If high spirits alone could lift a battered Pakistani team towards the World Cup trophy, Vice-Captain Shadab Khan ticked all the boxes when he shockingly prophesized about “bouncing back” from the situation as before. It would be sheer injustice to give credit to players like Shaheen whose brilliant masterstrokes, Haris and his splendous dive for restoring the thrill and a noteworthy partnership between Saud and Shadab. However, the mercurial men were unable to live up to their reputation as their sensational hail mary passes failed to revive their World Cup campaign at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium on Friday. For now, the chokers seem giddy in the clear as their one-wicket win after a rather absorbing thriller revived interest in the series. With Aiden Markram cracking a nervous innings, the jinx had finally been lifted after an overwhelming 24 years. Pakistan has fallen to a fourth successive defeat as its troubles have grown profoundly at the end of a nail-biter session. That even a friendly crowd energetically cheering on the Men in Green to close in could not make do for the tense aura of the prior matches has raised some discomforting questions about the ability of our players to withstand pressure. The batting woes abounded while a back-breaking emphasis on a few men to play the jack of all trades was hard to miss. Quite expectedly, the usual naming-and-blaming is on a roll but the head coach urges for restraint, claiming no good can come out of a “witch hunt.” More problematic have been swirling bombshell accusations regarding Pakistan mainstream players not being paid salaries for as many as five months. In addition, Match Referee Richie Richardson is said to have imposed a fine of 20 per cent of the players’ match fee for maintaining a slow over-rate. Considering how manana from heaven is needed to ensure Shaheens win their remaining matches and hope other results go their way to land a berth for the semifinals, it would be reasonable to assume their early return. But once the dust has settled, a serious round of introspection should follow to realise what actually went wrong for a team that had entered the tournament as the world’s number top ODI team. *