Pakistan got a brilliant start to their campaign by defeating the Netherlands and Sri Lanka but their performance against main contenders for this World Cup has been shambolic. They faced off against arch-rivals India in Ahmedabad and they were completely blown away by the Men in Blue. At the M. Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, they registered another defeat, at the hands of Australia. Pakistan’s performance as a whole has not been impressive and they need to make quick amends if they want to qualify for the Semi-finals. Let’s take a look at 3 players who need to step up for Pakistan in this World Cup.
Babar Azam
The Pakistan skipper has found it tough to leave his imprint on the tournament so far. His form has come under the scanner as he has not been able to score runs consistently. His last big knock came against Nepal in the group stage of the Asia Cup. Since then, not much has come from his bat. He did score a half-century against India but it could not do much for Pakistan in that high-octane contest. Babar has just scored 83 in 4 innings at a pathetic average of 20.75. The leader needs to step up if he wants to create glory in this World Cup.
Haris Rauf
Pakistan’s bowling attack has not lived up to the expectations in the tournament and one of the main reasons behind that is the poor form of Haris Rauf. Rauf is one of the most important members of the Pakistan side, especially in the bowling unit. Pakistan relies heavily on his role as a prime wicket-taker but the speedster has not been able to do much for his captain. Rauf was very expensive against India as the Indian skipper took him to the cleaners. His poor form continued against Australia as well where he picked up 3 wickets but went for a lot of runs. Rauf only has 4 wickets in his bag but the team would be expecting a lot more from him.
Mohammad Nawaz
Pakistan’s spin bowling department is one of their main headaches in this World Cup. Their spinners have not done anything noticeable which has not let Pakistan gain momentum in the World Cup. Shadab Khan is going through a rough patch and in his absence the responsibility comes on Mohammad Nawaz but the left-arm orthodox has failed to take charge. He has been expensive in almost every match that he has played so far. Nawaz has got only 4 wickets and his form is a big cause of concern for Pakistan. The all-rounder needs to find his mojo as soon as possible to make sure Pakistan qualifies for the knockouts.