http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Thomas-George-Burrows-c93472an don’t need match-winners – Opinion - Part 1
Yesterday night’s hammering against arch rivals http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Imran-Khan-c64237.
While their flamboyance maybe matchless, and one might consider their bowling attack among the best in world cricket, their troubles in finding the right mix of players, or defining roles for most of their cricketers has left them handicapped against disciplined oppositions.
For the best part of the 90s and the early 2000s, Pakistan had the luxury of the likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Yousuf-c77465, all of whom were destined for greatness owing to their genuine prowess with either bat or ball.
They played their cricket at a time, where conventionality was the order of the day, and where accumulation in the first half of the innings would be followed by some blistering hitting in the latter phases. The bowling ethics had a similar tone, where fast bowlers tend to run in at supreme pace, before doing their bits in the death overs, while the spinners controlled the middle stages.
That course has indeed taken a back seat in the current era, where the introduction of T20 cricket has often asked players to improvise their game. The margin between teams has closed up considerably, as one never tends to get intimidated, while playing against the likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757.
Sides still play to their strengths, and by saying that, one does not relate this theory by going spin-heavy for a particular match, or by loading your team with part-timers. It’s by playing an XI which has all the bases covered. They need a captain, who either leads from the front by scoring runs, or remains a figure of respect. Then they need a settled opening combination, which has the faith of the management, and some solid middle-order players, who could hold an innings tight when the chips are down, or are ready to explode when the situation demands.
Then comes the role of a finisher, in the mould of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Eoin-Joseph-Gerard-Morgan-c56032, who could provide the impetus to the latter parts of the innings, and could get the best out of the lower order.
While in theory, this may sound easy and might not work occasionally, but the reality remains that teams have prospered when they have given players defined roles.
However, for a nation whose pool of talent to choose from is incredibly talented, it hard to translate in words the unpredictable nature of their cricket. Coaches have come and gone, management has changed hands but the disappointing aspect remains that no one has been able to pin point the root cause of their problems.
Their biggest problem for now is that they rely on 11 match-winners, rather than a defined playing XI, which has been given a set goal. Afridi may shine one day, and disappoint the rest of his career, but so be it, the mentality has hardly changed.
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