Pakistan need Shoaib Malik, but Mohammad Hafeez’s place remains uncertain
Pakistan are undoubtedly the most unpredictable team in the world of cricket, which was once again proved after their recent ICC Champions Trophy triumph. When they are on song, nothing can halt their progress, however.
Such is their unpredictability that often their top players of a series or major tournaments are the ones who were not supposed to be there in the first place, which was proved by unimaginable success of youngsters like Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan and Rumman Raees.
Their success, however, has raised another important question that Sarfraz Ahmed and team management must answer, which is should the Men in Green separate themselves from the seasoned campaigners Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez and back the young blood, or should they keep them in the mix?
Over the years, Pakistan’s problem was always their weak batting, and it was imperative for the two senior pros to deliver in the mega event.
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Interestingly, the veterans had a pretty average tournament. Hafeez, after a slow start, picked up the pace and finished the tournament with 149 runs with an average touching 50, whereas Malik had miserable time with the bat after managing to score just 54 runs at a disappointing average of 18.
Looking at the stats, it’s pretty easy to conclude, as many fans on social media are calling, that the team should say goodbye to these seniors. But a deeper look into stats makes it evident that Pakistan need at least one of these two players.
Deciding the long-term future of two senior players in a really young unit, I conclude that it will be only fair to evaluate them on a couple of criteria; one – how good they’ve been in the recent past just and not in the Champions Trophy and two – how good is their replacement?
Malik and Hafeez have few things in common between them; both are batting all-rounders, off-spinners and have captained Pakistan and both have made numerous comebacks in the national side.
Malik’s came back into the national team set up in 2015, and since then, he has been Pakistan’s 2nd most prolific scorer in the 50-over format behind only Babar Azam. He’s second primarily because of a really poor Champions Trophy with the bat, otherwise he would’ve been the highest run-getter.
The 35-year-old has an outstanding average of 53.12 in the last two years, 10th best in the world in ODIs, and prior to Champions Trophy, it was fifth best in the world.
Pakistan’s biggest problem which led to their downfall in the ODI format is their slow batting, which lacked intent and the ability to rotate the strike.
But even then, the Sialkot-born right-hander had a strike-rate in excess of 100, 10th best in the world in that duration - better than the likes of New Zealand’s Martin Guptill, South Africa’s Quinton de Kock, England’s Eoin Morgan and India’s Rohit Sharma.
Even in the Champions Trophy, Malik looked like the most in-form player during opening match defeat against India and played a crucial hand in leading his side to a Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method win over South Africa.
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Not only that, Malik’s presence proved pivotal to his team’s every successful chase in the recent past, as he made valuable contributions in matches against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, England in England, Australia in Australia and most recently in the series decider in West Indies.
Captain Sarfraz and coach Mickey Arthur see Malik as the finisher, which is why his replacement is hard to find, as no other player, not only in the squad but also in the domestic circuit, can match his ability of reading the game.
On the other hand, Hafeez’s performance hasnt been all that convincing in the past few years. He averages just over 41 since ICC World Cup 2015, which looks acceptable.
But in a team which already consists the likes Azhar Ali and Babar Azam, Hafeez’s strike-rate of less than 85 becomes a real burden.
The 36-year-old has been found wanting on numerous occasions in the recent past, and he did the same mistakes again in the first two matches of the Champions Trophy, where he got out after consuming too many deliveries and left the team in trouble.
Hafeez’s ideal replacement while batting at number four is captain Sarfraz, who has a more than decent record at that position. However, it is yet not clear why the wicketkeeper batsman is keeping himself at number six.
If Sarfraz comes at number four, it also opens the door for the likes of Haris Sohail, Amir Yamin and others to cement their place as well.
One argument that always made Hafeez’s case stronger against Malik is that he was always a better bowler. However, since his return with a remodelled action, he has neither looked as effective as he was before, nor does it seem that the captain has enough trust in his abilities.
Pakistan have won a major ODI tournament after 25 years, but the Sarfraz-led unit is not a finished article by any means, which means presence of the seniors is must in a dressing room to ease the nerve of the youngsters in testing times.
Looking at all of the details above, it is pretty evident that Pakistan need Malik, who brings that calmness in the middle order which is essential if the team is to make a move in the right direction.
However, Hafeez’s place will remain under scrutiny.