Karachi: With the recent miserable 2-1 defeat against four times ODI World Champions Australia, Pakistan counts its third consecutive ODI Series defeat under the captaincy of Misbah-ul-Haq. The series losing tally that commenced with the crushing 4-0 defeat against England earlier this year, followed by an astonishing 3-1 defeat against Sri Lanka in June and now against Australia by 2-1, all in the Asian continent, has left Pakistan cricket fans in despair. They now seriously question the deteriorating performance and credibility of the National side to compete in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Facts and figures speak that since June 2002, Pakistan has not been able to prevail in ‘a decider’ after being leveled 1-1 or 2-2 in a bilateral ODI Series. During the last one decade, they have missed out the trick in the Finals as much as eight times (vs England and South Africa in 2003, against India in 2004, vs South Africa 2007, vs Sri Lanka 2009, vs New Zealand 2009, vs England 2010, vs South Africa 2010).
The reasons might be numerous, first being the unavailability of dependable match finisher who could ease the team to victory in critical situations like Mike Hussey, MS Dhoni, Lance Klusener, Moin Khan and many others. Pakistani batsman seems to be losing the confidence from themselves, they don’t believe them playing in the International arena where the competition demands ‘Do or Die’ like situation.
The mindset of Pakistani cricketers has gone too much defensive, suffering immensely from the absence of ecstatic leader like Imran Khan or Wasim Akram. We play Australia and Scotland in the same tough manner, always expecting sturdy competitions in mighty and minor contests.
The funniest thing that was observed right through the three match series is the fact that the National side never lose any opportunity of converting young debutants into great heroes as we earlier produced Nathan Hauritz, Rangana Herath, Ravi Rampaul, Ravindra Bishu, Joginder Sharma and others as unplayable devastating players and now we have produced another hero in the shape of Starc.
This is big time for Pakistan to value their worth, set the goals right and move for it like they did in Tests format by clinching fourth position after they wished and worked for the settled objective. We need to groom hard hitting though responsible players unlike Umar Akmal who seems to have lost his teeming talent completely. The authorities must pay heed towards the only beloved sport in Pakistan if they want Pakistan standing tall among all.