Pakistan's cricket team continued to invite scathing criticism a day after being knocked out of the Champions Trophy, the great Sunil Gavaskar saying that it would struggle to beat even a second-string Indian team.
India, the 2023 ODI World Cup finalists, defeated defending champions Pakistan by six wickets in the Champions Trophy match in Dubai on Sunday, continuing their dominance over the arch-rivals.
"I think a B team (from India) certainly (can give Pakistan a run for their money). C team, I am not too sure. But a B team will be very, very hard to beat for Pakistan in their current form," Gavaskar said on Sports Today.
Pakistan, hosting an ICC tournament for the first time since 1996, were knocked out of the Champions Trophy after New Zealand beat Bangladesh in another Group A match.
Pakistan are still winless in the ongoing tournament.
Since winning the Champions Trophy in 2017, Pakistan's cricketing fortunes have declined, the team finishing fifth in the last two ODI World Cups.
"I think it's surprising -- this lack of bench strength. Pakistan always had natural talent. Natural in the sense that they may not have always been technically correct, but they had an instinctive understanding of bat and ball," Gavaskar said.
“Look at Inzamam-ul Haq, for example. If you look at his stance, you wouldn't recommend that to a young batter, but he had great temperament. With that kind of temperament he made up for any technical shortcomings."
Gavaskar also noted that despite the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and domestic white-ball tournaments, Pakistan has struggled to produce quality players.
"How has India produced so many young stars in white-ball cricket? It's because of the IPL," said the former India skipper.
“Players from there have gone on to play in the Ranji Trophy and eventually for India. That is something Pakistan cricket must analyze. They need to figure out why they no longer have the bench strength they once did."
India vs Pakistan, a one-sided contest now: Atherton
An India-Pakistan match is always a highly-anticipated event, but former England captain Michael Atherton believes the contest has become "one-sided" and the cricket does not live up to the hype.
"Well, it was completely one-sided," Atherton said on Sky Sports Podcast.
"It looked very predictable from a long way out. An underpowered Pakistan batting line-up, as it was in that first game, actually, against New Zealand. There just seemed to lack a bit of energy and dynamism in the batting."
India and Pakistan only meet in ICC events, and their clashes are often built up as blockbuster encounters.
"There's a bit of an issue for that contest, isn't it? Because it's a highly anticipated contest for all kinds of reasons. Partly, you know, just because of the scarcity value. They only play each other in ICC events on neutral territory for obvious reasons," he said.
"But there's such hype around that fixture. You kind of want the cricket to live up to that hype as well. If you look at the results in the last 10 years, I think they've played each other nine times in ODIs in the last 10 years.
"Pakistan have only won once, and that was in that final in the Champions Trophy at the Oval. So, it's a one-sided contest right now."
Pakistan leads the head-to-head in ODIs, winning 73 and losing 58 in 136 games. Atherton feels Pakistan have lost the edge in the past decade.
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