What was the worst Pakistan ODI World Cup squad ever?

[ExplicitAI]

I've only ever saw two world cups (2011 and 2015) and having researched enough about cricket in full depth, the 2015 WC squad was by far the worst when you think of every single factor. There was no planning for our WC campaign and everything felt last minute.

 

[ManFan]

The 2015 squad was the most spineless I’ve ever seen in any sport.

They were 4-1 against WI and 2-4 against Zimbabwe where Wahab Riaz’s cameo took us across 200.

Pathetic squad that made it to the QF’s due to Sarfraz and Riaz.

 

[gazza619]

Agreed the 2015 squad was indeed horrible. I hope we dont go through that torcher again.

We still managed to defeat SA though and gave Aussies a tough fight.

 

[ExplicitAI]

The 2015 squad was the most spineless I’ve ever seen in any sport.

They were 4-1 against WI and 2-4 against Zimbabwe where Wahab Riaz’s cameo took us across 200.

Pathetic squad that made it to the QF’s due to Sarfraz and Riaz.

Sarfraz deserved captaincy straight after the QF exit but they gave it to Azhar, and plus the team Misbah had since 2011 was completely different to the one he had at the 2015 WC, we only just realised we didn't have a fast bowler that could open the innings that could also swing the ball; so we decided to give a last minute recall to Sohail Khan who wasn't too bad. Hafeez and Ajmal getting banned before the WC damaged us a lot.

 

[CadPakFan]

Agreed the 2015 squad was indeed horrible. I hope we dont go through that torcher again.

We still managed to defeat SA though and gave Aussies a tough fight.

And that was only because of Sarfraz and Wahab

 

[Canford Cliffs]

2007 I guess. A poor squad and WC for both Ind and Pak

 

[TeamPak95]

Yep I'd go with 2015

 

[topspin]

2011

2011 had the worst batting line up in a Pakistan WC ever - only Umar Akmal had a reasonable tournament with the bat whereas 2015 was only slightly better due to the likes of Haris Sohail, Sarfraz and an improved Misbah after that atrocious knock in Mohali, but even then his SR in that tournament could not exceed an abysmal reading of 75.

2011's pace attack (Gul, gentle medium pace of Razzaq, an old Akhtar and a raw Wahab) was also worse than the 2015 one (Sohail Khan, Irfan, Wahab and Ehsan Adil). Pakistan had the best spin attack in 2011 which is what kept their WC hopes alive until the semi, however not to forget this tournament was a lot less competitive in comparison to the one in Aus/NZ, therefore making the team look better than what it actually was! 2011 side was certainly the worst WC side.

 

[ManFan]

Sarfraz deserved captaincy straight after the QF exit but they gave it to Azhar, and plus the team Misbah had since 2011 was completely different to the one he had at the 2015 WC, we only just realised we didn't have a fast bowler that could open the innings that could also swing the ball; so we decided to give a last minute recall to Sohail Khan who wasn't too bad. Hafeez and Ajmal getting banned before the WC damaged us a lot.

That was the most brain dead decision in Pakistan cricketing history.

To make a person captain who hadn’t played the format in two years.

It bore fruit a month later with a Bangla whitewash.

 

[Markhor]

2003 squad was well past their peak and produced one lethargic performance after another. Waqar and Wasim hated each others guts whilst Anwar, hundred vs India aside, had lost his passion for cricket by then. Inzamam was totally out of form too.

Even when we beat the minnows we laboured to victory. Our supine displays against Australia and England was painful to watch, that collapse against a young Jimmy Anderson under the lights was embarrassing as our big name players fell one by one to a rookie. The cull after that World Cup of senior players was overdue.

2015 team was very weak especially in batting department and lacked all rounders to give balance hence why we had Wahab batting at 8. Only highlight from that campaign was the match against South Africa.

 

[ManFan]

2003 squad was well past their peak and produced one lethargic performance after another. Waqar and Wasim hated each others guts whilst Anwar, hundred vs India aside, had lost his passion for cricket by then. Inzamam was totally out of form too.

Even when we beat the minnows we laboured to victory. Our supine displays against Australia and England was painful to watch, that collapse against a young Jimmy Anderson under the lights was embarrassing as our big name players fell one by one to a rookie. The cull after that World Cup of senior players was overdue.

2015 team was very weak especially in batting department and lacked all rounders to give balance hence why we had Wahab batting at 8. Only highlight from that campaign was the match against South Africa.

2003 was poor but they had opportunities to capitalize with Australia 4-86, England 3-59 and India 2-53.

 

[Syed1]

Has to be 2015.



All thanks to savior of Pakistan , our knight in shining armour, Misbah ul Haq

 

[Markhor]

2003 was poor but they had opportunities to capitalize with Australia 4-86, England 3-59 and India 2-53.

Against India we should've scored 300+ on that pitch.

The whole campaign was depressing to watch but the warning signs were there well before the WC.

There was the Morocco tournament, the PSO tri series in Kenya where we struggled to chase 130 odd against Kenya and got hammered in a couple of matches v Australia, a disappointing 2002 Champions Trophy, the Sharjah debacle v Australia, and then a limp display in South Africa.

