This ineptitude has to end. On difficult, and particularly bouncy, pitches like Perth and this year's Old Trafford track Pakistan do not have the technique to hold out. Pakistan will inevitably blame the pitch, and they will have a case, but that does not escape the fact that because Pakistani batsmen crumble when the ball rumbles they remain some distance from conquering Australia and South Africa, destinations that are must wins on the road to world domination.

A miserable first tournament in charge was made worse by personal failure for Younis Khan. There were also some holes in his captaincy. It was mind boggling that on a pitch made for seam and South Africa reeling, Pakistan bowled so many overs of spin and Umar Gul and Yasir Arafat failed to bowl out. Admittedly, Yasir's first spell was too short but a wise and persuasive captain would have coaxed a second, fuller spell out of him. Gul, on the other hand, bowled only one bad ball--a ludicrously bad one--and there was no excuse for him not to complete his spell.

This Champions Trophy has confirmed two suspicions. First, Inzamam is as essential as ever to this Pakistani middle order, especially when the going gets tough. It will be a relief to see him back against West Indies. Second, if Pakistan are to have any chance of winning the World Cup they will require Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif--or at least one of them--to lead the bowling attack. Ethically you might imagine that there is no chance of that happening but the Pakistan Cricket Board isn't known for its ethical purity.

Ultimately, as mercurial as Pakistan are, the mayhem of the last few weeks was simply too much to overcome. Nobody wants Pakistan cricket to become sterile, the South Africa of South Asia. We still want the flair, the threat of something brilliant. But my conclusion, and the lesson of the last 14 years, is that for that flair and that brilliance to thrill us and produce results Pakistan's cricketers require stable and sensible administration, management, and leadership. Above all, they need to learn how to fight like their lives depend on it.

The hype about Yasir Arafat, the supposedly heir to Waqar, Wasim, Asif, Shoaib, was fully overblown by you and some of the readers here. As I have said before, county is no measure of players quality. It is how they cope with play at international level. Its about time you realize that and stop hyping up players who are not ready yet.

Pakistan are a mediocre team. They are in a group with Ind, Eng, WI and NZ. Playing these teams they have as good a chance of winning as losing on a particular day depending on their mood. So I call them a 'moody team'. They have no professionalism and discipline in or out of field.

I completely agree with you. This is not a loss, it is complete annihilation. You call these batsmen? They looked like soccer players playing cricket for the first time! Shameful. What I cannot unserstand is why can't we make pitches like this in Pakistan and use them only for practice? That way we can be ready for pitches like these.
Another thing that I feel that plays a lot in Pakistani cricket is mental toughness. How can an in form batsman loose his form completley in the very next match. if we are 4 wickets down then everybody gives up hope. All one needs to do is tell himself is whats the worst that could happen? We will loose, but it doesn't hurt trying our best. How many times have we seen Austarlia and South Africa sneak a victory from loss just because they refused to give up.
Finally I just don't understand what goes in the minds of our captains. they just can't think big. They are sooo scared and defensive. 5 wickets down, the team is on back foot, the first opportunity the captain has, he opens up the field! HUGH. What is the risk in attacking? If you find it is not working, you can always change the filed later.
I was the biggest fan of Pakistani cricket and I am sadly considering never to follow them again. They just refuse to improve. They just don't realize what level of cricket other teams are playing and we cannot weven get the basics right, i.e fielding, running between the wickets, foot movement and game plan. My decision is also based on the yougsters. If we look at it, nost of our wins come from Mahammad Yousuf, Inzamam , Abdul razzaz. With the exception of Shoib Malik the rest are just mediocre. These guys don't have a long future and we will be left with players who just simply refuse to take responsibility. May God be with our team and I wish them best of luck in the future.....

WOW!!!!!
lack of will to fight back, they showed no spin. What is going on here?? We need to make fast track pitches against WI. If we are planning to compete in the world cup. Our batsmen need to learn how to bat on a bouncy pitch. Very disappointed in the way we lost. This time our bowling was good. I completly agree with u Kamran, the administration should be taken to the cleaners. We need to change the way PCB is organized and operated. As i have stated in my last comments we need to make them more accountable to the people not to the president. What this team has gone through since the England tour this was excepted. But, what's done is done!!!! we need to rebuild and we need to do it now. Our dependence upon players like M.Asif, S. Akthar and most of all on Inzi should be reduced. We need to dig deep into our pool of talent --- i hope against WI we can utilize that talent give them a chance, groom them for World cup. As far as Afradi is concerned he should be rested.....he needs to do some soul searching play some domestic cricket get his form back. He looks tired and defeated on the field WHY?. We need to hire fitness coach, we need W. akram to come back and work with the current bowling coach. I guess while we are at it........we need a batting coach as well....lol. Their is no need to hit the panic button just yet......i.e, replacing Bob....in my opinion that will be a mistake. win or lose, is part of the game. We need to go back to the drawing board now.........

As said by Younis Khan him self they will play good cricket, I think they need to define what the good cricket is. On paper Pakistan had 2nd weakest bowling attack in ICC Champions trophy with Rana not in form, Umer out of match practice and Rao out of confidence. But in the end it was the strong batting line up and a good future captain who let the team down. It was said that Pakistan has the strongest batting line up in the world but with out Inzi it was only "Rait kee deewar" (mountain of sand).

I think the Pakistani batsmen will prove against the West Indies that they're flat track bullies, because, thats what the tracks will be..flat. Favoring their batsmen. I don't understand why they don't even try. Did the pitch change for Yasir Arafat in the end that he stayed that long? Its beyond pathetic!!! I have no hopes of Pakistan even qualifying for the Super 8 in the World Cup!

Well, it finally came to pass. All that self-rightous religious exhibitionism and tableeghism did not change the fact that even Allah thinks Pakistanis are bunnies on a bouncy track. "Thanks to almighty Allah?" You bet. Thanks to almighty Allah for yet again exposing what a bunch of ill-equipped whimps we are on tracks that are not dusty, dead and flat.

Pakistan needs to fix its captaincy issues first. I think Younis Khan should be made captain for good. Inzamam will play just for a year or so more and its better Younis learns the ropes whilst he is there in the team.

Afridi is never going to change and he does not seem to have the zip about him. he simply seems to be going thought the motions. With Inzamam likely to retire soon we will have a huge hole in our middle order and that coupled with our opening woes is the biggest thing to worry about.

I think our boys should concentrate more on cricket than stressing who prays and who doesn't. They are paid to play cricket and not spread Islam. If they have so much interest in religion they can join the many jamats to satisfy their spiritual needs. As far as I am concerned as long as a player performs on the pitch, i couldn't care less about their private lives.

The board should never have sanctioned testing on its players and should have kept quiet when the +ive results came. I doubt they will deal with the matter correctly and its likely to become one big mess. They should have let the players be caught by ICC testing and let them deal with the matter.

