Pakistan's bowling attack has suffered some serious setbacks
© AFP
Pakistan are favourites for the 2015 ICC World Cup. They always are! Pakistan may also crash out after suffering a series of humiliating defeats. They mostly do! (Pakistan Suffer 2-0 Humiliation vs New Zealand )
Mercurial - an adjective that's become a cliche while describing the Pakistan cricket team. Yet, it remains most apt because with Pakistan, it's a study in extremes. It has always been a case of lack of application for Pakistan. There's never been a dearth of talent but those talented individuals seldom come together and play as a team. (Pakistan Fired-up by Rock-Steady Misbah )
In 1992, they did.
Before the 1992 Cricket World Cup, the team was in shambles and had to persuade Imran Khan to come out of retirement to get the house in order. But back then, they had a host of match winners in their squad.
The batting boasted of Javed Miandad, Amir Sohail, Salim Malik and an upcoming youngster called Inzamam-ul-Haq. The bowling, too, was loaded with stars like Wasim Akram, Mushtaq Ahmed, Aaqib Javed and of course, Imran Khan. (Pakistan Pacer Bhatti Joins Riaz in 'Most Expensive' Club )
Moreover, they were led by 'King' Khan. A man who wore a T-shirt with "cornered tigers" labelled on it and made his team growl and hunt in a pack. Pakistan lost four out of their five group games, yet came out victorious.
Lately, things haven't really come together for Pakistan. This time they lack the quality.
As Rahul Dravid said in his interview with ESPNCricinfo, "They lack those big-ticket players or game changers which you would associate the Pakistani team of the past."
This Misbah-ul-Haq led team has been struggling for the past 18-months. Apart from beating Australia in a Test series on dead UAE tracks, Misbah's team has failed to generate any success. They couldn't even put a series past Zimbabwe.
They were pummeled by New Zealand in the ODI series. They batted poorly but most importantly, they bowled badly. That's not something Pakistan does. This time, they are missing their arsenal of bowlers and that's going to haunt Misbah and Co.
Their lynchpin Saeed Ajmal is suspended, premium fast bowler Junaid Khan is injured and even Mohammed Hafeez is barred from bowling. A bowling line-up led by Mohammad Irfan, Haris Sohail, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz and Yasir Shah don't really strike fear into any decent batting opposition.
The batting is over-reliant on Misbah and Younis Khan. Their big talent Umar Akmal is yet to fulfil his promise and as Graeme Smith said, "He's one of those cricketers, who comes in and plays some good shots, gets to 25 or 30 and you think this guy is going to do something special. But he'll just get out to a soft shot or won't really follow through on the innings and continue his good work."
Another youngster, Ahmed Shehzad has also flicked but not really burnt bright!
Misbah's captaincy isn't inspirational and lacks imagination. He brings stability to the side but lacks charisma and that's why Pakistan's success lies with Shahid Afridi. He was the man who led them in 2011 and they made it to the semis. He is a match winner in his own right and if the Pathan from the Khyber wakes up in his last tournament and decides to go out with a bang, Pakistan might be in with a chance.
Else, it could be 2007, all over again!
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