Published: Apr 05, 2016, 04:40 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 05, 2016, 05:15 PM (IST)
Pakistan crashed out of the T20 World Cup 2016, crashing out in the Super 10 stage. They managed to win just one match, which came against Bangladesh, their tournament openr. They however could not carry on their momentum from their first match in the rest of the tournament, suffering losses against India, New Zealand and Australia. Barring their first match, they failed to show any fight in the rest of the matches. Shahid Afridi was severely criticised for Pakistan’s performance in the tournament and he eventually stepped down as captain. Waqar Younis resigned as the Head Coach as well. READ: Sarfraz Ahmed named Pakistan’s T20I captain following World Cup horror
Batting: Barring the openers, Sharjeel Khan and Ahmed Shehzad, none of the batsmen lived up to their expectations. Shoaib Malik finished with an average of 96 in his four innings, but did very little to up the tempo of the Pakistan innings in the middle-order. Afridi, other than a blazing 49 against Bangladesh, threw his wicket away in all matches, but it was nice to see him promote himself up the order, with little effect.
Pakistan could have instead promoted Sarfraz Ahmed up the order and see how he went. He has been their impact player and it would not have been the worse of ideas to see how how he went about things batting at, say No. 4. Umar Akmal, Khalid Latif showed glimpses of what they can do, but never reached their full potential in the tournament.
Bowling: The leading wicket-taker for Pakistan was four, which was taken by Mohammad Sami and Afridi. Afridi bowled well but he was not at his deadly best, which indicates that his best days are perhaps behind him. He however got little support, especially from the fast bowlers, who failed to pick up early wickets and set up the game for him to have a go at the middle-order.
Wahab Riaz has been out of form of late and his place in the Pakistan team could be up for discussion, at a time when they have good replacements in Junaid Khan and Rahat Ali waiting in the flanks. Mohammd Aamer and Mohammd Irfan too had ordinary tournaments, but this could be a one-off tournament, where they have been ordinary and perhaps warrant another chance. READ: Waqar Younis resigns as Pakistan Head Coach following World T20 2016
Highs: The way Pakistan started off in the tournament against Bangladesh was perhaps the highest point in the tournament. They scored 201, courtesy of some excellent hitting from Mohammad Hafeez, Shehzad and Afridi. They had also beaten Sri Lanka in their previous match in the Asia Cup T20. With this win they had signaled their intentions.
Also, they may have found a new reliable middle-order batsman in Latif. He scored a steady 41-ball 46 in the final group stage match against Australia, which kept Pakistan in the game.
Lows: They did not turn up for most parts of the tournament, which was highly disappointing. The much-anticipated game against India turned out to be a major disappointment as they set an ordinary target and could not cash in on a decent start given by their bowlers. READ: Shahid Afridi resigns from Pakistan T20I captaincy, wishes to continue playing
They went from bad to worse in the other matches as they did not click as a team. Either their batting let them down, their bowling was below par and their fielding was horrible. They will need to make improvements in all three departments and it will not be a surprise if we see some new faces in the next series.
Opportunities: With Afridi stepping down as captain, Pakistan have found a new leader in Sarfraz. He will have to lead Pakistan into their new era and must lead from the front. He can now promote himself up the order, where he can face many more deliveries and can anchor the innings.
Pakistan will also get a new Head Coach, following Waqar’s resignation. It will be interesting to see how the team gels with their new coach and take on upcoming challenges. Overall, Pakistan have been a disappointment outing in the T20 World Cup 2016, but they can get only better from here.
(Pramod Ananth is a reporter at CricketCountry. He has represented Karnataka table tennis under-15, and is a hardcore supporter of Liverpool FC. His Twitter handle is @pramz)
