Against Australia, Pakistan will look to make amends
While the Pakistan team are facing a backlash at home for the seven-wicket defeat against India, the one-sided contest was not really a surprise. However, they will have a chance to make amends when they take on Australia at Bengaluru today.
Pakistan’s captain Babar Azam with teammates Muhammad Rizwan and Haris Rauf during a practice session ahead of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 (PTI)
Taking on arch-rivals India at any venue in India would have been a challenge, but playing in front of more than 100,000 fans at Motera’s Narendra Modi International Stadium, takes the difficulty up several notches. Some might argue, it won’t get any tougher. And in a sense, the pressure might be off now. The match is done and Pakistan will look to move forward with confidence.
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Babar Azam, the Pakistan captain, has come under heavy fire for failing to put up a fight, both while batting (all out for 191) and bowling. Perhaps, it has been conveniently forgotten that just last month his team was on top of the ICC’s ODI rankings.
It is interesting to note how the fortunes of the two captains, Babar and Rohit Sharma, changed during the continental tournament held in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. To give some context, the Asian cricket body uses the tournament as preparation for the bigger ICC events. While India made the most of the opportunity to test all their players returning from injury, things didn’t go as per plan for Pakistan and as luck would have it, Babar lost his ace pacer, Naseem Shah, during the competition.
Babar has been left to make do with Hasan Ali to fill-in for Naseem. Though a game trier, he is simply not in the same league. Naseem is a strike bowler, consistently clocking speeds of 145 plus, Hasan is at best fast medium who lacks the same penetration.
During commentary, pace legend Waqar Younis spoke about how Hasan’s pace has dropped and he is unable to find the sharp swing which gave him early success. The 2023 World Cup is his first ODI tournament since June 2022.
Naseem’s absence has thus left a gaping hole. Shaheen Shah Afridi can be electric on his day but without support from the other end, he doesn’t seem as dangerous. Against India, he was left waging a lone battle. He picked up a wicket in his second over, getting Shubman Gill caught at point. Then returned to deceive Rohit Sharma.
But there was no support. The spin pair of leggie Shadab Khan and left-armer Mohammed Nawaz are also defensive options, looking to contain the batters rather than run through the opposition.
It highlights how different captaincy can be when you have don’t have your best bowlers at your disposal. When Jasprit Bumrah is there, Rohit Sharma is at another level as captain. Since the ace pacer’s return from injury at the Asia Cup, Rohit has overseen a series of ruthless demolition of opponents.
At the same time, in the absence of Bumrah, India had suffered a 10-wicket defeat to England in the semifinal of the 2022 T20 World Cup, an early exit at the 2022 Asia Cup following a six-wicket loss to Sri Lanka and a five-wicket loss to Pakistan and were run over by Australia at the World Test Championship final.
Pakistan’s new ball plans were built on the partnership between Shaheen and Naseem. Without one half of his new ball pairing, Babar is looking ordinary and has to find a way to get his new ball attack. Trying Haris Rauf to share the new ball could be one option. He has express pace but has to find the right length according to the legendary Wasim Akram.
Speaking on Pakistan’s ‘A Sports’ channel, Akram said: “Rauf has got the pace but he has to improve his length, his ball doesn’t swing, unless there is reverse swing, I don’t see batters getting out to him in the slips or caught behind. T20 bowling, one day bowling, Test match bowling are totally different. If you are defending a small total and your main bowler is hit for 25-30 runs in two or three overs then it is game over.”
Pakistan’s game against Australia is at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium and the venue can be a tough place for the bowlers. The boundaries are shorter and the outfield is fast. Then they are dealing with expectations like no other side. Pakistan prides itself on its pace heritage, they are used to seeing their bowlers defend even small totals when Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were there.
TOP-ORDER ISSUE
What has also got Pakistan’s team-management worried is the form of their top-order. When they were doing well, and had risen to the No 1 in ODI rankings, it was built on their top three batter’s performance. But their opener Fakhar Zaman has been subdued recently and it has had a direct impact on the team’s results.
After hitting three back-to-back hundreds, in his last 11 innings his highest score is 33 with a total of 202 and an average of 18.36. He played only one game at the World Cup, against Netherlands, where he had another tame dismissal.
HEAVY CRITICISM
More than the margin of defeat, dealing with the heavy criticism from their former players will determine how far they go.
Speaking on The ICC Review podcast, former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja stressed that Pakistan must shift their attention to their remaining games and take the learnings from the heavy defeat.
“Babar Azam and the senior players will have to rally around some of the young kids and have got to find an answer. They’ve got to be brutally honest in those team meetings. I think that is where Pakistan needs to start,” said Ramiz.