Expected departure in unexpected manner.Not bowlers unable to protect a bog total but batsmen totally inept to get anywhere a descent toatl.I am sure there will be plenty of comments on this valiant defeat,just a few points.You don't need too many bits and pieces cricketers in odi,Afridi tops the list.pure sound technical batsmen with a temperament.Hard to find though,keep looking,good luck.Important question for the "dummy captain" can he handlethe pressure of captaincy,lack of killer instinct,smart bowling changes, too many loop holes (not to say that Inzi was aggressive by any stretch of imagination)woorying factor fot Khan is his pathetic batting display in this trophy.Few important questions to address in the next few months.

ThankYou,

Syed ..USA

well i quiet agree with mr. kamran pitches cannot be blamed all the time .if pakistan are to win the world cup they should learn and adapt quicky as many pitches in west indies are bowler friendly.it was surprising that evev younis and yosuf failed in such conditions to the contrast that both are in top ten in icc test ratings it was surprising that no such pitches are in pakistan from which pakistan can learn from their mistakes and to this bob should play an imp role

Just want to add that with this Batting and Captaincy Collapse today the value of Inzamam as a Captain and a player under pressure has become more evident.
Younis made many small errors in captaincy and toped it all with his miserable and appualing short at a critical juncture. You can just say that Inzi would have handled the situation with far more calculated and responsible approach.
At least this match slaps those people in the face who are in favor of replacing inzamam with Younis. I just hope that they have found out the true value of Inzamam as a Captain and as a Batsman in this team.

Pakistan has always come back and prevailed. Noone expected from the to win the match from Sri Lanka. But they did. I agree with Kamran on 'batsman fault' for today match. If SA can score 200 runs, we should atleast got to decent score.
If we have lost by 3 runs like India lost yesterday from WI, That would have been great achivment, considering team was gone through such a turmoil.
Nonetheless, Like alway, I wish Pakistan cricket team returns back before World cup.
If WI and SL can turn around, we should do that.

Pakistan ZindaBad

I think Kamran Abbasi has done a brilliant job of articulating the problems. It was a shameful performance and Younis captaincy left a lot to be desired of. It is perfectly alright to lose games, but you go down fighting. We lack killer instinct like Australia. South Africa were 42 for 5 and we allowed them to get off the hook. Umar Gul and Yasir Arafat did not finish their overs. Only Younis can explain that.

I agree with your accessment. I think you are correct that if Pakistan needs to be competitive in world cup they need Inzi back and one wicket taking bowler whether it is Shoaib, Asif or a genuine spinner that will take wickets. If you want to look at the positives, I think this is a blessing is disguise for Pakistan. If Pakistan would have moved on to semis everyone in Pakistan (shockingly Imran Khan too) would have asked for Younis to be the captain of Pakistan team, atleast that debate is over, Inzi is our man, I am not sure if Younis should be in the team let alone being the captain. Our management and cricket gurus do not realize that Younis has only 2 centuries and 25 fifties in 142 mathces at an average of 31 and 1 of the cnetury is against non cricketing countries. I know he batted lower in the order but there have been enough Pakistani collapses in the past. May be with his poor captaincy of not Bowling Hafeez against NZ and not bowling Gul or Arafat on fast track shows everyone that Younis is a go with the flow captain, no tricks or smarts, I guarantee that he did not realize that he has not given bowl to Hafeez against NZ and Umar has 3 overs left against SA. I think Pakistan needs a captain that could adapt to situations and they need to look somewhere else. Last thing that I would like to mention is that it is very disappointing for all the fans when their team loses like this but it more disappointing when the captain comes out in the end laughing and saying it is part of the game and it happens, It is did not seem like Younis was angry at himself, I could not finish my breakfast looking at Pakistan getting thrashed but to Younis it is just another game and another loss, I have seen player like Magic and Jordon cry when losing close games but Younis was laughing when they kicked out of the tournament.

No...they do not ned to fight like warriors, they
should just have a sporting commitment, which they do - but have to learn to play confidentally
on pitches the favor bowlers...

Dear Kamran

You could not have said it any better. Pakistan Cricket is filled with a bunch of Yahoos at the moment!

Younis khan was HASTY for captainship and when you have such intentions then the result is in front of you.Neither his team performed well nor his individual performance was good.Inzamam should lead atleast till worldcup.

yo kamran:
fine, objective piece on the abject play from pakistani's cricketers. i like it. even more so, i'd like you and osman to bring your insight and critiques to the bcci and its "kriketers".
i'd dearly love to hear what you guys feel about the bcci (remember, not the indian board).
of course, i have my own feelings for the failings in india. but, i'd like some opinions from an objective outsider.
thank you.

Hi to everyone & i have to say i agree with Kamran a really poor (or is that an understatement?) showing and no excuses should be on offer(i.e the Pitch) Inzamam is as i have always known the binding force and this role needs to be filled once he leaves by Mohammed Yousef ( i personally think Yousef should be captaining) Imran farhat is a waste of time he has had many opportunities and i think Pakistan should have pursued with Suleyman Butt.Afridi the mind boggles? what does he think?(play according to the situation man!learn a little patience and then explode for Gods sake!) top scorer was Yasir arafat(who) and yes we need either Shoaib/Asif or Shabbir back. No complaints about Yousef/Malik/Hafeez/Razzak though. I could carry on but wont and i want to shed some tears now!!!!

India defeating Australia is a pipedream. Virtually, all the sub-continent teams are out of the tournament. I was hoping Pakistan would qualify.

I completely agree with Kamran Abbasi. Asif has to return. I, for one, firmly believe he is the most promising fast bowler. I heard/read somewhere no Indian batsman could read him. He cuts the ball both ways without any perceptible change in his wrist action.

I personally like the kind of pitches. A 220 match with a close finish is much better than the 320 matches. There is an even contest between the ball and the bat. So Pakistan, please dont blame the pitch!

The way Pakistan went down in the champions Trophy shows that they as ordinary as a street team. I think on this day Afridi should have been sent in as Opener to unsettle the South African Bowlers, which surely would have been a gamble and could have been proved to be counter productive. I agree with your comments and add that Younis not only failed as leader but also as a reliable number three batsman. Salman Bhat and Yaseer Hamid should be encouraged and despite some failures Pakistan should persist with fixed opening pair and coach should be asked to remove their inadquecies in technique for scuh type of pitches. Surely Inzamam was missed. In New Zealand match one umpiring decision turned the game on its head.

I think Mr. Kamran Abbasi concluded it in the right words, Pakistani Players should learn hot to fight like their lives depend on it, they belong to a poor country and considering the fact that the amount of money they get paid for playing, i think such a performance is not at all acceptable. It's hurting :(

Mr Abbasi

While your dedication to Pakistan's cricket side is commendable, and your bitter disappointment in their huge loss today understandable, would a gracious word in defeat not at least allow you to hold your head high?

Yes Pakistan were playing on a bouncy wicket but then both sides batted on the same strip but one managed to handle the conditions better than the other. There is no shame in losing to a side whose opening bowler produces a masterclass in fast bowling of the like which we witnessed today. Makaya Ntini's opening spell today was everything that a fast bowler should strive for; he bowled with passion, aggression, control and a laudable single-minded determination to blast his opponents out.

