Did no one tell Pakistan ‘catches win matches’?

Source: Getty Images

Nobody likes to lose. But what’s even worse than losing is losing without a fight.

This was all too painfully evident in Team Pakistan’s 1-4 thrashing by Australia in the ODI series. Just before that, Pakistan were clean swept in the three-match Test series by the Aussies. A few weeks prior to that, the Green Shirts were also whitewashed by New Zealand in Tests.

Pakistan managed to win only one match (Melbourne ODI) in their last 10 international matches – that’s a lot of beating. Throughout these last few forgettable months, our fielding stood out as a glaring cause of embarrassment for the team as well as the fans. It let down the bowlers as well as the batsmen, it let us all down.

Azhar Ali lets the ball through, Pakistan vs Australia/CA/Getty Images

All throughout the series, Pakistan were seen dropping valuable catches, fumbling the ball in the outfield and missing the stumps in widely misjudged overthrows. In the fourth ODI in Sydney alone, the team dropped eight catches altogether, in perhaps the worst fielding performance by any side in recent history.

Simply put, the dropped catches cost us the matches. Our batting and bowling were relatively competitive. What made all the difference between the top-ranked Australia and the eighth-ranked Pakistan was the fielding, something which head coach Mickey Arthur admitted himself when he said Pakistan were still “way behind the pack” in this arena.

"Me and my support staff have been around for about seven months, and that's been a focus and priority – fitness levels have improved dramatically in terms of our day-to-day reports.

“But we're way behind the rest of the pack.

“So fitness and fielding again is going to be total priority before we go to the West Indies (later in the year),” Arthur said at the end of the tour.

Wahab Riaz reacts, Pakistan vs Australia/Getty Images

Weren’t fitness and fielding top priority before? Pakistan’s fielding has never been something to boast about, but when Arthur and Steve Rixon, the team’s fielding coach, were appointed ahead of the England tour in the summer of 2016, this is exactly what they had said at that time as well.

So why has there been no improvement at all? If anything, the fielding seems to have even worsened over the past few months. But why is no one asking the hard questions?

Where are we lacking in terms of fielding? What goes on in our training camps and practice sessions? Where are the loopholes and why haven’t they been spotted yet? If they have been spotted, why haven’t they been fixed yet?

Nobody drops catches or misfields deliberately, of course. So, is it because our players become complacent in the field and lack razor-sharp concentration? Or is it the nerves when playing in front of massive crowds at international grounds?

Hasan Ali fumbles the ball, Pakistan vs Australia/Getty Images

Whether it’s complacency or nerves, our coaching staff, especially Steve Rixon, have a lot to answer for and work on. They need to coach players to give as much importance (if not more) to fielding as batting and bowling. Fielding needs to be made a crucial assessment criterion for players’ performances, both in training camps and international matches.

Misfielding also has its roots in psychological pressure. Our players visibly feel pressured during fielding, because they already know their fielding skills are in the spotlight. Perhaps they are so afraid of dropping a catch when it comes their way, that they end up doing exactly that. It’s like a vicious trap. And it’s all in the head. In that case, the coaching needs to focus on relieving the players of this mental pressure. Our coaching staff needs to target the players’ psyches and train them accordingly.

But the more important question is, why hasn’t this been done already? And if the coaches have indeed attempted this, then why are the results not showing?

It’s time for some tough questions, and it’s also time for accountability. Pakistan are already on the edge of losing out on direct qualification for the next World Cup, and these questions need to be answered soon enough.

The writer is a producer at Geo.TV and tweets @Mariaa_54