ICC World T20 2016: Pakistan team clearly lacks belief

After Pakistan lost to New Zealand, during the post-match presentation, Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi said that the match against Australia could be his last. It was a statement that goes a long way towards explaining why Pakistan have struggled in the recent years.

Pakistan are still not out of the World T20, and if they beat Australia, then Pakistan will most definitely be in contention for a semi-final berth. If Australia defeat India, then Pakistan, Australia and India will be level on points and NRR will decide the qualifier. Pakistan have the best NRR of the three and if they beat Australia that NRR is only going to improve.

Pakistan, if they win against Australia, will still have a great opportunity to get through to the next round. Shahid Afridi should have been driving home this point during the presentation, but instead, he was talking about his last match!

This reflects a lack of belief on the part of Shahid Afridi and Pakistan, that they can defeat Australia. It shows how badly this Pakistan side lacks a winning mentality.

Pakistan are one of the giants of World Cricket and have been for more than half a century. In all these years no side has ever faced Pakistan expecting an easy win. Pakistan have always done things their own way, and very often in the past, Pakistan have drafted rough diamonds into their sides, instead of the polished final products. Wasim Akram is a great example of this rather pragmatic selection policy that Pakistan have adopted in the past.

The story goes that Wasim Akram was an unknown player who had almost no domestic experience, and Javed Miandad saw him bowling one day during a practice session at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore, and was so impressed that he forced the selectors to include Akram into the national side. Needless to say, Wasim Akram went on to become one of the greatest bowlers ever.

The players who have played for Pakistan in the past have often not been the most technically correct players, but what they lacked in technique they more than made up for in mental fortitude. Pakistan players have always been fighters, who never feared anyone. It is this fearless brand of cricket that made Pakistan such a feared side for so long.

In the past few years, Pakistan have lost that fear factor about themselves. Teams no longer fear Pakistan, and while there are always wary in case that fearless side of Pakistan suddenly pops out, but unlike in the past, the mental fortitude of the Pakistan side is no longer taken for granted.

There is a belief among the opponents that if you put pressure on Pakistan, they will eventually collapse on themselves.

In the game against New Zealand, Pakistan were in a winning position, and well ahead of the asking rate, and yet, despite no real great effort, New Zealand found themselves on top just a few overs later. It seems these days all teams have to do against Pakistan is to hang in there and wait for them to make mistakes.

Pakistan perhaps doesn't has the most technically correct players in cricket, but the point is they never did. Pakistan team has always been a team of rough diamonds, but with excellent mental toughness, and a winning mentality.

Today’s Pakistan team seems it has forgotten how to win and doesn’t believe it can win.