Absolutely not! Pakistan cricket team is the least bunch of players ready for limited overs cricket -- be it ODIs or T20s. The kind of performance they gave Down Under is exactly that -- Down Under! Be it Shahid Afridi or Azhar Ali, nobody can fix the menace known as complacency and until the root cause is addressed, there can be no hope for the Green-shirts in the World T20?

Experts believe that the Pakistan Super League might improve the players but where Big Bash, Indian Premier League, Bangladesh Premier League and Caribbean Premier League failed, I fail to see how Pakistan Super League can succeed. The players might be in their comfort zone (United Arab Emirates) but instant cricket has hardly made cricketers better. Even Glenn Maxwell -- for some an Aussie T20 Great -- is finding his position in the lineup under jeopardy because of continuous bad performance. But in Pakistan, performance is the last merit badge you get!

The first merit badge seems to be close proximity to the captain; players like Sohail Tanvir, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal are perfect candidates for that if Shahid Afridi is at the helm. Sohail Tanvir has hardly won any matches for Pakistan with his deceptive bowling which at times is too deceptive for his own good; Ahmed Shehzad’s last 13 dismissals would have brought shame into the eyes of a dignified cricketer but as we know, he is everything but that. And then there is the ‘talented’ Umar Akmal who fails more times than he succeeds and yet always finds a place in the final XI.

The second merit badge seems to be for those who perform anywhere but in the cricket team. Ever since his return to the side Shoaib Malik has either been too good or too bad; his elevation has ruined the batting for Mohammad Rizwan whereas Imad Wasim is currently in the Afridi mode -- sometimes batsman, sometimes bowler. There is also a certain Sohaib ‘Ul Haq’ Maqsood whose bad luck resonates on the team and vice versa.

The third merit should be handed over to those who perform but only when they are in the mood. Who but the world-famous professor (it’s a joke, stupid!) would feature here because just like his predecessor Ijaz Ahmed (the number 3 genius who was always in form by the time the series ended), he scores in the matches that don’t matter. Since he can’t bowl, he is a liability on the team because he has inherited Ijaz Ahmed’s talent for running out partners, making shaky starts and above all, acting as if it’s the other person’s fault.

There should be a special merit badge for those who perform yet get dropped or have their position changed by the wise men in the dressing room. The way Anwar Ali bowled in the first one-dayer should tell the captain that he is a first-change bowler who shouldn’t be used at the death, but when you have a confused coach who himself was never able to decide his position in the attack, you can’t really blame Anwar Ali. He is one player on whom a captain can devise strategy like Wasim Akram used to for Abdur Razzaq or Azhar Mahmood but wouldn’t copying one W be a sin -- considering the other W is at the helm here.

As for Babar Azam, he impressed greatly in whatever chances he got but that’s not a good thing. Where is Hammad Azam (no relation), Aizaz Cheema (he single-handedly won the Asia Cup final), Haris Sohail (gave Man of the Match performances), Bilawal Bhatti (could bowl better Yorkers than Umar Gul), Sharjeel Khan (explosive opening batsman), Saad Nasim (good all-rounder), Sami Aslam (scored 45 on ODI debut) or one-day heroes Aamer Yamin, Bilal Asif and Zafar Gohar. They also had good potential, they also were termed as a wonderful addition to the national team, they also ‘coulda been a contender’ but no, we always go back to the usually-expensive Umar Gul, the mostly-disappointing Umar Akmal, the Virat Kohli-wannabe Ahmed Shehzad and the list goes on.

The best thing about Pakistan’s tour of New Zealand was the return of Mohammad Amir and despite Rameez Raja’s intentions of terming it a batsman’s fault than Amir’s brilliance when he got a wicket, he proved his worth as a left-arm quickie. It was like he was a strange left-arm being from another planet who was bowling among mortal humans like Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali and Mohammad Irfan who went for more runs than him. It was like Amir’s answer to all those who wanted him out of contention so that their punter could play and he answered them with his bowling rather than his words. The selectors who considered quitting on Amir’s selection and who put Rahat Ali on the same page should also be ashamed; Rahat will always remain a Bizarro to Amir’s Superman and he shouldn’t have been playing for the national team ever since the Watson-drop!

The biggest disappointment of the tour was Mohammad Irfan who it seems meets a ghost every time he runs in to bowl. His speed has lessened, his spark is gone and he failed to achieve what any fast bowler could from that height. He is exactly what Shoaib Akhtar predicted he would be if he kept on playing each and every match. One hopes that the selectors find sanity soon or the next time World T20 is around, Pakistan cricket team might have to play qualifiers with tired, aged, rugged and above all, incompetent cricketers. Nobody wants that, except those who don’t care!