Waqar's captaincy was woeful during this period, too reactive and defensive, whilst our selection policy was a joke.

 

[Pakpak]

Against India we should've scored 300+ on that pitch.

The whole campaign was depressing to watch but the warning signs were there well before the WC.

There was the Morocco tournament, the PSO tri series in Kenya where we struggled to chase 130 odd against Kenya and got hammered in a couple of matches v Australia, a disappointing 2002 Champions Trophy, the Sharjah debacle v Australia, and then a limp display in South Africa.

Waqar's captaincy was woeful during this period, too reactive and defensive, whilst our selection policy was a joke.

There was some hope early 2002 as we embarrassed Australia in Australia winning the ODI series but it was downhill after that. The PSO series was a total humiliation.

 

[TeymurBlake]

Ohh I have to say 2015.

 

[Rayyman]

Has to be 2015.



All thanks to savior of Pakistan , our knight in shining armour, Misbah ul Haq

Lol look at this Top 6

Nasir Jamshed
Ahmed Shehzad
Younis Khan
Misbah ul-Haq
Umar Akmal
Sohaib Maqsood

)

 

[Rayyman]

One thing to note about Pak's '11 XI:
Shehzad
K Akmal
Younis
Shafiq
Misbah
U Akmal
Afridi
Razzaq
Wahab
Gul
Ajmal

There are 4 youngsters: Shezzy, Asad, Viki and Tailunt. All of them turned out to be match losers in ODIs. So much for grooming them. The rest were seniors. And only 3 of them were good in their primes (Lala, Razzler and Guldozer). Rest were mediocre in ODIs. Hafeez and Ajmal were chucking. But it's safe to say that Afridi was the only one in his prime and his bowling carried us in that tournament.

 

[ExplicitAI]

The 2015 world cup squad is the equivalent to a first year University student who's been partying all year, skipping classes then crash studying the week before exams whilst chugging down loads of energy drinks and caffeine pills to scrape a pass into second year; that's the genuine vibe I get, there was ZERO planning under the Misbah era, I sort of felt he hated giving youngsters a debut, it's as if it hurt his salary or something. Sarfraz has given chances to loads of youngsters and talented deserving players, more than any other Pak captain I've seen.

 

[msb314]

I'd probably go with the 2011 Squad.

Hafeez / Shafiq / Akmals / YK / Misbah / Afridi and an out of form Razzaq.

Thanks but no thanks lol .

 

[msb314]

Has to be 2015.



All thanks to savior of Pakistan , our knight in shining armour, Misbah ul Haq

Our 2011 squad was worst.

Akmals, Blessed in all facets, Poultry farmer, Team Man, Savior, Boom Boom and Popeye

 

[msb314]

Against India we should've scored 300+ on that pitch.

The whole campaign was depressing to watch but the warning signs were there well before the WC.

There was the Morocco tournament, the PSO tri series in Kenya where we struggled to chase 130 odd against Kenya and got hammered in a couple of matches v Australia, a disappointing 2002 Champions Trophy, the Sharjah debacle v Australia, and then a limp display in South Africa.

Waqar's captaincy was woeful during this period, too reactive and defensive, whilst our selection policy was a joke.

Good post.

I will point out that on paper - the 2003 squad looked very good but Anwar was never the same after his daughter's death and Inzy / MoYo were just not built for WC's whilst YK was still very raw back then. Taufeeq Umar and Rashid Latif were complete duds as well.

 

[Adijazz1706]

Our 2011 squad was worst.

Akmals, Blessed in all facets, Poultry farmer, Team Man, Savior, Boom Boom and Popeye

We got to the SF after topping the group by ending Australia's unbeaten run and completely demolished WI in the QF. One of the early 2 catches taken of Sachin and we could've won the WC. Surprising how good Afridi was as captain dropping a senior like Akhtar for a rookie like Wahab and also as a bowler.

 

[Slim]

Our world cup squads in the past decade somehow turned to be total disasters.

2015 was probably the worse.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

The way we disintegrated in the 2003 campaign was just painful to watch. As [MENTION=53290]Markhor[/MENTION] said, first we got absolutely mauled by ANDREW SYMONDS of all people and then a debuting rookie Anderson made our batsmen look like those of an associate nation.

Furthermore, that 270 odd against India should've been enough but there was absolutely no unity in that team and it was evident when Shoaib and Wasim were opening the bowling as opposed to Waqar/Wasim. The CB series win (In Australia) almost a year ago gave the wrong perception and we stuck with a team that (a) was vehemently aging and (b) Had way too much infighting.

For all these reasons even though that squad looked very good on Paper it was one of the weakest squads we've actually ever sent in a World Cup tournament.

 

[Slog]

Has to be 2015.



All thanks to savior of Pakistan , our knight in shining armour, Misbah ul Haq

still performed better than the much hyped 2003 and 2007 squads!

also had some good momentum and who knows what would have happened if those catches off Riaz were taken in the QF against Aussies.

I agree it was a very weak and uninspiring team but performance wise it was very good after the SA win

 

[Slog]

I'd probably go with the 2011 Squad.

Hafeez / Shafiq / Akmals / YK / Misbah / Afridi and an out of form Razzaq.

