The alarming manner of Pakistan's ODI defeats

The current Pakistan team is the weakest the country has ever fielded in a global tournament, both statistically and theoretically.

Never before have they been the lowest seeded team in an International Cricket Council event.

They no longer have formidable individuals. Their current corps can’t hold a candle to their predecessors, the likes of Imran, Javed, Wasim, Waqar, Inzamam, Afridi and others.

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If a modern World XI or even XV were to be selected, it is unlikely to see any player from Pakistan.

Expectations weren’t high before Sunday’s game against India but the manner in which Pakistan were defeated was not expected either. The 124-run thrashing was India’s most clinical victory against their arch-rivals in a marquee tournament.

The recent margins by which Pakistan have been losing are particularly alarming. Their average margin of defeat in their last ten ODIs against top eight teams when bowling first is 102 runs.

When fielding first, the average losing margin is with 44 balls remaining.

By comparison, the corresponding numbers for India are 51 runs and 25 balls remaining. The gap is widening so far that the hotly anticipated India v Pakistan encounters simply do not appear to be a contest anymore.

Pakistan have only themselves to be blame for their fall. The strategy and out-of-the-box stuff they talked about on eve of the match was found badly wanting. At times, they made you wonder if there was any strategy at all. 

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On Sunday, Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed made the surprising choice of opening the bowling with left-arm spinner Imad Wasim. Then, he persisted with the tweaker for six overs as Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma built the foundations of what turned into a 136-run first-wicket stand.

The out-of-the-box strategy was perhaps aimed at containing runs rather than taking wickets, but if that’s the case, it was contrary to the approach coach Mickey Arthur had spoken about before the match.

It also appears that the captain and the coach are not on the same page.

"We selected a team that we thought could go out there and rattle the cages of India. Our execution wasn't good enough today," said Arthur after the defeat.

"You can still get out of the box but there's nothing out of the box here. We opened with a left-arm spinner. That might be out of the box.

"But in cricket it's a matter of taking wickets and scoring runs.

"We thought we had an attack that could really attack them and put them under pressure."

If Arthur’s words and body language from the post-match press conference are anything to go by, he wanted Pakistan to attack with their fast bowlers and look for wickets. But Sarfraz’s planning was the complete opposite.

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Arthur also looked unhappy with Mohammad Hafeez going unbowled.

"He (Hafeez) is fit to bowl," Arthur said. "I’m not sure (why he didn’t bowl)" Can’t answer that one. But yeah, he is fit bowl."

Homework might not be a popular word in Arthur’s dictionary but that was something they appeared to have neglected to do any before their game against India. It goes without saying that India’s batsmen are more productive against spin than pace, therefore to have Imad and Shadab Khan together in the XI did not make much sense. Add in Hafeez and Shoaib Malik and you have four spin options.

Even during the game Pakistan played to India’s strengths. Virat Kohli’s average against Pakistan spinners in ODIs before the match was 85.40, compared to 28.85 against their seamers. But when he came to the crease, Pakistan surprisingly bowled four consecutive overs of spin to him, allowing the India skipper to settle early. By the time paceman Mohammad Amir came to bowl, he was 15 off 16 balls. 

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Pakistan have consistently talked about changing their brand of cricket over the last few years, but it appears to have been more rhetoric than practice.

Fakhar Zaman was brought into Pakistan’s squad for the tournament as a replacement for explosive opener Sharjeel Khan, despite having yet to make his ODI debut and averaging 50.46 with a strike rate 94.15 in List A cricket.

Of 24 opening batsmen who have scored more than 1,000 runs in ODIs during the last five years, Azhar Ali is 18th on that list in terms of strike rate, while Ahmed Shehzad is 21st. Yet, they continue to bat together at the top of the order for Pakistan.

Each of Pakistan’s top four batsmen batted with a strike rate below 80 against India, despite a target of 289 from just 41 overs.

Add to it the absence of power hitters in the lower order and you have to wonder if they could have scored 289 in 50 overs, let alone in 41.

Meanwhile, Sarfraz Ahmed averages 48 when batting in the top five but for some reason he is being used at No.6 to accelerate the innings, despite the fact he has scored just one six in overs 41-50 in the last seven years. His ability to rotate the strike and keep the scorecard ticking is being wasted.

"The worrying thing for me, and it has been for a period of time, is we just do the basics wrong,” Arthur said.

"We do the simple things wrong. We drop simple catches. We don't run well enough between wickets. We don't hit the ‘keeper with our throws. We don't understand when to bowl our variations.

"It's the simplicity of those things that are worrying me at the moment and our understanding of when to do certain things. So that was disappointing. But we'll bounce back from it."

The next two games are now must-win for Pakistan. Their losing streak in the Champions Trophy has now extended to six and even if they do win their remaining matches, they still may not advance to the semi-finals.

Another threat looms: if they do not bounce back, and soon, their direct qualification for the World Cup in 2019 could be in jeopardy. 

It’s been two years now that they have been fluctuating between eight and nine in the rankings and with the September 30 cut-off for World Cup qualification looming, they need to turn around their one-day form before it’s too late. 

Champions Trophy 2017 Guide

Squads: Every Champions Trophy nation

Schedule

1 June – England beat Bangladesh by eight wickets

2 June – New Zealand v Australia, No Result

3 June – Sri Lanka lost to South Africa by 96 runs

4 June – India beat Pakistan by 124 runs

5 June – Australia v Bangladesh, The Oval (D/N)

6 June – England v New Zealand, Cardiff (D)

7 June – Pakistan v South Africa, Edgbaston (D/N)

8 June – India v Sri Lanka, The Oval (D)

9 June – New Zealand v Bangladesh, Cardiff (D)

10 June – England v Australia, Edgbaston (D)

11 June – India v South Africa, The Oval (D)

12 June – Sri Lanka v Pakistan, Cardiff (D)

14 June – First semi-final (A1 v B2), Cardiff (D)

15 June – Second semi-final (A2 v B1), Edgbaston (D)

18 June – Final, The Oval (D)

19 June – Reserve day (D)