ICC Champions Trophy returns this week in Pakistan and UAE. This is a forgotten event amongst all the ICC events as it is taking place after 8 years. This used to be called a mini world cup and played every 2 years since 1998. After the 2009 edition, Champions Trophy went off the boil and ICC started hosting it every 4 years but since 2017 it disappeared like it never existed but now it is back with 8 of the best Cricket playing nations going at the logger heads to lift the coveted title.
We would discuss today about the hosts and the holders Pakistan. This is a team which can beat the best team in the world one day and lose to the worst team in the world the other. They can be contenders for a game and would take no time to turn into pretenders the next game. They say Cricket is a game of uncertainties and Pakistan have mastered the art of turning any game on its head within minutes.
PAKISTAN SQUAD:
Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha (vice-captain), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Saud Shakeel, Kamran Ghulam, Khushdil Shah, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Muhammad Hasnain and Abrar Ahmed.
There were many eyebrows raised once the team was picked. Faheem Ashraf was picked out of nowhere as he wasn’t in contention until the day of selection. His BPL stint helped him get a nod over Irfan Niazi who was hard done by here as he was picked for Australia and South Africa series where Pakistan thumped both the nations comprehensively. Irfan Niazi played a part in their series win. People expected him to be in the team’s long-term plans, but he was removed without any reasons. Sufyan Muqeem is another spinner who made Aussies and South Africans dance to his tunes but was unlucky to miss out in the squad for the Champions Trophy, Welcome to Pakistan Cricket, expect the unexpected.
Strengths:
The biggest strength Pakistan has going into the Champions Trophy is its captain. Mohd Rizwan has been handed over the captaincy reigns and he is coming back of series wins in Australia and South Africa clean sweeping the latter. With the series wins in the rainbow nation and the Southern hemisphere, he has achieved what many Pakistan legends couldn’t. He reads the game better than anyone else in the side. His captaincy record is impeccable in PSL too. Batting at 4, he provides the much-needed calmness to the innings. Fakhar Zaman has been picked into the side. We al know what Fakhar Zaman is capable of. He can change the momentum of a game within a span of 2 overs. Salman Ali Agha has been the find of the year for Pakistan. He knows how to get the team over the line. He can anchor the innings with the tail, bowl 10 overs and is an absolute live wire on the field. If the pace battery gets hit, Rizwan can turn to Agha to get few quiet overs. Rizwan’s strength is how he rotates the bowlers in different situations.
.jpg)
Weakness:
There’s a lot of weakness in this Pakistan side. Babar Azam batting at the top in absence of Saim Ayub can backfire big time. He is not in form nor he is accustomed to opening the innings in ODIs. Naseem Shah, after his injury doesn’t look the same what he was when he burst onto the scene 3 years ago. Shaheen has lost his pace and when you look at Haris Rauf’s performance in the last 2 years you will be made to believe that he hasn’t still recovered from Kohli’s onslaught at the MCG.
Pakistan’s likely 11:
Babar Azam
Fakhar Zaman
Kamran Ghulam
Mohd Rizwan (C & WK)
Salman Ali Agha
Tayyab Tahir
Khushdil Shah
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Abrar Ahmed
Naseem Shah
Haris Rauf
Player to look out for
Salman Ali Agha:
He has been the find of Pakistan Cricket in the last 18 months. Be it tests, Odis or T20s, guy has stood up to bail Pakistan out of any situation. His batting has added a sense of calmness among the middle order which none associated Pakistan Cricket with. The way in which he paces the innings has been commendable. His bowling will be crucial for Rizwan. Knowing Rizwan’s captaincy, we can see him utilizing Salman Ali Agha very well during the middle phase of the innings. Not to forget him being an absolute live wire on the field. Can save 20-25 runs every match with his athletic fielding as they say every run saved is a run scored. Rizwan is very lucky to have services of Salman at his disposal. It remains to be seen whether Salman Ali keeps on carrying the burden of the batting line up on his shoulders or crumbles under the weights of expectation.
Predictions:
This team will find itself very lucky to get through the group stages especially after facing India and New Zealand who have got better pool of players in every department than Pakistan. If Pakistan has any chance to get through the group stages, their experienced players need to stand up in every game especially Babar Azam, Shaheen and Rizwan himself. Fakhar Zaman cannot bail you out every game from touch situations. Someone needs to raise his hand up and take the responsibility of getting them over the line. We all saw what happened in the recently concluded tri series involving New Zealand and South Africa.
This could have been Pakistan’s best chance to retain the Champions Trophy, but they have messed it up in the selection process. Asad Shafiq, their selector has some questions to answer if they are knocked out in the initial rounds but as we know with the Pakistan Cricket team, there is absolutely no one in the world who can guess which Pakistan might turn up for a particular game.
