2009-2012 was golden period of Pakistan's limited over cricket, we deserved to win much more

[Pak number 1]

This period of around 4 years was excellent for us in ICC tournaments and we ought to have won so much more.

In 2009 we won the World T20.

In 2010 we got to the World T20 Semi final where we played Australia. This was a game that we had dominated and Mike Hussey snatched victory for them from the jaws of defeat. A once in a lifetime innings when considering the context of the match. I am confident we would have defeated a stale England side in the final.

In 2011 again we got to a World Cup semi final. IIRC we were favourites going into the India game and should really have won. Again we were unlucky or inept if you like, and if we had not dropped Tendulkar 4!! times we would have restricted them to around 220 which we would have chased.

Then in 2012 again we got to the semi final in the World T20. Playing Sri Lanka in the semis, we restricted them to a modest score and should have chased easily were it not for a typical batting collapse.

The major contributor to our success during this period was our bowling. It was amazing. Hafeez, Afridi and Ajmal would suffocate the life out of an innings and Gul was lethal.

So one trophy and 3 semi finals was what we yielded from this period and do you agree that we should have won a lot more with in my opinion an ATG limited overs attack?

And on a side note, can we please remember Hafeez and Gul for this period and not as medicore players which they were not.

 

[Geil]

no I don't think with such poor batsmen in the 09-12 period after Inzamam Anwar Razzaq Yousuf who them self couldn't win any Icc tournament Winning one tournament was a great achievement which was done mostly by good bowling attacks

 

[talha3]

In 2009 we also reached the Champions Trophy semi final. Played NZ. Posted 233 and got them to 126-4 with a chance but Elliot and Vettori took the game away.

 

[Zabbaz]

This period of around 4 years was excellent for us in ICC tournaments and we ought to have won so much more.

In 2009 we won the World T20.

In 2010 we got to the World T20 Semi final where we played Australia. This was a game that we had dominated and Mike Hussey snatched victory for them from the jaws of defeat. A once in a lifetime innings when considering the context of the match. I am confident we would have defeated a stale England side in the final.

In 2011 again we got to a World Cup semi final. IIRC we were favourites going into the India game and should really have won. Again we were unlucky or inept if you like, and if we had not dropped Tendulkar 4!! times we would have restricted them to around 220 which we would have chased.

Then in 2012 again we got to the semi final in the World T20. Playing Sri Lanka in the semis, we restricted them to a modest score and should have chased easily were it not for a typical batting collapse.

The major contributor to our success during this period was our bowling. It was amazing. Hafeez, Afridi and Ajmal would suffocate the life out of an innings and Gul was lethal.

So one trophy and 3 semi finals was what we yielded from this period and do you agree that we should have won a lot more with in my opinion an ATG limited overs attack?

And on a side note, can we please remember Hafeez and Gul for this period and not as medicore players which they were not.

It was indeed a strong period for us. With a bit of luck it could have been even better. The end of period was beautifully symbolized by our performance in the 2011 Semifinal. The man who bore the brunt of the blame for the defeat (along with YK) was rewarded with captaincy. It changed Pakistan cricket for next 6-7 years. We are only now seeing tentative signs of a recovery.

Gul was at his absolute peak. Loved watching him bowl. He was fast and accurate and moved the bowl. At the death he was awesome with his yorkers. Up there with Malinga during that time. But he was also taken to the cleaners in the Semifinal (although Riaz made up for his bowling by taking 5).

It really hurt seeing the look on his face in that match. You could literally see the confidence being drained from his face with every Sehwag hit. He went from a champion to a meek little boy. It was painful and I felt for him. Sehwag was sublime in that little cameo innings.

The Funny thing is that it was partly Afridi’s fault. He wanted Gul to bowl outside off stump so he removed a fielder from the legside to the offside. With a 7-2 field Gul was afraid of bowling too straight so he bowled wide outside off. Sehwag loves that and he ate it up like it was biryani. If Afridi had just let Gul bowl instead of trying to be over cleaver, Gul would have dismissed Sehwag. He had troubled Sehwag for the first 2-3 balls of the over. The beating that followed was brutal and Gul was almost submissive to Sehwag in the rest of the match. Sehwag could have taken anything from Gul if he wanted to and Gul would have just surrendered and watched submissively. But after that we fought back brilliant because of Wahab Riaz and the spinners.

Bad captaincy was a feature throughout. So many edges to the slips especially off the spinners, but no slips in the place. I remember thinking captaincy could not get much worse than Afridi. How wrong I was.

SRT got lucky with an LBW appeal that was clearly out no matter what anyone says. Then there were the dropped catches and finally the most pathetic and selfish batting display in a high profile match that I have ever seen. That display would later be rewarded.

 

[MRSN]

In 2009 we also reached the Champions Trophy semi final. Played NZ. Posted 233 and got them to 126-4 with a chance but Elliot and Vettori took the game away.

Missed run out and catch drop in that partnership also. And vettori of all people and elliot who was stuggling to keep his place in the side...its just Pakistan thing..

 

[Pete Rose]

Young cricket fans hehe. 2009 - 2012 hehe

 

[ManFan]

Nobody can deny that our decline began in 2011. And that has everything to do with appointing Misbah as captain because he was less of a headache to deal with which is a nicer way of saying a " yes man ". Afridi for all his brainless tactics could at least bring energy to a team whether it be with his bowling or batting. But an even bigger mistake was appointing Azhar as captain. You can see that we tried new players in the BD Tour yet the blame went on the newbies instead of the captain because PCB did not want to admit they had made a mistake.

