So thinking about this from a neutral perspective, why are Pakistani young batters not visibly more skilled/talented than their indian counterparts when they start off (at least that is what is being claimed). Apart from the usual rhetoric of competition due to 1 Billion, IPL etc., I think the following factors may be huge factors
1. Batting is no longer all about natural talent. Natural talent can only take you so far, beyond which one has to put in hard yards at practice. Back in the day, a batsman like Basit Ali came through the ranks possessing jaw dropping natural talent which may not serve him well in the current set up. Bowlers are smarter, fielders are fitter and unless you have 2 or 3 gears, it would be hard to make a similar impact.
2. Technique and coaching at grass roots go hand in hand. Who are the coaches at grass root level in Pakistan? I know Vengsarkar runs an academy in Mumbai, so dies Mohinder Amarnath, WV Raman is the coach of U19, Dravid handles U19 and A teams. So, any chink in the armor is fixed at grass root level, so by the time the player is at international level, technique is sorted, it is the temperament and adaptability which matter. Now if say, Basit Ali, is coaching t grass root level in Pakistan, and a youngster coming through the ranks, shows chinks in technique at highest level, then there may be certain aspects which he wouldn't be able to address (no disrespect to Basit, great hundred at Sharjah v WI).
3. Money - Yes, the root of all evil. Pakistanis fighting a case for breach of MoU and is hoping to get some money. Where is the money coming into Pakistan cricket right now? Is there enough of it handed to grass root level?
- Are coaches getting international accreditation
- Are pitches and grounds meeting international standards (see next point reg FC cricket)
- Is there a proper Academy with world class facilities? Im pretty sure there is, but is it doing enough?
3. Let us deep dive into FC Cricket in Pakistan for a bit- So, with little research, i was able to understand that the Quaid-e-Azam trophy needs some serious look in. Here are some of the stats from 2017/18 season
a. Average First innings score 235 (lowest among all countries). India is at 344
b. Runs per wicket 22.6 - lowest in many decades
c. 38 year old Aizaz Cheema has a bowling average of 9.61
d. Saad Ali - only batsman with 500+ runs and average of 50 + (why is he not in the team?)
Why is this?
- They got the dukes ball, i agree, it made a huge difference
- They relaid the pitches, but i think most of them were not fully prepared.
How can you expect batsmen to have a longish innings in the middle when you have dukes ball on unprepared tracks ? If the test bed itself is compromised, it would be hard to expect them to stand up in real time.
So end of the day, you have batsmen in both Limited overs and FC cricket without time in the middle. How does not doing well in FC impact LO performance you may ask, well if a batsman does not have a good enough technique and cannot rotate strike often, he would eventually end up going for a release shot via slog and get out, in LO cricket.
5. Cricket not happening in Pakistan - I think it is self explanatory. It is the biggest factor in my opinion.
In the last couple of years, I have seen a professional set up in Pak cricket which is good to see, so hopefully the issues would be addressed. Just my two cents. Pakistan has thrived on natural talent and would continue to do so for years to come, but reliance on natural talent is diminishing each day, and one has to go up a couple of notches,w.r.t fitness,technique and work ethic, else would end up like Umar Akmal!
