Asia Cup 2018
Flickr photo by Ashley shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND 2.0) license.

Asia Cup 2018: Pakistan’s journey from favourites to duds

Alvina Ahmed·
One Day International (ODI)
·1 Comment·

The Asia Cup 2018 was nothing more than a short embarrassing endeavour for Pakistan as the team went from being title favourites to collapsing against Bangladesh…

Pakistan’s journey in the Asia Cup 2018 began on 16th September, with the team labelled favourites for the trophy. However, much to their dismay, the journey came to an abrupt end as Pakistan made an early exit from the tournament. A lot of questions are now being raised on the selection, management and captaincy of the squad. The team that lifted the Champions Trophy just over a year ago now has plenty to answer.

The Green Caps had a good start in the tournament with a comfortable win against Hong Kong. However, the team failed to carry on their form against their arch-rivals in the very next match. The third match was a relief for the fans as the team managed to pull off a win against Afghanistan after a close encounter. Fans were hoping Pakistan would bounce back in their second match against India, only to see their hopes shattered. The biggest disappointment, however, came when Pakistan were beaten by the underdogs, Bangladesh, in what was virtually the semi-final of the tournament.

As the team packs its bags to return home, there is a lot to ponder upon. All three departments of the team failed to perform in the tournament, and this is an alarm bell with the World Cup just a few months away. Here is a look at some of the reasons behind Pakistan’s humbling Asia Cup exit:

Poor batting

Pakistan’s batting has never been their strong point. But the team that won the Champions Trophy did impress in that respect too. The Asia Cup, however, once again saw Pakistan struggling for a good opening stand and the middle order failing to perform. Fakhar, who had impressed everyone with his stellar performances in the Champions Trophy final and his recent double ton, also failed to deliver.

Lack of confidence

The team seemed to be low on confidence too. Wasted reviews, dropped catches, and resigned body language all indicated low self-esteem. The team seemed incapable of handling tough situations, with the unit essentially giving up when the going got tough. We hardly saw the Pakistani side put up a good fight in any of the big matches. Daft shot-selection, bad timing, and frequent misfielding can all be attributed to the team’s lack of confidence.

Inexperience

There was also a clear lack of experience and subsequent over-reliance on youngsters in the Pakistani squad. Shoaib Malik was the only experienced player in the unit – with his experience reflected in his game. It was his composure and brilliant awareness that helped save the team on multiple occasions. Had it not been for him, Pakistan might have exited earlier. The absence of the seasoned duo of Azhar Ali and Hafeez was deeply felt.  It’s true that inexperience also contributed to the team’s low self-confidence and inability to soak up pressure.

Wrong decisions

To add to everything that went wrong, there were a number of ill-judged decisions taken by the management, the captain and the players. Despite having the home ground advantage in the UAE, Pakistan failed to read the pitches correctly. More often than not, the men in green chose the wrong combination of bowlers for the matches. The bowlers also failed to play at their best – Mohammad Amir being the biggest disappointment. Junaid Khan, who has always delivered when needed, was benched until the last match against Bangladesh, where he proved useful once again.

Is there time to recover?

Pakistan definitely has a lot to look back upon and learn from after this upsetting tournament. The good news, however, is that the Green Shirts still have around eight months till the World Cup to recover. Luckily for Pakistan, it has series lined up with practically all of the world’s top teams during this period. In other words, a chance to practice and test themselves against the strongest sides before the World Cup. The best time to make the required changes in the team and learn from their blunders.