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Asia Cup 2023 - biggest disaster ever for Pakistan cricket?

Mamoon

Mamoon

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What could go wrong for Pakistan did go wrong. Not only did Pakistan emerge out of this tournament as a weak pushover board, it was also exposed as a weak team and all the hype surrounding its ranking, Babar’s batting and its bowling fizzled out badly.

  • PCB was forced to host matches in Sri Lanka. Playing India only in Sri Lanka would have been understandable, but the fact that they were forced to play Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka when Pakistan was the host nation was embarrassing.

  • Pakistan loses to India by a record margin after making tall claims and making bullish statements for a week.

  • Injuries and loss of confidence Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf get injured, Shaheen has lost confidence after the “they cannot play him” narrative ended in complete humiliation.

  • India plays its backup players and lose to Bangladesh which meant the number 1 ranked team finished last in the table

  • Indian pacers blow Sri Lanka away in the final proving that even their pace attack is better than Pakistan’s.

  • The World Cup is only a few weeks away where Pakistan will be traveling to India of all places with all the baggage and the PTSD of the Asia Cup. There are no bilateral series against underpowered teams before the World Cup where Pakistan can pretend to be the number 1 team, Babar can pretend to be the number 1 batsman and the pacers can pretend to be the number 1 pace attack.

  • Lack of cohesion in the dressing room cannot be dismissed as weak media reports. When there is smoke, there is fire. For the first time 4 years of Babar’s captaincy, there have been reports of arguments and infighting in the dressing room. Losing and losing in this fashion can destroy the team culture and spirit. This could be the beginning of the end for Babar as captain and those days of grouping had lobbying could be back.

All in all, Pakistan have had many disastrous tournaments in the past but surely, considering all factors and the timing of this tournament, the 2023 Asia Cup has to be the biggest disaster Pakistan has ever had and it will take something special to brush this aside, that too before the World Cup.

It is safe to say that Pakistan cricket before and after the Asia Cup is not in the same state.
 
Mamoon said:
What could go wrong for Pakistan did go wrong. Not only did Pakistan emerge out of this tournament as a weak pushover board, it was also exposed as a weak team and all the hype surrounding its ranking, Babar’s batting and its bowling fizzled out badly.

  • PCB was forced to host matches in Sri Lanka. Playing India only in Sri Lanka would have been understandable, but the fact that they were forced to play Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka when Pakistan was the host nation was embarrassing.

  • Pakistan loses to India by a record margin after making tall claims and making bullish statements for a week.

  • Injuries and loss of confidence Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf get injured, Shaheen has lost confidence after the “they cannot play him” narrative ended in complete humiliation.

  • India plays its backup players and lose to Bangladesh which meant the number 1 ranked team finished last in the table

  • Indian pacers blow Sri Lanka away in the final proving that even their pace attack is better than Pakistan’s.

  • The World Cup is only a few weeks away where Pakistan will be traveling to India of all places with all the baggage and the PTSD of the Asia Cup. There are no bilateral series against underpowered teams before the World Cup where Pakistan can pretend to be the number 1 team, Babar can pretend to be the number 1 batsman and the pacers can pretend to be the number 1 pace attack.

  • Lack of cohesion in the dressing room cannot be dismissed as weak media reports. When there is smoke, there is fire. For the first time 4 years of Babar’s captaincy, there have been reports of arguments and infighting in the dressing room. Losing and losing in this fashion can destroy the team culture and spirit. This could be the beginning of the end for Babar as captain and those days of grouping had lobbying could be back.

All in all, Pakistan have had many disastrous tournaments in the past but surely, considering all factors and the timing of this tournament, the 2023 Asia Cup has to be the biggest disaster Pakistan has ever had and it will take something special to brush this aside, that too before the World Cup.

It is safe to say that Pakistan cricket before and after the Asia Cup is not in the same state.
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Pakistan have been glossing over disaster for ages

Now it simply became too much to keep under the lid
 
Pak team and our fans, after beating Nepal, AFG, BD, SL had become too proud and thought "they just don't lose".