Thanks but no thanks lol .

that squad was very good lol

and it steamrolled itself into the semi finals while topping the group and winning the QF in the most emphatic way possible

And even in SF the fielding let us down

Also of the names you mentioned I would say asides from Razzaq everyone had their moments> And heck Afridi was one of the bowlers of the tournament>

 

[ManFan]

that squad was very good lol

and it steamrolled itself into the semi finals while topping the group and winning the QF in the most emphatic way possible

And even in SF the fielding let us down

Also of the names you mentioned I would say asides from Razzaq everyone had their moments> And heck Afridi was one of the bowlers of the tournament>

Afridi should have been the Bowler of the Tournamnet.

He took the same as Zaheer but with one less match.

His performances saved our behinds against SL and Canada.

 

[msb314]

still performed better than the much hyped 2003 and 2007 squads!

also had some good momentum and who knows what would have happened if those catches off Riaz were taken in the QF against Aussies.

I agree it was a very weak and uninspiring team but performance wise it was very good after the SA win

After the SAF win - we played Ireland who are a minnow and then crumbled to 213 all out against Aus on a batting pitch. Wahab's spell withstanding - Aus chased comfortably at a run a ball.

Our bowling was decent in patches but batting was in absolute shambles that WC..

 

[msb314]

that squad was very good lol

and it steamrolled itself into the semi finals while topping the group and winning the QF in the most emphatic way possible

And even in SF the fielding let us down

Also of the names you mentioned I would say asides from Razzaq everyone had their moments> And heck Afridi was one of the bowlers of the tournament>

Our bowling did well in Asian conditions and carried us to the SF's but our batting was in absolute shambles again lol.

We only scored 300+ against Kenyan minnows whilst everyone else was racking up big scores for fun.

Only had to chase 180 odd against Australia and 100 vs WI in the QF. We made 260 odd against SL which was a decent score but got blown away by NZ - pre-McCullum era. We only managed 184 against Canada of all teams lol.

 

[msb314]

We got to the SF after topping the group by ending Australia's unbeaten run and completely demolished WI in the QF. One of the early 2 catches taken of Sachin and we could've won the WC. Surprising how good Afridi was as captain dropping a senior like Akhtar for a rookie like Wahab and also as a bowler.

As I mentioned to [MENTION=138463]Slog[/MENTION] - our bowling carried that team to the SF's. Batting was pathetic as always lol

Also dropping Akhtar was a tactical blunder against India on a slow low pitch at Mohali. Wahab did well but Gul got carted around for fun and was probably never the same bowler after that. Akhtar's raw pace could have been crucial in that SF.

 

[msb314]

that squad was very good lol

and it steamrolled itself into the semi finals while topping the group and winning the QF in the most emphatic way possible

And even in SF the fielding let us down

Also of the names you mentioned I would say asides from Razzaq everyone had their moments> And heck Afridi was one of the bowlers of the tournament>

To be fair - some of those players turned out to be duds later on in their career so I have the benefit of hindsight and at that time, it was probably the best option we had. It was just that our stocks were pretty limited at that time.

- Shoaib Malik was out of form and out of favor at that time so no chance of him playing in the 2011 WC
- The Trio were banned.
- Nasir Jamshed had been out of favor at that time but given how he did well in the 2012 Asia Cup - selecting him could have been a good idea
- Haris and Usman were too raw and PCB would never debut youngsters in a WC anyway.

The biggest blunder we made however was not selecting MoYo for that WC. He could have feasted on a lot of teams despite his poor WC record.

 

[Justcrazy]

2003 was worst .

 

[Justcrazy]

To be fair - some of those players turned out to be duds later on in their career so I have the benefit of hindsight and at that time, it was probably the best option we had. It was just that our stocks were pretty limited at that time.

- Shoaib Malik was out of form and out of favor at that time so no chance of him playing in the 2011 WC
- The Trio were banned.
- Nasir Jamshed had been out of favor at that time but given how he did well in the 2012 Asia Cup - selecting him could have been a good idea
- Haris and Usman were too raw and PCB would never debut youngsters in a WC anyway.

The biggest blunder we made however was not selecting MoYo for that WC. He could have feasted on a lot of teams despite his poor WC record.

He would have got to 10 K runs in OD , as well as would have made middle order much more solid. Pakistan could have chased the score in semi final.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

He would have got to 10 K runs in OD , as well as would have made middle order much more solid. Pakistan could have chased the score in semi final.

Moyo was a legend when it came to scoring soft runs I am pretty sure he would've bottled it regardless of how many runs were needed in that Semi Final. The guy just didn't have the stomach for the big stage.

 

[msb314]

Moyo was a legend when it came to scoring soft runs I am pretty sure he would've bottled it regardless of how many runs were needed in that Semi Final. The guy just didn't have the stomach for the big stage.

Whilst what you say is true - I would rather hedge my bet on MoYo scoring in that SF than the likes of Shafiq, Akmals, YK etc.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

Whilst what you say is true - I would rather hedge my bet on MoYo scoring in that SF than the likes of Shafiq, Akmals, YK etc.