Your sly dig at South Africa being a "sterile" team is so misdirected as to be laughable. Here is a side who chased over 400 to win against Australia recently and repeated the 400 run trick again a few months later. This same side took the challenge to Sri Lanka in their previous pool game and played with a flair and passion that was exhilarating to watch. Players of the calibre of Smith, de Villers, Gibbs, Kemp, Boucher and Kallis make them one of the most dazzling teams around, packed with electric stroke makers and players who can turn a game in a matter of overs. Nobody from Islamabad to Ibiza would have described South Africa's effort in the field as "sterile" today, it far transcended even "impressive" it was, for wont of a better word; exhilarating and for that they must be heartily congratulated.

Yours Sincerly

Simon

Pakistan Cricket Team needs a coach like Imran Khan with full powers to get the results out of each player. The time for lame excuses is long over and each player should realize that its not only a matter of their individual career, it's a matter of our Country's respect and each Pakistanis' self respect.

Pakistan Cricket Board and especially President of Pakistan Mr. Pervez Musharraf should hire Imran's services at any cost to reestablish our beloved Country Pakistan's morality in the world of cricket.

Even if President of Pakistan has to offer a blank cheque to him, it must be done.

Otherwise; Everybody knows the end results.

This series certainly removes the doubts about captaincy. Captaincy is much more than cheering and clapping. Sharp mind of a chess playing is required and Inzi was not all that bad.

"Nobody wants Pakistan cricket to become sterile, the South Africa of South Asia. "

What do you mean by that? South Africa is a great team and not sterile at all. I think that comment was unfounded...

today was a sad day for pak cricket. the battin order's footwork and shot selection in particular was a sight for very soar eyes. younis khan as captain of pakistan played a seriously poor shot. we need inzi back in the team.

The day pakistan cricketers will realize that cricket for them is not just the game, its profession than they might be more consistent.
If you pay a professional lawyer a good amount of money, who is a graduate from a well reputed college, under well reputed professers. His skill and knowledge will come into play at his best.In every case he will going to handle. He is a professional and thats his job, to perform at his best everytime.Otherwise he will not last long in his profession. The reason Australian cricketers hasnt looked back since Steve Waugh 120 against SA, in WC 1999, is because they treat theirselves as professionals. The sense of responsibility and pride makes the difference. Australian cricketers ability is not their strength, even the WI team is very skilled. Australian cricket strength is their mental toughness and their ruthless attitude, the temperment which repeatedly say " never say die". Pakistan team has many individuals who throw their wickets once they realise they will be a part of the next game, when they have done enough to save their name from being left out in the next match. This mentality will not lead them anywhere too far, they might happen to be in quater or semi finals if the two pace man and inzi comes back, but to acheive the magnificent, they have to be magnificent all the time. They just need to be professionals.

A complete shambles. From a match winning position we see the team yet again give it away. Although Younis Khan shows more energy than Inzy, today he lacked the killer instinct. South Africa should have been finished off quickly. The batting......well enough said. Completely clueless against bowlers who weren't the quickest but who made good use of the pitch and exposed the Pakistani weakness against bounce. Some serious thinking required before the Windies.

I AGREE WITH YOU. HOWEVER I THINK THE PCB DID NOT TRY YOUR WONDERFUL PLAYERS FROM THE UNDER 19 TEAM.
COMPETITION FOR PLACES IN THE FINAL 11 WILL BE GOOD FOR THE TEAM.

Remove imran farhat, afridi and razzaq and play players who deserve games. maybe we would get somewhere, Younis should not take everything lightly for example his post match talk, he acted as if it were ok to lose in that manner "it happens in cricket", what a disgrace for me he is yet to prove himself at the top level. Please remove imran farhat.

Not a single word of the above article can be argued upon. However, i would like to add that Inzi has come of age, and with his retirement not to far away, we have to overcome our dependency on him. Secondly, I do not understand why Shahid Nazir, who performed well recently wasnt picked. I think the tournament will be a lesson for the 'Dummy' Captain, and for management, with Naseem Ashraf(i would like to drop the doctor) at the helm of affair and his unthoughtful comments flyin left right and center in press... Pakistan doesnt have any hope for the world cup.

Pakistani team should be flogged on a PUBLIC ROUNABOUT (CHOWK) after Friday prayers for their performance today.

Yes, I do agree with Mr. Kamran that as an International players Pakistani batsman do not have the technique to hold out. I would also like to mention here about opening pairs problem for Pakistan. Pakistan should not test their middle order batsman in number 1 or 2 position instead they should give chance to a batsman who has solid defense as an opener. Becuase we have hard hitter batsman at number 5, 6 ,7 so what Pakistan Team need is good start.

I think you are very right about Inzy and akhtar,
they are the back bone for a pakistani team. but I think we can not blame anybody since none of team players consistant in this tournament. Still question some players stand in the same pitch like last bowlers made more runs than top order batsman. Still its unacceptable for cricket fans like this. Player should ban from expensive money making ads so they can aim more towards game than money
Thanks
Dhillon

I am fully agree with you that pakistan need a solid leadership in management pakistan cricket board changes management so quick sometime it seems like they are for sale. first and foremost thing they need to pay attention is mental stability, we have seen in past that pakistani batsman have good technique but lake of stability, the only man who have courage and stability is Imran Khan.

we need to teach those boys that how to stay on wicket and put pressure on opponent. As usual we will blame the surface of wicket and present ourselves as a victim of circumstances so my advice is that either win os loss, boys need to show the fighting spirit and mental stability.

Absolutely inept performance -- Lacked fight or any application. Did they have a plan before going out to bat for their half of the match.

Looked like a ruderless ship sinking in choppy
seas. I do not mind them losing but not like this.

They should have tried to play out the first 10 or so overs to see off Nitini and Pollock's first spells ?? Obviously they did'nt even try?
They were wishing that that the pitch would have completely changed once Pakistan statred to bat?

Didn't understand a word the current Captain had to say at the toss or after the loss!

I think he is not capable or understanding let alone learning from what has hit them today!

I think scars from today's performancr will last for a long time and has set Pak cricket back for some years!

Can't wait to get Inzi back at the helm for now , they should give the next Skipper some language training before letting them go infront
of World audiences?

Shamefull performance on all fronts batting and communication (lack of).

