FearlessRoar
T20I Star
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Ramiz Raja, former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, voiced his worry on his YouTube channel that Pakistan's cricket team is struggling to find players who can consistently score at a high strike rate:
“Today’s middle order was a flop show, which resulted in not many runs being scored, causing the match to slip out of hand. Usman Khan was a good inclusion; he played well and is temperamentally strong. He will also have problems against fast bowling and bouncers, but at least he showed strong temperament and found some way to score runs, maintaining a good strike rate.”
“Imad Wasim should now be preferred in every match, and if you have to bench Shadab, you should definitely do so. You can play Saim Ayub in the middle order because Shadab is not fitting in at number five, so the arrival of a proper batsman will bring some stability to the middle order.”
“Iftikhar Ahmed gets out after scoring 20; he is used as a finisher but does not finish, neither in the first innings nor in the second. Similarly, Fakhar Zaman is also very hit and miss. He got a chance when his stumping was missed, then took another chance and got out.”
“You can’t play with a million-dollar approach in such a middle order where it seems like a flop show will happen every now and then; you have to take responsibility there. Let Mohammad Rizwan do the keeping, open with Rizwan and Babar as the opening pair, and then you can play an extra all-rounder instead of Azam Khan or a proper batsman. These are the things to do.”
“Pakistan’s bowling was also like that, except for Haris Rauf, the rest of the bowlers looked very tired and England did not let them settle. England, on the other hand, has pace, they have spin, everyone gave effective performances. Pakistan has a great bowling attack on paper, but you saw that England made it a one-sided affair and the beating that was given left all the fans going home dispirited and everyone’s tongue was saying the same thing, ‘what happened to Pakistan cricket’. So, a lot of hard work is needed for this.”
“First, you have to get this team out of experimental mode, go with a proper combination and this phobia of strike rate. For God’s sake, get out of this phobia because you don’t have the kind of players and you are destroying this entire team based on strike rate. You broke the opening pair and did a lot of damage to this team. After that, in the middle order, their role is not defined, all-rounders are put in the middle order, two keepers are playing, fast bowlers are changing, your spinners cannot spin the ball, there is no confidence. Imad Wasim looks good but you bench him, your bowlers do not have sideways movement and you have shaken the entire system. There is no good news before the World Cup, I have for Pakistani fans.”
“Today’s middle order was a flop show, which resulted in not many runs being scored, causing the match to slip out of hand. Usman Khan was a good inclusion; he played well and is temperamentally strong. He will also have problems against fast bowling and bouncers, but at least he showed strong temperament and found some way to score runs, maintaining a good strike rate.”
“Imad Wasim should now be preferred in every match, and if you have to bench Shadab, you should definitely do so. You can play Saim Ayub in the middle order because Shadab is not fitting in at number five, so the arrival of a proper batsman will bring some stability to the middle order.”
“Iftikhar Ahmed gets out after scoring 20; he is used as a finisher but does not finish, neither in the first innings nor in the second. Similarly, Fakhar Zaman is also very hit and miss. He got a chance when his stumping was missed, then took another chance and got out.”
“You can’t play with a million-dollar approach in such a middle order where it seems like a flop show will happen every now and then; you have to take responsibility there. Let Mohammad Rizwan do the keeping, open with Rizwan and Babar as the opening pair, and then you can play an extra all-rounder instead of Azam Khan or a proper batsman. These are the things to do.”
“Pakistan’s bowling was also like that, except for Haris Rauf, the rest of the bowlers looked very tired and England did not let them settle. England, on the other hand, has pace, they have spin, everyone gave effective performances. Pakistan has a great bowling attack on paper, but you saw that England made it a one-sided affair and the beating that was given left all the fans going home dispirited and everyone’s tongue was saying the same thing, ‘what happened to Pakistan cricket’. So, a lot of hard work is needed for this.”
“First, you have to get this team out of experimental mode, go with a proper combination and this phobia of strike rate. For God’s sake, get out of this phobia because you don’t have the kind of players and you are destroying this entire team based on strike rate. You broke the opening pair and did a lot of damage to this team. After that, in the middle order, their role is not defined, all-rounders are put in the middle order, two keepers are playing, fast bowlers are changing, your spinners cannot spin the ball, there is no confidence. Imad Wasim looks good but you bench him, your bowlers do not have sideways movement and you have shaken the entire system. There is no good news before the World Cup, I have for Pakistani fans.”
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