I see your point! however, that lineup was so bad that I am (to this day surprised) that we went until the Semi-Final tbh. Had Afridi not had a freak tournament with the Ball we would've had a few other embarrasments along the way for sure - that Canada game was really close

 

[msb314]

I see your point! however, that lineup was so bad that I am (to this day surprised) that we went until the Semi-Final tbh. Had Afridi not had a freak tournament with the Ball we would've had a few other embarrasments along the way for sure - that Canada game was really close

As I mentioned earlier in this thread - our bowling carried us to the SF's.

We got lucky we only had to chase 180 vs Australia and 100 vs WI lol. The only time our batting ability was truly tested was the game against NZ when chasing 300+ and we failed MISERABLY!

 

[The_Odd_One]

2015

Let's just take a look at the squad

Jamshed
Shehzad
Younis
Umar
Maqsood
Afridi (finished)
Rahat (destroyer)
Irfan
Yasir
Aadil

Can anyone really find a worse squad than this one?

 

[KhanPredator]

2015

Let's just take a look at the squad

Jamshed
Shehzad
Younis
Umar
Maqsood
Afridi (finished)
Rahat (destroyer)
Irfan
Yasir
Aadil

Can anyone really find a worse squad than this one?

Wow, no wonder why we were 1-4 against WI lol, looking back at these names, NONE of them are in the current team thankfully.

 

[Hasan123]

2015

 

[cricket_cfa]

Without wasim in his prime team was not the same
Recently the team is again showing signs of fighting spirit is becoming more watchable in odis

 

[hadi123]

I would have to say 2015. 2011 WC squad wasn't that bad, let's not forget Afridi was in the peak of his career (bowling wise) at that point and at that point was genuinely one of the best bowlers in the world. Also ODI cricket in 2011 was still not as batsmen friendly as it has become over the last few years, so the likes of YK, Misbah-ul-Haq etc were not that bad selections. We did make the semi-finals of the 2011 WC for a reason, we were poor in the 2015 WC, even struggled against some of the minnows.

 

[Minnowbasher]

1975

 

[AFM]

A lot of people here praised the selection when the 2015 squad was originally announced.

 

[Titan24]

2015. Hands down, it wasnt just about the players but lack of any combination.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

2015 by quite a distance followed by 2007.
2007 was the worst in terms of disjointedness and lack of any unity and plan in the team.

2003 was also pretty similar to 2007 in terms of lack of strategies and unity but atleast had past prime Pak's ATG's in Wasim, Waqar, Saqlain and Saeed that edges it past 2007 squad.

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

Hard to look past 2015, although 2003, 2007 and 2011 gave it the run for its money. We did comparatively well in 2011 only because of our bowling prowess. 2003 squad was full of oldies and 2007 squad had the poorest Pakistani bowling attack in my living memory. 2015 squad was a disgrace to say the least.

 

[hadi123]

Poll added!

 

[Justcrazy]

2015

Let's just take a look at the squad

Jamshed
Shehzad
Younis
Umar
Maqsood
Afridi (finished)
Rahat (destroyer)
Irfan
Yasir
Aadil

Can anyone really find a worse squad than this one?

Also add the great coach WAQAR YOUNIS> Tactical genius.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Also add the great coach WAQAR YOUNIS> Tactical genius.

And our better players were Misbah and Wahab. This was easily the worst squad I have seen from Pakistan in a World Cup. It was the first World Cup where I did not have any hope.

 

[Mainul]

2015 in the history of world cup for Pakistan.

 

[Suleiman]

It was a toss up between 2015 and 2007, but once you take into account that Younis in ODIs is equivalent to 5 extra players playing for your opponent then you have to say 2015.

I lost all respect for this man in that 2013-2016 period when he became a full on leech publicly coming out and saying things like it was his birth right to be on the ODI team.

Imagine how many proper ODI batsmen we could’ve groomed in that time frame.

Harris Sohail is the biggest example, he got injured in 2015 sure, but he should’ve given proper chances a few years earlier because now all that potential has to be squeezed into a 5 or 6 year career.

Say what you want about Mickey, but he has ended the Leech era, something big talk Waqar chatted about but didn’t have the balls to do. Just see how he’s handling Hafeez.

Insh Allah the next WC squad will be one of the best we’ve sent... one can hope.

 

[msb314]

It was a toss up between 2015 and 2007, but once you take into account that Younis in ODIs is equivalent to 5 extra players playing for your opponent then you have to say 2015.

I lost all respect for this man in that 2013-2016 period when he became a full on leech publicly coming out and saying things like it was his birth right to be on the ODI team.

Imagine how many proper ODI batsmen we could’ve groomed in that time frame.

Harris Sohail is the biggest example, he got injured in 2015 sure, but he should’ve given proper chances a few years earlier because now all that potential has to be squeezed into a 5 or 6 year career.

Say what you want about Mickey, but he has ended the Leech era, something big talk Waqar chatted about but didn’t have the balls to do. Just see how he’s handling Hafeez.

Insh Allah the next WC squad will be one of the best we’ve sent... one can hope.

Haha bro so many things wrong here

First of all - YK played in the 2003, 2007, 2011 and the 2015 WC!

