Been a while since I did a proper post on PakPassion but in all honesty, it has been a while since I sat down to properly watch a Pakistan match since the birth of my son.
I wanted to share some of my thoughts/analysis on the match. I will avoid the obvious issues of batting and fielding, which were big contributors to the loss and do not need to be repeated.
1) Stepped on the field to be defeated - Seemed, more so than the fans, the team already were ready to lose. A lot of talk of being aggressive but when the time came, we chose to bowl on a wicket which had very little (no surprise given the other matches). I could understand if we were strong chasers but we are in fact, the worst chasers in international cricket. Do they not remember the 2011 WC or 2015 WC? Are they so afraid of India's strength in chasing, that instead of playing to our strengths/avoiding our weaknesses, we pretty much exposed ourself out of fear.
2) Opening with a spinner - This one kills me. Alright, you have chosen to bowl first. Maybe you are saying, I am going to give the new ball to my pacers, look for some early wickets. That usually is the strategy in England when bowling first. You see something in the wicket or air your pacer can exploit and you challenge the opposition batting line up. THAT is aggressive. What did we get? A spinner darting it in on a surface that has nothing. They kept talking about being out of the box but this was out of their minds. This decision was defensive and just continues on my point that they stepped on the field to be defeated.
3) Fahim Ashraf - Given we have only one hitter in the line up and your strategy is to accumulate wickets to launch an assault (as always, the Pakistani way), then why drop your one hitter and who won you a warm up match? More so than the Wahab/Junaid should play, this was the biggest blunder in terms of team selection. He would bowl no worse than those two and who knows, maybe like Afridi, if he swings wild enough and the lack of exposure to him, he could have made a handy quick score.
4) Hey Mickey - When he was the the coach of the Karachi Kings, he was criticized for his loyalty to out of form players (not to ignore the fact that your national team coach's team was the second worst team despite having the machine behind them). No difference here. He once again picks the same tried tested losers and tells us it is for experience. Tell me, what has Mohammad Hafeez or Ahmed Shehzaad learned from our multiple losses to India since 2011 WC? What experience do they bring. Do they counsel our young players on how to loss with grace?
5) The Young Guns - On a positive note, I was pleased with Shadab's performance. For an 18-year old kid to come into a pressure match, with a wet ball on a surface that has nothing, he did well to restrict a line up that has destroyed many a spinner. He could have had two wickets. His batting looked decent in PSL but at the top level he has looked like a tailender - which is concerning. I had high hopes for Hasan Ali coming into the match. He has a way of taking wickets but was expensive and dropped a key catch. Hopefully he can bounce back because he is still talented and a good thinking cricketer.
6) I will end with the most obvious point. Change of thinking. We know what we have to do and yet we refuse to do it. It's all lip service. After the 2015 WC debacle England changed their approach. They were embarrassed a few times but they stuck behind their strategy. They back a guy like Jason Roy cause they know what he can be capable of but also he does not change his game just to ensure he gets a 50. We play the same way, with guys who only care for their spot (Azhar slowing down to get his 50 and then swinging next ball, thanks) and still get embarrassed. We might as well get embarrassed trying to play some strokes than prod along.
Anyways, these were just some of my thoughts from the match. Best if Pakistan loses the next two. If they manage to win, team management will pat themselves on the back. Say they beat a team above them in rankings and all will be ok cause our young players (Mohammed Hafeez?) are developing.
Amir
I wanted to share some of my thoughts/analysis on the match. I will avoid the obvious issues of batting and fielding, which were big contributors to the loss and do not need to be repeated.
1) Stepped on the field to be defeated - Seemed, more so than the fans, the team already were ready to lose. A lot of talk of being aggressive but when the time came, we chose to bowl on a wicket which had very little (no surprise given the other matches). I could understand if we were strong chasers but we are in fact, the worst chasers in international cricket. Do they not remember the 2011 WC or 2015 WC? Are they so afraid of India's strength in chasing, that instead of playing to our strengths/avoiding our weaknesses, we pretty much exposed ourself out of fear.
2) Opening with a spinner - This one kills me. Alright, you have chosen to bowl first. Maybe you are saying, I am going to give the new ball to my pacers, look for some early wickets. That usually is the strategy in England when bowling first. You see something in the wicket or air your pacer can exploit and you challenge the opposition batting line up. THAT is aggressive. What did we get? A spinner darting it in on a surface that has nothing. They kept talking about being out of the box but this was out of their minds. This decision was defensive and just continues on my point that they stepped on the field to be defeated.
3) Fahim Ashraf - Given we have only one hitter in the line up and your strategy is to accumulate wickets to launch an assault (as always, the Pakistani way), then why drop your one hitter and who won you a warm up match? More so than the Wahab/Junaid should play, this was the biggest blunder in terms of team selection. He would bowl no worse than those two and who knows, maybe like Afridi, if he swings wild enough and the lack of exposure to him, he could have made a handy quick score.
4) Hey Mickey - When he was the the coach of the Karachi Kings, he was criticized for his loyalty to out of form players (not to ignore the fact that your national team coach's team was the second worst team despite having the machine behind them). No difference here. He once again picks the same tried tested losers and tells us it is for experience. Tell me, what has Mohammad Hafeez or Ahmed Shehzaad learned from our multiple losses to India since 2011 WC? What experience do they bring. Do they counsel our young players on how to loss with grace?
5) The Young Guns - On a positive note, I was pleased with Shadab's performance. For an 18-year old kid to come into a pressure match, with a wet ball on a surface that has nothing, he did well to restrict a line up that has destroyed many a spinner. He could have had two wickets. His batting looked decent in PSL but at the top level he has looked like a tailender - which is concerning. I had high hopes for Hasan Ali coming into the match. He has a way of taking wickets but was expensive and dropped a key catch. Hopefully he can bounce back because he is still talented and a good thinking cricketer.
6) I will end with the most obvious point. Change of thinking. We know what we have to do and yet we refuse to do it. It's all lip service. After the 2015 WC debacle England changed their approach. They were embarrassed a few times but they stuck behind their strategy. They back a guy like Jason Roy cause they know what he can be capable of but also he does not change his game just to ensure he gets a 50. We play the same way, with guys who only care for their spot (Azhar slowing down to get his 50 and then swinging next ball, thanks) and still get embarrassed. We might as well get embarrassed trying to play some strokes than prod along.
Anyways, these were just some of my thoughts from the match. Best if Pakistan loses the next two. If they manage to win, team management will pat themselves on the back. Say they beat a team above them in rankings and all will be ok cause our young players (Mohammed Hafeez?) are developing.
Amir
