In the opening game at Wellington, Pakistan squandered a brilliant start with the ball to comfortably lose the game by 70 runs. The much-vaunted death bowling capabilities of the visitors were exposed by the hosts’ tail-enders. The batting fell woefully short as well, apart from the exploits of Mohammad Hafeez and Babar Azam, who was the one bright spot of the tour apart from the impressive Mohamamd Amir, Pakistan’s best bowler during the trip. The second ODI again saw Hafeez, Azam and Amir shine, but their effort was not enough to deny the hosts another victory. Most of the national team’s batsmen appear ill-equipped to deal with the demands of the modern ODI game, with the likes of Ahmed Shehzad and Sohaib Maqsood doing little to fulfill their potential. More worrying, however, is the way stories about coach Waqar Younis and the rest of the team management are now doing the rounds in the media. The stories of apparent ‘threats of resignation’ by the head coach appeared after the Wellington debacle. Waqar has, however, vehemently denied the reports and repeated that he is focused on the WorldTwenty20 and other upcoming assignments. The bottom line, though, is that the players lack the skills needed to impress in ODIs and Twenty20s. The players and the team management need to realise that they are facing prospects of further embarrassment in the future unless they conjure up some of the magic of old. For now, this appears to be a herculean task.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 2nd, 2016.
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