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Local Club Star
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- Jul 17, 2017
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Another Asia Cup and another time it feels like a big disappointment. We have a habit of looking down on ourselves rather than giving credit to opposition. I personally feel Sri Lanka played absolutely professionally and this was a very precise run chase. The Lankan batters had Pakistani fielders run into the ground with precise placements.
On Pakistan's Asia Cup its been a big disappointment we only managed wins against Nepal and Bangladesh whilst got dominated by India and beaten by a weak Sri Lankan side. Take it on the chin as this is the reality check the team needs. Given that world cup is around the corner the management would need to sit down and sort out our glaring shortcomings in the Asia Cup, some of those highlighted below.
1. Babar's captaincy - The less said about Babar's captaincy the better as it has been complete shambles and rigid. The guy lacks out of box thinking and doesn't deviate from a plan. He also lacks courage to take important calls during a match, for example in the match with India that was curtailed he opted to bowl Ifti at the start when pressure should have been built by regular bowlers simply because he was scared to bowl Ifti later. I would have preferred a more courageous decision making. Another massive think tank failure in this Asia Cup is decisions at toss. It was quite evident to see Rizwan and Ifti smacking the leather off the ball whilst playing under lights yet we decided to bat during day when the wicket was sticky and lost momentum. I'm quite confident had Pakistan chased they would have won the game as it was a relatively quicker wicket to play under lights. The decision to bat first was because of the drubbing we got against India when we chased. Similarly the decision to bowl against India was largely due to first game where we got their top order out cheaply. If Babar's decision making is always going to be dominated by previous games and shows no regards to current playing conditions then its not going to end well for Pakistan in world cup.
2. Injuries - We are coming out of Asia cup with injuries to Naseem, Haris, Imam and Agha Salman. This was one cursed Asia Cup. These are our XI players and if they are not fully fit going into the world cup then we might not even make to semis. Large responsibility also lies with management who have been playing them continuously even against the likes of Afghanistan and Nepal. If Shaheen gets injured then the entire management needs to be sacked as this is very poor player management already.
3. Shadab's bowling and lacklustre attitude in the field - We are missing the Shadab we had going into T20 world cups a year and 2 years back. Shadab in T20 was fast becoming a matchwinner and here we are where the guy seems lost. People are correctly pointing out to his attitude of not playing first class cricket contributing to this. Regardless we need Shadab on top of his ability going into the world cup. He has been a far consistent bowler but those half trackers and full tosses were becoming a norm which is not good for Pakistan. Secondly Shadab had a terrible Asia Cup in the field as well. The guy dropped 2 chances against India (Kohli and Rahul) at point and they were game changers. Also yesterday gave away 2 free runs which in the hindsight proved to be gold. We need both his bowling and fielding to be at his best going into the world cup.
4. Fakhar being Fakhar - We all know we need Fakhar as this guy is Pakistan's biggest matchwinner after Shaheen. His form is really worrying. The management needs to sit down with Fakhar and give him the confidence going into the world cup. Fakhar needs to understand that with Abdullah, Saim and Imam around there might not be another world cup for him after this. We need Fakhar to get rid of any mental block he has. I'm slightly confident Fakhar will come good in the upcoming world cup as he prefers quicker wickets which he might get in India and which he doesn't get in SL and UAE.
5. Shaheen Shah (overconfidence?) - Someone in our management needs to sit with Shaheen and explain that he is playing international cricket and not club or village cricket where he thinks he would bowl a full swinging delivery and he would get batters out left right and centre. I think Shaheen doesn't give respect to players in his early spell hence end up bowling a lot of drivable balls that get put away. When Shaheen goes back to good lengths he becomes a far superior bowler. Shaheen must himself realise this that batters at other end are some of biggest names in cricket and he would have to work harder each time to get them out.
6. Middle order - What we have got somewhat settled going into the world cup is that Rizwan at 4 and Ifti at 5/6 (depending on the situation). What we still need is someone to bat at 5/6 with Ifti and its likely to be Agha Salman. However if Fakhar continues to fail at top we can try Fakhar at 5 as well (he played an amazing innings vs Aus in T20 semi final from a similar position). Fakhar prefers spin to pace so might not be a bad option but first bite should be Agha.
7. Faheem and other so called allrounders - If we are going to play Faheem in the team in hope for him to be the 4th seamer in the side on a seaming track then we rather play a proper seamer like Zaman or anyone else as they are not going to be much worse than Faheem in batting but will be very superior in bowling. Ideally we should have Shadab at 7 followed by 4 full time bowlers.
8. Second string fast bowlers - I was surprised to see someone like Dahani get a call up ahead of deserving pacers like Arshad Iqbal and Ihsanullah. I understand Ihsanullah might be injured but we have got young bowlers like Hasnain who could be tried. If Haris and Naseem are to be injured then I would prefer to see Zaman and Ihsanullah with Arshad Iqbal as backup bowler if needed.
The last point is for our PCB management and specially Najam Sethi. This Asia Cup was a disaster to say the least. The greed that PCB had associated with India game got us humiliated to no extent. On top of that that greed resulted in extra playing day causing injuries to Haris and Naseem. To top it off Pakistan are out of the Asia Cup and the greed of having an India vs Pakistan final is laid to rest now. Going forward please grow a spine and host our tournament in our country. If for political reasons at other end this cannot be done then simply ask India not to be included but still continue with tournament. If this also fails then take a monetary compensation and step away from hosting position rather than stick with your hosting right and end up becoming a joke.
