Asia Cup 2018: 3 Changes Pakistan needs to make to get back on track

Pakistan began their Asia Cup with a bang! The team faced the minnows Hong Kong in their first match and beat them convincingly. Hong Kong was clueless and got folded out for 116 by Pakistan’s young bowling attack, while the batsmen chased down the target with ease in just 24 overs.

Hong Kong then pulled up their boots and gave their best performance ever against India, almost beating them in their first encounter. They scored over 90% of the target set by India, falling just 26 runs short.

In the other group, we saw huge upsets as Bangladesh first beat the group favorites, Sri Lanka. Then Sri Lanka faced the relatively new Afghanistan side and suffered a shock defeat at their hands too. Thus, Sri Lanka became the first team to be knocked out of the tournament.

These matches were followed by last night’s clash between Pakistan and India. The overly hyped match was considered a rematch of the Champions Trophy 2017 final, and huge fireworks were expected from both the sides.

Instead, we only saw fireworks from a Kohli-less Indian side, while Pakistan seemed to play like the Hong Kong side they faced in their opening game. After suffering a massive defeat at the hands of their arch-rivals, Pakistan now needs to make quite a few changes to their team and their attitudes if they plan to succeed in the matches to come and reach the final of the tournament.

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#3 Push Sarfraz Ahmed down the order

Sarfraz's batting has become a burden for the team

Sarfraz Ahmed has been almost unnoticeable with the bat in recent months. This is not because other batsmen are performing more regularly, but because Sarfraz himself is not performing much at all.

He has been coming out to bat at number 4 and 5 more often now since a newer squad has come into being. More often than not, he has failed to deliver on both these positions. Currently, Pakistan has a lower-middle order that is lined up with younger and more inexperienced players.

Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, and Asif Ali have all proven their worth with the bat, but need a more experienced batsman in between them to guide the innings through when wickets fall.

Sarfraz needs to demote himself to No. 6 or 7 between Faheem Ashraf and Shadab and promote either Faheem or Asif Ali to his current position. This can provide Pakistan a middle-order scoring boost because both men have above-average strike rates and are clean strikers of the ball.

In case of a collapse, Sarfraz can help guide the lower order and tail-enders. His experience and relatively calmer head can make a difference to the team’s development.

#2 Experiment More

Shadab was handed the ball too late

Pakistan has been one of the most experimental team in the past. Shahid Afridi did not bat even after 6 wickets fell on his debut, but his second match saw him opening the innings and hitting a world record century.

Pakistan has used bowlers in the same way and experimented well when required. They have made part-time spinners such as Hafeez and Shoaib Malik open the bowling when required. These bowlers have strangled the opposition when their main bowlers have underperformed.

However, Sarfraz decided to stick to his old plans when it came to the match against India at the Asia Cup. He stuck to the plan of bowling those bowlers who performed well in the Champions Trophy 2017 finals against the same team. It looked like he had forgotten that Pakistan had scored 338 in the CT17 final and only 162 on Wednesday.

Shadab took the first wicket of the match in the 14th over of the match. Had he or Shoaib Malik gotten the ball earlier, as early as the first over, the result might have been a different or the margin of loss might have decreased.

Sarfraz needs to experiment with his captaincy and guide the young team properly if he plans to continue his successful stint as captain of the Green Shirts.

#1 Less Overconfidence, More Performance

The Pakistani team need to get on the right track

Even before the tournament began, Sarfraz and his troops were more than sure that they will beat the Men in Blue. This overconfidence stemmed from the absence of Virat Kohli, and Pakistan’s Champion’s Trophy win over India.

However, when the time came to perform, Sarfraz was the first one to fall flat on his face along with the other youngsters in the squad. The match was less a contest and more a chaotic outing as the team had little idea of what to do to up their performance.

This shows that there is a sense of overconfidence in the Green Shirts team’s dugout which needs to be uprooted. They beat Hong Kong with utmost ease, only to be beaten by the team which was given a tough competition by the same Hong Kong team.

As of now, Pakistan is far from becoming a consistent team. They need to perform on a consistent basis to become one of the top ODI sides in the world.