SHARJAH // Ijaz Butt, the recently replaced chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), could be thanked for the remarkable events of Sunday night.
It was Butt who removed Shahid Afridi from the captaincy of the one-day international side in May after differences grew between the all-rounder and Waqar Younis, the then coach, on a tour of the West Indies.
That prompted Afridi, no disapprover of retirements, to conditionally retire from the game and embark on a particularly bitter and public battle with Butt.
Only after Butt stepped down last month did Afridi return to the side, in time to turn in arguably one of the most influential recent individual all-round performances and set up Pakistan's series-clinching win against Sri Lanka.
It is convoluted charity and probably just delusion, but as Afridi made clear after the 26-run triumph, the events of the last six months spurred him on.
"There were a lot of challenges in front of me, a lot of things I needed to disprove," he said. "I accept those challenges. Actions speak louder than words and this is the time for action. Lots of things have been said, stupid things, but now is the time for cricket, I want to play cricket and be a cricketer."
The object of those remarks was undoubtedly Butt and possibly even Waqar, though in the latter's defence it must be noted he never pushed for Afridi's ouster from the team.
But the concept of revenge, or some kind of vengeance, is an overpowering one among many Pathans.
Younis Khan, another Pathan like Afridi, once remarked in an interview that a run-in with an official had pushed him to big back-to-back hundreds against India in 2005. He never forgot a slight, he said at the time.
An amicable Pathan taxi driver in Abu Dhabi quipped much before even Afridi's return: "We have a saying that if you take revenge after a 100 years, you have acted too in haste."
Afridi will move on, but he will not forget. He took another dig later joking: "These days, team meetings are pretty dangerous anyway."
His spats with Waqar emerged, of course, during tense team meetings. Perhaps that is just as well. Not forgetting has made him top the batting and bowling averages from both sides in this series.
On Sunday came a particularly starry turn, "Boom boom day", as Misbah-ul-Haq, his captain, called it. He first revived an ailing innings with - and this can only ever be said of Afridi - a sensible, sedate 65-ball 75.
"They were clapping my singles more than the sixes," he said.
Then, having hurt his knee and with Sri Lanka almost home, he conjured a collapse befitting of the magic of Pakistan, and Sharjah.
Five wickets, including the key ones of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, also meant he became the only player to achieve that double twice in ODIs. The knee seemed fine when he was bowling, but there is a slight chance he will sit out the last game if it gets worse.
The win means Pakistan have now won their last five bilateral ODI series and the year includes a World Cup semi-final run.
Should they win Wednesday's dead-rubber game in Abu Dhabi, they could move up to fifth in the ICC's ODI rankings, their highest position in two years. The mood is understandably upbeat, nowhere more than between the captain and Afridi if their press conference joviality is anything to go by.
"Every individual is performing in different matches," Misbah said.
"It's been a really great collective effort and the way our bowling is performing, the way Shahid has performed, he has lifted the entire side.
"[Saeed] Ajmal is doing exceptionally, Mohammad Hafeez ... if you look at it, everyone is performing his role really well. It is a collective thing and it is a good sign for the team."
