Pakistan had already crashed out of the Champions Trophy following consecutive defeats against New Zealand and India, but hundreds of fans braved the inclement Rawalpindi weather to come and support the beleaguered national team.
But heavy rain robbed Mohammad Rizwan and his boys of the chance to get a consolatory win as its last group game of the ICC Champions Trophy against Bangladesh was called off without a ball bowled.
A week ago, the excitement was palpable as a global event returned to the country after nearly three decades, but Pakistan’s underwhelming performances left the home fans disappointed.
Pakistan’s media, rightly, has also been critical of the team’s sub-par performance. Leading English daily Dawn, in its editorial, said: “Pakistan had gone in as defending champions but went out with a whimper. Their selections were questionable; their approach was mediaeval. Pakistan seemed to be left behind in the evolutionary race of modern-day cricket.”
The Express Tribune, meanwhile, reported that internal conflict cost Pakistan the tournament as both coach Aaqib Javed and captain Mohammad Rizwan were involved in a power struggle during the event.
Pakistan head coach Aaqib Javed took responsibility for Pakistan’s poor form in the Champions Trophy.
| Photo Credit:
FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP
Pakistan head coach Aaqib Javed took responsibility for Pakistan’s poor form in the Champions Trophy.
| Photo Credit:
FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP
Though head coach Javed took responsibility for Pakistan’s debacle, the problem lies deep.
While the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) unceremoniously parted ways with Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie as head coaches of the white and red-ball teams respectively late last year, following a change in the PCB leadership, the selectors and the team management, too, were guilty of chopping and changing the squad composition leading up to the event.
They left out Irfan Khan Niazi and Sufiyan Muqueem after handing them chances against Zimbabwe and South Africa, recalling Khushdil Shah and Fahim Ashraf.
The move drew criticism from several former cricketers as Ashraf had a batting average of 10 and bowling average of 47 in 34 ODIs, the last of which was in September 2023. Khushdil, who had featured in 10 ODIs, has not been part of the squad since August 2022.
Left-arm wrist-spinner Muqueem, on the other hand, claimed four wickets in the lone ODI against South Africa in December last year, including that of Aiden Markram. But lower middle-order batter Niazi could score only 48 runs in five innings.
Once the action got underway, Khushdil repaid the faith bestowed on him with scores of 69 and 38, while Ashraf warmed the bench.
Assistant coach Azhar Mahmood told the official broadcaster, “You see how much chopping and changing has happened. It is not ideal. We need to trust. There is a lot of pressure when playing international cricket. If you give anyone a chance, give them six to eight months, and you will get results.”
Despite being part of the system, Mahmood did not mince his words. “Here you have two bad games, people say drop them. You can take six months to identify the talent, but you need to stick with that,” he said.
At a time when teams are easily breaching the 350-run mark in the 50-over format, Pakistan has failed miserably.
A dot-ball disaster has hurt the team. In the tournament opener in Karachi, Pakistan failed to score off 161 deliveries. Against India in Dubai, the number was 147. This amounts to 50 per cent of all the balls Rizwan’s men have faced in the tournament thus far. Only Bangladesh (54.1 per cent) has an inferior dot-ball percentage. England has the lowest dot-ball percentage – 36.9.
With the batters struggling to rotate the strike freely, it made a huge difference. The team’s decision to play just one spinner in Dubai also came under scrutiny.
Coach Javed has blamed the debacle on inexperience. “On pitches where scores of over 300 are the norm, we didn’t put up a big score. Our big guns failed to fire. We have to improve overall and have consistency in every aspect. There has been a lot of upheaval in the Pakistan Cricket Board in recent times. You need to have consistency at the top, ensure that long-term policies continue,” he said.
But the question remains whether Pakistan can get out of the rut. Former international cricketer and a noted commentator Bazid Khan believes that the need of the hour is ‘to reset’. He referred to the England side, which overcame disappointments of the 2015 World Cup and went on to win the title four years later with coach Trevor Bayliss and captain Eoin Morgan working in tandem.
“We need to draw parallels to what they did,” Bazid told Sportstar. “We need to get everyone on board and plan for the future for at least three to four years. We need to identify how we want to approach our game in white-ball cricket and plan accordingly,” he added.
But for that to happen, Bazid believes it’s a must to ‘not have a revolving management, chief selector or chairmen’. “Every player needs backing, and they need to be given the assurance that despite regime changes, they will continue to have that backing. If that can be ensured, we can come up with a long-term plan and stability,” Bazid said.
Despite the team failing to qualify for the knockouts of an ICC event three times in a row, coach Javed wasn’t in favour of any hasty decisions. But the Champions Trophy debacle at home could eventually force the PCB to address the issue with an iron fist.