Pakistan at the 2024 World Cup: making sense of our early exit

 Pakistan is a cricket-loving country will be an understatement. It is difficult to explain our relationship with this game. Once a symbol of colonial legacy, this sport later became a means to attain parity against our colonial masters. Beating them at their own game remained a source of motivation for generations of cricketers. The moment finally came in 1992 when we won the World Cup and ironically that too after beating England. However, there is more to cricket in today's Pakistan.

Once this game was only limited to Lahore and Karachi but gradually it has become a sport of the common man. From the mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan to the seashores of Gwadar, this game has takers everywhere. Cricket is a sport that has gone beyond socio-economic bounds and has broken these barriers and nothing brings otherwise the bickering Pakistanis together like cricket does.

This game has given us so many heroes. All of them adored and followed. Cricket is a means of hope in our country and our players, time and again have given us ample reasons to cherish and support this team.  

Our cricket team is an abstract of the long complex research article that is Pakistan. What is wrong with our cricket is the same as what is wrong with our country. The early exit from the ongoing World Cup has grinded our gears and our team and its players are continuously being thrashed by fans and experts. The criticism is both constructive and agenda-driven but is only unidimensional.
Nobody is talking about the PCB and its follies.

Talking from the cricketing point of view, in both the matches that Pakistan lost, more than the opposition beating us, Pakistan lost those matches. The reasons are the usual and casual Pakistani recipe of defeats; dropping catches at crucial moments, irresponsible batting fielding, and tactical errors have cost us those games. But to make a better sense of our defeats, we have to bisect the buildup to this World Cup. The musical chair at PCB, where we saw at least 3 chairmen in the last year or so. A similar musical chair was initiated in the team. Unity and positivity which was the forte of this team once, was fast eroded by the vindictive and politically charged administration of the PCB. Then, the preparation, we prepared for this series in England, Ireland, and Pakistan in the early days of summer. The conditions were not a match to what we were to get in the US and the Caribbean thus failed to prepare us for the challenge in the US and the Caribbean. Keeping in mind, that international cricket is being hosted for the first time in that part of the world, Pakistan chose not to play any warm-up matches before the World Cup in fact they reached the US just a few days before the start of the World Cup. It would have been better had PCB arranged a series here in the USA and even squeezing a match or two with USA would have been beneficial. However, it is felt that cricket is not a part of PCB’s priorities. Then the entourage that has accompanied this team. I have no qualms about the coaching staff, over the years the coaching staff has swelled in international cricket but the rationale behind having two team managers needs to be explored.

The cricket culture in Pakistan needs a revamp. Our fitness standards have declined sharply. Post World Cup, no excuse or relaxation should be accorded to the players and only the fittest players should make it to the squad. Other than physical fitness there is a need to work on mental fitness. For this mental conditioning camps should be organized for the players. It has been observed that at the important and decisive junctures of the game, the players kind of get into a shell- a state of mental blockade. Pakistan needs to improve its domestic cricket. More facilities and more money should be channeled into Pakistan’s domestic cricket. There is a need to have more A-tours, and there is a need to build the bench strength. Also, the age cricket should not be just an occupational opportunity for the veteran cricketers. To churn out good cricketers, more precisely to graduate good cricketers we should invest in A-list, age, and domestic cricket. There is also a need to look at improving PSL. PSL is fast becoming home to redundant international talents. PCB should try to get the present lot of international players to play PSL, this would bring PSL if not at par at least near to what challenge international cricket offers.

The chasm between modern cricket and Pakistan cricket is widening. An impact of which will soon start to reflect on other formats as well. Pakistan has a lot of catching up to do. We should also be preparing for the next T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. Imad Wasim can be a good choice to lead us in that World Cup but it should be associated with his own fitness and commitment to Pakistan cricket.

Pakistan cricket fans should also not give themselves into agenda-driven criticism and should support their team because it is in times like the present one when you need the support of your fans the most but again this support should neither be blind nor taken for granted.

In our cricketing history, we have been through worse, this too shall pass.