Actual substance and skill never was in the team to challenge the top 4 cricketing nations: IND, AUS, ENG, SA/NZ. However, the false illusion of "winning" and thrashing the minnows made them feel they're now superstars.

Players like Rizwan, Imam, Shadab, Nawaz, Fakhar -- they just don't have the talent and skill to perform against today's top teams.

Asia CUP:
It's a disaster but I guess not the biggest in our history. Nobody can forget things like previous spot fixing scandals, 2003 star-studded team getting thrashed at the World Cup etc.
 
Overrated Shaheen and Pakistan's pace attack has been emphatically exposed. Boult at 35 year's of age still wiping the floor with Shaheen tells you a lot about how much Shaheen has been put on a pedestal. When was the last time Shaheen ever produced a spell like Siraj or Boult or Starc?

Fans keep on harping on how good their bowling is, the fact is Pakistan's best suit is batting. You take on Shaheen and Rauf and the bowling crumbles like a house of cards.

2011 world cup relative success was built on the back of Afridi, Ajmal and Hafeez boa constricting the opposition innings in the middle overs. This time Shadab and Nawaz will be there to give respite to the batsmen.
 
I agree with @Mamoon . This has been the biggest disaster of an Asia Cup.

It would had been better had PCB pulled out based on the hosting issue.
 
It depends how you look at it.

Performance-wise, 2018 was worse. We were hammered twice by India, scraped past Afghanistan, and lost to Bangladesh having reduced them to 12-3. It triggered our worst ever run of ODI form, culminating in a group stage exit at the World Cup.

That was under Sarfraz's captaincy who if you believe some was Mark Taylor and Ricky Ponting rolled into one. And he was literally hiding in the batting order.

In 2023, we had one absolute shocker of a game vs India and lost on the last ball to Sri Lanka with a depleted team. But we bowled India out in the first meeting, and comfortably beat Bangladesh who are a decent ODI team.

However unlike 2018, we've lost a key player to injury and don't have 9 months before the World Cup to settle on a combination.
 
Mamoon said:
What could go wrong for Pakistan did go wrong. Not only did Pakistan emerge out of this tournament as a weak pushover board, it was also exposed as a weak team and all the hype surrounding its ranking, Babar’s batting and its bowling fizzled out badly.

  • PCB was forced to host matches in Sri Lanka. Playing India only in Sri Lanka would have been understandable, but the fact that they were forced to play Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka when Pakistan was the host nation was embarrassing.

  • Pakistan loses to India by a record margin after making tall claims and making bullish statements for a week.

  • Injuries and loss of confidence Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf get injured, Shaheen has lost confidence after the “they cannot play him” narrative ended in complete humiliation.

  • India plays its backup players and lose to Bangladesh which meant the number 1 ranked team finished last in the table

  • Indian pacers blow Sri Lanka away in the final proving that even their pace attack is better than Pakistan’s.

  • The World Cup is only a few weeks away where Pakistan will be traveling to India of all places with all the baggage and the PTSD of the Asia Cup. There are no bilateral series against underpowered teams before the World Cup where Pakistan can pretend to be the number 1 team, Babar can pretend to be the number 1 batsman and the pacers can pretend to be the number 1 pace attack.

  • Lack of cohesion in the dressing room cannot be dismissed as weak media reports. When there is smoke, there is fire. For the first time 4 years of Babar’s captaincy, there have been reports of arguments and infighting in the dressing room. Losing and losing in this fashion can destroy the team culture and spirit. This could be the beginning of the end for Babar as captain and those days of grouping had lobbying could be back.

All in all, Pakistan have had many disastrous tournaments in the past but surely, considering all factors and the timing of this tournament, the 2023 Asia Cup has to be the biggest disaster Pakistan has ever had and it will take something special to brush this aside, that too before the World Cup.

It is safe to say that Pakistan cricket before and after the Asia Cup is not in the same state.
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I fully agreed about last point regarding the infighting discussion in dressing room. I feel next captain is shaheen as he has a mind like his father in law and we have seen signs of shahid afridi backing and supporting internally shaheen afridi for the captaincy of t20s. There is a strong group of pashtun cricketers for the first time in pakistan international team and they will for sure not like someone like babar who is showing extremely timid approach even after so many years of experimenting and not ready to improve a bit.
 
