Pakistan will need every player to throw themselves into their fielding; every player to commit to a more positive approach with the bat; every player to remember they’re playing a team game
George Dobell in Birmingham06-Jun-2017It’s amazing how one defeat can change plans.Going into Pakistan’s opening match in the ICC Champions Trophy, Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur remarked: “We have a lot of faith and a lot of confidence in our opening pair. The two guys that we’ve been working with have done exceptionally. We’ve worked massively on our ball rotation, on our strike rates. It’s something we’ve prioritized in our preparation.”So what’s changed? Why is that, just one game later, Pakistan have abandoned that opening partnership? Or half of it, anyway, with Arthur confirming on Tuesday that Ahmed Shehzad would not feature in the game against South Africa.The answer is, in part, the nature of the defeat against India. So crushing was it, so overwhelming, that it left no room for doubt: something has to change in the manner in which Pakistan play ODI cricket.But it’s more than that. It’s also because of the way Shehzad played. It wasn’t just that he didn’t come off with the bat and mis-fielded a few times with the ball – these things happen – it was that he didn’t seem to have bought into the team culture.Maybe, at the start of the game, Shehzad was nervous. Maybe that explains why he was so slow to get down to the ball at point when Shikhar Dhawan punched his first delivery in that direction. As a consequence, the batsman was able to get off the mark immediately – something any batsman will tell you helps them settle – and, as Arthur put it later, the “tone was set”.Putting aside the fact that Shehzad seemed rattled by the big-match atmosphere – a worry in itself since it was his 79th ODI, meaning only two men in the side had played more – it was a forgivable error. Even the best fumble at one time or another; you don’t drop someone on such flimsy evidence.
It wasn’t just that Ahmed Shehzad didn’t come off with the bat and mis-fielded a few times with the ball – these things happen – it was that he didn’t seem to have bought into the team culture
But it wasn’t a one-off. Later in the innings, Shehzad failed to back-up a throw. He simply hadn’t moved into position and didn’t seem to be following the run of play in the detail you might expect. As a consequence, another run was conceded. It wasn’t an error as much as it was sloppy. It demonstrated not just human fallibility, but a lack of care. And that’s a lot harder to ignore.On both occasions, the unfortunate bowler was Imad Wasim. That’s relevant not just because it took a bit of the gloss off his figures, but because Pakistan’s team management was criticised for opening the bowling with Imad.Was the tactic wrong or was it the execution? Had Shehzad pounced on that first delivery, as he should have done, might Pakistan not have had a better chance of applying a bit of pressure on the India batsman? It was the only run scored off the bat that over, after all. But with Pakistan’s fielding porous as a colander, they had no hope of building pressure.Shehzad didn’t impress with the bat, either. While there was much pre-match talk about Pakistan’s new-found aggression, Shahzad barely played a shot in anger in his 22-ball stay. After cutting his second delivery for four, there were just eight singles before he departed at the end of the ninth over. The strut you see in training was replaced by an alarming timidity.Compare that to Azhar Ali.Azhar Ali is a trier in ODI cricket•Getty ImagesAzhar may well not have Shehzad’s inherent talent in this form of the game. He might not have his range of stroke or his easy timing. But you can feel Azhar trying to improve; you can feel him buying into Arthur’s desire to show more aggression at the top of the order. To see him driving Jasprit Bumrah, on the up, over mid-on or upper cutting him for four, or skipping down the pitch to Hardik Pandya and attempting to hit him over the top, was to see a man who has been prepared to develop his game; a man who was prepared to risk his wicket for the good of the team; a man who had bought in to everything his coach and captain had asked of him. He’s not the ideal ODI opener – of course he isn’t – but he’s trying his best. Coaches and captains respect that. Spectators, too.So disillusioned are Pakistan by Shehzad’s performance that he is to be replaced by an older man who has never played an ODI. Fakhar Zaman averages 50 in List A cricket, but it is asking a great deal of him to bring that form into an international match against the world’s top-rated ODI side.But if he buys into the team culture, if he is utterly committed in the field, if he risks his own average in a bid to make an important contribution for his side, he will be a man worth further investment. Pakistan’s limited-overs cricket has to change and if the likes of Shehzad won’t be part of that process, it’s hard to see how there will be room for him in the side.This being Pakistan, we cannot say he is at the end of the road yet. He is young, he is talented and, with the likes of Sharjeel Khan and Nasir Jamshed currently sidelined, he isn’t facing the competition for his spot he should be. But he’s been given a pretty clear warning about what is expected of him with this omission.We might have seen the last of Wahab Riaz•Getty ImagesThis may prove the end of the road for the injured Wahab Riaz, though. He is 32 later this month and, for all the pace, for all the excitement he generates, he takes few wickets and concedes too many runs. Since the World Cup his ODI bowling average is 47.08; in his most recent 14 ODIs – a period that dates back to November 2015 – it is 84.44 and he has conceded 6.47 runs per over. Pakistan may well look to younger men now.There is some reason for hope ahead of the South Africa game. With poor weather compromising pitch preparation, it has been decided not to use the fresh surface originally planned for this match and instead revert to the track utilised in the first two games at Edgbaston. As a result it is possible, just possible, that Pakistan’s spinners (and they will play four of them) will get just a bit out of the surface.They will also have Mohammad Amir in their side. Just for a moment, when he was hit on the shoulder while batting during training, it looked as if he was in trouble. But the team management insists the blow was not serious and he is expected to take his place in the side.With such players, an upset is always possible. But Pakistan will need every player to throw themselves into their fielding; every player to commit to a more positive approach with the bat; every player to remember they’re playing a team game. If they do that, they’ll have a chance. And they’ll be making progress.