An In Depth Analysis of Pakistan Under Woolmer
By Waheed
October 23 2004
Waheed provides an excellent overview and analysis of Pakistans performances with Bob Woolmer as coach. The article focuses on Results overview, a Batting analysis including details of partnerships, Bowling analysis including details of breakthroughs and an overall Summary.
Bob Woolmer has been the coach of Pakistan for 4 months, during this time Pakistan has played 16 ODI games in four ODI tournaments spread in Asia and Europe. This is a good opportunity to review Pakistan’s performance in ODI's.
This Statistical Analysis will take a look at the following aspects:
1. Results Overview.
2. Batting Overview with a review of the top order batting partnerships.
3. Bowling Overview with a review of the breakthroughs given by bowlers.
4. Individual Batting and Bowling performances.
5. Summary.
1. Results Overview:
The overall record under Bob is impressive with a 69% winning ratio, this is helped by a Perfect 100% record against the minnows in 6 of the 16 games.
Pakistan have chased very well under Bob, and there is little difference between batting first or batting second with win ratios 75% compared to 63%. Against the major teams and in tougher conditions away from Asia, Pakistan has a 50% winning ratio.
The most disappointing record has been the performance of the team in the ‘Crunch -Must Win Games’ with only one win against India in the ICC Tournament, which effectively was a Q-Final. Other than Pakistan have been found wanting and have folded under the pressure, either chasing a total or when setting a target and collapsing.
Summary of Results in 4 Cups under Woolmer
Record Played Won Lost %Won
Record-----------Played---Won---Lost---%Won
Overall----------16-------11-----5-----69
In Asia----------10--------8-----2-----80
Away-------------6--------3-----3-----50
V Minnows-------6--------6-----0-----100
V Major----------10--------5-----5-----50
Batting 1st--------8--------6-----2-----75
Batting 2nd--------8--------5-----3-----63
‘Crunch’ Games---5--------1-----4-----20
For comparison purposes the results of ODI played under Miandad in the last 4 series are shown below. Series were against India (h), New Zealand (a), New Zealand (h) and South Africa (h).
Pakistan’s record under Bob is impressive compared to Miandad’s under all the criteria.
Summary of Results in last 4 series under Miandad
Record-----------Played---Won---Lost---%Won
Overall----------20-------10----10------50
In Asia----------15--------9-----6------60
Away--------------5--------1-----4------20
V Minnows--------0--------0-----0-------0
V Major----------20-------10----10------50
Batting 1st------16--------8-----8------50
Batting 2nd-------4--------2-----2------50
‘Crunch’ Games---2--------0-----2-------0
2. Batting Overview:
One of the key areas of concern for Pakistan over a number of years has been the performance of the top order. This does not appear to have improved under Bob Woolmer.
The overall record for the 1st wicket stand is a very disappointing 31 runs considering the number of games played against the Minnows (6) and the number of games played in the Asian subcontinent (10).
The opening partnership has been noticeably lower when Pakistan have been batting 1st ~24 compared to ~38, largely due to the inability of batsmen to play the swinging bowl in early morning conditions, when the ball tends to swing more than in the afternoons.
Again in the ‘Crunch –Must Win Games’ the openers have been found wanting, and have failed to give Pakistan a good start averaging only 19 runs.
The opening partnerships have not laid a solid foundation, and they have not been helped by the numerous combinations being tried with Yasir Hameed, Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir, Shahid Afridi, Salman Butt and Bazid Khan all having a go at some stage.
Stability and Consistency of Selection is required at the top of the order, more than any other position in the team and this has not been the case with SIX different combinations tried in 16 games.
The fall of the second wicket has been overall at the score of 56, which is disappointing. Again away from home and in crunch games it is lower at 48 and 51.
The fall of the third wicket has been overall at the score of 95, which is OK and can be explained by the fact that Pakistan’s premier batsmen are Inzamam or Yohanna is at the crease at this point.
Another reason is the new white ball losing it’s shine quickly in Asia, but the ball swinging for a longer period in Europe explains the low 3rd wicket score of 59 away from home.
The 3rd wicket pair tend to cash in heavily when playing against the minnows, with the wicket falling at 121, But unable to rebuild the innings in the ‘Crunch Games’ with the 3rd wicket falling at 59.
The overall average Total Score for Pakistan in the 16 games is a disappointing 218, away from Asia this is even lower at 172 and in the ‘Crunch’ games it is 186 and explains why Pakistan have lost so many of the ‘Crunch’ Games.
