ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 has been a rollercoaster for the Pakistani cricket team and fans, as their emotions come up and down with the performance of their favorite players. Today’s win against Bangladesh has given some hope to Pakistani fans, and they are hoping that their team will be in the top four teams that will fight for the final. This article will help you understand how Team Pakistan performed in the event and what are their chances to perform better in the coming matches.
Current Position: A Mix of Triumphs and Challenges
We can easily claim that the Pakistani cricket team’s performance has been a blend of highs and lows. The team performed exceptionally well in its first two matches against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka. Although we found Pakistani bowlers struggling in both these matches, Pakistani batters, especially Muhammad Rizwan, Abdullah Shafique, and Saud Shakeel, showed their commitment and resistance in front of world-class bowlers.
It was the India-Pakistan match played on 14 October 2023 when Pakistan’s performance fell sharply, and the team bowled out at 191, although they were 155/2 at one stage. This setback affected their performance in the next matches when they were defeated by Australia and Afghanistan convincingly. In both games, Pakistani bowlers struggled a lot and could not leave an impact on the opposition. It dented the team’s overall performance, and the overall morale was on the ground.
Only Naseem Shah was missing in the lineup. However, world-class bowlers like Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf remained below average.
Another concerning point for the team was its spin-bowling attack. In the presence of Shadab Khan, Muhammad Nawaz, Iftikhar Ahmad, and Usama Mir, this bowling attack looked ordinary and gave the chance to attack and become dominant.
Pakistan VS South Africa Match
South Africa won the match. However, in this match, the spectators felt that the team had been coming back to the rhythm. South Africa won the game by One Wicket due to some outclass cricket of the tail-enders and umpires’ controversial decisions. However, cricket gurus and experts found this performance extraordinary, although South Africa had been dominating the tournament due to the batting their batters were doing.
Pakistan VS Bangladesh
As Fakhar Zaman did not perform well in the first matches, the management gave chance to Abdullah Shafique with Imam-Ul-Haq, and he performed well. However, Imam-Ul-Haq was continuously struggling. Therefore, the management decided to leave him on the bench and give another chance to Fakhar Zaman, who showed his class by making 81 runs in the run-chasing effort and becoming the Player-of-the-Match. Shaheen Shah Afridi also showed its class with its team of Muhammad Wasim Junior and Haris Rauf. Therefore, it is a team performance as a bowling unit.
Where did Pakistan stand today on the points table?
After this win, Pakistan has six points and is in fifth position. It gives hope to the cricketing pundits and spectators that their favorite players, led by Babar Azam, can come back in the tournament. However, if Pakistan wants to qualify for the semis, it is essential to keep an eye on other teams’ performances. Moreover, Pakistan must win its next matches, which are against New Zealand and England. Both teams are world-class, although England performed really poorly in the tournament. They came into the tournament as a defending champion.
New Zealand, on the other hand, has been performing exceptionally well and can spoil the efforts of Pakistan to qualify for the semis and leave the hopes of their fans.