With Pakistan announcing their squad past Week, we have got the complete line up of all teams competing in this year’s Champions trophy with Pakistan (the hosts) being the last one. Considering this is the First ICC tournament in the country since the 1996 ICC World cup. The excitement is on the roof among the fans, but can this squad live up to the hype and excitement of the fans but most importantly can this squad retain their crown which Sarfaraz and the boys won 7 years ago.
Let’s look at the positives and negatives of this squad.
Positives
Fakhar Zaman is Back in the Champions Trophy squad.
The man on whose Back we won 2017’s Champions trophy is back and he is trying to prove a point as this could be his last 50 overs tournament. Fakhar is 34 years old and this can maybe be his last ODI tournament for Pakistan considering the 50 overs world cup is in 2027. Fakhar has been in Good form for the Desert Vipers in the ILT20 where he has scored 2 half centuries.
Fakhar has always been the X Factor of this team, but this time even more responsibility falls on him in the absence of Saim.
Rise of Rizwan the Captain
In the last two Series we saw the Rise of Rizwan the captain. With his aggressive approach in Australia where we wrapped up Australia with only our fast bowlers, or in South Africa where he stifled South Africa with part timers Salman and Saim. We have Seen Rizwan grow from strength to strength in each series. This boldness and clever use of Resources was deeply missed in the last few tournaments. Rizwan is Surely an upgrade to that aspect and with historic series wins in Australia and South Africa under his belt before a big tournament, Rizwan will be looking to add another silverware in his cabinet in this champions trophy.
The Addition of Power Hitters
Pakistan had been missing the Death overs specialists or power hitters as we call them in the last few Serieses. We had Irfan Khan in our team but he wasn’t successful in that role. This time around we have Khushdil Shah and Tayyab Tahir in that role. Khushdil Shah was in some form in the BPL where he was striking at a strike rate in excess of 175 and Tayyab is a senior pro too and the tournament being played in Pakistan they will have the experience of playing here which would come in handy.
Negatives
The Saim Ayub Size Hole
The injury to Saim not only dented our Champions trophy hopes but also left the cricketing world from witnessing destructive partnership of Saim and Fakhar.
Saim had been our MVP in the last year in our white ball squad. Saim was doing multiple tasks in this team not only was he playing explosively at the top of the order he was giving us at least 5 or 6 overs of bowling as well. His injury forced us to not only look for a opener but had to find a batter in the middle too who can chip in with a few overs. Still any one or even two players who will step up in Saim’s absence will have giants boots to fill considering how he was playing before his injury.
Too Many Changes in the Team
Did Pakistan press the panic button when Saim was injured. Many experts believe yes they did when they made a slew of changes to the team that just beat Australia and South Africa in their respective home grounds. The player whose selection left everybody baffling was Faheem Ashraf. We already had 4 fast bowlers and picking up a other pace all-rounder over a full time spinner in Asian conditions was a left field decision. This can come back and hurt us in the later stages where the bowl can turn more.
Overall if we look it’s a decent squad. It doesn’t say world champions but with Rizwan as captain and the unpredictable nature of Pakistan. This team has the potential to beat any team.
