Should Pakistan Hope Again?

Salman Ali Agha arrived at the press conference hall of the Gaddafi Stadium beaming after Pakistan romped Bangladesh in the third T20I to complete a series clean sweep. It had been a while since a Pakistani captain had seemed content at the post-series duties. After all, victories of late have largely remained marred by off-field developments.

Take Pakistan’s historic Test series win against England late last year. It was the side’s first series win in the format at home in four years. But, after being sacked from the selection committee along with the head coach following the defeat in the first Test, Shan Masood, Pakistan Test captain, and his coaching staff continued to field questions about whether it was them or the newly-installed selection committee under Aqib Javed that deserved the credit for Pakistan’s wins in the last two matches.

In contrast, Agha, following 3-0 sweep over Bangladesh—Pakistan’s first T20Is series win at home since December 2021—oozed authority as he fielded questions.

Recently, Pakistan have been through a bleak period in their T20 history. Just a little under a year ago, they suffered the ignominy of losing to the USA (whose sole claim to being part of the event was by virtue of being the hosts instead of any actual standing), at the T20 World Cup, as well as against Ireland in the lead up to the tournament. Since their win against West Indies in December 2021, Pakistan failed to win a T20I series at home. They lost one-off T20I to Australia in April 2022, suffered a 3-4 defeat to England in September 2022, and squared five-match series against second string New Zealand teams in April 2023 and 2024.

Similar to the plethora of crises permeating the country, Pakistan’s T20I crisis was self-inflicted. When it came to runs accumulation, they stubbornly opted for risk-aversion over the bold and fearless approach that is widely understood to be effective in a format where matches are usually won by the sides that are ahead on the boundary count—or those who score the most in the powerplay (first six overs).

But, as is often the case on other fronts too, Pakistan, rather than working towards a solution, continued to justify their ill-fated strategy. In fact, successive management teams and coaches blanketed the side’s conservatism with the bat as ‘rational’.

It was largely because of their inability to find replacements for Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, two key batsmen who have been consistent in terms of runs. However, their slow runs accumulation rate has often played into the hands of the opposition—a particularly damning characteristic in T20 games.

The 2021 (UAE), 2022 (Australia), and 2024 (the West Indies and the USA) T20 World Cup tournaments were played at venues known for middling, average scores. However, despite possessing one of the most lethal and reputable bowling attacks, Pakistan failed to add another T20 World Cup trophy to their museum in the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.

These venues, in theory, should have supported Pakistan’s batting strategy, which revolved around posting middling scores. But Pakistan’s over-caution in the first six overs—when the conditions are ripe for score maximisation with only two fielders guarding the boundary and the ball hard and new—often left runs in the middle, which their captain was forced to admit to the host broadcast in post-match presentations.

From the beginning of 2021 till the end of 2024, Pakistan’s run rate was 8.12, the seventh best among the full member teams in T20Is.

India, England and Australia won the 2024, 2022 and 2021 T20 World Cups respectively; it is hardly surprising that they are the top three sides when the teams are sorted through run rate. The T20 format has evolved into a form of cricket that demands sides hit out the opposition. With benign balls and gracious pitches, the onus is on the batters to deliver wins. It was not until Pakistan suffered an embarrassing elimination from the home Champions Trophy that the board finally moved on from RizBar and had another leadership change in the T20I format (the Champions Trophy is a one-day tournament played over 50 overs, but when it comes to the PCB, the results of one format reverberate in another).

The new era was off to the worst possible start as Pakistan slumped to a 4-1 series defeat in New Zealand under Agha earlier this year. It was somewhat expected as Pakistan’s line-ups for these five games were filled with players either returning to international cricket, or those who were playing T20Is for the first time. Pakistan has a habit of forcing players into conditions not suited to their strengths. It is often the case that the batters get their first taste of international cricket in seaming conditions, and bowlers, especially the fast ones, are asked to begin their careers on the road, arguably the most difficult pitches to bowl on, owing to their flatness.  

