Afghanistan put on a ‘tamasha’ to remember

It was truly a ‘tamasha’ in Lahore on Thursday, wasn’t it?

To the unaware, ‘tamasha’ is an Urdu word which has been naturalised in Bangla and is usually used with a negative connotation, to deride something as a joke.

But, originally in Urdu, this word is used to describe a grand spectacle — an event that one can’t look away from, and above all, something that entertains.

Cricket writers from the Indian sub-continent over the years have used ‘tamasha’ to describe the spectacle of cricket, especially in the limited versions.

However, some may be tempted to follow the Bangla usage of this word when describing certain drab games of cricket, such as Bangladesh’s recent matches against India and New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy.

But the thousands that were present at the Gaddafi Stadium and the millions who tuned in from around the globe to watch the Group B encounter between Afghanistan and England on Thursday, witnessed an absolute cricketing ‘tamasha’ in the truest sense.

Afghanistan started on the backfoot, three down with barely anything on the board, before opener Ibrahim Zadran waded his team through troubled waters to hit a career standout 177 and found some support in the final overs as the score reached 325-7.

At the halfway mark, England were down, but definitely not out on what according to many was a highway of a pitch. England needed at least one batter to play the big innings and Joe Root, arguably their best batter, put his hand up.

Root kept losing partners at regular successions as the valiant Afghans kept chipping away at the heavyweight English batting line up, but remained undeterred.

It was an enthralling contest, with both teams having their noses ahead at different points only for the opposing team to fight back and restore parity.

It looked like Root was destined to take England to the promised land when he brought out an outrageous shot — a scoop that was more like a swat behind the wicketkeeper for a six against Azmatullah Omarzai in the 45th over.

But Omarzai, who had already done his job with the bat with a 31-ball 41, had the last laugh.

In his following over, Omarzai banged the ball short and Root tried to upper cut the ball over the short third man fielder but could only hit it to wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who made no mistake.

The game was still not over as even though England were seven down, their tail had enough ammunition to score the remaining 35 off 25 balls.

All the remaining deliveries were an event in themselves. Jofra Archer hit two fours in the first three balls he faced before getting caught off a slower delivery while trying to play the hero shot, exactly six balls after Jamie Overton got himself dismissed the same way.

In the final over, Omarzai, who finished with 5-58, held his nerves while defending 13 and got the final wicket of Adil Rashid in the penultimate ball with once again another slower delivery. The fact that the final catch was taken by Zadran added a poetic layer to this contest, as if this was not a sporting contest but a rendition of a meticulously scripted drama which had twists and turns carefully stored at every juncture to keep the viewers till the end.

It was a ‘tamasha’ ODI fans won’t forget for a long time and if the Afghans can put on another brave showing against the Aussies in Lahore today, it could bring them the ticket to the semifinals.