Latest defeat sparks Pakistan’s World Cup fears
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KARACHI: Former cricket greats said on Sunday they fear Pakistan’s one-day defeat in Sri Lanka will hurt preparations for the World Cup just five months away.
Pakistan were beaten by seven wickets in the third and final One-day International against Sri Lanka in Dambulla on Saturday after being bowled for a mere 102, losing the three-match series 2-1.
They also lost the preceding two-match Test series 2-0.
Ramiz Raja, who took the catch that won Pakistan the 1992 World Cup, criticised preparations for next year’s tournament.
“I don’t think team’s preparations for the World Cup are in the right direction,” the former skipper said. “We need to find new talent if we want to succeed.
“It seems our batsmen have forgotten how to stay at the wicket and no one has consistency in his performance.”
Former captain Rashid Latif said the one-day defeat would hurt World Cup preparations.
“The Pakistan Cricket Board relied on old players for the last two years in their preparations for the World Cup and they simply don’t trust young players — and that’s why our [performance] graph is going down with every series,” he said.
Rashid said he feared Misbah-ul-Haq, appointed captain until the World Cup, would come under pressure.
“I think Misbah’s future is in doubt. He didn’t perform in seven innings of the tour and his captaincy was defensive,” Rashid said about the one-day and Test captain.
Misbah managed just 67 in two Tests and as many runs in three one-day matches.
Pakistan next play a Twenty20 International, two Tests and three One-day Internationals against Australia in the United Arab Emirates in October, before taking on New Zealand in three Tests, five one-dayers and two T20s.
“Maybe Shahid Afridi will replace Misbah as one-day captain,” said Rashid.
Another former captain, Mohammad Yousuf, also criticised Misbah’s captaincy.
“If the captaincy remained with Misbah you can’t expect improvement in results,” said Yousuf. “I think it is imperative we have Afridi as captain.”
Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2014
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Comments (39) Closed
Sep 01, 2014 06:29am
It appears they can/should only play with Zimbabwe. This team is going down day by day, can they qualify for 2015 world cup?
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Sep 01, 2014 06:40am
No Afridi as captain. Retain Misbah and get rid of all Khatmals from any form of Cricket, get rid of Hafeez, Sharjeel, and maybe even Afidi as he is creating rift in the team. Bring new talent asap.
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Sep 01, 2014 08:03am
It was commented by a former Pak cricketer that Pakistan can only win against Zimbabwe who has beaten Australia recently. One wonders if Pakistan can beat even Zimbabwe now.
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Sep 01, 2014 08:29am
Don't expect miracles even if Afridi succeeds Misbah.
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Sep 01, 2014 08:49am
There is a sheer lack of consistency, experience and confidence in Pakistan team. They cannot contain pressure and if this performance continued, I suspect it would be difficult for Pakistan to even think of qualifying for quarter finals in world cup. In most of the recent one day matches, we saw our team getting all out within 35 overs.
The current disappointing performance demonstrates how ill-prepared we are for the upcoming world cup!
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Sep 01, 2014 09:02am
ha ha.. and wat great shahid afridi has done in past 02 years.. ? Miasbah as a player has performed better..
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Sep 01, 2014 09:04am
Misbah can still bat but he is useless as a Captain.
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Sep 01, 2014 09:21am
Sir,
A few batsmen of Pakistan's under 19 side have performed very well in Australia and should be selected in senior side to groom them for the world cup.
Any other cricket board would have chosen Sarfaraz Ahmed who has successfully captained the under 19 team as captain of their national team but one cannot expect such smart move from Pakistan cricket board!!!
Regards
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Sep 01, 2014 09:47am
There was a time when I was a staunch supporter of Misbah. I figured it was a matter of time before he steadies the ship (a series or two) but now we're more than 2 years into his tenure and Pakistan cricket at it's lowest point. Not only is Pakistan losing, but we're losing badly.
Our naturally attacking batsmen, go out to the pitch and play like cowards. Majority of our batsmen and have adopted a "weather the storm" mentality. Half centuries (as rare as they might be) are scored with abysmal strike rates. Players who actually play fearless cricket are cut and completely under appreciated (case in point: Sarfraz Ahmed and Fawad Alam).
Is Afridi the answer? How can we expect anything different from a man who plays the most idiotic and selfish cricket we've ever seen anyone play? The guy fires once in a blue moon and our idiotic media and clueless fans place him on a pedestal like he can walk on water.
If we want our team to play at a higher level, then we as fans must hold ourselves at a higher standard. We must forgo these amateur notions of relying on past heroes and must acquire, nurture and appreciate new talent. Players like Shoaib Maqsood, Fawad Alam and Sarfraz Ahmed MUST be made regulars into our team.
