Is Asif Ali the finisher Pakistan is desperately seeking?

 

Pakistan’s continuous defeat since the Champions Trophy final has raised a lot of questions on the team’s performance. 

Since 2013, Pakistan has not managed to win a single one-day international series against the top 5 ODI teams. In the last couple of years, the Pakistani team has strangely lost almost all the close encounters which is quite strange. Close encounters could end up in the favour of either side but this is not clearly the case with team Pakistan.

The close encounters losses show that the team is doing the basics correctly but remain unable to convert them in a victory. For example, recently, in the second match of an ODI series against England, where the team was chasing 375 but ended up scoring 362.

Another example could be taken from an Australia series in UAE, where the team was chasing 260 odd runs and despite the two batsmen scored centuries and the team required run-a-ball in last 8 overs with almost 6 wickets in-hand which are quite easily achievable in the modern day cricket but we ended up on a losing side.

The aforementioned examples show that it’s not that batting cannot score runs but rather it shows that the batters lack the match finishing ability. Batters are scoring runs but they are not taking their side to the victory. The top order is continuously scoring runs but it’s not changing the team’s fate.

Finishing is an art which cannot be learned by physical practice, it’s something which can be done only if you are mentally prepared for it. Pakistani batsmen use to throw their wicket while playing unnecessary shots, every time they score a century or a half-century. This mentality needs to be developed in the batters that your task is not done until the game gets finished.

If we look at the current World cup squad, Asif Ali is considered as finisher and hitter of this team. He is doing his job as a hitter but is he actually finishing the game, one could easily guess the answer by looking at his performances for Pakistan. I don’t recall a single game when he takes his side to the home by actually staying on the wicket and did his job as a finisher.

In modern-day cricket, lower middle order batsmen are not only supposed to play the part of a finisher but it is the responsibility of every batsman that when you have the chance it is your responsibility to take your side to the home. We can see the example of the current best batsman in the world, Virat Kohli, who is a top order batsman but we have seen him doing the job of finishing for his side while chasing quite often.

To conclude, it seems necessary for Pakistan's cricket team batsmen to develop the habit of finishing the game for their team. Otherwise, the chances of Pakistan cricket team in World Cup 2019 are not very bright because there would be a lot of close encounters in an event like the World Cup and without this ability to finish the game it would be difficult for team Pakistan to get the desired results.