Sharjah: The third edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) at the Dubai International Stadium has proved so far that cricketers who have retired from the international game are still as good if not better than the current crop. Although some of the players are pushing 40, they have proved true to the old adage ‘old is gold.’
In the eight matches held at the Dubai International Stadium, many older players have hogged the limelight and even bagged man of the match honours. In the first match of the third edition, 40-year-old Kumar Sangakkara steered debutants Multan Sultans to a stunning victory over defending champions Peshawar Zalmi with a match-winning knock of 57. In the third match of the tournament, Sangakkara came up with an even better innings of 66 against Lahore Qalandars and had everyone asking why he ever retired from international cricket.
When Sangakkara was asked how he was able to time his shots despite being away from international cricket for a while, he remarked with a smile, “I have changed my stance and movement in order to give myself time in T20s where every second counts.”
The way Sangakkara has been batting makes one wonder whether time has come to a standstill for him.
Thirty-six-year-old Shoaib Malek is another veteran who is in top form and has to his name innings of 42 not out, 48 and 35 thus far.
Dwayne Smith, who on March 2017 announced his retirement from international cricket, is 34 but has showed that he is still a dangerous batsman. His unbeaten knock of 71 in Peshawar’s total of 131 for 9 showed that he can single-handedly pile up a big score. He remarked that experience is a big asset. “I have played over 300 T20 matches and I just need to use my experience and do what I have to do. I don’t need any help.”
South African legspinner Imran Tahir may be 38 but his deliveries have been spot on for Multan and his googlies as tough to read as they have always were.
In the third match against Lahore, Tahir emerged as the man of the match with a splendid spell of 3 for 27.
He followed it up by prising out three of five Islamabad wickets to fall in his team’s five-wicket defeat. Asked what is the secret of his performance, he replied: “I always believe that I don’t play for myself, I play for the team and that’s why I try to do well.”
In the fifth match, former Australian and Quetta Gladiators allrounder Shane Watson, who retired from international cricket in 2016, blasted a typically blistering 66. He hit five sixes in all during the match, all of them timed to perfection.
Shahid Afridi, who celebrates his 38th birthday on March 1, took a stunning catch to dismiss Quetta’s Umar Amin right on the boundary rope, displaying remarkable agility and sharp thinking. If that was not enough, in the last match of the first round in Dubai, he produced a match-winning three-wicket spell against Lahore to bag the man of the match award.
Though Lahore have lost all their matches, their skipper Brendon McCullum’s wicket is the most feared striker for opponents. In his team’s defeat to Karachi, 36-year-old McCullum fought a lonely battle, scoring 44 out of his team’s 132 runs even as the rest of the batsmen did not score more than 19 runs. Having played his last international match on February 24, 2016, McCullum showed no signs of being out of touch with the game.
All these performances show beyond any doubt that Twenty20 can never be dubbed a youngsters’ format and that those with rich experience and a steely determination to excel will continue to make age seem like just another number.
