The Indians sent a cricket team to Bangladesh last year under Suresh Raina that was dubbed by their media as the B team but they managed to defeat the hosts and come back as victors, thanks to some convincing performances from the newbies. Sadly, 11 months later Pakistan tried to emulate them and fell flat, although the team sent consisted of the best players in the country sans Misbah-ul-Haq - who was forced to retire by the media - and Shahid Afridi - who retired because he hadn’t done that in a couple of years. Why Pakistan team lost 3-0 to lowly-ranked Bangladesh remains a mystery … let’s try to solve it to understand the enigma known as Pakistan cricket.

A head coach with a mind of his own!

Just like in the Hollywood disaster flicks, there is a super computer with a single-point agenda; destroy. It seems Pakistan cricket team’s head coach Waqar Younis is following that agenda because whatever he touches turns to dust. His intentions may be pure and for the betterment of Pakistan cricket but the implementation seems to be the problem. Yes, he must be acknowledged for kicking out Umar Akmal and replacing him with the talented Mohammad Rizwan and bringing in Fawad Alam and Sami Aslam for the outgoing Misbah and the irritating Ahmed Shehzad respectively, but it’s the players who perform on the field, not the coach. Members of the squad are getting injured right left and center and the fitness regime must be blamed for that … you can’t have super fit players in a country where there is a weak domestic structure. Even Waqar himself got injured continuously while playing on these pitches so he must know how playing in Pakistan must be. Relax Waqar … look at Mohsin Khan, he wasn’t the best coach yet the team won under him for they all loved him because he loved them back like their own children. I hope you get the point!

 Doosra Saeed Ajmal

A man’s got to know his limitations and Saeed Ajmal knows his … that’s the reason why he didn’t opt to represent Pakistan in the World Cup when the team needed a quality off-spinner and instead spent his time on a private TV channel as an analyst. It seems that the off-spinner will have to switch careers very soon as with an altered action; he seems like an altered bowler. He may have thought that he might succeed against Bangladesh but going for 74 runs in the first match should have been enough to make him understand that the game is as good as over for him. It’s time he should help train youngsters and help Pakistan cricket as a mentor, not as a tormentor by continuing to play for the sake of representing the country!

Batting disorder

One-day cricket has evolved over the years with dashing openers replacing the slow and the steady. It’s David Warner for Australia, Shikhar Dhawan for India, Brendon McCullum for New Zealand and Chris Gayle for the West Indies. So who was the genius behind the decision to back Azhar Ali as the opener for Pakistan cricket team? Yes he did score a century in the third match but he is more needed in the middle order especially at number 3 where there is no one to stabilize the innings. He must bat in the middle and let Sami Aslam open the innings alongside Sarfraz Ahmed who have proved their worth with the willow. If the current team is to continue in ODIs, then either Asad Shafiq or the out-of-sorts Fawad Alam (without the irritating facial hair and after a dressing down by the management) and Haris Sohail should be there in the middle order supporting the skipper whereas Mohammad Rizwan’s ability to hit the ball hard should be utilized at number six. Saad Nasim and Wahab Riaz proved their potential as all-rounders but that’s for the management to decide, not me. You can’t win matches by including a clueless Mohammad Hafeez at number 3 because right now, he is the weakest link in the side.

Over confidence is: including three left-arm pacers

The World Cup is over but Pakistan’s fascination with three left armers isn’t; the selectors (Kabir Khan and Saleem Jaffer were left-arm pacers themselves) must realize that there are right arm fast bowlers better than hapless Ehsan Adil and the hopeless Umar Gul. For 16 years Pakistan didn’t lose to Bangladesh and now, with a pathetic bowling attack we lost three matches on the trot as if they were Australia and we were Scotland. That’s unacceptable and if the head coach believes that the pacers in Pakistan aren’t fit enough for ODI cricket, then sir I think you aren’t fit enough to coach Pakistan. There is a lot of talent in the country provided it is searched for in the right manner. Even the legendary Imran Khan was discarded after his first Test as a failure; and we all know how wrong that assumption turned out to be.

Fielding loses matches!

Who can forget Rahat Ali’s half-hearted attempt in the World Cup match against Australia that cost Pakistan a place in the semifinals. Had Bob Woolmer been the coach, he would have reprimanded all those involved including the fielding coach and the fielder. Sadly, Bob Woolmer isn’t around and the team is dropping catches as if it is their birth right. Why catch them when you can bowl them, right … that used to be the thinking when Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis delivered toe crushing Yorkers but we have neither the two Ws nor the Yorkers to make that happen. The fielders should be ashamed of themselves for their silly attempts really because that makes Pakistani cricketers look stupid in front of the world. They can’t hold onto the ball, how can they expect to win a match!