Follow UsPakistan’s fate in the 2023 World Cup is no longer in their hands. Babar Azam and Co. don’t only have to win their remaining three encounters but will also need a couple of results to go in the favour if they want to qualify for the semis. The Men in Green were touted as one of the favourites to lift the cup, but Pakistan’s head coach Grant Bradburn never felt that way.
“I'm not sure where you get favourites from because there are 10 teams in this tournament, there are 150 cricketers who are the best on the planet and in terms of the ICC rankings… We know they are skewed because we don't get to play India, we don't get to play a lot of the top nations who haven't been to Pakistan of late,” said Bradburn prior to Pakistan’s all-important game against Bangladesh in Kolkata on Tuesday (October 31).
“We were number five in April, we became number one recently before the tournament, and that might be where you term the phrase favourites. But we're realistic. We have not been the best in the world as yet, which highlights where we are in this tournament right now. We have no divine right to beat anyone in this tournament. We have to play quality cricket, and we have to put all three departments of our game together.
“We are desperate to bring joy to our nation. We are desperate to make our nation very proud of this cricket team. And we are also realistic in the knowledge that we haven't put all departments of our game together over the last four games but four losses does not define who we are as players, as coaches or a team. We're determined on what we can control and that is putting our best on the park in these last three games and then leaving that to fate as – to determine the remainder of the tournament for Pakistan.”
Pakistan started their campaign with wins against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka but have lost four games since then. They were hammered by India, Australia, and Afghanistan, but had a close game against South Africa, losing by just one wicket. “We're in a position that we didn't want to be,” said Bradburn.
“We were determined at this stage of the tournament to be in control of our destiny but we're not. That hurts the group and all we can do now is control what we can control, and that is prepare well for three remaining pool games and then allow fate to be hopefully leaning on us in terms of our semi-final hopes from there.”
The 57-year-old didn’t shy away from accepting that Pakistan have been playing traditional cricket in the 50-over format. Pakistan openers have been slow in the powerplay, while Babar Azam has a terrible strike rate against spin in the middle overs. “Mickey Arthur and I, when we took over this team in April, six months ago, we recognised that the team was playing a gear or two below where we wanted the team to be playing in terms of the brand.
“We knew that the brand of cricket that is winning against quality teams is a more dynamic brand than perhaps we were playing. So, we set a new course in April this year. It hasn't been a big lead in to this major tournament for us. Ideally preparation for a tournament like this starts four years ago. We started six months ago and changed direction in the way that we want to play the game of cricket , especially the one-day brand.
“We've shown some positive signs of that over the last six months, and as I've mentioned, during this tournament, we're very proud of some of the performances that we've put on the park. It's taking a little bit longer than we were hoping, but we want to play a dynamic brand that matches the challenge of the conditions we're playing in.”