The much-anticipated Champions One-Day Cup kicked off in Faisalabad yesterday, with Mohammad Rizwan’s Markhors defeating Shadab Khan’s Panthers in the opening game.
This 50-over tournament, organized by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), features some of the country’s top cricketers and is being promoted as a crucial platform for showcasing and nurturing Pakistan’s talent.
However, as exciting as it sounds, there are some questions about the squad selections that leave room for debate.
Uneven Squads Raise Eyebrows
In any sport, it’s understandable that teams can’t be perfectly equal. In franchise cricket, for example, team owners and selection committees do their best to build a squad that works on paper, often leaving some top players benched due to the excess of talent.
We’ve seen this with the invincible Australia of early 2000s, where someone as skilled as Stuart MacGill spent a lot of time sidelined because of the presence of Shane Warne.
But the Champions One-Day Cup is different. This isn’t a franchise or region based event. The PCB had the chance to craft five evenly matched teams, ensuring that the best players face off against each other regularly. Instead, we’re seeing some head-scratching selections.
Take wicket-keepers, for example. Pakistan is blessed with some top-quality keepers, but instead of spreading them out across teams, we see squads like Rizwan’s Markhors loaded with talent.
They have both Haseebullah Khan, a future star in all formats, and the experienced Bismillah Khan. Meanwhile, Shadab Khan’s Panthers have only Usman Khan, who’s more of a part-time wicket-keeper suited for T20 cricket.
The Spin Conundrum
It’s not just the wicket-keepers that stand out. The spin departments also seem off-balance. The Panthers boast a solid spin attack with Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mubasir Khan, and Arafat Minhas.
Meanwhile, the Markhors are relying mostly on Zahid Mehmood, with only part-timers like Iftikhar Ahmed and Salman Ali Agha as backup options. This sort of imbalance doesn’t just affect the teams but also takes away from the potential competition between bowlers of similar caliber.
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Then there’s the case of the Lions, led by Shaheen Afridi. They have two talented all-rounders, Aamir Yamin and Aamir Jamal, both in the squad. But with Shaheen himself trying to evolve into a pace-bowling all-rounder, how will they fit all three into the playing XI?
It’s not like Pakistan has an overwhelming problem of too many top players. The issue is more about utilizing the ones we do have effectively. Instead of creating balanced teams that would allow each player to showcase their skills, we’re seeing some squads stacked in certain areas while others are left short.
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