Pakistan fall to complacency against West Indies

There is an adage in football which says teams are most likely to concede right after they have scored

There is an adage in football which says teams are most likely to concede a goal right after they have scored one themselves. In the euphoria, a team can forget some of the basics of the game and tend to be less switched on while defending.

In other words, teams get complacent.

But that ailment doesn’t affect footballers alone and sportsmen across every sport — all too human as they are — can fall in its trap.

And against a bruised and battered West Indies side, defeated in eight consecutive matches across all three formats, Pakistan became complacent. It can happen to the best amongst us, but what was disappointing was that it happened not once but for four consecutive days.

Two wickets in the very first over of the Test should have been warning enough. But it was not. Normally so ruthless, the Pakistan batsmen threw away their wickets after settling in. They scored four half-centuries but none of them converted into hundreds. The midfield trio of Younus Khan, Misbahul Haq and Sarfraz Ahmed were all dismissed right after scoring their fifties; playing shots they would not want to see again.





It was a theme that was to be painfully repeated throughout the Test. The bowlers came out all guns blazing on day two, reducing West Indies to 38-3 and 68-4. But then again complacency set in.

West Indies, powered by a Kraigg Brathwaite who forgot how to get out, took an invaluable first innings lead as the opener carried his bat with an unbeaten 142. It may only have been a lead of 56 but in a low-scoring match it was always going to prove crucial, even after ignoring the psychological boost.

But Pakistan started their second innings strong and it seemed like normal service had resumed. When after 14 overs they were 37-0, lounges back home were already witnessing debates discussing how much of a target Pakistan should set before declaring.



Four wickets for 11 runs followed and the much-vaunted middle-order was back in the pavilion before Pakistan could wipe out that 56-run deficit.

Sarfraz and Azhar Ali invariably settled the ship, taking their side to 87-4 at stumps, just 31 runs ahead.

But such was the gulf in class and confidence between the two sides that it still seemed Pakistan would go on to win this. It showed in the players too; Pakistan had their last pair of specialist batsmen out in the middle but still they seemed the ones playing with all the swagger.

Going back to the Beautiful Game, Manchester United striker Mark Hughes famously remarked about the fear factor that surrounded his side. “When I was playing for Manchester United, you thought you had teams beaten in the tunnel,” he said.

Even before away players stepped out onto the hallowed Old Trafford pitch, they had lost the game in their minds; defeated even before a ball had been kicked.



Pakistan have managed to develop such a mood around the UAE. But it was that aura — confidence and swagger when it delivers results, arrogance and complacency when it doesn’t  — that was to prove to be Pakistan’s downfall.

Misbah and his men pride themselves on their application in the face of adversity; triumph through resilience. But the soft and comical ways in which Sarfraz, Azhar and Mohammad Amir gave away their wickets reflected a side that thought victory was a given, regardless of what the scorecard said.

It was another kick up their backside when they realised they were defending just 153 and once again they sprang into action, claiming five West Indies wickets for just 67. The way the team celebrates was almost telling. The wickets, like the win, was expected — they had almost become a God-given right.

But no one had the foresight to tell Brathwaite he was supposed to get dismissed and his unbeaten 60 was the final nail in the coffin.

To be fair to the players, fatigue — both physical and mental — would also have set in. Pakistan have been playing almost non-stop cricket since they left for England all those months ago. It has been a generally positive run of results, if you conveniently ignore those four ODIs, but the fixtures would surely have taken their toll on the players.

In a way this defeat could be a blessing in disguise. It gives this team, riding high on results and adulation, a reality check that it clearly needed. Better be given that in a dead rubber against an accommodating West Indies side than to receive it when Mitchell Starc hurls swinging missiles at more than 150k’s an hour at The Gabba towards your batsmen.

The team travels to New Zealand next and till then, players and fans alike should let this defeat sink in. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th, 2016.   

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.