The emphasis on the rested players is hilarious and reeks of denial. You would think that they have been uprooting trees over the last two years.
Let's take a look at the what the full-strength Pakistan team has achieved in ODIs (against the top teams) post Champions Trophy:
5-0 in New Zealand, 2-0 to India in the Asia Cup, 1-1 draw vs New Zealand in the UAE and 3-2 in South Africa against a weakened opposition. The fact that people are celebrated the 1-1 vs New Zealand, when we were only slight favourites in the third ODI, illustrates how awful we have been.
In 15 matches, we have lost 11 matches against the top sides. That is a losing percentage of 73%, which is very close to my general estimation that we lose to the top teams 8 out of 10 times.
With such a dreadful record, how can we even think of using the "missing players" as an excuse for this Australian series? Our fans are deluded beyond measure and live in a parallel universe.
Let's look at some of the players that we claim would have turned this series on its head with their presence:
Babar - Had he played, Haris probably would have missed out, and the latter has played two typical Babar innings. I am not sure how different the outcome would have been had Babar played in Haris' stead.
Fakhar - a hack who needs all the luck in the world to score against good opposition. I have no doubt in my mind that Australia would have done their homework on him.
Sarfraz - his captaincy has been abysmal in ODIs, and his replacement Rizwan, in only his third or fourth ODI post comeback, has already produced a knock that our great captain is not remotely capable of at this point.
Hafeez - I do feel people underrate him because he is more than good enough for this team, but frankly I don't see him scoring 115 against Australia from the number 4 position.
Shadab - the overrated golden boy has been nothing but a minnow basher, and the less said about his batting the better.
Shaheen - No doubt a very exciting young pacer, but we don't know where he will be in 5 years time. He could be one of the top 5 pacers in the world or a nobody. The point is that he is too young and inexperienced at this point to be considered a decisive player who would regularly make an impact. It is very possible that Australia would have negated him.
Hasan - he has recently picked up some form after a torrid 2018. However, he can be very expensive on his day and hasn't done much in ODIs lately.
Our so-called first-choice attack conceded over 400 runs for 2 wickets against India in the same conditions not long ago, but our fans have the gall to use their absence as an excuse for Australia walking their way to two wins in this series so far.
Our fans are simply too proud and arrogant to acknowledge the simple fact that we are simply not good enough anymore. Whether we play our A team or Z team, the quality is simply not there.
Had this series been played right after the Champions Trophy with our main players getting rested, we could have justified this performance. However, we have been badly exposed in the last 1.5 years for the minnow bashers that we are, and the belief that the Champions Trophy was nothing but a fluke has only been vindicated.
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