New Zealand just beat Pakistan in a 5-match T20I series. Many people have opinions about why Pakistan almost got whitewashed. Some say Pakistan’s bowlers weren’t on point. Others have the opinion that too much experimentation cost us this T20 series against the BLACKCAPS. Among all this chaos, what is the correct answer? Why did Pakistan lose against the Kiwis? In this article, we will discuss multiple points and try to answer this question.
Mohammad Hafeez puts all the blame on the players
Mohammad Hafeez, the director of cricket and head coach of the Pakistan Cricket Team had a meeting with the acting PCB chairman, Mr Shah Khawar. In the meeting, he put all the blame on the players. Hafeez stated that players lacked focus, and were more concerned about the T20 franchise leagues.
Later in the article, we will also tell you about the player’s dispute with the team management regarding the issue.
Hafeez’s statement does have some merit, as some of the players have their concerns about unfair NOC policy regarding participation in the franchise leagues. Some players were allowed to participate in their 3rd league this year, while the central contract clearly states that they cannot.
Mohammad Hafeez had a contract until 15 December, and it is likely that PCB will ask him to discontinue as the head coach and the director of cricket.
This might be the biggest factor that led to Australia whitewashing Pakistan in the Test series, and the Black Caps beating Pakistan 4-1 in the T20I series.
Continue reading to know what else went wrong in the series against New Zealand.
What else went wrong in the series?
There are a lot of ways we can try to answer this question. And honestly, I cannot contain this debate in a single article. It is like trying to complete your entire semester’s syllabus the night before the exam. There’s too much to cover. However, we can touch down each point and try to find out why Pakistan lost miserably against the Kiwis, with only the fifth match that consoles the fanbase a little bit.
Pakistan’s batting
Firstly, let’s talk about the thing that stings us the most. And that is, our batting lineup. Ever since the OGs like Yousuf, Younis, Inzamam, Saeed Anwar, and Misbah have retired, Pakistan’s batting lineup has been struggling to find the perfect balance.
You could say that modern batters like Babar, Imam, Fakhar, and Rizwan showed some hope. However, they have reverted to the old Pakistani style, and that is, to collapse like a star has fallen into its gravitational pull.
In all the matches, Pakistan’s batting fell a little short. You can say that chasing targets of more than 200 is not easy. However, the modern-day T20 dynamics have changed. If these guys can score this much in PSL, why not in the international matches?
The inability to play the entire 20-over quota might be hurting us as well. In the entire series, Paksitani batters only played the 20 overs ONCE.
Apart from a few batters, no one crossed the 50-run mark. And I am talking about the youngsters in the top order. They have got potential, sure. However, you have to convert those good starts into big numbers.
The top-order has collapsed at crucial times as well, leaving the middle order and tail-enders with much of the heavy lifting to do.
Choosing to break the opening pair seems to have made things a bit harder for the team. However, when you experiment, things can go wrong.
Once again, you cannot expect Babar and Rizwan to do the heavy lifting all the time. The other batters have to jump up as well.
Our bowling struggles
This was a hard series for the bowlers. You can say that injuries have ruined the fun for the Pakistani speedsters that once terrorized the batsmen with their variations, pace, and smartness. The inability to take wickets at crucial moments is one thing. However, there is one thing you cannot forgive in T20, and that is your economy rate.
Let’s discuss our bowler’s economy rates in the series and the wickets they have taken.
| Bowler | Wickets | Economy rate |
|---|---|---|
| Shaheen Afridi 5 matches | 9 | 8.94 |
| Haris Rauf 4 matches | 7 | 10.61 |
| Abbas Afridi 3 matches | 5 | 9 |
| Iftikhar Ahmad 5 matches | 3 | 6 |
| Mohammad Nawaz 3 matches | 3 | 8.58 |
| Zaman Khan 3 matches | 2 | 7.68 |
| Usama Mir 3 matches | 2 | 9.25 |
| Mohammad Wasim 2 matches | 1 | 8.42 |
| Aamer Jamal 2 matches | 1 | 12.12 |
As you can see, our strike bowlers did take wickets. However, they were quite expensive, and it took away all the pressure. Similarly, the bowlers who contained didn’t take wickets, which harms the team. If you compare it with New Zealand’s bowlers, Tim Southee bowled with an economy rate of 7.17 and took 10 wickets in 5 matches. This should tell you where we lacked.
Our once-strong bowling lineup is in shambles, and changing the coaches every 6 months isn’t the solution.
Shaheen’s point of view
Let’s see what the captain had to say about this. He acknowledged that they experimented a lot because they wanted to test everything out before the T20 World Cup starts on 1 June. However, Shaheen stated that the batting, bowling, and fielding mistakes in the first four matches hurt them a lot. Things could have been better.
He explained how giving chances to every player at different positions was important as well. He identified Saim and Abbas Afridi as the potential talents for the upcoming matches.
Team management issues
There were some team-management issues as well. Players were especially not happy with Mohammad Hafeez’s long lectures. Read about the story here:
Read: Pakistan players unhappy with Mohammad Hafeez
The players want to make money as well. Cricket is their job, and if the manager will not let them play in the franchise leagues, which is a lucrative opportunity to make more money, things are going to get rough. These things might have distracted the players.
What went wrong? – Concluding remarks
It is the same old fiasco. Pakistan’s top order is not performing. And you can only blame it on “experimentation” so much. However, what hurt PCT a lot more was the pathetic bowling control in the series. It is a culmination of everything, and a golden opportunity for the skipper and the team management to point out the mistakes and make things better for the T20 world cup.