DOWN IN THE DUMPS: The tour of New Zealand ruefully exposed Pakistan’s inadequate preparations for the World Cup. PHOTO: AFP
The 119-run hammering in Napier is not the first one-sided defeat Pakistan have suffered in their history, and rest assured, it won’t be the last one either, but the failure to improvise the tactics for the game is set to cause great angst for all concerned.
Head coach Waqar Younis, captain Misbahul Haq and chief selector Moin Khan all have an incredible amount of experience of international cricket. Waqar and Moin in particular remain vital cogs of some of the most successful Pakistan teams in history, who used to thrive with an aggressive, never-say-die attitude.
But the two along with Misbah have become incessantly rigid in their approach and just days before the World Cup, they collectively failed to realise that a lack of a fifth bowler is causing severe damage to the team’s chances of a win. The trio is adamant on shoring up the batting department by the inclusion of an extra batsman and that tactic is producing scant rewards.
After sacrificing the bowler, Pakistan should be prepared to hunt down big scores, but despite a century-plus opening stand, the visitors were not even in contention of a win around the mid-way point during their fractured innings in Napier, which further accentuates their woes.
Waqar and Misbah delivered another shocker when they sent Younus ahead of Umar Akmal, Haris Sohail and Sarfraz Ahmed. After a solid start, Pakistan needed to sustain the momentum and even accelerate further through a potentially game-changing batsman, but the think-tank remained listless.
Misbah followed Younus to the batting crease as Akmal, Sohail and Sarfraz were all denied the opportunity of a fair crack at the target with some overs in hand.
Perhaps the team management is under the impression that the batting scorecard shared with the broadcasters at the start of the game is supposed to be followed in letter and spirit!
If the reasons above aren’t enough to deflate the cricket die-hard, then a comparison on the choice of playing elevens is surely going to cast further gloom. New Zealand made three changes to the side that triumphed so comfortably in Wellington and despite repeated pleas, the Pakistan management chose to field the first ODI’s eleven.
Due to the all-round inflexibility that engulfs Pakistan cricket at the moment, Sohaib Maqsood, Sohail Khan and Yasir Shah were denied the opportunity of plying their trades under pressure situation in New Zealand conditions before the World Cup, since the fear of failure in Napier threw a spanner in the preparations.
The men in green are scheduled to play no less than three tournament games including ties against South Africa and West Indies in the country, and before these crucial games, the depth of the squad remains untested in New Zealand.
Unfortunately, the endeavours of the PCB in arranging a pre-World Cup tour of New Zealand failed to deliver the desired results for Pakistan.
The defeats in the warm-ups and the whitewash suffered against the hosts in the ODIs is only going to dent the confidence ahead of the mother of all games against India.
Surely the Napier harrowing is the mother of all shockers 10 days ahead of arguably the biggest pool match of the tournament, when a mere one billion eyes will converge for action at the Adelaide Oval.
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@Lord of the Ring: Why did we choose Nawaz Sharif and Sethi and Shehryar. Answer that first please.
Pakistan's bowling lacks experience and a bit of talent. I wonder why Rahat Ali and Imran Khan were not tested in NZ conditions. Rahat Ali's bowl was swinging in dead pitches he should have been given the chance. Anyway Sohail Khan is with the team he should be tested not sure why they didn't play him in place of Ehsan Adil or Bilawal Bhatti. Pakistan needs to replace Harris Sohai with Anwer Ali who can bowl and bat or Fawad Alam. I hope if couple of injuries can change things for Pakistan to replace their players then they should add Fawad Alam, Anwer Ali, or Sohail Tanveer. Yasir Arafat's track record can be seen if he can bowl decently to limit and trouble batsmen then perhaps he is better replacement for Junaid Khan who is out of World Cup squad due to injury.
Bottom line is, team is selected on politics not on talent. There is no way you can play Hafeez, Younus Khan as pure batsmen and Bilawal Bhatti as your prime strike bowler, opening with the new ball. Why wasnt Sohail Khan given a go at the 2nd ODI. There is no genuine 5th bowler who can take wickets. Shahzad, Haris & Younis are not International Level part time bowlers. They dont even bowl regularly in domestic cricket. Shameful team management.
That's what happens when you confine yourself to the dusty bowls of UAE and Asia for too long and pretend you've conquered the world. Except for a brief tour to SA, Pakistan had not played any series outside Asia in the last 2 years. Even in the run up to WC, they were busy playing long test series against Aus, NZ in UAE - this is how far sighted PCB planners are and this was their idea of conditioning the team for WC - a 1 day format tournament. And then there's the small matter of lack of talent in the current lot. Fact is we currently don't have ANY top class pace bowlers, we're relying on wannabe mediocres like Sohail Tanvir, Junaid Khan, Wahab Riaz etc. For the batting department, less said better it is; Hafeez, Yonus, Misbah, Afridi make up our batting aces for 1 day format, no wonder we havén't been able to chase/win a single 1 day down under. Pilling up runs in hot humid conditions and on dead placid wickets of UAE and acting like world class batting lineup is one thing, playing on fast green tops is another and our team is NOT prepared for that at all.
Objectively speaking, taking the stats into consideration, Bhatti is such a useless bowler. At least we could have capitaized on the vast experiance of Razzaq.
Both Pakistan and India lost their pre WC matches. If they are really serious for WC, they will have to show the zeinth of their skills or else teams like AUS and NZ will pound them heavily.
time for Pakistan to recall its team from this worldcup!! these old guys need to be retired and no resources should be wasted by our nation fielding this hopeless rag tag team in the worldcup. JUST BRING THESE GUYS HOME BEFORE THE EVENT STARTS.
Why did they choose Umer Akmal and not Fawad Alam ?? Why did they choose Bilawal Bhatti and not Abdurr Razzaq ?? Politics, groupings, bias, favoritism: Pakistan Cricket Board and its team.
Look at the body language of Afridi and Misbah It is so disappointing. Misbah needs to be reminded that he should have faith in his players -- without that any and every effort will be in vain. And, Mr Afridi needs to understand - if he ever can - that he is just as responsible for the team's defeat as any one else and that it is about time that he plays for the country and not for himself.