Pakistan began their World Cup 2023 campaign in India with an 81-run victory over the Netherlands on Friday — a result that seemed far more comfortable than it actually was.

Those who saw the match instead of only glancing at the final margin of victory would know that the performance was not convincing enough to inspire confidence in the Men in Green ahead of clashes with stronger opponents.

With Pakistan set to face Sri Lanka today, we have identified the main areas that demand the attention of the team’s think tank.

Top order

Pakistan’s opening pair has traditionally been a cause of concern heading into major ICC events, and the current tournament has been no different.

Against the Dutch in the World Cup opener, Pakistan’s opening duo of Fakhar Zaman and Imamul Haq mustered a mere 27 runs together, revealing a weakness that needs to be addressed immediately.

The openers’ no-show was erased against the Netherlands but it can prove a costly mistake against stronger adversaries in the upcoming matches starting today.

For context, in his last 10 innings, Zaman has managed a total score of a mere 156 runs, with his highest individual tally being 30 against Afghanistan — a clear sign of his recent struggles.

Similarly, Imam has accumulated just 289 runs in his last 10 innings, with his top score being 91 but that also coming against the Afghans.

It’s worth noting that the usually prolific duo’s dip in form has coincided with teams facing some formidable teams such as India, Australia and New Zealand — which is a worrying trend.

While the openers’ faltering isn’t a massive surprise, the recent form of Babar Azam too can be a cause of concern for the Pakistan faithful, since their captain had a disappointing end to the Asia Cup, scoring just 56 runs in Pakistan’s last three matches against Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka.

Then, against the Dutch, he scored just five runs from 18 balls at a strike rate of 27.77. This lacklustre showing from the team’s star batsman is both unexpected and disconcerting. Of course, King Babar can put to bed any question marks on his form with one single innings, it will be interesting to see if he can do that against a spin-heavy side like Sri Lanka.

The 2 Shas

With Naseem Shah out injured, Shaheen Shah Afridi is the undoubted pace spearhead while Shadab Khan is expected to be the key spinner.

Both were expected to have a field day against the Netherlands but neither did, with both picking a wicket each. The fact that two star bowlers struggled to make an impact against a relatively weak side should be a concern.

Dot balls galore

Experts say that when wickets are tumbling and boundaries are hard to come by, the most effective strategy is to seek singles and doubles.

The key here is to effectively rotate the strikes as an excessive number of dot balls can eventually heap pressure and potentially lead to more damage — a scenario quite often seen in some of the famous Pakistan defeats, including the 2011 Mohali semi-final against India.

In the match against the Netherlands, Pakistan had 130 dot balls, indicating a lack of counter strategy in the face of wickets going down. For the team to not score anything on 43 per cent of its quote of overs did not matter much against the Dutch, but it could against better opponents.

The net run rate factor

In big tournaments, winning matches is undoubtedly crucial, but getting those Ws along with an impressive run rate holds can also prove important later on.

Pakistan managed to restrict the Dutch to 205 runs while defending 286, but they could have ended the game a lot sooner.

At one point, the Dutch had lost nine wickets for just 184 runs, and this is one Pakistan bowlers appeared to take their foot off the gas.

The last two Dutch batters were allowed to add 21 runs — primarily through boundaries — which could have been prevented had Pakistan been more ruthless.

Minor details such as these can define the character of a team and separate championship material from mere contenders.