Match Point
Is the Pakistan team destined to lose?

Is the Pakistan team destined to lose?

We haven't won a single bilateral series against South Africa. Changes have to be made to save our cricketing legacy.

Hammad Mateen November 09, 2013

Our team has been labelled ‘unpredictable’ by many. The trend is that once our players set foot on the field, no one knows how they might perform; making the chase all the more interesting to watch.

Of late, however, this unpredictability has faded away. Now there seems to be only one predictable conclusion to any match that our team plays – defeat.

Last night, team Pakistan maintained its record of not winning even a single bilateral series against South Africa (SA) to date. The team ruined the first ODI match where the last six wickets were lost over a meagre 17 runs and eventually losing the game by a single run. The team did, however, do fairly well in the second game by beating the Proteas and making the score in the series even.

The celebrations were short-lived and we returned to square one after losing two consecutive matches to SA whilst batting second.

South African bowler Ryan McLaren (L) celebrates after he clean bowled Junaid Khan (R). PHOTO: AFP

Batting second has become a guaranteed recipe for disaster for Pakistan and we have endorsed this theory with all our defeats in the recent ODI series. It seems like in order to win, the only thing our competitors need to do is set a target exceeding 250 runs and our team does the rest itself.

Analysing the performance of such a team becomes really difficult considering the availability of talent is not an issue and yet the team continues to lose match after match. It seems what we lack is the ability to actually win matches.

South African cricketer Morne Morkel (2nd R) takes a successful catch of Pakistani batsman Asad Shafiq (2nd L) during the fourth day-night international in Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. PHOTO: AFP

Here are a few points which our team needs to work on unless it wants to face more losses in the future:

Misbahul Haq

In my opinion, the biggest mistake Misbah makes is that he approaches both ODIs and Test matches with the same strategy; giving him the same results in the form of tremendous losses.

There are people who hold Inzamamul Haq and Mohammad Yousuf responsible for Misbah’s late entrance into the international arena. If that is true, I would actually congratulate them for saving Pakistan from a lot more defeats, had he débuted earlier.

Misbahul Haq plays a shot during the fourth day-night international in Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on November 8, 2013. PHOTO: AFP

As far as his captaincy is concerned, Pakistan has played 27 ODIs over the last 12 months, out of which only 12 ended in victories. Moreover, four out of those 12 victories were against teams like Scotland, Ireland and Zimbabwe. The decision to send Sohail Tanveer in to bat last night before Shahid Afridi pretty much sums up the brainless captaincy Pakistan is being made to suffer.

Older players with experience

A very popular notion is to get rid of players who have reached over the age of 30, as they are no longer considered energetic enough to compete with younger players. However, I do not believe that it is that simple. If someone is good enough to perform and maintains good levels of fitness, why shouldn’t he be allowed to play?

Saeed Ajmal (R) is clean bowled by South African bowler Dale Steyn (L) during the fourth day-night international in Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on November 8, 2013. PHOTO: AFP

Michael Hussey and Younis Khan are good examples of players who are over 30 but are still more agile than many 22-year-olds. Younis Khan and his experience is certainly being missed in the middle order.

Similarly, both Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi are over 30 years and have been the best bowlers for Pakistan for a long time. In this series also, both have taken eight wickets each and both gave impressive bowling averages.

A new, younger team

The idea of eliminating over-aged players from the team and replacing them with fresh blood is catching up amongst the masses. I, for one, don’t find that working for the team because the young guns on our side including Nasir Jamshed, Umar Akmal and Umar Amin, haven’t played impressively yet, despite being given repeated chances.

Ahmed Shahzad, on the other hand, has been remarkable whenever given a chance and has proved his mettle once again in the current series against South Africa. He was able to provide a winning platform to the team in almost all the matches, which unfortunately the team failed miserably at capitalising on.

The comparison of Sohaib Maqsood with the great Inzamamul Haq made by Waqar Younis in the commentary box and many others on social media did not make sense to me. Ramiz Raja made a similar comparison of Umar Akmal in his early days, with Inzamamul Haq. However, Akmal proved Raja wrong on multiple occasions showing his temperament which is in stark contrast to that of Inzamamul Haq.

Sohaib Maqsood plays a shot during the fourth day-night international in Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on November 8, 2013. PHOTO: AFP

Dav Whatmore

The idea of having a foreign coach has always been a controversial one as far as our cricket is concerned. Things heated up even more after suffering humiliating defeats both in the ODIs and Tests, such as the ones experienced at the hands of Zimbabwe. Consequently, questions were raised as to how useful foreign coaches like Dav Whatmore really are to us.

Dav Whatmore may be the right guy but he is not being used for the right job. As far as I am concerned, the National Cricket Academy (NCA) is the right place for him. This is precisely how India utilised Dav Whatmore when he was appointed director of a cricket academy in India. His job was to prepare cricketers for the highest level of cricket, rather than coach them at it.

To sum it up, we need to have a balanced team in all aspects, with the right mix of youth and experience. Along with that we need to have the right staff and players in the right jobs at the PCB as well.

South African captain AB de Villiers plays a shot during the fourth day-night international in Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. PHOTO: AFP

It is apparent that Pakistan’s cricket is suffering and if nothing is done to save it our cricketing legacy will soon cease to exist.

Serious actions are required in this hour of need.

WRITTEN BY:
Hammad Mateen The author is a mechanical engineer, education management professional and freelance writer working in the social sector, he tweets as @hammadmateen (twitter.com/hammadmateen)

The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (11)

Hammad A.Mateen | 10 years ago | Reply Please go through me response to Mr. Saqib below. If being the leading run scorer meant being the best captain than Sachin would've been the BEST CAPTAIN EVER.