I am just shocked to say the least with what i say today. it was just totally unexplicable. i never expected Pakistan to bow down without fighting. i was just wordless to see Pakistan bating today. i dont know why we keep on playing imran farhat? he got out the same way today as he did against new zealand. being a captain gives more responsibility, but look at the shot younis khan played today. he is no good too, look at the shot afridi played? if he wants to be a match winner he should play according to the match situation not according to his reputation. Look at the way gilchrist batted against west indies and dhoni batted against west indies. both played uncharacteristic inings but played for the team not for the reputation. they are matchwineers not afridi. i dont know why bob woolmer cannot cure our batsmen problems against bouncy wickets? i m clueless

What I feel is the Younis Khan is to be blames more than anyone else for his poor batting display throughout the series. Inzi has been criticised pf being lazy in the field, but hopping all the time doesnt make Younis any good. And even in times of trouble Younis has been seen smiling and laughing (on a winning note that would have counted as confidence, but here it shows non-serious attitude). Apart from these, Younis doesnt seem to know much about the bowling options and how to juggle the bowlers, when to use whom. In times of pressure his batting has been worst which goes to show the extent of pressure he can or cannot take. I also lay the blame heavily on selectors for carrying the burden in the form of Shahid Afridi who has become a stone in the path of some better talent. And Imran Farhat seems to be a real bad learner! Some positives, just one for me: Hafeez has nicely cemented his place as a genuine all-round utility player. Hope to see Inzi back soon!

very true, i cen percent agree with you

pakistani team needs to learn how to stay on weeket becouse they were just in sucha hurry to go home thats what it seemd liked it but now there is nothin we can do now they better get shoaib and asif back in the team otherways we arnt gona win a single game in world cup

I don't understand why Faisal Iqbal was not selected for the crucial encounter against South Africa. On a pitch like that we needed a solid middle order bastmen who can hold the innings together. My question from the captain is that why didn't he go with Faisal Iqbal for this match ? What was the reason ? And why there are so many allrounders in the team ? Faisal Iqbal should have been included in the team since the game1.
We need to work really hard ahead of series against the WestIndies.

yikes .. thats harsh mate ...!! You should have waited a day .

I do Criticize Younus Khan Captaincy, I dont know what Imran Khan saw in him.(I think the only thing he saw is that he claps for his partner after the quick single) but in these 3 matches we saw lots of captaincy mistakes and the way he wanted himself to be a powerful captain before the departure of the Team I didn’t see anything in him. He can’t able to play a single inning of captaincy and the way he played in the last match, after the dismissal of M.Yousuf he knew that on that time that he is the only Experience batsman left in the side and the seam of the ball will get softer after the period of time but played such an awkward shot I think I never saw Inzamam as a captain played a shot like that. And its not just the batting he did lots of wrong decision in bowling as well. I think Pakistan Cricket team officials should revise their decision about the future captaincy in one day Cricket.

Spot on Mr Abbasi. Pakistan were spineless today. No fight. What must Imran Khan or Javed Miandad be thinking? Is this the same Pakistan team they use to play for ?

When Pakistan beat Sri Lanka so emphatically and coming from behind, it seemed like they found a new confidence. The batting display against South Africa was shockingly terrible. Ntini is definitely one of the top fast bowlers in the world but Pakistan were indeed terrible. They have no excuses for playing rushed shots. With a low score like this to chase pakistan could have taken their time to get their eye in. One would expect at least Yousuf and Younis Khan to have played sensibly but it seems like they were very impatient and in judging the balls coming at them they fogot the basic techniques. This match also proved as you said their clear dependence on Inzamam. The score which South Africa put up should have been much lower had Younis Khan placed a more attacking field after the powerplays were done. This once again showed that Younis Khan was not experienced enough to captain his side. What Pakistan need now is tp perform well against the West Indies and hope that they can get it together before the world cup.

i have always been a hardcore paki cricket fan. i've defended our cricketers to my frnds when they criticize them and call them cheats and accuse them of bribery. but today for the first time i am not just depressed but i have been humiliated. i'm hurt and .... just humiliated. Afridi doesnt belong in the team, he hasnt taken wickets and besides he is a batsman y have we forgotten that??? he doesnt score, he's out. its simple.imran farhat got out twice playing same shot. hes out too.he cant catch,his highest score wud be 30 sumthing that too with atleast 1 dropped chance in it. he also dont belong there. and i have to very painstakingly admit that we still need Inzi in there!!!

Younis Khan failed in all aspects ...
He failed to lead from the front
His field placings left much to desire
His decision to send Afridi at no. 5 after the loss of three early wickets (in the first two matches)
His mind boggling decision not to bowl Hafeez against New Zeland after hafeez had reined in Srilankan batsmen in the first game and in the final match removing Hafeez after only one over, and a maiden at that
His failure at changing the bowling at the right time
His failure to motivate the team, we looked spineless against South Africa

This just confirms what we all know ... we need Inzi, both as a batsman and as a captain. We need him terribly.

One thing for sure that, this tournament has exposed younis khan he is neither a good ODI batsman nor a good leader.We have seen his batting form and we have seen his leadership, Umar gul did not complete his 10 overs, Yasir Arafat,his first spell was very expensive, 31 runs in four overs. I think he should not have bowled more than two overs, On the other hand Hafeez first over was maiden why was he given only one over??. I think younis khan should have kept the pressure on Boucher and Kemp, and kept Umar Gul from one end and Hafeez from the other.We let the pressure off by persisting with Yasir Arafat, bad captaincy.Every one is talking about weakness of Pakistan bowling beacuse of Shoaib Akhtar and Asif absence, but actually it is our batters that are the cause of concern and letting us down. Our bowlers are doing good job I think time has come that Afridi and younis Khan both should be kicked out from one day matches.Selectors and PCB board should realise that a person whose one ODI average is less then 32 should not even be in team let alone captaining the side. In my view Imzamam should be the ODI captain till the world cup.We lost this match because of our poor batting and poor leadership

Humiliating,
our batsmen were actually scared of pace and afraid to come to the front foot as Ntini was firing Missiles at them.
By the way coach is suppose to help improve technique not just play with laptop and at the end curse your own team.I dont understand why they dont include Yasir Hameed(Imran Khan said repeatedly) as an opener as his technique is far better than our current openers.May be he his suffering from his remarks against Bob Woolmer.I think its time to forget our personal grudges and build a team which can actually play cricket.

First of all, lets take no credit away from South Africa. They were brilliant. It was amazing to see the passion of a number 8 batsman (Andre Nel) when he was batting. For Pakistan, they have to figure out where the problem lies. Its not just about bouncy wickets or seaming wickets its more about working on your game individually, doing the homework on the opposition and reading about your own game, and observing it. Our players dont do that. Players like Lara and Tendulkar still work on their backlifts and their balance although they are already exemplary. Unfortunately this thing is missing in our camp. You might hire number of coaches and have all the technology in the world but once the passion is gone out of your body and that special feeling of representing your contry is gone you cannot be a great player. Once our players get into the playing 11 they think JOB DONE, they stop working on their individual techniques. They just fall prey to the fame and charisma of cricket and thats where the downfall starts. Frailities in techniques of our players have been exposed on number of times but they refuse to think about those critically and refuse to work on getting them eliminated. The only player who looks serious about his game is Shoaib Malik. Wearing your green uniform should be enough to spur them on but it seems like we have spared the rod and the kids are spoiled.

I agree with you Kamran. Through out the champions trophy we were only playing with 6 players i.e. Muhammad Yousaf, Shoib Malik, Umer Gul, Razzaq and Muhammad Hafeez. How can you win a tournament when half of your team is not performing? Our so called WANNA BE A POWERFUL CAPTAIN looked confused all the time, after losing to New Zealand when asked by Rameez "this defeat must have hurt your confidence?" Younis replied "O no we are not here to win we are here just to play good cricket"...hello we are Pakistani fans and we want you to at least have a desire to win. Today at toss he was not sure what would he have done if he had won the toss, confused captain. During press conference he said that he doesn't do a lot of planning and study instead he prefers to go in ground and play according to the situation, I guess its better if we can go into the ground with some match plan rather than just going in and leaving ourselves in the hands of SITUATION and OPPOSITION. He was so confused through out the tournament and most of the time he had no clue which bowler to use and when to use. There is no way he could justify using Umer Gul for only 8 overs when he was bowling so superbly, not to mention the use of Muhammad Hafeez. It's quite clear that Younis Khan does not have the capability to be a good captain, he embarrassed Pakistan before the tournament by announcing his resignation and then during the tournament by his unplanned and puzzled captainship (not to mention his failed batting). We need Inzi back and Muhammad Yousuf should be appointed his deputy.

