With T20 World Cup just around the corner, the seven-match T20I series between Pakistan and England presented both sides with a golden opportunity to iron out the kinks in their armor and try different combinations. It will be fair to say that England has been more imaginative with their selections and game plans; from handing out debuts to youngsters and bringing in pacers like Mark Wood and Chris Woakes from injury. With the clock ticking for the mega event next month, here is a look at a few issues, Pakistan team management needs to address.

Middle order conundrum

The middle order has been Pakistan's Achilles' heel for quite some time now and it will be fair to say that the team management hasn't been able to find any answers thus far. The batting is still heavily reliant on the opening duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. In the series opener, after a solid start of 85 provided by the openers, the middle order collapsed as Pakistan could only manage to end up with 158-7 on a good batting track. The Men in Green could only manage to add 54 in the last eight overs losing seven wickets.

Haider Ali has had a shocker of a series with the right-hander scoring only 18 in 4 innings at a strike rate of just 75. Shan Masood at number four showed glimpses of his ability to hit spin with a breezy 40 balls 65 in a losing cause in the third T20I with the team tottering at 21-3. Iftikhar Ahmed and Khushdil Shah haven't been able to live up to the expectations on good batting surfaces and are feeling the heat from the fans and pundits.

In the final game in Karachi, despite a brisk start, the middle-order wasn't able to provide much-needed impetus as Pakistan only managed to score 69 runs in the final eight overs to end up at a par 166-4.  A similar pattern was seen in the fifth T20I in Lahore, where apart from Iftikhar who scored 15 off 14 balls, none of the batters got into double figures.

With games coming thick and fast, Babar Azam and the team management need to find answers quickly because you can expect your bowlers to bail you out every time. Sending Shadab Khan at number four might be a good strategy as he has the ability to not only construct an innings as well as go beserk when needed giving the license to the likes of Iftikhar, Khushdil, and Asif to go all guns blazing.

Fielding troubles

In recent times, fielding has been an issue for Pakistan and the most worrisome part is that top fielders in the playing XI are making mistakes. In the first T20I, Shan Masood dropped an absolute dolly which allowed Alex Hales to score a half-century and take the game away from the hosts. In the second encounter, it felt like the ball was following Khushdil Shah as he dropped five catches that allowed England to reach a mammoth 199-5 after being at 101-4 in the 13th over.

These catching blemishes have been an extension of what we saw in the Asia Cup just recently. There were many instances throughout the tournament where calling among the fielders was abysmal. Shadab Khan, arguably Pakistan's best fielder dropped two catches of Bhanupa Rajapaksa in the Asia Cup Final which actually turned out to be massive turning points in the game.

The first one was off Haris Rauf's bowling when Bhanupa was batting on 46. The left-hander mistimed one that went high in the night sky but Shadab Khan spilled it. The second opportunity came in the 19th over of the innings with Rajapaksa trying to hit Mohammad Hasnain over the leg-side. Prior to that in the Super Four encounter against India, Fakhar Zaman made two fielding errors on consecutive balls that allowed India to get eight extra runs.

The team management needs to sort out these issues before the T20 World Cup because in a tournament of this magnitude dropping catches could prove to be costly.

Bowling

In the Karachi leg of the series, the hosts desperately missed the services of Shadab Khan in the middle overs. Despite, fast bowlers giving early wickets with the new ball, Pakistan lacked penetration in the middle stages of the game allowing England to get to high totals. In the first three matches, for some reason, Babar Azam didn't give the ball to Iftikhar Ahmed who is a proven performer with the ball in the domestic circuit.

In the final game in Karachi, Azam was forced to bring Iftikhar Ahmed in to attack as Usman Qadir got injured. The off-spinner bowled a miserly spell and went for just 23 in his four over keeping a grip on the scoring rate.

In Lahore, Iftikhar's spell of 16-1 proved to be match-turning. In addition to this, Khushdil Shah is not bad with the ball in hand and can be utilized when the situation arises or one of your main bowlers is being thrashed by the opposition. The left-armer finished the PSL 2022 in the top five wicket-takers and was pivotal in Multan Sultans' charge towards the final.

In terms of pace bowling, Haris Rauf has been incredible for Pakistan and is the leading wicket-taker of the series with eight scalps. On the other hand, youngsters Shahnawaz Dahani and Mohammad Hasnain have bowled well in patches but they have erred in their line and lengths at crucial junctures of the game and have been hit for plenty.

It remains to be seen whether Pakistan will have the services of Shaheen Shah Afridi in the T20 World Cup who is still nursing a knee injury he picked up in July. His presence in the playing XI will certainly bolster Pakistan's attack.