Written by: Waseem Abbas
Posted on: December 27, 2022 | 
| 中文
New Zealand captain, Tim Southee, appeals against his Pakistani counterpart, Babar Azam (Picture credits to ESPNCricinfo)
Pakistan was recently hammered by the visiting English side in the three-match test series, as the visiting English team clinched their first clean sweep in Pakistan. A few individual performances aside, Pakistan had absolutely no answers to the visiting side's attacking brand of cricket, called BazBall, named after Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, the English coach and captain respectively. Team Pakistan has a chance to reestablish its reputation and assert its strength in the series against New Zealand, starting on the 26th of December 2022. The two-match Test series against New Zealand will be followed by a three-match One Day Internationals (ODI) series.
The English team that defeated Pakistan
In the recently concluded series against England, team Pakistan's selection, captaincy, strategy and overall performance were all badly exposed. In selection, Pakistan selected half-fit players, such as Naseem Shah and Harris Rauf, and paid the cost, as they got injured during and after the first match. Some selected players had no clear roles, and were underutilized, such as Aga Salman and Faheem Ashraf. In the first match in Rawalpindi, Pakistan selected out-of-form Zahid Mehmood, who had 13 wickets in five matches at 45.76 in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (QET) 2022, but did not select in-form Abrar Ahmed, who had 43 wickets at 21.95 in the same event. England's positive approach towards the game and Pakistan's conservative captaincy paved the way for England's historic win. A few positives for Pakistan from the otherwise gloomy series was the emergence of Saud Shakil and Abrar Ahmed. Saud, the Karachi-born southpaw, scored 346 runs in his debut series with four fifties, while Abrar, the mystery spinner, bamboozled England to take 17 wickets in 2 matches.
Abrar Ahmed and Babar Azam
On the opening day of the first test, Pakistan has played rather impressively, finishing the day one on 317-5. Captain Babar Azam’s marathon innings of 161 and Sarfraz Ahmed’s defiant knock of 86, who was making a comeback to the test side after four years, ensured that Pakistan has a respectable total at the stumps on day one.
Sarfraz and Babar made a partnership of 196 runs on day one
Pakistan needs to realize the mistakes that it made against England, and try to amend them against New Zealand. The current series begins amid uncertainty in the Pakistan Cricket Board's inner circles, as Imran Khan's appointed PCB chairman, Rameez Raja, has been replaced by Najam Sethi, appointed by the current Prime Minister. The interim selection committee formed by Sethi under Shahid Afridi has added Shahnawaz Dahani, Mir Hamza and Sajid Khan to the squad, as the Muhammad Waseem-led selection committee had initially announced a 15-member squad. What Babar and co need to do is to perform, regardless of the outside noises about the team and make the right decisions.
(L to R) Mir Hamza, Sajid Khan, Shahnawaz Dahani
Pakistan lacks experience in its side, which is going to haunt them in the current series. In the longer run, however, it is going to be a fruitful decision if Pakistan persists with the current players. No Pakistani player in the current squad has played 50 test matches, with Sarfraz Ahmed and Babar, the most experienced players, having played 49 and 45 tests respectively. Tim Southee and Neil Wagner, New Zealand's experienced pacers, have 347 and 246 test wickets respectively, while Pakistan's entire squad has 224 wickets. Before the start of the first game, Kane Williamson, who recently handed Kiwi test captaincy to Tim Southee, had 24 test centuries, one more than Pakistan's whole squad (23). With Azhar Ali's retirement, Fawad and Yasir Shah being dropped, and Shaheen, Harris and Naseem's injuries, there is an opportunity for youngsters to prove their mettle. Kamran Ghulam is a welcome addition to the national team, as the middle-order batter has been piling up runs in domestic cricket for years. Another interesting prospect is the left-arm pacer, Mir Hamza, who has 376 wickets to his name in domestic, with a lone test appearance against Australia in 2018. Former captain Sarfraz Ahmed is also back in the playing eleven, who boasts an average of over 50 in Asian conditions in test cricket.
New Zealand Team
New Zealand's team is experienced and will be eager to win the series, as the Pakistani team is demoralized having lost its last 4 test matches. The New Zealand captain, however, believes that Pakistan is a good team and they cannot underestimate them. The perception of Pakistan’s team as being very mercurial, is what keeps opponents wary of them, and rightly so. New Zealand's Kane Williamson and Tom Latham in batting, while Southee and Wagner in bowling, will be crucial for New Zealand. For Pakistan, Abdullah Shafiq, Saud and Babar in batting, while Nauman and Abrar in bowling, need to step up to boost their chances.
Babar Azam and Kane Williamson
The two-match test series will be followed by a three-match ODI series, where Pakistan has comparatively better chances of winning. Pakistan needs to select their ODI team keeping the 2023 ODI World Cup in view, considering the conditions and players' strength in mind. Rizwan's form in ODI cricket has not been up to the mark, and with Sarfraz's continuous reckoning at the selector’s door and his better record against spin, the selection of a wicket-keeper batter will be crucial. Another contention is in middle-order batting, where Harris Suhail and Saud Shakil can push for their selection, as both are technically solid and play spin well. It is rumored that opening batter Sharjeel Khan and spin all-rounder Imad Wasim are also back in contention for the national team selection, after the removal of Ramiz Raja-led team management. Team selection against New Zealand will give a clear idea about Pakistan team's composition going forward for the World Cup. If Pakistan, currently 5th in the ICC ODI rankings, wins the ODI series against New Zealand 3-0, it can become the world's number-one ODI team, dethroning the Kiwis.
The first test is scheduled on the 26th of December and the second on the 3rd of January, while the first ODI is scheduled on the 9th of Jan, the second on the 11th, and the last on the 13th of January, 2023. All the matches of the series will be played in Karachi and will be live telecast on PTV Sports and ARY Zap.
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