T20

A young Pakistan team, banned from the glitz and glamour of the IPL, came up with another performance suggesting India is not the only game in town.

As thousands of Pakistan fans kept standing in lines outside the SCG long after the start of play can testify, they have had to learn how to wait and to be cut out of the magic circle; and while waiting, to make their sport in their own way. International players, including Australians, who have participated in the PSL have been saying quietly for a few years that the cricket there is on par with the IPL. Does Pakistan’s quality suggest that the IPL is not quite the cut above the rest that it ought to be, or has the PSL snuck beneath world cricket’s radar to be, pound for pound and rupee for rupee, the best school for this form of cricket? A few weeks ago, in the highlight of the tournament, Pakistan outplayed India’s galacticos for 39 of 40 overs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Due to India’s ban on Pakistan players, which has been in force since the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008, the IPL’s first year, Babar’s team have had to grow their T20 nous either by finding gigs in Twenty20 leagues around the world or purely inside Pakistan. Whether it was Shadab Khan’s brilliant direct-hit run out of Devon Conway, the clever and varied bowling from the four-man pace attack, or the spin craft of Shadab and Mohammad Nawaz, Pakistan again proved that they play their Twenty20 cricket better than just about anyone on the globe.