Secondly - Haris played in the ODI team with YK for a while. I believe YK occupies the no. 3 slot whilst Haris played at no. 4 or 5. from 2014/15. YK was dropped from the ODI team in 2013 but Haris didn’t debut until late 2014 - can’t really blame YK for holding back Haris’ career...

Finally - YK retired from ODI’s in late 2015 during Waqar’s time. Yes both YK and Misbah retired from Tests under Mickey but they both left on their own terms. If they wanted to - Mickey would continue to play them in Tests even today.

 

[Suleiman]

Haha bro so many things wrong here

First of all - YK played in the 2003, 2007, 2011 and the 2015 WC!

Secondly - Haris played in the ODI team with YK for a while. I believe YK occupies the no. 3 slot whilst Haris played at no. 4 or 5. from 2014/15. YK was dropped from the ODI team in 2013 but Haris didn’t debut until late 2014 - can’t really blame YK for holding back Haris’ career...

Finally - YK retired from ODI’s in late 2015 during Waqar’s time. Yes both YK and Misbah retired from Tests under Mickey but they both left on their own terms. If they wanted to - Mickey would continue to play them in Tests even today.

He played in those WCs, but in 2011 and especially 2015 he held us back quite a bit in achieving wins. 2011 everyone remembers Misbah as chief architect of our defeat vs India, but this guy played lead actor role in that loss as well.

The Haris thing, I'm trying to make a point that if for that 2012-2015 period had he not mooched off his test status to get an ODI slot, we could've groomed a more deserving ODI player for the 2015 WC.

You're right about the timelines, I got them wrong, but my point still stands.

I highly doubt Mickey would continue to play them IF their form deteriorated for a sustained period of time.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

He played in those WCs, but in 2011 and especially 2015 he held us back quite a bit in achieving wins. 2011 everyone remembers Misbah as chief architect of our defeat vs India, but this guy played lead actor role in that loss as well.

The Haris thing, I'm trying to make a point that if for that 2012-2015 period had he not mooched off his test status to get an ODI slot, we could've groomed a more deserving ODI player for the 2015 WC.

You're right about the timelines, I got them wrong, but my point still stands.

I highly doubt Mickey would continue to play them IF their form deteriorated for a sustained period of time.

No we wouldn't have actually because during that era we were too fixated on the likes of Nasir Jamshed, Umar Akmal, Bilawal Bhatti and Anwar Alis and even if we Younis had not been a part of those teams, the mindset of the Misbah era was safety first therefore we would never have had players of the capacity and the tenacity that as we have at the moment.

Younis did strong arm PCB in getting him into the ODI squads and I hated him for that but to credit his presence as the entire reason we couldn't get a better ODI batsman will not be right. Misbah was massively limited when it came to LOIs and his backing of players like Asad, Sohaib Maqsood et al in the limited overs side was a testament to that.

 

[blackanhyellow]

Lol look at this Top 6

Nasir Jamshed
Ahmed Shehzad
Younis Khan
Misbah ul-Haq
Umar Akmal
Sohaib Maqsood

)

wow that is bad.

I seemed to have suppressed my memory of this that is how traumatic this line up must have been.

 

[coy0607]

While Pakistan have had bad WCs in 03 and 07, the 2015 squad was definitely the worst

Lacked talent, ageing, lacked leadership, and worst is all the were 10 years behind the rest of the would in terms of scoring

 

[MMHS]

I think, most of the votes went to 2011 & 2015, and rightly so. Without Shoaib & Asif, 2007 team wasn't that great either. 2003 team was actually quite good, though aged and most players in down slope, yet that team had several match winners - it was spoiled by the Captaincy and frequent change of Coaches.

One team that none mentioned (may be because it went to SF), is 1983 team - it was a similar aged team with declining stars and Imran played as specialist bat (2 all-rounders were Faqih & Shahid Mehboob), while Rashid Khan was opening bowler.

Over all, I think 2015, 2011, 2007 & 1983 - in that order. Best was probably 1987 - for next 3 spots, really difficult to separate 1999, 1996 & 1979 teams, though it was 1992 team that won the WC.

 

[Asif321]

2007 was horrendous squad no Asif no Akhtar , followed by 2015 coach and captain didnt knew Sarfraz is sent as 3rd opener . Mighty Maqsood and Akmal were considered saviors

 

[Madplayer]

How about squads from the 80s or around that time?

Would love for experts to shed light on them.

 

[Amjid Javed]

2015 squad was shameful, we were just there to make up the numbers

 

[Pakhs]

2015 WC squad by far it came at a time when Paks LOI squad was at historic low in terms of quality.

 

[ExplicitAI]

Very surprised to hear some of you lot say 2011, that was when all these "TTFs" were in their twilight years or peak years. The attitudes of fans at that time was much different towards those group of players compared to now. I don't have a problem with Younis being in the squad in 2011 but he was a BIG NO in 2015, he was instrumental against SL and he did hold it together a bit against Aus to guide us home to our record breaking win against Aus. Misbah was playing decently except for that game against India, Hafeez was a brilliant stroke player and useful bowler and the Akmal brothers were decent with the bat (Kamran failed a bit more though). Shehzad could be excused here since he was very young and the whole "selfie" taunts didn't exist at that time and was a genuine young talent at the time. Afridi was ripping through sides with his legspin but his batting did disappoint and that was because he admitted that he didn't practice his batting and relied on the fact that he was batting on flat Asian pitches and hoped to fluke it.

