Asia Cup: From Riz-Bar's absence to emergence of power-hitters; pros, cons for Pakistan

Dubai [UAE], September 12 (ANI): With a promising bunch of hitters, all-rounders and a fiery pace attack, the Pakistani team looks an extremely competitive unit as the team kicks off its Asia Cup campaign today.
Pakistan's Asia Cup campaign kicks off against Oman in Dubai from September 12 onwards, followed by a clash against arch-rivals India on September 14. Their final league stage match will be against the UAE on September 17, following which things will move to the Super 4 stage.
Let us look at the team form ahead of the tournament, since their group stage exit in the ICC T20 World Cup last year:
Since their shameful exit in the T20 WC in the group stages last year, which was caused by losses to India and the USA, Pakistan have featured in 27 T20Is, winning 13 and losing 14.
They have played a total of eight bilateral/tri-nation series since then, winning four and losing four each. Their sole home series was a 3-0 win over Bangladesh. Their wins include a series win against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe (2-1 win), against West Indies in the USA (2-1 win), and a tri-nation series win over Afghanistan and the UAE in the UAE.
Despite asserting their dominance over minnows/associate sides, Pakistan have failed to replicate their powerful performances against top-ranked teams, as their losses away from home include defeats to New Zealand (1-4), to Bangladesh (1-3), to Australia (0-3) to South Africa (0-2).
Positives heading into the tournament for Pakistan:
-No more reliance on Rizwan, Babar: For years, Pakistan's batting relied on two of their superstar batters, Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan. However, their conservative style of play, as reflected by their strike rates of 129.22 and 125.37 respectively, shackled the batting line-up with a safe approach.
In their absence, players like Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Hassan Nawaz, Mohammed Haris and Fakhar Zaman have garnered the spotlight with a more explosive brand of batting, while they are yet to replicate the consistency and rich batting averages of Riz-Bar, they are match-winners who can turn the match in Pakistan's favour on their day.
Pakistan team's collective strike rate has improved marginally to 129.25 from 126.14, which it maintained from the Asia Cup 2022 to the T20 World Cup 2024.
-Emergence of Saim Ayub: After a rocky start to his career, Ayub has started gaining more consistency. After the end of the T20 WC 2024, Ayub has scored 507 runs in 18 innings at an average of 31.68, with a strike rate of almost 147 and four fifties, with the best score of 98*.
-In-form Mohammed Nawaz: With 20 wickets in 11 matches at an average of 10.90, with a five-wicket haul to his name, the spinner is the top wicket-taker in T20Is amongst Test-playing nations this year. He was adjudged as the 'Player of the Series' in the UAE tri-series recently, with 10 wickets in five matches.
-Game time in UAE: Ahead of the tournament, Pakistan played the tri-nation series in Sharjah. They already have game time in the UAE and ended the series on a winning note, with their spinners dominating on spin-friendly wickets. The spin attack, also featuring Abrar Ahmed, Sufiyan Muqeem and Ayub, could be up for a feast if similar conditions are in Dubai.
-In-form bowling attack: Heading into the tournament, Pakistan has taken the most wickets among the Test-playing nations, 181. Their strike rate of 15.4 is second-best next to India (13.3)
Negatives for Pakistan:
-Poor batting average: Their collective batting average of 19.84 is the worst among the Test-playing nations and the second-worst among all the teams with Oman (17.34).
-Concerning the form of Salman Agha: With the bat in 23 innings, he has scored just 489 runs at an average of 27.16, with a sluggish strike rate of 116.42 and four half-centuries.
-Poor economy rate: Among the teams participating in the tournament, Pakistan (8.19) has the second-worst economy rate to (8.27).
-Poor form of Shaheen Shah Afridi: Pacer Shaheen is struggling for form, having taken just 12 wickets in 15 matches at a poor average of 36.25 and a massive economy rate of 8.36, with best figures of 3/22.
Pakistan squad: Salman Ali Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waseem Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Afridi, Sufyan Moqim. (ANI)