Wanted: Quality batsmen for the Pakistan national cricket team

Over the last few years, the Pakistan national cricket team has made headlines for all the wrong seasons. Spot-fixing allegations claimed the careers of Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Amir, respectively, leaving the Green Caps in a rather depressing state. While the bowling wears a somewhat settled look with the emergence of pacers Junaid Khan and the seven-foot tall Mohammad Irfan, it is the batting which has struggled to return the side to its days of glory. This area was very well exploited by all the three sides which defeated Pakistan in the league stages of the Champions Trophy, prompting batting legend Zaheer Abbas to bemoan the lack of quality batters in the side. He’s right about this.

So why does the dearth exist? Why is poor batting swept under the rug by the successes of the bowling attack? I think there are four main reasons for this discrepancy. Let’s take a look at them one by one:

1. No Role Models For New Faces

Abbas hit the nail on the head when he stated that the young players in the current national squad did not have enough role models to look up to in terms of batting. With the retirement of Inzamam-ul-Haq and veteran batsmen Younus Khan and Mohammad Yousuf out of favour with the PCB, fans would have expected the likes of Nasir Jamshed and Umar Amin to look up to captain Misbah-ul-Haq and all-rounder Shoaib Malik for guidance as they are the most experienced players in the current line-up. Instead, they were left to fend for themselves when the Champions Trophy rolled around the corner. While younger Indian contemporaries such as Virat Kohli had the benefit of guidance and some mentoring from established senior pros such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag etc., Pakistan players such as Fawad Alam and Jamshed haven’t had that many opportunities to interact with the likes of Shahid Afridi, Younus and Yousuf. The transition process from the old guard to the young turks hasn’t been smooth or effective at all.