Can Fatima Inspire Pakistan to World Cup Glory?

One of the most exciting allrounders in world cricket Fatima Sana has already made great strides in her fledgling captaincy career. Can she inspire her talented outfit to overcome the challenge of being in the toughest of the two pools to make the semi finals?

It truly is a talented squad, oozing with potential. Pakistan can be outstandingly brilliant on one day and absolutely dreadful the next. They can be very hard to watch. All the bowling bases are covered, the fielding is excellent and the batting has become more reliable in recent times.

Can this mercurial team go against the odds, history, the unfortunate pool grouping, unfavourable conditions and win the three games necessary to have a chance at making the semi finals?

Squad

Fatima Sana (capt), Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Zafar, Diana Baig, Eyman Fatima, Gull Feroza, Iram Javed, Muneeba Ali (wk), Nashra Sandhu, Natalia Pervaiz, Rameen Shamim, Sadia Iqbal, Saira Jabeen, Tasmia Rubab, Tuba Hassan

Reserves: Amber Kainat, Momina Riasat, Sadaf Shamas, Sidra Amin, Syeda Aroob Shah, Umm-e-Hani

Key Players to Watch

The skipper, for starters. Just a few weeks ago Fatima hit the fasted 50 of all time, off just 15 deliveries, three less than the previous best. Her middle order batting is a great strength. Never mind her lion hearted effort with the ball.

There two good openers in Gull Feroza and Muneeba Ali, both of whom have improved markedly over the last 12 months. Added bonus: left/right opening combo.

It’s a bit hit and miss after the openers until you get to Fatima. Good players, such as Aliya Riaz, Eyman Fatima and Saira Jabeen but Pakistan will want more consistency from these batters. The selectors chose to leave out the experienced Sidra Amin, a proven performer, a key anchor but without the sort of strike rate needed in this current era. Time will tell whether that was the correct decision or not.

Pakistan has always been blessed with good fast bowlers – Fatima and Diana Baig come to mind, but one to watch is left-arm quick bowler Tasmia Rubab. If she gets it right in these English conditions she could be a real handful and an ace up Fatima’s sleeve.

The spin attack needs no introduction, headlined by world number one bowler, Sadia Iqbal, along with the under-rated Nashra Sandhu. They also have a quality leg-spinner in Tuba Hassan but she does struggle to hold down a spot in the first XI.

Strengths/weaknesses

Lack of consistency is the real weakness here – some days the team is unstoppable. Others they collapse like wilted flowers. If Pakistan can string together a number of good performances they can overcome that shortfall.

Another weakness is the weather. A look back at the (possibly misnamed) “warm-up” match against Scotland in Derby, the players were visibly impacted by the cold weather. While the team was shivering and rubbing their hands together to get warm, Scotland plundered the bowling attack mercilessly. Perhaps some warmer clothing might alleviate this problem, but the players were noticeably agitated by the cold.

If we look beyond those difficulties, there are plenty of positives for the team. They are an excellent fielding unit, perhaps, along with Thailand, the best in Asia. In T20 cricket that is a real strength. They have great boundary riders, notably Nashra Sandhu and Aliya Riaz, the latter being one of the safest pair of hands in the outfield in this current era.

The spin attack is a real strength. The pace attack less so but still competent. As always though, batting is crucial and with good recent returns from series against South Africa and Zimbabwe, perhaps we can suggest that the batting is also a strength, but with the above caveats.

Fixtures

Pool A:

• 14th June: India
• 17th June: South Africa
• 20th June: Bangladesh
• 23rd June: Australia
• 27th June: Netherlands

Tournament Prospects

Putting on our green cap with #backourgirls, while tucking into a sumptuous Beef Nihari, let’s see how we can get Pakistan into the finals. It’s not easy because they are in a tough group, but three wins is all they need to at least be competitive.

First up they have India. That’s a tough start but it is also tough for India. One of cricket’s great rivalries. Pakistan has won three from sixteen against India, so it’s been done before. If they can win this game they will send shock-waves through the tournament and set themselves up for the rest of the campaign.

Next up is South Africa, a team still smarting from the above mentioned record 50 by Fatima. The last game they played was a win for Pakistan. Defeat South Africa after beating India? Those shock-waves will cause a tsunami.

Bangladesh is next and Pakistan enjoy a dominance over their Asian counterparts – who have never played in England – and all things being equal will count on this as one for the win column.

Pakistan has never beaten Australia and is unlikely to here, but they do have two “no-results” so the best option for this game is to pray for rain.

They won’t want to take the Netherlands too lightly, but that should be another win. Four wins and a no-result.

Prediction

Removing my green tinted glasses, the cap, and pushing the empty plate away, what’s the prediction? Common sense would dictate that two of India, South Africa and Australia will make it to the semis, which would leave Pakistan languishing somewhere in the group stage, yet again. Of course, if they can string some good performances together, and enjoy a little luck, they could find a way to the semis.