CWC 2019, SWOT Analysis – Pakistan
Pakistan again heads into the World Cup, with a cloud of uncertainty shrouded over their heads. It’s a banal task to predict how Pakistan would perform in any particular tournament. They could be simply sensational in some matches, scorching the opposition for fun. In other games, they could be mind-bogglingly terrible, letting themselves down with a streak of self-destruction.
The 2019 edition of the World Cup is no different. Pakistan have some match-winners in their squad but are again struggling with consistency. In the series against England, the team performed admirably well with the bat, but let themselves down with the ball in hand as well as in the field.
The current squad has a settled batting line-up, but questions remain on their bowling attack, leading to the selectors making a couple of big changes to the initial 15-man squad.
Here we do a SWOT analysis of their 15-man squad and take a look at their realistic chances in the World Cup.
Squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Asif Ali, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Hasnain.
Strengths –
Pakistan have a settled opening partnership in the form of Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq. The two have emerged as shining lights of Pakistani cricket and have been incredibly consistent in the ODI format. Both average over 50 in ODI cricket and more often than not, get Pakistan off to a steady start. The pair also complement each other well, with Imam playing the anchor role and Zaman being the aggressor. The middle order also looks solid. Babar Azam is one of the most exciting young talents in the game and Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik’s experience will come in handy. Asif Ali was also in good form in the series against England and gives the team a brisk scorer in the lower middle-order.
Weaknesses –
There remains a great certainty over the form of the Pakistani pacers heading into the tournament. The poor showing in England led to Faheem Ashraf and Junaid Khan being axed from the squad. The selectors then opted to bring in the experience of Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz into the squad to complement the two exciting young pacers at their disposal – Mohammad Hasnain and Shaheen Afridi. But even the two replacements have seen their inclusion questioned as Amir was initially dropped due to his poor form in international cricket and Riaz can be wayward. The spin department does not have any quality to boast about with two all-rounders, Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim being the two options in the squad.
Opportunities –
The World Cup will provide the perfect opportunity to some of the Pakistani players to become genuine superstars in the game. The likes of Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hasnain, Shaheen Afridi and Babar Azam stand on the cusp of becoming household names if they perform well in the World Cup. The team also has a big opportunity to repeat their exploits from two years ago, when they stunned the whole world by lifting the ICC Champions Trophy in England, despite being rank outsiders.
Threats –
As with most big tournaments, Pakistan could well turn out to be their very own worst enemies. The Pakistan team is never far away from combusting at any particular time in a tournament, as history has proven. Also in terms of sheer quality, they do not stack up against the likes of England, India and Australia, who are the three favourites for the crown. They will have to perform out of their skins throughout the tournament if they want to clinch their first World Cup crown after 1992 and even that might not be enough.
