The biggest party in cricket is just less than 10 days away with India set to host the 13th edition of ICC Cricket World Cup. Every nation’s squad has been announced to feature in the mega competition. Some teams are still working on their combinations while some are busy giving game time to their players before the tournament starts. Pakistan announced their unchanged squad a few days back but there are still a few key issues for Pakistan to resolve before their opening game against the Netherlands on 06th October.
Pakistan team is once again competing with a lot of questions unanswered. Analysts and journalists have been very critical of the squad which saw almost no big changes. Babar Azam has also been under fire regarding his captaincy from the so-called cricket experts. This hour demands our support for the team and wish them the best before going into the World Cup in the enemy’s territory. Out of 15 players in the squad, only Mohammad Nawaz has traveled to India before in the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup.
Let’s have a look at the five key issues for Pakistan cricket team:
Key issues for Pakistan cricket team
Fakhar’s place in opening
Fakhar Zaman & Imam ul Haq have been one of the most prominent & reliable opening pairs in the ODI for Pakistan over the past six years. Their stats are testimonials of the runs they have scored at the top to give a solid platform to Pakistan. Their stats in ODI up till now stand as:
| Span | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Avg | 100’s | 50’s |
| 2017-2023 | 59 | 02 | 2482 | 304 | 43.54 | 7 | 11 |
But the recent slump in the form of Fakhar has made the team management ponder upon the question. Should they drop Fakhar & go with the young Abdullah? Or should they stick with Fakhar hoping he will find form, just like they did a gamble in the World Cup 2019 & he eventually failed with just a single 50+ score in the tournament?
Fakhar was dropped in the final game of Asia Cup 2023 & was replaced by Abdullah Shafique. However, he ended up playing the match due to an injury to Imam just before the game. Where Fakhar failed once again Abdullah pounced on the opportunity to score a brilliant half-century on a tough pitch scoring 52 from 69 balls.
Also read: Diagnosing Fakhar Zaman’s World Cup place in the XI. Justified?
Wickets in middle overs
One of the major concerns Pakistan is facing is their inability to take wickets in the middle overs. The spin bowling duo of Nawaz & Shadab have failed to provide breakthroughs in the middle overs & they also failed in containing runs.
Shadab’s stats against nations that play spin well are worrisome. He was taken to cleaners by Rohit Sharma in the Super 4 game & he struggled with his line & length a lot.
Nawaz (1) and Shadab (6) combined to take only 7 wickets in the recently concluded Asia Cup. With four of the latter’s wickets coming against Nepal. For most of the games, Pakistan bowlers in the middle overs looked toothless & lackluster and momentum shifted hands.
Against India in Round 1, Pakistan went wicketless for 23.2 overs between the 15th and the 38th, for 20 overs between the 10th and the 30th against Bangladesh, from the 18th over onwards in their second India game, and from the 14th to the 30th over versus Sri Lanka in the match that finally knocked them out.
Pakistan’s specialist spin bowlers – Shadab and Nawaz – have combined for only two wickets across this four-game period. Shadab conceded 218 runs in 35 overs, part of a larger trend where his unquestionable T20 brilliance has failed to translate into ODI quality.
It was high time for Pakistan to bring in some specialist spinner for the middle overs maybe as a surprise package. But they ended up having the same squad, with Abrar the lone specialist, traveling with the reserves.
Also read: Shaheen Afridi ends rumors of a rift with Babar Azam with a beautiful picture.
Naseem Shah’s injury
Well, this has been very unfortunate & the biggest blow to Pakistan’s hopes of winning a World Cup after 31 years. Hectic traveling & the immense workload made Naseem Shah suffer an injury to his right shoulder in the game against India in the Super 4 stage.
He was Pakistan’s most potent bowler since making his ODI debut, with 32 wickets in 14 matches at an average of under 16.96 & an economy of just 4.68. There are some serious figures. And if you watched his spells in the Asia Cup then one might suggest that he was bowling with some serious tempting line, often beating the batter’s outside edge on numerous occasions. Go ask Rohit Sharma.
Initially thought just as a scare eventually ended up requiring surgery, which will then rule out the young fast bowler for 3-4 months missing the World Cup.
Babar Azam’s form
There is hardly any doubt about Babar Azam’s class & approach in batting. He has been Pakistan’s main forestay since his debut in 2015. He also has the most number of runs in this period for Pakistan, smashing 12666 runs at an average of 49.12 across formats.
In his debut World Cup 2019 in England, he broke Miandad’s record for most runs in a single edition of a World Cup. He amassed 474 runs at an average of 67.71. Then in his debut T20 World Cup 2021 he was the highest run scorer of the edition scoring 303 runs in leading Pakistan to the semifinals. But since then it has been a struggle for Babar in the big tournaments like World Cup T20 (2022) & Asia Cups (2022 & 2023). He failed on the big occasions & looked very vulnerable struggling to score runs.
Stats in Asia Cup 2022:
| Matches | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 50’s |
| 06 | 68 | 30 | 11.33 | 107.93 | – |
Stats in ICC World T20 2022:
| Matches | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 50’s |
| 07 | 124 | 53 | 17.71 | 93.23 | 01 |
Stats in Asia Cup 2023:
| Matches | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 100’s | 50’s |
| 05 | 207 | 151 | 51.75 | 97.64 | 01 | – |
One thing is for sure, if Pakistan wants to go to the last four of the World Cup this man Babar Azam has to step up big time. It’s like what Ricky Pointing said before the start of ICC World T20 2022, that Pakistan’s progress will depend upon how Babar fares in the tournament.
Fielding
One area where Pakistan always has struggled in the big tournaments is their fielding. We never had a side that was so efficient in fielding. From dropping Tendulkar 4-times in the World Cup semifinal, dropping Mathew Wade in the WT20 2021 semi-final, dropping Elliot in the CT 2009 semi-final, dropping Asalanka in the virtual Asia Cup 2023 semi-final to dropping Watson in the World Cup 2015 quarter-final. Our team dropping crucial chances at critical junctures eventually cost us the games.
We were never considered as a brilliant fielding side. But Pakistan has made a solid improvement in one-day cricket in the last few years. We claimed the No.1 ICC ODI rankings for the first time in our history. We are currently ranked second on the catch efficiency table with 81.6%. These numbers display that Babar Azam and his men were doing a fine job on the field.
Then came the Asia Cup. Where every man forgot how to field. From dropping catches of Sharma, Gill & the crucial Asalanka to giving away extra 20-30 runs in every game. The fielding standards were shameful for the viewers. This side didn’t look like the side that was fielding so well, this looked like the side of the ’90s of 2000’s who would drop crucial catches or do misfields all day.
Only one justification could be given: the hectic traveling took a toll on the players as they looked sloppy throughout the Asia Cup. We hope that this 20-day break will help our players regain full fitness ahead of their first warm-up fixture against New Zealand on 29th September 2023 in Hyderabad.
If these five key issues for Pakistan are resolved then I don’t have any doubt that In-Sha-Allah, Babar & his men will bring the World Cup trophy back home.
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