Pakistan: Seeing a Parallel Revival?

There is an oasis in the middle of the desert. Those were the images from April when Hyderabad Heroes lifted the Twenty20 tournament trophy of the ICL. But the story was very different in the winter tournament that represented ICL's second season as Lahore Badshahs were crowned champions on the same day that the Pakistan cricket team won the three match one day series contest in Abu Dhabi.

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It was incredible how two seemingly good teams could not cope. The Hyderabad Heroes were clearly the more relaxed of the two. Led by Chris Harris, they have been a team of an inspired bunch of individuals, led amongst others, by the enormous contributions of Stuart Binny, son of the Indian legendary Roger Binny.

They fought their way back in the first final but the Lahore Badshahs proved to have a little more in the tank. The second match was the real humdinger of the best of three finals. As the Heroes clawed back once again, it was the catch by Justin Kemp that sealed it for the Hyderabad team.

The catch of a lifetime also saw an otherwise struggling Kemp win it brilliantly for the Heroes in truly a Heroes fashion, diving and taking the catch inches in front of the boundary ropes.

It also caused enough bad mouthing as the Pakistan team remained unconvinced. But the third final had to be played.

The Heroes would simply not have a chance to claw back as Imran Nazir smashed a forty-four ball hundred that included eleven majestic sixes in an imposing innings that did not leave the winner in doubt from the first over itself of the Pakistan innings.

The Badshahs had their revenge, having been trounced in the final before by the Heroes.

But Pakistan had more reasons to celebrate. The West Indies have once again shown the duplicity of their movements. They should have been riding high after the Stanford Super series victory over England. But instead they kept conceding match initiative after getting into seemingly match winning positions.

For Pakistan, it was just the uplift it needed. After next to no cricket at home and controversy dogging their every move, it was an impressive day in cricket for Pakistan, one official and the other, perhaps a matter of time.

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If more indication was required, the Pakistan Cricket Board had personally congratulated the Badshahs on their victory, if Inzamam ul Haq is to be believed. Even Imran Farhat spoke of the fact that board members at home were rooting for their win and were encouraging of the fact that they were doing so well. The ICC and the BCCI will find it hard to keep their monopoly if the ICL gains this kind of impetus from other boards keen to win over their players.