Written by: Waseem Abbas
Posted on: October 07, 2022 | 
| 中文
Babar Azam batting against New Zealand
As the 2022 T20I World Cup is approaching, teams have started playing T20 cricket more frequently. India recently hosted Australia and South Africa for a T20 series, while Australia is now playing against the Caribbean side in a T20 series. England visited Pakistan for a 7-match series just a week ago, where the visitors thrashed the hosts by 4-3 score in the historic series. As the 8th edition of T20 WC is starting on the 22nd of October, Pakistan and Bangladesh will play a T20 tri-series against the hosts, New Zealand, to prepare for the mega-event.
The first match of the tri-series will be played between Pakistan and Bangladesh and is scheduled on the 7th of October. Each team will play two games against the other two teams, and the top two teams will face each other on the 13th of October for the final. The tournament is crucial for all the teams involved as it is the last opportunity for them to test their bench strength and finalize their strongest playing eleven for the mega-event. The tournament gives Pakistan and Bangladesh ample game time to acclimatize to the playing conditions of the Australian continent. In all its probability, Pakistan and New Zealand will play the final, as Bangladesh is the weakest team in the group.
Pakistan team captain Babar Azam and New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson
Pakistan Cricket Team had announced the squad for the New Zealand tri-series and the T20 WC before the England series that concluded recently. With a settled top order and versatile bowlers, if Pakistan does well in the middle, there is no stopping them. It is a pleasant surprise that the team management has stuck to its plans despite voices for changes in the squad, as our middle order has failed to capitalize on the opportunities provided in the Asia Cup and the subsequent series against England. Khushdil Shah, the hard-hitting lower-order batter, is under harsh scrutiny after continuous failures at the international level. His 309 runs in 24 T20I matches at an average of 20.6 and strike rate of 110 is below par, and warrants his omission from the team, but the last-minute changes and reshufflings before the mega-event can be catastrophic, as happened in the 2019 ODI WC and the 2021 T20I WC. Mercurial Asif Ali reminds Pakistani fans of Shahid Afridi, who not only has an uncanny resemblance with Afridi in terms of smashing the ball out of the park effortlessly, but his unpredictability and unorthodox style that often lets the team down in crucial situations, is reminiscent of the old Afridi. Judging Asif based on the runs he has scored, would be a gross injustice, as he often comes to bat with hardly an over or two to go, and despite that, his brief T20I performances have been quite effective over the last year. He batted 17 times in the last year and has seven match winning performances: 27 not-out off 12 balls versus New Zealand, and 25 not-out off 7 balls against Afghanistan in 2021 T20I WC, 21 not-out against West Indies in December 2021, 16 off 8 balls against both Afghanistan and India in Asia Cup 2022, and 3-ball 13 not-out against England in the recently concluded home series.
Asif Ali after hitting four consecutive sixes against Afghanistan in 2021 World Cup
Many other players were slotted in the middle order to solve the team’s woes, but none could deliver. Shan Masood, who, despite scoring two fifties against England, did not look convincing with his scoring rate, particularly in the series decider, came under scrutiny. Young Haider Ali also failed to capitalize on the opportunities, neither did Iftikhar Ahmed, who couldn't get big scores. The options we have include Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed and Azam Khan, but the problem is that Malik's record in Australia is too bad to warrant a place, while Sarfraz's scoring rate is not up to the mark. Azam Khan bats well against spin, but on the bouncy pitches of New Zealand and Australia, he will be under tremendous pressure. I feel that the selected squad is right and the best we have, just give them the free hand to play their natural game, we will do well in the tri-series as well as in the World Cup.
New Zealand is the strongest team in the tr-series and has the edge in home conditions. Kane Williamson led New Zealand has some powerful strikers of the ball, including Martin Guptil, Finn Allen, Glenn Phillips and James Neesham, and express bowlers like Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Adam Milne and Lockie Ferguson. The pacers, especially, can trouble Pakistani batters with their short balls, as this weakness of Pakistani players has been exposed in the recently concluded Asia Cup and the England series.
New Zealand Cricket Team
Bangladesh will play this tournament as a golden opportunity to test its players against quality opponents, Pakistan and New Zealand. With the retirement of Tamim and Mushfiq and in absence of Mahmudullah, Bangladesh will be looking to further test its bench to find the best possible 11 for the World Cup. With only one real superstar, the captain Shakib Al Hasa in their team, Bangladesh will be banking on their experienced players like Mustafizur Rehman, Mehdi Hasan Miraz and Liton Das. In the absence of quality bowlers and explosive batters, Bangladesh will be looking for miracles to do well in the series and the World Cup later this month.
Team Bangladesh
Pakistan should not shy from experimenting in this series irrespective of win or lose, so to finalize its best eleven before the mega event starts. Pakistani captain Babar Azam also must shut his critics up with both his performance and captaincy in this series and the World Cup 2022. Pakistan will play against Bangladesh on the 7th and 13th of October, while its games against the hosts are scheduled on the 8th and 11th of October at 7 am Pakistani Standard Time (PST).
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