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| Can the 'golden generation of Pakistani cricketers be called 'favorites' for the World Cup in India |
Do you remember the last ODI World Cup when the Pakistan team was declared as the favorite months before the tournament?
Perhaps your answer is the 2003 World Cup in which the Pakistan team consisting of players like Wasim, Waqar, Saeed Anwar, Inzamam, Shoaib, and Shahid Afridi were eliminated in the first round after losing to India.
In this World Cup as well, most of Pakistan's legendary cricketers had passed their prime and were nearing retirement, so it may not be wrong to say that 1999 was the last World Cup when Pakistan's 'Dream Team' was in the true sense of the word. Defeated in the World Cup final against Australia.
In two decades, now again such an opportunity has come that the World Cup is five months away and Pakistani fans believe that the team is one of the favorites to win the World Cup.
In these two decades, this team has shown the hearts of Pakistani fans and shocked them many times.
Be it the shock of being knocked out in the first round in 2007 or the agony of losing the semifinals to India in Mohali in 2011. After losing to Australia in the quarter-finals in 2015, getting knocked out in the first round in 2019 is a streak of suffering that is difficult for anyone to endure.
However, this time the fans hoping for the Pakistan team also have the justification for the team to be at the top of the ICC ODI Rankings.
This position has been achieved by Pakistan after defeating New Zealand by 4-0 in the series last night and this is the first time since the introduction of the ranking system in ODI that Pakistan has topped this ranking.
If we look at the batting, Pakistan's top three namely Fakhar Zaman, Imamul Haq, and Babar Azam are all in the first five ranks in the ICC ODI batting rankings. The fastest to complete 5000 runs in ODI cricket is Babar Azam first, Fakhar Zaman second, and Imamul Haq fifth.
Looking at the fast bowling, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi, and Naseem Shah need no introduction and their backup bowlers like Mohammad Wasim Jr and Ehsanullah are also in good form.
Among the spin all-rounders, Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz are suitable for Indian pitches and leg-spinner Osama Mir has been performing well in the last few matches. Similarly, the excellent performance of Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha in the middle order has also been encouraging and according to domestic data, ODI cricket is Iftikhar Ahmed's favorite format.
Critics believe that the assessments in this regard may be premature because Pakistan has played very few ODIs since the 2019 World Cup and Pakistan's current performance against a weak New Zealand side.
In such a situation, it is right for the fans to hope for the World Cup from the Pakistan cricket team, but is there room for further improvement in the team? We have discussed this in detail with Iman Tufail Arbab, the host of the podcast Double Wicket Maiden, and journalist Umar Farooq Kalson.
"It's nice to be on top, but it may be short-lived."
Speaking to the BBC, Iman Arbab, the host of the podcast Double Wicket Maiden, said that there is a need to be cautious about Pakistan's rise to the top of the ICC rankings at the moment.
"It's very encouraging, but rankings are often short-lived. In some time other teams will start playing cricket and the situation will change.
"But at the moment this ranking tells us that the Pakistan team has been in a very good position for the last year and the questions that have been in people's minds about this team for a while now, such as the middle order, have suddenly disappeared. seems to be settling down and we are in a situation where we have a player for every role.'
"Usually there used to be a huge difference in talent and quality between our playing XI and the substitutes, but that's not the case anymore," he said.
Journalist Umar Farooq Kalson says that the squad of 16 players that Pakistan currently has is the best, it also shows their record, but the problem that usually occurs with Pakistan is to make the right combination concerning 11 players. which we have not been able to solve yet.'
He said that I think that now we do not have full preparation as of 11. There are more overs in ODI cricket, so there is a specialist player for each position, yet we have some issues in our middle order which we have to overcome before the World Cup.
However, Umar said that 'Pakistan is definitely among the top four favorite teams to win the World Cup.'
"The Golden Generation of Pakistani Cricketers We Can Trust"
It should be noted that usually in the year of the World Cup, Pakistan cricket becomes a victim of controversies and during this time the debate regarding the captaincy also continues.
Before the 2011 and 2015 World Cups, Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq captaincy disputes continued, while before the 2003 World Cup, the same conflict was between Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.
