Advice to Pakistan fans: Keep your expectations low

[RidiculousMan]

I'm writing this as a somewhat long time Pakistan Cricket fan. After seeing many disappointed young fans. I want to share my perspective and advice. Take it if you want.

Keep your expectations your with this team.

Why? Because the team and the players within the team are not of the quality to match the quality of the big teams (e.g. Australia, England, India).

Before the USA loss. I used to think that Pakistan is a mid table team. They are not among the Big 3. They are neither on the level of a Bangladesh or many associates nation. But that changed quickly. The loss against USA really opened up my eyes.

If you look back to the lead up to USA game. You will quickly realize that all was building up. Building up to blow up suddenly. The losses to smaller nations, C teams and then Ireland. That wasn't a fluke. That was the reflection of the system and the output that the system has been producing for Pakistan Cricket.

The disability in the Cricket Board. The quick chairman changes. The top leadership is absolutely responsible for how they brought Pakistan Cricket here.

I will say it again. Keep your expectations low from Pakistan Cricket. This is not just a coping strategy. It's not all gloom and doom.

It's the first step. Acceptance. Acceptance that your team and the system of Cricket Board is not up to the par. You need to see things for as they are. Only then you can trust what you are seeing and can devise solutions of the problems.

When you have your expectations lower. You have nothing to lose. You aren't disappointed with the results. It's just how things are. In the meantime enjoy Cricket as a sport. There are many other teams. There are even teams like Argentina who are creating all sorts of worst records in the world. But if they keep up with it. They will also rise one day. Just like Afghanistan is rising right now.

Enjoy PSL, or just invest less into Pakistan Cricket right now and find new things to do.

 

[Rana]

Whoever kept their expectations high needs to see a therapist

 

[RidiculousMan]

Whoever kept their expectations high needs to see a therapist

For sure. I mean it's just lying to yourself if you're not accepting and you'll just ruin yourself with constant disappointments.

 

[Asad T]

I dont think anyone here really had high hopes after losing to NZ C team, doing poorly against Ireland, getting mauled by England.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

after this defeat its better not to keep any sort of exptations now

 

[JilaWatan]

But but remember that 10 wicket win.

But... Remember how good ifti is as a finisher

But... We have the best openers in the world.

Lollll

 

[FearlessRoar]

I'm gutted. We lost the match because of chacha. Chacha scored 5 off 9 balls, and we lost by 6 runs. Even if the other batter had scored 12 runs off 9 balls, we would have won the game.

 

[Major]

120 should had been chased. Even if there were cracks on the wicket, it should had been chased. There is no question about it.

Forget Pakistan, if this was an associate team, even they would had played better cricket.

I agree that from now on I would have to keep my expectations low, but still, i still cannot believe we manage to lose this game. Like it was not even possible. Kuldeep was not playing. Axar didnt get any spin.

 

[PakLFC]

I said so yesterday that bat or bowl first India will win it. Prior to the tournament also said that Pak will lose to a minnow side too. Losing a match to Ireland followed by the NZ Z side tells me our Cricket is on life support machine. Not kidding when I say that the likes of Ireland and Scotland will overtake us in a few years time we are that bad. We need to dismantle the whole thing then start allover again.

 

[Sycamore]

Why?
Why should the fans lower their expectations.

This team belongs to the people. This team is not Babar's , Rizwan's , Shaheen 's , Wahab's personal club.

They need to realise they are not meeting the standards. Kick out the lot of them. Start fresh.

 

[Buffet]

Nah, you have to expect Pakistan to chase down 119 runs and win against USA.

USA did not even qualify. 119 was very low score. Team is playing poorly. Change the team. Pakistan has poor domestic setup but it can't be that bad to not have 15-20 decent players. A large populated country who plays cricket.

Even if Pakistan some how manages to qualify for the next round, some lessons needs to be learned by these two poor games.

 

[RidiculousMan]

Why?
Why should the fans lower their expectations.

This team belongs to the people. This team is not Babar's , Rizwan's , Shaheen 's , Wahab's personal club.

They need to realise they are not meeting the standards. Kick out the lot of them. Start fresh.

