World Cup ‘preparations’

One feels that the Pakistan cricket team think tank hasn’t heard of the old adage: once bitten, twice shy. As it has continued to make basic cricketing blunders in the team’s game plan, this certainly seems to be the case. As New Zealand heaped humiliation on Misbahul Haq’s men in Napier to complete a 2-0 One-Day International (ODI) series whitewash, the national team has plunged in an abyss on the eve of the World Cup, with preparations for the mega event going awry. The team management comprising head coach Waqar Younis, Misbah and chief selector Moin Khan are planning and strategising with an inherent fear, leading them to field an unbalanced playing-eleven. Playing only four regular bowlers simply cannot do the job in modern ODI cricket since only four fielders are allowed outside the circle, allowing batsmen to blaze away at various junctures of the innings. Even more frustrating was the retention of the same playing-eleven for the Napier game that was comprehensively beaten in the first match at Wellington. Talented batsman Sohaib Maqsood was benched again, putting immense pressure on the one-dimensional middle order comprising Younus Khan and Misbah.

After conceding a 369-run total, Pakistan’s only hope was a good start which they got through Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad, but the think tank’s rigid planning was again painfully visible as Younus and Misbah sucked out the momentum in the middle of the innings. The need of the hour was the introduction of the flair of Umar Akmal or Sarfraz Ahmed but both were left to cool their heels in the dressing room. By the time they strode out, the match was all but lost with Pakistan eventually falling 119 runs short of the target. The New Zealand tour — the last before the World Cup — turned out to be a nightmare as all four matches, including the two warm-up ones, were lost. Furthermore, Sohail Khan, Yasir Shah and Maqsood weren’t given the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the conditions. With Junaid Khan having been ruled out for the mega event, Pakistan dearly need a fresh approach to galvanise themselves in time for their first World Cup match against India on February 15.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th,  2015.

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