Only captain Misbah-ul Haq (55) and Nasir Jamshed (42) crossed double figures during Monday's match. PHOTO: BCCI
KARACHI: Former cricketers and fans Tuesday lamented Pakistan's woeful batting performance in their Champions Trophy defeat to South Africa which left them on the point of crashing out of the tournament.
Pakistan were bowled out for 167 in their crucial clash at Birmingham's Edgbaston ground, chasing a modest 234 against a weakened South African bowling attack missing the injured Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel.
Only captain Misbah-ul Haq (55) and Nasir Jamshed (42) crossed double figures, while top order batsmen Imran Farhat (four runs in two matches), Mohammad Hafeez (11), Shoaib Malik (nought and eight) and Kamran Akmal (two and nought) flopped miserably.
Pakistan's chances of reaching the semi-final now hang by a thread. They must beat arch-rivals India in their last group game on Saturday and hope other results go their way.
Former captain Zaheer Abbas told AFP the side's failings with the bat were all too familiar and urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to come up with a proper strategy to address the problem.
He said the batsmen looked nervous both against South Africa and in the first game against the West Indies, when they were skittled out for 170 inside their 50 overs.
"I don't know why our batsmen were in awe of the West Indian and South African bowlers, why fear set in is unfathomable," said Abbas, once dubbed the "Asian Bradman" for his prowess at the crease.
"Our batsmen play Tests like one-day and one-day like Tests," said Abbas.
"We have to change the attitude of our batsmen and for that we need to have a good and able batting coach. Batsmen get out but they should be taught to fight."
Former spinner Tauseef Ahmed said the batsmen lacked guts.
"We are now used to of defeats, used to batting failures because this has been going on for quite some time now," said Ahmed. "Batsmen not performing at international level is disappointing."
Fans on the street were left shattered.
"Our batsmen let us down, but this has been going on," said Saqib Murad, a student in Karachi. "We must do something otherwise people will lose interest in the game."
COMMENTS (23)
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Pathetic bating by Pakistan team, i would agree that we need to sack these players , but i would stay with Hafeez not for his batting but his bowling capabilities he is able to contain the opposition a lot and run through his overs very quickly this helps Pakistan to finish in the allocated over rate time. and is in the top bowlers in the ODI and T20 rankings. and please get rid of all the Parchis ! and i think you guys are completely forgetting Mizbah's earlier performances of tuk tuk tuk tuk tuk tuk ...... which in the end always builds pressure and the team used to drown in it ! , but yah this series can be a good one for mizbah.
Talking about the Pakistani debacle at CT everyone has talked about the wrong players selected in the team, but, no one has zeroed in on the real culprit: skipper Misbah.
From his body language and the way he plays and communicates, I can see that Misbah is the most timid captain ever. Pakistani players are not highly educated guys and they don't need motivation lectures with MBA jargon. They need an aggressive captain who is good at hurling choicest Punjabi expletives. (Punjabi is the only language that can give a verbal kick on the backside effectively.) Misbah seems incapable of administering such blows to Pakistani players.
Misbah also leads badly by example, always trying to protect his wicket for a late assault on bowlers, which has never happened. Unlike Dhoni, he never takes the team over the line. Taking cue from him, all players seem to be doing the same, all want to protect their averages, unmindful of the run-rate increasing. Even Naser Jamshaid, though bats well, has a poor strike rate. What is the use of scoring 50 out of 80 deliveries in each innings ?
Pakistan needs wholesale changes in the batting department.
But, bring in a captain who plays fearless cricket. Remember, timidity is contagious !
We must spend more time praying than playing.
@ap ka daddy: "@Dr Dang: Before talking about Pakistan check IPL ..all Indian players are involved in fixing"
Yeah all Indian players are into fixing. Didn't they nail South Aferica first and then West Indies?? We need players like these who can nail and fix other teams. Cheers
What does Shoaibs wife have to do with this. Some of the comments are downright sexist.
as long as nepotism and favoritism is there... merit will not flourish...lack of local cricket tournament is another reason..
yeah.i agree completely to fudge.india truly are deserving champions.and i m also a pakistani.
@Rashid: You can't accept the fact India played the game better,if WI demolished Pakistan and they can;'t do anything against India that shows the difference between the two teams.Stop blaming others because of your own teams failures
I'm really impressed by Misbah and the Pakistani bowlers/fielders they were energetic and bowled their heart out. Nasir and Misbah batted well but didn't get the support from other batsmen. I think we lack fire-power in the batting line, missed the likes of Razzak, Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shahzad !
For the future we ought to balance aggressive and defensive players together to complement each other in the team.I agree from the gist of this article: no place for Malik, Farhat, Umar Amin even Asad SHafique !
How could you drop Umar Akmal ?
@Dr Dang: Before talking about Pakistan check IPL ..all Indian players are involved in fixing
@Rashid: This has become Pakistan's psyche to blame every one else and deny deny and deny the truth. The way it is happening day and night at highest level there is no wonder you are doing the same. God bless.
@Kiran Azim ... I feel like hugging you and kissing you for the honest analysis you made.
