THE mess continues.Another game, and another day of embarrassment.

Do Pakistan cricketers need a super computer to do a simple job? If they can’t chase a below moderate 120 in a T20 with experienced campaigners like Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan and Shadab Khan in their armoury, then why shouldn’t this team be called ‘minnows’? Why not. Playing 59 dot balls in 20 overs signifies a massive frailty!

World cricket has progressed to new levels while Pakistan for one reason or the other continue to play the catch-up game, rather they have alarmingly slid of late with no improvement in sight.

Zimbabwe stunned Pakistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup before a bubbling Afghanistan caught Babar’s men off guard in last year’s 50-over World Cup, and then the US intelligently shocked them in the ongoing World Cup at Dallas followed by the India game flop, which was the eighth loss for Pakistan to the arch-rivals in a T20 World Cup. When is this set of anomalies going to end? Will there ever be a visible and practical change, in the first place?

On featherbeds our batters smash heaps of runs, but droop on even slightly testing tracks. Yes, the surface at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on Sunday was not easy to bat but it was nowhere near unplayable. After all, losing the game from 80-3 in 15 overs while chasing 120 is unpardonable.

The Rohit Sharma-led India on the other hand showed in New York yesterday that they have better minds to carve out a victory, even on a tricky surface in an unfamiliar territory.

Talking of ‘unfamiliar territory’, Babar now needs to enlighten Pakistan fans as to which ‘edge’ or ‘advantage’ for the Green-shirts he was referring to before the India clash. The clumsy way Shadab the ‘batter’ fared on Sunday showed absolutely no signs that the all-rounder learned anything worthwhile during his seven-year international career. But perhaps 679 runs (averaging around 18 with the bat) in 102 T20 Internationals is still enough for the team management to keep him in the squad — to have an ‘edge’ over the opponents!

Pakistan had no batting plan, it seemed. Babar’s momentary tentativeness let him down, No.3 Usman Khan with no concrete technique crashed like a schoolboy and an unprofessional shot from Fakhar spoiled his positive intent and dented the team.

If Rizwan wants to play across the line to a pace spearhead at a vital moment, he should better take some crisp lessons from Australia’s David Warner, who is five years older than the Pakistan wicket-keeper. Both open in T20s, have some 100-odd games under their belt and look to dominate. And though Rizwan holds a far better T20 batting average than Warner, the yawning difference is of the class.

One reckons, there were some tactical mistakes by Pakistan as well. Sending Usman one-down on a highly unpredictable track and then Shaheen Shah Afridi coming in to bat above an exuberant Naseem Shah, who has proved his worth with the bat in a few crunch games, significantly lacked rationality. Babar, in his second stint as skipper, was duly expected to step up and show clear signs of upgrading, at least on major occasions. It was not to be, unfortunately.

For India, when mainstays Rohit and Virat Kohli failed with the bat Rishabh Pant in testing conditions took the mantle to craft a vital 42 off 31. No one in the Pakistan team managed to do this. Rizwan came close but a moment of madness destroyed everything.

After being bundled out for a scanty total, India found themselves lucky to have Jasprit Bumrah in their ranks who magnificently showcased his skills just when it was required.

The problems faced by Pakistan cricket are many which are heterogeneous in nature. First and foremost, the ridiculous selections of Shadab and Azam Khan for the ongoing World Cup have started unfolding at the global event.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi, after the India match, said, “It appears that we have to go for major surgery”.

“We need to now start looking at players beyond those in the team right now,” he added.

The question is: will the Mohsin-led regime, like many in the past, address the causes or just the symptoms? History shows the PCB, rather than planning shrewdly, has mostly taken reactive measures in haste after a major suffering.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2024