Nothing to lose

The Champions Trophy, also fondly called the mini-World Cup – especially by those who win it – officially kicked off. This piece is being written in the immediate aftermath of Pakistan’s two warmup matches against Bangladesh and Australia. The latter was washed off after 10.2 overs, and the former witnessed something that Pakistan hasn’t been able to pull off in recent memory – or many times in its history.

Too bad that Pakistan’s epic run chase against Bangladesh came in a warm-up match. For starters it meant that there was no broadcast or footage available of any sort. Secondly, it didn’t count as an international, since rules were flexible and the exercise was primarily for teams to gauge themselves before the tournament begins.

Pakistan would need to beat either India or South Africa to have any chance of going through to the semis

As far as the gauging bit is concerned Pakistan probably didn’t find much new about its squad in the first warmup, barring one notable exception. All-round prodigy Fahim Ashraf has been knocking on Pakistan’s door in recent times, with impressive performances in the Pakistan Cup recently with both ball and bat. What is unique about this youngster is something that is commonplace among all international sides: that he can clear the boundary with ease.

In the Pakistan side of 2017 that is a novelty. Those who were fortunate enough to witness his 64-run blitz off 30 balls – or read the commentary – tell about his hitting prowess, which has had people talking in the domestic circuit as well. Credit also must be given to Hasan Ali, whose 15-ball 27 provided able support to Fahim that helped Pakistan chase down 342, despite being 249-8 after 42.4 overs.

Now the slight issue here is that despite their all-round prowess both Fahim and Hasan are primarily in the side as bowlers. While Hasan has been a star bowler for the national side over the past 12 months or so, Fahim is yet to impress with the ball after 2 warm up matches for Pakistan – he went for 30 off his 3 overs in the 10.2 that Pakistan bowled against Australia.

Now India loom on Sunday, which is the blockbuster that the entire cricketing universe – let alone the two Subcontinental giants – is waiting for. Then there is South Africa on Wednesday, before Pakistan wrap up their group stage against Sri Lanka on June 12.

Pakistan would need to beat either India or South Africa to have any chance of going through to the semis.

“We are No. 8, so we have nothing to lose. So that’s why I told the players just play your natural game,” said captain Sarfraz Ahmed in a press conference before the tournament began. While the ranking and the nothing to lose bit is accurate – and maybe even the right way to approach the tournament – the rhetorical ‘natural game’ part that most Pakistani captains involuntarily utter is perhaps not the way to go about it for most of the Pakistani cricketers.

The ‘natural game’ for many of Pakistani players, especially the batsmen, is cagey, outdated and self-centric – and this includes almost everyone from the rising star Babar Azam to the recently stepped down ODI skipper Azhar Ali. Hence, instead of playing their ‘natural game’ these batsmen should play out of their comfort zone and see if they’re good enough, or else just make way for more Fahims to come and take their place.

The much heralded bowling lineup has failed to perform in limited-overs cricket for quite some time. It would be interesting to note who Fahim plays for in the starting XI, if he’s selected at all, since that would mean one of Mohammed Amir, Junaid Khan, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan and ImadWasim would have to sit out.

Of course, Pakistan’s chances in the Champions Trophy don’t all of a sudden rest on Fahim Ashraf’s shoulders. But his performance is what the rest of the team should look to replicate. Whether or not they’re able to pull it off would be on display in the next five days.