Back to the glory years?

Malik took the game away from India with power, placement, timing and luck © AFP

Before this winner-takes-almost-all encounter, Bob Woolmer told his wards to keep their heads well refrigerated, perhaps having observed how Pakistan had been dominated in the mental stakes when India toured a few months ago. His players did him proud, keeping their cool and getting it right on the night, even as India lost the plot completely.

There was a verve about this Pakistani effort that recalled the halcyon years of the early and late 1990s, when they were challenging to be the world's best side. The batsmen accumulated runs professionally - how often have you seen that with a Pakistani side of recent vintage? - the bowlers were hostile and penetrative, and the fielding was as sharp and enthusiastic as India's had been pallid.

And then, there was Shoaib Malik, first thrown into international cricket's deep waters for his off-spin bowling. Undaunted by the early loss of Imran Nazir - once a fantastic prospect, but now seemingly fated to trawl in mediocrity - Malik took the game away from India with power, placement, timing and luck. When he bats in such unfettered style, his hand-eye co-ordination and shotmaking ability are almost the equal of Virender Sehwag, who has been a pale parody of his usual destructive self so far in this tournament.

Apparently, it was Inzamam-ul-Haq's decision to send Malik back up the order - he had batted there when Waqar Younis was captain. Woolmer gave his consent, and Malik repaid that faith with a classy hundred against Hong Kong and the pyrotechnic-filled 143 today. The passion of youth can be irrepressible and today, it was backed by commendable composure.

India's display in the field was epitomised by Lakshmipathy Balaji, flavour of the month in Pakistan not so long ago, but currently locked in the bowling Chamber of Horrors. Having tried to get more side-on, Balaji has ended up serving the batsmen with easy pickings on leg stump, and no subcontinental batsmen worth his sodium chloride will ever look such an equine gift in the mouth. A break from the action would do him good, and be no reflection at all on his worth to the big picture.

Another who looked like he'd rather be anywhere but here was Sehwag - butter-fingered in the field, and first into the showers with the bat. The 200-run quote - almost certainly spoon-fed in question form by a journalist looking for a sensational headline - has become a stick for fickle critics to beat him with. A batsman of Sehwag's type will invariably hit the skids once in a while, until that so-subtle hand-eye mechanism can once more be calibrated for maximum destruction.

His partner in opening crime was also noticeably subdued. At Rawalpindi a few months ago, Sachin Tendulkar played a glorious lone hand that almost won India a high-scoring thriller. Today, he was rarely fluent, comfortably out-batted by both Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh, on his way to a sedate 78. Once Yuvraj went, having stroked the ball dreamily during his 28, India appeared to settle for the modest aim of denying Pakistan a bonus point. It was excruciating to watch, with Tendulkar and an out-of-sorts Mohammad Kaif idling for 9 runs in five overs.

But to find fault with India would be to take the sheen off an emphatic and controlled Pakistani display. Malik bowled a superb spell, snaring Tendulkar along the way, while Abdul Razzaq delved into his back pages to probe and harass like he used to when he was touted as the world's best young allround prospect. The story of Pakistan cricket in recent times has been one of criminal waste and unrealised potential. You can already sense that the Woolmer years will be very different.

Dileep Premachandran is an assistant editor with Wisden Cricinfo in India. He arrived in Colombo just in time to catch what was billed as the clash of the tournament.