There is little or no difference when Pakistan have batted 1st or 2nd with the average score of ~230. The figure that stands out the most is Pakistan’s dominance over the minnows and on average getting 287 runs.
Top Order Batting: Fall of Wickets 1,2 and 3. (Bob)
Record--------1st w---2nd w---3rd w---Total
Overall--------31------56------95-----218
In Asia--------31------54------97-----208
Away-----------25------48------59-----172
V Minnows-----38------49-----121-----287+
V Major--------27------61------88-----207
Batting 1st----24------53-----118-----233
Batting 2nd----38------59------86-----226+
‘Crunch’ Games-19------51------60-----186
+ Note: the 2nd inning run chases against Kenya 95allout and Bangladesh 167allout were excluded.
Under Miandad, the consistent use of Farhat and Hameed as openers, was leading to a formidable opening partnerships with an overall average of ~53 runs. Away from home it dipped to a respectable ~33 and it was only a concern in the ‘Crunch’ games where it failed to give a start.
Top Order Batting: Fall of Wickets 1,2 and 3. (Miandad)
Record----------1st w---2nd w---3rd w---Total
Overall---------53-------81-----122-----255
In Asia---------60-------89-----129-----263
Away------------33-------56-----101-----230
V Minnows----------------------------------
V Major---------53-------81-----122-----255
Batting 1st-----53-------81-----122-----248
Batting 2nd-----50-------83-----121-----281
‘Crunch’ Games--6-------12------30-----223
An Interesting statistic is that regardless of the opposition, batting 1st or 2nd, in Asia or Europe Pakistan’s 1st and 2nd wicket always fall after 7 and 13 overs respectively.
The 3rd wicket Partnership normally involving Inzy or Yohanna usually take Pakistan past the 21st over and a position of safety, But in the games played in Europe and in ‘Crunch’ games they have not been able to save Pakistan with the 3rd wicket falling inside the first 17 overs and Pakistan tending to collapse.
Top Order Batting: Fall of Wickets 1,2 and 3 (Overs)
Record----------1st w-----2nd w-----3rd w
Overall----------7--------13--------22
In Asia----------7--------13--------21
Away------------6--------13--------16
V Minnows-------8--------10--------23
V Major----------7--------15--------21
Batting 1st------6--------12--------24
Batting 2nd------9--------13--------20
‘Crunch’ Games--5--------13--------17
The 3rd wicket Partnership is usually crucial for Pakistan, When Pakistan have only lost 2 wickets inside the first 15 overs Pakistan have won 70% of the matches. The 3 exceptions being the 3 ‘Crunch’ games against Australia, West Indies and Sri Lanka.
Record--------------Played-----Won-----Lost-----%Won
3 wickets falls
inside 15 overs-----4-----------2--------2-------50+
2 wickets falls
inside 15 overs-----10----------7--------3-------70
+ Note: 2 wins against Zimbabwe were excluded when 3 wickets fell inside 9 overs.
3. Bowling Overview:
One of the main problems with the Pakistani bowling attack in the last few years, has been the lack of control and discipline shown by the bowlers, especially in the first 15 overs. Although the number of no balls and wides given seems to have come under control, since Bob has taken over, this in fact is not the case.
The Average number of wides and no balls given per match is 16 (10.3 w and 5.7 nb), which is the same as the number of wides and no balls given away per match under Javed Miandad 16 (9.3 w and 6.7 nb).
Bob Woolmer------------Javed Miandad
Wides---No Balls-----Wides-----No Balls
6-------5-------------5-----------8
18------7------------12-----------6
17------4-------------6-----------9
10-----13-------------1-----------4
21-----13------------11-----------7
3-------1-------------8-----------8
5-------4------------11-----------4
12------2-------------5-----------7
5-------6-------------7-----------5
3------11------------10-----------7
9-------1------------20-----------2
7-------1------------13-----------1
11------7-------------5-----------3
14------4-------------8-----------4
18------6-------------1-----------13
6-------6------------10-----------20
6-------7
23------4
19------9
5-------5
-------------------------------------
10.3-----5.7--------9.3-----------6.7
In an attempt to bring disciple and control to the bowling, the opening bowlers appear to have lost the knack of making major breakthroughs with the new ball.
During the 1st 15 overs, Pakistan have on average been taking just 1.8 wickets per match, compared to a team like Australia who over the last 15 ODI’s average 2.6 wickets per match., a noticeable difference.