“Pakistan cricket at its best, one minute down next minute up”. Nasir husain summarized pakistan cricket in a better way than millions of viewers
 
Adi_62945 said:
I fully agreed about last point regarding the infighting discussion in dressing room. I feel next captain is shaheen as he has a mind like his father in law and we have seen signs of shahid afridi backing and supporting internally shaheen afridi for the captaincy of t20s. There is a strong group of pashtun cricketers for the first time in pakistan international team and they will for sure not like someone like babar who is showing extremely timid approach even after so many years of experimenting and not ready to improve a bit.
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Tbh Babars had 4 years as captain and he hasn't shown an iota of improvement or development. We have failed to win major ICC tournaments and we have been humiliated by Australia, England and New Zealand at home. Another flop ODI WC and the captaincy should rightfully be snatched from him.
 
I find it hilarious that the OP never considered the Asia Cup a serious tournament and felt it was a waste of time, but has the time to dissect Pakistan's performance. What a surprise.

Anyhow, Pakistan needed a wake up call before the WC, and Asia Cup was it.
 
Pakistan should never have played this tournament. But historically Pakistan dies well in WC when it has a poor lead up.
 
The only real negative for me..and this is a big one.. is the injury to Naseem. I don’t think we have a replacement of the same caliber.
Yes the spin bowling got found out, but could be a blessing in disguise, if selectors take note and make some changes.
Clearly the high expectations from this team were unjustified but better for Pak team to go into WC with low expectations. India will start with the psychological edge now for the WC game but that counts for little as can change with one wicket on game day.
 
Don't think Pakistan would have ever been 50 all out against India in any match.

Pakistan needs to think positive and find some solace to lift their morale. You can't be all gloom because of one very bad day at the office.

India could have mentally given up and rolled over after being 36 all out vs Aus but they dusted themselves off the floor and won the remainder of the series 2-1. That is what great sides do.
 
The tournament was fine.

Pakistani performance was a farce and fans have a hard time coping with it.

Losing by 228 runs, losing Haris, on verge of losing Naseem, Fakhar being useless, Shadab being terrible at everything, , Babar being best vs Nepal only and Babar and Shadab fighting sums up Pakistani performance.

Not Indian or Sri Lankan performance.
 
To be completly fair, the loss is an overreaction.

I said it before India is superior to us, and I don't take back what I said.

But the overreaction is such that people now think pakistan is the weakest team of all time.

All that happened was media blew us up into epic proportions thinking we are no 1.

We can win the tournament as tournaments are unpredictable but we were never front runners in the race.

Media pumped it up as if world cup and Asia cup will be a walk in the park and pakistan will have an easy time.
 
Since Imran's days, PCT has never handled the tag of favorites well. In a way good for them that they will go to the World Cup as just another contender instead of raging hot favorites. They may do even better as underdogs.

Also Pakistan can make some tactical changes in the big event, like going with 4 quicks against India or playing wicket taking spinners instead of Shadab.
 
The pressure created by the media, fans and ex players after the big India loss reflected in the teams performance against Sri Lanka. It tells you that this Pakistani team struggles very badly when under real pressure when the stakes are high. Not good signs heading into the ODI WC.
 
As far as the tournament being a disaster is concerned, let's see how much PCB has earned from this Asia Cup. Najam Sethi estimated the PCB was going to make $3 million
 
dildilpak said:
The only real negative for me..and this is a big one.. is the injury to Naseem. I don’t think we have a replacement of the same caliber.
Yes the spin bowling got found out, but could be a blessing in disguise, if selectors take note and make some changes.
Clearly the high expectations from this team were unjustified but better for Pak team to go into WC with low expectations. India will start with the psychological edge now for the WC game but that counts for little as can change with one wicket on game day.
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How many matches does naseem won for pakistan. Our real match winner is shaheen and he will do good in WC
 
Adi_62945 said:
How many matches does naseem won for pakistan. Our real match winner is shaheen and he will do good in WC
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100% Shaheen and Harris Rauf are our Top 2 bowlers. But how many teams have their #3 bowler as good as Naseem?
 
