And truth be told, it wasn’t all that difficult. Two more teams have experienced upsets! The No. 4 slot is still up for grabs! Out of the four remaining matches, three are against South Africa, New Zealand, and England. Pakistan needs to win at least two out of these three, and also secure a victory against Bangladesh, considering the Net Run Rate (NRR) in all matches. If there are two more defeats, it will dash all hopes. Currently, the chances are less than 10%.
If they manage to qualify with this level of fitness and fielding, it will make me question the importance of talent. In a way, it might be beneficial for Pakistan to lose from this point. It would prompt their management to acknowledge and address the weaknesses. In 50-over cricket, Pakistan still seems to be stuck in 2005, lagging behind by 18 years in terms of modern cricket. Our top talent doesn’t seem to measure up to even a C team from other countries.