Hammad A.Mateen | 10 years ago | Reply @88b111b1799e6066e36f0beac80ddca7:disqus @disqus_YyvUe7XFdQ:disqus There's only one section of the block pertaining to Misbah and that too regarding his captaincy and not his batting. Please stay in the right context while commenting and do not comment just for the sake of commenting. As far as 'Stats' are concerned, the only important associated with a captain is his team's ranking in the world and I'm sure you'll agree that there is nothing poetic or psychological about that. If MS Dhoni (batting at a similar position, keeping wickets, averaging 50 plus and making his team the no. 1 side in the world with a winning percentage of 63%) can do it, than I have all the right in the world to expect the same level of efficiency from my team captain also (unless you are content with mediocrity). Misbah can very well stay in the side and 'horrify' bowlers like he is doing now but not with the burden of captaincy on his shoulders. Do not defend his defensive approach in captaincy with his individual batting stats. If this was the case, Sachin would've been the BEST CAPTAIN OF ALL TIME.

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Abdus Samad | 10 years ago | Reply Good to see you back hammad. we need to change the entire team, management and coaches

rasgullah | 10 years ago | Reply If no one comes to your country to play cricket, how will your team win in one or two games it gets to play?. Fix your security situation first.

sensible | 10 years ago | Reply I just hate when people write about cricket without having any knowledge of game. Any true cricket lover will tell you that whose game is right, misbah's or afridi's. Also mr. writer Misbah is now the highest run scorer in ODIs this year with over 1100 runs. Is it his fault that batsmen coming after him are not doing anything!

Saqib | 10 years ago | Reply I think the writer should stick to Mechanical Engineering. Because you may do well there. Very Poor Analysis. You tried hard to prove Misbah the bad guy but I am sorry you could. You love for Younis and suggestion clearly says that you have no knowledge of cricket. Younis Khan after playing some 250 odd matches is averaging 31 in Odi's and remember he has played one down most of the time during his career. One down player if he is worthy enough gets enough time to score big runs. Can you tell me his past records??? and how many matches he has won for pakistan? About Misbah. 1. He is averaging 44 and above in Odi's. 2. Their strike rates are even similar. 3. Highest run getter for this year 4. Pleas do compare the captaince records as well. Dont just count this year. Stop blaming the poor guy just for no good reason. Please bring about the stats rather than poetic stories, psychlogical explanations and personal likings and dislikings. Thanks

Hammad A.Mateen | 10 years ago Saqib, Thank you for your comments. There is only one part of the blog pertaining to Misbah and that too is about captaincy and not individual performances. The poor guys' captaincy (overall, and not just in 2013) has a winning percentage of 57% which is even less than Shoaib Malik's 67% (if we only consider contemporaries) and includes losses at the hands of Zimbabwe and a tied match with Ireland. If M.S. Dhoni (coming down at a similar number in the batting order, keeping wickets, averaging 52, finishing matches and his side being the number 1 side in the world with a winning percentage of 63%) can do it, than I have all the right in the world to expect my team captain to at least finish games and better the ranking of the side (unless you are happy with mediocrity). The most important 'Stat' associated with a captain is his team ranking and you would agree for a change that there's nothing poetic or psychological about that. Thank you once again and have a good night. Cheers!

Alan | 10 years ago | Reply It seems every Pakistani has a secret recipe for fixing the issue. There have been countless articles written on this. When they win, the articles praise them. When they lose, you know the drill. A distant observer may think that this is the main issue troubling the country. More importance is given to the cricket team than say what the TTP or terrorist groups are up to or where the country is headed in terms of day to day living and existence.

The Rebel | 10 years ago | Reply So you actually want the only guy (Misbah, FYI) who is capable of keeping the opposition bowling attack at bay to be booted out of this team? Remarkable. And then we wonder why our team is making itself the laughing stock of other countries. If there's anyone who deserves to be axed from the team it's that poster boy Shahid Afridi. He's like that chewing gum which gets stuck underneath your boot while walking on the road. I would much rather see Hafeez coming in at no. 7 than the brainless 'senior.' Keeping him in the team only because he can bowl is completely destroying the balance of our team, as we need a reliable hitter like Abdul Razzaq (or even Hammad Azam) to strengthen our batting. There's no need to strengthen our bowling, as it's already really good. Junaid, Irfan, Ajmal and Gul (when fit), plus you have Hafeez who's easily capable of bowling 10 tidy overs while also picking up one or two crucial wickets in every match. But granted, he should only be in the team if he comes in at either no.6 or 7, as he's really inept at opening. Regarding our batting, many people will mock me for saying this but I honestly believe that Fawad Alam should be brought back in the side to strengthen our top order. This guy has never been given a proper chance at the top, mainly being brought in to bat way down the order when everyone knows he's the sort of player who is really good at rotating the strike and scoring at run a ball. Give him a consistent run in the side as a top order batsman (he can be a really good opener too) and watch him score runs. My team for future matches would be: (in batting order) Shehzad, Fawad, Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Akmal (WK), Misbah (C), Hafeez, Razzaq/Hammad, Gul, Ajmal, Junaid, Irfan.

Waqac | 10 years ago | Reply Why is it so difficult to grab the fact that there's "parchi" system prevailing in the cricket sector here in Pakistan. I mean, why would you let players like Akmal brothers even play in the starting line up. One thing PARCHI ZINDABAD It's time to sit back, grab a bucket of popcorn and switch your channels to National Geographic or Discovery where things make sense.

Waqac | 10 years ago | Reply About the experienced players on the pitch, I don't think we're left with many in our team. As for the freshies, well, you and I both have heard the word of "Parchi" As long as this Parchi trend dominates the talent in Pakistan, you won't expect something out of our team. So, it is better to sit tight and keep wishing every other night that our boys go through it instead of whining about comparisons and all craps media is paid to show off.

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