The frustrating thing about progress is that it’s nearly impossible to know if you are on the right path. In fact, at times, you seem more to be going downward than upward. This is why it’s never a linear slope, even when it looks like one zoomed out. Pakistan are in somewhat of a similar stagnant position too. They could be progressing. They could also be regressing. But a series win, and an emphatic one at that, helps see things through a more positive lens, at least for now.
Pakistan defeated West Indies 2-1 in Florida, winning the decider by 13 runs. It’s the seventh consecutive time they have done so. This victory may not have echoed as loudly as their recent defeat, by the same margin, against Bangladesh, and while one could argue that fragility still lurks beneath the surface, things might finally be lining up for Pakistan in the format.
Openers who are almost there
Perhaps the clearest indicator of this was the opening problem finding some stable ground. For long, and even when the side was enjoying more success than it is now in the format, opening batters had always found themselves under the pump in the shortest format. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were rather prolific, but their placid strike rates remained a problem despite that. A different Sahibzada Farhan returned following the Pakistan Super League (PSL), who, with a rampant Saim Ayub, might finally be the antidote Pakistan’s top order has long craved.
For instance, the pair scored a 138-run partnership in the final T20I to seal the series win, and while they kept clearing the gaps regularly, there were a few flurries of dot balls that thwarted the run flow, especially in the final overs. This meant the two batters ended their innings at a strike rate more modest than they could have had.
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Floating and fiery Hasan Nawaz
Another promising emergence is Hasan Nawaz’s role as a floater, which blends perfectly with his tendency to be fiery for ephemeral periods on the field. It’s a wonderful combination to have, which could give Pakistan the leverage to send him in to set the tempo when needed. Across the three games, he came in at different positions, and appeared to be the only one to conform to the type of modern cricket Pakistan’s captain, Salman Agha, and coach Mike Hesson have dedicated press conferences talking about lately.
Questions for Agha
Ironically, Agha himself has offered little to reflect it in his own performances. Though it would be unfairly early to list the good, the bad, and the ugly about his captaincy yet, the same, much to his chagrin, can’t be said about how he fares with the bat. Three fifties and a 46-run knock during the New Zealand and Bangladesh series earlier this year are already fading into memory, and all that can be brought up now is that his strike rates have progressively been worse. He claims captaincy hasn’t affected his performance, and that might be true as well, but that doesn’t do anything to halt the question: what actually has?
Pakistan’s working equation might want some tweaks
There’s also noise about why he didn’t bowl in any of the games this series, especially when his spinners were getting plenty off the surface to work with. Pakistan spinners took 15 scalps at the bargain of 13.8 runs each in total, which is diametrically opposite to West Indies’ six at 32.83, as well as to Pakistan’s pacers who got 4 for 65.75. Sufiyan Muqeem, along with Mohammad Nawaz and part-timer Saim, were able to gather those numbers without any chip-in by Salman, which he said was because he didn’t feel the need to come in with the spinners doing a great job themselves.
Could this mean Pakistan might now be a spinner too many? Could it work dropping one of the all-rounders for a specialist batter or perhaps another pacer? Salman has more to think about than solely his performance, and not a lot of time.
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