Comment: First impression is not always the last impression

It seemed all ‘doom and gloom’ for team Pakistan, a string of poor results against South Africa had left the men in green jaded and seemingly clueless, they looked down and out and hardly had any inspiration left as they embarked on the return tour to encounter the Proteas.

On top of that, within the first two days of the tournament they were dealt body blows with the departure of Mohammad Irfan, Shoaib Malik and Abdur Razzaq.

When all seemed lost, Pakistan bounced back in a way only Pakistan can. Debutants Anwar Ali and Bilawal Bhatti took on the South Africa bowlers, rescuing them from 131 for seven after staring at a possibly embarrassing defeat in the first One-Day International.

Bilawal Bhatti

They added 74 runs in what turned out to be a match-winning eighth-wicket stand to help the tourists to a competitive total.

Anwar remained not out with a well-compiled 43 off 55 balls, punctuated with six boundaries, while Bhatti contributed a 39-run cameo that came off just 24 deliveries with two sixes and three boundaries.

If the partnership was not enough to highlight their talent, the duo went a step ahead and impressed with their bowling skills. Bhatti was phenomenal for a debutant, clocking over 140 km/h with ease and maintaining a stranglehold on the otherwise free-flowing South Africa batsmen.

He troubled Jacques Kallis with his pace and extra bounce, which is remarkable for a man with a slight frame a la Malcolm Marshall, the West Indies great.

Bhatti baffled Quinton de Kock with his pace and seam movement and then cleaned up the tail by bowling out Darryl Steyn and Morne Morkel with perfectly pitched up deliveries — reminiscent of the ones bowled by the likes of Umar Gul, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami — when teams were threatening to take the game away from Pakistan.

Ali, on the other hand, got the prized scalp by dismissing Kallis and then getting rid of the dangerous David Miller. He is also probably the best fielder in the present Pakistan team.

If we turn back time, such performances were not seen on an ODI debut or even the first few international matches, played by the likes of Abdul Razzaq and another star all-rounder Azhar Mahmood.

The two were groomed and given a persistent run despite their struggles at the start of their careers; Razzaq took 16 matches to score a half-century and only once took two wickets in a match in his first 12 ODIs.

On the other hand, Azhar played 19 matches to make his first ODI fifty, while only twice he managed a two-wicket haul in his first 17 ODIs, with his wicket-tally a poor eight till then.

Comparing those starts with that of Ali and Bhatti, one feels that Pakistan has got two potential match winners with them and if the management, selectors and cricket fans around the country are patient with the two they can sure turn out to be the future stars who can serve the national team in all three formats of the game.

At the same time, the newcomers must keep their feet firmly on the ground and ensure that they do the hard yards to cement their place.

Recently, we have seen many players making an impression in their first outings at the international levels but only a few of them have ensured that they gather sustained success. Both Ali and Bhatti need to further consolidate their skill set and, at the same time, use their heads for their own betterment and growth at the highest level.

The writer is a reporter for the Sports Desk at

The Express Tribune

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2013.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.