Why has Pakistan forgotten how to bat in the shorter formats?

Last time a Pakistani batsmen must have scored a match winning century about time when Qaim Ali Shah was born.

Taimur Baig February 08, 2016
Some say, it’s a confidence issue. Others say that it is the lack of international cricket at home. Fingers are pointed at the flawed domestic setup or the nepotism in selection. Whatever the case may be; as far as ODI and T20 cricket is concerned, Pakistan batting is indeed at its lowest ebb ever.

After watching the recently concluded ODI series between Australia and India, I was mesmerised by the batting at display. It was aggressive, belligerent, but at the same time poised and full of confidence. Chasing or posting scores in the proximity of 300 and above was the norm.

On the other hand, head east a bit towards the shore of New Zealand, and we see the green shirts finding it hard to chase even 280 on the much diminutive grounds of the Kiwi’s.


It just made me wonder how immense the gap has become between the Pakistan batting and it’s counterparts.

I believe the last time a Pakistani batsman scored a comprehensive match-winning century, was about the same time that Qaim Ali Shah must have been born.

It’s as if, overnight, we have just forgotten how to bat in the shorter formats. Correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t the Pakistani players in the days of yore known for their aggressive style. Be it bowling or batting. Yes, I confess that ours was never the most dependable of batting line ups, and it was always one heartbeat away from a collapse, but aggression was our forte. This is one of the reasons that we did so well in ODI cricket and the initial T20 world cups. These formats were tailor-made for us.

The lack of playing at home has no doubt hurt us, but that does not justify the gulf that is so evident between the Pakistan batting and the rest. Plus, our adopted home in the UAE can boasts some of the flattest tracks on this planet. So really, there is no excuse for the batsmen to not score big.

So what then is the reason for this decline?

I guess we just stagnated.

We were too consumed with our laurels of the 90’s where we had a team that was just generally god gifted. We just thought that we will keep on finding such talent. Well, we did so in our bowling but weren’t so lucky with the bat.




I remember as a kid in the 90’s, the subtle wrist work of Anwar, the brute force of Afridi, the calmness/ferociousness of Inzi (depending on which mood he was in) and the brilliant stroke play of Yousa Youhana (later Mohammad  Yousaf). These guys had different styles but they all had an appetite for scoring big runs and scoring them quickly. More importantly they knew how to build an innings. Compare them with the current lot, and it seems that the batsmen today are just unsure of how to go about scoring their runs, especially when the situation demands some alacrity on their part.

It’s been an eternity that Pakistan has produced a proper modern day batsmen for ODI cricket that can score consistently and quickly. While the batting in Test matches has been hunky-dory, we have hit the reverse gear in the shorter format. I’m sick and tired of waiting for Umar Akmal, Sohaib Maqsood or Ahmed Shehzad et al. to be the next big thing. Guess what?  It isn’t happening and I don’t see it happening anytime soon.

Sohaib Maqsood (left), Ahmed Shehzad (centre), Umar Akmal (right)

The Pakistani batsmen need to really do some serious soul searching and change their ways to keep themselves relevant in this day and age of powerful hitting and rapid run making. In short they need to find their lost mojo.

In the meantime, we, the fans, have to make do watching and marveling at the great batting displays of the foreigners, albeit with a tinge of jealousy and wistfulness.
WRITTEN BY:
Taimur Baig The author is a Pakistani living in Australia with a keen interest in current affairs and sports.
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (3)

Nasser | 8 years ago | Reply @Taimoor Blame it all on team management. Constant changes and chopping by an egoistic coach forced the batsmen to abandon their natural game. A great talent like Umar Akmal has been wasted due ego problem. Then your cricket board makes a player like Azhar as captain in ODI format. What result would you expect?
MJ | 8 years ago | Reply You are comparing apples to oranges. The Pakistani team did not too bad considering the enormous home ground advantage that the Kiwi's have exhibited lately. They really put other teams to the sword at home. The same mighty Australia is struggling even worse than Pakistan in New Zealand. Take away the pitches that are surprisingly batting friendly for Indians in Australia the series wouldn't have seen these kind of high scoring matches. I am not saying that the Indian batting is poor or Pakistan's betting is better or even equal to that of India. I am just saying that India was not tested in Australia owing to the flat pitches and the weakest bowling attack that the Australians have used in the last 15 plus years.
LS | 8 years ago Yes, If India wins - Australian were playing bad, but if Australia wins Indians are Flat pitch Bullies but Pakistan is never at fault... Those NZ's simply had too much support -- really? NZ HAS become a good dominating side - Give respect where its due. Your patriotism is coming in way of better judgement
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