3 negative takeaways for Pakistan after an early exit in Asia Cup 2023
Pakistan were deemed by many as favourites to win Asia Cup 2023. Many thought that they were a complete unit and would give the others a run for their money. However, the Babar Azam-led side did not perform on expected lines as they failed to make the final of the tournament.
Pakistan started the tournament with a comfortable victory against Nepal and then did well against arch-rivals India but that game had to be abandoned due to rain. Then, in the Super Fours stage, they decimated Bangladesh before they were rolled over by India.
Their last game against Sri Lanka was a virtual semi-final for both teams. The game was a closely-fought encounter which went down to the wire. Sri Lanka held their nerves to get across the line and qualify for their 11th Asia Cup Final.
Following their exit, there has been a lot of chatter regarding Pakistan’s chances at the upcoming World Cup, which pundits think has taken a hit. The explanation is that several issues have surfaced for the management during the course of the Asia Cup.
Here, we look at three negative takeaways for Pakistan after an early exit in Asia Cup.
#1. The opener conundrum
Despite there being a lot of noise regarding Fakhar Zaman’s poor form, Pakistan kept faith in the experienced southpaw. However, Zaman failed to get even a single decent score under his belt at th Asia Cup.
He was finally left out of the playing 11 for the game against Sri Lanka, but luck was on his side as Imam-ul-Haq had a back spasm before the game, which nessitated for Zaman’s inclusion. But once again, he failed in the big encounter.
Pakistan will have to name their final World Cup squad soon and the selctors will have a lot to ponder a lot about the opening slots. Abdullah Shafique showed promise with a half-century against the Lankans, but he has played only eight List-A games and his strike-rate of 70.25 is not very impressive.
The selectors will have to pick between an underperforming Zaman and an untested Shafique and that is not going to be an easy decision by any stretch of imagination.
#2. Shadab Khan’s ineffectiveness
Shadab Khan is one of the most exciting prospects going around at the moment. He has done quite well for Pakistan in the shortest format of the game and while his ODI numbers are also impressive, his performances in recent times have been underwhelming to say the least.
In his last eight ODIs, he has picked up only 10 wickets, with seven of those coming in two games against Nepal and Afghanistan. In the Asia Cup, he started well by picking up four wickets against Nepal, but he could only manage two wickets in the next four outings. He leaked runs in the middle overs and never really threatened the batters.
His batting is also questionable as he has only scored 103 runs in his last eight innings. However, as his primary role is that of a spinner, we will keep his batting aside for now. Shadab's ineffectiveness is a huge headache for Babar Azam and Co and that could call for the inclusion of another spinner in the World Cup squad.
The best teams have wicket-taking spinners in their ranks who can control the middle overs. Australia have Adam Zampa, India have Kuldeep Yadav and England have Adil Rashid, but Pakistan don't seem to have any such option.
#3. Injury prone pacers
Pakistan's three premier pacers - Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Harif Rauf - are absolute assets. However, they are all injury prone as we have seen in the past. In the Asia Cup, both Naseem and Rauf missed one game each owing to injuries.
For Pakistan to go the distance at the World Cup, it is imperative that their three quicks remain fit. However, for that too happen, Pakistan will need a lot of luck. As such, this is a huge concern for the management as they do not play any more ODIs before the World Cup.
The potential replacements - Zaman Khan, Shahnawaz Dahani and Mohammed Wasim Jr. - are all extremely talented but on the big stage, experience counts and unfortunately for Pakistan, the three of the have a combined experience of only 19 games.