One wicket left, no surrender: is the old Pakistan team back?

Business Recorder · 26/10/2026، 4:40:55 PM

There was a time when you could never write Pakistan off until the final ball. No matter how hopeless the situation looked, you always had a little hope that someone would pull off something extraordinary. That was the charm of Pakistan cricket. They could frustrate you one moment and have you jumping out of your seat the next. Over the years, that feeling seemed to fade. Too often, collapses became familiar, and matches slipped away before you could imagine a comeback. Then came Sunday. With nine wickets down against England, Pakistan were on the verge of defeat. It looked like another game had slipped out of their hands. But Shadab Khan had other ideas. His unbeaten 113 off 96 balls turned the match on its head and gave Pakistan a remarkable one-wicket victory . As I watched him take Pakistan over the line, my mind went back to the teams of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Those sides had their flaws, too, but they had a knack for making the impossible seem possible. Never say die wasn’t just a phrase associated with them. It was a feeling you carried into the final overs, even when the odds were against Pakistan. Is the old Pakistan team back? It would be premature to say so. But this tri-nation tournament has offered a glimpse of something that has been missing for a while. Different matches, different heroes What makes Pakistan’s start to the tournament interesting is that Shadab’s heroics haven’t come in isolation. In each of their first three matches, a different set of players has stepped up. Against Sri Lanka, Salman Ali Agha’s 107 off 90 balls helped Pakistan post 305. Sri Lanka threatened a comeback through Pavan Rathnayake and Janith Liyanage, but Pakistan’s bowlers held their nerve to secure a 37-run win . The next match against England presented a different challenge. Pakistan were struggling at 81 for four before Hasan Nawaz scored 79 and Arafat Minhas added 59, helping the team reach 302 for nine. England looked comfortable at 91 without losing a wick