Because then you'll save yourself from disappointed and you'll only be able to save Pakistan Cricket once you accept the reality.

If you do not. The wave will continue for a little bit until the next event where it crashes and the cycle repeats itself. Understand the problem. We had a lot of players replaced from 2022 WT20. Look what has happened now. Their replacements did even worse.

You cannot cut and chop players as a means for a reset or a fresh start. You have to identify the problem first and understand that real change comes from a leadership position. From up top.

 

[mominsaigol]

I'm writing this as a somewhat long time Pakistan Cricket fan. After seeing many disappointed young fans. I want to share my perspective and advice. Take it if you want.

Keep your expectations your with this team.

Why? Because the team and the players within the team are not of the quality to match the quality of the big teams (e.g. Australia, England, India).

Before the USA loss. I used to think that Pakistan is a mid table team. They are not among the Big 3. They are neither on the level of a Bangladesh or many associates nation. But that changed quickly. The loss against USA really opened up my eyes.

If you look back to the lead up to USA game. You will quickly realize that all was building up. Building up to blow up suddenly. The losses to smaller nations, C teams and then Ireland. That wasn't a fluke. That was the reflection of the system and the output that the system has been producing for Pakistan Cricket.

The disability in the Cricket Board. The quick chairman changes. The top leadership is absolutely responsible for how they brought Pakistan Cricket here.

I will say it again. Keep your expectations low from Pakistan Cricket. This is not just a coping strategy. It's not all gloom and doom.

It's the first step. Acceptance. Acceptance that your team and the system of Cricket Board is not up to the par. You need to see things for as they are. Only then you can trust what you are seeing and can devise solutions of the problems.

When you have your expectations lower. You have nothing to lose. You aren't disappointed with the results. It's just how things are. In the meantime enjoy Cricket as a sport. There are many other teams. There are even teams like Argentina who are creating all sorts of worst records in the world. But if they keep up with it. They will also rise one day. Just like Afghanistan is rising right now.

Enjoy PSL, or just invest less into Pakistan Cricket right now and find new things to do.

I've been saying this for a very long time. Aka usa would crush this team amd people called me a blind hater.

My reason was simple that 2024 pak is the weakest t20 side to ever play a t20 cup for Pakistan as even 2022 atleast had haris who was inform and had all bowlers fit and firing including shadab supraingly who turned up.

You can not expect victory from Babar and rizwan who have been out of it since 2022 or from usman, Saim, Azam, Chacha and the bowlers.

And frankly speaking imad is injured and will fly home soon, Dude can't run and is getting old, Amir is a has-been.

Bowlers are out of it.

The only hope I had was that at the very least, Pakistan would be competitive against USA which has been fulfilled but not in the way I hoped as the game was mostly USA chocking a bit and not am actual competition between 2 evenly matched teams. They were superior in batting, bowling, fielding, captaincy and mentality

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Expectations should be high.

We are a proud cricket country with over 200 million people. The only sport played is cricket.

We have resources and generate money.

How the hell have we declined to such a level?

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Why?
Why should the fans lower their expectations.

This team belongs to the people. This team is not Babar's , Rizwan's , Shaheen 's , Wahab's personal club.

They need to realise they are not meeting the standards. Kick out the lot of them. Start fresh.

It's not even about them.

People just blame individuals. We have blamed individuals for the past 20 years.

Our cricket infrastructure is rotten. The guys responsible for this lot get away with the mess they have created while our fans bicker about sarfraz Misbah Babar etc

 

[Kroll]

Waste of time supporting this team.

 

[JaDed]

For once I can say Rizwan Babar fans are delusional and so were Azam and Imad fans.

Clearly all 4 are ridiculous, Babar might have talent but seems like a selfish individual.

Rizwan is good at keeping but that dumb shot he played today was preemptive and cannot be respected.

 

[Sherazkhalid]

For once I can say Rizwan Babar fans are delusional and so were Azam and Imad fans.

Clearly all 4 are ridiculous, Babar might have talent but seems like a selfish individual.

Rizwan is good at keeping but that dumb shot he played today was preemptive and cannot be respected.

