We have lost the semi-final, got out of this World Cup but the team’s performance was such that it should be appreciated. The Men in Green should be backed up and they should be further groomed for the future. This defeat, however, teaches a few important lessons, which, if understood, can avert future setbacks.
Weak-link can be harmful
About two decades ago, I first met Ashfaq Ahmed, a prominent writer and magician of words in Lahore. After two and a half hours of mesmerizing conversation, I asked the writer to sign my autograph book.
Ashfaq Ahmed thought for a moment and then wrote the sentence, “The weakest link in the chain is the strongest link that can break the chain whenever it wants.” We kept thinking about the meaning and depth of the sentence. Time and experience, however, have taught us that we should never have a weak link in any of our work, project or organization.
After losing to Australia in the semi-finals, the team management will also realise that it is not possible to talk only with golden sayings and giving opportunities again and again can be failed rather than boosts confidence.
The Pakistani cricket team had one or two weak links. Like Fakhr Zaman was not in good shape, Mohammad Hafeez has been out of form for the last several months. Similarly, Hassan Ali lost his form three or four months before the World Cup.
Hassan Ali’s place in the team as a central bowler. He takes wickets and puts pressure on the team in the middle overs. He can also bat aggressively when needed, but that’s not the reason he’s in the team. If Hassan Ali is not bowling well then there he wouldn’t have been selected.
The team management gave chance to Imad Wasim, Fakhar, Hafeez and Hasan Ali in the first match of T20 World Cup. And after the team thrashed India, the management decided to retain the same team, eliminating the possibility of Haider Ali, Waseem Jr and Muhammad Nawaz and Sarfraz playing.
It is possible that Haider Ali or Wasim Jr would have been given a chance if they had lost the first match, then it is also possible that these players would have shown extraordinary performance, but these are all assumptions, it is also possible that the young players could not bear the pressure.
Well, the team management strategy turned out to be correct about Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Hafeez, but after playing regularly, both of them came back to form. Hassan Ali, however, remained off-color throughout the tournament, he was not cut in his bowling.
Although he bowled frugally in one or two matches, it was not Hassan Ali that the team needed, the biggest problem being that he bowled no-balls in each match. When a fast bowler bowls no-balls, it clearly means that he is not in rhythm and he is having difficulty.
In the semi-final, Hassan Ali dropped a very important catch, but even if he did not miss the catch, he had proved to be the most expensive bowler of the team. He failed miserably and played a role in the destruction of the team.
Aggression ‘a must’ in white-ball cricket
The Pakistani team lacks this one element. We have two categories. Our power hitters are actually senseless type of batters who lose wickets by playing blindly. Sharjeel Khan, Khushdal Shah etc. are classical examples of this. Haider Ali did the same in many matches. Asif Ali excelled in this tournament, but he has failed miserably in the first twenty matches.
In the second category, we have specialist batsmen, who play cricketing shots and score runs on the wicket. Babar Azam is the best example of this, to some extent Rizwan too, by the way Fakhr Zaman also takes some time to settle on the wicket.
Babar is the team’s only world-class batsman who can score runs on any pitch in the world. However, a weakness of Babar is not playing big shots in the power play. Rizwan has mastered the art of hitting big sixes on the league side in the recent past by constantly consulting with practice and coaches.
At the moment, the pair performs best for the pursuit of one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty runs. This is fine for UAE pitches, but flat batting pitches are now being made all over the world where it is common to score 200 runs. A challenging situation will then arise for the best pair of Babar and Rizwan. They will have to work on this issue from now on.
Deal with spin attack
There was a time when Pakistani batters were very good at spin. Javed Miandad, Saleem Malik were its masters, after them Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan also played very well, Misbah was also a clean hitter against spin. In the current team, only Shoaib Malik plays the spinners very well. Babar is a top batsman, but spinners put him in trouble.
Babar has been troubled by left-arm spinners in the past. He kept getting out of Keshu Maharaj of South Africa. He can’t openly play league spinners like Zampa, Sodhi, Rashid Khan etc. Even Scotland’s spinners bothered the team. Pakistani batsmen have to master against spinners. In middle overs of T20 and ODIs, fast runs cannot be scored without charging the spinners.
Good specialist spinners
Admittedly, we don’t have any unusual spinners in white ball, a mystery bowler who can trouble the opposing team and take wickets in the middle overs. Shadab Khan is not the same as before, although in this tournament Shadab worked hard and took important wickets.
Imad Wasim is an average spinner. Imad has been an economical bowler on UAE pitches, but he is not effective in England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies etc. Muhammad Nawaz is also the same bowler. Usman Qadir is a good leg spinner, but he does not have much control and he can put pressure on the team by conceding two or three sixes in any over.
Usman should be groomed. We have spin coaches like Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed. The quality of the spinner that is available should be improved but new talent should be found. A good left-arm wrist spinner, a carom ball bowler or a great league spinner with variety. Talent camps should be set up for this purpose.
Fast bowling in death overs
In the semi-finals, all the rubble has been thrown at Hassan Ali, his bad luck that the catch went to him, otherwise it could have been dropped by anyone. The real problem is Shaheen Shah bowled with enthusiasm instead of consciousness and conceded three consecutive sixes.
Shaheen Shah will have to learn to do good slow ball. He is twirling his fingers to make a croissant leg cutter that comes in for a left-handed batter, Wade easily guessed and hit a long six on it. Shaheen has to learn to dodge the batsman in death overs and bowl with multiple options in front of him so that the opposing batsman cannot play big shots evenly.
