Champions Trophy: Dysfunctional Pakistan want counselling, not surgical procedure
“Our efficiency is at its lowest. Bettering the crew’s efficiency is our largest problem,” stated Mohsin Naqvi after Pakistan misplaced their group-stage match towards India within the T20 World Cup 2024. The Pakistan Cricket Board chairman had daring phrases reserved for the aspect proper after the marquee conflict. Naqvi stated that he would do main surgical procedure on the cricketing ecosystem of the nation and get the aspect again on tempo in worldwide cricket.
Eight months later, after these daring remarks, Pakistan has as soon as once more misplaced to India in one more ICC match. What’s worse is that, no less than in 2024, Pakistan no less than appeared aggressive, however in 2025, there wasn’t a speck of fireplace within the Mohammad Rizwan-led aspect.
The notable distinction between the 2 matches? This time, Mohsin Naqvi stored quiet.
Champions Trophy: Full Protection | Factors Desk
Pakistan’s current loss towards India as soon as once more places the concentrate on their crew and the cricket board, who’ve refused to vary with the tempo of the sport. In T20Is, Pakistan performs run-a-ball cricket, like they need to in ODIs. In ODIs, they bat like a Check aspect, at a time when 330-350 runs have turn out to be par within the 50-over recreation. And in Assessments, oh sure, let’s discuss Assessments. In Assessments, Pakistan determined to make rank-turners after abroad sides stored hammering them in red-ball cricket. The choice spectacularly backfired towards Bangladesh (0-2) and West Indies (1-1), who beat them at residence on tracks that turned from Day 1.
HIRING AND FIRING ATTITUDE
For the reason that ODI World Cup 2023, which primarily began the downfall of Pakistan cricket, they’ve modified coaches thrice. After Mickey Arthur’s exit, Mohammed Hafeez was handed the reins of the crew. Hafeez was sacked earlier than the T20 World Cup, and Pakistan introduced in World Cup-winning coach Gary Kirsten, together with former Australia quick bowler Jason Gillespie, who had executed properly within the Australian home circuit.
Kirsten, who received the ODI World Cup in 2011 with India and the Indian Premier League 2022 as a mentor, was compelled out of the aspect with out teaching in a single ODI recreation. Kirsten left amidst rising variations with the PCB after he was not allowed to pick out his most well-liked set of gamers for the ODI and T20I groups.
Gillespie met the identical destiny, lower than a 12 months into his appointment because the coach of the Check crew.
“You need to have the ability to have clear communication with all stakeholders, with selectors, for example, figuring out what the crew is as head coach properly earlier than the sport, or no less than the day earlier than the sport,” stated Gillespie on the ABC Grandstand present.
“The straw that broke the camel’s again, I suppose, was, as a head coach, you wish to have clear communication along with your employer. I used to be fully and completely blindsided by a call to not have a high-performance coach,” he stated.
“Tim Nielsen was advised that his companies had been now not required, and I had completely zero communication from anybody about that, and I simply thought after a lot of different issues that had gone on in the previous couple of months, that was in all probability the second the place I assumed, ‘Properly, I am not likely certain if they really actually need me to do that job or not,’” Gillespie concluded.
SCHEMERS IN THE MIX
After the overseas duo left their respective positions, a wave of ‘let’s rent coaches from residence’ got here from a sure part of the previous Pakistan gamers. One of many extra distinguished voices amongst them was Aaqib Javed, who needed to organize spin-friendly tracks in Pakistan to revive the Check type of the aspect.
Javed was first chosen because the chief selector for the Pakistan crew, after which was named the pinnacle coach of Pakistan in all codecs of the sport.
Javed did present outcomes—briefly—successful a Check sequence towards England, however faltered towards the West Indies as soon as once more, shedding a Check match at residence.
Javed’s appointment was as soon as once more protecting consistent with what the brand new regime underneath Mohsin Naqvi has tried to do—a fast repair to the answer.
However can you place a band-aid on a deep reduce and hope that it will likely be okay? Definitely not. And issues began unravelling as soon as once more when Pakistan’s batters failed to point out intent on the sluggish pitches of Dubai and Karachi, which weren’t suited to their strengths in any respect.
Former Pakistan captain Sana Mir summed it as much as perfection: Pakistan misplaced the match the second they finalized the 15-member squad.
On the spin-friendly tracks of Dubai and Karachi, Pakistan named just one specialist spinner—Abrar Ahmed. And the consequence was evident.
“You could possibly make MS Dhoni or Younis Khan the captain—none of them might do something with this crew. It is not suited to our situations. Like Hafeez bhai stated, one match was sure to be in Dubai. So how did we go in with simply two part-time spinners? Abrar continues to be new to ODIs, and he has taken solely two wickets within the final 5 months,” Sana Mir stated on PTV after India vs Pakistan.
“We discuss intent, and Mohammad Haris performs with intent. However you drop him after he fails in West Indies matches. What incentive does he must play freely when choice relies on averages?” she concluded.
NOT SURGERY, COUNSELLING NEEDED
Pakistan will do significantly better in the event that they cease taking knee-jerk reactions each three months. Coaching in a military camp, dropping mainstays like Fakhar Zaman from the contract checklist months forward of an ICC match, could possibly be termed as daring choices, however on the finish of the day, they’re nothing however silly calls, taken to idiot themselves, that, ‘Wow, look, we’ve got tried to carry change to Pakistan cricket.’
Take, for instance, the military camp. What did that program do? It was imagined to make Pakistan gamers extra agile, fitter, however on Sunday, February 23, they dropped two easy probabilities of Indian batters. If that they had taken these, they could have added some stress.
Fakhar Zaman obtained dominated out of the match whereas fielding within the first match of the match. What would you do to him? Ship him to a military camp once more?
Pakistan cricket can be in a significantly better place in the event that they opted for stability and accountability from gamers, coaches, selectors, and board members.
As a substitute of choosing gamers solely primarily based on averages in home and worldwide codecs, the crew administration should undertake fashionable choice parameters and again their selections to the hilt.
The board would do properly to take inspiration from India, who’ve executed a seamless transition of their T20 aspect.
Following the exit of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja, India have moved ahead with gamers like Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, and Washington Sundar—and they’re already reaping the rewards.
Indian cricket was not inbuilt a day. Even at their lowest level, arguably the current Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India didn’t resort to a hire-and-fire strategy. This doesn’t imply the coach and captain weren’t held accountable, although.
The coach engaged in in depth discussions with board members, whereas the captain and senior gamers had been despatched again to home cricket to regain kind. The consequence? India now look far stronger than they did towards New Zealand and Australia just some months in the past.
Pakistan would do properly to emulate the processes established by the Indian cricket board. Their neighbours needn’t solely higher organisation but in addition a streamlined imaginative and prescient to take cricket ahead of their nation. If they’ll put an finish to infighting and keep away from hack jobs and makeshift options disguised as reforms, Pakistan might as soon as once more thrive.
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