10 reasons we lost the World Cup quarter-finals

Poor selection, injuries, inept board and lack of discipline are just some of the reasons why we lost

Pakistan failed to set Australia a difficult target after getting all out for 213 and were quashed out of the quarter-finals.

Captain Misbahul Haq lamented poor shot selection from his batsmen as the reason for losing to the co-hosts at the Adelaide Oval on Friday.

Read: #PakvsAus: Time to bid farewell

Here is a list of 10 reasons we lost the match:

1. Poor team selection

Poor team selection, especially in the run-up to the tournament, with some questionable omissions, such as not sending Saeed Ajmal when Junaid Khan was injured.

 

PHOTO: AFP

2. Injuries

Muhammad Hafeez wasn't cleared to bowl but could have batted. However, he was not available owing to an injury.

Junaid Khan also got injured right before the tournament and couldn't play any match.

Muhammad Irfan, who played remarkably thtoughout the tournament suffered a hip injury and couldn't play the last pool match or the quarter-final against Australia.

Read: Pakistan seven feet under as Irfan ruled out of the World Cup

 

PHOTO: AFP

 

3. Mental toughness and temperament

Pakistani players lack the mental toughness that is needed to win big and important matches. Australia showed that they have this toughness, especially when Shane Watson managed to weather Wahab Riaz's storm of a bowling spell and went on to remain not out. On the other hand, three of our batsman threw their wickets -- all holing out to the same placed fielder, Aaron Finch at deep midwicket.

 

PHOTO: AFP

4. Common sense

While Misbah may have lots of it, as a team, we generally lack common sense. This can make the difference when a crucial knock-out game is concerned, like the one today. For instance, several batsman managed to get set and had decent starts but threw their wickets away by going after the bowling after taking unusually large risks or because of poor shot selection. There was no need to hit sixes at that stage, and ones or twos would have done, keeping wickets intact should have been the primary goal till the last 10 overs.

 

PHOTO: AFP

5. Strategy

Apart from Wahab Riaz, who went after all the bowlers, especially Shane Watson, the rest of the bowlers seemed to have no discernible strategy or plan on how to get a particular batsman out.

 

PHOTO: AFP

6. Hunger to win

Again, Wahab Riaz is the honourable exception but the way most of the batsman batted made it seem as if they didn't realise the occasion and hence just didn't have the hunger -- or show it through their on-field performances -- to win.

 

7. Catches

Yes, Pakistani teams are bad at fielding and catching, but the fact is that catches do win matches. The terrible sitter dropped by Rahat Ali at a very crucial time in the match could have turned the situation around. Shane Watson went on to make an unbeaten 50 and that catch along with the one Sohail Khan dropped cost Pakistan dearly.

 

PHOTO: AFP

8. An inept and inefficient board

The Pakistan Cricket Board is known more for its bloated bureaucracy, ineptitude, lack of planning and frequent changes in leadership; so, how can you just blame the team alone for the loss?

 

PHOTO: STUFF.CO.NZ

9. Lack of discipline

Last but not least, the Pakistan team lacked discipline from the start of the tournament. Making news for all the wrong reasons, the greenshirts made headlines for taking selfies, breaking curfews and for the team selector visiting a casino.

 

10. Selfies

 

PHOTO: TWITTER

If members of the Pakistan team devoted a fraction of the effort that they spend on taking selfies on their batting and fielding, we could have perhaps won.