With the announcement of Australia's squad, all the teams for the approaching cricket World Cup 2015 have been finalised. A big question mark hovers over the chances of Team Green, though.
Judging from their recent performances, there isn't much cause for hope. Although I do think the selectors have done a decent job of exploiting a limited pool of resources, in realistic terms, the team's chances can be truly assessed only after analysing the individual players making up the unit; particularly the more vulnerable ones, who could potentially keep Pakistan from progressing into the finals and winning the trophy.
For me, these vulnerable players are none other than Younis Khan (batsman) and Sohail Khan (bowler).
37 year-old Younis Khan's recent performances are there for everyone to see. Despite illustrious credentials in the Test format, Younis has remained a more or less average ODI batsman in a career spanning a good 14 plus years.
With an average of only 31.75, Younis has long maintained an on-and-off ODI run, his performance flickering even more than that of the famously unpredictable team he is part of.
In the last World Cup, Younis Khan scored half-centuries against Kenya and Sri Lanka, and then dwindled away. In the semi-final, when his presence at the wicket was crucial, he returned to the pavilion after scoring a mere 13 runs.
Yet, his position in the team remained secure.
Then the 2013 tour to South Africa happened, and ever since then, the veteran batsman’s spot has remained questionable.
When selectors left him out of the recent series against Australia, Younis couldn’t help himself lash out at the board. A general outrage against the board ensued, and so, he was again picked to play against New Zealand, when he scored his first ODI century in six-and-a-half years.
Even then, the green shirts couldn’t win the match.
Now, with the next World Cup just round the corner, the only advantage Younis Khan has is his experience, but his performance in the grounds at Australia and New Zealand has not been impressive at all. He has played a total of eight matches in Australia at an average of 20. In New Zealand, he has played six matches to score 115 with an average of 23.
He is an ace test cricketer and although he appears to be ‘too senior’ now, there is no other batsman to possibly replace him. But still, that does not qualify him for a position in the ODI squad — just like Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who hasn’t played an ODI game after World Cup 2011.
Younis’s insistence on being in the team despite terrible performances is unfair to other capable and young players.
Despite his meek numbers, Pakistan has inducted Younis Khan into the squad once again while leaving out someone like Fawad Alam, who boasts an average above 45 in the last 35 ODIs.
In the year 2014, none of the Pakistani ODI batsmen scored with an average above 59 – that too, was scored by Haris Sohail in the year’s last five matches.Last year, Fawad batted with a whopping 69 average in eight ODIs. In the same year, he scored a century and two half-centuries. Four out of seven centuries scored by Pakistan in year 2014 saw Fawad Alam’s contribution. But he is being made to suffer for just one bad series against Australia.
Other players like Ahmed Shahzad, Umar Akmal, Muhammad Hafeez, Sohaib Maqsood, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, and Misbah ul Haq have averages of 39, 22, 30, 29, 27, 27, and 23, respectively.
All of these players are part of the World Cup 2015 squad, but Fawad Alam was deemed unworthy of it.
A volatile top order means that Pakistan’s middle and lower-middle order need rock-hard stability. Back in 2013, an in-form Misbah helped to cloak this vulnerability, but now when the skipper is out of form, the weakness is more conspicuous and underwhelming.
The lower order has strengthened with the intake of Haris Sohail, and luckily, Shahid Afridi’s bat is also spewing runs after a long time.
But we all know that's merely luck. Imagine if Fawad Alam was in there with Umar Akmal; what a great duo it would be to knock the ball around in the middle overs.
In the case that Misbah and Younis fail, all the burden will fall on Umar Akmal, Sohaib Maqsood, and Haris Sohail. And since all three of these players are temperamentally volatile, a batsman who could anchor the innings will be sorely missed.
Now on to the bowling. Even though Pakistan is missing it’s two ace spinners Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez, the bowling lineup is not in shambles.
Everyone knows the wickets of Australia and New Zealand favour the seamers. The Australians themselves have opted for just a single spinner in their squad.
Hence, a fleet comprising of Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Wahab Riaz, Ehsan Adil, and Sohail Khan seems satisfactory enough. Then there are the two spinners, Shahid Afridi and Yasir Shah, to supplement the attack.
Junaid Khan, who has been out of the team due to a knee injury, hasn’t played an international match since August. He has recovered now, though, and is back in action in the Pentangular Cup. Muhammad Irfan and Wahab Riaz played in the series against New Zealand, and are ready for international cricket after a mixed performance.
The problem, however, is that if Junaid Khan’s injury rears its head again, or if Pakistan opt not to play Irfan in all the matches, then will Ehsan Adil and Sohail Khan be able to do a good enough job on their own? Ehsan has played in only two international matches to date, the last one being a year and a half ago.
30 year-old Sohail Khan has not represented Pakistan since over four years. If instead of these two – or at least instead of Sohail Khan – Bilawal Bhatti and Anwar Ali were included in, it would have been a much better move. Both of them have sufficient experience of international cricket and can also be utilised as all-rounders. But the selectors didn't think of that, who knows why?
To sum up, it is fairly evident that if Pakistan get knocked out in the first round or the knockout round, it will more likely than not be due to a loose link within the middle order. The other factors will be miserable fielding and the absence of good bowlers.
But then, when have Pakistan ever been predictable? Their cup-winning 1992 outfit was actually their weakest one, whereas none of the strong squads between 1996 and 2007 managed to be crowned champions.
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In fact the ‘shaheens’ of Pakistan were sent home packing in the very first round in 2003 and 2007.
Reaching the quarter-final seems possible, but what is going to happen after that? That's anybody's guess.
