World Cup 2019: 3 biggest positives from Pakistan's campaign
Pakistan cricket team's World Cup 2019 dream is over and so are the eerie similarities with World Cup 1992. However, the good thing is that Pakistan, after a terrible start, showed some fight in the end, making the tournament exciting.
The Sarfraz Ahmed-led side started their World Cup campaign in a poor fashion and were on the verge of elimination very early in the tournament. With just one win from their first five games, Pakistan were in trouble but collected wins from each of their four games to strike a comeback.
Suddenly, everything changed and they emerged as a strong contender for a spot in the knockout stages. The cricket they played against England, South Africa, New Zealand and Bangladesh was of the highest quality that left many cricket pundits stunned.
At the end of this World Cup, one thing was confirmed, that Pakistan still remained an unpredictable side, all the way till their last league stage game against Bangladesh
Now that Pakistan's campaign is done and dusted, here is a look at three of the biggest positives from their World Cup campaign.
#3 A strong show from bowling unit
Pace has always been the way to go for Pakistan and their fast bowling was a major strength in this World Cup as well. Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Wahab Riaz were in some top form, picking up 17, 16 and 11 wickets respectively.
Amir and Shaheen, in particular were excellent up front, mixing up their lengths as they created tough angles for the batsmen to play out early on in the innings. Riaz's reverse swing at 140 kph added an extra dimension to the bowling unit.
Shaheen was in the best of form during Pakistan's final league stage game against Bangladesh as he registered figures of 6/35 from 9.1 overs, the best ever figures for a Pakistan bowler in World Cup history.
Besides the fast bowlers, spinners also played a great role. Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim were brilliant in drying runs in the middle overs and picking wickets by forcing the batsman to play rash shots.
While Imad could not pick too many wickets, Shadab picked up nine wickets from seven matches at an economy of 5.52 and made the most of turn on offer. With Hafeez also contributing decently with the ball, especially against left-hand batsmen, Pakistan's spin department provided excellent support to the pacers.
Also read – World cup most wickets