MenInG said:
1. Hosting - Pakistan playing its home games in Sri Lanka
2. Rain
3. Results

Farce
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what about the Rain? Just one game got washed out in the whole tournament. Much better than what typically happens in every tournament in Eng.
Results were just reflective of where teams stand. They will seem like a farce though if you got giddy with all the silly pre-tournament hype around the team.
The Hosting was just embarrassing.
 
I'd argue if its the biggest disaster to Pakistan Cricket or Cricket in general because of the rainy schedules and a final full of conspiracy.
 
dildilpak said:
100% Shaheen and Harris Rauf are our Top 2 bowlers. But how many teams have their #3 bowler as good as Naseem?
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I think Naseem is our top bowler.

This can be vindicated by the fact that if Shaheen got injured, we would still dream of winning the Cup without him.

But most people already know without Naseem, Pakistan is not going to come close.
 
dildilpak said:
100% Shaheen and Harris Rauf are our Top 2 bowlers. But how many teams have their #3 bowler as good as Naseem?
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In cricket there is nothing called good. You just need to produce results in important matches to be called good. Naseem is close but he has to perform so that pak can win matches
 
TheSultan said:
Exactly right - the facade could no longer be maintained.
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Believe me, they are still trying their best to keep it under the lid.

Apparently, it’s just ‘one source’ reporting it.

Forget the argument/bust up. Are you seriously telling me that there were no people who were not calling out the PCB nonsense in selection, player preference and the favouritism for the past 2-3 years?
 
I’m sorry but to say Pakistan fans were getting over excited for me is not true, I always get huge joy from Pakistan winning, but with our history I know that nothing is ever going to be constantly good that’s the nature of Pakistan cricket!

But this whole tournament was a farce and that’s 100% true, we all know India are too scared to play us regularly because they know it would make our games more competitive, but to be named hosts and not even play Sri Lanka at home is not right, also for the only game to have a reserve day was our 2nd clash vs India, you can’t change rules halfway through, we’ll be back in the World Cup I do believe!
 
Rana said:
Believe me, they are still trying their best to keep it under the lid.

Apparently, it’s just ‘one source’ reporting it.

Forget the argument/bust up. Are you seriously telling me that there were no people who were not calling out the PCB nonsense in selection, player preference and the favouritism for the past 2-3 years?
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Just one source.

But continue believing what you like.

No mainstream media outlet is even interested in this made up story.
 
Yes the Asia cup was a disaster but it doesn't mean that this team is trash. In the last few years, PCT has first time been competitive with top sides in ODIs. The fast bowling trio is one of the best even in absence of Naseem for first few matches. If some sensible tweaks are made like addition of proper spin bowlers this team can easily make semis from where it's anyone's game.
Remember PCT thrives in chaos and uncertainty. Asia cup was a good reality check. All this doom and gloom might be shortlived in my opinion. Babar is on for making HISTORY .
 
Rana said:
Believe me, they are still trying their best to keep it under the lid.

Apparently, it’s just ‘one source’ reporting it.

Forget the argument/bust up. Are you seriously telling me that there were no people who were not calling out the PCB nonsense in selection, player preference and the favouritism for the past 2-3 years?
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Frankly a non issue. Pak team has always been plagued by groupism (confirmed by Akram himself). Has not stopped Pak from winning tournaments before.
 
With this batting lineup, we have no chance. If Babar doesnt score we arent scoring enough to beat any decent team. Its been the same since the late 90s, bang average players playing as bang average players. No doubt we have our days but we arent good enough to do much in a very open tournament.
 
Scheduling was poor. But this was always viewed as a dress rehersal for world cup. All teams suffered injury blows. But it also presented opportunity to the remaining guys to get some game time. More than the winning what you take out of this Asia cup is important. India had so many positives as top 6 batsmen notched 50s in first 2 or 3 games. 3 batsmen got 100s. Bumrah seems to have recovered well. On the negative side FIelding chinks exposed big time. Also tailender issue continues something they have to dress. Iyer, Axar injuries. Hope all teams took something out of it.
 
