At the time of writing, I am unsure of who will get selected in our final 15 squad, however it's clear that the final 15 will be selected from the 29 players currently undergoing fitness training at the Kakul Camp. I will be analysing each player and give an honest feedback as to what our strengths and weaknesses are.
1) Babar Azam
As the saying goes, "The King stands tall once again", their is no denying that babar azam has been pakistan's star batsmen since his debut against Zimbabwe in 2016. Since his debut, the lahori born batsmen has made a name for himself boosting a stunning and consistent average of 40+ in all formats including a 57 avg in the odi format.
With a t20 performance of 3 centuries(the most by any pakistani batsmen to date in this format) and a whooping 33 50's from his 109 international games so far, it is clear babar has been our best batsmen in t20.
Cause of Concern:-
The biggest cause of concern is that Babar’s form has seemed to rapidly decline in tournament formats since 2021. Going from the highest tournament run scorer to bolstering a subpar avg of 11 and 17 during 2022 asia cup and world cup.
Secondly the other issue that remains is captaincy and SR. With a career avg of 129 sr and a winless captaincy record in icc tournaments, critics have questioned babar's poor utilisation of the power play + his questionable captaincy antics. If Pakistan are to win this world cup, Babar azam will need to he in form, and improve his sr and captaincy for the sake of the team.
Positive Outlook:-
The good news is that Babar's form seems to be recovering since his poor 2022 outings. Despite having a subpar 2023 in terms of his performance in ICC tournaments, babar managed to score multiple half centuries deapite being low on form, Similiary he ended up being Pakistan's highest run scorer in the 2024 edition of PSL with an extremely impressive avg of 56 and an improved sr of 142, Babar will need to maintain this level of consistency during the tournaments and we can pray for our star batsmen to succeed.
2) Muhammad Rizwan
Rizwan has been one of the best wicketkeeper batsmen for Pakistan in the last few years with the general public often viewing him a reliable batsmen for Pakistan, with some fans having the opinion that Rizwan may be even more reliable then babar azam during crunch moments.
Rizwan has had one of the best performances since his rise to opening in the t20 format since 2021 having a might average of 78 in 2021, 45 in 2022, 81 in 2023 and 45 in 2024(so far) in the t20 format.
Not only are these figures superior to pur star batsmen babar azam, but they also establish rizwan as one of the best batsmen in the t20 format worldwide. (Stats wise).
Secondly rizwan even during tournaments has shown reliability, with aiding Pakistan in a record breaking run chase against Sri Lanka scoring a might 131, with other notable innings during the World cup such as an impressive 49 and 46 against India and Australia (2 of the strongest teams in the cup).
Cause of Concern:-
Just like babar the biggest cause of concern for rizwan is his sr and his poor utilisation of the first PP in t20, bloostering a very subpar sr of 127 as a career avg.
Similarly his last t20 outing on a world cup stage remained subpar, with an avg of 25 and a below par sr of 109( still better then babar), the cause of concern remains, will rizwan be able to continue his form in a t20 icc world cup stage?
Lastly rizwan also had a subpar psl despite scoring 409 runs in total, his avg of 33 and sr of 122 wasn't too enlightening, hopefully he'll be able to replicate his 2021 form.
Positive Outlook:-
Something that no one appreciates is rizwan's keeping ability, he is a gun keeper and one of our best fielders both keeping and fitness wise in a team that historically known for poor fitness standards and poor fielding.
3) Saim Ayub
Ah the Karachi born superstar, who has been hyped up as Pakistan's next super opener who can be the answer to Pakistan's slow utilisation of the power play.
Saim ayub has shown that he is a confident batsmen with great bowling ability as well as shown in the psl, hence not only can be bat, the lad can prove to be an extra bowling option should Pakistan feel the need to utilise him.
Lastly his No look shot has become a staple in PSL.
Cause of Concern:-
The biggest cause of concern is that Saim ayub has sadly not lived up to the hype that fans expect him to reach. While being an aggressive batsmen, he surprisingly has very poor stats to boost, he hasn't really made his mark in international cricket with a very poor avg of 14 and pretty pathetic sr of 124.
Is the karachi born superstar really just all hype and no show? We'll have to wait and see.
Positive Outlook:-
Had an extremly impressive PSL, whike his avg isnt anything to gloat about, an avg of 33 is still a massive improvement from his international avg of 14 and whats most imprrssive is that 157sr, that is sorely sorely needed as an International Opener who will be representing Pakistan in the world cup.
If he can keep up his psl performance, then Pakistan has finally found an answer to our T20 PP woes.