I think not only Pakistan would have failed today but all sub-continent players, except Sachin, Dravid, Sehwag (pre-'04) and Saeed Anwar. I think its because our cricket fraternity thinks for "batting paradise". Like Afridi, Sanath hitting all over the park. It makes great hitting spectacle but cricket itself becomes secondary. I think we all need pitches of all kinds, pace, seam, spin, dust bowl, batting paradises. I think that would bring some resemblance.

I am happy that as a bowler I see this game as hitting hard on so-called "great batsman". Non sensical sub-continents...

Srivats

Kamran said is well, to bring few more things to attention: 1. Pak will require a solid opening pair stand which can see off 10-15 overs, its very curcial in World Cup that your opener provide you with good start, it does not always have to be 6 runs an over or so keep wicket and you can score at mommoth rate in later half. 2. Afridi's batting needs to be address, he's not going to get 100 of 30 balls in every match (which he tries) with 200 matches in belt he needs to deliver what the match situation asks. 3. Should have used a specialist batsman in place of Inzi's absent, Carrying Faisal Iqbal and not using him was waste, one or two youngster should always be tried and groomed Yasir Arafat did fairly well with bat!

bunch of loosers who are clearly incapable of playing at international level.

Pak Cricket fans, the whole nation itself, is stunned today with the dismal batting performance from the "sifarashee" squad. If one was to anaylze he should start from the opening. When openers fall early the rest of the batsmen needlessly gets so much pressure as if the match has already ended in a loss for pakistan. We can divert the attention from the openers by looking at the pak fielding time when the "intelligent" captain who refused to be a dummy captain once spread the field out....what was he thinking?
I think PCB (Naseem Asharf) and the selection committee should be sacked for making a team of these type of batsmen. Yes the time has come for afridi to sit down since he has not produced in 25 ODI. His bowling is also not up to the standards that one would vote for his place in the team.

what happened today is another example of why we (pakistan) are never going to be able to boast being the best team in the world, rather than in the top 3. why? because our batting is spineless, prime example Perth 2004/05. this is not inzamam's fault, not the coach's fault but the lack of a clue in the PCB. Why on earth was Faisal Iqbal brought into the squad if he was not going to play? Was it to cause some more unneccessary hassle or off field situations which has become the team's forte. Surely a more sensible choice would have been Shahid Yousuf, a promising batsmen and sure fire long term replacement for inzamam. secondly, why are pakistan always arranging matches with India that turn into who can score more hundreds in a series rather than an actual contest, which is also relating back to the placid, lifeless pitches prepared in Pakistan. Take the recent England series in Pakistan. A perfect opportunity to test their ability against difficult pitches. Why? They were on a good run and confidence was high and this may have been transformed onto the pitch, and against a good bowling attack in england. but this was not the case as they decided in a run fest which they won but they return series would have been the real contest. to beat england in england would have been great for their claim to be the best.
where from here? well, it is difficult to say as a series against West Indies in Pakistan will be another run fest for the likes of Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousuf. no suprise there.

I think, pakistan has world class players , they have talent and consistancy too, providing if there is no politics involved in the game. Younis khan should not be given the leader ship, players always look up to their leader. In this
tournament how many runs Younis khan has score he doesnot average even 5 runs a game. He is a test batsman should not be included in the one day squad and instead of him vice-captain should be Mohammad Yousaf.

The only thing pakistan lacked in Champions trophy was their Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and a
good bowling attack.

Looks like all the asian teams have the same problem. No one can bat on even slightly juicy wickets. Everyone is getting used to batting on dead one-day wickets.

no doubt Inzamam would have been missed. This does not take away the ineptness of Pakistan's batting line-up and some really woeful series for Younis Khan. Younis is tipped to follow Inzi. Only wonder what would happen once Inzi retires and Younis takes on the reins.

I am a very keen follower of Pakistan cricket even though being on the other side of the border. Hope this is just a passing phase for Pakisatani cricket. I still believe they are THE best side among sub-continental teams to beat Australia or South Africa in their respective countries.

Pakistan simply can not handle a pitch with a bit of juice. They are not used to these typef surfaces. Hence they cannot adapt to bowler friendly tracks. We had them 42/5, The SA should have only got 120- 150 MAX. However they put the ball in the right spot and the rest is history!. This is pakistani cricket as far as I can remember, and I think it is going to continue, it's in built. They are awesome one minute and complete utter rubbish the next. Inzi was missed greatly. He is a rock in the pakistani team and the sooner he gets back, the better. We have only really three world class batsman, and the rest are tape ball players. But kamran it is only a game of cricket and we should not worry too much about this.!!!
It does not help with the board ringing changes, and the chairman talking about players religous activities. The chairman should be slapped about this comment he made!! Captncy issue's and the drug episode.!! I am sure everybody is going to be singing pakistan' s praises when we whip the WI.

It was neither the batsmen nor the bowlers that cost us the match, it was plainly some stupid captaincy that did it.Which team bowls their spinners on a seaming track for so long and why pick 3 spinners in the team and leave out Rana on a wicket where the ball did all the talking .Personally , i think anything above 130 could not have been chased and that is why Younis should have attacked with his seamers and should have gone for the kill. A wicket at 42 for 5 would have meant the end of the innings but who will tell that to the captain.Moreover, i think imran farhat doesnt deserve to play , even if he scores runs they are always very streaky and therefore salman butt is a better option .This is a humiliating defeat and i hope the team wakes up from their sleep

Ohh What a display of ill unspeakable batting performance.It was Afridi who said that he is gonna play sensibly for thr team in the absence of Inzi,is that sensible batting MY GOD ,I have no words for this kind of performance.What are they thinking that Inzi & M Yousuf will be in theteam for life .Face the facts plz they are going to retire soon.
Come down from the high horese you all are riding of so called fame.Keep low profile like A Razzaq you never see this guy showing off.
What does Mr coach says now few fancy words to get off the hook.With world class players in the team I can coach also but the beauty is to coach & drill proper mental toughness.They were falling like deck of cards.Well Nasim Ashraf has to be blamed for this performance that he sent a team with metally stressed.
Very dissapointment .Shame on all of you.

Its an hard lesson to learn for all the pakistani players. Allah didnt like the pround in captain younas khan , and he desreved to be punished after letting the whole country down just before the tournament. His position in the team looks unstable to me, and he should be given a long rest. I have never heard from any one who likes him as one day player except our oldies cricketer, i never understnd what do they see in him and support him from all around.

Not surpising from Pakistan. They struggle on any resemblance to bounce or movement. Technical flaws were at their best today.