Is there no one from PCB for the prize distribution ceremony? That’s bizarre, considering we are hosts.
 
Leeon1994 said:
I'd argue if its the biggest disaster to Pakistan Cricket or Cricket in general because of the rainy schedules and a final full of conspiracy.
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What exactly did you found suspicious in the final? Not doubting you but specifics would be better
 
dildilpak said:
what about the Rain? Just one game got washed out in the whole tournament. Much better than what typically happens in every tournament in Eng.
Results were just reflective of where teams stand. They will seem like a farce though if you got giddy with all the silly pre-tournament hype around the team.
The Hosting was just embarrassing.
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The rain at times changed the complexion of the wicket.

The atmosphere played a big part in causing the ball to swing when the wickets play completely differently at the correct time of the season.
 
IMMY69 said:
The rain at times changed the complexion of the wicket.

The atmosphere played a big part in causing the ball to swing when the wickets play completely differently at the correct time of the season.
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Today SL batted in the morning just after rain and got all out for 50.

India batted in the morning just after rain against Pakistan and went onto score 356/2
 
You can blame the schedule and travelling but remember that our boys don't travel like we do. Every measure is taken to ensure that they are comfortable and rested.

It may be good for us to crash out like this just before a World Cup. PCT may take a close look at why things went the way they did and make the necessary changes.
 
From the post match conference against sl babar was still defending shadab and nawaz which suggest that both will be picked for worldcup .atleast one of them should be dropped and replace by someone like imad .if this doesnot happen we are doomed
 
Yes the complexion changed. But again how is this different from Rain in England or Dew in the sub continent? In all fairness though, conditions were actually balanced for both teams. Swing in first innings and spin in second inning. This made it a very good tournament unlike say the t20 world cup a couple of years back where you won the toss and won the game because Chasing team had such a huge advantage.
 
I am not completely writing them off, you are right that they flourish in adveristy, and have the 'cornered tigers' label for a reason. I remember how well they recovered in the last world cup after the windies humiliation, beating both finalists and sadly only just missing out on NRR.

However out chances aren't really that good either, shaheen is nursing a finger injury and hasn't been looking his best. Naseem is out completely. Rauf is injured and may or may not be back for the later matches. Our most dynamic batsman fakhar is woefully out of form, and shadab has been a passenger for a good while now, more than happy to offer up his lollipop full tosses whenever given the chance.

We are basically relying on babar/rizwan to fire, and maybe chacha can chip in every now and then. Saud may bring some stability and imad can contribute somewhat, but only if they choose to play them. I'm not completely losing hope but tempering expectations accordingly.
 
Swing said:
You can blame the schedule and travelling but remember that our boys don't travel like we do. Every measure is taken to ensure that they are comfortable and rested.

It may be good for us to crash out like this just before a World Cup. PCT may take a close look at why things went the way they did and make the necessary changes.
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Nobody knows what those changes should be.

And when the XI is finalised, watch how people here will be screaming that this or that player should have been selected.

The fundemental issue is that there was absolutely shambolic preparation for this WC. One injury, one humiliating loss to India and suddenly Pakistan cricket went from lumber 1 ranking to completely lost.
 
dildilpak said:
Frankly a non issue. Pak team has always been plagued by groupism (confirmed by Akram himself). Has not stopped Pak from winning tournaments before.
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But this is big considering this team was apparently the greatest ever in the history of Pakistan.

All saints

All love

All friends
 
Rajdeep said:
Today SL batted in the morning just after rain and got all out for 50.

India batted in the morning just after rain against Pakistan and went onto score 356/2
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and Pakistan, especially Shaheen, Bowles absolute dross. Despite that Naseem bowled really well and could have had two or three wickets had we taken our chances and had some more luck.

But I'm not really talking from a Pakistani perspective. I'm just saying that it was the wrong decision to play a tournament in parts of a country during its rainy season and then to have a reserve day for just one game that could have really backfired.

For example, if the Pakistan/India game had not been rained off then India would have had to select its full first team against Bangladesh.

The game Sri Lanka/Pakistan game looked like a 200 run wicket until the heavens opened up and then it became a 300 run wicket.

