What will it take for Pakistan to reach the final of the next cycle of the World Test Championship?

[MenInG]

What will it take?

Change in captain?
Change in the bowling line-up?
Change in team management?

What is it that Pakistan need to do to get to the final of the next WTC?

 

[Rana]

It will take Guts

It will take the courage to put team above personal milestones

It will take the management to not be obsessed with making one player look good and making batting tracks for him

 

[Kianig89]

Unfortunately with lack of Test cricket and financial insecurity Pakistan cannot be a world Test champion knowing Test cricket is the least of priority for PCB so brace yourself for more dark days its a shame with worldclass players like Babar SSA etc Pakistan still languish in bottom half of Test Rankings

 

[ElRaja]

pak dont have a test quality spinner to control home games, and not enough experience in aus or sa to challenge for tests in those conditions. pak will end up with a 50% win rate, and pbly be 4th or 5th.

best case scenario bowling attack of shaheen and naseem settles in, we find a test spinner, shakeel and shafique settle into the batting order to support babar and we can mount some challenge next time around.

 

[gazza619]

Not happening under Mickey Mouse Arthur and a corrupt cricket board.

Need a new coaching set up and a PCB chairman who is respected.

 

[Rana]

Not happening under Mickey Mouse Arthur and a corrupt cricket board.

Need a new coaching set up and a PCB chairman who is respected.

Ramiz was pretty well respected before his stint

What exactly did he do with those Roads under him?

 

[Justcrazy]

It will not happen. Pakistan Test team is not among top 3.

 

[Saj]

People will not like me saying this, but Pakistan are a very average Test side.

The bowling line-up can be competitive, the spin bowling options aren't great, but the batting remains a huge concern.

 

[ElRaja]

Not happening under Mickey Mouse Arthur and a corrupt cricket board.

Need a new coaching set up and a PCB chairman who is respected.

huh? pak have an abysmal record in the Aus and SA regardless of regime or chairman, how is changing chairman gonna help pak do well in this cycle.

 

[Rana]

huh? pak have an abysmal record in the Aus and SA regardless of regime or chairman, how is changing chairman gonna help pak do well in this cycle.

Lol yeah

What exactly is a ‘respectable chairman’ in the first place?

 

[Kroll]

People will not like me saying this, but Pakistan are a very average Test side.

The bowling line-up can be competitive, the spin bowling options aren't great, but the batting remains a huge concern.

As far as I remember. we could hardly buy a wicket when playing the likes of Australia and England, I know the wickets were doctored but still...

We need wicket taking bowlers again especially spinners not those uncles that they were playing. And no, Yasir is not the answer.

 

[pakistani pride]

Forget about it. Current lot does not have the skills or heart to play TEST cricket. Just look at the amount of T20 they play, like in every single leauge. Do they even play 4 day cricket?

 

[hitthestump]

Pakistan lag behind the rest of the world in every aspect of test cricket. Even our sole world class batsman has had an underwhelming test match career so far.

Bowling options are incredibly sparse. Pakistan used to win games with their pace - that's gone. In the UAE it was about spin - that's dead too.

It is only individual players which stop us from being an extremely mediocre test playing nation. In terms of a long term WTC cycle there is no chance they can do anything to make us finalists in any capacity.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

We are not a good test side and have not been one since 2017.

Our batters aren't good at playing spin.
Our spinners aren't good at either containing or taking wickets.
Our pacers are too erratic.
Our captain doesn't read the game well.
We play very little Test cricket and FC cricket.
Test Cricket isn't a priority of either PCB or players.

 

[CrIc_Mystique]

I don't know about next test cycle.

A good start can be made by having more tours by your U-19 & A teams especially to SENA countries. A bit of test cricket marketing by PCB and your general media would also help.

(Much of the above applies to India also including improving our pitches )

 

[gazza619]

huh? pak have an abysmal record in the Aus and SA regardless of regime or chairman, how is changing chairman gonna help pak do well in this cycle.

Lol yeah

What exactly is a ‘respectable chairman’ in the first place?

A stable chairman brings stability and security in players.

