Pakistan must win all 3 ODIs to keep alive hopes of a Champions Trophy berth [May 2015]

[Kakar]

Pakistan will have to sweep the three-ODI series against Zimbabwe, starting in Lahore on 26 May, to ensure that it doesn’t drop points on the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings.

Ninth-ranked Pakistan will start the series with a difference of 42 points relative to 11th-ranked Zimbabwe and this gap means it is expected to win the series convincingly. As such, because the rankings are weighted to reflect this difference, failure to win the series convincingly will mean Pakistan will drop points.

Pakistan will stay on 87 points if it wins 3-0, but will drop to 85 points if it wins the series 2-1. Zimbabwe’s 2-1 series win will mean Pakistan will slide to 83 points.

With only one point separating seventh-ranked West Indies from Pakistan, and England plus the seven next highest-ranked sides on the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings as on 30 September 2015 to progress to the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, Pakistan cannot afford to lose any matches against Zimbabwe.

After this series against Zimbabwe, Pakistan has a scheduled five-ODI series against Sri Lanka in July while Bangladesh has home ODIs against India and South Africa. The West Indies has no series scheduled until the cut-off date of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 to be staged in UK from 1 to 19 June.

Meanwhile, players from both the sides will be aiming to improve their rankings on the Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings.

In the batting table, no batsman from either side features inside the top 30 and, as such, Ahmed Shehzad/Mohammad Hafeez in 33rd/38th position will start off as the highest-ranked batsmen.

Zimbabwe’s Sean Williams (50th), captain Hamilton Mazakadza (60th) and Elton Chigumbura (65th) are their side’s highest-ranked batsmen.

In the bowlers’ chart, Pakistan has one bowler inside the top 20 - Hafeez (19th) – who is also the highest-ranked all-rounder (in fifth place) from either side.

Series schedule:

26 May – 1st ODI, Lahore (d/n)

29 May – 2nd ODI, Lahore (d/n)

31 May – 3rd ODI, Lahore (d/n)

RELIANCE ICC ODI RANKINGS (as on 25 May, before the start of Pakistan-Zimbabwe series)

Rank Team Points

1 Australia 129

2 India 117

3 New Zealand 116

4 South Africa 112

5 Sri Lanka 106

6 England 94

7 West Indies 88

8 Bangladesh 88

9 Pakistan 87

10 Ireland 50

11 Zimbabwe 45

12 Afghanistan 41

Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 25 May, before the start of Pakistan-Zimbabwe series)

Batsmen (top 10)

Rank Player Team Points Avge Highest Ranking

1 AB de Villiers SA 902! 53.65 902 v NZ at Auckland 2015

2 K. Sangakkara SL 860 41.98 861 v Sco at Hobart 2015

3 Hashim Amla SA 828 55.26 901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012

4 Virat Kohli Ind 822 51.47 886 v Ban at Fatullah 2014

5 T. Dilshan SL 793 39.65 802 v Sco at Hobart 2015

6 Shikhar Dhawan Ind 756 43.98 794 v SA at Melbourne 2015

7 Kane Williamson NZ 733 44.76 789 v Aus at Auckland 2015

8 MS Dhoni Ind 731 52.46 836 v Aus at Delhi 2009

9 Glenn Maxwell Aus 720 35.05 724 v Pak at Adelaide 2015

10 George Bailey Aus 697 42.02 867 v SA at Harare 2014

Selected rankings

Rank Player Team Points Avge Highest Ranking

33 Ahmed Shehzad Pak 606 34.56 670 v Ban at Mirpur 2014

38 M. Hafeez Pak 582 30.53 665 v Ban at Mirpur 2014

50 Sean Williams Zim 556! 34.20 556 v Ind at Auckland 2015

60 H. Masakadza Zim 526 27.96 566 v Ban at Mirpur 2009

65 E. Chigumbura Zim 498 24.94 554 v SA at Bulawayo 2007

79 Haris Sohail Pak 470*! 35.16 470 v Ban at Mirpur 2015

85 Azhar Ali Pak 459* 47.21 512 v Aus at Sharjah 2012

88 Vusi Sibanda Zim 445 24.45 512 v Pak at Harare 2013

94 Craig Ervine Zim 429* 33.11 464 v WI at Grenada 2013

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank Player Team Points Avge Highest Ranking

