PAKISTAN’S outside chance of qualification for the next stage of the T20 World Cup remained very much an outside chance after a steady and distinctly unspectacular victory over group minnows Canada. The win didn’t really help Pakistan’s net run rate, which is their only chance of qualification.

Other results must go Pakistan’s way. Babar Azam’s team must beat Ireland by a distance, India must beat USA, and USA must lose to Ireland. The last of these seems the most unlikely to happen given the poor form of Ireland.

India can help by soundly thrashing USA, but the New York pitch is a sticky low scoring one and why would India want to help Pakistan in any case. The final placings will then be decided on net run rate. If any of these matches is rained off, Pakistan will be out. Rain is indeed predicted.

In these circumstances, it is quite hard to be excited about the Canada result. We didn’t learn much about Pakistan that we didn’t know except that patience with Iftikhar Ahmed seems to have run out, and that the selection panel don’t see a T20 spin bowler in Abrar Ahmed. They don’t see one either in Shadab Khan, who retained a batting slot, but it will be interesting to see how long that experiment lasts.

Despite sprinkling their performances with frustrating lapses, Pakistan’s pace attack is coming to the fore. The nature of the New York pitch suits Naseem Shah’s natural length, a lenght to which Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi have also attempted to adapt. But it is Mohammad Amir who has most benfited from the conditions on Long Island, making the four-pronged attack a real asset.

Imad Wasim has ably supported with his unorthodox spin bowling. The loop, the angle, the subtle swing, make run scoring difficult. Pakistan are just beginning to remember what it was like to have five main bowlers capable of controlling an innings. Whether they can continue that form on a less helpful wicket is yet to be seen. But for the first time in a while, the bowling attack looks settled and effective. Keeping India to 119, regardless of the nature of the pitch, was a big confidence boost.

Even as the bowling begins to convince, the batting remains unconvincing. Saim Ayub, a player that many Pakistan fans would wish to succeed, continues to struggle to make any kind of substantial score. The situation is so desperate that we’d a take a quick 20. Once again, he bombed out, bringing Mohammad Rizwan and Babar back together to marshall the chase.

On one level, the chase was entirely effective. It was done with Pakistan in full control, despite losing three wickets. Rizwan scored another fifty. Babar chipped in. But on another level, the it was entirely unconvincing, even on a difficult pitch. The same people failed again, Saim and Fakhar Zaman. The chase was entirely dependent on Babar and Rizwan. There was little acceleration, just a slow plod to victory. Worst of all, Pakistan continued their abject demonstration of shot execution. When the batsmen try to push the score along, they often get out. Their isn’t enough consistent hitting from any one player.

If there is one thing that keeps the Pakistani coach awake at night, it is surely this: why are Pakistan so inconsistent in their hitting ability? Why are the same players who thrash the ball out of sight in the nets and the Pakistan Super League, paper tigers on the international stage?

The answer lies beyond what is happening in this tournament and the power of the coach. Batting, more than bowling, is the product of the cricket system. The deterioration in Pakistan’s batting is mirrored by the deterioration in the cricket system. Developing a world class batsman is a complex affair. India’s production line of batsmen is not a consequence of the IPL. It is down to the investments made to develop players in first class cricket.

Pakistan has decimated whatever first class structure it had, and put all its eggs in the hubristic basket of the PSL. The sad truth, however, is that T20 cricket alone does not a T20 cricketer make. Wasim Akram regularly says this of Haris, but it is even more true of the batsmen. The talent is there in Pakistan, undoubtedly so with a population of over 200 million, but the the talent isn’t there at international level because of a failure of infrastructure and player development.

For now, Pakistan live to fight another day, with their hopes in tact. But when you judge what you see on the pitch, especially in the batting department, it can only be a matter of time before this US odyssey earns Babar’s team a long haul flight home.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2024