Following Pakistan’s splendid victory against India in the Bangladesh tri-nation series final last month, the expectations of cricket fans, naturally, were much higher for the ninth Asia Cup which was being held on Pakistan soil for the first time. And although the National Stadium Karachi never got jam-packed during the continental event, the home team supporters remained firmly behind Shoaib Malik and his men. However, the team’s unpredictable performance turned out to be devastating for them as Pakistan failed to reach the final.

The six-nation Asian gala, not being a very long tournament, witnessed the Pakistan camp making some tactical blunders which led to their ultimate ouster from a tournament for which they were joint favourites alongwith India and Sri Lanka.

Several steps taken during the Asia Cup by the Pakistan team management defied logic and Malik along with coach Geoff Lawson should be held primarily responsible for them. This is not to say that the rest of the team members are absolutely exempted either.

The same old opening woes and Malik’s ‘safety-first’ approach in his performance with the willow can be spotted as the main reasons behind Pakistan’s disastrous show on the home soil.

While not forgetting the fact that genuine pace bowlers Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul (ruled out of the Asia Cup with injury during the preliminary game against India) were not available for different reasons, the actual cause of the two losses against India and Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup was poor batting and not weak bowling.

It is virtually illusive to expect bowlers to prevent the opposition with solid batting arrays such as India and Sri Lanka from posting 280 to 300 under scorching heat on placid tracks. Of course, unless a skipper has a dream combination of fast bowlers like Imran Khan, Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram at his disposal, bowling out formidable teams is asking too much from the younger bowlers.

The preliminary game against India was squandered due to openers’ ultra-laidback start. Malik and Salman Butt, on a batting paradise, didn’t help Pakistan’s cause, mustering a measly 15 off the first eight overs (less than two runs per over) and touched 38-0 by the end of the 13th!

In the end, Pakistan did manage to give India a testing target of 300 but it was not enough as the result later proved. Malik’s century (125 retired hurt) was by no means fruitful as Pakistan were comprehensively beaten by Dhoni’s boys.

Prudence advocates quick and timely learning of lessons. However, the Pakistan captain, very unexpectedly, repeated the same mistake when he made a 79-ball 52 against a highly disciplined Sri Lankan bowling in the Super Four stage match which the home team lost.

Conversely, when Salman and the promising Nasir Jamshed gave their team an explosive start of 65 (off just eight overs) against India in the Super Four game, Pakistan romped home while chasing a huge target of 309 for victory.

The difference was nothing but aggression, which Pakistan had clearly lacked in the earlier games, thanks to Malik’s sketchy plan of action which eventually led to Pakistan’s demise.

Former Pakistan captain and manager of the 1992 World Cup-winning team, Intikhab Alam, commenting on Malik’s leadership in his customary polite yet straightforward way, said it was “very disappointing”. Besides that, he also termed the captain’s decision to field first in the Sri Lanka match as “absolutely wrong.”

The former skipper pointed out that the fear of losing makes some captains extra-defensive and the same appears to be the case with Shoaib Malik.

While emphasising that “basically, the Pakistanis were aggressive people” and that the national team had won quite a few games in the past through belligerent tactics, Intikhab proposed Misbah-ul-Haq as Malik’s successor, mainly for the former’s excellent batting record, his physical fitness and impressive educational background.

In response to a query regarding senior batsman Younis Khan’s candidature for the skipper’s position, Intikhab said it would not be wise to give the job to the rock-solid right-hander who, he said, should be allowed to keep excelling in the batting department.

It is a fact that things have not gone Pakistan’s way in the past year or so and a careful analysis into the lacklustre performances by the national squad shows that both Malik and Lawson are chiefly responsible for the mess.

The chop-and-change tactics in the batting order which have continued for the last four years, specially with the opening pair, has had a detrimental effect on the team as was amply evident during the Asia Cup matches.

Besides, Shahid Afridi who is a match-winner on his day, seems to have been barred from opening for Pakistan for reasons best known to the team management. His current lean patch with the bat could possibly be checked by allowing him to open in the ODIs where he could maul the bowling attacks early on due to on-field restrictions.

True that Younis, Misbah and Salman stood out in the Asia Cup, but the very average show of players such as Sohail Tanvir, Sarfraz Ahmed, Fawad Alam, Abdur Rauf, Saeed Ajmal, and Mohammad Yousuf should be perturbing for the Pakistan camp.

The ICC Champions Trophy is the next major assignment for Pakistan and unless the captain and the coach come up with an aggressive, attacking strategy for the upcoming challenge, one feels that the results will not be much different from those experienced in the Asia Cup.