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How false narrative is created that "Pakistan doesn't have talent"?

RidiculousMan

ODI Debutant
Joined
Aug 6, 2023
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This happens time and time again. After an underwhelming tournament and a promise of a surgery. New youngsters and domestic players are selected for a new series.

Often most of these players aren't the best lot of option from your domestic but yet they get to make it into the side.

This time again. Players like Ghori and Saad have been selected ahead of bigger domestic performers.

Now I wish every youngster all the best. But in case they don't perform. (Which often happens cause they were not your best performing players). A picture gets painted that oh look Pakistan doesn't have talent.

Thus the cycle continues and before a new world cup. The good ol seniors make their comeback.

Some accidental domestic performers who broke the door of selection from their performances were Haseeb, Farhan, Sufiyan and Kamran. But all except for Farhan were rugged away and now are not even seen near international Team.
 
Pakistan do have talent but they waste them due to improper management, failure to groom them, not providing enough chances, and a lot more.
 
For Pakistan talent was never the issue. The issue lies in converting talent into Long term consistent performer. Many players starts very well but after 5-6 years looks pale shadow of former shelf.
 
Raw talent, ability only gets you so far now when teams are scientifically analyzing your strengths, weaknesses and the players are executing plans given to them by management.

So many examples of Pakistani players who start their careers off and have a purple patch i.e. Umar Akmal, Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Shadab only for the opposition support staff, players work them out and these players then struggle to evolve.

Talent has to be complemented by hard work, continuously evolving your game, having grit, mental strength, game and match awareness.
 
For Pakistan talent was never the issue. The issue lies in converting talent into Long term consistent performer. Many players starts very well but after 5-6 years looks pale shadow of former shelf.

To be honest the answer is very simple. Once our players make gigantic sums of money, they have achieved their needs and desires according to the maslow hierarchy of needs. Then they rely on their social media agents, managers, media friends, political, business and cricketing connections to maintain their spots rather than actual performances. To make things work, they are willing to resort to corrupt team politics if needed
 
Brain/education to develop skills is more important than raw talent.

To keep things simple, PCB must pick the best domestic players- but they politicise that too and therefore you're not going anywhere with cherry-picked series-by-series randomisers.
 
Forget for a while about players who get noticed currently and are given opportunities.

The PCB needs to be be blamed for not putting a system in place to unearth talent from non-traditional areas. The metros, especially Mumbai at one point used to be central to the Indian team. Dhoni was one of the biggest names to defy this, coming from a small town and an oft-ignored state. People can claim that he inspired smaller-tier future stars, but in reality, Dhoni was the symptom of what the BCCI had put in place a decade back. And now you have players in India coming from pretty much everywhere. There is stuff the BCCI can and should be criticized about - but there's a lot of good they've also done for the game in India.

Secondly, and quite importantly, from watching Pakistani cricket shows, you just get the feeling that they are little too obsessed with Indian cricket and its players. There is always a sense of comparison and what's that truth they say about comparison being the thief of joy? So when Pakistan finds a Babar, it's not enough. He HAS to be Kohli or better.

And even the Pakistani ex-cricketers often will slip in an anecdote involving their interaction with a current Indian player that is embellished to boost their own sense of importance. During their playing days, I doubt they actually looked up to Indian players. At best, they were equals, but more likely, they felt dominant (whether justified or not). And it all probably boils down to the IPL and money. Sadly, that's another truth about the world in general. Money talks and after 15+ years of the IPL and its money and glitz, there is a constant looking up to and comparison with India which hasn't been healthy.

What's the solution. I don't know. One thing could be the emergence of a grassroots hero. Whom the majority can identify with and emulate. Someone from the soil. But to unearth him, something has to radically change within the PCB.
 
Every country have talented players.

It is just that some countries have better systems to nurture those talents and some countries don't.
 
I saw someshow where Afridi rightly pointed out that there isn’t any press conference nowadays where questions can be asked, he said one player made sense due to FC but the other didn’t make any and was take due to Asia emerging up or something
 
It’s not a narrative, it’s the truth. The skill-sets are far better in the top five teams, and that’s not just down to player development. Having the right temperament is also a talent, as that’s what separates the players at international level.

Our upcoming players just don’t have that. There is no amount of player development that can bridge the gap right now.
 
Pakistan best T20 squad in batting order
Farhan
Fakhar
Abdul samad
Hassan Nawaz
Azam khan
Saim Ayub
Abbas Afridi
Daniyal
Sufiyan
Abrar
Zaman khan
 
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