Hafeez, Imran Farhat (I never liked him as a player), Malik, Afridi, Akmal ar all players with serious technical flaws :

1) playing from the body - all of them
2) poor balance when executing the shot specially Farhat.
3) being late on the shot - e.g. Malik always uncomfortable against pacers
4) Just plain bad - Afridi
5) being caught neither front or back - playing
with a half press forward - usually a sign they misjudge the length or just dont know how to play
anything above "hip" height.
6) None of them seem to work on their weaknesses.
e.g Farhat has the same flaws as he did 2 years ago.

I think they do practice against short bowling but they dont know how to play a "normal high bounce delivery" - one that pitches just a like any delivery in the sub continent but tends to bounce more. They are just caught in no mans land when the ball bounces more then hip height.

Generally - and I think pak players are unaware of this that they are being labelled as guys who dont like short balls - we all know where they end up ..... usually in oblivion.

Don't be quick to blame the Pakistani batsmen. You want to see real bunnies? Wait till the Indian batsmen square off against Lee and McGrath on the same pitch Sunday. The carnage will reach 'Kill Bill' proportions...

My comments are on Pakistan's batting order. Where in the hell does one get the idea to make Shahid Afridi to bat at no.4 or 5 or even 6? His best position is to open the innings. No one expects Afridi to make a century in any match. What is expected of him to make a quick blast. And for that the opening position is the best when the fielders are inside. In that position, if he clicks, say 5 out of 10 times, Pakistan will win the game. On the other hand, if he falls early, that will make other batsmen to be more prepared. In any way, Afridi is a waste anywhere down the order. Also the current openers are doing nothing substantial anyway.

Ifyou play a ball widest of wide balls (Imran Farhat) or try to pull a snorter only to give a simple catch in covers (Younis Khan) it cannot be simply bad shot selection.It is purely a lack of responsibility,arrogance and unwillingness to learn.They are paid heavily to represent Pakistan and live a hi fi life to give their best but most of them don't deserve it.There should be a system to monitor their perfomance and replace them to give chance to players who don't have backing of king makers in our society.

Quite ironic that, having summarised how South Africa comprehensively dismantled the much vaunted "mercurial" Pakistan team, the conclusion is that Pakistan mustn't become "sterile - the South Africa of the Sub-continent". What is it with this myth of South African sterility (they've elsewhere been described as "dour and workmanlike"). Is it that only Australians, Indians and Pakistanis are permitted to have flair? If Gibbs played for Pakistan, he'd never be described as "sterile"? Pollock and Kallis are the only two cricketers who made the recent Cricinfo one day current and all time teams on the basis of their performances. Sterile?? Was Jonty Rhodes, in his day, the most dour and workmanlike fielder of them all? It seems to me that if Shahid Afridi was South African, he too would have to be described as dour and workmanlike. C'mon - let's give a little thought before trotting out these sterile stereotypes!

lucky inzi - that he didn't need to bat on these wickets.... otherwise he too wud have got bitter taste, like his performance (?) on Aussi wickets :p

Am I crazy or is the whole world gone mad! Despicable is a kind word for today's performance.I bet a million dollar that this will continue to happen as long as you have upstarts like Younis Khan leading the team!! He is no good as a "class" player as I can not recall ONCE him giving a match-saving performance aginst a class team like Austaralia.This also goes for Imran Farhat, Salman Butt and Shahid Afridi. Only decent & disciplned players should be given a chance to nurture for the future team-like Asim Kamal and Hasan Raza-someone who have played memorable innings during their mismanaged career.

The performance today deserves the criticism. But let us be honest, after the month Pakistan cricket has had, losing it's best bowlers, it's captain and the Oval fiasco did anyone really expect it to be amongst the top four teams in the world, ie a semi-final place? I think not. Now is not time for wholesale changes, let the boys have a rest, put all the non-cricketing distractions behind them and bring on the West Indies. The time for change, if need be, would be after the world cup.

Pak. batsmaen have to learn to keep there cool. They think that they can slog their way to victory everytime. Batsman like Affridi think- if they ever do that- is that Might is Right-just look at President Bush and Iraq.
In cricket like in everything else it is always cooler heads that prevail.
I sincerely hope that this humilation has caused them to learn a lesson

That's beauty of this game! SA was 42 for five but still managed to win by 124 runs. Unfortunately we were at the wrong end of the beauty. The only positive: our bowlers did well without Akhtar and Asif.

I won't be surprised to see bowling-friendly pitches in forth-coming world cup. India was also famous for flat pitches before champions trophy.

Pakistan will have a tough time in the world cup.

I am a big fan of Pakistan Cricket Team & an immense believer in the talent they have. At present I am really disappointed & actually
shocked with the performance in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy. The way team performed even with so many recent controversies is really
commendable but I think in terms of batting, it will be really useful if some tough decisions can be made.

First thing first, I think first of all we need a change in Opening Slot (problem area for ages). By no means, we can afford to have Imran
Farhat as the opener, I think someone like Yasir Hameed or Shahid Afridi is a far better option. We are anyways wasting Shahid Afridi's talent
by sending him so late in the batting order.

Also, Shoaib Malik, who has been the most consistent ODI Batsmen for quite some time should also be brought up in the batting order, at 1-drop. Followed by Mohd. Yousuf,
Inzamam-Ul-Haque, Younis Khan, & others. Another tried & tested option for opening slot can be Kamran Akmal. Another good middle-order option
can be Asim Kamal.

In terms of bowling, I think we are badly missing the experience & variety that Saqlain Mushtaq has to offer. We should look forward to get him back into ODI team at least.

Hey fellas - it was one of those days, wasn't it!
Just like England - but England seem to manage to do it pretty well EVERY match!
I agree with many of the posted comments - the management are to blame for their choice of players and the batsmen crumbled - but how the hell can any player become adapted to the vastly different circumstances of another continent in just a few days?
They should have been given more time to acclimatise and test the pitches - and although Pakistan isn't so far, geographically, from the Indian pitches, the same comment should apply to any team and management when a tour to a different environment is on the cards.
But, on the other hand, how can a batsman suddenly get used to something that he wasn't brought up with? What chance is there of having – on your own soil - pitches and players from around the world to ‘practice’ with, for Test players of any country? Regrettable, none.
You can provide and build all the artificial pitches and sophisticated bowling machines but they can’t replicate the real thing.
It’s a bit like the environment of the world – adapt to the changing conditions or perish and many are perishing through being unable to adapt quickly enough.

I would like to offer a not-so-incensed perspective (albeit Indian):
Pakistan, and any other cricket team, needs its best 11 on the field. Antics like firing the board chairman to please Younis Khan will only send the message that Pakistan acts based on catering to reputations and personalities. So when your captain can get the board fired, the message to the players is,'younis khan decides whether I stay or go, not my performances.' why would performances count ? Integrity needs to start at the top.

And religion seems to work for the pakistani team - it has made them more bonded, more grounded, and more humble. However, no amount of prayer can replace bad technique, or poor preparation.

I would like to highlight some points,

1. A proper opening pair and one reserve must be selected before the West Indies series and the team must persist with them till the world cup atleast.

