Pak, Aus ready for big-stakes encounter

SOME MOMENTS not only take one back in time, butalsorecreatetheexactemotionsand passionoftheaustralia-pakistanrivalry. Eight yearsandtwoworldcupslater. Wahabriaz’s spell against Shane Watson reproduces the samecolddread, asthoughoneiswatchingit forthefirsttime.

Thereareothersofcourse, Javedmiandad waving his bat at Dennis Lillee, the latter frontingup, puffinghischest, theunbuttoned shirtandheadbandgivinghimarowdymenace. Or Shoaib Akhtar tearing off like an airplane after nailing Steve Waugh with a devilish in-swinger in the 1999 World Cup league game.

Asthetwoteamsprepareforthelatestinstallmentoftheirrivalryonfriday, twooutfits searchingfortheirbestform, alotisatstake.

Whenevertheymeet, eveniftheyhavenot been at their healthiest best this World Cup, even if Australia is quite un-australia and Pakistanun-pakistan, contextandanticipation automatically falls in place. They have traversedtheoppositeroutesthistournament— theonlysimilarthreadbeingtheirhandsand hearts burnt by India. Australia have ended their two-match losing streak and logged in their first points. Pakistan’s two-match winningrunendedatthehandsofindia. Oneseeks momentum; theotherwantstofindlostimpetus.

So, Pat Cummins admitted his team is “in searchofperfection”, inasensestillstrivingfor theirperfectoutingsoastobecalledgenuine contenders. Fastbowlerhasanaliwhippedup an apt and hilarious metaphor on their defeat.“chalte chalte gaadi ruk gaya,” he would say, adding, “lekin kaafi door chalna hain is gaadiko,” promisingtwopointsineachoftheir next six stops. leaving the room in splits. Pakistan would seek to reclaim lost momentumandputthewoundsoftheindiahammeringbehindthem.

“Adefeattoindiacouldmakeorbreakcareers, butthisisnottheendoftheworld. There aremoregamestobeplayed,” hesaid.

No time to relax

Though a long tournament offers the chance to regroup, Cummins is aware of the needtoextendtheirwinningrun.“ithinkwhat we'reseeinginthistournamentis, it's10really strongsides. It'snotsidesthatarejustmaking up numbers. They've all qualified and they're allherebecausethey'veearnedtheirspot. So, there'snoeasygames. Everything'sprettyfull on,” hesaid.

Both Australia and Pakistan are flawed teams, imperfections running through them, fussing over the form of some of their talismans. Australia’sfinestbatsman, Stevesmith,

PTI hasbeenquiet. Hehasnotlookedoutofsorts, but not lookedfluent either, his three innings providingonly65runs. Heventedouthisrage inthenets, cuttingballsfromthestumpsand chipping down the track and lofting the net bowlersflatovertheirheads. Inallthreegames, none of Australia’s batsmen have looked utterly authoritative. But it could all change if Smithrediscovershisbesttouch, andsuddenly everythingwillfallinplace.

Similarly, Pakistan have been fretting over the rhythm of Shaheen Shah Afridi. The leftarmtearawayhaslookedconstrained, hispace reduced, lengths off-kilter. It has exacerbated the absence of Naseem Shah. Ali pointed out that“onlyonebowlerhaschanged.” Whatwent unsaid is that he happened to be Pakistan’s mostinfluentialbowlerinthisformat.

But for all their imperfections, a PakistanAustraliaclashneverfailstoexcite. Togetinto themood, maybeonecouldrewatchtheriazWatson duel. Or maybe, another iconic momentisjustaroundthecornerof Mgroad.

Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan during a practice session on Thursday.