Amid in-fighting & delay in coach Gary Kirsten’s arrival, can Pakistan do well at T20 World Cup?

Pakistan cricket team is way too erratic in ICC events, and hence nothing can be predicted about them, as to how they would fare in a competition. Just imagine, who would have thought that Pakistan would end up reaching the final of the last T20 World Cup in 2022? Once struggling to even make it to the playoffs, they did the unthinkable.

But if one is to look at the overall signs, the upcoming T20 World Cup in June might not be very successful for them. And there are multiple reasons for it.

Not All Seems Okay Between Babar Azam & Other Players

For starters, right after the 50-over World Cup in India, there are fissures in the team. As per various reports, skipper Babar Azam and other senior players are not getting along well. There have been various videos as well, where he is seeing having heated exchanges with players. More recently, one such video with Imad Wasim went viral.

Plus, there seem to be two power-centres in the team, one is Babar, and the other one Shaheen Afridi. The latter was picked to lead the side in series vs New Zealand earlier in the year, and made a mess of it. Then prior to the recently concluded NZ series, he was appointed the captain again.

Performances Not Coming in

If just the last series vs NZ is considered, then Pakistan is in no reckoning for the T20 World Cup. They lost to B side of the Kiwis, since the top players are busy in India, playing in the IPL. And the series ended in 2-2 draw, with Pakistani players failing miserably in every department.

Head Coach Gary Kirsten Still Not with Team

Another detrimental factor could be, the recent appointment of Kirsten as the head coach of the team. The South African is the batting coach of IPL side Gujarat Titans, and if the team makes to the playoffs, his joining date for Pakistan team would be further delayed. For now, he is in touch with the entire team on video calls. But one wonders, how much of a difference can a coach actually make from quite some distance away.

Even Ahmed Shehzad, Pakistan batter, slammed this move by the PCB. “Gary Kirsten is a renowned coach but he will be fed information by those who will select the team. He does not have a base in Lahore nor has he grown up in Pakistan to understand the nature of different players,” Shehzad had told Geo News.

“At the end of the day, those involved with PCB are the ones who will be guiding him and doing all of this 2 years will have passed by. Already he has made a statement that I did not like. Kirsten said if we do not win the upcoming T20 World Cup then we might do well in the next two. “So already he is keeping himself in a safe position. He must show confidence and these are weak statements. This is not how a winner talks.”