Cricket in chaos

Shoaib Malik gave a telling answer when asked if divisions within the team could explain the Pakistan cricket team’s dire performance in the World T20 Championships. Instead of denying allegations of in-fighting, he said that six players weren’t talking to each other in the 1999 tournament and Pakistan still won that. This time, after three straight losses to India, New Zealand and Australia, and a solitary win against Bangladesh, we will not be winning anything. It is nothing less than this team deserves. Certainly, Pakistan presented less than a united front. Umar Akmal was caught on camera complaining to Imran Khan about not being sent up the order. Mohammed Hafeez was inexplicably dropped from the team. We played like a team uninterested in winning. Afridi’s captaincy was shocking, as he seemed to have no idea of how to set a field. Our batsmen – Sharjeel Khan apart – had no clue how to pace a T20 innings. Our bowlers gave it their all, although why Afridi was the only captain in the tournament not to play multiple spinners will ever remain a mystery. Afridi’s future is now in doubt. He has said he will make a decision on retirement in the next few days but he may find the decision has already been made for him. For 20 years, Afridi has promised a lot and delivered little. This tournament was no exception.

We may see a significant overhaul in the management in the coming days. There are rumours that coach Waqar Younis will resign before he is fired. Certainly, Waqar seemed to have lost the plot as he raged against his own players during the tournament rather than trying to build their confidence. This may be the end of the road for Hafeez and Shoaib Malik too while Umar Akmal may need to be dropped for a bit to teach him some responsibility. The next captain is most likely to be the exciting Sarfaraz Ahmed who, for some reason, was not given an opportunity to bat up the order. The tactics and style employed by the Pakistan cricket side are at least five years behind the rest of the world. The identity of the next coach and captain will be crucial to see if Pakistan cricket can catch up. Our continued international isolation, especially our exclusion from the Indian Premier League, will make that work harder than it should be. But the last thing we need right now is to hide behind excuses. The reality is staring us in the face. We were the first of the established cricketing nations to be knocked out of the tournament and we deserved no better.