Bravo. Same things for other sensible commentators like Johnny and Faraz. Really we need to have these blokes (Imaran Farhat, Shoaib Malik, Muhammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal) out from one day regular squads.
I like Kiran's comments that Shoaib is only good for dancing with his wife Sania on Indian TV Show!!! He needs to be send packing along with Farhat, Hafeez and Kamran Akmal.
Let youngsters blended with Abdur Razzaq should be in. I don't know why Razzaq was left out? In any case we need fighting mentality not "sissy" players!!
It is good that Afridi and Younis Khan both are out now get Frahat, Malik, Hafeez and Akmal out of the equation and you'll see team winning.
What a shameful, timid, clueless and mediocre batting performance by our superstars (Farhat, Shoaib, Kamran, Hafeez). Also 10/10 on the attitude and character they showed in both the matches. Can anybody explain the reason for selecting this bunch of burdens on Pakistani team again and again. Any reason for dropping Asad Shafiq in favor of Umer Amin after one match where none of these superstars reached double figures. It is high time now to overhaul the team and bring youngsters who can fight and even if they lose they lose with grace. Also high time to revamp the selection committee and sack the highly-paid non-delivering coach. The whole nations expects an apology form the entire team management.
@Rashid: sour grapes.............The whole world is too busy to conspire against Pakistan........All i can say is keep up this mentality surely one day Pakistan will become the greatest country..........
@Rashid: LOL. Classic conspiracy theory syndrome. Now if a team plays well and your team plays poorly, then India is definitely up to something. Classic, LOL. I mean just at look at Pakistan's batting! Bowled out in 7 of the last 12 ODIs including Scotland and Ireland. How do you expect to win any matches with this joke of a batting line-up? West Indies aren't really as good as Pakistan made them look and they didn't really go all out to beat Pakistan, Pakistan did, however, go all-out to beat themselves. Pakistan will make even a club bowling line up appear great. And what is India's fault if Pakistan has such a poor batting line-up? Before you call me an Indian, I am as Pakistani as you, just not a conspiracy theorist :).
@Rashid: Don't see how W Indies is playing badly, Please see how Indians are playing good professional cricket. Why we are so much obsessed with Indians and always forget our shortcomings. Giving chance after chance to same over rated players who surely have good relationships inside PCB. India is the best team in this competition and will surely win or play the finals. We need a captain like Dhoni and a board like BCCI...by hook or by crook our only aim also should be winning, winning and winning, with no fear from anyone until one is delivering. Please take the first step now, and get rid of Farhat, Malik and K akmal for everrrrr . Enough is enough.
@Rashid: Of course.
@Rashid: There we go again, if Pakistan lose the match it is fixed.. ever wondered why Pakistani internationals would take money to lose in the first place. Btw stay on the topic rashid.
I am just watching the India-West Indies match. Looks like India is going to win. But I am surprised to see how poorly the West Indians are playing, as if they want to loose. The same team that went all out to beat Pakistan. Is it not suspicious. I am sure Indian are playing some tricks here. They always do and ICC will do nothing.
This batting lineup can't even rotate strike and take singles...they build up so much pressure on themselves and then just drown in it. Yusuf, younis, inzi, miandad didn't need to hit boundaries - they reached 30s with no effort as they kept pushing the ball around without taking any risks. It's pathetic that the current so called international players can't even take singles
A team devoid of any batting minus Misbah and Farhat* Correction: Misbah and Jamshed.
When was the last time Imran Farhat, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez ever won a match for us, or performed a match winning role in any match outside of the sub-continent against any of the top teams? The answer is Never. The Pakistani team needs a massive rebuilding exercise. Dav Whatmore and Misbah Ul Haq should be given a free hand in rebuilding the team, starting with the batting. The first thing we need is at least 3-5 new batters, for example Ahmed Shehzad and Nasir Jamshed should be opening for Pakistan, followed at 3 by Babar Azam, Umar Amin at 4, Misbah at 5, Umar Akmal/Usman Salahuddin/Asad Shafiq at 6, Hammad Azam at 7, any new keeper at 9, followed by the bowlers. Malik is better suited to dancing with his wife on Indian tv, and Hafeez, Farhat and Akmal should only be asked to play when we are playing against Bangladesh or Zimbabwe on flat tracks as that is the only time they have the ability to perform.
A team devoid of any batting minus Misbah and Farhat. Substandard "players" like Farhat, Malik and Kamran will easily fail to make a club side in most of the top 8 countries. What more can they possibly do to be dropped? This Farhat has been around for 12 years! yet such poor technique! I cannot recall him even going past 20 in any game, I mean why is he and Malik and Kamran still in the team? Kamran Abbasi in an article called these players and batting line-up an international joke. With below club-standard players like Farhat, Malik and Kamran, this Pakistan team is fast turning into an international joke. If we have to lose then lose it with young players in the team, it hurts to see these 'parchi' players waste our time and money.
A team that consists of 4 cricketers (Misbah, Jamshed, Irfan, Saeed) and 7 tossers cannot be expected to win, you need to have 11 cricketers on the team to have a chance of winning. Seven more cricketers please !