Disappointed

There is no room for disagreement in using the word ‘dismal’ when it comes to the national team’s performance on the New Zealand tour. The last three foreign tours were disasters. Winning a Test match away from home has become the forlorn hope for us. The trump card which we always had was our bowling which, even in the face of sloppy fielding, gave us some memorable wins in the past. Rather than improving our batting -- or finding a solid opening pair -- and our overall weak fielding, we didn’t even have satisfactory bowling performances. In the past, the former captain Sarfraz Ahmed’s leadership skills got the blame for the national team’s poor performances. This New Zealand series showed the lack of decisions at the management level. Also, the will to fight was absent.

Pakistan has so many talented players. Every now and then, we see some brilliant players who perform remarkably well. However, we don’t have a proper system that can help them hone their skills. This affects our core performance in the field. It is disappointing that we have dropped to the 7th place in Test rankings after the New Zealand tour. The right approach to get things back on track is to have a team of professionals who can take care of multiple positions of coaching, management and physical fitness regimes. The one-man solution has failed.

Anas A Khan

Edmonton, Canada