1 Mitchell Starc Aus 783! 18.33 4.70 783 v NZ at Melbourne 2015

2 Imran Tahir SA 734* 20.51 4.35 735 v SL at Sydney 2015

3 Dale Steyn SA 717 25.57 4.81 746 v Ind at Durban 2013

4 Sunil Narine WI 709 26.49 4.10 791 v SL at Jamaica 2013

5= Mitchell Johnson Aus 693 25.26 4.83 724 v Ban at Darwin 2008

Trent Boult NZ 693*! 25.00 4.57 693 v Aus at Melbourne 2015

Saeed Ajmal Pak 693 22.73 4.18 810 v SA at Centurion 2013

8 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 676 28.25 4.31 717 v Zim at Chittagong 2009

9 James Anderson Eng 670 29.22 4.92 719 v SA at The Oval 2013

10 Morne Morkel SA 666 23.98 4.90 717 v SL at East London 2012

Selected rankings

Rank Player Team Points Avge Highest Ranking

19 M. Hafeez Pak 598 35.31 4.06 769 v Ind at Kolkata 2013

42 Prosper Utseya Zim 520 46.50 4.34 663 v Ban at Harare 2006

49 Junaid Khan Pak 507 27.23 5.25 655 v SL at Abu Dhabi 2013

68 Wahab Riaz Pak 460 30.25 5.61 484 v WI at Barbados 2011

88 Sean Williams Zim 415 53.06 4.99 419 v Ire at Hobart 2015

All-rounders (top three)

Rank Player Team Points Highest Ranking

1 T. Dilshan SL 404 415 v Sco at Hobart 2015

2 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 398 453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009

3 Angelo Mathews SL 378 427 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014

4 James Faulkner Aus 361*/! 361 v NZ at Melbourne 2015

5 M. Hafeez Pak 348 438 v Ind at Kolkata 2013

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after a minimum of 40 started innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating after he has conceded 1,500 runs.

!indicates career-highest rating

 

[JibranAnsari]

Its OK to lose 3-0. We aren't going to reach 50 soon.

 

[cricfan14]

Well luckily we have a great squad to win with!

.....oh wait.

 

[brute]

If they can't beat Zim 3-0 at home, they don't deserve to qualify for Champions trophy.

 

[zains_rulez]

I feel sorry for azher ali but the team given to him is not worthfull

Alot of tested failures stars

 

[Starky]

2-1 Pakistan..

 

[Jabo]

2-1 victory

And I'm sorry but we may as well just stay at home instead of going to the CT and embarrassing ourselves

We are 9/10 in ODI, WI are a better side and we are just 50/50 against Bangladesh

Just look at our squad and that shows no one in the PCB actually cares about cricket

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Ok what happens if Pakistan win 2-1 or lose 1-2 (hypothetical situation).

Still they are at 85 points or 83 points respectively.

If they win 3-0, they are 87 points.

How is this a big difference anyway?

The article makes it look like Pakistan has to win 3-0 or else its gone.

 

[BDwarriors]

Blaming pcb always will not bring anything. sometimes you have to live without a quality team. every country go through that phase. now its pakistans turn.

 

[WC-Passion]

Ok what happens if Pakistan win 2-1 or lose 1-2 (hypothetical situation).

Still they are at 85 points or 83 points respectively.

If they win 3-0, they are 87 points.

How is this a big difference anyway?

The article makes it look like Pakistan has to win 3-0 or else its gone.

Honestly Pakistan will probably win this 2-1 looking at this squad lol.

They are on 87 points already, so if they win 2-1 they fall to 85.

You're right actually, why does a 2-4 point change actually do? It's not like we can gain any-points and it's no where near the other teams below.

 

[WC-Passion]

Blaming pcb always will not bring anything. sometimes you have to live without a quality team. every country go through that phase. now its pakistans turn.

What are you talking about?

Pakistan have Sami,Umar,Imran JR, Saad, Zafar Gohar, etc

But they decide that Anwar Ali, Malik, Shehzad, and Hafeez are in. It's not the fact we don't have players to use for a quality team, it's just that PCB are cowards and can't "Risk" using youngsters.

 

[TalhaSyed]

Pakistan must win all 3 ODIs to keep alive hopes of a Champions Trophy berth

Honestly Pakistan will probably win this 2-1 looking at this squad lol.

