The defeat in the fifth and final match against Australia epitomised Pakistan’s ODI struggles - chasing down over 350, managing to crawl over 300 and never quite being in the game.
300 seems to be the limit to Pakistan’s fuel tank in ODIs. It’s been the same for the past 20 years. In these two decades, what were once match winning ODI totals are being chased down in T20s. And in Pakistan’s case, the upper limit remains the same whether the team is setting up a target on a belter of a deck, or trying to chase a score in excess of 350.
Arguably the biggest loser from the ODI series against Australia was skipper Azhar Ali
At the Adelaide Oval, the opening stand between David Warner - Pakistan’s tormentor-in-chief - and Travis Head set up the win for the Aussies. The result was established once Australia crossed 320 before the 45th over. For anything over that would be the (least) margin of victory against Pakistan - that is, if they have a great day with the bat.
What also happened according to script was that Sharjeel Khan and Babar Azam scored 179 of Pakistan’s 312 - and Azhar Ali scored nothing, while Umar Akmal played another meaningless innings at a position and situation ostensibly best suited for him.
Another thing that reemphasised one of Pakistan’s many problems was that Mohammed Rizwan didn’t come out of incognito mode after posing as a lower-order batsman for quite some time.
Hasan Ali
The century that Hasan Ali scored with the ball in his hand was possibly the sole anomaly on a day where everything was happening exactly how it should have. Hasan has bowled well in both England and Australia and is clearly a part of Pakistan’s future.
Beyond Sharjeel, Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, and to some extent Mohammed Amir, there’s hardly anyone who had anything meaningful to contribute to the ODI series.
Mohammed Hafeez and Imad Wasim, both of whom are for all intents and purposes bowlers first - before they are whatever they do with the bat. Both of them suffered dents in their respective reputations as being ‘hard to score against’. While Imad was in the process of building this reputation, Hafeez had a new beginning of sorts as well, after returning from the bowling ban during the series.
Babar Azam
The only saving grace - if it can be dubbed as such - for Umar Akmal was that Rizwan and Asad Shafiq refused to come forward as ODI batsmen in the series. These two probably did more for Umar Akmal’s future in the squad, if not the starting 11, than he did for himself.
While Amir and Junaid Khan had their moments, the series was a continuation of Pakistani fast bowling losing its historical reputation as Pakistan’s strength. It is now one of the many weaknesses that Pakistan have, at least in the 50-over version.
Sharjeel Khan
Even so, arguably the biggest loser from the series was skipper Azhar Ali. The noise within the selection committee suggests that Azhar’s time as the ODI captain - and in turn as an ODI player - seems to be up. Their only concern is the impact it might have for the Test side, wherein he along with Asad Shafiq has been Pakistan’s best performer with the bat.
While Sarfraz Ahmed - who missed out on the Australia series altogether - is being touted as the next ODI skipper, Chief Selector Inzi says he prefers the same captain for all three formats. This could mean that the wicket-keeper batsman might take up the charge from Misbah-ul-Haq as well. This is after Azhar was long touted as Misbah’s successor in Tests.
With so many questions being asked behind the scenes, the second edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) comes as a nice distraction for everyone concerned. With local franchises pitted against one another, Pakistan is set to win in early March, especially with the final being played in Lahore. The West Indies tour after that is where the tough questions will be answered.