This figure of 1.8 remains the roughly the same in Asia, or in more bowler friendly conditions in Europe. This highlights the problem of the bowlers being unable to make effective use of swinging conditions.
Another major area of concern has been the lack of wicket taking ability in the middle period of ODI games, when the game has often drifted away. The focus has been on containing the batsmen rather than taking wickets, with the captain often prematurely going on the defensive. Allowing the opposition batsmen to play risk free cricket and pick up singles.
The overall average of 3.7 wickets in the middle overs, seems OK but has been boosted by the number of wickets taken against the minnows which stands at 5.8
Against the major teams it is a very disappointing 2.4 wickets and even worse in the ‘Crunch’ games 2.2 wickets. The failure to take wickets upfront and in the middle overs means Pakistan are finding themselves having to defend in the last 10 overs, With the opposition on average only being 4 wickets down.
Where as in the past Pakistan could make up for this, as they were deadly in the final 10 overs, with reverse swing coming into effect. This has not been the case recently and Pakistan have struggled to take wickets in the final overs and bowl teams out.
In the games against the major teams Pakistan are averaging 6.9 wickets per match and in the ‘Crunch’ game this even less at 6.6.
Wickets in 15 Overs, 15-40, 40-50 and Total
Record-----------15-----15-40-----40-50-----Total
Overall----------1.8-----3.7------3---------7.7
In Asia----------1.9-----3.7------2.6-------7.7
Away-------------1.7-----3.7------3.7-------7.7
V Minnows--------2-------5.8------1.8-------9
V Major----------1.7-----2.4------3.6-------6.9
Bowling 1st------2-------3.4------2.4-------7.5
Bowling 2nd------1.6-----4--------3.8-------7.9
‘Crunch’ Games---2-------2.2------3---------6.6
4. Individual Performances
Bob has utilized 18 players during this period, and has given debuts to 3 players Rao, Bazid and Butt. All the players have been given at least 4 games with the exception of Rao (2), Bazid (2), Misbah (1) and Danish (1).
Shoaib Malik stands out as the most consistent player during this period, and has been the top run scorer in two of the competitions, scoring 2 hundreds as well as 4 fifties in his new role at the top of the order, with an impressive average of 47.
Shoiab, like the other top order batsmen struggled with the swinging conditions of England, and needs to improve his technique if he is to establish himself as a permanent number three, especially overseas where he has averaged only 6 with the bat. Making 24 runs from 4 innings.
As expected the senior players Yohanna and Inzamam follow behind with healthy averages of 46 and 40. The experienced duo, have bailed Pakistan out of many collapses and have shown the younger batsmen how to construct innings and partnerships.
Younis Khan has an inflated average of 43 mainly due to one notable innings of 144 against Hong Kong, which contributes to more than half his total score. Otherwise his average would be a very disappointing 19. Younis, did a decent job as short term wicket keeper in place of the injured Moin, but needs to improve significantly if he is to be tried again, especially against the spinners.
Razzaq has maintained his form of the last few years and scored heavily and quickly down the order, averaging a more than respectable 36. Has played sensibly and according to the match situation scoring a patient 50 when rebuilding the innings after top order collapsed against Zimbabwe, and then scoring a blistering final 50 runs for a deserved ton. The only downside with Razzaq has been his continual problems against spin, with part time spinners Tendulkar and Jaysuriya giving him problems.
Yasir Hameed has been the biggest disappointment so far, after making a superb start in his 1st year as an international batsmen, he has not progressed but gone backwards. He continues the make the same mistakes by chasing wide bowls out side off stump. Lack of patience and technique is costing him his wicket, and he has failed to reach 50 after making a century in the 1st game against Bangladesh.
Shahid Afridi has flattered to deceive as an ‘Impact Player’ when it comes to his batting. He has only made an impact with the bat twice making the quickfire 25 against India and the 58 against Zimbabwe. Other than that he has failed to pass 20 runs and averages a disappointing 18, even lower than his career average of 23.
Moin Khan is another batsmen who has failed to deliver averaging less than 12 runs per innings. It remains to be seen how long his ‘Experience’, ‘Energy’ and ‘Team Motivating’ skills keep him in the team.
Fortunately at least one batsmen Imran Nazir , who failed to make the grade was dropped after one tournament. After showing he had learned nothing after so many years.
