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What went wrong with PAKISTAN?
AFP, Chennai
Pakistan’s chances of making the semifinals of the Cricket World Cup are on a knife-edge after their eight-wicket defeat to Afghanistan on Monday in Chennai.
It was the team’s third successive loss at the tournament after two opening wins.
Here is a list of problem areas for Babar Azam’s faltering team:
‘World-class’ bowling looks ordinary
Pakistan’s bowling was touted as ‘world-class’ before the Asia Cup and when they restricted a strong India side to 266 all out in a washed out game at Pallekele, commentators saw it as a major warning to World Cup rivals.
But two weeks before the showpiece event, key fast bowler Naseem Shah was ruled out with a shoulder injury.
Spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi has 10 wickets in five games in India but has failed to make an early impact -- his 2-36 against India and 5-54 facing Australia came in losing causes.
Haris Rauf has leaked runs, conceding 286 in five games for eight wickets while the spinners have lacked bite on the slow and turning pitches of India.
Captaincy in question
Babar is one of the top batters in white ball cricket but has not been able to live up to this reputation as he managed just two fifties in the showpiece event – both in losing causes against India and Afghanistan. However, more than that, it is his captaincy that has come under scrutiny.
Pakistan media have consistently accused him of favouring his friends in selection.
“As far as captaincy is concerned, I don’t have much pressure on me or on my batting. I try to give my best in batting,” Babar said after Monday’s loss to Afghanistan.
“During fielding, I think about captaincy and during batting I just think about the batting.”
Babar has won some sympathy in India for his team having to play in front of crowds where Pakistan fans have been effectively banned.
Lack of planning
There have been frequent, unsettling changes in the Pakistan Cricket Board set-up -- three chairmen in the past year -- which hurt planning for the World Cup.
Former chairman Najam Sethi brought in Mickey Arthur as team director but he also kept his Derbyshire county job in England.
Directing the team from the UK, he was criticised in some media as a “Zoom coach.”
Pakistan officials have also been accused of failing to manage the workload of their fast bowlers with Naseem and Shaheen playing all three formats.
“You were not able to find a coach and since you liked foreign ones you hired an online coach. We change our system frequently and that is showing in our performance in the World Cup,” said former Pakistan great Wasim Akram.