4) Fakhar Zaman:-
Fakhar zaman, Often viewed as Pakistan's X factor, the only man in Pakistani history to score a double hundred in odi, and to have surpassed saeed anwar's score of 192 2x including an impressive 193 score in albeit a losing cause.
Fakhar has shown time and time again that when he's on song, their is no batsmen in Pakistan that is on par with him in both SR and Match winning potential.
Cause of Concern:-
Despite being the Odi X factor, Fakhar hasn't been able to transition his form in t20, with his poor form causing him to lose the t20 opening position.
Further more he had a beyond abysmal PSL at the opening position. With fakhar's lack of form, the question remains, is it worth taking him to the World Squad sqaud?
5) Shaheen Shah Afridi
Pakistan's star bowler, the man who was hyped up to be unplayable to indian batsmen, an impressive young gun with a lethal unplayable inswing delivery, Shaheen has made his mark in international cricket no doubt.
With an impressive 2019-2021 outing including his performance in icc events, shaheen has no doubt proved himself to be a superstar bowler for Pakistan In international.
Cause of concern:-
Decling form, Ever since Shaheen got injured in the final of 2022 wc, his performance has drsatically declined which was evident as he ended up turning into a run machine in 2023 icc events.
Furthermore despite being appointed captain he was removed after one series, so we don't know of such a setback will impact his confidence or not.
Regardless fans will desperately need the Shaheen of old, in other for Pakistan to compete this world cup.
Positive Outlook:-
His form seems to be improving, but its not at that level of his 2019-2021 performance. His batting has improved a bit, but it's still not at the level where we can call him a proper bowling allrounder.
6) Shadab Khan
An impressive allround leg spinner who made his mark in international by getting the wicket of Yuvraj Singh in the final of the champions trophy.
Shadab proved to be an effective replacement for yasir shah and since then he has been our frontline allrounder in the team, even having captained our b string side and managing to get one win against Afghanistan which is mighty impressive Afghanistan is capable of beating a full strength Pakistan team as shown in the world cup.
He was also shown to be an effective leader winning this year's inaugural PSL.
Cause of concern:-
Horrible horrible 2023 outing in both t20 and odi, was easily the worst allrounder barring nawaz and this fact is something that is a MAJOR cause of concern for Pakistan.
Positive Outlook:-
His batting has improved and hes shown good performances with the bat in icc events as well as a match saving performance against Afghanistan last year, his psl batting stats are good, and he is a gun fielder in a team that otherwise subpar in fielding.
7) Imad Wasim
Ah the man whos been the most controversial figure for Pakistan as of late.
Imad has shown himself to be a pretty good opening bowler in t20's and a pretty reliable batsmen for Pakistan over the years with his career highlight being the match saving innings he played against Afghanistan in 2019, he also proved himself to be effective against england remaining not out threw the rest of the series ans even scoring an impressive 61, albeit in a losing cause.
After proving himself to be a clutch player winning 3 games for IU and taking his team to victory 3x in a row in this edition of PSL, could imad prove himself to be the effective allrounder Pakistan needs?
Cause of Concern:-
Had a poor outing in 2021, despite holding an impressive economy of 4.88 and 6.26 in odi and t20, his batting in t20 hasn't been impressive with an avg of 15 compared to his odi avg of 42.
8) Mohammad Amir
Hero of 2017 or Villian of 2010? That is the question that may never be answered and will always divide fans,
Amir has proven himself to be a clutch bowler for Pakistan over the years, with his career highlight being his bowling performance in 2009 and 2017 resulting in ICC tournament victories for Pakistan.
Cause of Concern :-
10 wickets in psl 2024 is good with an eco of 8.41 but it isnt the best, he could have had a better psl season.
9) Azam Khan
Azam khan is one of the players in Kakul camp, but truth be told, i dont even know if hes going to be selected due to rizwan, Haris and usman khan being his competiton and more lucrative options.
Regardless Azam Khan had proven one thing in Franchise cricket, he is one heck of a 6 hitter down the lower order and is a franchise superstar.
Boosting a mighty strike rate of 171, can azam Khan be the lower order hitter Pakistan sorely needs?
Cause of concern:-
Horrible fitness, ignoring the fact that as a keeper he is nowhere close to the fitness of Usman Khan, Haris or Rizwan and is a liability when it comes to converting singles into doubles,
He hasn't made a mark in international and he's shown himself to be bang average.
With an international avg of 4.83 and a subpar avg of 25 in the psl, Azam Khan may not be a lucrative option to take.
10) Usman Khan
Usman Khan decision to abandon the UAE may prove to be his biggest mistake. Regardless, UK has shown himself to be the Star batsmen for Pakistan this PSL.