On Pakistan's Asia Cup its been a big disappointment we only managed wins against Nepal and Bangladesh whilst got dominated by India and beaten by a weak Sri Lankan side. Take it on the chin as this is the reality check the team needs. Given that world cup is around the corner the management would need to sit down and sort out our glaring shortcomings in the Asia Cup, some of those highlighted below.
1. Babar's captaincy - The less said about Babar's captaincy the better as it has been complete shambles and rigid. The guy lacks out of box thinking and doesn't deviate from a plan. He also lacks courage to take important calls during a match, for example in the match with India that was curtailed he opted to bowl Ifti at the start when pressure should have been built by regular bowlers simply because he was scared to bowl Ifti later. I would have preferred a more courageous decision making. Another massive think tank failure in this Asia Cup is decisions at toss. It was quite evident to see Rizwan and Ifti smacking the leather off the ball whilst playing under lights yet we decided to bat during day when the wicket was sticky and lost momentum. I'm quite confident had Pakistan chased they would have won the game as it was a relatively quicker wicket to play under lights. The decision to bat first was because of the drubbing we got against India when we chased. Similarly the decision to bowl against India was largely due to first game where we got their top order out cheaply. If Babar's decision making is always going to be dominated by previous games and shows no regards to current playing conditions then its not going to end well for Pakistan in world cup.
2. Injuries - We are coming out of Asia cup with injuries to Naseem, Haris, Imam and Agha Salman. This was one cursed Asia Cup. These are our XI players and if they are not fully fit going into the world cup then we might not even make to semis. Large responsibility also lies with management who have been playing them continuously even against the likes of Afghanistan and Nepal. If Shaheen gets injured then the entire management needs to be sacked as this is very poor player management already.
3. Shadab's bowling and lacklustre attitude in the field - We are missing the Shadab we had going into T20 world cups a year and 2 years back. Shadab in T20 was fast becoming a matchwinner and here we are where the guy seems lost. People are correctly pointing out to his attitude of not playing first class cricket contributing to this. Regardless we need Shadab on top of his ability going into the world cup. He has been a far consistent bowler but those half trackers and full tosses were becoming a norm which is not good for Pakistan. Secondly Shadab had a terrible Asia Cup in the field as well. The guy dropped 2 chances against India (Kohli and Rahul) at point and they were game changers. Also yesterday gave away 2 free runs which in the hindsight proved to be gold. We need both his bowling and fielding to be at his best going into the world cup.
4. Fakhar being Fakhar - We all know we need Fakhar as this guy is Pakistan's biggest matchwinner after Shaheen. His form is really worrying. The management needs to sit down with Fakhar and give him the confidence going into the world cup. Fakhar needs to understand that with Abdullah, Saim and Imam around there might not be another world cup for him after this. We need Fakhar to get rid of any mental block he has. I'm slightly confident Fakhar will come good in the upcoming world cup as he prefers quicker wickets which he might get in India and which he doesn't get in SL and UAE.
5. Shaheen Shah (overconfidence?) - Someone in our management needs to sit with Shaheen and explain that he is playing international cricket and not club or village cricket where he thinks he would bowl a full swinging delivery and he would get batters out left right and centre. I think Shaheen doesn't give respect to players in his early spell hence end up bowling a lot of drivable balls that get put away. When Shaheen goes back to good lengths he becomes a far superior bowler. Shaheen must himself realise this that batters at other end are some of biggest names in cricket and he would have to work harder each time to get them out.
6. Middle order - What we have got somewhat settled going into the world cup is that Rizwan at 4 and Ifti at 5/6 (depending on the situation). What we still need is someone to bat at 5/6 with Ifti and its likely to be Agha Salman. However if Fakhar continues to fail at top we can try Fakhar at 5 as well (he played an amazing innings vs Aus in T20 semi final from a similar position). Fakhar prefers spin to pace so might not be a bad option but first bite should be Agha.
7. Faheem and other so called allrounders - If we are going to play Faheem in the team in hope for him to be the 4th seamer in the side on a seaming track then we rather play a proper seamer like Zaman or anyone else as they are not going to be much worse than Faheem in batting but will be very superior in bowling. Ideally we should have Shadab at 7 followed by 4 full time bowlers.
8. Second string fast bowlers - I was surprised to see someone like Dahani get a call up ahead of deserving pacers like Arshad Iqbal and Ihsanullah. I understand Ihsanullah might be injured but we have got young bowlers like Hasnain who could be tried. If Haris and Naseem are to be injured then I would prefer to see Zaman and Ihsanullah with Arshad Iqbal as backup bowler if needed.
The last point is for our PCB management and specially Najam Sethi. This Asia Cup was a disaster to say the least. The greed that PCB had associated with India game got us humiliated to no extent. On top of that that greed resulted in extra playing day causing injuries to Haris and Naseem. To top it off Pakistan are out of the Asia Cup and the greed of having an India vs Pakistan final is laid to rest now. Going forward please grow a spine and host our tournament in our country. If for political reasons at other end this cannot be done then simply ask India not to be included but still continue with tournament. If this also fails then take a monetary compensation and step away from hosting position rather than stick with your hosting right and end up becoming a joke.
