Whitewash

As Pakistan goes down 3-0 in T20Is even having won the ODIs 2-0

Defeat is one thing, demolition another. A full-strength Pakistan were whitewashed on their own soil by a second-string Sri Lankan team in the three-game T20I series. The inexperienced islanders – without their 10 main players – gave the top-ranked Men in Green their first-ever whitewash in a bilateral series of the shortest version of the game. It was easy sailing for Sri Lanka as Pakistan even failed to set up a nail-biter in the entire T20I series. While the first game was completely one-sided with Pakistan losing by a big margin of 64 runs, the following two games only lessened the margin of defeat – 35 runs and 13 runs.

It was simply baffling to see Pakistan going down 3-0 in T20Is even having won the ODIs 2-0. Was it complacency? Or it had something to do with trying different combinations in preparations for the coming T20 World Cup, like bringing back Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shahzad or trying Babar Azam as an opener in the entire series. The skipper’s performance – especially with the willow – leaves nothing much to write home about. Sarfaraz Ahmed is far from being reliable and dependable of late – not even a shadow of how he started off in the international arena. A quality all-rounder is also very direly missing. The ones we currently have – Imad Wasim or Shadab Khan – have time and again failed to perform like their counterparts in other teams. There is need to hire a power hitting coach – somebody like AB de Villiers – to teach our players the new lessons.

Anyways, a big takeaway from the series is the successful and peaceful hosting of a foreign team and the appreciation that its members received from local fans – both for their talent and for paying a visit. It did convey the message the world over that Pakistanis are a peaceful and sports-loving people who deserve to be supported in their efforts for revival of sporting activities in their country.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2019.

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