Our players, coaches and selectors need to grow up and hold themselves accountable. We are Pakistanis. We are cornered tigers. It's about time we started acting like it.
Pakistan Zindabad.
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Sep 01, 2014 09:55am
This team lacks-match temperament, application, acumen for shot selection, and a rear commodity called common sense.
I am not an expert so i will not talk about the technical side of the thing.
In my opinion, they will be back before Semi-finals. Unless other teams end up in hospital with upset stomach we should not expect any miracles.
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Sep 01, 2014 09:56am
To get to the WC finals, leadership change is required. Sarfraz should be the ODI wicket keeper.
Need a right arm fast bowler like Ehsan Adil. Selectors also have to look for good young fast bowler all rounder.
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Sep 01, 2014 10:38am
i think we should give captaincy to Shahid Afridi'. At least he had shown some good performance in last world cup. And please replace Umar Akmal and Misbah.
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Sep 01, 2014 10:43am
Well, i think, this defeats will serve well to prepare for World Cup. Learning from mistakes!! I am surprised by Rameez's comments. How can new and young talent suddenly start performing in World Cup? Don't they need some exposure? Besides, I think, there is nothing wrong with present set up. Losing on SL spinning track does not tell us anything. Australia losing to Zimbabwe does not mean they are finished and will not be able to perform during the WC at home.
In fact, its the young talent which puts us down due to their inconsistent performance. The scenario is very much like 1992. Both Imran and Javed played the role of stability in the middle order, because our openers were, as usual, inconsistent. The lower order batsmen need last 10 overs to hit out. But, then someone needs to play the first 40 overs. I think, the stable batsmen in the group are only 3. They are Misbah, Younis and Azher. They need to get rotated and pray that openers play well and lower order bats hard. Good Luck for world cup!! I have confidence in bowling attack. No problem.
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Sep 01, 2014 12:26pm
Solutions can be broadly classified into 3 parts :
1) Remove Misbah from captainship because he is not aggressive but retain him as a player; 2) Install Afridi as a caption with mix of old and new players; 3) Induct all new players
including a young new captain. First & Second choices were tried with no good result. Why not try third option this time ?
In my opinion, same set of players can do miracles. They need encouragement and not criticism all the time. SL team is superior in both formats as per ICC rankings and so loss to a superior team is not a matter of shame. Moreover, SL had added advantage of playing in home pitch. Internal turmoil also have impacted player's confidence.
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Sep 01, 2014 12:29pm
Misbah can still bat without being captain but mostly he failed to win matches with the help of his bating.
Afridi can remain still in team as a fielder and bowler but dont rely on this batting.
We need fresh talent and courageous captain.
Our bowling department is now too weaker.
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Sep 01, 2014 12:33pm
Misbah should be retained as Captain. No Captain option is there in team. Afridi is also over his expiry date
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Sep 01, 2014 01:02pm
nothing will happen. I will not be surprised if one of the akmal bridari may be given captaincy for their great service to Pak Cricket over the past few years. and all are on board for the coming world cup..... on a serious note, afridi lacks the temperament and maturity to lead the side once again....age is catching up with misbah ... believe yunus khan be given the responsibility with no excess baggage.... give him a young side ... have one coach and manager... captain should be involved in team selection process and final playing 11 ... he should be the boss both on and off field.....
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Sep 01, 2014 01:39pm
Most of the greats themselves were pretty inconsistent in their time, apart from Rashid Latif. Rameez Raja is a useless expert, he seems to be on payroll of Umar Akmal. I am thinking of gifting Rameez Raja with a prayer bead with "Umar Akmal very talented" on each bead. I am sure that will soothe him down and probably result in less praise for Umar Akmal's so called "talent".
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Sep 01, 2014 01:42pm
Now,the ex players like Yousuf and Rashid should open their eyes and admit that Misbah carried the burdon of batting alone in the last few years because once he has not scored in the current series the team flopped.
Afridi does not deserveven a place in the side and these old guards are talking about making him the captain. Shame on Rashid and Yousuf for making political comments on Misbah,s captaincy.
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Sep 01, 2014 02:26pm
best solution is that pakistn should play IPL...so that they know what is the pressure and how to outperform
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Sep 01, 2014 02:43pm
@M1968 partially agree. Hafeez and Sharjeel should be out immediately. Afridi will be useful as abowler on Australia bouncy wickets. Or bring a good leg break bowler.
