Asia Cup - India vs Pakistan: The mirage of Mohammad Amir and threat of Hasan Ali

If Amir hasn’t produced the goods, then who should India be really worried about. There are quite a few answers to this question apart from the fact that Amir remains a huge threat despite his ongoing poor form.

The mood inside the Australia room at the Kennington Oval mirrored that on the streets of Lahore. It was a room buzzing with excitement after Fakhar Zaman, albeit with a touch of luck, had given Pakistan the upper hand in the final of the Champions Trophy.

Pakistani cricketers Shadab Khan (2L), Faheem Ashraf (R), Mohammad Amir (L), and Hasan Ali (2R) take part in a practice session during a training camp for the upcoming tours of Ireland and England, at the Gaddafi Cricket Stadium in Lahore on April 19, 2018. - (AFP/Getty Images)

The seating arrangement for the final meant the writer along with a couple of Indian journalists were caught in a room full of scribes from the other side. Most of the talk was about how India had a strong batting line-up but chasing a 300-plus total in a final would be difficult. But with Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli leading India’s batting charge, our Pakistani counterparts were not yet ready to throw caution to the wind while talking about the green brigade’s chances.

India had already beaten Pakistan in the tournament and were the odds-on favourites to lift the trophy, despite the steep chase. But once Mohammad Amir started to make the white ball talk, it was all over in a jiffy. Amir was a precocious talent from the time he had burst on to the international scene as a 17-year old and he had been trying incessantly to prove that five years of international ban had not taken the razor sharp edge away.

I had seen the same Indian batting come down to its knees in front of the left-arm pacer’s guile on a placid pitch in Dhaka a year ago, during the Asia Cup. Four overs of lethal swing and movement almost took the heart out of India’s batting, only for Virat Kohli to survive and take the team home.

Amir was equally good in the WT20 clash at the Eden Gardens and the Champions Trophy group outing in Birmingham, but his batsmen had not given him enough to bowl with. That wasn’t the case at the Oval and Amir bowled with vigour and zest. The third ball of the first over swung in sharply at searing pace and thudded into the pads of Rohit Sharma. The Indian opener walked without scoring.

He got one to move after pitching it in his next over and Virat Kohli edged it straight to first slip, but Azhar Ali grassed the chance. Amir was distraught but not done yet. He bowled the next one outside the off stump and the movement ensured Kohli got a leading edge straight to point. Game set match to Pakistan. He would go on to pick the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan too to wipe out India’s top three as Pakistan went on to win their first major ICC trophy since winning the 2009 ICC World T20, incidentally the tournament in which Amir had made his international debut.

Nine years on, Amir had proved he was very much Pakistan’s leading light in the pace department. So, when the fixtures were announced for the 2018 Asia Cup, cricket fans world over waited with excitement for the epic battle between Amir and Kohli to resume. But with BCCI deciding to rest Kohli for the tournament, the onus will lie on Rohit Sharma and co to tackle the menacing paceman.

That brings us to the question of whether Mohammad Amir really is the biggest threat to this Indian batting line up, when the two teams clash in Dubai. A look at Amir’s recent numbers might paint a completely different picture. Since, that awe-inspiring performance at the Oval, Amir has been a mere shadow of his destructive self.

He has 21 wickets to show from 19 one-day outings at a rather abysmal, according to his standards, average of 37.52. His average and strike rate during this period has been the worst among all Pakistani bowlers in the 50-over format. In 7 matches in 2018, Amir averages a poor 72.66, although his economy rate of 4.19 this year has been his best ever. So, the real problem lies with the fact that Amir has not been picking wickets of late.

If Amir hasn’t produced the goods, then who should India be really worried about. There are quite a few answers to this question apart from the fact that Amir remains a huge threat despite his poor form.

Pakistan’s most prolific bowler during this period, since January 2017, is the medium pacer Hasan Ali, who has 57 wickets to his name from just 25 matches. Ali, who doesn’t bowl with a lot of pace, is a master of change of pace and also gets the ball to grip and move after pitching. The slow surfaces in the middle-east will work perfectly for his craft and the Indian batsman, who are ever ready to play their strokes, must be wary of this bowler and his uncanny knack of picking wickets.

Add to that the presence of the young sensation Usman Khan Shinwari, who has made a sensational start to his international career and Faheem Ashraf and India will have their task cut out against a strong Pakistan new ball line-up.

Come Wednesday it is once again going to be a battle between India’s batting might and Pakistan’s pace prowess, like it used to be in the heady days of 80s and 90s.