This time too, before the series against Afghanistan, news started circulating in which questions were being raised about Babar Azam's captaincy and PCB Chairman Najam Sethi's statements in this regard were also not encouraging.
However, the message of courage for Babar Azam from the players of the Pakistan team during this time has lost this impression and now after winning the series against New Zealand, it seems almost impossible to remove Babar Azam from the captaincy before the World Cup.
talking about this, Farooq says that the Pakistan Cricket Board's creation of such an environment before the World Cup has bad effects on the team's preparation. "We say as far as press conferences that we are making decisions keeping the World Cup in mind, but in reality, it doesn't happen."
He said that this is the reason why despite having a good squad, we are left at the knockout stage in major tournaments like the previous T20 World Cups.
In this regard, Iman Tufail says that it is not that the PCB did not try to make changes in the Pakistan team before the World Cup. After Shahid Afridi became the head of the selection committee, we were all wondering what will happen next.
"Then there was talk of Shaan Masood being made vice-captain, but the beauty of this team is that it has been united on this occasion and they have a lot of respect for the captain and each other."
Iman Tufail says that 'Our generation has started trusting this team for the first time because of this golden generation of cricketers, this is very important because they support each other, they are talented and at this time such a team. has become something we can trust.'
If the Asia Cup could not be?
The 'Golden Generation' has been used for the players of this team for the last few years as this team has reached heights that previous teams could not reach and apparently, there is a good synergy between them.
This generation of Pakistani cricketers came into the limelight after the inception of PSL and most of them joined the Pakistani team thanks to this.
However, since the ODI World Cup of 2019, Pakistan cricket has played fewer ODIs than other teams. Since 2019, Pakistan has played only 27 ODIs so far. Meanwhile, all other teams except Afghanistan have played more ODIs.
Also worrying for Pakistan is that it only has an ODI series with Afghanistan and the Asia Cup scheduled until the ODI World Cup. However, regarding both of them, it cannot be said with certainty whether they will be held or not.
Umar Farooq says that it is obviously in the interest of the other teams involved in the Asia Cup to be part of a big tournament before the World Cup.
"I think the tournament will happen eventually, but if it doesn't happen, Pakistan playing a big team is not busy at that time, which I think will be difficult."
Iman Tufail says, 'When you start building a team for ODI cricket, there are a few things you have to look at, in which you have to select a player for each batting position and role and then look for his backup. Is. We currently have players and their backups for all positions.
"But that doesn't mean we don't need game time. It has its own importance. Therefore, I hope that if the series with Asia Cup and Afghanistan cannot be held, PCB will organize a series in the coming days.
"Middle order problem cannot be solved by top order players"
Journalist Umar Farooq talks about this in detail and says that Pakistan's Pakistan has not yet fed the players according to the role in the middle order due to which our middle order problem still persists.
He says, 'Why are you using openers at number four? If Haris Sohail had not been injured, Iftikhar Ahmed would not have been a part of the team which has been showing the best performance in domestic cricket in this format.
Umar Farooq said that Pakistan's policy of dropping or selecting a player in another format based on one format is beyond understanding. Referring to Khushdil Shah, said that he was also dropped from ODIs based on poor performance in T20.
He says that now you should inform the players from number one to six and seven about their roles and give them the next game time.
Iman had to say about this that 'I think Agha Salman has done very well and people are taking him lightly, he has come up with a solution to the problems in the middle order for Pakistan.
"Similarly, Rizwan is playing very well and in the form of Mohammad Haris and Iftikhar Ahmed, you have players who can finish the match."
He is also against trying Shaan Masood and Abdullah Shafiq at number four. "I don't understand the logic of it, maybe it's being done so that if our top three get out early in a match, there is a player who can rebuild the innings," she says. Salman Agha and Rizwan can also be tried in the role.
"Both Abdullah Shafiq and Shaan Masood can be seen as backup openers, but their role in the middle order will remain in question."
So will Pakistan get a future solution to its middle-order problem in the coming months? According to journalist Umar Farooq, the solution lies in the squad itself, but the management is looking for it in the top-order players.