They are on 87 points already, so if they win 2-1 they fall to 85.

You're right actually, why does a 2-4 point change actually do? It's not like we can gain any-points and it's no where near the other teams below.

Ok what happens if Pakistan win 2-1 or lose 1-2 (hypothetical situation).

Still they are at 85 points or 83 points respectively.

If they win 3-0, they are 87 points.

How is this a big difference anyway?

The article makes it look like Pakistan has to win 3-0 or else its gone.

Pakistan is currently 9th in the rankings and I believe if they stay on 87 points they need to win 2 ODIs VS SL to break into the top 8 and qualify for the champions trophy.

If Pakistan lose any games to Zimbabwe they will slip further behind West Indies and Zimbabwe (7th and 8th in the rankings & both on 88 points) and it will become even harder for Pakistan to qualify for the CT.

I can't believe we find ourselves in this position but to be honest it's hard enough for Pakistan to qualify for the CT even if they beat Zim 3-0. If God forbid we lose any games to Zim we will recall really struggle to break Ito the top 8 and qualify for the CT.

 

[Cricket_Fan93]

Even if Pakistan loses, cant they beat Sri Lanka to regain points? or is the SL tour after the deadline?

I hope Pakistan and WI qualify and BD misses out,otherwise the champions trophy will be a bit boring.

 

[TalhaSyed]

Even if Pakistan loses, cant they beat Sri Lanka to regain points? or is the SL tour after the deadline?

I hope Pakistan and WI qualify and BD misses out,otherwise the champions trophy will be a bit boring.

If Pakistan is unable I beat Zimbabwe at home, realistically what chance do we have of beating SL in SL.

If we win all 3 games against Zim, if I remember correctly we need to beat SL in 2 ODIs out of 5 to break into the top 8 and qualify for the CT. This alone could very well be quiet challenging, never mind if we slip further behind, and need to win the ODI series against SL to qualify for the CT.

This was a risk we knew we were taking when we invited Zim to play this series. As far as rankings and a place in the CT is concerned, we had nothing to gain but every thing to lose. Having said that, inshallah if the remainder of the Zimbabwe tour is completed successfully, without any hiccups, I would say it would've been a gamble worth taking.

 

[jog_1]

The ODI squad we picked is absolutely dreadful. Some part of me wants us to lose and not go to the CT so we can finally make some bold decisions.

 

[TalhaSyed]

The ODI squad we picked is absolutely dreadful. Some part of me wants us to lose and not go to the CT so we can finally make some bold decisions.

Yes because after poor performances in the past such as being whitewashed by Bangladesh and destroyed by in ODI series's in the UAE last year we took so many bold decisions........

 

[jog_1]

Yes because after poor performances in the past such as being whitewashed by Bangladesh and destroyed by in ODI series's in the UAE last year we took so many bold decisions........

Not making the CT would be more humiliating than any of our past failures. With a team like this, we don't deserve to go to the CT. Hell, if we even lose 1 ODI against Zim, we don't deserve to go to the CT.

 

[LegbreakGoogly]

I don't think Pakistan will lose any of the match . . . These players are very strong for these pitches .

 

[kingusama92]

Won't Bangladesh drop points if they lose against India? I doubt they're going to win a match against India.

 

[Neferpitou]

Pakistan will lose all 3 ODIs.

 

[Slog]

Won't Bangladesh drop points if they lose against India? I doubt they're going to win a match against India.

not a lot

india will lose a lot of points if they lose but not other way around due the respective rankings

 

[Slog]

Even if Pakistan loses, cant they beat Sri Lanka to regain points? or is the SL tour after the deadline?

I hope Pakistan and WI qualify and BD misses out,otherwise the champions trophy will be a bit boring.

what chance would we have of beating SL away if we fail to blank Zim at home

though SL team is going to be fairly weak too i imagine. both Sanga and Mahela are gone

 

[cricfan14]

It's a 5 game SL series right? So if we win 2/5, it's not like we have to win the series right? Or am I getting that wrong.

 

[Couch Cricketer]

I have feeling Bangladesh are going to go to the Champions Trophy the the last spot will be between WI and Pakistan.

 

[JibranAnsari]

If pak win all 3 against zim and bd lose all three against india then pak will be number 8.