2. Kamran Akmal must be backed instead shattering his confidence by criticism.

3. Pakistan team needs to be more attacking.

4. Some one needs to define Shahid Afridi's role!

5. People like Asim Kamal having solid defensive technique needs to be inducted in the team.

I totally agree with Kamran. It is about time our cricketers play like a cricketer representing a country. I mean, come on, it is not something that you have not played on ever before. Granted the pitch was dicey, but thats cricket folks.. wake up and smell the coffee. They definitely need to re-group and form a strategy that will command some respect from their disappointed countrymen.

I call it a disgraceful match performance by Pakistan since the cup final of 1999. Given that you are never short of talents Pakistan are still long shot of being the dominant team in cricket. The reason I am raising this issue in particular is because most of you have talked about the game plan, execution, PCB board, scandal and players selection. However regardless who has taken in charge of PCB this will still be an issue. Pakistan needs a leader in terms of coach, mentor or captain like Imran Khan. This is so evident in 1992 World cup where Pakistan was almost out and managed to win their first ever. You need a person who can literally snap on players and can be hard on them on the pitch. They should have the authority to kick them out of a tour any time they violate the code of conduct. You have to inject discipline and develop mental toughness into the hearts of players in brutal way. If I were PCB I would not allow younis khan's gong show to continue before the tour. He proved a non factor anyway in this tournament. I am not complaining his captaincy ability I am sure he is still learning from his mistakes but he needs to control his emotions for the sake of the team. I am sure there is lot of teams with internal issues but they don’t just go out and express disgracefully like younis did. That’s not leadership, it is selfishness. And until Pakistan learns to play as a team and for the team, they will never achieve the highest echelon of the game of cricket. I can bet you if you have the heart and the team spirit you can win the World Cup 2007 with the current talent that is overflowing the Pakistan team. It is with great sadness to see wasting these talented players. I will love to see this talented bunch to be part of a World Cup winning team. Remember Waqar was a great player but such great player never could be part of the glorious World cup because he had no Imran Khan to guide him. And I am afraid that Pakistan’s World Cup drought will continue like this until you get somebody tough enough to step up and tell the players to shut up and just play for the team and love of the game.

There has never been a team like Pakistan in which every player plays with his vested interests. Neither they are mentally groomed nor physically prepared to play big tournaments like ICC Champions Trophy. Pakistan batsmen are used to playing on flate track of their country, and when they play on turning pitches they find themselves in hot water. Younis Khan has no potential or ability to lead the side, in fact he does not even merit his own place in the team. He must thank former captain Imran Khan who got him vice Captain of Pakistan team.

Do we seriously stand a chance without Inzi standing amongst the ranks...keeping these foolish stroke players rooted??
Do we seriously stand a chance without Shoaib's pace?
Without Asifs swing and lateral movement?
i mean, God is the only witness how i(along with the whole nation) felt when the South Africans were 42-5 and how they were when they managed 213 in the end!
Its amazing as to howwww easily they stop fighting! Should have send Yasir Arafat as an opener, if they cant face seam!!
And Afridi...y dont u send him IN AS AN OPENER!!!! remove that mockery of an opening batsman "Imran Farhat" u have a gud space for a middle order batsman or an extra bowler!!

i have thousands words to say...........
but no proper word is comming in my mouth....
what to say....our team become...
"summun,bukmun,um yun, fahum la yarjayoon"

Imran Farhat and Shahid Afridi were a total failure. Imran cannot be an opener and Shahid played only with "Tukkas". He was swinging his bat like an amateur and not like an international player. Both of these shall go now before the WI tour.

Must say that most of these guys are overpaid crickters and our media makes them big star for short span of game. If we keep proper track of these players, very few have consistent performance. Not long it was published by many writers about Younis captaincy, but today he proved himslef quite ordinary player. On juicy and dicy pitch, we had more spin bowling by non regular bowlers than fast bowlers. Gul & Yasser did not even finish their bowling. Our cricket system is complete reflection of our caos prevailing in our society.

great loss i am big fan of pak team but today what they did younis khan i don't like what the way he play so slow and other sahoib malik on no3 afridi should need asa opner and what about bowling captain have no sence how to use it specially hafeez o my god what about sahiob malik why they give so many over to afridi
looser need a good cap.
i thought sahiob malik should and i saw the bowling of anwer ali where is that

First,I must say that I am a fan of pak'n side from a long time back.I played cricket in my country.I rep'd my country shortly before leaving to the U.S where I presently reside.Had I continued on, I would have made it to W.I side.
Looking at the way this pak'n team is going, there is no good in the future,especially for their fans.I think they rate themselves too high but cannot deliver.They need to get rid of a few players if they need to meet international level. Excuses cannot be made at the expenses of a few players. They need to identify what is their individual role in the team is. Until they eliminate certain individuals who only make up #s to meet 11 players they can meet international level. For now they need to trot with bangladesh,Zimbabwe and others. example; captain resign @inclusion of a certain good player, captain reinstate @ the player ommition, captain failed 4 consective matches:0,7,4,0,?????

Common Woolmer, be offensive never be defensive. One day game is all about being offensive and destroying the opponents. You brought Shahid Afridi back to the game.You are responsible for his comeback in the cricket career. Utilize him as a hitter. Think about that you always send him in different order, never in one definite place, you are destroying his career doing this. Make a decision nad always send him as a opener, i am damn sure he will be good in that position. You always change his batting order which make him not able score in different situation. Make him play as he is known for that. He is a blaster. He led this team to a good total, and finally to the victory. And all knows about his bowling, he always picks wicket when the ream needs. you always send him as a opener a game , and if he didn't score good, you suddenly send him in 6th or 7th position. So this is what affects his mentality. He focused. Always send him as a opener. I know he will do good as a opener. If he does good in four games out of ten , it will work for pakistan, and there are other members in the team when he doesn't do good to handle the situation after his dismissal. We are not supposed to expect centuries from less than fifty balls in all games. This is that wierd thing that he is out of form.
So, be sure that you and inzamam, think about it and send him as a opener in the coming series with westindies and the worldcup. He can win world cup for you.

Watching this game in a room full of indians, I was for once very quiet, embarrassed and dejected at this pathetic display. Yes the pitch helped bowlers, but the professional unit that south africa is coped and recovered initially while batting. Then came back and demolished the flat track bullies, exposing them for what they are. Bob Woolmer cannot walk away from his responsibility by criticising the batsmen. He is being paid top dollars to do a professional job which is anything but. I think it`s about time PCB questions his utility.

I agree with you Kamran, Pakistan left Champions Trophy with dishonour today. It might be blessing in disguise for Pakistan as to me it shows the realistic abbility of this team without Inzi. I hope this disgraceful defeat would trigger some soul searching & we may still be able to get the things right by world cup. All that hype of Younis's captaincy(under Inzamam during previous tests) has become crystal clear when the job was solely put on his pethatic shoulders. I am sorry to say that after Inzi Pak. have got a big job of finding his replacement as captain. Mr."dummy captain" I suppose does not deserve to be a captain of my Gali( street) lets alone NATIONAL side. He was clueless, pethatic, erratic & empty headed when the going got tough I have no doubt in my mind that he would damage team Pak big time if made captain. There would be a big question mark on his place in ODI(& had been in the past) lets alone him being a captain. It has shown again as has been in the past that we might still do ok without our main line bowler but without Inzi we are only left with 20%. After Inzi they may have to find a leader in likes of Shoaib, Yousaf of somebody else but not Younis.