A chaotic chairman brings chaos.

Now I am not saying to bring back Rameez Raja but top management got to change from the current mafia.

 

[umerz]

We need to first start winning home series. We dont have bowlers apart from Shaheen who can win test matches for us. We are not sure who will be our spinners playing next test match.

 

[Mesozoic]

First get to a position where you can gain atleast 80% of home WTC points and be relatively more competitive abroad especially in SENA. That is the blueprint India follows and should be the same for Pakistan as well.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

We need to accept there is no appetite for test cricket among the Pakistani players, the PCB hierarchy or the Pakistan fans. We don't have the willpower or intelligence to succeed in this format and acquire a huge number of points.

The Misbah era in UAE was the last Pakistan test team that could be consistently competitive in Test cricket.

Pakistan being Pakistan will no doubt spring a surprise occasionally but to get to the test final requires consistency.

 

[Pakhs]

We need to accept there is no appetite for test cricket among the Pakistani players, the PCB hierarchy or the Pakistan fans. We don't have the willpower or intelligence to succeed in this format and acquire a huge number of points.

The Misbah era in UAE was the last Pakistan test team that could be consistently competitive in Test cricket.

Pakistan being Pakistan will no doubt spring a surprise occasionally but to get to the test final requires consistency.

This Paksitan are no longer interested in TEST matches, Some players might be as they may consider themselves good enough and they can forge a good career in tests with have good career stats.

Tests are not financially viable and cricket boards who are suffering for cash will definitely prefer to prioritize LOI cricket which is fair enough.

 

[bilawal666]

Start winning test matches for one. That'll help.

 

[Saj]

Just look at the way we were thrashed at home by England.

That was nothing short of embarrassing and shows the gulf between Pakistan and the top sides.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Pakistan can still make it WTC 2023-25 Finals despite setbacks

I thought I'd start this thread early and freeze it .

Hopefully Pakistan will have a flying start but thinking there is Australia away early, this thread will come in handy.

 

[sweep_shot]

I had a look at next WTC schedule.

It seems like Pakistan have a tougher schedule this time than previous WTC cycle.

 

[Technics 1210]

Performance related pay.

 

[Firebat]

6 Bradman's and 5 Warne's

 

[Champ_Pal]

Start winning at home.
Prepare spinning tracks and give advantage to your spinners.
Trust the abilities of your batsmen to deal with a difficult pitch.
Win 1 or 2 series in SENA countries.

 

[Markhor]

We don't have an attack capable of taking 20 wickets consistently, especially against good batting sides. Apart from Shaheen our Test bowling stocks are at an all-time low. Since Yasir's decline, no spinner has established themselves in the team.

Our dull home pitches haven't helped matters, but our bowling is ranked 8th in Tests in the last 5 years in terms of bowling average:

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...pan;team_view=bowl;template=results;type=team

Only Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Ireland rank worse. Bear that stat in mind whenever pundits still stuck in the 1990s talk about "Pakistan's bowling strength" when that hasn't been true in Tests for a while. White-ball cricket is a different story.

We also need a new captain. Babar is incredibly lucky to remain in post after last year's horror shows.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Pakistan won't get a more favourable set of fixtures then it did in the last WTC cycle, 3 relatively easy away tours and 3 home series vs SENA teams and they made a dogs dinner out of it. Pakistan will never even get close to a WTC final ever.

 

[MenInG]

Babar did well in the WTC23 - Needs to carry on.

 

[Arsalan Pro]

Our bowling line-up is one of the worst in the world in Test cricket, both fast bowlers and spinners can't even utilize favourable conditions.

Bowlers win you test matches, until and unless we can find 4 genuine wicket taking options along with a 5th part time bowler, we can't reach WTC Final.

 

[Arsalan Pro]

In batting we still have some hope with the likes of,

Imam Ul Haq
Abdullah Shafique
Babar Azam
Saud Shakeel
Sarfraz Ahmed
Mohammed Rizwan
Agha Salman
Kamran Ghulam
Saim Ayub
Omair Bin Yousuf
Iftikhar Ahmed

 

[Saj]

What will it take?

