Pakistan Cricket – The Fixed and The Fluid

To say that the winds of change have disturbed Pakistan cricket’s mojo over the last year and half would be an understatement. We’re not talking about any mere breeze here either, but a tornado of volatility which effectively shook the foundations of a fairly stable squad, bringing with it high doses of insecurity and consequent underperformance, along with a hint of mutiny as well, perhaps.

With the PCB switching chairmen at a frequency higher than the rate at which Waqar Younis fumbles names of cricketers in the commentary box, instability has been at the forefront in the national setup, which has had a domino effect on both the team’s results and unity alike.

Post Mickey Arthur’s second tenure at the helm of team management, Pakistan’s coaching ensemble has failed to hold the fort for more than one international assignment.

As for Pakistan’s captaincy position, Babar Azam has gone from enjoying undisputed power as all-format captain under Ramiz Raja’s chairmanship, to being ruthlessly challenged in a power struggle with multiple chairmen who succeeded Ramiz.

This led to his eventual sacking from the top job in an unceremonious fashion, only for him to be awarded limited overs captaincy once again in approximately 5 months, with less than 60 days to go till the start of the T20 World Cup.

Think of taking a handful of Carolina Reapers, a glass full of shaved ice, a few drops of Absinthe, a teaspoon of python venom, and a rabid frog with a hopping disability, tossed into a blender, with the lid coming off midway.

That has been Pakistan cricket in a nutshell in this last little while, staying true to its historic chaotic nature – chaos that had evaded the institution for a small window in between, which at this point seems like some sort of parallel universe lost to the sands of time, and politics.

In the midst of all of this unwelcome mayhem, however, there are elements in Pakistan’s T20 cricket which remain immovable, much like a sunken Titanic on the ocean floor.

The batting approach, for one, is seemingly aimed at reaching par scores on a consistent basis, as opposed to shooting for the moon, which in this case would be akin to having the audacity to attempt totals which are above par.

Make no mistake of the fact that this modus operandi has worked for Pakistan in the not-so-distant past, courtesy of their fabled strike bowling prowess. They have made the finals and semifinals of the previous two editions of the T20 World Cup, after all.

That said, with the bowlers dropping in form of late, it is a playing style which seems woefully outdated compared to the run boom modern T20 cricket is currently experiencing, and therefore, seems futile in the sense that when it does not work, there is no plan B, and the game is all but lost.

To make matters worse, every opportunity Pakistan’s men’s team has gotten to alter this gameplan, and/or experiment their way to working out other methods of success, their timid batting, particularly in the middle overs, has held them back like a Ferrari in quicksand.

Even with the Babar and Rizwan opening pair disbanded, Pakistan’s middle overs returns with the bat are criminally underwhelming, which might even be a lenient assessment, if I’m being completely honest.

Since the T20 World Cup back in 2022, in which Pakistan were finalists, the team has scored at roughly 7.3 runs per over in overs 7 to 15, which is the second lowest scoring rate in this period amongst all Test playing nations, only ahead of Afghanistan and Zimbabwe. For context, Australia and South Africa, who are at the top of this list, are scoring at 9.75 and 9.35 per over, respectively.

Do the math, and that amounts to about a 20+ run deficit, on average, at the minimum.

Here is the run rate of every side in the middle-phase (overs 7-15) of the innings since the 2022 T20 World Cup:

Furthermore, Pakistan are averaging slightly less than 5 sixes per innings in 46 T20Is in the last two years. Only Ireland, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh have a lower six per game ratio amongst full member nations, and the West Indies lead this particular chart with an average of 9+ sixes per T20I, in 32 games in the same period.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that in the last two years, Pakistan have crossed the 200 mark only once in the shortest format, which is a statistic that yearns for amplified impact with the bat.

Most team sixes since T20 World Cup 2022:

Team	Matches	Sixes	Sixes/Match
West Indies	32	292	9.13
India	60	466	7.77
Australia	29	220	7,59
South Africa	26	177	6.81
England	34	222	6.53
New Zealand	55	332	6.04
Sri Lanka	33	191	5.79
Afghanistan	39	208	5.33
Pakistan	45	224	4.96
Ireland	38	189	4.97
Zimbabwe	44	195	4.43

The notion that Pakistan’s batting unit is leaving runs out on the field every time they take the field is gaining steam with every passing game, packaged as relentless criticism from all corners, which at this point, even the most fanatical supporters of the team can not deny.

Of course, there are resources that Pakistan’s selectors and team management have at their disposal which can help solve this lack of impetus, such as the likes of the now-dropped belligerent wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Haris, and the perennially underutilized T20 all-rounder Shadab Khan, who despite being a middle overs destroyer of spin, barely ever gets to bat at his optimal entry point.

In the instances where he has been introduced at number 4 or 5 in the middle phase of the game, he has barely ever disappointed. It is, by the way, a role he fulfills to near perfection on the regular for his PSL franchise, current champions Islamabad United – a side which he captains.

In the recently concluded 5 match T20I series at home vs a depleted New Zealand outfit, Pakistan, in dramatic fashion, failed to secure victory, with the scoreline ending in a 2-2 stalemate.

The inexperienced visitors drew level with an almost full-strength home side, who just for the record, had been written off by the local media in words that eventually came back to bite them, in a sequence of events which can be best described as karmic justice in the face of unwarranted arrogance.

What is more critical than the gloomy result, however, is that Pakistan failed to rectify any of its glaring strategic errors, which meant that yet another meaningless bilateral series had been wasted, with limited growth from a team perspective.

The fact that Pakistan failed to score 180 runs in a single innings on their home patch lays testament to that claim, and while there may have been some major learnings, there has been negligible promise when it comes to implementation and execution of plans.

Babar Azam, who has upped his scoring rate significantly in the powerplay, has shown a penchant to slow down in the middle overs almost religiously, and Fakhar Zaman has proven to be an anchoring batter at number four, which on its own is a flatout bizarre reality.

*Data & graph by Varun Alvakonda

Newcomer Usman Khan hasn’t been able to stamp his authority either, much like he did so brutally during the last two editions of the PSL, in a Multan shirt.

Pakistan are repeating the same old template of leaving far too much run scoring for the final five overs, with Shadab Khan remaining an anomaly in the mix, who hasn’t nearly gotten as many deliveries to bat as he should have, particularly against New Zealand’s tweakers.

You can put Saim Ayub in the same boat of brisk run-scorers, but the southpaw’s dearth of runs could now cost him a spot in the starting XI, potentially.

Babar Azam’s troops have 7 T20Is vs Ireland and England in the build up to the T20 World Cup in June, but still seem to be convinced that the tortoise always beats the hare.

There may yet be enough time to right these wrongs, but in order to achieve that, unified buy-in is required from the contingent, which seems to be non-existent in the Pakistan camp.

Take for instance the contradicting statements from skipper Babar Azam, head coach Azhar Mahmood, and former vice-captain Shadab Khan, in the direct aftermath of the 3rd T20I in Rawalpindi.

The winds of change, as strong as they have been in Pakistan cricket’s direction, have without doubt unruffled the sturdiest of feathers, but some core components which are integral to the way the national team plays T20 cricket, remain static as ever.