Pakistan is not even prepared for New Zealand, let alone the World Cup

Openers getting out early, slow run rate, batsmen getting starts but not converting them into something substantial, a false ray of hope in between – pretty much run-of-the-mill stuff for Pakistan’s batting in ODI cricket. However, the more worrying factor is Pakistan’s fragile bowling attack at the moment.

For years Pakistan’s batting has been spared its blushes by the bowling department, but, heading into the World Cup and the second ODI versus New Zealand, the bowling side looks as feeble as the batting one. With Saeed Ajmal banned, Muhammad Hafeez unable to ball, Junaid Khan injured and Yasir Shah as an unused weapon so far, Pakistan’s bowling side looks as flimsy as it ever has been.

Pakistan will not score big runs batting first because somehow we play cricket a decade behind our contemporaries. The idea is to save wickets till the last 10-15 overs before launching the final assault; however that too is just an ‘idea’ for now and nothing much has been developed on it. Since 2012, Pakistan has batted first on 35 occasions and more than 37% of the times, we have managed to get dismissed under the allotted overs.

Pakistan’s batsmen lacked timing and later the bowlers struggled with direction against New Zealand. Photo: AFP

The World Cup is under a fort night away, yet Pakistan’s team seems to be undercooked. Other teams have pretty much tested their whole squad whereas Pakistan has some untried players waiting in the wings. Sohaib Maqsood’s ODI record, compared to his teammates, is good enough to merit a place in the eleven, but he hasn’t been picked lately and is very short of match practice as he was injured towards the end of 2014. Yasir Shah was picked for the New Zealand series in UAE but wasn’t given a single game – his ODI debut came more than two years ago versus Zimbabwe. Ehsan Adil has been given opportunities in the warm up match and also the first ODI but he doesn’t look anywhere close to the mark.

The question remains how many more opportunities will the likes of Hafeez and Younis Khan be given till the management decides to bite the bullet and leave out at least one of the two?

Sohaib Maqsood (L) and Yasir Shah (R).

To be fair to Hafeez, he has been pretty much a star in the ODI format for Pakistan but that is because of his status as an all-rounder. With all due respect to Hafeez’s batting, he is not a good enough batsman to merit a place in an international team on purely his batting; yes sometimes he will fire, but on sheer numbers, the law of probability, considering his ODI batting record, he is not reliable to say the least.

As for Younis Khan, he has one century in more than six years of ODI cricket and one half-century in the last two years, which by no means qualify as good enough. ‘Horses for courses’ is a term best misinterpreted by Pakistan; a great test player doesn’t necessarily translate into a great ODI player and vice versa. Look at Michael Beven, for example; a great ODI player but could never quite make it as an international Test player. If both Hafeez and Younis keep getting picked, a regular middle order of Sohaib Maqsood and Haris Sohail in the World Cup will only remain a fantasy.

Brendon McCullum (L) celebrates Umar Akmal (R) being bowled out with teammates Grant Elliott (C-L) and Luke Ronchi (C-R) during the first ODI match between New Zealand and Pakistan in Wellington on January 31, 2015. Photo: AFP

The second ODI versus New Zealand tomorrow is extremely important, not because a victory will mean Pakistan levelling the series but because some of the untried players must be presented with an opportunity. Sohaib Maqsood can be Pakistan’s x-factor in the middle order during the World Cup, so why not give him a chance now? Yasir Shah had a terrific Test series versus Australia, so if Younis makes it into the team on the basis of his test performances, why can’t Yasir? Plus, leg spinners traditionally do well in Australia – much like Mushtaq Ahmed in 1992, Yasir can be the wicket taker in the middle overs. Don’t forget, Mushtaq wasn’t a proven commodity in 1992; he was picked in the team on the basis of him being a leg spinner and a wicket-taker; he took 16 wickets in that tournament.

All this might be us being too optimistic in hoping for the likes of Sohaib Maqsood and Yasir Shah to completely turn the fortunes of the team, but what is wrong in trying? We should keep in mind that nothing else is working at the moment and Pakistan has lost nine out of its last 11 ODIs. This is Pakistan’s last competitive match before the encounter with India on the 15th; hence, it should be used to give these guys a chance.

New Zealand's Ross Taylor (R) plays a shot as Sarfraz Ahmed of Pakistan looks on during the first one-day international cricket match at Westpac Stadium in Wellington on January 31, 2015. Photo: AFP

The experimenting should have come earlier, it might as well be too late but this is Pakistan we are talking about, a team used to doing things late and used to doing the opposite of the norms. After all a Pakistani turned sweep into reverse sweep, swing into reverse swing, off spin into doosra, Pakistan won the 1992 ODI World Cup after being down and out, and the 2009 T20 World Cup pretty much in the same fashion.

That’s what every Pakistan cricket fan is clinging on to: the hope of a miracle…

Rationally speaking, Pakistan has little if any chance of springing a 92-esque miracle but “rational” is not a word one would associate with Pakistan or its cricket – especially during the World Cup.