The Chinese have a single solution for everything; Yin and Yang. It is not good versus evil or right versus wrong, it is the cycle of dualities where physical or nonphysical manifestations appearing to contradict each other are actually compliments in an environment where one cannot exist without the other. Every single element present in the universe can be categorized into Yin or Yang and their optimal utility is at the point of equilibrium where they find themselves in complete harmony; balance.
This philosophy extends to govern the laws of society, economics, medicine, martial arts and almost everything else under the moon (yin) or the sun (yang).
The game of bat and ball is no different and the Pakistan team, when viewed from this lens, quite clearly presents a picture of imbalance.
The quandary of the current XI is a deficient batting order with an efficient bowling attack. You don’t need a Taoist to identify the apparent; any cricket follower could diagnose this ailment. But the stakeholders of cricket in Pakistan have failed to see this or work on its remedy.
The balance of an ODI team is usually this: six batsmen, one wicket keeper batsman and four bowlers. India, Australia, England, South Africa and Sri Lanka are the top five teams in the world and it is no coincidence that all these teams consist of six specialist batsmen, one wicket keeper, who can bat, and four specialist bowlers.
Some batsmen are required to turn their arm and bowl a few overs, some a full quota of ten, but their primary job is to make runs; they are the batting all-rounders. Some bowlers are expected to use the willow and score valuable runs but their primary job is to take wickets and maintain the economy rate; they are the bowling all-rounders. However, the golden ODI combination remains a 6-1- 4, where a couple of them are multi-skilled, the batting or bowling all-rounders.
Pakistan too uses a similar combination but has long been a victim of ‘the batting all-rounder delusion’. In other words, they have looked for runs where the probability of getting them has been either low or on the decline.
Amongst the top six specialist batsmen is vice-captain Mohammad Hafeez. He opens the innings or bats at number three, spots reserved for the best; Virat Kohli, Kumar Sangakara, Hashim Amla and Jonathan Trott play the role for their respective countries. Hafeez averages 27.21 with the bat and has never been ranked in the top thirty batsmen in his career. However, in 2012 he was ranked as the number one ODI bowler in the world. He is also currently ranked as the second best all-rounder in the game. But, he is not a batting all-rounder, he is a bowling one. Hafeez is indispensable for Pakistan as long as he is maintaining his bowling
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