BLOG: Congrats Pakistan, now don’t look back and keep attacking

In today’s cricket, the key to success is to attack – attack when you bowl, attack when you bat and attack when you field. There’s just no other option left anymore. The worst that’s going to happen? You may lose. The best? You may win. But when you defend, you lose either way.

The sooner the teams learn this, the faster they improve. It is not an option in cricket any more – it is an absolute requirement that today’s brand of cricket brings with itself. And no other day was this more obvious than today; Pakistan finally ended a 12-year drought by beating Australia in Australia – their first win against the hosts Down Under in any format since January 2005.

A rare victory at the mighty Melbourne Cricket Ground for the team and the fans to cherish. Pakistan were brilliant with the ball as well as the bat. But what stood out from the very start of the match was an even rarer attacking approach to the game adopted by the Green Shirts under stand-in captain Mohammad Hafeez. It was refreshing to see Pakistan adopting an aggressive tone against the Aussies and dominating the hosts psychologically most of the time. And, as we all saw, it paid off. 

Left-arm pacer Junaid Khan, making a return to ODI cricket after over one-and-a-half years, found his rhythm much faster than many of us would have thought. He went after the Australian top-order ruthlessly, and his aggression and passion showed through. The fearsome David Warner looked cornered and it was only a matter of time before Junaid was able to get him out. Usman Khawaja followed him soon after. Such a start for Pakistan laid the foundation of what was to come later.

Hafeez leveraged the MCG pitch to Pakistan’s advantage. He utilised pace and spin in sync with the slower conditions and Australia could clearly be seen struggling. When batting, Pakistan kept the momentum going and hit back at the Aussie pace attack, instead of easing into their comfort zone. Sharjeel Khan is a naturally aggressive player, and Hafeez’s decision to maintain the aggression at the other end helped Pakistan frustrate Aussie bowlers even more.

His captaincy today was in stark contrast to the defensive approach Pakistan are usually prone to falling back to, when things do not seem to be going well. But that is where we go wrong. Defence is simply not an option anymore. Many teams have realised this already and transformed their playing style. Case in point: New Zealand.

Known forever as the ‘underdogs’, the Black Caps, under the captainship of Brendon McCullum and guided by the coaching crew comprising Mike Hesson and former speedster Shane Bond, radically changed their approach to playing cricket and became a reckoning force over the past five years. McCullum decided New Zealand had had enough of being the ‘weaker’ rival, and made his team into one of the most attacking sides in the game. From bold field placings to raw pace and unconventional batting, the Black Caps made sure to dominate their rivals wherever they played. And their strategy worked spectacularly. New Zealand, for the first time in history, made it to the finals of a World Cup in 2015. Although McCullum and Bond are no longer with the team, New Zealand rule the T20 format and sit at number 4 in ODI rankings.

Bangladesh are another example. From being perceived as a ‘weak’ side, they now give serious competition to some of the best teams in the world. Their ongoing Test against New Zealand and recent home series against England showed their attacking skills and gave a rough time to the rivals.

So what does this tell us? Pakistan need to attack and keep attacking, no matter if it’s their adopted home ground of UAE or foreign lands such as Australia. They need to keep the pressure on their opponent through aggressive bowling, sharp fielding and fearless batting. There’s no going back from here. Be it Misbah, Azhar Ali or Hafeez, we need to realise the demands of modern-day cricket and forget defence. We have plenty of talent in the team. Our captains and the coaching staff need to train and harness this talent into a bold, fearless side. And we will see more wins against formidable opponents such as today’s MCG victory.

The writer is a producer at Geo.TV and tweets @Mariaa_54