See-saw performance

Having lost the first game to England by six wickets, Team Pakistan bounced back strongly, hammering the visitors by 10 wickets in the second game. And when the enthusiasm among local fans and experts rose to fever pitch, the Greenshirts gave the third one to Englishmen in a platter, conceding a sizeable 64-run defeat. Team Pakistan’s performance in the ongoing seven-T20I home series has only stamped its reputation as a highly unpredictable unit — which can do wonders one day, and is run over the next.

While Pakistan bowling too failed to impress — in the absence of the main striker, Shaheen Shah Afridi — going for 200 runs twice in three games — its batting has been the main worry, especially the middle order. Even there had been a question mark on the cozy batting style of our opening pair — skipper Babar Azam and wicketkeeper batsman Muhammad Rizwan — which is thought to be unsuitable in the modern-day limited overs cricket. However, the duo did silence their critics by overreaching a 200-run target in the second game with three balls to spare. Both scored at a rate in excess of 150. However, both failed badly in the following game, in an unwanted expression of inconsistency that has been the long-held trait of our cricketers.

Now with the ICC T20 World Cup just around the corner, there is not much the cricket czars can do — except trying a few new combinations in the remaining four games of the against England. The cricket board and the selectors should dissect the team’s performance in Asia Cup and the ongoing T20I series, and make changes to the middle order batting, in particular. While it will be risky to try any new batsmen in a major tournament like World Cup, the board will have to take the risk.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2022.

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