Salman Ali Agha shifted gears no one expected him to

The best fit for modern T20I batting is a player who is aware of the fine line between aggression and recklessness. Salman Ali Agha might be many things, but reckless isn't one of them. That works in his favour in the longer formats, but entirely against him in the shortest. His cautious approach is reflected in a career strike rate of 117 in T20Is. Numbers like these rarely fit the template of a perfect T20I batter.

However, for a brief period in Dambulla on Sunday, Salman seemed closer to that perfect template than anyone else on the field.

Highest strike rate for a captain

He smashed 45 off 12 balls, including five fours and three sixes, at a staggering strike rate of 375. Salman now has the highest strike rate for a captain in T20Is (min. 10 balls faced), going past Kieron Pollard’s 345.5, from his 38 off 11 against Sri Lanka.

The thing that made Salman’s knock stand out was that no one expected him to go big, let alone this big. He played 32 T20Is last year and batted in each of them with a strike rate that often looked sacrilegious for the format.

Granted, there were any factors at play that helped the Pakistan captain to play as aggressively as he did, including the weather, slippery conditions, and the pressure of a 12-over game. Even so, his innings seems more unreal when viewed alongside how the rest of Pakistan's batters fared.

Salman isn’t a misfit

With no offence intended, Salman is not the first name that sprouts up in your mind when praying for a miracle in T20Is. Since he took over Pakistan’s captaincy in the format, he has seldom looked like an outsider trying to fit in a format that thrives on speed. There have been excruciatingly slow innings that made it easy to conclude he simply was not made for T20Is.

And while one innings may not flip his career entirely, the knowledge that he possesses a range in line with modern T20I demands is substantial. It is enough for Salman to know, and perhaps for others to accept, that he is not a misfit after all.

ALSO READ:Pakistan add bowling issues to their to-do list ahead of the T20 World Cup- IPL