World Cup 2019: 3 biggest positives from Pakistan's campaign

Pakistan cricket team's World Cup 2019 dream is over and so are the eerie similarities with World Cup 1992. However, the good thing is that Pakistan, after a terrible start, showed some fight in the end, making the tournament exciting.

The Sarfraz Ahmed-led side started their World Cup campaign in a poor fashion and were on the verge of elimination very early in the tournament. With just one win from their first five games, Pakistan were in trouble but collected wins from each of their four games to strike a comeback.

Suddenly, everything changed and they emerged as a strong contender for a spot in the knockout stages. The cricket they played against England, South Africa, New Zealand and Bangladesh was of the highest quality that left many cricket pundits stunned.

At the end of this World Cup, one thing was confirmed, that Pakistan still remained an unpredictable side, all the way till their last league stage game against Bangladesh

Now that Pakistan's campaign is done and dusted, here is a look at three of the biggest positives from their World Cup campaign.

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#3 A strong show from bowling unit

Mohammad Amir

Pace has always been the way to go for Pakistan and their fast bowling was a major strength in this World Cup as well. Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Wahab Riaz were in some top form, picking up 17, 16 and 11 wickets respectively.

Amir and Shaheen, in particular were excellent up front, mixing up their lengths as they created tough angles for the batsmen to play out early on in the innings. Riaz's reverse swing at 140 kph added an extra dimension to the bowling unit.

Shaheen was in the best of form during Pakistan's final league stage game against Bangladesh as he registered figures of 6/35 from 9.1 overs, the best ever figures for a Pakistan bowler in World Cup history.

Besides the fast bowlers, spinners also played a great role. Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim were brilliant in drying runs in the middle overs and picking wickets by forcing the batsman to play rash shots.

While Imad could not pick too many wickets, Shadab picked up nine wickets from seven matches at an economy of 5.52 and made the most of turn on offer. With Hafeez also contributing decently with the ball, especially against left-hand batsmen, Pakistan's spin department provided excellent support to the pacers.

#2 Middle order brilliance

Babar Azam finished as Pakistan's best batsman

Pakistan's middle order is yet another reason for their great wins. Babar Azam has evolved from a raw talent to a dependable No.3 batsman who can be relied upon to anchor the innings. His performance against New Zealand was the best of all as he proved that he is capable of carrying the team over the finish line that has made him a central figure in Pakistan's batting lineup.

Beside Babar, Haris Sohail proved to be a trump card for Pakistan. Earlier in the tournament, he was not featuring regularly in the playing XI until Shoaib Malik's poor form gave him a spot in the team.

He grabbed it with both hands, scoring 89, 68, 27 in three of the five matches he played. The experienced Mohammad Hafeez was unable to convert his 20's and 30's into big innings but contributed with some solid knocks in the middle overs.

Imad Wasim was absolutely brilliant in the lower order as he notched up a total of 162 runs from five matches, including an important 54-ball unbeaten 49 against Afghanistan and most recently, a 26-ball 43-run cameo against Bangladesh.

Wahab Riaz contributed with some big hitting lower down the order, a feature which was instrumental in bringing about a win for Pakistan against Afghanistan.

#1 Captaincy and team plan

Sarfraz Ahmed's captaincy was a big game changer for Pakistan

After an embarrassing defeat against the arch-rivals India, Pakistan lacked morale on the back of media's bashing, social media trolling and fans' backlash. Certainly, the Men in Green needed to re-find their form after an early jolt.

However, what was important was the fact that the team management and captain kept themselves strong and came forward with a new strategy. They gave the players the confidence and game plan to give their players a license to produce the best on the field.

Even Sarfaraz himself was criticized badly for his captaincy but the way he led the team against New Zealand, South Africa, and Bangladesh was phenomenal. He was energetic, optimistic and confident with his decisions.

The players responded well to Sarfaraz and the body language was positive. The game plan was clear in their minds. They came on the field and executed the plan perfectly. Fielders were on their toes and every piece of athleticism was appreciated by the captain.

The bowlers were rotated very well by the skipper and ensured that the batsmen were under pressure at all times. One can easily and rightly say that Pakistan made a comeback in the tournament because they made the perfect game plans and executed them well.