Pakistan’s 15 not a formidable combo for World Cup

KARACHI:

With the announcement of Pakistan’s World Cup squad on Friday, it is significantly evident that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the national selectors and skipper Babar Azam have not learned their lessons from the recent Asia Cup debacle.

The 2023 World Cup has a very challenging format, indeed, with each of the 10 teams playing each other before the semifinals. So only best of the best will emerge as the winner this time.

The mega event that commences in India from October 5 is without a doubt the stiffest test of skipper Babar’s career and he ought to have gone in with the best, most balanced 15-member squad for the extravaganza. Alas, it is not to be.

To begin with, Shadab Khan has been retained as the vice captain which defies all logic, especially after his abysmal faring in the Asia Cup matches.

The all-rounder, who until 2020 was dubbed as the next best thing for Pakistan after the prolific Babar Azam, is merely a shadow of himself today.

Though never a great turner of the ball, nor a front-ranking batsman, Shadab was instrumental in many limited over victories for his team as he broke vital partnerships and scored useful runs at crucial moments to see Pakistan through.

Regrettably, he has not displayed any of that flair in the recent matches. And yet, by virtue of his position as the team’s vice captain and his camaraderie with skipper Babar, he has continued to play every game without making any impact of note.

Reports coming out of Pakistan camp during the past few days led many to believe that Shadab will surely be replaced by Shaheen Shah Afridi as vice captain. However, for reasons best known to them, the selectors have retained Shadab as Babar’s deputy.

Recalling the tried and failed Hasan Ali to fill in the shoes of injured Naseem Shah is another glaring move which reflects poorly on Chief Selector Inzamam-ul-Haq and his band of selectors.

Hasan has been in and out of the team in all the three formats during the past few years, mainly due to his checkered performances that have earned the public ire besides scathing criticism from the former players.

In his own admission, Hasan has not lived up to the promise he had shown in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and is, at best, an average player whose erratic bowling and sloppy fielding could well prove to be a burden than a boost for the team.

Most critics feel that the talented Zaman Khan or hardworking Arshad Iqbal deserved to be selected ahead of Hasan for the World Cup.

Opener Fakhar Zaman’s 14 flop games on the trot have not shaken the selectors’ faith in him, which is extremely surprising, given the swift changes they tend to make in every series.

No doubt Fakhar is a class player but has clearly struggled to find his feet in the recent games. He was all at sea against the medium pacers as well as the slow bowlers in the Asia Cup and it is a huge gamble to go with him for the mega event in India.

Besides, both Wasim Jr and Salman Ali Agha are bits and pieces players who certainly donot possess the kind of firepower to turn a game around on their own. Mohammad Nawaz, too, have struggled to take his game to the next level which is a matter of concern for skipper Babar. In short, Pakistan’s lower middle-order desperately need to put its act together for the competitive extravaganza for Pakistan to fancy its chances of reaching the semifinals, at least.

Perhaps, a specialist spinner like Abrar Ahmed would have served the team better as he has the ability to keep the batsmen guessing with his fine range of deliveries.

However, one must commend the selectors for keeping faith with opener Abdullah Shafiq, gifted spinner Usama Mir and batsman Saud Shakeel as all of them are specialist players with proven credentials at the international level.

In the final analysis, one would say that Pakistan’s is not a formidable combination at the moment, more so because they have not been able to upgrade their ODI cricket style as per the modern times.

Given all these factors, Babar’s men are certainly not among the favourites to lift the title. But the fact that they will be entering the World Cup as the underdogs augurs well for them.

The history has it that whenever Pakistan gets the top billing, they fall short by quite a distance. However, whenever they are written off, they bounce back handsomely to stun the best in the business.