Salman Butt was belting it out of the practice area, as was Misbah-ul-Haq, and the bowlers ran in with purpose and hit the right areas most of the time. Against England in their opening match, they had been hopeless. Taking on the Dutch two days later, needing a big win to stay in the tournament, they looked inspired.

Watching Younis Khan & Co train ahead of their Super 8s match against Sri Lanka, it was hard not to wonder which Pakistan team would turn up at Lord’s on Friday.

It didn’t take too long to find out.

Sohail Tanvir, unplayable on his day (though his days have been rare of late) bowled one of those nightmarish, never-ending first overs — no ball, wide, dot, wide, no ball, four, single, wide, four, dot, four.

They did fight their way back after that, their spinners restricting Lanka to an extremely gettable 150, but so insipid was their batting that they still managed to lose by 19 runs.

More than a memory

Before start of play, the players had lined up together for the national anthems — one Lankan, one Pakistani — rather than as separate teams. The last time these two teams were playing, the Lankan team bus had been attacked by gunmen in Lahore. Since then, three months ago, the political climate in both countries has taken a turn for the worse. For these teams, for both countries perhaps, this event is more than just a string of Twenty20 games.

... contd.