Just like the team, there is no unity in fans either, everyone is gunning after the players they don't like and want to sweep under the rug their favourite players' mistakes. Only thing we all need to agree upon is that is a mediocre team like WI of 90/00s, every player will have 1 good game out of 100 and will be a passenger in the team, nepotism has destroyed the country, what chance cricket had.

 

[JaDed]

Just like the team, there is no unity in fans either, everyone is gunning after the players they don't like and want to sweep under the rug their favourite players' mistakes. Only thing we all need to agree upon is that is a mediocre team like WI of 90/00s, every player will have 1 good game out of 100 and will be a passenger in the team, nepotism has destroyed the country, what chance cricket had.

Yes and it’s absolutely childish to watch the groupism among fans to who was worst.

 

[RidiculousMan]

I think it's time to remind everyone again.

 

[shah9425]

Yeah expectations are pretty low nowadays

 

[Rana]

Yeah expectations are pretty low nowadays

What happened now? Your world superstars who were better than Sarfaraz who you hate ain’t cutting it anymore for you?

 

[shah9425]

What happened now? Your world superstars who were better than Sarfaraz who you hate ain’t cutting it anymore for you?

He was never a good player himself always hiding behind tail enders

 

[imran1976]

When a nation is going down, every section of the society gets affected -- Not just cricket, we are down almost on everything.

 

[Minnowbasher]

Pakistan should focus on playing lower ranked sides and stick to being competitive against them. Should cancel our series against England as we have no chance of even drawing a test.
Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh should regularly play each other for competitive test series.
Let SENA + India play each other without having to play these lesser nations.
Maybe even have a championship system where top team of lower ranked sides can earn the right to play the top teams.
I am so bored of meaningless series like Pakistan vs Australia.

 

[FearlessRoar]

Shan Masood in press conference after defeat in 1st Test Match against Bangladesh at Rawalpindi:

"As a team leader, to our fans and people, we apologize that we didn't give you the result that Pakistan deserves. We completely accept our mistakes as a team, and as far as effort is concerned, I don't think anyone of us was overconfident. Everyone has put in their 100 percent in the match, and everyone makes mistakes. We will raise our hands first to accept that we made mistakes in this Test match."

 

[mominsaigol]

He was never a good player himself always hiding behind tail enders

This is where you're wrong.

Hasan ali was a slogger and could hit a few. Their was zero reason sarfi should walk into a situation such as that and he knew it, if he walked Into that situation you would have eaten him alive saying, Oh look sarfi is a bottler.

Against england when Pakistan got 3-3 in , he came in and scored a 100, yes Pakistan lost but sarfraz had no reason to walk out and score for his team, if he was a coward like you proclaimed why didn't he send malik ahead of him? Why did he come out to bat as soon as hafeez fell? Or send imad in his place instead?

Similarly he agreed to bat at no 4 for wc 2019 and batted at said position multiple times however not every situation called for it.

Against australia in wc 2019, he did his absolute best to stay on, tried his hardest to not give tail enders the strike, Even got run out because of it.

I don't know people have an issue with sarfi. He has his flaws yes, especially that racist comment, but he plays for the crest on his chest? That's the definition of how a leader should be?

Has he ever said "Mein Khush nahi hoon, To mein malik ko bhejo ka"

 

[Kroll]

This country, this team and its fans (myself included) fully deserve this humiliation.

NB: Shan Masood was saying that the cricket team would make the nation proud following Arshad Nadeem's heroics.

 

[Kohlhaas]

I’ve followed England since the ‘70s so I know a thing or two about low expectations. You need to combine them with a dark sense of humour. I still can’t get used to the idea of England winning regularly!

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Shan Masood in press conference after defeat in 1st Test Match against Bangladesh at Rawalpindi:

"As a team leader, to our fans and people, we apologize that we didn't give you the result that Pakistan deserves. We completely accept our mistakes as a team, and as far as effort is concerned, I don't think anyone of us was overconfident. Everyone has put in their 100 percent in the match, and everyone makes mistakes. We will raise our hands first to accept that we made mistakes in this Test match."

if that was his 100% so get ready to face further destruction in the next game..

but 1 thing i want to mention here proudly.. that our captain speaks english so well!