Masood USA

I agree with the issue of Discipline and Class; the elements that have been missing in this team for a couple of years now. Shahid Afridi is a disppointment in every game. Give him the bat or the ball he is a waste of a player. I also agree that if a tail-ender arriving at number 9 is the highest scorer it obviously sheds light on some serious problems for Pakistan. Pakistan has a strong batting line up, allegedly, all the way down and upto Kamal so howcome every single one of them fails 90% of the time. This team always depends upon one person for the win: either a bowler or a batsmen. There are barely any instances where a win was a win that was brought by an effort all eleven men and not just one or two players. Further more, Pakistan has no chance of beating any good team without the assistance of Shoaib and/or Asif.

I think Bangladesh or Zimbabve would have bat better than Pakistan even in these so-called bouncy and un-even pitch and playing condition. It is a shame that the highest scorer was tail-ender and the top and middle order were shut off in the first 15 overs. I do not know what it will take to bring the Pakistan team to play normal and consistant cricket like any other world class team.

Thanks for Kamran for explaining the crisis of the team in brief yet excellent manner. Two points must be drawn from this tournament regarding Pakistan. First, Pakitan's team is of no value without Inzi. Second, forget winning without the pace and accuracy of Shoaib and Asif respectively. Thats all!

As I was favoring SA for this match, so it didn't harm me much how pathetic the display was from Pakistan batting line up ;) Seriously speaking, bounce is something pakistani batsmen have always found difficult to handle. I can't understand why can't we perpare full of life pitches for our domestic cricket.

the problem as i see is that we keep players in the team who are not performing for long spells at the expense of other talented guys. Afridi is out of form for ages now and we still play him, why?

Trigger happy responders the lot of you. When Afridi, Razzaq and Akmal hit belligerently, you guys will be the first in line to say ‘Arey wah wah’ (against Sri Lanka). And when they fail, you lot hack them mercilessly down to size. Observation is simple. South Africa’s immense batting lineup fared no better at 42 for 5. So why blame Pakistan batsmen for loosing. In case you lot forgot, in 2005, in Karachi, Pakistan was 32 for 5 against India before Kamran Akmal blasted and century and took the total past 200. It won’t happen every time. Akmal has been off color for a while. Fix the problem namely the openers and the tail end.

Inzi bats at 6. After him, there is no one to arrest the slide. Akmal, Razzaq and Afridi are not 10-over players. They are pinch hitters that very rarely survive more than 5. Our opening pair in recent memory has not gone past 60. That leaves the big 3. With Inzi out, and Younis on a bad patch, you can’t expect Yousuf to save Pakistan’s skin every time like Inzi always tries.

The team has great players but they are too many players on bad patch. Oh yes and about the pitch, I agree to start bloody making bouncy tracks for better preparedness.

For all you arm-chair experts out there, I’d like to see any of you go out there and do better else zip it.

For everyone else, support your team when it wins and support it more when it looses. West Indies capitulated at 80 against Lanka. And now they are heading for the semi’s. Bad days happen. Move on.

Pakistan just needs discipline. That's it, and then they will be fine.

I agree with some of you to a degree, but unpredictability of Pakistani team makes it most interesting to watch. However, if they want to beat Aus and SAf, they need to find atleast one spearhead bowler and lots of training on hard and bouncy pitches. They also need to inject fresh blood in the team by bringing in U19 fast bowlers who won them championship earlier this year. I am an Irish but I love Pakistani team. I think they can be world champs.

Salaam

Kamran is very true in saying that administration, management, and leadership is essential for Pakistan cricket team. The PCB has been investing alot to develop those cricketers but unfortunately they have lack of professinalism and skills too. Getting through in a professinal course of cricket coaching is not the surity that woolmer maybe best!!! woolmer had only played 6 ODIs and 17 Tests so first we need to eliminate a flop coach. The idea behind hiring of woolmer to de-politicize the cricket team but I think politics has been spread alot during his coaching period. The board should take a serious view of their performance and must take actions like the previous board took just after world cup 2003. The ICC Champions Trophy is the biggest event after the world cup so serious measures must be taken soon.
Good Luck to PCB for the future!!!

sorry that Pakistan lost. but dont blame the batting only. i think the team did a great job getting SA 42 for 5 but couldnt finish them off. i think this is where they lost the game. good luck in the future. Inzi has to be back in the team asap.

It was a disaster. You cannot put and trust with Pakistani batsman, specially in a big tournament. I don't why people like Younis Khan's captainship. He may good in the field but he does not when to change bowloer. For example game with New Zealand, he did not give single over to Hafiz and he bowled superbly with Srilankan in the first match. We could have lot of extra run. Again with South Africa, He gave one over then stop even though that over was maiden. He sould have recalled Gul earlier too. These sharp decision are very important in the field.

Unfortunately Pakistan's poor domestic structure is proving an inadequate nesting ground for the much-vaunted talent of this country.Most of the players in this team have little or no courage at all and they bask in the glories of their exploits against mediocre bowling attacks on flat batting pitches.I feel it's time to kick out Imran Farhat and keep him in that 'never open closet' with Taufiq Umar.The moment the ball seams around a bit,the brainless,gutless top-order of Pakistan shows its true pathetic colours.
Unfortunately history is repeating itself.Around 3 years ago,before the World Cup 2003 we lost in a similar manner to South Africa in Morrocco.Then we went to South Africa to play a bilateral series and got whipped in both the Test and ODI series.Then came that disastrous World Cup.With a toothless batting order and a pedestrian pace attack our chances look even more bleak in this world cup......

Professional cricketers? I cant understand why the hell is our government spending so much money on these good for nothing suckers when all they are good at is to watch movies and enjoy themselves on international tours. Pathetic. Losing is one thing but to lose from the word go is what all this bunch can achieve.

Even for a diehard supporter like me, today's match was the depths of a bottomless (?) pit. Is there no redemption in sight for this sorry mess of people who call themselves a cricket team ? Yousuf and Hafeez got great deliveries, Shoaib was out to one of the most incredible catches I have ever seen, but the rest ..... it looked like they were committing collective suicide. I can find not one single reason for Imran Farhat to be in the team - unless we are actually setting out with the intent to lose. Has the man ever held on to a catch ? Can't bat, doesn't bowl, can't field.... must be someone's relative, I suppose. Boucher and Kemp played innings totally out of character - sedate, composed and responsible. I guess asking the Pakistan team to exhibit even one of these characteristics is a bit too much. And what did the captain think he was doing with the bowling attack ? Why did Umar Gul not get his full bowl when his only fault (?) was decimating the South African top order. All too easy to blame Woolmer who is probably the only faultless person in this whole sorry surrender.

I am sorry to say that this was the most miserable and most shameful day of my life.

I do not think I will follow Pakistan cricket any more.

The following players might just make it as Zimbabwe first team players.. Imran