I thought the squad was very balanced and everyone did their part in getting through to the semis, Kamran was trash with the gloves though and the pace attack with a young Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz did pretty well without the 2 new ball rule. Razzaq wasn't out of form but he didn't have that many chances to bat, only highlight was his 50 against NZ and he hardly ever bowled. I would also say Asad Shafiq had a decent world cup too, our batsmen were playing somewhat decently on those Asian pitches and there was a lot of athleticism in the field (before the India game).

 

[Kroll]

Think we already knew 2015 was going to be a disaster after the shambles in NZ going into the tournament.

 

[zulfiqar]

2015 is definitely going to be at the top, followed by either 2007 or 2011. 1987 - 2003 were all decent. I don't know pre-1987.

 

[giri26]

My vote is for 2003. Even though it was full of legends, they were at their last legs and the team struggled overall.

 

[Mamoon]

Can’t believe people are mentioning the 2011 squad. In those conditions at that time, it was inferior to India only.

That squad would have been better with Malik, Butt and Amir playing instead of Younis, Shehzad and Akhtar which obviously didn’t happen due to multiple reasons, but it was still a very good squad.

The 2015 World Cup squad was comfortably the worst, but it was pretty much the best squad we would could have assembled at that time.

 

[shariqnoor]

Haven't seen the 75, 79, 83 and 87 world cups but to me, the 2003 world cup squad was easily the worst. We had over the hill players playing just so they could have one last hurrah.

Saeed Anwar, Rashid Latif, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Azhar Mahmood, Taufiq Umar, Saleem Elahi, Younis Khan (in ODIs).

This was utter garbage. We had legends playing for us but they were comfortably past their prime.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

Can’t believe people are mentioning the 2011 squad. In those conditions at that time, it was inferior to India only.

That squad would have been better with Malik, Butt and Amir playing instead of Younis, Shehzad and Akhtar which obviously didn’t happen due to multiple reasons, but it was still a very good squad.

The 2015 World Cup squad was comfortably the worst, but it was pretty much the best squad we would could have assembled at that time.

Fawad was at his peak both in FC and List A cricket and would've been a much better choice than Nasir Jamshed, Sohaib Maqsood or even Umer Akmal.

Wahab, along with 3 other pacers we're firing on all cylinders and we needed someone with a functioning cerebral cortex in the line up rather than the mediocrity we took to that tournament.

So no we couldve made a much better Squad had the selectors and administration shown some God Damn Spine!

We have to remember that Sarfraz was only introduced because Jammy was laying brick after brick every game and did so only when push came to shove.

We could've had a fighting chance with players that at least had the capacity to play out the 50 overs sensibly and with Haris in the line who knows a couple of good innings and we could've staged an upset or two.

 

[happydavy]

I think 2003 Pakistan was very unlucky. They could have defeated zimbos in their last group game and qualified for super 6 but rain played spoilsport. Zimboz qualified without defeating a single big team - Australia, pak, eng, India. Who knows wot cud have happened had Pakistan qualified for super 6, even the 1992 team lost most of the matches until luck helped them get to semis.

That's why I believe Pakistan's last year CT victory is something that their fans should be mighty proud of as they defeated every single team they played against and on most occassions against the odds. I can't recall any Pakistan team playing so focused and motivated cricket as this team did.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

I've only ever saw two world cups (2011 and 2015) and having researched enough about cricket in full depth, the 2015 WC squad was by far the worst when you think of every single factor. There was no planning for our WC campaign and everything felt last minute.

I have also only ever seen two World Cups.

I agree,I also think the 2015 WC was the worse of the 2.

 

[Mamoon]

Fawad was at his peak both in FC and List A cricket and would've been a much better choice than Nasir Jamshed, Sohaib Maqsood or even Umer Akmal.

Wahab, along with 3 other pacers we're firing on all cylinders and we needed someone with a functioning cerebral cortex in the line up rather than the mediocrity we took to that tournament.

So no we couldve made a much better Squad had the selectors and administration shown some God Damn Spine!

We have to remember that Sarfraz was only introduced because Jammy was laying brick after brick every game and did so only when push came to shove.

We could've had a fighting chance with players that at least had the capacity to play out the 50 overs sensibly and with Haris in the line who knows a couple of good innings and we could've staged an upset or two.

Considering how badly Fawad failed against Australia in the ODI series before the World Cup, and how awful he was against Bangladesh after the World Cup (which ended his ODI career and paved the way for Malik to return), he wouldn’t have made an iota of difference to our World Cup fortunes.

That team had too many holes and weaknesses for a 1980 model ODI player to win them games.

It was truly a mediocre team in all facets. I still remember how people were banking on Irfan to bounce out teams on the Australian pitches and how deadly he was going to be, but as expected, barring two games, he was awful and by the time the knockouts started, he was predictably injured. Wasn’t even in the top 10 wicket-takers.

 

[MMHS]

Can’t believe people are mentioning the 2011 squad. In those conditions at that time, it was inferior to India only.

