On June 9, Pakistan play India in the 2024 T20 World Cup at New York’s Nassau County Eisenhower Park in the latest edition of their historic rivalry. Despite the hotly contested sold-out match between the two, the actual result is becoming almost as predictable as Maria Sharapova’s increasingly futile attempts to defeat Serena Williams back in the day. That mismatch ended 20-2 in the American’s favor. India are currently 14-1 in the last 15 World Cup white-ball matches between the Asian giants.
After Pakistan were roundly thrashed by their rivals in October at a raucous Ahmedabad, their team director Mickey Arthur made his feelings clear. “We were a little bit timid tonight with our overall performance. I would have liked us to really take the game on just a little bit more. It’s a massive occasion, as we know, but I think we just went into our shells a little bit,” said the South African.
Playing the inferiority card almost comes naturally now. Changes were needed immediately after Pakistan failed to make it to the knockout stages. Babar Azam stepped down as captain in all formats to be replaced by Shan Masood in Tests and Shaheen Afridi in T20s.
There are moments when Pakistan look unbeatable, but even more when they suddenly collapse inwards, a total mess of unthinking cricket and frayed nerves. “Pakistan cricket at its best: one minute down, next minute up,” said former England skipper Nasser Hussain in one of the more succinct explanations of their temperament gauge. They are masters of unpredictability, a mess of contradictions amid one of the most talented pools of players in the world. A confident leader like the legendary Imran Khan is certainly a thing of the past.
After five months in the role, Afridi’s position as skipper for the tournament in the United States and the West Indies is under threat. “Even I don’t know who the captain will be,” said PCB Chair Moshin Naqvi at the launch of the selection committee. Afridi has had only one series to manage, a 4-1 loss to New Zealand, but his position was more compromised by a disastrous domestic PSL campaign where his Qalanders team finished bottom of the table after one win in ten matches.
This is hardly the kind of preparation needed for a World Cup campaign, showing a true lack of faith in the 23-year-old’s tactical acumen and suitability. Yet, this is also a key barometer of how confused the team becomes when the pressure has been at its most intense. In the 2022 edition of the T20 tournament at a packed MCG, the Green Shirts had the Indians in deep trouble at 45-4 after ten overs, chasing 159 to win. At one point, India needed an unlikely 28 off eight balls. Then the wheels came off as Mohammad Nawaz bowled two wides in the last over and a waist high full toss. Virat Kohli did the rest.
As Pakistan look to their first fixture against the United States in Texas on June 6, their methodology appears to be going back to the future. Both paceman Mohammad Amir and allrounder Imad Wasim have reversed their international retirements and are included in the squad of 29 undergoing a fitness training camp fortnight with the military at Abbottabad. “The players will undergo a comprehensive training regime tailored to elevate their fitness levels, agility, leadership, strategic thinking and overall performance on the field,” said the PCB in a statement.
It may take more than sheer physical hard labour to elicit the right clinical responses needed in a stressful edge-of-the-seat game. “It’s a reality and Pakistan has got to do something about it. They can’t be termed as ‘chokers’ against India because that’s not a great tag to have. Somehow it’s a mental block, it’s a skill block as well,” said ex-skipper Ramiz Raja in the ICC Review Podcast back in October.
The outlier, the one recent victory, came in the 2021 edition in Dubai when India’s batting and team selection were stodgy, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar were flying at the top of the order, and Shaheen had the white ball on a piece of string. Unfortunately, the bowling and fielding cracked under pressure against Australia in the semis.
What’s required is a West Indies Shamar Joseph moment at Brisbane to break a deadly cycle of defeat. They need to halt the drowning feeling to build a future that is not weighted down by the anchor of the biggest sceptre in world cricket.
“Records are meant to be broken,” Babar said on the eve of that eighth consecutive World Cup ODI thrashing in the autumn. He’s right on that one. New York, New York, so good they named it twice. A second win in 16 will do nicely.