 

[Smbhayi]

oho mini world cup still alive.. there's a talk about scrap this tournament.. The success of last tournament makes rethink of it..

 

[Amjid Javed]

With current pathetic selections i cant see us winning 3-0 and as bad as we have been in ODIs i dont think we deserve to make the CT it might be the wake up call we need to really overhaul our pathetic ODI side.

 

[Yossarian]

Something not right about the ICC Rankings table(s).
Take the T20 rankings

4. West Indies - Ranking points 117
5. Pakistan - Ranking points 109
6. New Zealand - Ranking points 110
7. South Africa - Ranking points 110
8. England - Ranking points 100

http://www.icc-cricket.com/team-rankings/t20i

How can Pakistan be 5th, and yet have few points than New Zealand and South Africa?

 

[sam_ahm]

Something not right about the ICC Rankings table(s).
Take the T20 rankings

4. West Indies - Ranking points 117
5. Pakistan - Ranking points 109
6. New Zealand - Ranking points 110
7. South Africa - Ranking points 110
8. England - Ranking points 100

http://www.icc-cricket.com/team-rankings/t20i

How can Pakistan be 5th, and yet have few points than New Zealand and South Africa?

ICC Website sucks as always, Pakistan have 114 rating points and are Ranked #5.

See espncricinfo for more accurate reflection of ICC's rankings instead of looking at ICC's own website!

 

[sam_ahm]

I think even if Zimbabwe win a game, Pakistan can make it should they beat SLN 3-2. They should be able to do that, if you want to win the Champions Trophy then believe that your team can beat Sri Lanka in a bi lateral series. What is the point is scraping through to the Champions Trophy by beating Zimbabwe and hoping Bangladesh lose and then put up a no show in the actual event.

Some PPers need to get rid of this loser mentality.

 

[Mp812]

What happens if Pakistan wins 3-0 with Zim, win marginally in close series with SL. But BCCI loose to BD...Wont BD get lots of points.
Is BCCI holding all strings here?

 

[Yossarian]

Pakistan will stay on 87 points if it wins 3-0, but will drop to 85 points if it wins the series 2-1. Zimbabwe’s 2-1 series win will mean Pakistan will slide to 83 points.

Actually, Pakistan's rating before the 1st ODI, and now even after the win, is actually below 87. The Table shows 87 because it's rounded up. A 3-0 victory will take it just above 87, but will show 87 (rounded)

A rating is worked out by dividing the points scored by the match/series total, with the answer given to the nearest whole number.
http://icc-live.s3.amazonaws.com/cm...-Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings FAQs 2014.pdf

Putting aside the matches against Sri Lanka, for Pakistan to go above Bangladesh, Pakistan have to beat Zimbabwe 3-0 and Bangladesh lose 2-0 against India and Bangladesh lose 2-0 against South Africa.

Bangladesh look almost certain to qualify for the CT, either by finishing above Pakistan and/or finishing above West Indies (which will be the case if Bangladesh win even 1 out of 4 matches to be played against India and South Africa - which is quite possible since the matches take place in Bangladesh).

 

[joly]

Blaming pcb always will not bring anything. sometimes you have to live without a quality team. every country go through that phase. now its pakistans turn.

PCB is serious about cricket,just that right now talent is scarce in Pakistan,excuses also have expiry you see

 

[msb314]

It's a 5 game SL series right? So if we win 2/5, it's not like we have to win the series right? Or am I getting that wrong.

Thats right - we have to win atleast 2 out of the 5 games against SL for us to overtake WI.

IF India/SAF beat Bangladesh in their series - we will overtake Bangladesh as well...

 

[Pete Rose]

No big deal. Win 5 out of the next 7 and we are through

 

[hashbb]

2-1 victory

And I'm sorry but we may as well just stay at home instead of going to the CT and embarrassing ourselves

We are 9/10 in ODI, WI are a better side and we are just 50/50 against Bangladesh

Just look at our squad and that shows no one in the PCB actually cares about cricket

Good thing we didn't stay home :ahmed

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Good thing we didn't stay home :ahmed

He/she posted that comment on the basis of the team that was playing during those days.

 

[Billy1999]

He/she posted that comment on the basis of the team that was playing during those days.

