A friend in Colombo called on Tuesday night to congratulate me on Pakistan "making the final" when Sri Lanka were coasting to victory with Sanath Jayasuriya going great guns. I politely asked him to call up after the game.
He did, and I told him the same thing I keep telling youngsters in the side — in cricket, take nothing for granted. One-day cricket is so very unpredictable.
Now that we are out of the tournament, it is time for stock-taking.
There were a few big positives for us from the game against India. It showed we are on the right track. As soon as I got the team list from Sourav Ganguly before the toss, I knew what our gameplan would be.
They had included an extra spinner at the expense of a batsman, which was good news for us. To top it all, I won the toss again and didn't hesitate to bat first. We simply wanted to put up a big score and defend it successfully.
To do that, we had to ensure that we didn't lose too many early wickets. My instructions to Shoaib Malik were not to take undue risks in the first 15 overs especially after we lost Imran Nazir cheaply.
{{/usCountry}}To do that, we had to ensure that we didn't lose too many early wickets. My instructions to Shoaib Malik were not to take undue risks in the first 15 overs especially after we lost Imran Nazir cheaply.
{{/usCountry}}Malik not only followed the instructions, he also kept scoring at a healthy pace. It was an outstanding innings from Malik which will force many pundits to eat their words.
It is easy to talk from outside, but it is the people inside the dressing room who know what it takes. I felt we did rather well in the middle overs, but lost a bit of momentum towards the end. Another 20-25 runs would have made the issue absolutely safe, but with 300 on the board, we fancied our chances.
It was one of those games that went exactly as planned. Our bowlers kept up the pressure and the dividends followed. We couldn't breathe easy as long as Sachin Tendulkar was around, but once he went, it was just a matter of time.
Yes, we could not prevent India from getting that crucial bonus point that ultimately knocked us out of the competition. These things happen and bonus points against even weaker teams cannot be taken for granted.
Courtesy demands that we thank the hosts. Thank you Sri Lanka for hosting the tournament and almost getting us into the final.
There are lessons to be learnt from every game and my boys would be wiser after our poor outing against Sri Lanka that cost us a final berth. The moral of the Asia Cup story is we need to be consistent. We will strive harder to achieve that. (CaféCricket)