Historic series win

After a disappointing defeat in the test series, Pakistan has come back strong by winning their first ODI series in almost 20 years against Australia. The 2-1 series victory was masterfully guided by the skipper, Babar Zaman, who scored two world-class centuries in 2nd and 3rd matches. He was supported by in-form batsman Imam-ul-Haq, who was brilliant in the test series and was the leading run scorer with his 2 ODI centuries in 1st and 2nd games. Both batsmen have managed to silence their critics with such a brilliant display. Credit must also be given to the Pakistan pace bowling attack as Shaheen Shah’s exquisite swing and Haris Rauf’s fierce pace left the Australian batsmen scratching their heads as the top order crumbled in the last two ODI matches.

Amidst all the political turmoil and cricket puns being thrown around, it is refreshing to see Captain Babar lead by example as the team pulled themselves together after a shaky first match defeat. One can even go ahead and claim that this is one of the best-looking team Pakistan has seen in a long time. With the skipper setting the bar so high, others players have no choice but to work hard and reach it. This is reverberated in their performance and attitude on and off the pitch. But with such responsibility comes immense pressure and at times Babar can be seen losing his cool a bit to easily. Yes, an intervention is necessary after a grueling defeat but the skipper needs to make sure that his frustration is channeled in a constructive manner and that his anger doesn’t get the better of him in the long run.

That being said, this is indeed a feat to celebrate as Pakistan have managed to finally defeat the world class team after many years. But the job is not yet over as the final T20 match remains. Greenshirts are favourites to win this game – which would have been decided by the time this appears in print – more so because a majority of the Pakistani players have played the second leg of the PSL on the same T20 venue, the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore. But an opponent such as Australia can never be underestimated.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2022.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.