With every competitive T20 cricket being played between now till the world cup, PCB management should be actively following it and drawing potential strategies and plan to implement and better its current T20 team.
The current series between England and India is one such eye opener where the series is being player in early March which would mimic similar conditions come October in India. We have already seen toss having a massive implication on the overall result particularly due to dew creeping in later half. Something PCB management should not ignore if they happen to ball second in one such game where wrist spinners especially Shadab can become a massive liability.
Apart from conditions and toss where PCB has got no control over, there are many other strategic takeaways from the current series.
1. Pace for the win
If the likes of Rohit, Kohli, Pant, etc are struggling against opening spells of 150k bowlers (Wood and Archer) then it sends out one clear message that there is no alternative to sheer pace. Pakistan is lucky that its premier bowler (Shaheen) can touch those pace numbers but it needs a second pacer to have a more potent impact. It's no surprise to me that when it comes to pure pace Hasnain is ahead of others and the current PSL stamped this fact as well. Its a no brainer that Hasnain should put some serious hardwork to consistently bowl 4 overs of sheer pace and hit back of the length and his worth in T20 could be massive for Pakistan.
2. Death bowler
Even with sheer pace or canny spinning ability, death bowling still remains the art of a specialist (this is not something we can expect Faheem to do). Pakistan needs a cunning bowler with bag full of tricks to bowl 3 overs or more at death, a role well played by Umar Gul over the years. From the current lot the only 2 bowlers with potential to achieve this is Hasan Ali and Amir. I would select Hasan Ali over Amir for this role for a simple reason that team's mental health is as important as physical health and company of Amir would not be good for team's mental health given his recent outbursts.
3. Skills over hacks any day
It is quite evident that batsmen with superior batting skills are only able to negate bowlers of superior skills. In T20 world cup the bowling Pakistan team would face would be of superior quality and hacks like Sharjeel and Fakhar would not be able to counter that sort of bowling. Pakistan needs to realise this really quickly that in order to stand any chance in the world cup the onus from hacks should go away immediately and best batsmen should face majority of balls to yield better results this means Babar and Rizwan should open for Pakistan.
4. Fitness is not a myth
This has been stated multiple times and re-emphasizing this subject would not change the fact. An unfit individual (physically or mentally) has massive negative impact on the overall team. For example, Sharjeel not running a quick run results in 1 run less in our overall score which is similar to a misfielding that goes for the extra run. While everyone frowns upon the misfield the issue of Sharjeel not running is scrapped under the carpet. Similarly, a brilliant catch or amazing run out uplifts the entire team. Therefore, the importance of such individuals in T20 is massive hence Shadab carries so much importance as he is the leader on the field that we need.
5. Right mix of experience and youth
If we look into past championship wins of Pakistan or any other country for that matter its always a combined effort of experience and youth that contributes to a win. It was Javed and Inzi in 1992, Fakhar and Hafeez/Sarfraz in 2017, its always a mixed effort to win championships hence an extreme of both ends would not work. We need Hafeez and Haider while we also need Hasan Ali and Shaheen/Hasnain to work together. And if we have a slot in our T20 team for which no one has raised their hand then we need experience to fill that slot not for their cricketing physical ability but their mental ability to think/help captains out which can be invaluable. I'm pointing towards Malik for no.5 slot. He might not contribute much but his input in game awareness and helping Babar out could be massive.
Having said all the points above, its utmost important that when Pakistan steps out to play T20 it is following a strategy rather than everyone doing what they feel they can do as its a team game rather than an individual game. At this current stage the following XI stands the best chance of yielding best results for Pakistan but this line-up would also fail without team and individual strategies, roles and responsibilities.
1. Babar
2. Rizwan
3. Haider
4. Hafeez
5. Malik
6. Faheem
7. Shadab
8. Hasan Ali
9. Shaheen
10. Hasnain
11. Usman Qadir
