What the hell happened in Adelaide?

Is this the best we can do against our fiercest rivals? That’s the question Pakistan’s cricket think-tank needs to ask itself in the wake of yet another embarrassing World Cup defeat against India.
Pakistan’s 76-run loss in their World Cup opener at the Adelaide Oval might not be the end of the world for them considering that the 14-nation contest has just rolled into action.
But it has exposed the many chinks in Pakistan’s armour and unless they overcome their various weaknesses the Green-shirts might even find it difficult to get through to the knockout stage of the tournament.
The rot for Pakistan begins at the top.
The main culprits behind the Adelaide debacle are the men at the helm of Pakistan cricket.
Pakistan should have planned well after their team succumbed in the 2011 World Cup semi-final against India in Mohali. But four years went down the drain as Pakistan’s cricket chiefs showed little interest in long-term planning and were instead busy in an ugly power tussle.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) did precious little to raise a team strong enough to not just conquer India but to regain the world title.
Among the steps it did take were the appointment of former stars Waqar Younis, Moin Khan and Mushtaq Ahmed. The trio are effectively in charge of Pakistan’s World Cup campaign and they should share the blame for Sunday’s morale-shattering defeat.
One expected better strategy from Waqar and a stronger playing eleven from Moin, who is part of the touring party despite getting axed as team manager.
There have been countless times in international cricket when we have seen that makeshift options seldom work. But Pakistan went with Younis Khan as makeshift opener and entrusted the butter-fingered Umar Akmal with wicket-keeping duties and that too for an all-important game against India.
I support the tour selection committee’s decision to pick Younis in the playing eleven but asking him to open the innings wasn’t a great idea. Younis has been struggling with the conditions Down Under and should have batted a bit down the order. He has opened a few times in the past without much success.
Umar, too, was bound to drop catches and he did offer a reprieve to Virat Kohli. The Indian star went on to hit a match-winning ton.
Pakistan’s decision to play Yasir Shah also backfired. It was an unwise move considering that the Indians tackle spin well. Kohli and Suresh Raina had a ball facing Yasir on a run-filled Adelaide wicket and made full use of the shorter boundaries. Pakistan should have played one more pacer.
Just like Waqar and Moin, Mushtaq was also a failure considering that the Indians took the match away from Pakistan by milking their two main spinners – Yasir and Shahid Afridi. The spin duo bowled eight overs apiece and gave away 60 and 50 runs respectively without taking a single wicket. That’s a 110 runs from 16 mostly middle overs. In comparison the Indian duo of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja bowled 18 overs and picked a wicket each after giving away a total of 97 runs.
Both Waqar and Moin are shrewd, modern-day cricketers which is why such faulty decision-making that has been coming out of the Pakistani dressing room is bound to raise eyebrows.
Pakistan need to rebound, fast.
Their next game is against a largely depleted West Indian side in Christchurch next Saturday. Pakistan cannot afford to misfire against the Caribbean outfit because another loss in a pool game will make their job of reaching the quarters unnecessarily tricky. Then there is the issue of where we finish in our group. A third or fourth place in the pool is likely to place Pakistan against either of the two co-hosts Australia and New Zealand in the quarters. That would be tantamount to an early flight back home which is why Pakistan should keep pushing for a top-two finish in their group which will most likely pit them against either England or Sri Lanka.
But to get there, Pakistan will have to get over their Adelaide heartbreak and focus on the task ahead. They have to find answers to their batting woes especially at the top of the order. Their bowling, too, was largely unimpressive and needs to find sharper teeth. The onus is now on Misbah and his men. They can sink or they swim. Their World Cup has started on the wrong foot but there is still a long way to go.