Imran Farhat, Misbah and Bazid have failed to take the limited opportunities given to them. Bazid looked out of his depth in his two games against Zimbabwe, shuffling across his stumps he was vulnerable to the swinging bowl. Farhat was unfortunate not to have a consistent run in the team with injury and selection.
Two lower order batsmen Sami and Rana who aspire to become better, showed no sign of any real improvements with only one innings of note between the two of them. Rana scoring a scoring a quick 16*. Even the likes of Bhalaji and Harbajjan batting at 10 and 11 have delivered more than these two.
Batting Stats under Bob
Name------------Mat-----I-----NO----Runs-----HS-----Ave-----100-----50
Shoaib Malik----16-----16-----1-----704-----143-----46.93-----2-----4
Yousaf Yohanna--16-----14-----3-----508-----107-----46.18-----1-----2
Younis Khan------8-----7------1-----260-----144-----43.33-----1-----1
Inzamam-ul-Haq--15-----11-----1-----396-----76*-----39.60-----0-----4
Abdul Razzaq----15-----14-----5-----321-----107*----35.67-----1-----0
Salman Butt------5-----5------0-----144-----57------28.80-----0-----1
Yasir Hameed----15-----15-----0-----413-----102-----27.53-----1-----0
Misbah-ul-Haq----1-----1------0-----23------23------23.00------------
Imran Farhat-----6-----6------1-----114-----38*-----22.80------------
Shahid Afridi---11-----9------1-----149-----58------18.63-----0-----1
Naved-ul-Hasan--10-----6------4-----37------16*-----18.50-----0-----0
Imran Nazir------4-----4------0-----52------27------13.00------------
Moin Khan-------14-----11-----3-----95------14------11.88-----0-----0
Mohammad Sami-15-----7------1-----38------10------6.33------0-----0
Bazid Khan-------2-----2------0-----12------12------6.00------------
Batting Career Stats
Name--------------Mat-----I-----NO-----Runs-----HS------Ave-----100-----50
Shoaib Malik-------84-----71-----9-----1968-----143-----31.74-----4-----8
Yousuf Youhana----180-----170---26-----6078-----141*----42.2-----10-----38
Younis Khan-------109-----104---14-----2908-----144-----32.31-----1-----20
Inzamam-ul-Haq----327-----303---43-----10192----137*----39.2-----10-----72
Abdul Razzaq------174-----150---38-----3427-----112-----30.59-----2-----17
Yasir Hameed-------44-----44-----1-----1671-----127*----38.86-----3-----9
Imran Farhat-------21-----21-----1-----686------107-----34.3------1-----4
Shahid Afridi-----190-----183----8-----4125-----109-----23.57-----3-----24
Naved-ul-Hasan-----13-----8------5-----53-------16*-----17.66------------
Imran Nazir--------61-----61-----2-----1392-----105*----23.59-----1-----8
Moin Khan---------219-----183---41-----3266-----72*-----23--------------12
Mohammad Sami----65-----33----18-----195------23------13----------------
From the Career Stats and the Stats since Bob has been coach it is clear that only one batsmen has significantly improved, that is Shoaib Malik. Younis Khan is not considered since his stats are skewed by one innings of 144 against Hong Kong.
The experience players Inzy, Yohanna and Razzaq have maintained their career averages, but the younger batsmen have performed poorly since Bob has taken charge. The Farhats, Hameeds, Nazirs and Afridi have all flattered to deceive with the bat.
Net Difference in batting average
Name---------------Net Difference
Shoaib Malik_______+15.2
Younis Khan________+11.0
Abdul Razzaq_______+5.1
Yousaf Yohanna_____+4.0
Naved-ul-Hasan_____+0.8
Inzamam-ul-Haq_____+0.4
Shahid Afridi________-4.9
Mohammad Sami_____-6.7
Imran Nazir________-10.6
Moin Khan__________-11.1
Yasir Hameed_______-11.3
Imran Farhat_______-11.5
The big pluses under Bob has been the contribution of the spinners to the bowling efforts, again Shoiab Malik leads the way with 24 wickets and conceding less than 4 runs per over. Afridi is not far behind with 18 wickets at an amazing strike rate of 24.5 balls.
Even Farhat the part time leg spinner did very well when he was given limited opportunities to bowl in the Asia cup picking up 4 cheap wickets.
The specialist leg spinner Danish was not required after producing match figures of 1-26 in his only game under Bob. It would have been interesting to see how many wickets he would have taken had he played more games.
