steer the ship towards its destination. He will have to play a centre stage innings and rest of the batters should play around him. They should have a target of over 150 in their minds if batting first. But if they’re bowling first, their task would be to restrict the Lions on score less than 130 or something around 140.
If we take a look at Lankan squad, the 3Ms are the nucleus of their side, as Murali, Mendis, Malinga have been successfully helping their skipper to go on with their winning run in the tournament so far. Their batting, however, is a matter of great concern as apart from Tillakaratne Dilshan, no other batsman has found the form or touch. Dilshan is in total command of the highest run getters’ chart in the tournament and no body would be able to cross his tally.
Sri Lanka, if batting first, would love to score over 160 runs to give Pakistan a serious challenge, but if they bowl first, their priority would be to restrict their opponents below 140 as we all know, chasing in the big game can cause havoc to your cricketing intellect.
Both sides have exhibited the imagination and technical expertise which have made the tournament so memorable with the latest form of the game evolving and changing daily before noisy sell-out crowds at Lord's, the Oval and TrentBridge.
Sri Lanka will start favourites by virtue of their consistency and strength in depth.
"Afridi is a guy who can take the game away from you in a few overs," said Sangakkara. "But we can't really get caught up in just one player."
Who knows how these things come about? Wonderful things happen in this world that we struggle to explain, and that is no bad thing. That, in fact, contributes to the very beauty of those things.
After such a long time, Pakistan’s cricket fans are supporting their heroes the way they deserve. Pakistan have nothing to lose. They have already acquired something that nobody had expected from them, so they should come out blasting the Sri Lankans as this might be THE DAY of their lives.
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