Former England cricketer and current commentator, Mark Butcher, has identified a weakness in Pakistan’s One Day International (ODI) line-up, stating that the team struggles to identify and pick the right players for the middle-order roles.
Despite this, Butcher believes that Pakistan is still a formidable team, with a top-order batting line-up that includes Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, and Imam ul Haq, all ranked in the top ten of the ODI world rankings.
“I think they are as good as they ever were. They are a dynamite team. There is a bit of a hole in the middle where they have struggled to identify and pick the right players for the roles of five, six, seven, finishers, all-rounders,” Butcher said on Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast.
“Top order batting is fantastic. They’ve got Fakhar, Babar and Imam all in the top ten of the ODI world rankings. The bowling is dynamite no matter which combination of quicks they play. Shadab is a terrific leg-spinning all-rounder. And on their night they can beat anybody. Which is why they make finals. So I think their chances [for the World Cup] are pretty good,” he added.
Butcher also praised the abundance of talent in Pakistan cricket and suggests that with proper management, they could be a very tough team to beat.
“It is extraordinary really that given everything that Pakistan cricket contends with over time, the one thing that is not in question is the amount of talent there is in this country. With a bit of better management and more accountable decision making they could be very tough to beat,” he concluded.
