Pakistan cricket team has seen many victories along with many failures over the years, but the massive failure that was observed recently was in the Pakistan vs. South Africa series that was played in UAE. Pakistan failed terribly when the batting line-up collapsed, and Pakistan lost 4 out of 5 ODI series. However, they managed to do better in the series that were played in South Africa where they won 2 out of 3 ODIs. After the end of both the series it was a common thought of many spectators that Pakistan cricket team was only capable of bowling. Didn't the batsmen feel any sort of responsibility? Why don’t they perform well enough to win a match? The responsibility was only felt by one man, while all the others failed to stay on the pitch. Although our bowling attack is very strong and it often saves us from losing a match, it was still not enough.
The responsibility lies mostly with the board, and PCB has even taken some steps to improve the performance of the team, but they failed. One reason might be that PCB itself has partially failed to introduce a culture where the criterion for selection is merit. PCB should develop some long term plans to make the team better. Above all, we need fresh blood in the team; every international cricket team introduced young players into their teams after the World Cup 2011 for future preparation. However, Pakistan cricket team clung on to its aging players, and now their performance can be seen clearly. It is high time the concerned authorities took some serious action otherwise the performance of the team would remain mediocre.
AQSA MUZAFFAR,
Karachi, December 7.