What’s bothering Pakistan cricket post 2017 Champions Trophy win?
18th June 2017 is a date that will be remembered for a long time in Pakistan cricket. It was on this date that the Pakistan side walloped their arch-rivals India by 180 runs to lift the 2017 Champions Trophy title.
More than 4 years have passed since that historic triumph by Pakistan, and things do not seem to be right with Pakistan, especially in the ODI format. So, what has gone wrong for Pakistan?
Downhill since CT 2017
Since their Champions Trophy triumph in 2017, Pakistan has been involved in 11 bilateral ODI series. And, they have won 5 of those. While this might seem to be a decent effort, only when we analyze these victories do we find out that this is not such a great feat.
Out of their 5 series triumphs in ODI cricket since their 2017 Champions Trophy win, 4 of them have come against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. While Pakistan is expected to win an ODI series against Zimbabwe 9 out of 10 times, Sri Lankan cricket has also been on a decline. More alarmingly, Pakistan have suffered 4 whitewashes in this period.
They were whitewashed by New Zealand and Australia once, and twice by England. The latest whitewash that they suffered happened this month when England thrashed them 3-0 in the ODI series. Also, in the 2019 World Cup, Pakistan did not qualify for the semi-final stage of the tournament. They lost to West Indies, Australia and India in the competition, and bowed out before the knockout stages of the multi-nation tournament.
Post-2019 World Cup
When we analyze Pakistan’s last 5 losses in ODI cricket, we find that their bowling has floundered. In three out of Pakistan’s last 5 ODI losses, the opposition has scored in excess of 250, and in two of those matches, they have scored in excess of 300. Out of the two occasions when the opposition batsmen scored less than 250, one occasion was when Pakistan batted first and scored only 141, and England chased the target down with 9 wickets to spare.
In the 2017 Champions Trophy final against India, it was the excellent bowling from the Pakistan pacers that allowed them to skittle out the Indian side for a below-par total of 158. But now, the Pakistan bowlers have leaked a lot of runs and this has hurt the Pakistan side. Surely, Pakistan needs to tighten its screws, if it wants to emerge as a strong contender for the 2023 World Cup.
