Pakistan’s T20 Collapse: Pressure, Poor Planning, and a Lost Identity

[lucky_fish]

We had so much talk around Babar and Rizwan....so much hype around this T20 squad it's no wonder that they came out especially in the 1st game looking like deer caught in headlights. Then when you add into the mix just how mis managed they have all been it is a recipe for disaster.

Example - Mohd Haris...a couple of years ago in the WC he looked totally at home in the squad. Then was discarded in favour of Azam Khan for no valid cricketing reason and shoved back in the limelight. You could see it on his face in both games.... totally overwhelmed.

Why haven't we inducted these boys in slowly. Rotated our players sensibly?

Why have we allowed to create this huge vacuum of pressure around them which to be frank is totally needless.

So here is the thing... has the PCB got any mechanism in place to help the players cope with pressure? Do we have a Sports psychologist with the team? It just seems like we are hoping that one day miraculously they will become world beaters with no support?

Once upon a time T20 was our strong suite. Now we are playing like Bangladesh of 15 years ago... no game plan, bad techniques and just hoping.

Afghanistan's success has come around from Jonathan Trotts strong leadership. And I bet you with all the struggles he had with his mental health and his understanding of how that can affect you first hand, part off their success can be attributed to the psychological and mental health support their players have access to.

Unfortunately we probably have blown the last chances of any good support structure being created when we discarded Kirsten and Gillespie so unprofessionally. Hell at least even Mickey Arthur with his part time role had a plan with 'The Pakistan Way' (remember that?).

Cricket is a sport to be enjoyed by those who play and those who watch. Right now with Pakistan it is unfortunately neither.

Rant over.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Teams have been doing that for for while. They rarely played full strength sides in the last 6 or 7 years. Pakistan is new to this. So it will take a lot of time to iterate through the limited talent available. You are bound to take more losses than wins in the process. Board has to be mindful and not react to social media outrage about results. If they do it will be back to square one. PSL is not a great platform to test your guys. This is more or less on the job training. All the experiments are on the batting side. Not much on the bowling side. So bowlers have to carry these batsmen till that period of time. Shaheen, Rauf are still their main T20 bowlers.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Great OP, PCT has been really poorly managed...we changed players when they were performing and when it comes to youngsters we need to give them an extended period to realize their actual potential

 

[giri26]

I don't think you are selecting the right players for international level. Even yesterday only Salman Agha, Shaheen Afridi and Shadab scored runs. Without the contributions of the three, Pakistan would have not even scored 100. Selecting a young squad is all fine but you cannot select players who have no domestic pedigree. Most of the batters selected don't even have an average of 30 in any of the formats. How are these players your best? Please don't bring in immeasurable metrics like talent etc. If these players were that talented they would be doing very well in domestic cricket and would not be averaging 22-25 at a SR which is not even earth shattering. Hassan Nawaz averages 21 at a SR under 130 in T20's, how is that international standard? Mohammad Haris strikes at 144 in domestic at an average of 22 but can only score at 119 at the international level. Kushdil Shah, not sure what your selectors see in him, his T20I record is appalling but still keeps getting picked. Then there is Abdul Samad, who has a record of a tailender in FC and T20Is. When you pick a team like this and expect them to beat even a NZ B side it is not going to happen. This is literally NZ B side. They are missing Phillips, Santner, Rourke, Henry, Rachin, Latham etc.

Irfan Khan is the only one who seems like a decent middle order bat for T20Is as he has a good domestic record and averages 45 in FC as well. The rest seem like players who were picked based on bashing some second string attacks in domestic competitions. You cannot win against a decent side with a team like this. If these are your best batters from Domestic cricket, no wonder Ali and Jahandad have good domestic records.

When a team starts picking players from domestic cricket who average in 20's in FC, you know they are going through a serious decline. Pakistan need to first pick the right players to represent their team. These players might win you an odd game but none of them will become anything decent at the highest level.

 

[Mohraheem]

Tuktuk mentality… defensive approach… Misbah created this and now it’s a official Bimaari

 

[pratiktc]

To build a decent team, below 3 ingredients are needed.

1) A secure captain with long term vision of how team should play and be built.

2) Board/Selectors that back captain and support his vision to a reasonable extent

3) A coach who gels well with captain and helps to execute the shared goal


These will never come in Pak, so there is little hope for current generation.

I strongly believe that Pak should first move on from having 90s ke londay in any coaching/mentoring capacity. They are egotists and toxic ppl incapable of adapting to modern era. Hopefully after 4-5 yrs these guys will all be past.

I also wish Sarfaraz enters PCT setup as a mentor/coaching/talent identification role at U19, A team level the way Dravid did for ICT.

 

[sweep_shot]

Saim and Fakhar need to return badly.

 

[Ahmed216]

Tuktuk mentality… defensive approach… Misbah created this and now it’s a official Bimaari

True. Add Babar and Rizwan to the mix