Extra_Cover
Local Club Star
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2017
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- 2,059
- Post of the Week
- 8
So we are on the verge of another India vs Pakistan game this weekend. Needless to say that this one also comes with a plethora of hype, player statements, media coverage and fan's anticipation of a win. Given Pakistan and India have been restricted to world cup encounters for the past decade the games are less forthcoming and thus have a lot of eyeballs associated with it.
When I say its all too familiar is because we have been on this road far too many times in the past decade that we can draw a lot of parallels. We have seen in the past a plethora of new threads open of PP fortnight before the game discussing strategies and player roles to the most granular detail. We have seen statements from players that are usually out of norm. And we have seen extensive media coverage that would otherwise not exist creating additional pressure for this game. Whether we like it or not post the game we would see many of familiar trends as well (when Pakistan loses).
a. We would see a number of new threads on why Pakistan cricket has failed and why certain players should never be selected for Pakistan.
b. We would see media bashing our players to no tomorrow and unapologetically (ironically same players they are hyping now).
c. We would almost certainly see no further statements from Pakistan players or management until they return home.
Its all too familiar a tale that I fear is going to be repeated and we as Pakistan fans have fallen once again in rinse and repeat territory.
The purpose of this thread is not to kill the mood ahead of the game but logically introspect our shortcomings as fans. However, on a positive front I would also like to add in here that given its a T20 (shorter format) we need less players to perform to win a game, meaning an individual brilliance can win a game usually in this format. On paper Pakistan XI have only 2 such players that might do well on the day as they are ones I believe who do not carry much mental block weightage; Rizwan and Fakhar. If both of these fire on the day then we might be able to chase the Indian total down however I have no confidence in our bowlers defending a total against Indian team.
Pakistan's bowling is a massive worry for me personally. Unlike other teams we do not even have one (I mean not even one) dependable bowler. Our best bowler Shaheen is usually taken to cleaners in this format and less we say about others the better. Every other major team has atleast got one dependable bowler who either would pick wickets or keeps the run down.
On top of the bowling woes the lack of respect Pakistan management has given to fielding and fitness recently is mind boggling. Our pathetic fielding standards will haunt us on the field with ageing players combining with butter fingers we would be hideous. Casually speaking Imad, Hasan, Haris, Malik and Haider are simply not good fielders. On the same front I'm not much confident about the fitness of 40 year olds when it would come to convert 1s into 2s or sprint to save a boundary. These small margins carry massive weightage in this format.
Overall, we have kind of repeated the past history and its all too familiar. With management selecting experience over merit. With media going abuzz with expectations when we have not achieved anything meaningful of late. With fans hyping our team to the moon. The pre-match syndrome is identical to the one we have had multiple times in the past. I pray and hope the post match diagnosis is different this time around.
When I say its all too familiar is because we have been on this road far too many times in the past decade that we can draw a lot of parallels. We have seen in the past a plethora of new threads open of PP fortnight before the game discussing strategies and player roles to the most granular detail. We have seen statements from players that are usually out of norm. And we have seen extensive media coverage that would otherwise not exist creating additional pressure for this game. Whether we like it or not post the game we would see many of familiar trends as well (when Pakistan loses).
a. We would see a number of new threads on why Pakistan cricket has failed and why certain players should never be selected for Pakistan.
b. We would see media bashing our players to no tomorrow and unapologetically (ironically same players they are hyping now).
c. We would almost certainly see no further statements from Pakistan players or management until they return home.
Its all too familiar a tale that I fear is going to be repeated and we as Pakistan fans have fallen once again in rinse and repeat territory.
The purpose of this thread is not to kill the mood ahead of the game but logically introspect our shortcomings as fans. However, on a positive front I would also like to add in here that given its a T20 (shorter format) we need less players to perform to win a game, meaning an individual brilliance can win a game usually in this format. On paper Pakistan XI have only 2 such players that might do well on the day as they are ones I believe who do not carry much mental block weightage; Rizwan and Fakhar. If both of these fire on the day then we might be able to chase the Indian total down however I have no confidence in our bowlers defending a total against Indian team.
Pakistan's bowling is a massive worry for me personally. Unlike other teams we do not even have one (I mean not even one) dependable bowler. Our best bowler Shaheen is usually taken to cleaners in this format and less we say about others the better. Every other major team has atleast got one dependable bowler who either would pick wickets or keeps the run down.
On top of the bowling woes the lack of respect Pakistan management has given to fielding and fitness recently is mind boggling. Our pathetic fielding standards will haunt us on the field with ageing players combining with butter fingers we would be hideous. Casually speaking Imad, Hasan, Haris, Malik and Haider are simply not good fielders. On the same front I'm not much confident about the fitness of 40 year olds when it would come to convert 1s into 2s or sprint to save a boundary. These small margins carry massive weightage in this format.
Overall, we have kind of repeated the past history and its all too familiar. With management selecting experience over merit. With media going abuzz with expectations when we have not achieved anything meaningful of late. With fans hyping our team to the moon. The pre-match syndrome is identical to the one we have had multiple times in the past. I pray and hope the post match diagnosis is different this time around.
