All is not doom and gloom for the Men in Green

Pakistan have yet to adopt today’s brand of cricket, in which top teams of the world look to score in the fifth gear


Nabeel Hashmi November 21, 2015
Many would term the team’s most recent approach for the chase mad and senseless, but the ground reality is that Friday’s play is the demand of modern ODI cricket. PHOTO: AFP

To credit Pakistan’s consistent downward spiral in the ODIs to one or more stakeholders is nothing but folly and a myopic view of the conundrum. What’s being missed in the frantic race to lay the blame on a tangible source is this: Pakistan have yet to adopt today’s brand of cricket, in which top teams of the world look to score in the fifth gear.

Only recently, Pakistan, for whom plundering big scores in ODIs remains a luxury, were stuck discussing whether to field Younus Khan in the squad to consolidate the batting line-up, whereas the world is bent on scoring 400 runs in 50 overs.

The fact remains that we have not been the best of batting sides in one-dayers for the last decade or so, with our bowling almost always winning us matches consistently. Be it Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal or for that case Mohammad Hafeez, our bowlers have played their part well with useful contributions from Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Irfan and Junaid Khan.

While South Africa were busy normalising 400 runs per innings, Pakistan were thinking along the lines of making it to 250 and then defending it through potent bowling.

Final ODI: Dazzling Buttler, Roy lead England to series win

The woeful form of Pakistan in the limited-overs format is hardly a sudden occurrence; the downslide began in coach Waqar Younis’ second tenure, which started from the 2014 tour of Sri Lanka.

The tour culminated in Pakistan’s two most effective bowlers — Ajmal and Hafeez — getting reported for suspect action. Both were subsequently banned by the International Cricket Council. Ajmal was later cleared after he remodelled his action, which is just a shadow of his past match-winning weapons. Hafeez, on the other hand, is still serving a second ban.

The loss of Ajmal and Hafeez in the bowling has had massive repercussions as it has deprived Pakistan of 20 tight overs, which used to suffocate the opposition when the duo took wickets in crucial situations.

From last year’s summer tour of Sri Lanka to the recently concluded series against England, Pakistan have played nine series and won only three, with two of them coming against Zimbabwe and one against Sri Lanka all in the last couple of months.

4th ODI: Azhar promises hardest work to win against England

Another striking fact is that after the 2009 armed attack on Sri Lanka in Lahore, the Men in Green have only won three ODI series in UAE out of the 12 played in what has been Pakistan’s home in the last seven years.

Following the 2015 World Cup, Pakistan were whitewashed by Bangladesh, but then the series wins against Zimbabwe — both at home and away — and Sri Lanka restored the confidence which was then shattered in the past few days by England, who won 3-1.

Pakistan are still struggling to fill the gap left by the absence of Ajmal and Hafeez’s services, with the officials trying out different combinations to find a stable core for the future.

However, while Azhar Ali’s charges may have lost the series against England, they have certainly gained something which could prove to be the difference in the coming days. The attacking mind-set and the belief that they can score more than six-runs-an-over and that too with ease is sure to go a long way in building the national side’s confidence in exploring new avenues.

Morgan feels wins augur well for England

Finding themselves in a corner in the deciding ODI on Friday, the batting line-up gave their best and had it not been a lack of calmness, the colours of celebration would have been completely different.

Many would term the team’s most recent approach for the chase mad and senseless, but the ground reality is that Friday’s play is the demand of modern ODI cricket.

Pakistan’s failed run-chase gives more hope than the victory in the first ODI against England.

All the efforts of playing as a team and adopting the mind-set for which Waqar had been calling for the last 18 months point to a changing gameplay for the better.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 22nd, 2015.

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COMMENTS (4)

Arslan | 8 years ago | Reply Completely agree. It really showed spark!
N K Ali | 8 years ago | Reply Frankly, PCB's attention towards test is very, very misleading. Test cricket is a 'dead horse.' It's only being kept alive because cricket took on an global character from the format. There are hardly any crowds except in UK and Australia. The name of the game is ODIs and T20s. The England team played beautifully and in fact gave a definition to how an ODI SHOULD BE PLAYED. Let's see what happens in the T20s. Salams
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