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Those big white boots took a bit of pounding on Tuesday afternoon as Shoaib Akhtar jogged, ran and steamed in parts through his quota of ten overs. But after his three wickets and a comeback, there was something special that happened to Pakistan cricket at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium.
Seldom does it happen that two mavericks Akthar and skipper Shahid Afridi, who scored his fifth international hundred turn up with stellar performances in either half, yet Pakistan end up on a losing side. Afridi's 68-ball 109 with six sixes and eight boundaries was a special one, but yet, the visitors were found short by 16 runs.
But in the long run, the loss won't matter to Pakistan cricket as a few good things happened for Pakistan cricket on Tuesday. Skipper Afridi had said before the tournament that they had one eye on the 2011 World Cup, and keeping in mind the progress, Pakistan cricket took a big leap in the right direction.
Many firsts happened for Pakistan on the cricket field. It was for the first time in four years that Akhtar and Mohammad Asif bowled together with the new ball, and a lot of water had passed under the bridge after that September 2006 game in Nottingham. Akhtar and Asif flunked the dope test together, and a year later Akhtar hurled a bat at Asif after a spat, only to be sent back from the 2007 World Cup. The last three years witnessed the two fast bowlers fighting different issues in their respective personal and professional lives.
Akhtar, the sentimental spectator favourite, was the centre of attention on Tuesday. This wasn't the same Akthar who had made a comeback for the Kolkata Knight Riders's almost two years back. Back then, Akhtar was often caught panting on way back, took eternal time to complete an over and sometimes even cut short his run-up to hurry proceedings and save some effort.
This Akhtar seemed very different from the earlier version; there wasn't that customary eagle-flight like celebration, just a meek signal to keep his copyright after picking his first international wicket in a year. Akhtar peaked with 149kmph and averaged 145, mixing slower deliveries in between to keep the batsman guessing.
This Akhtar isn't erractic, consistently hitting the back of length around off-stump and resisting the temptation to bowl the bouncer or blame the fielder for his freebies. He strangled the batters rather than hurrying them, and picked wickets by playing with their patience rather than generating outright fear. This Akhtar is definitely a better version, though he will thrill the spectators less than before.
Afridi, who was often seen urging him time and again used Akhtar cleverly in short bursts of four spells the first four being the longest, the remaining six in equal parts. Afridi himself, is a much reformed cricketer, looked to hold his team together with a responsible innings rather than playing the customary big shots and get away. Afridi did oblige a few big hits, against Fervez Maharaoof and Muralitharan. In the end, it was Pakistan who won the hearts, while Sri Lanka won the game and logged two points to begin to their title defence.
brief scores: Sri Lanka 242/9 (Sangakkara 42, Jayawardene 54, Mathews 55 n.o.; Akhtar 3/41, Aamer 2/57) bt Pakistan 226 all out in 47 ovs (U Akmal 30, S Afridi 109; Malinga 5/34)
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