Pakistan currently stands at number 4 position in World T20 rankings. ICC has postponed T20 World Cup due to uncertain conditions around the globe. It is a blessing in disguise for the green team to rebuild a strong squad for the upcoming event next year at their arch rival home in India.
If we take a deeper look into Pakistan’s domination in the shorter format of the game, we see Pakistan becoming no1 side in the T20 based on their bowling. On most of the occasions, they bowled out the opposition. On the other hand, Pakistani batting gets carried away with the pressure of scoreboard, anything above 150 and Pakistan is already out of the game. Do you know why Pakistan is successful in the shorter format of the game? Because their batsmen don’t have to bat for long, the longer the format the poorer the batting display.
The change of management have also dented the team preparations, Mickey & Azhar Mehmood together laid a foundation of a strong T20 squad. The group was already in a transition mode before Misbah and co made numerous changes to the squad. Pakistan losing to Sri Lankan “C” team at their home ground proved as the last in the coffin for Struggling captain Sarfraz Ahmad.
Babar Azam will have to step up as a captain, it’s an uphill task to fill the boots of Pakistani captaincy. He needs to create a balance senior and younger players and, in the meanwhile, he needs to make sure he isn’t losing form with the bat and the burden of captaincy must not hurt the team cause. He must use Hafeez against the left-handers as his inclusion in the team just as a batsman might be a risk. Pakistan lacks a genuine All-rounders in the squad, the team requirement demands a hunt for a specialist spinner & a paceman All-rounder. Hopefully, we’ll get to see better performances by Pakistani team in the future