AHMEDABAD: Just before the World Cup began, Pakistan team director Mickey Arthur had spoken about the brand of cricket they wanted to play. Pakistan, unlike a few other teams, haven’t entirely embraced the new era of batting in the middle overs since the last World Cup. For Arthur, it is a work in progress.
“That's something that we're trying to get through to our players. The players have embraced it. It's going to take a little bit of time, but I always say there's always two ways to skin a cat,” he had said before adding that they are playing a brand that is particular to Pakistan and hoping that it could help them win a World Cup.
Three games — two wins and a loss — later Pakistan are still not there yet. After the seven-wicket defeat against India in Ahmedabad on Saturday, Arthur once again reflected on the brand of batting and said that they have not played the Pakistani way they wanted to and failed to execute the plans against the Indian bowling attack. What was the plan? He did not divulge into the details. But here’s what happened in the game.
After 11 overs, Pakistan had strolled to 60/1 (over 5.4 RPO), taking on Mohammed Siraj and playing out Jasprit Bumrah, forcing Rohit Sharma to bring on the spinners, especially Kuldeep Yadav. After Hardik Pandya snaffled Imam-up-Haq following a very loose shot, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam came together.
The stage was set for two of the most experienced batters to rebuild. However, both Azam and Rizwan kept nudging the ball here and there with not much pro-active hitting. Granted, some bad balls were smashed as Azam on-drove Shardul Thakur. But Ravindra Jadeja bowled wicket to wicket and the pacers kept hitting the lengths with the Pakistan duo not doing enough to disrupt the bowlers’ plans. They just went along, happy to not force India's hand; 61 runs were added between overs 11 and 27 (3.81 RPO). Sensing the pressure, Sharma brought back Siraj who went for a couple of boundaries as Azam brought up his fifty. Siraj, however, had the last laugh as he cleaned up Azam in his next over.
Kuldeep piled on with two wickets in the next over. Rizwan, on the other end, was stuck in his 40s. He went from 42 off 53 balls to 49 off 69 before being outdone by a genius slower ball from Bumrah. Just like that, Pakistan had crumbled yet again. They lost their last eight wickets for 36 runs — a blow from which they never recovered.
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This is not something new though. There is a clear pattern. Since 2022, Pakistan’s run-rate in overs 10-30 is 5.2. It might not look all that bad, but when you dissect it to see how they fare while batting first, the number drops down to 4.98. Now, that is a run-rate any opponent's bowling unit would take with both hands. If one were to compare, India score at 5.91 RPO in the same period while batting first.
England’s number goes up to 6. 1 RPO in overs 10-30 while batting first. Pakistan did not aim big and still collapsed. They lost the plot because they did not do anything that would have made India change plans. It is something they would want to address soon enough — make the ‘Pakistani way of cricket’ work for them on the big stage. For there are more high-pressure games to come.
Run-rate in overs 10-30 since 2022 (batting first)
Team Run-rate per over (RPO) England 6.1 India 5.91 South Africa 5.57 Australia 5.54 Sri Lanka 5.08 New Zealand 5.04 Pakistan 4.98 Bangladesh 4.8 Afghanistan 4.56 Netherlands 4.54ALSO READ | World Cup: Sea of blue, music turn India vs Pakistan match into carnival