Them days our team was pretty trash

1:Azhar
2:Sarfraz
3:Hafeez
4:Shafiq
5:Harris
6:Malik
7:Hammad Azam
8:Anwar Ali
9:Wahab Riaz
10:Mohammed Shami
11:Yasir Shah

Our Team now
1:Azhar
2:Zaman
3:Babar
4:Hafeez
5:Malik
6:Sarfraz
7:Imad
8:Shadab
9:Amir
10:Hassan
11:Junaid

Bowling much more potent and Zaman and Babar bring power and stability.

 

[omcswe]

Them days our team was pretty trash

1:Azhar
2:Sarfraz
3:Hafeez
4:Shafiq
5:Harris
6:Malik
7:Hammad Azam
8:Anwar Ali
9:Wahab Riaz
10:Mohammed Shami
11:Yasir Shah

Our Team now
1:Azhar
2:Zaman
3:Babar
4:Hafeez
5:Malik
6:Sarfraz
7:Imad
8:Shadab
9:Amir
10:Hassan
11:Junaid

Bowling much more potent and Zaman and Babar bring power and stability.

the team that beat sri lanka 3-2 had an immensely amazing fielding side.

yasir, rizwan, malik, and anwar ali were all diving everywhere. can't forget rizwan's diving attempt at the boundary that cost us six runs but he was flying like superman there

 

[ExpressPacer]

To think we barely qualified and ended up winning the Champions is trophy is nothing short of magical. But I feel as though the Pakistani team is full of a bunch of romantics who want us to see these type of stories because this happens way too often. Even when you win the world cup, you do it as minnows. You win the Champions Trophy but you were the least expected team to do so. You become the number 1 test team under the captaincy of an "afraid" and "scared" captain. You don't even play at home and your best players are getting banned.

Like I said, a bunch of romantics. It's not even that magical anymore because we're used to it. Ah, Pakistan cricket.

 

[msb314]

Feel even sweeter reading about the days in 2015 when we were literally begging to qualify for the CT by any means necessary.

Look at how times have changed!

 

[MMHS]

It's almost like Italy, Denmark, Greece & France story.

In 1981, Italy qualified for WC on last match, then made out of the group stage scoring & conceding 1 more goal (both Chile & Italy had 3 points, Italy had 2/2 Goals, Chile 1/1). In 1992 Denmark qualified for EURO because of Yugoslav war, while Greece qualified for 2004 EURO on last day through play-offs. France did qualify through play-offs, but lost to Italy in 2006 Finals. Both France & Greece could have missed even the chance fr a play-off, had other results in last round went against their favor.

 

[CricFan2012]

Pakistan will win the champions trophy 2017.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

At that point in time,none of us would've backed Pakistan to reach the semi's.Who knew we stood a chance of winning the trophy itself.

Btw those were some bad times(except for Zimbabwe touring us)

 

[QalandarFan]

Wow I remember watching that series it was a great moment seeing Pakistan team play a series in Pakistan against a Test Playing nation but the team was terrible. Azhar as captain, with guys like Shafiq, Riaz, Hammad, Anwar Ali! Terrible team that team deserved to be ranked 9th, the team we played against Bangladesh was even worse.

I feel the team we played in SL was even better than this, the bowling or batting wasn't that great it was also one SL's worst periods hence we won the series but at least we had some great fielders in that team the bowling and batting should be thankful the SL was way below par at the time.

Now to think how times have changed from 2015 which was probably our worst cricketing year barring 1 match in the WC against SA we did not even have the bowling to win us matches and with batsman like Shehzad and Shafiq! Pheww, thank god that dark phase is over we now have a killer bowling line-up and our batting is good enough to with guys like Fakhar, Babar and Sarfraz, this team is a breath of fresh air.

 

[Syed1]

See how drastically times change. What an eye-opener.


This is why I always adovacte for posters to not indulge in hero worship and keep backing their favourites because they might be Saviours or Boom Booms or ATGs or Phast or Water Weights but at the end of the day they are all just a player who does his time either makes his mark or fades into irrelevance. The only constant is the Pakistan cricket team. Keep backing the team and they will bring you joy eventually.



#Kohli nahi hota tugh se chase

 

[msb314]

Pakistan will win the champions trophy 2017.

No they will lose it

Oh wait....

 

[Savak]

This is why this victory and achievement is so under rated.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Pakistan went to no 9 in rankings 5 days after qualifying date.

What a turn around.

As Savak said this win is UNDER RATED!