An international recall and tournament-winning innings on the same day continued a remarkable resurgence
Danyal Rasool25-Jun-2021A security guard saluted before the rusty metal gate creaked open, and the traffic barrier moved aside to let the SUV pass. We were ushered through several acres of private farmland and then it came into view: a field with the grass cut very short. Clearly, this patch of land wasn’t meant to grow any kind of crop.It was a full-sized cricket ground, and the host was an influential local businessman in Multan clearly eager to show off his pride and joy. A 40-over game was underway, a number of the cricketers were seasoned veterans of the Pakistan domestic scene in search of a game while the 2020 edition of the Pakistan Super League was underway. This was weeks before the Covid-19 pandemic brought world sport – and much else – to a standstill, and while we idly lazed about the ground watching the game, the businessman said something that stood out. “Sohaib Maqsood plays here from time to time,” he beamed proudly.You couldn’t help wonder what Maqsood might have made of his career as he enjoyed a casual hit at this ground. Unlike the players we were watching, Maqsood was a Pakistan international who had played 46 white-ball internationals for Pakistan, someone whose exploits had been witnessed by crowds at the Wanderers and the Gabba, Eden Park and Sharjah. It was difficult not to feel that while Maqsood’s presence here might be a feather in the businessman’s cap, the reverse was very much not true. Maqsood playing here – it just didn’t fit.It’s everything he’s done in the time since that explains why it sounded out of place. On a whirlwind day that saw him called up to the national side in fortuitous circumstances for the first time in five years, Maqsood smashed 65 off 35 balls in the PSL final, leading his native Multan Sultans to their first title.Related
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He came out to bat around the halfway mark, but it was his presence in the dugout that allowed Shan Masood and Mohammad Rizwan to spend the first eight overs anchoring their way through an innings that really should have taken off by then. Rizwan was struggling for rhythm while Masood managed just four runs off his first eleven deliveries, and by the numbers, Peshawar Zalmi were well on top at that stage, having stifled the openers during the Powerplay.But there’s a reason Sultans’ openers bat the way they do, why they have more 50-plus partnerships than any other franchise all season. They can afford to be cautious in the Powerplay because when they look across to the dug-out Maqsood is padded up, raring to go in the form of his life. Only two batters have more runs in the tournament, with no one in the top seven matching his strike rate.
For a player who, on his day looks like everything comes easy to him, Maqsood knows of the grind that follows when runs dry up, the phone stops ringing and relationships sour
Few of his team-mates need to take risks because Maqsood will take more than his fair share, all without looking like he is. And when he came in to replace Masood in the ninth over, he delivered what he had promised he would: a big fat strike rate.Maqsood and Rilee Rossouw combined for a 98-run partnership that came in 44 balls, pushing what appeared to be a 170-run target to one in excess of 200. Maqsood set things going by clobbering 17 off Wahab Riaz in a glorious innings that showcased the full range of his shotmaking ability. There was the mid-off punch off the Zalmi captain that got things going, and the hoick over midwicket which tends to travel the furthest distance. There were wristy drives, and paddles past fine leg. And the magnum opus, the inside out drive over extra cover for six he appears to execute with perfection against pace and spin with equal effortlessness.This was the player that drew breathless comparisons to Inzamam-ul-Haq when he first put on Pakistan colours in 2013. He excited Pakistan supporters because he seemed to be everything they lacked in T20 cricket, a power hitter who doubled as a quality batter. Now he finds himself on a plane to England and the West Indies for two T20I series ahead of the T20 World Cup as Pakistan continue to search for a big hitter up top. The changes in Pakistan cricket can be hard to keep track of, but some things really do always stay the same.
Like that!
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