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"Pakistan woke up late in the World Cup" : Wasim Akram

Abdullah719

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Every World Cup failure for Pakistan sparks a wave of reviews and sackings and the promise of a fresh approach — until the team wins again and all is forgotten. The script is expected to be similar after Sarfaraz Ahmed‘s team failed to make the semi-finals in England and Wales despite a late charge.

Pakistan won four straight matches to finish level on 11 points with New Zealand, but they bowed out of the tournament due to an inferior net run-rate. There have once again been calls for an overhaul of the system, changes in the team set-up and style of play, but 1992 World Cup winner Wasim Akram said there was no need to panic.

“Pakistan woke up late in the World Cup and when they gained momentum they won four straight games,” the former captain said. “It is not a bad finish and I don’t think we need to panic. There is no quick fix and the people running cricket need time and must keep the example of how England lifted their one-day cricket. I am ready to contribute towards that.”

England’s humiliating first-round exit in 2015 sparked a radical rethink and the host nation started this World Cup as the number one side in the world. Another World Cup winner, Ramiz Raja, believes Pakistan have the ability to produce “magical” cricket and says their exit is a loss to the tournament.

But he said every defeat was an opportunity to assess things and that ruthless decisions were required. “I think every defeat gives an opportunity for introspection, so Pakistan need to do four or five things if they want to be a force in world cricket,” he said.

“Pakistan have to correct their system, which can provide them with regular talent and then define and refine that talent. Look at Australia — they were losing against every team a year ago but since their system is strong they stood up. We need to take ruthless decisions in a review.”

The positions of head coach Mickey Arthur and captain Sarfaraz — both of whom had contracts until the World Cup — will be looked at as part of the assessment.

Youthful promise

Luckily for Pakistan, they have a crop of talented youngsters who can form the nucleus of the team for years to come.

“At 24, we’re the youngest team by a long way in this competition, and that is something that we can be proud of, and I think that augurs well for the future of Pakistan cricket,” said Arthur, who wants to continue in the role of coach. “We’ve showcased a lot of our young talent, and I think the likes of Shaheen Afridi, Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Shadab Khan, the list goes on and on. And look, there’s going to be a review now, and we’ll see how that goes.

“Unfortunately it has always been this way for Pakistan — we don’t seem to be able to find that collective consistency. But my message, again, is ‘let’s stay positive’.”

Pakistan has hosted little international cricket since Sri Lanka’s team bus was attacked in 2009 in Lahore. The situation has forced Pakistan to play at neutral venues in the United Arab Emirates, meaning the game is not so visible to the younger generation who need to be inspired to play the game.

The nation’s cricket board is striving to bring back international cricket to Pakistan in the hope that will provide a further catalyst for a revival in the team’s fortunes.

https://www.cricketcountry.com/news...ngland-ready-to-contribute-wasim-akram-866361
 
Another former Pakistan cricketer basically saying "ghabrana nahi"
But in all seriousness it seems Wasim wants to give his input to this team. If he can get his hands on Shaheen and Amir that would be great.
 
The economics simply don't allow someone of Akrams stature to work with the bowlers for any length of time. Apart from bowling, there is very little Akram can add to our cricket.
 
The Afghanistan match showed that they didn’t really wake up. This team is never two matches away from having a disaster.
 
The Afghanistan match showed that they didn’t really wake up. This team is never two matches away from having a disaster.

But they did not had a disaster and won not 2 but 4 straight games and finished very strong against a rival who has beaten them 4 out of 4 previously. Despite your spreading of doom and gloom PAK future is looking good even with lack of world class opportunities and experiences for the youngsters, and lack of home advantage which insha Allah will also be removed in near future as Pak is fast being recognised as much safer country than 3 years ago.
 
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I think this late surge will do more harm for Pak than good....

If Pak had exited poorly, the people in charge would have faced tough time, even players but I think now, no such thing will happen.

You might even have Sarfaraz captaining again
 
Probably woke up from the slumber of listening to your commentary, Wasim.
 
I think this late surge will do more harm for Pak than good....

If Pak had exited poorly, the people in charge would have faced tough time, even players but I think now, no such thing will happen.

You might even have Sarfaraz captaining again

And?

The main issue was taking 2 seniors who only has experience in not performing.

As long as this senior culture will exist we will always have this issue. Only because of having Malik in the squad we needed a few losses before we could get Haris in as a certain starter.

Thats a poor call from every one involved and with such choices we will always be playing catch up.
 
The Afghanistan match showed that they didn’t really wake up. This team is never two matches away from having a disaster.

Get over it, Afghanistan played good cricket against India and Pakistan.
 
I would accept a post World Cup set up where coach selectors and captain remain unchanged and exclude hafeez and Malik from all formats.
Hopefully inzi has learned his lesson by now that supporting mediocre seniority can only hurt Pakistan
 
The Afghanistan match showed that they didn’t really wake up. This team is never two matches away from having a disaster.

why dont you try out for pakistani cricket team and avert these disasters? come on, show some bravery. seems like you know a lot about cricket. go show it instead of being a keyboard warrior.
 
