Pakistan and the World Cup: what next?

The PCB must carve out a long-term plan where only ‘able bodies’ are allowed to enter the limited-overs fray.

Pakistan is branded as the most unpredictable team in the game but even after some serious failures in an incredibly lacklustre decade, the reactions to the failures are painfully similar and predictable. Nothing has bucked the trend in 2015 either and just on the heels of a World Cup exit, there’s an outpouring of the most boorish yet predicable reactions as the buck is passed from one the other. Amid the prevalent noise the undercurrent is obvious: defeat is an orphan. Days after the end of a largely meek and non-rewarding campaign Misbahul Haq tore into his critics before questioning the selection of the team for the World Cup. “I think the coach and captain should have the authority to make selections. A captain can only recommend players, but does not have the final say on selection.”

And predictably the selection committee that sat down for the best part of a week with Misbah and Waqar Younis to close in on the World Cup 15 is not amused. “Every effort was made to accommodate players who were desired, even the replacements for Mohammad Hafeez and Junaid Khan (Nasir Jamshed and Rahat Ali) were chosen by the coach and the captain, and it is deeply disappointing to hear Misbah make these claims.”

Pakistani media thrives on sensationalism and generally its critique is dependent on some of the most outlandish, bizarre and eccentric conclusions — their motto: never let facts get in the way of a good story.

Cricket is no different and if some media pundits are to be believed, then Misbah’s charges lost due to a surfeit of selfies, intrigues and casino visits rather than the mediocrity of the willow wielders. Amid the blur there is no real introspection of the actual ailments that have afflicted the game for a long time now. For starters, one must establish that Pakistan, languishing at the back end of the ICC ODI ranking, could not have gone past the quarter-final stage with such an obvious chink in their armoury — the dearth of substance in an incredibly frail batting line-up.

The bowlers, led by the refreshingly resilient Wahab Riaz, did cause a stir by scalping South Africa but to expect them to carry the burden of, at times mind-numbingly incompetent batsmen, all the way to World Cup glory was akin to asking for the moon — simply put, average teams don’t win World Cups, they haven’t even once in the first 10 editions and in the continuation of the trend, both the finalists for the ongoing tournament have leapt-frogged the rest of the pack through the sheer strength and quality in their ranks.

The Pakistan batting line-up that turned up for the World Cup, in fact, didn’t turn up other than in the game against the hapless UAE outfit at Napier and against the club-like Irish bowling attack. During one of his media interactions in New Zealand, Waqar conceded that the batsmen didn’t possess the skill to execute shots that are an inseparable part of a decent batsman’s ODI armoury. None of the frontline Pakistan batsmen were seen attempting the lap sweep, paddle or the Dil-scoop etc. and other than Misbah, one can’t recall any other batsman even attempting the reverse sweep. The boom or bust mentality clouded the minds from game one. With the inability to improvise, the players built unnecessary pressure on themselves since almost all of them relied on a one-dimensional attack or defence only approach — strike rotation with five fielders inside the circle for the majority of an ODI game exposed their inadequacies. If there is ever a reward for a flashy 20-run innings, Pakistan batsmen would run away with the plaudits; ask them to convert the innings into a substantial one and the lot would run for cover.

While the leading teams pride on their supremely fit athletes, Pakistan, despite a growing emphasis on fielding, brought a squad full of supremely stiff bodies. Sohail Khan, Rahat Ali, Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Irfan and Sohaib Maqsood, simply put, are not likely to enter a ballerina contest, and throw in the mix the aging trio of Misbah, Shahid Afridi and Younus Khan, and Pakistan were left banking on just one department — bowling — to bail them out.

Last year, a rigorous camp in Lahore’s sweltering heat was organised in a bid to improve the fitness levels of the players. Unfortunately, a spate of injuries later in the season threw a spanner in the works. Moving forward, Pakistan must make fitness a priority. Rather than playing to the gallery and making cosmetic surgeries (removal of the selection committee or team management), the PCB think tank must carve out a long-term plan where only ‘able bodies’ are allowed to enter the limited-overs fray. Regardless of the stature of the player and his skill with bat or ball, the player must meet international fielding standards.

On a parting note, some food for thought: what will be the long-term gain in persisting with Misbah as the Test and Shahid Afridi as the Twenty20 captain? Hope the two Pakistan legends are given a fitting farewell but do we really need them to scrap it out more when their slots can be used to groom some young talent?

Published in The Express Tribune, March  27^th,  2015.

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