Perhaps because we’re not used to seeing it, we don’toften acknowledge it anymore

The Verdict by Osman Samiuddin in Kolkata17-Mar-2005

Younis Khan and Yousuf Youhana: not as extravagently talented, but steelier than their forebears© Getty Images
Perhaps because we’re not used to seeing it, we don’toften acknowledge it anymore. Pakistani teams, especiallyduring the 1990s, were many things; freakishly butfitfully brilliant, electric now, flat then. The linebetween success and failure was often thin enough tobe impoverished, delicately balanced on feats ofstupendous individual skill; a spell from Wasim here,one from Waqar there, a virtuoso from Saeed Anwar’swrists or an Inzamam special. Performances wereethereal and success came from an explosion of anindividual or two, while failure from an implosion ofthe collective. If a win often resulted in a streak ofthem, so too did a loss. Not often was there anythingtangible – solidity or resilience – in between.The loss of the two Ws and Saeed has been muchmourned in Pakistan – it still is. But since the WorldCup, and especially over the last year, a squad ofplayers has emerged within Pakistan with a spinesteely enough to cope with positions and situations ofdespair, often made worse through makeshift resources.Mohali last week was an exceptional and spectacularaddition to a growing body of evidence. The wins inLahore against the Indians, after the Multan massacre,and at Karachi against Sri Lanka after SanathJayasuriya had mauled them at Faisalabad wereadmirable demonstrations. Even within the 3-0whitewash in Australia, there were glimpses afterPerth that this Pakistan is not as ready to roll overas previous sides.Tellingly, they have found this spirit collectivelyand through a variety of sources, players such as AsimKamal, the leader Inzamam, Danish Kaneria, YounisKhan, Yousuf Youhana and recently Kamran Akmal andAbdul Razzaq. Calcutta, over two days, has highlightedthis trait most emphatically. They were written offafter the first two sessions had yielded 225 runs andtwo wickets; a big total on the cards, Harbhajan Singhin tow and a heavy defeat to follow. But the responsewas communal, conceived by Shahid Afridi’s dismissalof Tendulkar, continued by Abdul Razzaq’s two wicketsin two balls and concluded yesterday by DanishKaneria’s extraction of Rahul Dravid. Not a starryindividual performance in sight, it was fitting thateach of the three picked up a wicket today to end theIndian innings.Maybe because they are not as extravagantly gifted astheir predecessors, they succeed occasionally byconcentrating on the basics. They chased leather muchof yesterday but they did it with commitment,discipline and passion. Afridi’s bullish presence atthe faltering top of the order today was crucial, butmore so was the recognition by Younis Khan and YousufYouhana of the most underappreciated of cricketingbasics; the art of running as a weapon.Zaheer Abbas, in a recent interview with WAC, recalledhow Asif Iqbal and Javed Miandad had run the Indiansragged when chasing 164 during the memorable chasein Karachi in 1978-79. They had, he said, run singlesthat should never have been run, they converted twosinto threes. It was, reckons Abbas, the invention ofmodern day one-day running as we know it. The Australians,of course, have reclaimed the aggressive, cheeky runof an ODI and refashioned it for the Test game.Today, Youhana and Younis stole, created, nurdled,Deflected and angled runs, cheeky in nature but decisivein spirit. With three in the covers, a slip and shortleg, they relentlessly pursued an internationalversion of tip and run, interspersed freely withboundaries. Each run chipped away at a sizeable totaland at India’s patience. In an innings of 66 overs,there were seven maidens. Not since Miandad himself,and usually against India, had there been such anexhibition.There is, of course, a proviso – there still is withPakistan – and the threat of disintegration alwaysloiters. It has happened also in the last year and theprospect of chasing runs on this pitch remains anuneasy one, but what you cannot do is write them offeven after that. They might go down here, but theywill not, you suspect, be out. What must now beacknowledged, after Mohali, after Calcutta, afterKarachi and Lahore, is that this vintage ofPakistanis, while not possessing the sparkle ofbefore, is made of sterner stuff.