A miracle! Some pathetic cricket by other top nations and a lot of luck.

 

[MenInG]

Salman Butt speaking on this topic:

"Pakistan themselves don't have an interest in playing Test cricket, so why should we be complaining about having fewer matches? We tell other boards to reduce Test matches and add more T20I matches instead. Our cricket intellect has become so poor that we want to give up Test cricket for T20Is,"

 

[MenInG]

Pakistan men’s cricket team will play 14 matches during the next World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, which spans from 2023 to 2025.

After dominant Australia thrashed India to win the second edition of the WTC, the International Cricket Council (ICC) unveiled the details of the third cycle in a bid to retain the legacy of the longest format of the game.

As per the ICC-released WTC schedule, Pakistan will play 14 matches against numerous teams over the course of a two-year period.

Pakistan will play six series – three home and three away – during their WTC campaign.

Pakistan will take on England, West Indies and Bangladesh in their own backyard while they will face some serious challenges in the away series against reigning champions Australia and South Africa.

The national team, however, will start their WTC campaign with the away series against Sri Lanka, which is likely to commence on July 16.

The third edition of the ICC World Test Championship cycle begins with a clash between a resurgent England side and reigning champions Australia, and will end with a Final at Lord’s in 2025.

Pakistan WTC schedule:

Away series against Sri Lanka (2 matches)
Away series against Australia (3 matches)
Home series against West Indies (2 matches)
Home series against Bangladesh (2 matches)
Home series against England (3 matches)
Away series against South Africa (2 matches)

 

[MenInG]

Pakistan are desperate for a good start to the WTC25 cycle - may explain some of the selections of the tried and tested.

 

[MenInG]

Good start for Pakistan!

==

https://twitter.com/x/status/1686712070698373120

 

[Amjid Javed]

Can't see Pakistan getting anything from the Australia series. SA away if the batting can put up runs, maybe they can do something there.

Let's hope pitches and performances at home to England aren't as shameful as last series

 

[BouncerGuy]

Pakistan is not reaching any final if they play like they are playing against Bangladesh at home. Making phatta wickets and playing without any spinner.

 

[Rana]

They can reach a WTC final if held in Peshawar and 8 other Test sides refuse to participate besides Afghanistan

 

[The Bald Eagle]

After the latest points they are out already.

 

[sweep_shot]

Pakistan are probably out now (after losing the 1st Test and also losing 6 points due to slow over-rate).

They still have a few series left. Can they finish #5 or #6?

 

[gibsyhesperis]

Pakistan are probably out now (after losing the 1st Test and also losing 6 points due to slow over-rate).

They still have a few series left. Can they finish #5 or #6?

5th or 6th should be a realistic goal.
It is unrealistic to expect to be above India, Australia and England. Throw in one of South Africa and New Zealand and 4th -6 th should be achievable.

The sad fact is that we are propping up the table with the West Indies — who have a combined population of 45million, a board that can barely afford flights for their players for foreign tours and who have virtually given up on Test cricket.

Pretty woeful really.

 

[Buffet]

WTC is pointless.

Simply needs to focus on winning some games at home.

 

[jnaveen1980]

WTC is pointless.

Simply needs to focus on winning some games at home.

True series wins will be what remembered. WTC was created to make each and every test important. Sadly that purpose is lost for some teams.

 

[gazza619]

Do we still have a chance here folks?

What is the ranking table looking like at the moment?

 

[Croma]

SPIN FORTRESS. Win everything at home and then send the pacers abroad and hope they can win a test or two.

 

[PakPremi]

Pakistan should be happy to even end up in fourth position, we have no world class bowler to win us matches overseas in SENA, and already blown our home series apart from this one.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Pakistan should be happy to even end up in fourth position, we have no world class bowler to win us matches overseas in SENA, and already blown our home series apart from this one.

I think Pakistan has the team to get lucky in one match. There were plenty of occasions in Australia where they could have won a test match. But they still lack the skills to win series in SENA. Not enough batters that can be relied on score consistently and the quality of the pace-bowling is also pretty average.