Renowned cricket commentator and boffin Harsha Bhogle recently gave a startling statement on how Pakistan national cricket team had maintained No.1 position in the ICC T20I team ranking. Earlier this year, in May, Australia dislodged Pakistan from the top in the ranking, ending their 27-month reign.
In January 2018, Pakistan had overtaken New Zealand to reach the top position, and after reigning for over two years on the No.1 position, they lost their place in May 2020. The reason behind Pakistan’s slump was their below-par performances in the 20-over format during the last few months.
Harsha Bhogle gives the reason why Pakistan was at the top:
Harsha Bhogle has said that Pakistan was able to be the number one T20 team for so long since they “were helped by the fact that they played against some not so great opposition”. Despite this, Bhogle applauded Pakistan for a dominant run, which saw them win 11 series in a row.
“Pakistan spent a lot of time being the world number one in Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). They were helped by the fact that they played against some not so great opposition, but you can’t hold that against them. They won 11 series in a row,” Bhogle said on the ICC’s digital show Cricket Inside Out as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
He also applauded the presence of some talented players like Fakhar Zaman and Shadab Khan who had helped his country to be at the top.
“They had some really good players coming through. There was Fakhar Zaman at the top of the order and their core was in that middle-order, where they got eight overs some days between Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim and both of them could bat too. Plus, Shadab is a brilliant fielder, so there was a nice little side coming together.”
Pakistan preparing for England series:
The Pakistan team is currently in England, where they are preparing for the upcoming Test and T20 series. They are scheduled to play three Tests and three T20 Internationals against England, with the first Test starting on August 5 in Manchester and the T20 series beginning on August 28 at the same venue.