Being the tournaments 2nd highest run scorer and having a might avg of 107 and an extremely impressive sr of 164 scoring 2 psl 100's and 2 psl 50's, Usman Khan has proven himself to be very stiff competiton for Rizwan and is a frontline for Pakistan (as of the time of this writing).
Cause of Concern:-
Lack of International exposure, Psl performance is one thing, international performance is another, we'll have to wait and see his performance against NZ.
11) Muhammad Haris
If it wasnt for UK, I'd say haris would probably be our 2nd wicket keeper as a backup for rizwan, but again i dont know if he'll be selected, will Pakistan be willing to take 3 wicket keepers in their squad?
Regardless haris proved to be Pakistan breakout star In 2022 with his performances at no 3 especially against bamgaldesh helping Pakistan get over the line and into the semi's.
A strong and aggressive opener who can and is willing to bat at any position for Pakistan may be the flexible option that we need.
Cause of concern:-
He's pretty much a hack, while he is aggressive and plays with positivity he only boosts an avg of 14 in international with a below par sr of 124.
He didn't make his mark in this year's psl either only boosting am avg of 15 and a below par sr of 132?
In all honesty, Azam Khan did better then him, He might not be the option Pakistan is looking for.
12) Iftikhar Ahmed
Chacha has proven one thing, he is a pretty effective allrounder for Pakistan with an avg of 64 and a godly sr of 193 in this year's psl 2024, he has proven to statistically be our best lower order allrounder.
He was also our best bat in 2022 t20 wc.
Cause of concern:-
Pretry average fielder, and his t20 career had been subpar compare to his pdi career where he boosts an avg of 38(pretty impressive for a no 6) and a sr of 106, In comparison his t20 stats are him having an avg of 25( not bad considering he bats low) but a sr of 129 is pretty bad for a lower order hitter. He needs to bring his sr higher in t20 format for Pakistan.
13) Usama Mir
Usama Mir became the standout bowler in this psl 2024, taking 24 wickets at an eco of 8, Usama mir is the man who ironically suprised me, with great control on line and length and managing to bowl in the right areas. Can he transition into pakistan's front line Spinner?
Cause of concern:-
Horrible 2023 season, He faiked to make his mark in international however he did perform better then shadab and Nawaz in the world cup, but thats sadly not saying much.
He seemed to lack confidence and was an abysmal fielder, Usama needs to get his priorities straight and learn to be as effective an asset for Pakistan in the spin department as he was for his team in the PSL.
14) Saud Shakeel
Again i dont know if saud will be selected due to stiff competiton from the middle order and openers, He also isnt ideal for the middle order in t20.
Regardless Saud has impressed in the test format managing to score 200 in an overseas test, he also impressed with the bat during the World cup warmup stages and was a pretty effective free flowing opener for Quetta in the psl, becoming one of the highest run scorers in PSL boosting a slightly above par sr of 141 and an average of 35.88
Cause of concern:-
His world cup outing wasnt the best and hes been off the mark in test recently. He also has an annoying habit of getting dismissed softly.
Another issue is, he might not function well in the middle order for Pakistan, could saud be added in as an extra opening option for Pakistan in t20 world cup? Honestly idk.
15) Muhammad Nawaz
Muhammad nawaz's career highlight has been his match winning performance against India. It was a good innings.
Cause of concern:-
Where do i even begin? He was the worst allrounder innthe asia cup and world cup 2023. He chocked in vital games for Pakistan failing ti defend 16 of the last over against india and failing to take the final wicket against south africa
His career stats are abysmal with stats 10x worse then that of Imad Wasim.
Nawaz's stats include having an economy of 5 and 7 in odi and t20 respectively which is higher then his counterpart inad waseem and a below par avg of 18 on both odi and t20 with a meager sr of 132 in t20, which is pathetic for a lower order.
Sorry but we don't need him, I've tried to be nice to every player here but I can't think of any shining example with nawaz, he's by far the worst player in the Kakul Camp, and I hope he never gets selected again.
16) Shahibzada Farhan
Was okay in the psl, Avg of 33 and sr of 133, its average and nothing to write home about, but he had a few good innings here and their, dont think he'll be selected though. Besides decent fc stats, his list A and t20nstats are poor nor has he made a mark in international or even franchise for that matter.
17) Hasebullah
Probably won't get selected either, was poor in the psl and his t20 stats aren't anything to wrote home about, he was decent List A stats though, not really relevant but 48 avg and 87 sr in List A is good, but he isn't an option for t20.
18) Salman Ali Agha
Salman agha hasnt been too bad so far in his international career, he's been impressive in odi and test as well as List A and Fc. But his t20 stats are poor.
