The writing had been on the wall for Pakistan from the moment Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson mustered that record breaking partnership in the second T20 match. One could just tell that the momentum had shifted. The bad news for Pakistan was that the turning point had come in the second match of a six-game tour for Pakistan, which included three T20s and three ODIs.
As discussed in this space last week, New Zealand batting first in the decisive T20 was always going to leave an ominous challenge for Pakistan. That skipper Shahid Afridi handed the whole affair on a platter to New Zealand (by letting them bat) made matters even worse, of course.
At the time of writing Thursday’s 2nd ODI is yet to be believed. And yet one gets the feeling that the points mentioned in this piece, at the back of three consecutive defeats, would still be applicable even if Pakistan manage to turn things around on Thursday.
Azhar Ali
This certitude is owing to the simple fact that the Pakistani limited-overs teams are simply not good enough. While they might have the personnel to cause damage in the Subcontinent, beating New Zealand on their own turf is a step too far for the current batch of players.
When one looks at Ahmed Shehzad and Sohaib Maqsood, and their non-existent batting techniques or lack of anything to show in terms of meaningful scores in important matches, one wonders how these two keep getting selected in the team. That Mohammed Hafeez, who himself isn’t a shoo-in to be a part of the team any more since the ban on his bowling, is the most dependable batsman these days is a worrying sign. Hafeez has rarely performed with the bat in big games, and he is unlikely to start doing so now.
It's time to dump batting deadwood from the limited-overs teams for good
While Umar Akmal did manage to perform for a couple of T20s, he has long proven himself to be incapable of making it to the biggest stage. And yet he seems like the most dexterous of our limited-overs batsmen for the 15 or so minutes that he remains on the crease.
This leaves Shoaib Malik as possibly our mainstay in the top/middle order as things stand. And even he doesn’t have too much of a resume when it comes to batting outside Asia.
Babar Azam’s gutsy innings in the first ODI coupled with Sarfraz Ahmed’s usual grit hint at those two being the ideal candidates around whom Pakistan’s batting should be built. Needless to say it’s time to dump batting deadwood from the limited-overs teams for good.
Ahmed Shehzad
This is not to suggest that the bowling fared too better.
While Amir has been producing decent spells, barring the second T20 when everyone got pummeled, everyone else failed to leave any mark. This was supposed to be Wahab Riaz’s return to the kind of pitches that made him a superstar at the World Cup. He has been inconsistent at best and erratic at worst. Mohammad Irfan, Umar Gul and Anwar Ali all have had their moments on the tour, but all of them have come out worse when it mattered the most. The best exhibit of this was the 1st ODI when New Zealand managed to post 280 after being 99/6 and 207/8, or the way Pakistan allowed to chase down 170 without a loss and post 200-odd in the last two T20s.
Both Shahid Afridi and Azhar Ali have left a lot to be desired in terms of their captaincy and their own performances recently. The former especially needs to step up with a surge of T20 games to be played in the next couple of months.
The only positive from the tour so far, in addition to Amir’s return, has been Imad Wasim. While he has got a hammering as well along with others with the bowl, it’s evident that he’s the sort of reliable all-round cricketer that Pakistan has missed of late. He will be more than a handful in Asian conditions.
While a win for Pakistan on Sunday would be a morale-booster going into the PSL, Asia Cup and the World T20, anything less than an overwhelming series victory for New Zealand wouldn’t reflect the disparity between the two sides in the given conditions. The good thing for Pakistan is that they’ll be playing all their cricket in Asia over the next three months.