 

[MRSN]

Young cricket fans hehe. 2009 - 2012 hehe

Thats the last time we were a good and exciting LOI side. Then came period of epic dead, dull and timid cricket.

 

[Savak]

Our decline started with Misbah being the ODI skipper and accelerated like no tommorow when we lost the services of a pre 15 degree Ajmal, Hafeez, when Afridi lost form with the ball. People are also forgetting the impact the 2 new ball rule had on our fast bowlers becoming less effective due to the absence of reverse swing.

 

[Bleedgreen4ever]

This period of around 4 years was excellent for us in ICC tournaments and we ought to have won so much more.

In 2009 we won the World T20.

In 2010 we got to the World T20 Semi final where we played Australia. This was a game that we had dominated and Mike Hussey snatched victory for them from the jaws of defeat. A once in a lifetime innings when considering the context of the match. I am confident we would have defeated a stale England side in the final.

In 2011 again we got to a World Cup semi final. IIRC we were favourites going into the India game and should really have won. Again we were unlucky or inept if you like, and if we had not dropped Tendulkar 4!! times we would have restricted them to around 220 which we would have chased.

Then in 2012 again we got to the semi final in the World T20. Playing Sri Lanka in the semis, we restricted them to a modest score and should have chased easily were it not for a typical batting collapse.

The major contributor to our success during this period was our bowling. It was amazing. Hafeez, Afridi and Ajmal would suffocate the life out of an innings and Gul was lethal.

So one trophy and 3 semi finals was what we yielded from this period and do you agree that we should have won a lot more with in my opinion an ATG limited overs attack?

And on a side note, can we please remember Hafeez and Gul for this period and not as medicore players which they were not.

do you realise that during the period from 2008 to 2011 we could not win even a SINGLE ODI series!?
we had only 5 wins in 2010 yes only 5 wins in a single year
we lost to both Sri Lanka and India in the Asia Cup and also got whitewashed in Australia
Reaching the semis is nothing if you lose all the knockouts.
our golden period was in the 1980s when we had gun players under two gun captains like IK and Miandad

 

[Bleedgreen4ever]

Our decline started with Misbah being the ODI skipper and accelerated like no tommorow when we lost the services of a pre 15 degree Ajmal, Hafeez, when Afridi lost form with the ball. People are also forgetting the impact the 2 new ball rule had on our fast bowlers becoming less effective due to the absence of reverse swing.

He is the Zia ul Haq of Pakistan cricket.His approach is totally opposite to what Mushtaq,Imran,Miandad and Wasim lead the team.So sick of his dull and nice boy approach.It might plague our cricket for years to come

 

[Pak number 1]

do you realise that during the period from 2008 to 2011 we could not win even a SINGLE ODI series!?
we had only 5 wins in 2010 yes only 5 wins in a single year
we lost to both Sri Lanka and India in the Asia Cup and also got whitewashed in Australia
Reaching the semis is nothing if you lose all the knockouts.
our golden period was in the 1980s when we had gun players under two gun captains like IK and Miandad

If you go back and read it fully, I say golden period in ICC tournaments. For me bilaterals are just players going through the motions with regular rotation. Tournaments are where motivation and hunger levels are high and the best players are selected. These should be the yardstick to measure a teams success and not meaningless series.

 

[Zabbaz]

He is the Zia ul Haq of Pakistan cricket.His approach is totally opposite to what Mushtaq,Imran,Miandad and Wasim lead the team.So sick of his dull and nice boy approach.It might plague our cricket for years to come

This is so true, but also considered a bit taboo to say openly. He changed the soul of our cricket. He lost our Identity as a cricketing nation. He was the antithesis of Imran Khan in his approach and his philosophy about the game. Imran was all about playing to win and not merely playing not to lose. Misbah was all about safety first and 50 first if you know what I mean50 off 70 balls that is while the run rates climbs and climbs or conversely we bat first and end up getting a "respectable" 250ish score

 

[Bleedgreen4ever]

If you go back and read it fully, I say golden period in ICC tournaments. For me bilaterals are just players going through the motions with regular rotation. Tournaments are where motivation and hunger levels are high and the best players are selected. These should be the yardstick to measure a teams success and not meaningless series.

A golden period with 5 6 different captains and winning only 2 knockouts?

 

[Billy1999]

Gul was a legend then

 

[Bleedgreen4ever]

This is so true, but also considered a bit taboo to say openly. He changed the soul of our cricket. He lost our Identity as a cricketing nation. He was the antithesis of Imran Khan in his approach and his philosophy about the game. Imran was all about playing to win and not merely playing not to lose. Misbah was all about safety first and 50 first if you know what I mean50 off 70 balls that is while the run rates climbs and climbs or conversely we bat first and end up getting a "respectable" 250ish score

Yes and the fact that during his tenure we did not produce even ONE quality fast bowler
completed wasted junaid!

 

[Zabbaz]

Yes and the fact that during his tenure we did not produce even ONE quality fast bowler
completed wasted junaid!

I could be wrong, but I always got the impression that he was not the biggest fan of Junaid which is strange considering that Junaid won him so many matches. I think at one point, he "forced" Junaid to "rest" for a game or two when Junaid was in red-hot form. Junaid did not seem at all happy with that.

 

[Arsalan Pro]

It sure was a golden period and never did I thought during these years that Pakistan will be in such terrible state of affairs in near future, though we shouldn't live in the past and hopefully from 2017 onwards a new tenure of glory will begin for Pakistan under Sarfraz!!!!

 

[Mamoon]

Yes a golden era where we got battered by every team not named Sri Lanka and WI, and lost more matches than we won in ICC tourneys.