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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Pakistan face possible banana peel in Abu Dhabi

By Khalid Hussain
September 21, 2018

DUBAI: A day after suffering an eight-wicket thrashing at the hands of old rivals India, Pakistan would need to survive a possible banana peel when they take on spirited Afghanistan in their Super Fours match of the Asia Cup on Friday (today).

Afghanistan are in the Super Fours at the expense of former champions Sri Lanka and the way they are playing, Pakistan might face some anxious moments in today’s game to be played at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Cricket Stadium.

Pakistan panicked in Wednesday’s game against India and were bowled out for just 162. Under pressure, their bowlers were also unable to rise to the challenge as the Pakistanis crashed to a morale-shattering defeat.

Thankfully for Pakistan, the result was inconsequential as far as their progress in the six-nation contest is concerned as they had already qualified for the Super Fours.

But they can’t afford such glitches in the Super Fours which begin today with Pakistan taking on Afghanistan and India clashing with Bangladesh in Dubai.

Pakistanis would need to raise their game to avoid any unpleasant surprise against the Afghans, who have time and again proved that they have this ability of punching above their weight. Just recently, they knocked Sri Lanka out with a commanding 91-run triumph to qualify for the business end of the Asia Cup.

Pakistan will go into the game with a number of concerns.Their openers flopped miserably against India with both Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq throwing away their wickets after beginning the innings at a snail’s pace.

In the lead up to the Asia Cup, Pakistan had pinned most of their hopes in the big-hitting prowess of Fakhar, the man who smashed a match-winning ton in the ICC Champions Trophy match against India in England last year.

But the left-hander is yet to fire in this contest. Even against Hong Kong, whom Pakistan beat comfortably by eight wickets, Fakhar was unable to really take the bowlers to sword. Against India he was completely out of his element.

The seasoned Shoaib Malik and the prolific Babar Azam chipped in with useful contributions against India but neither of them could convert it into the sort of big innings that Pakistan so desperately required.

Sarfraz Ahmed, Pakistan’s captain, has been under fire over his failure to marshal his troops against India. His performance with the bat also came under scrutiny.But the biggest question that Pakistan really need to answer right away is what to do with Mohammad Amir?

Potentially Pakistan’s best bowler, Amir has, in recent times, mostly been a shadow of his past self. His inability to strike is hurting Pakistan. Even though Junaid Khan is anxiously waiting for his chance, Pakistan have so far persisted with Amir.

The 26-year-old Amir, who ripped through India’s top’s top order to play a key role in Pakistan’s Champions trophy triumph, hasn’t taken a single wicket in his last four ODI outings. And those include three matches against minnows – two against Zimbabwe and one against Hong Kong (in the ongoing Asia Cup).

Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach has admitted that Amir’s wicketless run is a cause for concern but he hinted at retaining him by stressing that the left-armer “bowled really well” against India.

While the Pakistanis are mulling over such tricky issues, Afghanistan must be hoping for another giant-killing act.They have been on a roll in recent times and should be able to give Pakistan a run for their money.Meanwhile, in Dubai today Bangladesh would be looking to upset India in what promises to be a tough encounter.

The start of the Super Fours should bring more intensity to the contest. According to the format, each team plays the other three teams once in the Super 4 stage. The two teams with the most number of wins advance to the final, scheduled for September 28. In case of a tie, Net Run Rate comes into play, in case the NRR is equal, then the team that has won the head to head advances, and finally if two teams are tied on all these counts, then a draw of lots is used to break the tie.