Asif Khan’s exploits for UAE leave Pakistan in awe

Kuumar Shyam (Sharjah)

The UAE went down fighting to Pakistan in the Bank AlFalah tri-series, losing by 31 runs on Saturday, but there was one braveheart who stole the spotlight at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Around the stadium, two of Asif Khan’s six sixes and six boundaries in an explosive 35-ball knock of 77 runs went sailing over the walled periphery of the venue and adjacent to a busy road where two police cars were also parked.

For half an hour, Khan ran riot, batting unshackled. For a while, Sharjah was his stage, and he was the headline act. The first of those two sixes also helped him bring up his half-century for the hosts, who were chasing a stiff 208-run target.

The holder of the fastest century by a player from an Associate-level cricketing nation – vs Nepal two years ago in 41 balls, Khan has not managed to trouble the scorers since and was even dropped lower down the order on Saturday. He arrived at the crease with the hosts reeling at 76-5 in the 11th over, including a run-out for the UAE captain and opener Muhammad Waseem, who can be equally dangerous when he gets going.

At that stage, it looked like the UAE had lost the plot altogether after impressively chipping away at the wickets of Pakistan, who chose to bat first, and were 104-4 in 11 overs and Saim Ayub (69 runs) out after ploughing a lone furrow. But Hasan Nawaz (56) and 25 runs from Mohammed Nawaz (non-related) ticked the scoreboard past the 200 mark as the UAE bowlers lost control.

“I am usually an opener, like Waseem,” said Khan later. “Obviously losing Waseem to a run-out was a big blow. So when I came at five wickets down, I wanted us to settle down a bit and bat as long as we could. Had the target been 180, it was very doable,” he said.

Putting aside form doubts, Pakistan registered their second victory in the tri-series after back-to-back days of cricket, but the lingering memory of Saturday’s second win will not be of Saim Ayub’s artistry or Hasan Nawaz’s clean hitting, but of Khan’s fightback.

While the sixes were muscled away, the best shot was a mere flick off a ball from outside offstump and sending one bounce past the boundary ropes in the deep fine-leg region. Perhaps he had a message to give or his raw emotions showed at reaching the milestone in 25 balls that he signalled what looked like a snake biting back.

To a question from Aletihad on if an upset win for the UAE could have been possible had he come in earlier up the batting order, Khan said: “Both me and Waseem can hit the ball hard. But the team also needed to bat deep. So, I will do whatever the team wants me to; they saw me as a power-hitter or finisher, so I did my best in that role.”

“I had the belief that if I get my few balls to settle down, I can take on any target. As players of Associate nations, we relish opportunities like these. Our inexperience led to the loss of quick wickets early, else this could have been a different result.

Khan still sounded optimistic. “We worked hard in our training and you will see it again in the remaining three matches [each team plays the other twice in a round-robin group stage]. We have given a wake-up to the teams with this performance, and I am sure you will see tough performances from us throughout.

“Playing well against such teams ahead of the Asia Cup [starting September 9] is the best way to prepare and that is why this tournament was organised. We also have to groom youngsters. That’s why I am coming in down the order,” Khan said, sounding happy with his role.

Each team is testing out the bench strength. Pakistan chose to rest main bowlers Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf, while the UAE chose to promote teenage Ethan D’Souza, who looked out of depth and was also culpable in Waseem’s run-out and then got caught behind to Hassan Ali, the most experienced bowler.