That squad would have been better with Malik, Butt and Amir playing instead of Younis, Shehzad and Akhtar which obviously didn’t happen due to multiple reasons, but it was still a very good squad.

The 2015 World Cup squad was comfortably the worst, but it was pretty much the best squad we would could have assembled at that time.

2011 team wasn’t that good to be honest. It was playing in Asia, hence didn’t get exposed. The starting XI, IICRC was MoHa, Kamran, Asad, YK, Misbah, Umar, ARazzak, Afridi, Gul, Shoaib & Ajmal. Later Wahab replaces Akhtar & he had a dream game in SF.

Only thing this team had was that Afridi, Ajmal & MoHa gave 30 good overs for the wicket. Otherwise new ball attack was poor, finishing overs were poorer, fielding was pathetic & leafy said about batting is better.

 

[Mamoon]

2011 team wasn’t that good to be honest. It was playing in Asia, hence didn’t get exposed. The starting XI, IICRC was MoHa, Kamran, Asad, YK, Misbah, Umar, ARazzak, Afridi, Gul, Shoaib & Ajmal. Later Wahab replaces Akhtar & he had a dream game in SF.

Only thing this team had was that Afridi, Ajmal & MoHa gave 30 good overs for the wicket. Otherwise new ball attack was poor, finishing overs were poorer, fielding was pathetic & leafy said about batting is better.

I agree, that is why I said “in those conditions.”

That team wouldn’t have done much in ANZ, but 40 overs of 2011 versions of Gul, Afridi, Ajmal and Hafeez in those subcontinent conditions were worth their weight in gold.

 

[MMHS]

I agree, that is why I said “in those conditions.”

That team wouldn’t have done much in ANZ, but 40 overs of 2011 versions of Gul, Afridi, Ajmal and Hafeez in those subcontinent conditions were worth their weight in gold.

Gul was also spent force by then. Not only ANZ, even in ENG, SAF or WIN as well. In about 2 years time some of the players were in UK for 2013 CT. Only great game they had was against AUS, and decent outing against SRL/WIN, otherwise they almost managed to lose to Canada!!!

 

[Mamoon]

Gul was also spent force by then. Not only ANZ, even in ENG, SAF or WIN as well. In about 2 years time some of the players were in UK for 2013 CT. Only great game they had was against AUS, and decent outing against SRL/WIN, otherwise they almost managed to lose to Canada!!!

The batting indeed let the team down. No batsman registered a hundred and no batsman averaged 50+ (minus Shafiq, who only played 3 matches including one against Zimbabwe).

The bowling was almost perfect, and had India - the best batting unit at the World Cup - on the ropes as well.

As far Champions Trophy 2013 is concerned, no squad can compete with that if the thread was “worst Pakistan tournament squad ever”.

 

[topspin]

Can’t believe people are mentioning the 2011 squad. In those conditions at that time, it was inferior to India only.

That squad would have been better with Malik, Butt and Amir playing instead of Younis, Shehzad and Akhtar which obviously didn’t happen due to multiple reasons, but it was still a very good squad.

The 2015 World Cup squad was comfortably the worst, but it was pretty much the best squad we would could have assembled at that time.

2011 had the worst batting line up out of all the Pakistan WC sides, with only Umar Akmal having a reasonable tournament (Misbah's stats are misleading). 2015 at least had Haris, Sarfraz and a slightly improved Misbah (from his awful Mohali knock) to give Pakistan a little bit more batting prowess. Pakistan's spin trio steered Pakistan towards the latter stages of the tournament in Asia but two of these had illegal actions (Hafeez and Ajmal).

Imagine if Ajmal and Hafeez were able to play in Aus/NZ tournament then I think we would have beaten WI and ended up higher up the table during the group stage, facing Sri Lanka instead in the QF with the possibility of another semi final appearance.

Having said all that there are various ways to analyse this:

1. Quality of the team in respect of that era
2. How the team fares with the rest of the competition
3. How good is the side at the conditions of the host country(s)
4. Quality of batting

1 - Pakistan's 2015 side was playing the most outdated cricket than any other Pakistan WC side.

2 - In 2011 the quality of competition was very low, there wasn't many decent spinners or more importantly batsmen who could play spin bowling well in that tournament. Yes Pakistan was the only side inferior to India in those conditions, but that doesn't give a fair representation when the standard of the teams in that tournament (barring India) were very mediocre. From the 92 WC up until 2015, 2011 was certainly the lowest in standard. Australia's team was in transition and was short on quality particularly after the retirements of Hayden, Gilchrist and Mcgrath. Pakistan's team missed Butt, Amir, Asif and Mohammad Yousuf.

In 2015, the quality of the competition was a lot higher. Australia had improved with the likes of an established Warner, Starc and an in form Maxwell. South Africa had ABD at the form of his life and New Zealand's team was far superior with the form of McCullum, Southee, Guptill and addition of Boult to take them to the final.

3. Pakistan's 2015 may look worse than 2011 because they were playing in alien conditions as opposed to Asia. One could argue with the weaker pace attack and batsmen (very woeful against pace) of the the 2011 team they may have struggled to get out of the group stage, after all 2015 the team was in strife against Zimbabwe of all teams!