 

[FastBowlingAllrounder]

They've been low since 2011 dude what are you on about?

 

[offstump]

When John Kerry unveiled the AfPak policy after Obama took office, the idea was to treat Afghanistan and Pakistan as a single theatre of operation. At the time, many in Pakistan were outraged—how could we be lumped together with our struggling neighbor? But fast forward to today, and it's clear: Afghanistan has either caught up with or surpassed us as a cricketing nation. When Afghanistan inevitably thrashes us in the next World Cup, someone like Naqvi will probably say, “The major surgery wasn’t enough we need a full organ transplant!” And then, of course, he’ll announce something like the Super Champions Cup—326 matches over four months, all to ‘gather data’ for the next squad. But in the end, nothing will change. The same cycle will repeat, and we’ll all be in denial just waiting for the switch to flip.

 

[ExpressPacer]

When John Kerry unveiled the AfPak policy after Obama took office, the idea was to treat Afghanistan and Pakistan as a single theatre of operation. At the time, many in Pakistan were outraged—how could we be lumped together with our struggling neighbor? But fast forward to today, and it's clear: Afghanistan has either caught up with or surpassed us as a cricketing nation. When Afghanistan inevitably thrashes us in the next World Cup, someone like Naqvi will probably say, “The major surgery wasn’t enough we need a full organ transplant!” And then, of course, he’ll announce something like the Super Champions Cup—326 matches over four months, all to ‘gather data’ for the next squad. But in the end, nothing will change. The same cycle will repeat, and we’ll all be in denial just waiting for the switch to flip.

Get off your high horse. This is just cricket mate. Afghanistan is still eons behind Pakistan as a country. No wonder hundreds and thousands of them seek refuge Pakistan like herd on a daily basis.

 

[mominsaigol]

Get off your high horse. This is just cricket mate. Afghanistan is still eons behind Pakistan as a country. No wonder hundreds and thousands of them seek refuge Pakistan like herd on a daily basis.

Ans that's the sad part.

A country that's behind pakistan is kicking 24/7 now adays

 

[BouncerGuy]

My expectations are already pretty low since that 2023 world cup and since the day when Babar was made captain again, since Shan was made the captain of test team instead of being dropped for life.

 

[mominsaigol]

My expectations are already pretty low since that 2023 world cup and since the day when Babar was made captain again, since Shan was made the captain of test team instead of being dropped for life.

Yeah I don't believe that. It's not possible.

No one on this planet, including myself who has the lowest of lowest of expectations possible cpuld have predicted Bangladesh would beat us with a 10 wicket mauling. I was sure it was a draw.

I thought pakistan would lose to USA but because Pakistan has the tournament mentality of an 8 year old, but in a series pakistan would overall win.

Same case with Ireland, I expected Ireland to win atleast one game in pakistan tradition but overall lose the series which is what happened.

Theirs no way anyone could have expected that Bangladesh wouldn't just beat Pakistan but it would be pretty one sided. They batted better, bowled better, fielded better especially in slips and captained better especially in drs.

 

[sweep_shot]

Pakistan have been in transition since 2003 WC (when most of the legends retired).

That transition became deeper with the current bunch of players.

I think Pakistan are now #7 in world cricket.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Pakistan have been in transition since 2003 WC (when most of the legends retired).

That transition became deeper with the current bunch of players.

I think Pakistan are now #7 in world cricket.

their actual downfall started after the sarfaraz ahmed era otherwise they were going good under his captaincy.

 

[mominsaigol]

Pakistan have been in transition since 2003 WC (when most of the legends retired).

That transition became deeper with the current bunch of players.

I think Pakistan are now #7 in world cricket.

No, Pakistan were always consistently a mid card team but fans wanted more and were unrealistic.

Misbah era ruined everything, Sarfi era brought Pakistan back to mid class level amd Babar era has destroyed the team completely

 

[BouncerGuy]

My expectations are record-low atm. Not expecting any big wins from this team, instead, I am expecting this team to lose against a few other minnows as well.