Also gutsy Sarfraz deserves place in ODI eleven immediately. Series against talented and professional Srilankans was an eye opener. We have couple of series to build up for WC.
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Sep 01, 2014 03:33pm
Zimbabwe defeated Australia yesterday!!
We cant even say that now with absolute certainty.
Hafeez should either be fine tuned or kicked out of the squad because he has a clear conflict of interest here..
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Sep 01, 2014 05:05pm
I am thinking if there was any qualifying round in WC...will we succeed in that...am pretty doubtfull
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Sep 01, 2014 06:31pm
The ultra defensive captaincy is hurting Pakistan badly, and It is not just defensive captaincy and approach, but inability to take right decisions at right time like changing bating order, managing bowlers, handling the field, favoritism. I am expecting the return of Aizaz Cheema as waqar is back, because he was his favorite useless, spineless bowler. Bye Bye WC 2015.
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Sep 01, 2014 07:12pm
Sorry Chippa even you can't play with Zimbabwe they are superior to pakistan team, already defeated Pakistan in test last night defeated Aus.
It better ICC should ask Pakistan to play Qualifying tournament with minos there also chances are bleak
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Sep 01, 2014 08:45pm
I think we have kept our expectations too high for a mediocre team of Pakistan cricket team. Quite recently we seem to have a set where are all required coaches started their jobs in order to build the team again. We must know that sometimes it takes years to build a winning squad, specially in a country that lacks a system of school and college level cricket.
If anyone claims team will play predictably well, is very innocent.
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Sep 01, 2014 08:54pm
We have already relied on tested coaches and players for a period long enough... cricket is a game of mindset and it can't be developed with existing players... please get rid of so called talented players such as Umar Akmal etc. FOREVER... Coaches should work with domestic players to change their mindset first before they start their international career. And also keep in mind a coach may not always be a test player with a HUGE track record.
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Sep 01, 2014 10:07pm
PCB need to consider if the 10 member support team is helping team to get better or worse. It is high time to change the captain. Pakistan should have three separate teams for ODI, T-20 and Tests. Only a few top players be allowed to play in two formats like Saeed Ajmal and Afridi. But no one should be allowed to play all the three formats.
Captain, Coach and Selectors should go back to basics. The selection criteria should be:
2 x specialist openers.
1 x specialized wicket-keeper
1 x all rounder
2 spinners
2 x fast bowlers
3 x middle order batsmen
If any of the batsmen can bowl it will be bonus like Hafeez or Fawad Alam or if any of the bowler can bat it will be a plus like Afridi and Anwar Ali. There should be a middle order batsman who can stay under crisis situation.
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Sep 02, 2014 01:14am
So it means we have already admitted Defeat in the "World Cup"?
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Sep 02, 2014 04:05am
Imran kha should make a comeback
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Sep 02, 2014 05:25am
very soon, these 11 players will join the 11 from hockey and we will have to lament the past how great our team once used to be.
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Sep 02, 2014 05:46am
The post-mortem, blame game, hand wringing and promise to reform after every debacle; be it England, South Africa or Mohali. We have seen it all before. A defeat in the World Cup 2015 is all but certain. Why? Because the team, as usual, will not be selected on merit. A cruel reckless joke being played time after time on the hopes and longings of millions upon millions of Pakistanis who love cricket. it is like sending painters and journalists to the hospital emergency room instead of surgeons to perform brain surgery. What would you then expect but disaster.
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Sep 02, 2014 05:49am
Make Younis khan captain of odi till the world cup. Get rid of shurjeel, hafeez and misbah. Younis is the best option and he has t20 world cup under his belt. We dot have enouh time left for world cup and changing captain is the best option. Misbah is old and defensive , plzz dont rely on this old Horse. He will retre after the word cup, why not retire him now.
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Sep 02, 2014 10:30am
Lack of consistency so appoint Afridi as captain! What a joke. Afridi played two balls on the first they dropped the catch on the second he again gave the catch which they accepted. Such is Afridi's consistency and responsive behavior. Pakistan deserve such a player indeed.
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Sep 02, 2014 11:47am
shahid should be captain .he made pakistan into semis in 2011. misbah in his champions trophy last all the matches.
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Sep 02, 2014 11:49am
plz pcb
make shahid as captain
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Sep 02, 2014 11:51am
misbah is very defensive captain
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Sep 02, 2014 05:47pm
Yes, they are 100 percent right but who cares in the corridors of power at PCB led by 35-puncture episode drama king?
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Sep 03, 2014 01:49am
Afridi is the root cause of the disaster . As he is more of politician than team player .He is instigating players and creating group wise environment. PCB wake up .
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