Five questions for Pakistan after their disappointing Asia Cup campaign

Pakistan may say that had it not been for the reserve day, and had everything else remained the same, they would have been in the 2023 Asia Cup final ahead of India.

Of course, India would have fielded a full team in that case, but Pakistan may also have had Naseem Shah available for the Sri Lanka clash.

Yet, the fact remains that Pakistan finished fourth in a six-team tournament that will remain their last outing ahead of the World Cup – a fact that is likely to make their team management and fans uncomfortable. The Asia Cup raised several pertinent questions as well.

Who are the backup pacers?

Pakistan’s three fast bowlers – Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf – form one of the most-feared pace attacks in contemporary limited-overs cricket. All of them take more than two wickets every 10-over spell – in other words, they share over six wickets in the match.

The problem lies when one of them has an off day or worse, gets injured. Since the start of 2022, all three have played 14 or more ODIs, but barring them, Mohammad Wasim, who would not have played had he also not been a decent bat, is the only pacer to have played even four.

The attack was brutally exposed when both Haris and Naseem broke down during the India match and were ruled out against Sri Lanka. As fast bowlers, at least one is likely to be injured over the course of a long World Cup – if all three are available, that is: a question mark looms over Naseem’s prospects at this point.

Against Sri Lanka, Wasim bowled three overs for 25, and though debutant Zaman Khan impressed in the last over, there was not enough to establish that Pakistan have unearthed a world-class backup pacer.

Is Shadab Khan an obvious pick?

In T20Is, Shadab is among the first names on the Pakistan team sheets. Unfortunately, he has not stepped up as much in the ODIs. In 2023, his wickets have come at 39 apiece, while he has gone for 5.54 despite bowling mostly in the middle overs.

One may argue that while not great, these numbers are poor. But then, the requirements are probably more in Pakistan’s three-pacers-and-all-rounders attack, more so because his batting numbers have fallen away of late (138 runs in eight innings, no fifty).

There is little doubt over Shadab’s abilities or the value he brings in every department. Despite that, he is probably not an obvious choice in ODIs.

Who are their spinners anyway?

Since the start of 2022, no Pakistan spinner averages under 30 with the ball in ODIs. Barring Mohammad Nawaz (32.15), there is no one below 35 either.

Of the teams playing at the World Cup, the spinners from only New Zealand (44.27) and the Netherlands (53.88) have a worse average than the 40.26 of their Pakistani counterparts.

One may argue that their three fast bowlers take enough wickets for their spinners to settle into a defensive role, but barring Nawaz (4.79), none of them goes for under 5.3 an over either despite bowling almost solely in the middle overs.

The lack of depth in spin allowed India to get away twice and Sri Lanka once – and that is just at the Asia Cup. These are worrying signs.

What to do with Fakhar Zaman?

In 2023, Fakhar became the 12th batter to score hundreds in three consecutive ODIs (101, 117, 180 not out), all of them against New Zealand at home. Along with Imam-ul-Haq, he seemed set to ensure Pakistan did not have to worry about the top of the order at the World Cup.

Four months later, Pakistan dropped Fakhar for the must-win Asia Cup match against Sri Lanka before including him when Imam opted out with a last-minute back spasm. He made four, extending his run of failures to 190 runs in 10 innings with a highest score of 33.

Fakhar’s career numbers – 3,272 runs at 45.44, strike rate 92 – demonstrate his class, but will he find form in time?

Has the batting been tested of late?

Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed bailed out Pakistan against Sri Lanka. Before that, they had caved in against India, chased 194 against Bangladesh, and did not get to bat in the league match against India. Their only reasonable batting effort in the Asia Cup was against Nepal.

Pakistan beat Afghanistan 3-0 before that, but were bowled out for 201 in one of them and scraped through by one wicket in another. They bat deep – Fakhar, Imam, Babar Azam, and Rizwan are followed by a plethora of all-rounders – but have they been tested in recent past?

And even among their triumvirate at the top, Fakhar was dropped, Imam was injured, and – barring the Nepal match – Babar averages 24.29 in his last seven innings…