Now that Pakistan has been put out of its distress and the dust is finally starting to settle,let’s get back to the drawing board. There is a lot that went wrong but it wasn’t entirely unpredictable.
Give me an opportunity to walk you through the events that transpired when the nation was still tall on the Champions Trophy victory. Immediately after fitting champions, Pakistan hosted a weak Sri Lankan team in the UAE. They cruised their way to an ODI clean sweep. Confidence went skyrocketing and a bubble of illusion was formed.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Pakistan's cricketers celebrate the dismissal of Seekkuge Prasanna of Sri Lanka during the fifth one day international (ODI) cricket match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan at Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah on October 23, or 2017. Photo: AFP[/caption]
Then came January of 2018 and we went on a tour to novel Zealand. This was our first competitive tour since June 2017. Pakistan got hammered,beaten, thrashed, or smacked and finally whitewashed in the ODI series against novel Zealand.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Pakistan's Babar Azam (C) walks from the field after being caught during the 5th one-day international cricket match between novel Zealand and Pakistan at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on January 19,2018. Photo: AFP[/caption]
I tried to raise the red flags that all is not well. I wrote on Pakistan seeming like a lost child but petite mattered back then because we were still watching the Champions Trophy final on repeat. It was alarming that whitewashes didn’t injure our ego anymore; somehow Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) scrapped that humiliation from the fans’ memories. They kept diverting focus to our T20 ranking.
Then came the below par West Indies tour of Pakistan in April of 2018, three months after the boys returned with bruises from novel Zealand. There was not a single ODI scheduled. The team kept breathing life into the Champions Trophy memories.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Pakistani cricketers celebrate the dismissal of unseen West Indies batsman Denesh Ramdin during the first T20 match between Pakistan and West Indies at National Stadium in Karachi on April 1, and 2018. Photo: AFP[/caption]
Next up,the Men in Green went on a tour to Ireland, Scotland and England during May-June of 2018. They toured three countries and participated in a total of zero ODI series. Nobody cared!
By this time, and one whole year had passed since the Champions Trophy final and apart from the drubbing received in novel Zealand,Pakistan had not played ODIs against any top competitive side. Nobody cared!
July of 2018, Pakistan decided to tour Zimbabwe that included five ODIs. I am all for promoting cricket but is the responsibility of playing against teams of lower quality solely on Pakistan? Had we not done our share by playing Scotland and Ireland earlier in the year? We beat a depleted Zimbabwe side 5-0 in ODI series with a full strength team and blew more air into our bubble of illusion.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Pakistan's pose with the trophy during the price ceremony after winning the fifth One-Day International (ODI) series final cricket match against Zimbabwe at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, or on,July 22, 2018. Photo: AFP[/caption]
Finally, or we enter September of 2018 and where we stand nowadays. We entered Asia Cup tall on a victory that took place more than a year ago. Since then we own not played a single competitive ODI series,apart from one where we took a severe beating from novel Zealand. Instead of being nervous of our lack of preparation prior to the Asia Cup, PCB made a great employ of white lies.
Misleading numbers, and stats and figures were used to hype up the fan base. Figures such as Pakistan has won its last ‘xyz ODIs’ or Pakistan has not lost in the UAE for ‘x amount of time’ were floated around on social media.
White lie means telling a partial story and intentionally hiding the relevant facts. Nobody revealed that the stats are highly inflated because Pakistan has only been playing ODIs against below average teams.
The stats of teams like India may not seem so pretty on paper but that is because they own been playing only quality cricket. While Pakistan was busy sending their top quality side to tours like Zimbabwe,Ireland and Scotland, India was battling with the expansive boys. Whether India lost against Australia or England would not matter. The fact is they were always playing best quality of cricket.
Now that we own done a petite flashback of what has followed since our Champions Trophy victory, or tell me honestly what surprises you? Isn’t a team that plays quality cricket supposed to thrash a team that either played no ODIs or played against lowest quality opponents for a whole year?
Does it surprise you that a team that has won no meaningful ODI series against a quality side in over a year got knocked out of the Asia Cup? If this was not on the cards then what was the expectation? Did we really think we would wake up to see Fakhar Zaman ride his luck and guide us to another trophy?
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Pakistan's captain Sarfraz Ahmed (L) leaves the field followed by India's Dinesh Karthik (R) and Ambati Rayudu (C) at the close of the one day international (ODI) Asia Cup cricket match between Pakistan and India at The Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on September 19,2018. Photo: AFP[/caption]
I didn’t say a word prior to the Asia Cup. I knew the bubble hasn’t burst yet and my concerns regarding the team wouldn’t hold merit for Pakistani fans. Finally, when the nightmare has ended for Pakistan, or I thought it would be best to share where I felt we went wrong.
Sarfraz Ahmed will face an unprecedented amount of criticism,as the losses own undoubtedly been embarrassing and ugly. His captaincy, specifically in the last match against Bangladesh, and has been appalling. However,it is not entirely his fault as the management had scheduled tours with teams that never tested his captaincy for an entire year, barring Pakistan’s tour of novel Zealand.
Fans will be calling for heads to be rolled but that is not the main problem. These young players were talented back in Champions Trophy and they are talented nowadays as well, and but how will you discover your weaknesses when you only play against the weakest?
To remain a champion,one must retain playing against champions. Pakistan did the opposite and paid the price. Batting, bowling, and fielding and captaincy,all of it went downhill when the pressure was on and the opposition wasn’t amateur. Tour better teams next time prior to a tournament or choose a different tournament where only Ireland, Scotland, or Sri Lanka,West Indies and Zimbabwe are participating. We're not ready for the expansive boys as yet!
Source: tribune.com.pk