Pakistan's ODI batting a decade behind the rest

With the successes of Fawad Alam and Sohaib Maqsood, it looked like
Pakistan would finally have a modern batting order

The loss to Sri Lanka in the fourth ODI constituted England's 16th loss in 27 ODIs - almost a return to the '90s.

England are quite possibly the worst batting team in the world right now. Since the last Champions Trophy none of the other top eight nations has alower average than them, and the only ones with lower run rates are Pakistan and West Indies.

In fact, since the start of 2006, only Pakistan and West Indies have a lower run rate than England. Since the start of 2007 Pakistan, West Indies and New Zealand are the only teams worse than England in terms of average. Unsurprisingly these four are also the bottom four in terms of win-loss recordover this period too.

The truth is that most ODIs nowadays are just runfests, and those who haven't adapted are being left behind.

Yet it's barely two years from when England stood atop the ODI rankings - a spot Pakistan have not been in sniffing distance of in the 21st century. For all the weeping and moaning and gnashing of teeth over the past few years England have a positive result record since the start of 2009. Pakistan are one of three major teams with a negative record, and the only one of those three with a run rate under five during this period.

It's one of the greatest flaws of the Misbah era, and sadly one that could end up defining his legacy among too many supporters. For all the record-breaking, overachieving exploits of the Test team, the ODI side remains a pale shadow.

Pakistan had been left behind by the second half of the noughties, and unless something miraculous happens over the next four months Misbah will step down as Pakistan's captain leaving very much the team he took over. A team whose ODI batting is a decade behind the rest of the world, and whose bowling cannot make up for such dross.

As ODI wickets increasingly become homogenous roads, the ability to maximise the batsman's advantage over the bowler has become the calling card for the best ODI sides

It is the most obvious reason for Pakistan's, and England's, performances in the recent past. The rise of the England team was built on Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen. And Trott aside, the best batsmen over the past half-decade or so have fine-tuned their games in domestic T20 leagues, particularly the IPL.

The IPL may not be the best tutor when it comes to batting over long periods in differing conditions, but as ODI wickets increasingly become homogenous roads, the ability to maximise the batsman's advantage over the bowler - an art learned by repetition in the IPL - has become the calling card for the best ODI sides. It is not a surprise that the two teams that look most out of touch with the hit-athons in ODIs nowadays are Pakistan and England - the two whose players have figured least in the IPL.

The agonising part for the Pakistani fan, of course, is that the team had seemed to have turned a corner. After two years of stagnation Pakistan seemed to have lucked out with a side that could dream bigger. In the aftermath of the last Champions Trophy the senior dead weights were dropped and Pakistan seemed to turn towards a semblance of meritocracy. The result was that they won four of their next five series, and reached the final of the Asia Cup after batting-led victories in the round robin stage. Even their lone series loss could have been avoided if they had had a lower order with brains. And in all these series one could point to at least one match where it was the batting that contributed more than the bowling - rare for Pakistan since the days of Inzamam and Woolmer.

From Misbah's appointment as ODI captain till the end of the Champions Trophy, the Pakistan bowlers averaged 28.38 with the ball at an economy rate of 4.68 (they were the only top-eight nation with an economy under 4.9 during this period), and yet they had a losing record against the other top-eight sides. From then till the Sri Lanka series the Pakistani bowlers averaged above 31and their economy rate ballooned to 5.08, but the improvements in batting meant Pakistan were finally winning. At that moment, Pakistan seemed to be turning into a contemporary ODI side.

In the ten months since the Champions Trophy, they had not only improved their standing but their approach to the game. The return of Umar Akmal, the reintroduction of Fawad Alam and Ahmed Shehzad to go along with the rise of Sohaib Maqsood meant that Pakistan could finally move away from their complete reliance on Misbah. Each of those four young 'uns averaged over 39 during this time and, Shehzad aside, each had a strike rate over 80. Finally Pakistan seemed to have found a "modern" ODI batting order.

But all it needed was one chink in the armour. All those series wins and whatever they entailed had been achieved in the knowledge that batting was still Pakistan's secondary suit. But the banning of Saeed Ajmal, together with the injuries to most of the front-line pacers meant that now suddenly Pakistan's batting needed to step up. The result has been that Pakistan lostfive ODIs in a row for the first time since 2009-10, when they lost nine in a row under the three different captains (Younis, Yousuf and Afridi).

Through the last seven ODIs (bookended by their last two wins, both of which have required lower-order chasing heroics) Pakistan's bowlers have gone at 5.34 an over, with an average in excess of 34. The gains in the batting have proved to be inadequate to counter the loss of Saeed Ajmal as the leader of Pakistan's unit.

These losses have further muddled the eternally capricious thinking of the Pakistani dressing room. With Fawad Alam excluded from the first two ODIs, the injury to Sohaib Maqsood, and the dropping of Umar Akmal for the first ODI against New Zealand it would be fair to say that Pakistan have forsaken their renaissance. With two series against New Zealand all that they have left before the World Cup, and the return of tried-and-tested failures to the 30-man squad for the tournament it's obvious that the gains of the past year have been forgotten. Pakistan are back to where they started.