Worst Performance
Pakistan has been an exotic side. Exotic, not consistent. Exotic, with traces of 92’ genius and the tainted patches of mediocrity from the first decade of the 21st century. 2003 wasn’t good. The ’99 runners-up played cricket in South Africa like they just wanted to leave at the earliest, losing to all the big teams including a massive loss to England. They didn’t make it past the first round. Probably, they would come back four years later, repaint the memories of the bad tournament in the Rainbow Nation. Probably they couldn’t.
2007 was a strange World Cup in the Caribbean, a World Cup that was too risky for the big teams, where one upset could mean diving off the cliff without a parachute. Pakistan, like arch-rivals India, had to swallow the bitter pill of that upset loss to Ireland – their cricketing brothers if you go by the shade of their jerseys. A stab in the heart. A consolation win against Zimbabwe wouldn’t help redeem the players, who had already lost to the hosts, West Indies.
Top Performers
An exotic side needs a master magician, a charmer whose languid movements could hypnotize the audience. Pakistan has had great cricketers. Fast bowlers. Mysterious spinners. Dogged batsmen. Oh yes, I could hear you whisper names for each category. But they also had the Chosen One: Imran Khan. The man who is rarely considered for the tag of the greatest all-rounder the world had seen.
Imran Khan could walk into Pakistan’s all time XI as a batsman. Imran Khan will waltz into Pakistan’s all time XI as a bowler. Imran Khan will just lounge at the pivot of Pakistan’s all time XI as a leader; a team of batsmen and bowlers could be picked around. 34 wickets at less than 20 apiece and at an economy of 3.86 – Imran Khan the bowler. Imran Khan the batsman – 666 runs in 24 inning at an average of 35. And then those two innings, 44 and 72 in the semi-finals and finals. Poetically, the man who picked the last wicket in the finals for the world to realize what he had always known, like the man who was sent a cheat code by destiny’s scribe.
Pakistan has had other warriors too - Javed Miandad for example, who played in 6 World Cups and is the only Pakistani batsman to score more than 1000 runs at the World Cup. There was Saeed Anwar – 915 at nearly 54. Inzy squandered his grand start to eventually crawl to 717. Rameez Raja touched the 700 mark, too, playing during the era when Pakistan won a World Cup between two semi-final appearances either side.
There were plenty of bowlers, as well, who added mysterious hints of aroma to the Pakistani recipe. Shoaib Akhtar, who bowled the fastest recorded delivery, in the 2003 World Cup, managed 30 wickets: the key to the team’s ’99 ascendancy. Shahid Afridi will play again and has 28. He could probably cross the great Imran. Wasim Akram, though, is untouchable, with 55 wickets at nearly 24 apiece, including 3 in the ’92 finals. Very few know that Akram also has more than 400 runs, including a blitzkrieg 33 in the ’92 finals, making it his finals in a tournament that belonged to his captain.
Memorable Matches
For an exotic side, how do you define ‘memorable’? If you ask Pakistan fans, they might probably say that it is still to come, probably a win against their arch-rivals. Does memorable have magic? Does it have the sweetness of a symphony? If it does, it has to be the ’92 finals against England, where at 24-2, they dangled precariously, before conjuring a great innings and then, from being cornered during the chase, managed to fight back in style.
Does memorable have blotches of fury? In that case, Inzy’s whirlwind knock will certainly qualify, coming against a side that dominated the World Cup until then, a side that, unfortunately, missed its injured captain in the most critical moments of the match. Does memorable mean painful, like the loss to Ireland or to Bangladesh or to India in every match the two teams played?
If memorable meant historic, the colossal 192-run victory over Sri Lanka, their first at World Cups, in 1975, would be a definite pick. If memorable means thrilling, ’87 Lahore against West Indies would be a great pick: 217 chased. Of the last ball. By the last batting pair. 4 wickets for Imran in that match, but Saleem Yousuf was destined to pocket that day. He did, with a nerveless 56.
If memorable meant efficient, the win against Australia in ’99 would be a good pick. 275 was Pakistan’s score. But, to stop probably the greatest ODI team, a special act of rebellion had to be performed. Who else but the trusted gladiator. Akram finished the day with 4/40. Australia tasted defeat in a tournament; they will eventually win. For Pakistan, revenge was waiting to be served cold, but that was for another day.
There were some painful losses along the way, such as the one-wicket loss to West Indies in 1975, the 10-wicket loss to West Indies again in 1992, the 39-run loss to India in Bangalore, 1996, a match they should have won. Easily. Memorable still, because exotic is not about celebrating as much as it is about flavours; distinct flavours that garner surprises and indulge the whims of unpredictability.
Pakistan is an exotic side. Flashy batsmen, Sultans of Swing, mystery spinners, searing pace bowlers. A team designed with the sheer intention to thrill. Good thrills, bad thrills. Thrills, nevertheless. A team that plays cricket in strange ways. Some days, it is a game that dances at their feet. Some days, it is the demon they lose themselves to. Yet there is something happening, all the time, something strange, a little different from the usual monotony. Hence, exotic!
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