The Same Old Team, the Same Old Story: Pakistan Lose to Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup Opener
Pakistan showed the world once again that they are not a team that goes down without a fight, but what they conveniently forget is that they do go down eventually. As much as the fans want to see the team play a courageous innings, they also want to see them win. How many times have we seen the Green Shirts lose it from a situation where even their grandmother could have won?
Whether it be the test series against New Zealand, or the Sydney test, Pakistan has simply forgotten to finish out a match. Tuesday’s Asia Cup opener against Sri Lanka was a similar story. It’s like they just don’t want to win anymore. They get the mighty Sri Lankans struggling at 168 for 7, and then end up gifting them 74 more runs. They get to 30 odd runs of the target and then let Lasith Malinga demolish them during a Powerplay that they themselves selected. If a little more thought was put into the run chase, Afridi’s heroics would have had more meaning. A few tactical mistakes are highlighted in this article.
Starting from the point where Pakistan had cornered Sri Lanka at 168 for 7, they simply shouldn’t have been allowed to score more than 210 runs. They did not go for the kill, and allowed the singles to flow even when the batting Powerplay was on. The field was right at the inner circles edge as if an explosive batsman was standing at the crease. This allowed the tail to wag more than Pakistan would have liked it to.
The move to play specialist openers was an encouraging one, but including three in the playing eleven was illogical. Two openers in the shape of Shahzaib Hasan and Umar Amin were playing for the first time in international ODIs. Was it a sensible move to send two debutants at the start of an important run chase? Was it sensible to send Umar Amin once Salman Butt got out with no score on the board? Well, the answer is no, as we saw how the youngsters were clueless as to what their role was. They continued blocking crucial Powerplay deliveries, and after a frustrating innings, they got out playing outrageous shots. It seemed as if Pakistan has forgotten how One Day cricket is played anymore. A team hits out in T20s and spends time on the crease in test matches. ODIs are all about rotating the strike and converting dot balls into singles. It’s been ages since Pakistan actually took advantage of the initial ten over Powerplay. They just waste good balls and when the runs are dried out, frustration gets to them. The positive intent has almost disappeared from the top order.
All of us saw what positive intent can do in the form of Afridi’s spectacular innings. Other players should learn from him. Another Pakistani player with such intent is Umar Akmal, who along with his brother was the key to this run chase once the top order failed. Unfortunately, they were both part of an even bigger debacle. At crucial stages, they threw away their wickets through thoughtless run outs. Quick singles are important, but trying to be extra clever costs you your wicket, and that is exactly what happened.
The turning point was perhaps the point when Afridi opted not to have a runner even though he couldn’t stand without cramping up. If he could feel that running was difficult, he should have taken the batting Powerplay and tried to blast his way to victory; instead, the Powerplay was taken when singles were the most important form of scoring for Pakistan. That was the worst Powerplay decision that Pakistan could had made at that time. It allowed Sri Lanka to bring in its fielders and put extra pressure on the batsmen of Pakistan, which they did to perfection.
Overall, it was an excellent cricket match which could have gone either way, but it was evident that the more thoughtful team won at the end, rather than the more skilful.
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