Someone else eluded to England snd the weather, but st least they play during the cricket season... if it rains at that time then so be it.
 
Obviously it was a disaster. One thing I keep saying is that Pakistani fans and players should stop this obsession with Rankings, this is not tennis and it means nothing. In Pak there is this culture of hero worshipping and Babar is #1 ranked means a lot to his fans, similarly Pak as #1 and you go mad. While I still respect team rankings, it is not something that you should get carried away with.

Professional teams don't read too much into Rankings, esp Player rankings. They focus more on results and the process... Like Labuschagne may be Ranked some #50 in ODI rankings but is doing a great job, Miller will never make top 5 or anything because he plays so low down, but is a gun ODI player.

What eventually matters is to stay focussed and do your best on the field, win tournaments. Nothing else matters and nothing else is relevant, except those titles.
 
More than a disaster , I would term it a “ wake up “ call . While all of us respect the current Pak team as a good team , the Pak fans and media clearly went ahead of themselves in terming this team a bunch of world beaters . It was this hype that stood exposed .
 
Before the Asia Cup, statistics showed that Pakistan had played a total of 32 ODIs since the 2019 WC.

Most of these ODIs were against weak teams and against the C, D teams of Australia, NZ. The team had lost badly to a C team of England.

India in comparison had played the highest number of ODIs ie 54 since the 2019 ODI WC and most of the ODIs were against strong sides. Even against weak teams or B, C teams they rested Rohit, Kohli and tested their bench. Now with their A players all available and with a fully ready experienced bench strength, they are looking like red hot favorites for the WC especially since they will be held in their conditions.

Strong lessons for Pakistan who going forward need to start resting senior players against weak teams, C, D teams of the Big 4 and most importantly need to look to develop bench strength with a purpose from their U19, A team's, Emerging team's.
 
Savak said:
Before the Asia Cup, statistics showed that Pakistan had played a total of 32 ODIs since the 2019 WC.

Most of these ODIs were against weak teams and against the C, D teams of Australia, NZ. The team had lost badly to a C team of England.

India in comparison had played the highest number of ODIs ie 54 since the 2019 ODI WC and most of the ODIs were against strong sides. Even against weak teams or B, C teams they rested Rohit, Kohli and tested their bench. Now with their A players all available and with a fully ready experienced bench strength, they are looking like red hot favorites for the WC especially since they will be held in their conditions.

Strong lessons for Pakistan who going forward need to start resting senior players against weak teams, C, D teams of the Big 4 and most importantly need to look to develop bench strength with a purpose from their U19, A team's, Emerging team's.
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Lol as if Pakistan will ever learn

Full on steroids side will be selected for our next tour of Zimbabwe

Babar needs to chase Kohli’s 50 ODI tons
 
Mamoon said:
That’s the story of his career. His perception and aesthetics are better than his output.

His numbers in Test cricket against the top sides are painful.
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Clearly he is the most overrated bowler at the moment. Any good batsmen can dominate him easily because he line of length is so predictable
 
batandballbattle said:
I am not completely writing them off, you are right that they flourish in adveristy, and have the 'cornered tigers' label for a reason. I remember how well they recovered in the last world cup after the windies humiliation, beating both finalists and sadly only just missing out on NRR.

However out chances aren't really that good either, shaheen is nursing a finger injury and hasn't been looking his best. Naseem is out completely. Rauf is injured and may or may not be back for the later matches. Our most dynamic batsman fakhar is woefully out of form, and shadab has been a passenger for a good while now, more than happy to offer up his lollipop full tosses whenever given the chance.

We are basically relying on babar/rizwan to fire, and maybe chacha can chip in every now and then. Saud may bring some stability and imad can contribute somewhat, but only if they choose to play them. I'm not completely losing hope but tempering expectations accordingly.
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You are right. Pakistan team in big tournament only needs momentum and if they gain momentum it become difficult to beat them. But we have seen this fact changing in T20 WC 2022 where aus beat us in SF while had momentum same in T20 WC final against England and in Asia Cup last year against srilanka.

