Pakistan's T20 template needs to be revisited

Pakistan impressed almost everyone with their superlative performances in the World T20 in Dubai. Despite losing to Australia in the semi-finals, it was their best T20 World Cup performance in a decade. The last time they made it to the final, they won the trophy as well.

Nevertheless, they exhibited great discipline and guts to get to where they finished at the table.

However, the questions that beset their path at the start of the tournament continue to haunt them at present as well. Are they playing the modern T20 brand or are they trying to maneuver their resources to their optimal value?

Success in Dubai had some strings attached

Pakistan's success in Dubai did have some strings attached to it as well.

They were quite fortunate to carry out their batting responsibilities in the second half of their league games under more favorable circumstances. Secondly, given the sticky and slow nature of the UAE pitches, anywhere between 140 and 160 was chaseable for the team batting second.

Their conservative T20 approach of saving wickets up front to launch an assault in the final four overs yielded fantastic results. Albeit only in circumstances where the required rate at the start of their innings was only as high as seven or eight.

However, the sustainability of this approach often comes under enormous scrutiny the moment they go to flatter wickets, where scoring 200-plus runs is the norm.

Pakistan need power-hitters at the top

Misbah ul-Haq, often hailed as the King of the UAE given his stupendous record in that part of the world, devised the strategy which Babar and co. utilize today. Both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan carry the same responsibilities of building a substantial partnership at the top. Which then allows the likes of Iftikhar Ahmed and Asif Ali to slog them past the par scores.

However, with the next T20 World Cup to be held in Australia, the Men in Green will have to revisit this template. Fakhar Zaman's unpredictability has to be given weightage at the top given his match-winning ability with the bat. Zaman's significantly higher strike-rate could allow Pakistan to get a head-start at the top.

His utilities, in many ways, diminish the moment he comes out to bat at the ten-over mark. Since Pakistan does not go beyond seven to eight runs an over in the powerplay, the onus rests entirely on the middle-order to compensate.

Like Zaman, the PCB will have to think about bringing Sharjeel Khan back into the mix. Khan owns the highest strike-rate among the country's openers in both the PSL and the national T20 competition.

Statistics have shown the importance of winning powerplays. Pakistan will have to explore these options to avoid posting sub-par totals as they did against Australia in both the World Cup and their last T20 encounter.