The Pakistan cricket team faced a challenging journey in the ODI World Cup 2023, led by skipper Babar Azam. With 5 losses in 9 games, the Men in Green fell short of qualifying for the semi-finals, leaving their campaign far from fruitful.
Early promise and subsequent setbacks
Despite a promising start with victories against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka, Pakistan’s momentum took a hit after a defeat to arch-rivals India in their third fixture. Subsequently, they suffered three consecutive losses, complicating their qualification scenario. Although they secured wins in their next two games, it proved too late, setting up a demanding mathematical equation for their final league game against England, which they ultimately lost.
Sourav Ganguly describes reason of Pakistan’s below-par performance
Several cricketing experts worldwide have analyzed the reasons behind Pakistan’s subpar performance in the World Cup. Adding his perspective, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly highlighted the impact of players prioritizing T20s over longer formats. Ganguly emphasized the importance of balancing T20 cricket with longer formats. Drawing comparisons between the World Cup campaigns of India and Pakistan, Ganguly dismissed the notion that the Indian Premier League (IPL) was the sole reason for India’s success.
“[The] IPL is not the sole reason for India’s success in international cricket. Quality cannot come from playing only IPL, quality comes from playing 4-day, 5-day cricket. If you play more T20 cricket, you will remain mediocre. I always say that play T20s, make money from T20s but if you want to be a player, you have to play 4-day, 5-day cricket,” Ganguly explained while talking to A Sports.
Also READ: ODI World Cup 2023 Semifinals – Date, Match Time, Venue & Live Streaming Details
The role of cricket infrastructure
According to Ganguly, India’s success is not solely attributed to the IPL but is a result of a robust domestic structure and a vast pool of talented players. He underlined the significance of playing 4-day and 5-day cricket for the overall development of players.
“Players should be like Wasim Akram, who could bowl 25-30 overs in a day. He was fast with the new ball and with the old ball as well. I think not only IPL, but the entire Indian cricketing infrastructure is incredible. There are so many matches, so many players and we are lucky in that way,” Ganguly added.