Our players are so mentally midget and have developed severe inferiority complex especially against australia, england and india that they just cant beat them
 
Savak said:
Before the Asia Cup, statistics showed that Pakistan had played a total of 32 ODIs since the 2019 WC.

Most of these ODIs were against weak teams and against the C, D teams of Australia, NZ. The team had lost badly to a C team of England.

India in comparison had played the highest number of ODIs ie 54 since the 2019 ODI WC and most of the ODIs were against strong sides. Even against weak teams or B, C teams they rested Rohit, Kohli and tested their bench. Now with their A players all available and with a fully ready experienced bench strength, they are looking like red hot favorites for the WC especially since they will be held in their conditions.

Strong lessons for Pakistan who going forward need to start resting senior players against weak teams, C, D teams of the Big 4 and most importantly need to look to develop bench strength with a purpose from their U19, A team's, Emerging team's.
Click to expand...
But when we test young players like against Afg in the T20, and lose the fans and media have palpitations. The other problem is that we don't use World Cup cycles as an end to one era and the post WC as the beginning of another and even if we do, the mediocrities get a recall after a couple of defeats.
 
No doubt it was a disaster of a tournament, but it is what it is, does not change much in the long term.
 
Bewal Express said:
But when we test young players like against Afg in the T20, and lose the fans and media have palpitations. The other problem is that we don't use World Cup cycles as an end to one era and the post WC as the beginning of another and even if we do, the mediocrities get a recall after a couple of defeats.
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It shouldn't be one extreme or the other though.

Our big guns (Shaheen, Babar, Rizwan, Rauf, Imam) should be in the squad but don't need to play every game.

Though i agree that fans need to manage their expectations it'll never happen though lol. Pakistan fans are some of the most emotional in the world.
 
Adi_62945 said:
I see a lot of Ooh and aaah moments in Naseem bowling but no results
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That's bcz Naseem bowls defensive length (back of good length). Either he is instructed by TM/Babar to hold one end up or he himself doesn't try to bowl slightly fuller side of good length.
You will go for runs but you also have more chances of picking wickets if you bowl that length.

Bumrah initially bowled defensively in PP of ODIs but after returning from injury, he is bowling on fuller side that's why he is getting swing & seam movement both ways and he is reaping rewards by picking wickets at will.
Bumrah & Siraj are really good new ball bowlers now & then they have Prasidh - a tall hit the deck bowler.

Mamoon said:
That’s the story of his career.
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Loss in WT20 Final 2022 immediately comes to mind whenever I see Naseem beating both edges of batter without actually getting him out.

His potential loss may be blessing in disguise for us if we end up picking an aggressive bowler to open alongside Shaheen. Arshad Iqbal is good. Wasim jnr has good nip-backer & outswing, he is skiddy (that's an asset on indian pitches) & he has good reverse swinging yorker, so he will be my choice for WC as an opening bowler. Zaman Khan is death overs bowler, it was Babar's fault to open with him in virtual semi final against SL. Wasim's List A batting avg is more than that of Faheem who sneaked into this side just bcz Micky Arthur thinks highly of him!

For Aus Test series, Naseem would have been an asset with his control on L&L. Now there's no one in Pak including Shaheen with these skills. Arshad Iqbal, Irfanullah and Sameen Gul type L&L bowlers might be decent replacement down under based on FC stats, but all these are slow on pace. Aus batters who failed relatively in recent Ashes like Warner, Smith, Labuschagne & Green, will smash triple hundreds effortlessly against us :(
 
hitthestump said:
It shouldn't be one extreme or the other though.

Our big guns (Shaheen, Babar, Rizwan, Rauf, Imam) should be in the squad but don't need to play every game.

Though i agree that fans need to manage their expectations it'll never happen though lol. Pakistan fans are some of the most emotional in the world.
Click to expand...
As country we have nothing else but our cricket team. As we know our domestic system is a shambles, our talent identification is poor, our age verification is a joke and we have pitches that have low bounce. This means that we don't have certainty in our cricket. So when we lose, which is often, we panic.
 
It was a disaster for us
Just got to host only 4 matches despite being the host
Lots of travel for our team
Then rainy weather dampened all the tournament

Then injuries

A forgetful tournament for us
 
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