Mohammad Nawaz completes drastic change right in time for India as his consistency helps Pakistan play the kind of cricket they want to.
Mohammad Nawaz reinvents himself just in time for India.
Like other stories concerning Mohammad Nawaz, this one opens with him in an MCG dressing room, holding his head in his hands and trying to contain his tears. Although Babar Azam is not known for making stirring speeches, he recognises the moment’s sensitivity and rises to the occasion. Knowing that any attempt to be overly rousing could be interpreted as a loss of control in front of the in-house PCB cameras, he expertly adjusts the emotional temperature of the room.
Then he turns to Nawaz, who just bowled the last over of that thrilling match against India, failing to protect 16 as Pakistan lost a match they had dominated.
“And especially you, Nawaz,” Babar says to the man who cannot take his eyes off the floor. He switches to Punjabi, using both men’s mother tongue to further cement their collective solidarity, “you’re my match-winner, and I’ll always have faith in you, come what may. Keep your head up.”
Since Nawaz dominated the first PSL game, taking 4–13 and going undefeated at bat for the Quetta Gladiators, Pakistan has not always seen him as a matchwinner in the same way.
From 3 to 9, he has batted at every position. Only twice more, and never again, would he be thrown in at four, where his numbers are at their peak and where he batted first in the Asia Cup victory against India. He has bowled around one-third of his T20I deliveries during the Powerplay, when Pakistan has deployed him with the ball. He has a higher economy rate than at any other stage of the innings.
The fact that Pakistan hasn’t employed him at all is more striking, though. Up until July of this year, when Nawaz made his comeback after 18 months in the wilderness, he had only participated in 60 of the 162 Twenty20 Internationals Pakistan had played since his debut. It appears that Pakistan can use Nawaz with the ball and bat anytime they want, or they can choose not to use him at all, as seen by almost two-thirds of his career games.
His effect for Pakistan over the last 12 Twenty20 Internationals has been incredible, which is why it is difficult to see this most recent comeback as anything more than temporary.
Nawaz has been arguably the most crucial member in this Pakistani lineup thanks to a hat-trick during a five-for against Afghanistan and substantial runs he has amassed over the last month in the UAE at a strike rate of just around 140.
When Nawaz gave Pakistan a chance in that first PSL match, he was destined to become this type of cricketer. Ten years later, Pakistan and possibly even Nawaz himself are starting to figure out what kind of cricketer he is.
Nawaz can’t be considered a match-winner in one sense. Not in the traditional English meaning. He is not, and never will be, Pakistan’s most explosive player, their top batsman, or their best spinner. He might, however, fit either of those categories on any given day, and in Twenty20 International cricket, it wins you games. matches similar to the ones that Nawaz won during his most recent Asia Cup match against India and the ones that he has been winning for Pakistan lately.