Has Pakistan overcome its inefficiency to chase down targets?

The coverage by Star Sports for this Asia cup in particular has been eccentric and chock-a-block with stats and projections popping up very frequently. The team in focus here, Pakistan, has defied those projections in successive games against India and Bangladesh and has chased down 246 and 326 respectively to register crucial victories.

Against India, the projection was that, if Team India could make more than 250 batting first, Pakistan had a solid 80% chance of losing the game. Something that the mercurial Pakistani side not only made a mockery of in that match against India but also followed it up against Bangladesh, chasing down 326 to control their own destiny and march into the finals rather dramatically.

For me, what stood out on both the occasions was the way Pakistan held their nerve and managed to do something that has been their Achilles heel in the last couple of years. Chasing down any target has always been a hoodoo for Pakistan; but on the flip side of the coin, it’s the mercurial nature of Pakistan teams over the years that has stood out and let people take notice. Albeit being a tale of Shahid Afridi hogging the limelight in the games against India and Bangladesh, it was the setup for him that made the possibility become a reality. So has Pakistan overcome its inefficiency to chase down targets and win games?

Is he starting to redeem his swashbuckling style of batting?

One of the reasons why Team India has been prolific with chasing down targets is down to the fact that they’ve had MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and, on occasions, Yuvraj Singh playing the role of a ‘finisher’ to perfection. And over the past few years, I can’t remember Pakistan having a finisher in the ranks, who is capable of steering his side to victory, even when the equation is realistic and very much attainable.

In the game against India, Pakistan required 46 to win off 39 balls when Afridi had walked into bat, and the game was tantalizingly poised for them. It is not unusual for us to see Pakistani sides choke in similar situations and fail to get the job done, but a determined Afridi made sure that the trend didn’t continue and finished off Team India’s charge for booking a place in the final with two balls to spare.

And just to prove to their detractors that it wasn’t a one-off game, Pakistan and Afridi went on a similar venture against Bangladesh and completed an even more daunting task in grand style.

Pakistan needed a move on, and the target of 326 looked like getting out of reach when Afridi walked into bat at 225/5. Bangladeshi slow bowlers didn’t give anything away, and when Pakistan needed to get 101 off 52 balls, the hosts were firmly in control of the proceedings and were expected to register their first elusive win of the tournament. But ‘Boom Boom Afridi’ struck again, which meant that the asking rate started to plummet rather rapidly, and for once Afridi became the game-changer of yesteryears. His partnership of 69 in 33 balls with Fawad Alam tilted the game in Pakistan’s favour, and, with Umar Akmal still waiting in the sheds, Pakistan had more than just a chance to successfully chase a target for the second time in succession.

So the verdict probably is that Afridi has been the difference during all these years: between them not being able to chase down targets and doing so with ease in the last couple of matches. If Afridi can come up with similar or better performances, Pakistan should be able to chase down targets much more frequently and without a lot of hassle.