Failure to launch: The Pakistan side of the story

The Pakistan World T20 campaign concluded in complete disarray. When the stuffed shirts of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) made a futile attempt to probe into the debacle, all they got were words on a piece of paper. These, however, weren’t just ordinary words. These were words that contained the reality behind the scenes of the Pakistan cricket team. All they got from the probe were a few apologies and a bunch of fingers pointed in different directions.

Below mentioned are a few reasons as to why Pakistan cricket has gone underground, aimlessly chasing the glory they weren’t even ready for. It remains to be seen how Pakistan diagnose these blunders within their system.

1. Mismanagement of resources:

The Pakistan cricket team is not one without resources. With the likes of Mohammad Amir returning to the side and playing as well as ever, there can certainly be no complaint in that regard. If that is not the problem, then the issue surely must be the management of the resources. The first mistake as pointed out by many was the selection of four frontline fast bowlers. Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Sami and Wahab Riaz were picked for the World T20. If they were travelling to Australia, then it was the perfect construction. But the fact of the matter was that they were travelling to India where it is certainly no secret that the pitches offer plenty in terms of spin.

Shoaib Malik always batted down the order. Umar Akmal wasn’t able to find the middle of the bat. And, what baffled me the most was the batting position of Sarfaraz Ahmed. He is arguably the best player of spin in the side, yet he comes in only towards the slog-overs of the match. Incidentally, Sarfaraz didn’t play a single delivery of spin in the entire tournament.

2. Captaincy imbalance:

The early 1980s saw a tectonic shift in Australian cricket. The Australian board at the time decided to make Kim Hughes the skipper. Although Hughes was in fact viewed as the establishment’s golden boy, there were players in the side who didn’t welcome the decision. Rod Marsh and Dennis Lillee were among those players, and not to forget perhaps the two most important members of the Australian side. Needless to say, Hughes failed to control his players.

Although Afridi is perhaps the most experienced of the lot, failed to control his players. Should anything in the Team manager’s and the coach’s report be believed, Afridi is far from an ideal skipper.

“To cap it all, the tournament was being held in India, where the team was under multiple scanners at the same time, pushing the stress and anxiety levels very high,” Intikhab said. “Much to our chagrin [added to the above reasons], was a captain in his farewell event after a career spanning nearly 20 years, yet absolutely clueless in terms of on-field tactics and off-field leadership.”

3. Selection Conundrum:

To begin with, the selection committee made some bold calls when it came to selecting the squad that would make the trip to India. Mohammad Nawaz, Ruman Raees, and Babar Azam were selected ahead of experienced players such as Umar Gul. Eyeballs literally popped out when Ahmed Shehzad was left out of the side. In a U-turn, Iftikhar Ahmed, Anwar Ali and Khurram Manzoor were left out of the side for the World T20 with Ahmed Shehzad being restored. Mind you, this move took place, not months, not weeks, but days before the Pakistan side left for India. What were the Pakistani selectors thinking? They were going to compete in a World event organized by the ICC, not some Mickey mouse league. Was the Pakistan side sent to India just an after-thought? Food for thought perhaps.

4. Over-dependence on Shahid Afridi:

Pakistan went into the tournament with just one specialist spinner – Shahid Afridi. Were they going to India or Australia? Imad Wasim and Mohammad Nawaz too were added to the side but were by no means big turners of the ball. Initially, it was Afridi who promoted himself up the order, making mincemeat of the Bangladeshi attack. However, the ploy didn’t work in subsequent matches as the Pakistan team failed to win any of their encounters apart from the one against Bangladesh.

Although there was a lot of pressure on the Pakistan skipper, he seemed to literally be the ‘One-man army’ leading the Pakistani side. With bat and ball at that.

Afridi – ‘An absolutely clueless’ captain? – Intikhab Alam reacts on Afridi’s captaincy after World T20 exit