Pakistan loses ODI Series to South Africa (Nov 2013)

Pakistani Team needs to improve psychologically and mentally

Pakistan loses ODI Series to South Africa

Pakistan, a decent team in regards to talent and skills, lost to South Africa in the One Day series (November 2013). The performance from Pakistan was way below par.

The first ODI showed that Pakistan and South Africa were comparable teams in this format of the game. However, even that game was Pakistan's to win. They managed to lose it in a dramatic way.
The second one dayer, Pakistan showed their strength in bowling and outclassed South Africa. In third one-dayer Pakistan played as if they didn't know how to bat.
The fourth one-day-international was once again where both teams played at the same level. Again Pakistan should have won but managed to lose with a significant margin. The reason of loss was Pakistan couldn't finish. They kept coming in to strong position in the match, but kept on giving these positions away too.

At the end of this series, it is apparent that Pakistan lacks character and cannot finish even in the most comfortable situations. South Africa didn't use the most boldest of techniques to test Pakistan's courage, but Pakistani team broke and crumbled themselves each time.

It's clear that Pakistan needs to become a mentally tougher team. A team that can deal with pressure no matter what. Talent that is there, is good. But the board needs to work to improve their mental toughness, and ability take responsibility.

What sets Misbah, Ajmal, Irfan, and Junaid apart from rest of the team is sense of responsibility. That also needs to be worked upon.