State of no play

Pakistan’s shocking eight-wicket defeat against Afghanistan in a crucial game of the Cricket World Cup in Chennai on Monday has diminished the national team’s hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals of the ten-nation contest. The embarrassing loss – Pakistan’s third in a row following defeats against arch-rivals India and Australia – has left Babar Azam and his men in almost a must-win situation in all their remaining four World Cup games. Three of them are against top flight teams – New Zealand, South Africa and India. The fact that they were convincingly beaten by the Afghans puts some doubt on even their prospects of beating Bangladesh. Things have really spiralled for the Pakistanis, who began the World Cup with back-to-back wins against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka in the south Indian city of Hyderabad.

Pakistan might still be hopeful of a last-four place but there is little cause for any optimism. Pakistan’s bowling which was supposed to be their biggest strength has failed to fire in the ongoing tournament. The way Afghanistan’s top-order dominated Pakistan’s seemingly toothless attack in a chase of 283 was painful for any Pakistani fan to watch. Pakistan’s fielding has been awful and while the batters have scored runs, they haven’t really been able to tear apart any of the attacks they have faced so far. Babar’s captaincy has come under intense criticism and with valid reason. He has failed to prove himself as the sort of determined and fearless leader a team needs to go all the way in a demanding and high-profile contest like the World Cup. But Pakistan’s problems go deeper than what were visible in their three losses.

There was lack of proper planning in the lead-up to the World Cup. There have been too many fitness problems with pace star Naseem Shah exiting at the last minute due to injury. It was clear that the cricket authorities failed to manage the players’ workload. There was a big question mark over the form of spinner Shadab Khan while Usama Mir wasn’t given enough games going into the World Cup. One can safely say Pakistan didn’t select their best 15 men for the all-important assignment. Almost all leading contenders came to the World Cup with reliable pinch-hitters in bid to exploit the flat tracks in India. Pakistan, it seems, didn’t get the memo. However, the post-mortem can wait. Pakistan are still alive, though they have landed themselves in deep trouble. The team needs to quickly shrug off Monday’s loss and be ready to give its best in the coming games. Whether it will be able to do that remains to be seen.