Pakistan's Asif Ali shows what the hype is all about

Picture this: Pakistan have just beaten one of the best T20I outfits and have done so without breaking a sweat. They’ve even chased down a tricky total – something that warrants effusive praise, considering their proclivity to wilt under the slightest bit of pressure in T20Is. Pakistan are now gliding over the highest cloud imaginable and have the world at their feet.

A few days later, they look to repeat the dose. This time, against another accomplished nation and a team that they hold a bit of a grudge against due to off-field actions.

They bowl excellently again and restrict the opposition to a relatively paltry total. Remember, at the toss, they decided that they would chase. From that perspective, this is the most apt visualization of a cricketing encounter.

Their batters then stride out to the middle, mark their guard and get ready to thwart whatever the bowlers have to throw at them. Like a few moons ago, Pakistan begin sedately, hoping that they can turn the screw at the opportune moments and snatch the game away from the opposition.

A wicket falls in the Power Play – notably their skipper and one of the best batters on the planet. It is followed by a slight lull in the run-scoring – a lull that Pakistan’s batters are trying to offset by looking for boundaries.

Another batter bites the dust in his pursuit to increase the tempo, meaning that the other opener, who averaged just a tick over 85 for Pakistan when opening in T20Is, is left waging a lone battle.

And then the unthinkable happens. The batter whose basket is filled with all the Pakistan eggs falls – not as infamously or in a gargantuan manner as the London Bridge, but enough to evoke memories that Pakistan have been wanting to run away from.

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The required run-rate is also climbing now and new batters are feeling the pinch. The tales they’ve heard of Pakistan crumbling like a pack of cards in run-chases is unfolding in front of their eyes. And, to an extent, they even seem powerless to an inevitability that has plagued them historically.

Same old Pakistan, eh?

This time, though, there was a slight spin to the story – an Asif Ali-named twist people hadn’t explored enough. Or, to be more precise, people hadn’t thought would be important in the larger scheme of things.

By the time the right-handed batter had left his powerful imprint on the game against New Zealand, the ghosts of past run-chases had been buried. More importantly, it had been achieved in a manner completely antonymous to how Pakistan approach their run-chases, especially since Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have made it a habit to carry their team across the line.

When Asif walked out to bat, Pakistan still required 48 runs off 37 balls – an equation most teams wouldn’t baulk at but an equation that would’ve caused more than a furrowed brow or two in the Men In Green’s ranks.

Yet, the right-handed batter showcased the kind of application and conviction Pakistan craved. Not only did he cream his way to a 12-ball 27, he did so with the sort of authority associated with a top-drawer finisher.

Or, in other words, a finisher thought Pakistan always had in their midst but one who couldn’t really endear himself to the masses because, well, his international record is ordinary, at best.

Since 2019, not many batters have made as many waves in the Pakistan cricketing circuit as Asif. Though the inclination would be to point at Babar, Rizwan and their heroic achievements, the brand of cricket Asif professes is vastly different. In fact, it is the ideal foil that allows Babar and Rizwan to construct essays in a manner that bears consistent fruit.

However, till the fixture against New Zealand, a lot of the aforementioned seemed conjecture. Not because Asif wasn’t producing the requisite goods but also because he seemed a fish out of the international water.

If numbers are taken into account, the right-handed batter averages 17.66 across 28 T20I innings. His strike rate, which is supposed to be his USP, also hovers around the 127-runs per 100 balls mark.

In ODIs, too, he has been pretty sub-standard, only accumulating 382 runs at an average of 25.46. In that format, though, his strike rate, which is a shade over 121.6 stands out. However, the average also indicates that Asif isn’t very adept at crafting a long innings. Instead, the statistics hint that he is as much as lower-order dasher as any in international cricket.

Moreover, during his stint in international cricket, he had seemed a tad sluggish and seemed a step behind the game – something that happens to a lot of cricketers but something that was nevertheless a major concern. At times, he played the wrong stroke at the wrong time whereas on other occasions, he was guilty of not reading the situation smartly enough.

Either way, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Asif, despite all the hype that was generated by the Pakistan faithful owing to his performances in the domestic circuit, was largely struggling to deliver on his promise.

Asif Ali(L) was brilliant for Pakistan against New Zealand

Asif Ali turned the game on its head for Pakistan

The game against the Kiwis, however, might just have changed things up a little. Not only because of the returns Asif generated but also because Pakistan now seem to understand where he is best suited – at the death.

Since 2019, Asif has the fifth highest strike rate (199.46) at the death for all batters to have faced a minimum of 175 balls. Only the likes of AB de Villiers, Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard and Virat Kohli are ahead of him, which says a lot about Asif’s prowess.

Again, Asif’s average of 25 at the death suggests that there will be days when he isn’t able to provide the thrust Pakistan are crying out for. The flip side to it, however, is that when he does, the Men In Green would find themselves within touching distance of a victory.

When batting first, it might not have as much of an impact. When chasing though – something that has been Pakistan’s kryptonite, momentum-inducing knocks such as the one against New Zealand could be the difference between victory and defeat.

From a broader perspective, Asif’s pyrotechnics are indicative of the T20I revolution Pakistan have undergone – a revolution where the ideals of bravery, courage and fearlessness reign supreme. Also, a revolution where chasing down totals isn’t as much of a dampener as it once was.

They did it against India at a canter and scrambled across when confronting the Black Caps. Most tellingly, both run-chases were accomplished in completely different manners, hinting that Pakistan, for the first time in a while, might just like chasing, after all.

Maybe then, the chants of “same, old Pakistan” aren’t as appropriate as they once were. What is more certain, though, is that Asif Ali is starting to show what the hype around him is all about.

And now that he has tasted blood on the international landscape, Pakistan would hope that he begins dominating it – much like he has done on the domestic stage. If that happens, Pakistan may keep gliding over the highest cloud a touch longer.