His psl was also alright, Nothing too good but nothing too bad either, he's okay in my book, but idk if he'll be selected or not. Regardless he falls in the line of being average.
19/20) Irfan Khan Niazi and Mehreen Mumtaz
Dont think theyll be selected and i have no comment on them, haven't seen much of them.
21/22) Hasan Ali and Haris Rauf
Intresting that rauf is on the camp, considering he doesnt even have a contract anymore, Regardless, Hasan ali was once our star bowler in 2017 and rauf was once our t20 specialist.
BUT they've become hasbeens now, Don't think they'll be selected especially after their 2023 run machine cycle.
Side note: Hasan did take 14 wickets at a healthy eco this psl, so who knows.
23) Naseem Shah
Ah the man who we solely missed dueing the world cup, Naseem shah has proven himself to be Pakistan's best bowler in international, before the asia cup India game, where he failed to take a wicket (Even then he got Gill out 2x, damn you chacha and your fielding), Naseem Shah had taken a wicket in every single international games proving his wicket taking ability, he boosts a pretty healthy eco rate as well.
Cause of concern:-
Hes coming back from injury so hopefully he maintains his rhythm but he proved to be fine during the PSL taking 15 wickets during the season.
24) Abrar Ahmed
Pakistan's mystery spinner, Pcb missed a trick on not taking him into the world cup as he dismantled England's test team single handidely. He's also the 3rd highest wicket taker this psl. He's pretty good, should be out frontline spinner imo.
Cause of concern:-
Hes a no 11 tail, so his inclusion will weaken the lower order. Secondly he lacks international t20 experience, but otherwise none notable.
25) Muhammad Ali
Psl's star bowler and the 2nd highest wicket taker of the tournament, he's deserved his call up.
Cause of concern:-
Lack of International experience, can easily go down the Muhammad husnain route, but he is a smart bowler, so I don't think that'll happen.
26-29) Zaman Khan, Abass afridi, Aamer Jamal, Muhammad wasim Jr
Its possible 1 of these 4 may get selected. In the case of Zaman khan, hes proven to be a one trick pony of a bowler, can be effective in t20 though, but I think Ali, Amir, Naseem, shaheen have him beat atm, even hasan Ali makes a stronger case, zaman khan did take 11 wickets this season but an eco of 9 isn't helping his case for selection atm.
Jamal was okay with the bat this psl, great sr of 164 and okay eco, but abysmal bowling, almost a 10 eco, don't think he'll get selected as his bowling isn't good enough.
Abbas Afridi proved to be a pretty effective bowler for Ms: took 13 wickets at a healthy eco despite playing fewer games then most only played 9 games, his batting is weak, could be an option but again, I think Ali, Amir, naseem and shaheen have him beat atm.
Wasim jnr: he's represented Pakistan before but he's been bang average, his eco was 9.90 in psl and he was a virtual run machine. His batting is pretty bad as well.
But knowing pcb they could select him cause the board is brainless, but imo he shouldn't be selected, I'd rather take abass afridi over him.
Overall :-
To be 100% honest our chances arent the worst this 2024 cup, assuming we select the best 15 from this group.
Abrar has shown promise, Babar and rizwan despite all their faults have proven to be effective and if they are In form they can kick off, Usman Khan if he replicates his psl form in International he'll be a match winner, our bowlers are looking 100x better then 2023
Since if muhammad Ali, Amir, Naseem and shaheen get selected, it fixes the biggest issue 2023 team had which was abysmal bowling due to has been Ali, and rauf bowling with an unfit shaheen.
Imad fixes the horrific nawaz problem that we had, abrar fixes the spin problems and assuming usama mir can replicate his psl performance, then our spin department is set.
We have a few gaps here and their such as shadab, fakhar's inclusion being an issue so far,
But atm our 2024 team is looking better prepared and is 10x stronger then our 2023 team assuming the right players are selected from this group of 29.
As for our chances of winning 2024 cup? Unlike 2023 where I would say the chances were 0 of you asked me back then, this time I'll say the chances are 15%.
Mainly because the group stages are easy, don't think we'll lose to Ireland, Canada, USA, and if the right bowlers are selected this time around we can win a few games in super 8 if we play well as it is not a round Robin format.
So 2024 team is >>>>>>> 2023 team assuming we select the right ones. Now if pcb is brainless and selects nawaz again, then Allah hafiz, the chances drop to 0.
But based of my analysis if we select the best 11, chances of winning are 15%, which isn't bad, as I would say the strongest teams chances of winning would be 25 to 30%, remember its a world cup, luck and drs cones into play so anything can happen.
Best of luck to Pakistan though.