With the emphasis of the coach on Discipline and Control, the faster bowlers have struggled to take wickets consistently with average strike rate of ~42 balls. The economy rate of the fast bowlers is an acceptable 4.5, with only Shabbir Ahmed standing out with an economy rate of 3.27.
Sami has failed to take more than 2 wickets in any of the matches under Bob, despite being given first use of the new ball. Although he has controlled the flow of runs, the wickets have not been forthcoming.
Rana has been the new bowl bowler who has been providing Pakistan with the initial breakthroughs, and has bowled well in his first spells. But he has struggled with his second spell and his overall economy rate is close to 5 runs per over.
The experiment to use Shoaib Akhtar as a first change bowler has only partially worked, and Pakistan have missed his wicket taking abilities at the start of the innings.
Bowling Stats under Bob
Name--------------Mat-----W-----Ave-----Best-----4w---5w-----SR-----Econ
Imran Farhat--------2-----4-----7-------3-10-----------------10.5-----4
Shahid Afridi------11-----18----18.33---5-11-----1-----1-----24.5-----4.48
Shoaib Malik-------16-----24----20.91---4-19-----1-----0-----32.7-----3.82
Shabbir Ahmed-----6-----7-----22.00---3-32-----0-----0-----40.2-----3.27
Danish Kaneria-----1-----1-----26------1-26-----------------50-------3.12
Shoaib Akhtar------14-----18----26.16---4-36-----1-----0-----34.9-----4.49
Naved-ul-Hasan-----10-----12----31.66---4-25-----1-----0-----39-------4.87
Mohammad Sami----15-----16----34.06---2-16-----0-----0-----45.5-----4.49
Abdul Razzaq-------15-----12----37.08---2-21-----------------50-------4.45
Iftikhar Anjum------2-----1-----73------1-41-----------------90-------4.86
Career Bowling Stats
Name--------------Mat-----W-------Ave-------Best-----4w----5w----SR-----Econ
Shoaib Akhtar-----117-----185-----22.54-----6-16-----4-----3-----29.6---4.55
Mohammad Sami----65-----98------26.56-----5-10-----3-----1-----32.9---4.83
Abdul Razzaq------174-----194-----29.09-----6-35-----4-----3-----38.9---4.48
Naved-ul-Hasan-----13-----18------30--------4-25-----1-----0-----34.6---5.19
Shoaib Malik-------84-----80------33.55-----4-19-----1-----0-----47-----4.27
Shahid- Afridi----190-----151-----36.87-----5-11-----1-----2-----47.8---4.61
Shabbir Ahmed-----29-----29------36.93-----3-32-----0-----0-----51.1---4.33
The net differences between career figures and those under Bob, Show that all the bowlers have improved their Economy rates slightly with the emphasis on discipline and control, with the biggest improvement by Shabbir Ahmed.
The spinners Afridi and Malik bowling average and strike rates have improved substantially. But the remaining bowlers (with the exception of Shabbir) have seen a note able down turn in their wicket taking abilities with their bowling averages and strike rates increasing.
Net Differences between career and under Bob
Name_______________Avg_____StrRate_____Econ
Shahid Afridi_______-18.5____-23.3______-0.13
Shabbir Ahmed_____-14.9____-10.9______-1.06
Shoaib Malik______-12.6____-14.3______-0.45
Naved_ul_Hasan____+1.66_____+4.4______-0.32
Shoaib Akhtar_____+3.62_____+5.3______-0.06
Mohammad Sami____+7.5_____+12.6______-0.34
Abdul Razzaq______+7.99____+11.1______-0.03
5. Summary:
In general the individual performances of the players have gone down compared to their career performances, with only Malik improving in the batting department and experience campaigners Inzy, Yohanna and Razzaq maintaining their career form.
In the Bowling department the spinners Malik and Afridi have improved significantly in all aspects of their bowling. The whole bowling unit is being more economical although the wicket taking ability of the faster bowlers seems to have suffered.
There is no noticeable difference in the number of extras in terms of no balls and wides, since Bob has taken over as the coach from Miandad.
The Top Order is failing to provide the solid start that is required to win crunch games.
The New Bowl bowlers are not making enough breakthroughs with the new ball, and the backup bowlers are not picking up wickets in the middle overs in crunch games.
Despite these deficiencies the team has been being doing well and winning their fair share of matches, only falling down in the high pressure ‘Crunch Games’.
Although 4 months is a short time for a coach, we need to ask what has Bob Woolmer brought to the team apart from professionalism and improving the fitness of the players?