When their No 10 is doing the "mic drop", is this finally Yorkshire’s year in T20?
JOE ROOT famously described his “mic drop” celebration after reaching an unbeaten century to help clinch a one-day international series against India at Headingley in 2018 as “the most embarrassing thing I’ve done on a cricket field”.
Root dropped his bat in the style of a singer dropping a microphone at the end of a performance in a gesture that suggested that he had done something so impressive that nothing else needed to be added.
Whether Hasan Ali is prone to similar pangs of self-recrimination is unknown to this pen.
However, few would have begrudged him his own bat drop celebration after helping Yorkshire to the most unlikely triumph against Derbyshire at Headingley on Sunday as the club made it two wins from two in the Vitality Blast.
When Hasan came to the crease in the closing stages of his Yorkshire debut, just four days after featuring in a Test match for Pakistan in Bangladesh, it had the look of the biggest lost cause since The Jacobite Risings.
Yorkshire were 139-8 in pursuit of 195 and just 27 balls of the contest remained.
Journalists covering the match had all-but finished their missives, and even the most ardent Yorkshire fan had given up hope, bemoaning the apparent return of “win one, lose one” T20 inconsistency.
However, a blizzard of boundaries later, and Hasan, the No 10, had creamed 31 from 12 balls with three sixes and two fours, and A.J. Tye, the No 9, had cracked 32 from 13 balls with two sixes and four fours, the pair sharing an unbroken 56 from 23 deliveries to lead Yorkshire home with four balls left.
It was proof - were any needed - that few causes are lost nowadays in white-ball cricket, few targets beyond the scope of the side batting second even if the recognised batsmen are back in the dug-out.
Just about everyone nowadays can contribute at least, and Hasan and Tye struck the ball as cleanly as anyone, Hasan even holding the pose as if he was Babar Azam, his great Pakistan team-mate, when he lofted the seamer Akif Javed for a six over long-on into The Howard Stand.
Hasan could have dropped his microphone there and then but the 31-year-old seamer wasn’t done, scoring the winning run when he played Ben Aitchison into the leg-side and tore off down the pitch with alarms aloft, as though he had just won a year’s free subscription to The Yorkshire Post’s cricket coverage.
As the dust settles on a most memorable win - dust blown in from the Sahara Desert to judge by the present heatwave - one could be forgiven for wondering if this might finally be Yorkshire’s year in T20, given that their No 10 batsman is doing the “mic drop” with such an ominous swagger.
It made for an iconic image at least as Yorkshire look to rid themselves of the unwanted statistic of being one of only four counties - Derbyshire, Durham and Glamorgan the others - never to have won the 20-over competition.
It is early days, of course, although not so early as last year, thankfully, with the group stages trimmed from 14 matches to 12 (although 10 would have been the preference hereabouts).
Yorkshire have been here once before - winning their first two games in the 2015 edition (also against Derbyshire and Notts) only to pull up no tress when it mattered.
Hasan has certainly added quality and no little colour, while Tye is another of proven pedigree. The Australian has yet to fire with the ball - 4-0-41-0 and 4-0-51-1 in his two games so far - but can only gain confidence from his efforts with the bat.
Faheem Ashraf, the 32-year-old Pakistan bowling all-rounder, has now arrived to take up the remaining overseas slot after Yorkshire lost their initial imports, Naveen-ul-Haq and Will Sutherland, to stress fractures.
Moeen Ali struck a fine half-century on Sunday on his second appearance, producing some typically lovely strokes with his free-flowing bat-swing, while the attributes of the home-grown players are well-known.
Yorkshire would seem to have most bases covered - power up top with the likes of Jonny Bairstow and Adam Lyth, along with James Wharton and, on paper, Will Luxton too.
Moeen and Matty Revis complete a powerful top-six, while in addition to Hasan, Tye and Faheem, the club has fielded three frontline spinners in Jafer Chohan, Dom Bess and Moeen himself.
Chohan, 23, is a burgeoning weapon, a leg-spinner going from strength to strength in the white-ball game, and one who it would be great to see get a chance in the County Championship, too.
Chohan’s contribution to the brace of wins was 4-0-26-2 at Notts and 4-0-32-1 on Sunday, a wrist-spinner capable of keeping things tight in T20 terms as well as taking key wickets.
And with that, dear reader, please excuse me as I drop my laptop into the nearest rubbish bin.