'More than shambolic'

Pakistan legend Javed Miandad was lost of words to describe the country's 150-run capitulation to West Indies in a World Cup match in Christchurch on Saturday.

"Shambolic is a mild word to describe Pakistan's 150-run defeat against the West Indies. It really hurts to see the planning of Pakistan's think-tank in the ICC Cricket World Cup," said the batting maestro in a write-up on the ICC Media Zone yesterday.

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"The men in 'shocking green' look like a fractured outfit and the wounds are only getting deeper and deeper. The scars of defeat against India were still fresh and West Indies has simply rubbed more salt onto it.

"It seems Misbahul Haq is fast losing confidence in his bowlers and the batsmen are not coming out of lean form either. You play one-day cricket according to your strength and if Misbah had chosen eight batsmen what's the logic of bowling first after winning the toss?

"Pakistan's bowling unit doesn't have the class of a Wasim Akram or Waqar Younis. And if a mediocre bowling attack doesn't get enough support from the fielders, over 300 runs is inevitable. All four dropped catches should have been taken, but a fielder of Shahid Afridi's class dropped two while Nasir Jamshed and Mohammad Irfan also grassed regulation chances.

"By far West Indies looked better prepared for this crucial Pool B match after Ireland knocked them over in the first match. They grafted their innings with a set plan. They didn't look for big shots until the 40th over before launching a brutal assault on Pakistan's inexperienced bowling attack off the last 60 deliveries.

"Only experienced bowlers could master the art of bowling slow deliveries. Unfortunately, inexperienced Sohail Khan and Wahab Riaz obliged Andre Russell with so many of those slower ones that the ball disappeared to all parts of the ground. Pakistan's problem is they have only three fully-fledged bowlers and in that too Shahid Afridi is not getting much assistance from the wickets in Australia and New Zealand. Good teams will never allow Afridi to have numbers in the wickets column. They know Pakistan has enough weak links in their bowling and they can feast on it. West Indies also knew it well once Afridi's 10 overs were gone, they have enough hard-hitters to swell the total against club-like bowlers. They were not wrong!

"I don't agree with the selectors' composition of Pakistan's set of 15 players. But I guess now that the tour selection committee is also in a fix how to fix the playing XI. Cricket fanatics in Pakistan are scratching their heads not to see Sarfraz Ahmed in the playing XI, but unfortunately the men who matter don't know about it! The batting form of Younis Khan is crystal clearer. Misbah needs to sort out these two problems before it gets too late for him."

Today’s Matches

Afghanistan v Sri Lanka
Time: 4:00am
Venue: Dunedin

India v South Africa
Time: 9:30am
Venue: Melbourne

Monday's Match
England v Scotland
Time: 4:00am
Venue: Christchurch