2012 World Twenty20: Alarm bells for Pakistan
Pakistan are labelled mercurial for a reason: Just two days after chasing down a daunting 186-run total against India, Pakistan failed to overcome a paltry 111 against England in their final warm-up.
While the failure came in their second warm-up game, the collapse brought fans’ hopes back to earth. Spin king Saeed Ajmal took four for 14 and left-armer Raza Hasan claimed two wickets as England were bundled out for 111. However, Pakistan’s effort with the bat was poorer than England’s with Asad Shafiq’s 20 being the highest score of the innings. What was more alarming was the collapse — from being well-placed at 65 for three, they were restricted to 96 for nine at the end of 20 overs.
Litte-known spinner Danny Briggs and fast-bowler Jade Dernbach claimed three wickets apiece as England went to the World Twenty20 with two warm-up wins.
‘Hafeez must be brave’
Meanwhile, former Pakistan bowling coach Aqib Javed was not too concerned with the loss.
“There’s nothing to worry about as these fixtures aren’t serious,” said Javed. “The positive thing is that the team showed its strength against India. The bowling against England was also impressive.”
However, the former fast-bowler was of the view that Mohammad Hafeez should open the bowling attack.
“Hafeez must be brave and bowl with the new ball. Pakistan will play most of their matches in Pallekelle which has lively pitches. Hafeez must open the attack otherwise the team could face trouble.”
Afridi’s form huge concern
Javed added that confusion over all-rounder Shahid Afridi, who had a crucial role in Pakistan winning the World Twenty20 title in 2009, was a big reason behind his lean patch.
Afridi made just five in the game against England after going wicketless in his four overs. The performance followed that against India where he was plundered for runs before being dismissed cheaply. Javed felt that expectations from the all-rounder to perform with the bat was hurting his overall show.
“He’s either being confused or confusing himself. If you look at Afridi’s performance in recent years he has been phenomenal with the ball. He should be used as a specialist bowler and be told to do well with the ball rather than expecting runs from him. If he scores batting late the order then it will be a plus point.”
Qasim advises team to stay focused
Meanwhile, chief selector Iqbal Qasim said the team should now put all their focus on the tournament.
“The team should now concentrate on executing the plans,” Qasim told The Express Tribune. “The coaches and captain must have finalised the combination. Losing the warm-up game is not concerning as various strategies were tried and tested. This format demands alertness and all players irrespective of experience should be on their feet.”
Aqib Javed
“Afridi should be used as a specialist bowler and be told to do well with the ball rather than expecting runs from him. Any runs he scores will be a plus point.”
Iqbal Qasim
“The team should now
concentrate on executing the plans. Losing the warm-up game is not concerning as various strategies were tried and tested.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 20th, 2012.
COMMENTS (12)
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people are anxious to watch Afridi into the action.If a world class player like him is facing the worst time of his career, we should not refuse his brilliance .Remember! Inzamam (legend of cricket) had also faced such situition in 2003 world cup.The only thing is that we should have faith in Afridi because without afridi its hard to compete for our team...I pray that things start to happen in Afridi's and Pakistan's favour..Geo Afridi, Geo Pakistan ....................
for God sake yr stop it.. Afridi is still match winning player. Don't forget tha you became world champions only because he led....................@Khalid:
its very sick thought to blame your national hero in such a way. u can't forget his services for cricket and pakistan team. If these days are not good for him, lets wait him to com into action.. You'll see that he will be the heron again. INSHALLAH................................... @romeo:
Playing Afridi, now a days, means team Pakistan playing with 10 players. We still have time to make a decision. Better play a youngster and let Afridi have a break to think.
Afridi, has failed miserably in the last 12 months, he should never have been selected for the event. We need good cricketers to perform well and not waste our money. Superstars its not what we require. Afridi should take it on the chin and either retire or play domestic cricket to Get his senses back. Also Umar akmal should be dropped and a very talented Asad shafique should be in the team. Last time i saw him bat was april 2010 , nothing after that.
Drop Afridi from the team if Pakistan wish to do well in the T20 world cup. He is a lame horse, good for nothing. Afridi's days are over and now become a burden in the team. Pls drop him or else you even cant beat Bangladesh.
@Obaid Ullah:
Well Raza Hassan will only get experience when he is exposed to such experiences. Let him play & grow.
@sensible: Afridi is not responsible for others who are not performing as well so pin pointing Afridi is lame. He has shown us in the T20 Cup which we won is purily of Afridi's Brilliance.
General: I am so disappointed with some of the sports journalists and fans that they are fail to address the problem and not raise their voices.. there is certainly favorism by selectors in selections of the current squad and previous squads. For e.g Ahmed Shehzad The man who is form for quite sometime in T20 is overlooked to give chance to Imran Nazir.. Imran never live up to the spectations in International Cricket (hope that he may prove me wrong this time)... Why Sami is in the Team, Instead of Rana Naved or Wahab Riaz.. Certainly they are better choice in Srilankan Conditions of swing and seam. Or what about the young and talented Junaid Khan?? Similarly they are doing injustice to another talented Hammad Azam. In my opinion this team have to fought very hard to reach to 2nd round (still suspected). After this T20 we need to overhaul our team for T20 and ODIs.
Afridi 'was' a useful cricketer. Sadly our heroes dont know when to throw in the towel. The management should act wisely and play the in-form players not the star names.
Aqib is spot on, good to see finally an expert touching the right chord. One thing i would like to add, if afridi is in the team solely a a bowler then he does not deserve his place., currently raza hasan is bowling superbly so on merit youngster deserves a chance ahead of flop afridi!