4. ODIs generally and even more so recently has been dominated with the bat and since the 2011 had the weakest batting line up of any WC Pakistan side, this only reinforces the case for this side having the unfortunate label of Pakistan's worst WC team.

 

[topspin]

2011 had the worst batting line up out of all the Pakistan WC sides, with only Umar Akmal having a reasonable tournament (Misbah's stats are misleading). 2015 at least had Haris, Sarfraz and a slightly improved Misbah (from his awful Mohali knock) to give Pakistan a little bit more batting prowess. Pakistan's spin trio steered Pakistan towards the latter stages of the tournament in Asia but two of these had illegal actions (Hafeez and Ajmal).

Imagine if Ajmal and Hafeez were able to play in Aus/NZ tournament then I think we would have beaten WI and ended up higher up the table during the group stage, facing Sri Lanka instead in the QF with the possibility of another semi final appearance.

Having said all that there are various ways to analyse this:

1. Quality of the team in respect of that era
2. How the team fares with the rest of the competition
3. How good is the side at the conditions of the host country(s)
4. Quality of batting

1 - Pakistan's 2015 side was playing the most outdated cricket than any other Pakistan WC side.

2 - In 2011 the quality of competition was very low, there wasn't many decent spinners or more importantly batsmen who could play spin bowling well in that tournament. Yes Pakistan was the only side inferior to India in those conditions, but that doesn't give a fair representation when the standard of the teams in that tournament (barring India) were very mediocre. From the 92 WC up until 2015, 2011 was certainly the lowest in standard. Australia's team was in transition and was short on quality particularly after the retirements of Hayden, Gilchrist and Mcgrath. Pakistan's team missed Butt, Amir, Asif and Mohammad Yousuf.

In 2015, the quality of the competition was a lot higher. Australia had improved with the likes of an established Warner, Starc and an in form Maxwell. South Africa had ABD at the form of his life and New Zealand's team was far superior with the form of McCullum, Southee, Guptill and addition of Boult to take them to the final.

3. Pakistan's 2015 may look worse than 2011 because they were playing in alien conditions as opposed to Asia. One could argue with the weaker pace attack and batsmen (very woeful against pace) of the the 2011 team they may have struggled to get out of the group stage, after all 2015 the team was in strife against Zimbabwe of all teams!

4. ODIs generally and even more so recently has been dominated with the bat and since the 2011 had the weakest batting line up of any WC Pakistan side, this only reinforces the case for this side having the unfortunate label of Pakistan's worst WC team.

Should also add Pakistan was dismissed by Canada (a non-professional side) shamefully for under 200, imagine if you were to take this side to alien conditions in Aus/NZ they would have been buried by the likes of Zimbabwe and Ireland let alone West Indies.

 

[hitthestump]

I feel the 2003 team is being judged harshly in this thread. They didn't meet their high expectations considering all the big guns were back after years of politics, injuries and infighting, but you could suggest they were quite unlucky too.

There were several key turning points which might have made the difference and mean we could be talking about a generation who went further in this particular WC.

a) Waqar saving his best bowlers against Aus after having them several wickets down. Symonds then somehow went on to produce an unlikely herculean innings and ended the game there.

b) Losing the toss vs England. The white ball was genuinely harder to play under lights in those conditions and it was unfortunate that England happened to have a young, unknown swing bowling exponent of who we now know to be Jimmy Anderson.

c) Inzamam's runout vs India when he came out looking quite good, who knows what he could have done that day.

d) Taking Shoaib off after 1 over vs India when he received a phainty. Instead Waqar could have fired him up and sent him charging back out there as the most likely guy to take Tendulkar's wicket.

e) Afridi's poor form throughout the tournament which blocked Saqlain's spot in the team in the big games, leading to a terrible waste of a matchwinner.

Of course none of the above could have changed anything either. However, bearing in mind the above it seems like there was more of a bad luck element to this WC than is being suggested.

 

[Adijazz1706]

I feel the 2003 team is being judged harshly in this thread. They didn't meet their high expectations considering all the big guns were back after years of politics, injuries and infighting, but you could suggest they were quite unlucky too.

There were several key turning points which might have made the difference and mean we could be talking about a generation who went further in this particular WC.

a) Waqar saving his best bowlers against Aus after having them several wickets down. Symonds then somehow went on to produce an unlikely herculean innings and ended the game there.

b) Losing the toss vs England. The white ball was genuinely harder to play under lights in those conditions and it was unfortunate that England happened to have a young, unknown swing bowling exponent of who we now know to be Jimmy Anderson.

c) Inzamam's runout vs India when he came out looking quite good, who knows what he could have done that day.

d) Taking Shoaib off after 1 over vs India when he received a phainty. Instead Waqar could have fired him up and sent him charging back out there as the most likely guy to take Tendulkar's wicket.

e) Afridi's poor form throughout the tournament which blocked Saqlain's spot in the team in the big games, leading to a terrible waste of a matchwinner.

Of course none of the above could have changed anything either. However, bearing in mind the above it seems like there was more of a bad luck element to this WC than is being suggested.

Afridi batting in WC inspired no confidence ever, biggest choker with the bat in WCs for Pak along with MoYo