Square Drive
Pakistan look scattered
Criticism arises whenever Pakistan lose a match. Many suspect that the match might have been fixed. Even there was such a rumour before the match against West Indies. But I don’t see anything like that in the match. Actually Pakistan did not play well. They didn’t look organised.
It seems to me that Pakistan played without any plan. I did not find the urge to do well in them. It seems they will get relief if the match ends quickly.
On the other side, West Indies deserves laud for their spirit of coming back strongly after the defeat against Ireland. They batted really well on Saturday. Each batsman was careful about his duty. The innings of Andre Russell (42 from 13 balls) was marvellous. Besides, some good knocks from Samuels-Bravo-Ramdin helped West Indies set a big total.
West Indies took the advantage of poor Pakistan bowling. It is not possible to go far in the World Cup with this type of bowling attack.
Comparatively, West Indies’ bowling shows their good work plan. It seems West Indian bowlers read the mind of Pakistani batsmen and bagged the wickets accordingly. Taylor bowled excellently. Others also bowled well and that helped them to stop Pakistan for only 160 runs.
It is difficult for any team to fight back after four wickets down for just one run. Pakistan also failed. The two fifties from Shoaib Maqsood and Umar Akmal reduced the margin of defeat but could not avoid the shame of biggest lose for Pakistan in World Cup.
The wicket of Christchurch is a little bit bouncy. Pacers get extra advantage there in first ten overs. Batsmen now face some difficulty in the current style of playing each innings with two balls. The Caribbean batsmen tackled the problem confidently while Pakistani batsmen could not manage.
One thing is clear that other teams have to work more on the pitches of New Zealand. Otherwise they have to pay the price.
It will be tough for Pakistan to play in quarter-finals if they cannot come out of their playing style. Pakistan will now be under huge pressure due to Saturday’s defeat which followed another defeat against India in the first match.
Minhajul Abedin Nannu: Selector of Bangladesh Cricket Board and former captain of Bangladesh cricket team. He is the first Man of the Match of Bangladesh in World Cup.
Translated by Bijoy Chandra Shaha