The Champions Trophy debacle and the series defeats in New Zealand initiated another change: the PCB replaced Javed, who in the meanwhile had also become the head coach, with Mike Hesson, a widely respected former New Zealand coach credited for instilling aggressive intent in his team. Pakistan backed the majority of the batters who floundered in New Zealand and demanded the aggressive, run-scoring intent for which they had been included in the set-up.

It worked.

In the first T20I against Bangladesh in May, Pakistan had two wickets down in the first eight balls as both openers who also happened to be the most experienced batters in the top five were dismissed. Normally, the team would go in a shell in such a situation and allow the bowlers to dictate the game. But, this young side responded with Pakistan’s highest-ever T20I total at the Gaddafi Stadium. Two days later, they would post 201 again, marking it the first instance of the side posting back-to-back scores of 200 or more scores in seven years.

With the series sealed, following thumping wins in the first two games, the Pakistan captain decided to push the limits of his batters and opted to chase. Bangladesh obliged by posting their highest score of 196 against Pakistan. Regardless of how good the pitch is for batting and the quality of the opposition’s bowling attack, an asking rate of around 10 an over from the word go is bound to test a batting line up. Of course this is especially true for Team Pakistan who are susceptible to faltering under scoreboard pressure.

This exciting batting line-up, however, stuck to its philosophy of dominating the opposition, and chased down the ambitious target with 2.4 overs to spare. Despite losing Sahibzada Farhan, the player of the match in the second game at the very onset of the chase, Pakistan never showed any jitters.

Saim Ayub had a rough Pakistan Super League and got out early in the first two matches. Playing cricket at the top level is cutthroat due not only to the opposition, but also the players in your own dugout, who are ready to replace you as things go south. Players tend to get selfish to protect their places in the side and start chasing personal milestones.

It must have been tempting for the 23-year-old to settle himself in. Ayub, though, sat on his back knee and dispatched Bangladesh’s prime spinner—Mehidy Hasan Miraz—for a gigantic six off the first ball he faced in the first over. He eventually got out attempting a six on 45 when he may well have eased his way into a half-century.

Mohammad Haris, 24, had remained under criticism for his rash shots. He had a lacklustre PSL and, following his poor outings in New Zealand, there were questions regarding whether he belonged at this level. The keeper responded with scores of 31, 41, and 107 to claim the player of the series award. In the 14 T20I innings before this series, Haris had made only 191 runs at a strike rate of 124.02, but in these three matches, he blasted 179 runs at more than two runs per ball.

He played a pivotal role for Pakistan in all three matches. When they lost Fakhar Zaman and Ayub early in the first match, Haris scored seven off the first eight balls. When they were chasing 197, he faced only four dots across his 46-ball 107 and none after the ninth over. He became the second fastest Pakistani to reach a century in the format. On his way to the record, he shared an 18-ball stand worth 37 runs with the player with the record for the fastest, Hasan Nawaz, who turns 23 in August.

Pakistan scored 10.44 runs per over across these three games. This is their best scoring rate in a series. In the eight matches this year, they have scored at 8.82—their fastest run rate in any year.

When Agha took the mic after Pakistan’s epic run chase, he knew a corner had been turned. Pakistan had embraced the very approach, the lack of which had hindered them for several years. The series win may have been against a markedly weaker opposition, but this side had previously struggled for results against second and third string teams.

There is a T20 World Cup in less than a year and an Asia Cup in a few months. It would be unfair to expect any of the two trophies from a side in transition. But, as the year goes on, Pakistan will be confronted by tougher challenges. They travel to Bangladesh and the West Indies next and host Afghanistan, South Africa and Australia.

Agha knows that Pakistan fans and selectors display little patience when results go awry. But, he vowed that his side would continue to play in a similar fashion, as “this is the way of playing cricket going forward.” They will not be stubborn with the batting orders and will look to put above par scores and restrict the oppositions below par to provide a cushion to his batting and bowling line-ups. Such an approach, according to Agha, would not only produce results but will also drag the fans back to the stadiums who had stopped showing up following consistently abysmal performances.

Before taking the mic in the press conference hall, Agha had bunted the ball to the leg side and strolled towards the bowling end, giving a fist bump to Mohammad Haris on the way as the two batters ticked off the 197th run to complete the series sweep.

It can be so easy when things are done right.