Abu Dhabi: It wasn’t a contest that will be etched as one of the greatest but Mohammad Amir’s stormy spell will definitely hold a citation for a classic contest whenever one speaks of India-Pakistan glorious rivalries.
The contest looked to be a one-sided affair following Pakistan’s collapse on a lively Mirpur wicket for 83 in 17.3 overs after being put in by MS Dhoni.
However, the tainted Amir, who had faced stiff resistance from most of the players in the national side, as Pakistan Cricket Board was making attempts to rehabilitate the pacer until a few months back, showed he had risen from the ashes with a deadly display of swing and pace bowling.
Amir’s first delivery — a toe crushing inswinging yorker — should have been rewarded with the wicket of Rohit Sharma.
Repeated reviews gave a feeling perhaps the ball did a bit too much, but the 23-year-old didn’t lose heart and was quickly back to the bowling crease.
The next ball, the left-armer swung it further few inches at fiery pace to leave Sharma again rooted — this time without any doubt in front of the wicket and the former got his prized wicket.
Two balls later, the man who is slowly developing the reputation of being India’s next Mr Dependable — Ajinkya Rahane — was trapped in front off an identical delivery.
Amir then made southpaw Suresh Raina do some soul-searching in front of the crease with two brilliant deliveries that swung away.
A pumped-up Amir then dished out a ditto second over and had the bounce not come into the equation — Kohli would have been walking back to the pavilion.
Then a clueless-looking Raina couldn’t counter the late swing and handed a simple catch to mid-on. It was game on as India were in a deep hole after being reduced to 8 for 3 and Amir, for once, reminded everyone that this is a Classico and will have all the drama and thrills that one longed for.
Amir, who had grabbed the headlines for all the wrong reasons, had shown the spark of his old self with a hat-trick in his first Pakistan Super League match for Karachi Kings against Lahore Qalandars. However, this performance at Asia’s biggest stage was a reassurance that he is on the right road to redemption.
Suddenly, all his unpardonable sins of the past had become a distant memory and what took centrestage was this lighting spell that left the cricketing world watching this rare talent in awe.
Accolades for the youngster has poured in from all quarters since then including from Kohli, whose innings wouldn’t have held that much significance had he not displayed his class against a bowler who was clearly in the zone and was having his day.
Kohli sent one from Amir to the square-leg boundary showing his quick wrist-work and gave the next ball a smiliar treatment through the covers, proving once again the importance of timing in batting skills.
In a short burst, the world watched a bowler who was making a match of a small total to regain his persona and there was a world class batsman who was relishing the challenge thrown at him with high quality batting.
Kohli’s 49 off 51 balls, before being wrongly adjudged leg-before to an inside-edge, was enough to see India home comfortably in the end in 15.2 overs.
This Asia Cup contest will always be lauded as one of golden moments in the annals of Twenty20 cricket.
