Sunday, June 7, 2009

Pakistan's 9-Point Strategic Plan

Pakistan open their ICC World Twenty20 campaign today against the hosts, England, who face an unglorious exit from the tournament on its third day.

What a Sunday for the English.

I'm not sure how badly bruised they are and how badly the British media has hurt them, but I do fear a severe backlash on the Pakistanis tonight.

On the flip side, the Dutch victory should have given Pakistan a wake up call, which should hopefully make them set things right tonight.

By right I mean the following:
  1. Open with Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad.

  2. Bring Fawad Alam into the XI. Bat him at 6 following Younis, Malik, and Misbah.

  3. Do not send Afridi to bat in the top 6.

  4. Play Mohammad Aamer. Give him the 1st over.

  5. Give Gul and Tanvir an over with the new ball. Only 1 over each.

  6. Bring a spinner on in the 6th over. Preferably Afridi. Let him bowl with Ajmal, Malik, Alam for as long as the spinners can keep a hold on the batsmen.

  7. Bring on Gul and Tanvir at the death.

  8. Younis: be a bit more flexible on the field.

  9. If you win doing this, hire me as an analyst or something.

Having said that, I have absolutely zero confidence in Pakistan following any of that.

They will probably open with Salman Butt and Shehzad, they will not play Fawad Alam, they will not give Aamer the new ball, they will not bring a spinner in the first 6, and the same new ball bowlers will bowl the first 6 overs.

But I don't doubt their ability to win the first game. The English are down and out and Pakistan should pounce on the opportunity.

Though following the above 9-point strategy should get them into good shape for the tougher games ahead.


Make your pitch on this post...



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18 Pitched:

  1. Gaurav Sethi said...
     

    Early call, but I can see Afridi knocking the poms out with ball, and who knows with the bat too.

  2. Poshin_david said...
     

    i would like 2 see Afridi up the order.....

  3. Q said...
     

    NC: Lets hope we get an Afridi treat then.

  4. Q said...
     

    Chris: thats not a good idea.. problem is he is NOT a batsman.. batting him higher up makes people think he is, he fails, and people put pressure on him..

    He's a bowler and he should play as one.. batting him at 6-7 where he can get a quick 20-30 is all that shud be xpected of him.

  5. Wasim said...
     

    Q

    I think they should send him up the order in this match it is always a gamble with Afridi whether you play him down the order or up. In this important match if he gives us a quick start all the pressure will be on England and if he fails it won't matter as the team is quite used to it.

  6. Q said...
     

    Nai yaar Wasim.. that just puts the wrong perceptions in people's minds.. he should always play in the lower order..

  7. raj said...
     

    Hello, It is Pakistan who are losing it seems...well, I was expecting this. Pundits have been repeatedly bruised in the last few years - except for Aussie WC wins, ecerything else has been a slap on the face for the popular perception of who'll win. A million blogs laughed at England last 2 days, and a million newspapers celebrated but looks like it's Pak or perhaps Holland who'll go home. Early call its only 13 overs but I dont see Pakistan chasing more than 160 even if its only England bowling!

  8. Tifosi Guy said...
     

    Raj

    Unless England really wallop Pakistan today (highly unlikely), they are the ones who would most likely go out.

    Even if Pakistan lose this game, they would definitely beat Holland. Then it comes down to NRR - and for that I hope even if Pak loses, they lose a close one, so that Englands NRR doesn't improve much.

    As of now, England would have about 3 extra weeks for the Ashes preparation.

  9. Q said...
     

    Raj,

    If you see my 1st post that I wrote after the Dutch victory, I talked about how Pakistan wud be shitting in their pants... I did say that it meant Eng might be out of their competition within 3 days but I emphasizes that they wud come hard at Pak, which cud leave Pak in dire straits.

    That is xactly whats happening.

    And my 9 point strategy here was not used :-)

  10. Q said...
     

    TG: looks like Eng are going to win a big margin..

    That will put their NRR in the +ve and well above Netherlands..

    Pakistan wud then have to beat NTL by a very big margin to get their NRR from a -ve to atleast higher than their's...

    Looks difficult for Pakistan in my view.

  11. Gaurav Sethi said...
     

    right now it looks like they're playing for the nrr - aiming at 150

  12. Q said...
     

    That may be a smart thing to do NC.. though 150 won't get them a good NRR.. they need to get within 15 runs I think..

  13. raj said...
     

    Q, I was not aiming my dart at you - I knew you had mentioned this. But there were too many people laughing at England. When I first heard about England losing to Dutch, I had a temptation to laugh hard but then I have seen too many of these false dawns before including Australia losing to Bangladesh last T20 and facing the prospect of crashing out?
    Lets face it - crashing out of first round is something only India and Pakistan (and West Indies) can do. Whatever their faults, the other nations manage to avoid these banana skins.
    Sri Lanka might crash out this year because of the tough group but otherwise, they NEVER lose to minnows. Same with NZ. Australia and England somehow regroup to avoid being pipped by minnows.

  14. Q said...
     

    Raj,

    Why do u think that is? That India and Pakistan face the banana skins but other nations don't?

  15. Q said...
     

    Looking back, not even one of these points was used by Pakistan.

  16. Poshin_david said...
     

    Q,

    Sorry mate but Afridi may not be a matsman but he is a pinch hitter and can be used as a floater......

  17. Q said...
     

    Chris,

    He used to be.. now he's just a lower order bat..

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