THAT doubting Thomases can no more be silenced in wake of Pakistan quarter-final debacle, it was reckless batting, poor fielding and wrong playing XI selection which played pivotal roles in the greenshirts’ early exit from the World Cup.

Although Pakistan were no favourites before the mega event got under way on Feb 14, our batsmen could have brightened the chance by producing quality performances. But it has always been hope against hope when it comes to expecting from Pakistan batsmen whose procession of wickets never stopped in the World Cup particularly against more refined teams like Australia and India. And the irony is that they lost their valuable wickets most of the time when they were settled down. Alas, the willowers never shown professional attitude. Had they did so, Pakistan chance in the World Cup would have been still intact.

Many sitters were dropped which besides discouraging bowlers who clicked most of the times also shown the team’s hollowness in the fielding department. Pacers Wahab Riaz and injury-prone Mohammad Irfan and Rahat Ali did their job well but a win always need contributions from all departments.

Poor playing IX selection which was the last straw that broke the camel’s back led to preferment of out-of-form opener Nasir Jamshed over the in-form wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed in the first four matches which led to the early disastrous performances particularly against India and the West Indies. Picking and dropping of middle-order batman Younis Khan and keeping at bay young leg-spinner Yasir Shah and taking no notice of the out-of-form Shahid Afridi were all the blunders in selecting the playing XI which led to our World Cup debacle. Moreover, middle-order batsmen Umar Akmal, Sohaib Maqsood and Haris Sohail also failed on many occasions to hit big knocks despite making good start.

Misbah-ul-Haq’s men had started the extravaganza with back-to-back defeats, first at the hands of arch-rivals India by a big margin of 76 and then surprisingly went down to a rather weak West Indies side by a big margin of 150 runs. But from thereon, the team clicked but not before the Pakistan Cricket Board called back chief selector Moin Khan from Australia in the backdrop of casino scandal.

Pakistan rose to the occasion, defeating Zimbabwe by a narrow margin of 20 runs and then the UAE by a big margin of 129 runs and the greenshirts reached peak when they toppled a rather strong South Africa side by 29 runs after a close fight. Maintaining the unbeaten run, Pakistan achieved a milestone by recording the fourth consecutive win in the World Cup when they ousted Ireland from the World Cup in the last pool match to finish third in their pool B behind India and South Africa.

There were ifs and buts about Pakistan chances even for the last eight after losing to India and the West Indies. However, even after qualifying for the last eight, after getting 3rd position in the pool, Pakistan ran into more difficulties when it emerged that the quarter-final was against mighty Aussies. The pundits banking on Pakistan performances in the last four matches were expecting a miracle against Australia, too. But nothing of that sort happened as Australia completed a clinical six-wicket defeat to send Pakistan back home despite the heroics of Wahab Riaz who excelled with the ball and put Australian batsmen under tremendous pressure, especially all-rounder Shane Watson.

Only captain Misbah among batsmen has some reasons to celebrate as he emerged top scorer for Pakistan with aggregate of 350 runs besides securing seventh position in top ten batsmen of the event after the match against Australia. Though the second best is Ahmed Shehzad with aggregate 227 runs, the opener’s fine knocks came against lowly-ranked teams with Umar, Sohaib, Haris, Afridi and Nasir all failing to play their due roles.

Sarfraz who became victim of wrong selection before being tested in just last three matches showed guts as aggressive batsman. As opener he not only gave a lesson to other batmen by scoring an outstanding 49 runs knock in his first match against South Africa, he also cracked century against Ireland, the only ton made by any Pakistani in this World Cup.

Some brilliant performances to make their last event a memorable one were expected from the senior pros like Misbah and Afridi who have already announced their retirement. Though Misbah fought well, Afridi remained a total failure both with the bat and ball. He took just two wickets and that too against the lowly-ranked UAE.

Opener Ahmed Shehzad’s performances should be analysed keenly, for he lost his composures on several occasions, though he finished as second best run-getter from Pakistan with his only fine knock coming against a strong team in India scoring 47. Also, the way he threw his wicket in the match was surprising. His knocks against lowly-rated UAE of 93 and Ireland 63 were his only prominent performance but his poor batting against Australia (5), South Africa (18), West Indies (1), and Zimbabwe (0) exposed him as a non-consistent batsman.

Umar also disappointed his fans as his only key knock was against the West Indies scoring 59 runs with the middle-order batsman failing to score any big knock against India (0), Zimbabwe (33), the UAE (21), South Africa (13), Ireland (20) and Australia (20).

Both Haris and Sohaib need to hone their skill to transform their innings into a bigger one after being settled down. Otherwise, they will have question marks over their batting credentials. Haris’ only good knock was against the UAE scoring 70 as he failed to cash in on the opportunities of hitting big knocks despite being settled down against India 36, Australia 41 and Zimbabwe 27. He made just three and seven against Ireland and the West Indies, respectively while there were reports that he decided not to play against South Africa on the match day on fitness ground.

Nasir Jamshed who played first four matches was also a total failure as his career carries huge question marks with the opener getting regular chances against India (0), West Indies (0), Zimbabwe (1) and the UAE (4).

Published in Dawn March 23rd , 2015

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