The Pakistan cricket team is back in the land of Bangladesh, where they outclassed India and hosts Bangladesh during the recently-concluded Asia Cup 2014. The Green-shirts managed to reach the final of the five-nation event, but lost to a professional Sri Lankan side which stayed unbeaten throughout the event. While people will hail the Pakistani team’s performance as magnificent, there are a few lessons we must learn from the current ‘Dhaka Debacle’, because if we don’t, the fans on this side of the Wagah might have to brace themselves for more bad news.

Need of the hour: Rotation policy!

Some term Australia as the team with the highest number of match-winners in their ranks, but I believe that Pakistan has players who can change the course of the tournament, let alone the match. But even a match-winner needs rest and Pakistan cricket team’s bowling coach Mohammad Akram needs to understand that. For a bowler who hardly played back-to-back matches during his international career, Mohammad Akram should lessen the burden on the pacers, or a couple of pacers might get injured like the vastly talented Mohammad Irfan. If Umar Gul wasn’t fit ahead of the Bangladesh clash, he could have been rested; instead Junaid Khan was asked to warm the bench. Similarly, Anwar Ali could have been given a chance against a weaker side but no; an out-of-sorts Abdur Rehman was brought in against Bangladesh and the left-arm spinner wasted his chance by delivering three waist-high deliveries, and was eventually sent off by the umpire.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka dropped their most successful bowler Ajantha Mendis from the playing XI for the final because they knew that Pakistanis play Mendis well. He may have taken nine wickets in his three matches but individual performances don’t matter for teams that play as a unit, and plan ahead instead of believing in seizing the moment. Their decision paid well and Pakistan was reduced to 18 for 3 in the final, and the man who took all 5 wickets to fall (Lasith Malinga) was the one who made into the XI, at the expense of Mendis!

A specialist is a specialist!

Whenever Umar Akmal fumbled, Misbah-ul-Haq grumbled but wait… the captain is to blame as well. He is the one person who could have made Akmal’s entry into an exit when he had the chance. Instead of retaining Sarfraz Ahmed after the talented wicketkeeper helped Pakistan win the Sharjah Test, Misbah’s saying nothing on his exclusion was as bad as Umar dropping a chance. Umar may have returned to form with the bat but his ‘goofy’ glove work cost Pakistan the cup that could have been theirs!

The curious case of Umar Gul

I have always believed that instead of giving chance to Umar Gul, Pakistan must look elsewhere because the pacer disappoints whenever he is expected to deliver. He may be a perfect bowler for the T20 format -- where you only have to bowl four overs -- but his inability to bowl yorkers in important matches has been causing embarrassment for the team. The lanky pacer was there when Pakistan lost to Ireland in 2007, it was his wayward bowling that saw the Bangladeshis post their highest ever total in the Asia Cup, and if he isn’t asked to raise his standards, the team that once boasted of quickies like Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis might be reduced to a laughing stock.

Need for a genuine opener

The mysterious selection of Sharjeel Khan needs to be addressed because we don’t need a pinch-hitter in the side but a batsman who can build the innings. His absence went unnoticed during the match against Bangladesh and Pakistan could have persisted with sane batsmen in the middle (Sohaib Maqsood and Fawad Alam) rather than a brat at the top! Instead of using Mohammad Hafeez as an opener in the grand finale, the management dropped Sohaib Maqsood in favour of Sharjeel Khan and the left hander lived up to his potential -- scoring eight runs off six deliveries on a batting paradise.

One must always practice!

After the win against arch-rivals India, Pakistan team preferred to rest instead of practicing and that showed in their very next match against Bangladesh. Had it not been for the heroics of Shahid Afridi, the team might have been in Pakistan long before the final, and the captain would have been defending his tactics. Had the team spent some time in the nets, who knows Abdur Rehman would have managed a couple of wickets instead of a dubious record that has embarrassed Pakistan the world over.