In Colombo, Pakistan A defeated India A and successfully defended their ACC Men’s Emerging Cup title thanks to the combined efforts of veteran 29-year-old batsman Tayyab Tahir and inexperienced left-arm wrist spinner Sufiyan Muqeem.
Tayyab Tahir added a new chapter to his 2023 story, for which it has already been a fantastic year. In February, on his PSL debut for Karachi Kings, he scored a brilliant half-century. In March, he played his first T20 international match against Afghanistan.
Four months later, on what he believed to be a dry surface, he smashed an aggressive 71-ball 108 to propel Pakistan A to 352 for 8 after they were given the opportunity to bat by Yash Dhull.
Muqeem, who made his List A debut earlier in the competition, then made a significant impact with his ripping wrong uns from the over-the-wicket angle as India A’s chase was on the line. India A struggled against him because he threw in some quick leg breaks, and in 40 overs, they were all out for 224.
Muqeem’s big takedowns of Abhishek Sharma, who led India in scoring with 61, and Dhull, who scored 39, helped Pakistan gain an advantage in the game and explain why it faded out in the latter stages. With the help of fellow spinners Mubasir Khan and Mehran Mumtaz, Muqeem was able to end with a 3 for 66 total in his ten overs.
In order to maybe keep Muqeem out of the batters’ line of sight, the Pakistani team management decided not to start him in the league match against India. In the grand finals, they were caught off guard by a phenomenally gifted spinner who turned heads with his skill, rarely going on the defensive, not even when he was being attacked by Abhishek early on.
At 194 for 8, India’s bottom order continued to bat in an effort to try and outwit the bowlers and extend the game, but they were only postponing what would eventually happen. With a scorching yorker that sent Yuvrajsinh Dodiya’s stumps flying, Mohammad Wasim appropriately ended the game.
Pakistan would have extra reason to celebrate after India A humiliated them in the league match, among other reasons. Tayyab, who, like Muqeem, did not participate in that match, entered the field with the score at 146 for 2 in the 22nd over after the openers Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub had put up a forceful century stand to set the standard.
However, he soon witnessed Omair Yousuf and Qasim Akram lose their wickets in quick succession in the 28th over to successive deliveries from Riyan Parag. Pakistan A had lost 3 for 4 in ten deliveries when, in the 29th, their captain Mohammad Haris was caught lbw by left-arm spinner Nishant Sindhu.
India A had just regained their footing at 187 for 5 and was starting to tighten the screws thanks to their spinners. At this point, Tayyab made the decision to keep the game running. He cashed out as soon as he noticed the Indians were losing interest. An initial outburst of aggression quickly developed into a full-fledged counterattack.
When Rajvardhan Hangargekar circled around a ball he misjudged at the long-on boundary in the 37th over, Tayyab was dropped on 51. This was a stroke of luck. That was the one flaw in a knock that saw him play some sly reverse paddles, milk runs, force bowlers off their lines, and manipulate the fields without appearing to be taking any chances.
Mubasir, who took up residence in the crease to aid the lower order rally, provided him with excellent support. Pakistan A might have been bowled out for a lot less than their 126-run seventh-wicket partnership.
India Abhishek and Sai Sudharsan played genuine strokes and competed stroke for stroke in an enthused first ten overs, helping A’s pursuit get off to a brisk start.
Sudharsan’s wrist work was especially good as he easily worked the ball to various parts of the leg side, but he was undone by a short delivery from Arshad Iqbal that he couldn’t quite get out of the way of, top-edging a pull to the wicketkeeper to break a 64-run opening stand.
Replays showed that the ball had brushed Nikin Jose’s right hip on the way through to the wicketkeeper, making it rather regrettable that he was called out for being caught behind. Dhull stabilized the innings, but after Abhishek was out playing an uppish cut to Muqeem, he had little help.
Pakistan A benefited from having the cunning Mubasir work from the other end, and he got Sindhu, who was moved up the order, for a significant wicket. The ball was dipped by Mubasir onto Sindhu, who popped a return catch. The end was near when Parag and Dhruv Jurel followed suit.