Pakistan’s batting lineup in the recent years has often become the butt of all the social media jokes. The Pakistanis have time and again messed up crucial games due to their poor batting, which has only invited criticism from all corners of the society. Batting was never Pakistan’s strength, but for an international side, it also shouldn’t be such a weakness that it hinders the overall performance of the team.
In their 2015 World Cup clash against West Indies, Pakistan once again had to endure misery and sheer criticism. And once again, who was the culprit – the BATTING!
Chasing 311 to win, the Pakistani top order was expected to lead a solid reply on a wicket which was batting friendly. But as fate would have it for the Pakistanis, their top order seemed to have surrendered even before the chase actually began. The top order simply collapsed away like a pack of cards. The Pakistanis batted, as though they were just batting for the sake of it, or as though the batsmen were obliging someone by batting the way they did.
In the 4th over, the score read 1-4! Yes, 4 wickets down for just one run on board! First, it was the rusty Nasir Jamshed, who went for the pull, only to be caught at short midwicket. Next to follow was Younis Khan, who was squared up from a gem bowled by Jerome Taylor. Khan offered an easy caught behind chance and the keeper gleefully accepted it.
Haris Sohail too played a loose shot, only to be caught at point! The fourth victim was Ahmad Shahzad, who attempted a loose drive, and ended up giving a dolly to fifth slip.
Below is the video of the Pakistani top order, withering away.