Daily Times

When skipper Sarfraz Ahmad and his charges open their ICC Champions Trophy 2017 campaign against India on June 4 in England, only a miracle or an exceptional performance can lead them to victory against the archrivals. The green shirts will be looking to repeat their 2009 victory over the neighbouring nation, scored in the sixth edition of this tournament, to silence their detractors. However, that would require something truly extraordinary from a team that lacks depth in all departments of the game. With their eighth position on the ICC ODI Team Rankings, Pakistan’s chances to reach the knock-out stage or grab the coveted trophy are quite bleak. Despite completing series wins in all formats during their recent tour of the West Indies, Pakistan have not been spoken of as one of the favourites, which features the world’s top one-day outfits. The ICC Champions Trophy hasn’t been a successful hunting ground for Pakistan. Thrice they have made the semi-finals only to be eliminated – twice by New Zealand and once by the West Indies. In the most recent tournament, held in England in 2013, Pakistan remained winless.

This is Sarfraz’s first major tournament as captain and the challenge ahead is substantial. A mere glance at Pakistan’s recent performance in 50-over matches shows that the bowling lacks sting, the fielding is atrocious and the batting brittle. And Sarfraz has rightly remarked that Pakistan have ‘nothing to lose’ in the ICC Champions Trophy. The wicket-keeper batsman will not only have to perform well, he will also have to inspire his main players. Pakistan will be looking to halt a slump that began with a first-round exit from the 2015 World Cup, prompting all-rounder Shahid Afridi and skipper Misbahul Haq to exit the one-day scene. Previously known as the ICC Knock-Out Tournaments which were held in 1998 and 2000 in Dhaka and Nairobi, the event was subsequently renamed as the ICC Champions Trophy. It was held biannually until 2009 when it became a quadrennial event. Pakistan are in a tough group alongside India, South Africa and Sri Lanka. Pakistan have the pace attack to worry India and South Africa in Group B, but their batting lacks the firepower necessary to unsettle the top sides.

Critics are of the view that instead of being overawed by the sides ranked above them, Pakistan should keep faith in their abilities and try to enjoy every time they take the field. There are no short-cuts to success. Pakistan need to show a plenty of commitment and hard work to reach the last-four stage of the ‘Mini’ World Cup. But keeping in view their archaic style in shorter version and ODI record against tougher opponents on seaming tracks, they face an uphill task. At the same time, Pakistan have the potential to turn any match upside down in blink of an eye, but they have to overcome their un-professionalism to be a real threat to the top teams of the world. This ICC Champions Trophy is one of the most important events for Pakistan in recent times for a number of reasons. As the ODI squad, they need to re-establish ourselves as one of the top ODI sides by putting up strong performances against all teams. This will help their global ranking and help them to qualify for the ICC World Cup 2019. Strong performances are also important to boost the morale of the team. The team management have to work out a blueprint aimed at success and stability. A strategy must be worked out to indicate that the tendency of pandering to superstar egos will be done away with.

While a number of players will be returning to this short and sharp tournament, Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik stands out as he has been selected for his sixth successive tournament. Only eight other players have played in six ICC Champions Trophy tournaments. They are: Ricky Ponting (Australia), Rahul Dravid (India), Daniel Vettori (New Zealand), Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis (both South Africa) and Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara (all Sri Lanka). Malik made his tournament debut in the Colombo event in 2002 and then went on to play in the 2004 and 2013 events in the United Kingdom, the 2006 event in India and the 2009 tournament in South Africa. The 35-year-old Malik has scored 326 runs and taken 10 wickets in 15 ICC Champions Trophy appearances, and since he has played in 247 ODIs, will be aiming to become the 42nd player overall to play in 250 or more ODIs when he takes the field in the third match against Sri Lanka in Cardiff on 12 June.

Sarfraz is one of the nine Pakistan players who will be making their ICC Champions Trophy debuts. While Malik will feature in his sixth event, Mohammad Hafeez will play in his third tournament. The other survivors from the 2013 event are Junaid Khan, Umar Akmal and Wahab Riaz, while Mohammad Amir played in the 2009 edition. The ICC Champions Trophy sees the top ranked sides go head-to-head in a short and sharp, nation versus nation tournament from June 1-18 at three iconic cricket venues in England and Wales. The Oval will stage the opening match of the tournament on June 1 as well as the final on June 18. Cardiff Wales Stadium will host four matches, including the first semi-final on June 14, while Edgbaston will host four matches, including India vs Pakistan and Australia vs England matches as well as the second semi-final. The United Kingdom is staging the tournament for the third time after having hosted the event in 2004 and 2013. England finished runners-up on both the occasions to the West Indies and India, respectively.

This time around England are one of the strongest team going into the tournament and with them being the hosts, it won’t be a surprise if they go all the way and win their first ICC ODI Tournament. Ever since hitting rock bottom with an early exit from the 2015 World Cup, England’s 50-over cricket has been on an upward trend. They appear to be peaking perfectly for this tournament, but they will need to ensure they don’t succumb to stage fright in front of an expectant home audience. However, at the same time, there are teams like India, South Africa and Australia that should not be underestimated given the firepower they have in their teams.

Virat Kohli’s men have turned up for this tournament with a glut of T20 games in the Indian Premier League. This may turn out to be good preparation, especially when followed by a couple of 50-over warm-up games to get the mind fully attuned to the longer version. India don’t have the pace of the other three top bowling sides, but they do possess a well-balanced attack, capable of taking wickets in any conditions. South Africa are the fourth powerhouse team and, even without the injured Dale Steyn, they possess a strong pace attack. They also have the wily legspinner Imran Tahir seeking wickets in the middle overs, which is a crucial part of playing 50-over cricket successfully.

Australia are currently embroiled in a pay dispute with their board, but the altercation has only served to unite the players. Australian skipper Steven Smith has indicated that winning the Champions Trophy will help the players in their negotiations with Cricket Australia. While the winners will probably come from those four sides, none of the favourites can afford to take teams like Pakistan and New Zealand lightly. As always, New Zealand are a solid outfit but they lack the powerhouse players of Australia and England, both of whom are in New Zealand’s group.

Regardless of how Pakistan perform at the tournament, Sarfraz is likely to remain captain. After all, the team barely scraped through to play this year’s ICC Champions Trophy. In the last one decade the limited overs game has undergone tremendous change. There has been a lot of talk about modern day cricket and how Pakistan are still a decade behind with their style of play. A realistic assessment might be for Pakistan to win at least one out of their three games – more likely to be the one against Sri Lanka. But with Pakistan always keeping their unpredictability tag intact, one can hope for a miracle. *