The I am ready to contribute comment is interesting.

I'd have asked him to elaborate.
 
The Afghanistan match showed that they didn’t really wake up. This team is never two matches away from having a disaster.
Come on man. You should be proud of Pakistan’s achievements in this world cup. They even gave the top sides a scare. What else do you want?
 
I think this late surge will do more harm for Pak than good....

If Pak had exited poorly, the people in charge would have faced tough time, even players but I think now, no such thing will happen.

You might even have Sarfaraz captaining again

Well we exited in pretty pathetic fashion last time, only beating 1 good team(SA) yet nothing remarkable happened. Whether we do decently or very poor, nothing is gonna change until the PCB becomes competent. Domestic cricket needs to be fixed, selections need to be off merit, taking into account all domestic competition, not just the PSL.
 
The I am ready to contribute comment is interesting.

I'd have asked him to elaborate.

Didn't he refuse to work with PCB before?? Perhaps he has had enough of this mediocre team and management.
 
The team actually picked up momentum after winning against England but an entire week off with rain ruined it and they started from 0 again for the India game
 
Yeah, and New Zealand was. Oh wait...

Lol, still crying about NZ are we?

Like Pakistan, NZ did not play consistently well enough to deserve a semi spot. Not sure how you can't grasp this.

When are you handing the 1992 WC cup back since presumably Pakistan were lucky to scrape into the semis in that one... oh wait, that doesn't fit your narrative.
 
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A loss against the West Indies and rained out match versus Sri Lanka did for us. Can't afford a slow start in the WC, we got what we deserved.
 
The Afghanistan match showed that they didn’t really wake up. This team is never two matches away from having a disaster.

Many people have been hyping on about how good Afghanistan’s spinners are, and I was at the ground - the pitch towards the end was a complete dust bowl. Not easy for batting at all.

Afghanistan also ran other teams close including India where they were just a couple of shots away from victory.
 
Nothing will happen. Yes Malik has retired finally but you can't use I am a senior let me go out with a bang in a world cup. Of course he will probably ask for a tribute match in his name.
Hafeez needs to retire as well just like Malik.
But then it still wont make no difference because then you will have the likes of Kamran saying they should have picked me as an opener I would so 10 times better than Fakhar.
My brother Umar would have been the go to batsman in the middle order.
Shahzad will come and say I can bat and hit harder than Imam.

They will perform in the PSL and be given the licence to come back in to this Pakistan team.
Youngsters will sit out and it will dent their confidence and with all the promise of new talent it will all be swept under the carpet.

We will experiment in the T20 then Champions trophy needing seniors as backbone and experience for an inexperienced team.
Then comes the next world cup in India, we will go back to more seniors because they have experience playing in India etc...

This cycle will keep happening and happening and happening, remember Amir will be a senior then too, so will babar, so will fakhar so will haris so will safraz so will shaheen, so will imad and shadab...

This seniority and experience rubbish will never end UNTIL somebody comes in and fixes it like they did with India.

So dont expect good surprises, expect more shock and nightmares after the team return home.
 
Last 4 wins don't tell the whole story. Fate of those teams already sealed. So intensity was not exactly going to be there. NZ decided to play it safe. They just had to protect the NRR which they did. SA, Afg, BD were already out. Afghanistan lost a pace bowler upfront due to injury. But this stupid Gulbadin ruined it for them. They deserved that one win.
 
Lol, still crying about NZ are we?

Like Pakistan, NZ did not play consistently well enough to deserve a semi spot. Not sure how you can't grasp this.

When are you handing the 1992 WC cup back since presumably Pakistan were lucky to scrape into the semis in that one... oh wait, that doesn't fit your narrative.
Not really. But this poster's comment about only Pakistan not deserving a semi is way off the mark.

You are basically saying what I've been saying, so not sure why there is so much salt in here :vk1
 
Not really. But this poster's comment about only Pakistan not deserving a semi is way off the mark.

You are basically saying what I've been saying, so not sure why there is so much salt in here :vk1

Because rather than just acknowledging Pakistan weren't good enough to control their own fate when it came to making the semis, you repeatedly bring up NZ making it. And that makes it seem like a case of sour grapes and like a bad sport. That's all.

And that poster just said Pakistan didn't deserve it, nowhere did they say NZ did.
 
It happened in the previous Champions Trophy as well. Huge loss to India and from then on we went undefended. Same thing here. Why does it take a beating from India for us to wake up?
 
Because rather than just acknowledging Pakistan weren't good enough to control their own fate when it came to making the semis, you repeatedly bring up NZ making it. And that makes it seem like a case of sour grapes and like a bad sport. That's all.

And that poster just said Pakistan didn't deserve it, nowhere did they say NZ did.
Then who deserved it? Bangladesh? :))

Call it sour grapes or whatever, if a post says Pakistan does not deserve semi, NZ should also have a mention. That's a fact. Both teams were neck-and-neck, and in the end it came down to how bad you lost against certain teams.
 
