Comment: No accountability as Pakistan continues to sink deeper in ODIs

Published April 24, 2015
Bangladesh’s first-ever whitewash of Pakistan can be described in just one word: clinical. — AFP/file
Bangladesh’s first-ever whitewash of Pakistan can be described in just one word: clinical. — AFP/file

Pakistan never expected Bangladesh to be doing to them what they had done to the Tigers in their previous encounters in bilateral One-day International series. Bangladesh’s first-ever whitewash of Pakistan can be described in just one word: clinical.

Such was the dominance of Mashrafe Mortaza’s side in all three games at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka that one felt the ‘new-look’ Pakistan team was confronting either one of Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, India or Sri Lanka and certainly not Bangladesh, who for many years were the favourite whipping boys of every opposing team they played against.

Read: 3-0: Bangladesh inflict historic whitewash on helpless Pakistan

But it was a resurgent and transformed Bangladesh that Pakistan countered this time. Young Azhar Ali was thrown in at the deep end of his maiden venture as Pakistan’s 26th ODI captain. Poor Azhar was left to face the music all by himself as his team-mates betrayed his faith in them throughout these three matches.

As the leader of the pack, Azhar can’t be entirely faulted for the latest debacle that the beleaguered head coach Waqar Younis had to taste following one-day series losses to Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand. The Black Caps, in fact, won both series against Pakistan prior to the World Cup.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has already expressed their ‘deep’ concern at the deplorable show of the players employed with them. Chairman Shaharyar Mohammad Khan normally is known for his prudent behaviour but the former diplomat must be perturbed at the alarming rate at which Pakistan cricket has deteriorated in recent months.

Till now we have no clue what the high-profiled review group, formed to inquest Pakistan’s failed campaign at the 2015 World Cup, is up to. The likes of Messrs Shaharyar, Najam Sethi, Subhan Ahmed, Iqbal Qasim and Wasim Bari reportedly got together for the first meeting in Lahore on April 3 for just 15 minutes and since then nobody knows what is actually brewing on that front.

Despite widespread criticism following the Bangla-wash and the same old blame game, there is no chance of any drastic measure in the offing from the PCB. Like the World Cup committee eyewash, the fall in Dhaka will also died a natural death as it is customary in Pakistan cricket. Long gone are the days when a loss at cricket was deeply mourned.

Quite remarkably, Pakistan’s four defeats — add to this total Wasim Akram’s famous quote of happily losing to ‘our brothers’ during the skipper’s post-match TV interview at the 1999 World Cup dead-rubber game at Northampton — do not matter much since they boast of a healthy track record: 31 wins in 35 matches against Bangladesh since 1986.

In a series of three or more matches, Pakistan’s latest all-loss capitulation is their ninth — with five of them coming in the 21st Century — compared to 17 whitewashes they have completed over their opponents. Bangladesh’s memorable clean sweep is their seventh overall but in contrast to this golden feat, the Tigers have been blanked 24 times in a one-day rubber.

Bangladesh’s dominating performance is a direct opposition to what they had gone through during their only full tour of Pakistan in 2003 when Dav Whatmore was their coach. After a heartbreaking defeat by one wicket in the Multan Test, which made headlines for Inzamam-ul-Haq’s career-saving undefeated 138, to give Pakistan a 3-0 win, Bangladesh suffered one humiliation after another in the five-match ODI rubber.

Pakistan rode on Yasir Hameed’s 116 to draw the first blood in Multan by 137 runs before Yousuf Youhana (as Mohammad Yousuf was known then) struck 106 in a 74-run success in Faisalabad. Bangladesh then lost by 42 runs in a rain-affected third game in Lahore after their target was revised to 244 from 44 overs.

Yousuf snatched the fourth match from Bangladesh in Rawalpindi with an undefeated 94 in a five-wicket win on the penultimate ball of the game. The tourists then fell short by 58 runs in the final fixture of the tour in Karachi.

Right through that series of Tests and one-dayers, Whatmore was often heard speaking about Bangladesh’s game-plan at the media conferences but each time he was left fuming by his charges not adhering to his words. One moment that comes to mind was during the second ODI at the Iqbal Stadium where Whatmore almost vented his anger on a group of journalists when the ex-Australian batsman was asked what had happened to his so-called game-plan.

Waqar must have felt the same way as Whatmore did a few years ago. His World Cup report widely accepted and he was given leeway by the PCB who opted against picking ‘bad’ guys such as Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal for the Bangladesh one-dayers.

But what must Waqar explain to the nation as to why Pakistan were so poor compared to their rivals. At no time did they look to be in a dominating position, barring perhaps in Wednesday’s last match when Azhar and Haris Sohail were threatening to take their team to its first 300-plus total of the series.

In the post-Misbah era, things are looking horribly gloomy at the moment but there are signs of promise with Mohammad Rizwan and Sami Aslam impressing enough to merit backing for future series. However, the complete failure of experienced players such as Mohammad Hafeez and Fawad Alam is bound open a fresh debate.

With Friday’s one-off Twenty20 International coming as a relief of some sort with Shahid Afridi back to lead Pakistan in this format, the painful defeats — by 79 runs, seven wickets and eight wickets — in the one-dayers will haunt Pakistan forever as their ship sank in the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday evening.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2015

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