Pakistan were touted as World Cup contenders before the competition, and now face a battle to make the semi-finals. Aadya Sharma tries to work out what’s gone wrong for Babar Azam’s side.

Shaheen Afridi stood at third man, gesturing at Hassan Ali and Mohammad Rizwan with his hands. “Slow it down!”, he appeared to say. Rizwan looked, but Hassan didn’t. He was already at his bowling mark, ready to robotically repeat his routine. Shaheen hung his head in disappointment.

By then, Afghanistan were cruising, and would navigate a middle-over stutter and stall to pull off their greatest ever win. Afridi’s gesticulations didn’t work like his bowling had.

Monday evening was replete with many such disharmonies. Drooping shoulders, lowered heads and listless faces were the common denominators. After the game, Babar blamed the bowling and fielding. Iftikhar Ahmed blamed the batting. Babar said the team’s plan was a total around 280-290. Iftikhar said it was a 300-plus wicket.

Pakistan are still fifth out of ten teams, with half the league stage to go. But there’s already a sense of relinquishment evident. Babar’s press conference was filled with blank spaces and vagueness, far from projecting any steeliness that could galvanise the ‘cornered tigers’. Their trajectory so far matches Pakistan’s 1992 resurgents, but there is little sign of any Babar-inspired roaring.

Against Afghanistan, they had quite a few things going their way. They posted 278, the fourth-highest score ever at the Chepauk this century batting first (ignore the 2007 Asia XI-Africa XI anomaly). Four days ago, New Zealand had scored less and trounced the same opposition at the same ground.

Then, just over halfway into the chase, Afghanistan slowed down significantly, managing merely 43-1 between overs 25 and 35 (the 36th being a maiden). An opening looked possible, and yet, it seemed inevitable that Afghanistan would chase it down.

For the first 21 overs, Pakistan went through the motions as Afghanistan’s openers put on a stand that turned from steady to commanding. It required Shaheen’s re-entry, not for the first time in the competition, to bring Pakistan back into the equation.

Among the many problems is the bowling, hailed by many – including Babar and Iftikhar – as the best attack on the planet. Naseem Shah’s loss was colossal, but great attacks don’t run on solo acts. Haris Rauf, who took 5-18 against the same opposition a month ago, ended wicketless. He’s bowled second-change eight times in his ODI career, three of which have been at this World Cup. The economy rate in these has been 6.4, 7.16 and 10.37. Against Afghanistan as first-change, it was 6.62. He went for 17 runs in his first over.

Hassan has been adequate, holding things down during Afghanistan’s lull. He took a four-for against Sri Lanka in his second game after a year-long gap, but now has just two wickets from his last 24 overs. It’s not been enough support to his new-ball partner Shaheen.

Despite appearing to be at less than a 100 per cent, Shaheen has been Pakistan’s best bowler. He pulled back Australia during an onslaught of epic proportions, provided a breakthrough against Afghanistan, but most of his success has come in his second spells. The last two games have seen opening stands of 259 and 130 against Pakistan.

Which takes us to the spin attack, their symbol of struggle in the recent past. For anyone with at least one wicket in this competition, the top three worst strike rates are three Pakistan spinners – Iftikhar Ahmed (120), Usama Mir (105) and Mohammad Nawaz (94.5). Since the start of 2022, the strike rate (48.6) of Pakistan spinners ranks 17th out of the 22 teams to play men’s ODIs. Shadab Khan, their out-of-form vice-captain, was dropped against Australia, provided lower-order batting stability on return, but couldn’t find a wicket when they most needed him to, across Afghanistan’s middle-overs crawl.

Shadab is also a great fielder, which most of his other teammates aren’t. Usama’s dropped catch of David Warner was one of several botched efforts, although that one hurt the most. The ground fielding has been shoddy: from over-running at the ropes to mistiming dives through overthrows aplenty, you name it, Pakistan have done it. Other teams have been guilty too, but Pakistan’s misdemeanours have stood out.

When asked about it, Babar didn’t venture beyond revising page one of the fielding basics: “Fielding comes with attitude. And I don’t see that attitude from the team. You need to show effort, be extra fit. Focus should be on the ball, our mind shouldn’t be elsewhere. You need to be proactive when the ball comes.”

And lastly, the batting, which, on paper, could have compensated for a weaker bowling line-up. When teams like India are looking to revamp their early approach, blitzing through the first ten, Pakistan have been a stark contrast. Their first ODI powerplay six of 2023 (!) came against Afghanistan. Starts have been steady but a sluggishness takes over the middle overs, and if there’s no Iftimania, there’s not enough blitzing at the end either. Take, for example, the two big partnerships last night: Shafique and Babar scored 132 in 167 balls. Gurbaz and Ibrahim managed 20 more runs in one ball fewer.

In their three losses, their aggregates between overs 20 and 40 have been as follows: 84-6 (India), 141-5 (Australia) and 91-3 (Afghanistan). The number against Australia was when they were chasing 368.

There’s still much to play for. It would be very Pakistan to somehow turn the tide. In typical fashion, external factors have only added to the drama. Rumours of discord within the squad (and a very counter-intuitive release refuting it), censure of Babar’s captaincy from ex-cricketers, the visa problems for journalists and a dearth of fans have all been ingredients in one big pot of mayhem.

To top it off, a viral infection has affected several players to varying degrees at different points in time. Shaheen, for instance, was down for four days and hardly trained before the Australia game, Nawaz had to sit out against Afghanistan, and others fell ill and recovered.

But even with what they have, Pakistan are far, far from what they can be, with excuses now drying out. The Chepauk had ample Pakistan support (and played Dil Dil Pakistan, mind you), the squad is back near full fitness and they have now played five matches in different Indian conditions. Tougher fixtures await, but the real battle is internal: it’s between Pakistan and Pakistan. Overdependence on a few players won’t give them a top-four spot. They need to find more of the fight from within.

It will also be the ultimate test of Babar, the captain. At several points against Afghanistan, he looked like a half-interested observer on the pitch, hands behind his back, listening to Rizwan’s animated suggestions. He had little to say, and sometimes he’d be the third wheel in a two-way conversation. When asked about his message to a disappointed team, Babar circled around ‘trying to talk about positives’, ‘different opponents, different approach’ and ‘bringing a positive vibe’.

Hopefully, the actual message to the team is clearer. Otherwise, it’s another ODI World Cup campaign in the bin, marred by internal confusion and external chaos. And that’s not ‘The Pakistan Way’ anyone would want to remember.

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