Come on man. You should be proud of Pakistan’s achievements in this world cup. They even gave the top sides a scare. What else do you want?

That is minnow mentality. If most Pakistani fans are fine with competing, then Pakistan cricket has really hot a low and will find it difficult to bounce back.

I would rather Pakistani fans' minimum expectation be the semi-finals. That is the expectation from any top tier team. And Pakistan Cricket needs to be top tier for cricket to flourish. Otherwise in 20 years, cricket will simply remain Ashes, World T20 and international T20 and the IPL.
 
Then who deserved it? Bangladesh? :))

Call it sour grapes or whatever, if a post says Pakistan does not deserve semi, NZ should also have a mention. That's a fact. Both teams were neck-and-neck, and in the end it came down to how bad you lost against certain teams.

A team that makes it to the semis, deserves it more than a team that doesnt make it.

Now, luck was definitely a factor. But only for the Pak-SL and Ind-NZ rained out game. But these rained out games helped Pakistan in 1992, so in the end luck evens out.

If Pakistan deserves to be the top 4, then they should have been there.
 
A team that makes it to the semis, deserves it more than a team that doesnt make it.

Now, luck was definitely a factor. But only for the Pak-SL and Ind-NZ rained out game. But these rained out games helped Pakistan in 1992, so in the end luck evens out.

If Pakistan deserves to be the top 4, then they should have been there.

Normally I would have agreed to you but just look at NZ, do you really think they deserve to be there with their only a single functional batsman?
 
That is minnow mentality. If most Pakistani fans are fine with competing, then Pakistan cricket has really hot a low and will find it difficult to bounce back.

I would rather Pakistani fans' minimum expectation be the semi-finals. That is the expectation from any top tier team. And Pakistan Cricket needs to be top tier for cricket to flourish. Otherwise in 20 years, cricket will simply remain Ashes, World T20 and international T20 and the IPL.

It's already that + WC. Players dont mind quitting international cricket early for leagues.
 
A team that makes it to the semis, deserves it more than a team that doesnt make it.

Now, luck was definitely a factor. But only for the Pak-SL and Ind-NZ rained out game. But these rained out games helped Pakistan in 1992, so in the end luck evens out.

If Pakistan deserves to be the top 4, then they should have been there.

What has 1992 luck to do with this tournament. For your information in 1992 luck also denied Pak sure points against South Africa.
 
Normally I would have agreed to you but just look at NZ, do you really think they deserve to be there with their only a single functional batsman?

But they do have the points and the NRR. Even when they were losing, they ensured that they kept their NRR healthy.

Pakistan knew they would have the NRR challenge, but they didn't do anything about it when they could. A more deserving Pakistan team would have gone all guns blazing against Afghanistan and tried to do compete against WI. I remember the last few wickets of Pakistan against WI, were lower order batsmen trying to slog the bowling, when they could have hung around and tried to increase Pakistan's total by 20-30 runs. These small things could have made the NRR difference and given Pakistan a realistic target against Bangladesh. Instead, they had to hope that either India defeats England, or NZ loses really badly against England and Aus.

Top teams manage these small details. If your captain was Wasim or IK, even with this team, they would have qualified to the semis.
 
What has 1992 luck to do with this tournament. For your information in 1992 luck also denied Pak sure points against South Africa.

The point being that luck is not an excuse for saying that Pakistan deserved to be in the semis more than NZ. Luck evens out.
 
The point being that luck is not an excuse for saying that Pakistan deserved to be in the semis more than NZ. Luck evens out.

But in this tournament it did not. NZ got lucky, and that's not just Pak fans saying that many cricket experts and journalists from neutral countries are saying it
 
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A team that makes it to the semis, deserves it more than a team that doesnt make it.

Now, luck was definitely a factor. But only for the Pak-SL and Ind-NZ rained out game. But these rained out games helped Pakistan in 1992, so in the end luck evens out.

If Pakistan deserves to be the top 4, then they should have been there.
I do not believe Pakistan deserves to play the semi more-so than NZ. Both teams were neck-and-neck, with Pakistan being in prime form while NZ's performance fell off.

However, to outright say Pakistan is not good enough for semis and no mention of NZ, is unfair.
 
I do not believe Pakistan deserves to play the semi more-so than NZ. Both teams were neck-and-neck, with Pakistan being in prime form while NZ's performance fell off.

However, to outright say Pakistan is not good enough for semis and no mention of NZ, is unfair.

Fair enough.
 
That is minnow mentality. If most Pakistani fans are fine with competing, then Pakistan cricket has really hot a low and will find it difficult to bounce back.

I would rather Pakistani fans' minimum expectation be the semi-finals. That is the expectation from any top tier team. And Pakistan Cricket needs to be top tier for cricket to flourish. Otherwise in 20 years, cricket will simply remain Ashes, World T20 and international T20 and the IPL.

To be honest from the way things are going T20 would gradually replace ODI’s heck even the next champions trophy is in T-20 format.
 
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