In conditions where the pitches suit the batting and considering Pakistan's poor batting form, the success of Pakistan's World T20 campaign hinges on whether the batsmen can find their form again.

By Shakeel Yousaf (8th March, 2016)

Losses to Bangladesh, to England, to New Zealand and then a disaster Asia Cup is the form Pakistan will take to this World Cup. There have been flashes of brilliance here and there, however the cricket from the team has been dreadful. The performances have been bereft and deficient of any confidence.

However having said that, the squad has been more or less the best the selectors could have chosen. That does not negate the fact that there are still issues with Pakistan’s spin department. A spin attack of a mis-firing Afridi, an unproven Nawaz and an out of sorts Imad hardly fills anyone with confidence. If we look at Pakistan’s T20 performances in World Cups, spin has played a massive part of Pakistan’s success. The team has not recovered after Ajmal and later on Hafeez’s ban, and still have not found an adequate successor to either bowler. Yasir Shah could have been one, however his ban and indifferent form in the shorter formats of the game, means that discussion is largely irrelevant. Could the selectors have gone for Asghar instead of Anwar Ali? In India’s conditions the answer would have be yes. Although had they gone for the Asghar option the inexperience factor would have still been there. Pakistan will need to have Afridi firing and hope Imad or Nawaz provide adequate back-up to the skipper.

Pakistan’s pace attack, however, is completely opposite. Led by a superb Mohammad Amir, an in-form Irfan and Sami and the dangerous Wahab, it should give the team some hope that they have four bowlers capable of changing the game very quickly. On a seaming pitch Anwar Ali should also provide decent back-up. The pace attack has variety, experience and more importantly everyone seems to know what their role is. However this brings us to the next problem; the shocking batting performance of the team, especially recently, will render any good performance of the bowling nugatory and negate any advantage the bowling attack brings. The bowling will only be useful if the team is capable of posting good totals. Hafeez’s questionable form (an average of less than 18 since 2013), Shehzad’s batting issues, Sharjeel’s indifferent international performances, Afridi’s non-existent batting contributions and Malik’s on and off cameos, are all massive issues and on flat pitches if none of these batsmen fire then Pakistan will struggle. Umar Akmal and Sarfraz have been great, however those two cannot rescue the team everytime. In the subcontinent, the batting is the key. Khalif Latif is a good option but it remains to be seen if he even gets any game time.

In short, in India the batting performances are the key. Pakistan’s batting has consistently failed for the last four tours. In a very tough group, and facing some quality attacks, if the batting does not fire Pakistan cannot expect to qualify out of the group. From the team’s point view and considering the poor form, getting out of the group would be a success.

Pakistan's Squad : Shahid Afridi (C), Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed†, Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Akmal, Ahmed Shehzad, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Imad Wasim, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Sami, Khalid Latif

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