“The Pakistan team is already composed of young players" : Misbah-ul-Haq

[MenInG]

Head coach Misbahul-Haq on Saturday indicated that there may not be wholesale changes in the Pakistani team for the upcoming home series against Zimbabwe, saying that the team is already composed of young players.

During a press briefing in Lahore, the former captain said that the national team is already pretty young and might only need minor tweaking instead of mass chopping and changing.

“The Pakistan team is already composed of young players,” he said. “It had lost two senior players right after the World Cup.

“[In fact], we might change a thing or two to make the team even stronger.”

Explaining that the seemingly unimportant Zimbabwe home series is actually important, Misbah said: “We should keep in mind that the points earned from the ODI series would count towards World Cup qualification.”

He also underscored that finding new combinations and creating able back-ups were among his priorities while structuring the team.

The Zimbabwean side is considered one of the weakest ones in the world, leading some to suggest that the series be used to experiment with young untried talent.

Earlier on Wednesday, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had announced that it will host Zimbabwe for a limited-overs series which is scheduled for October-November.

"Needless to say, we at ZC are bursting with excitement as we look forward to playing cricket again and representing our nation with pride and passion in Pakistan," said Zimbabwe Cricket Chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani.

The Africans are expected to land in Pakistan on October 20, and, following the mandatory quarantine, will play a three-match ODI series in Multan and as many T20Is in Rawalpindi.

The 50-over matches will take place on October 30, November 1, and 3 while the T20Is will take place on November 7, 8, and 10.

Zimbabwe's upcoming tour will be their second visit to Pakistan in the last five years.

https://nation.com.pk/26-Sep-2020/p...no-need-for-major-changes-for-zimbabwe-series

 

[Khan12]

What a shameless person.

 

[Titan24]

Experimentation is not always about inducting youngsters (Teenagers) rather trying backup players like Zafar Gohar, Saud Shakeel, Amad Butt, Khushdil Shah (In ODIs as well), Aamir Yamin etc. who are not teenagers but, young and are reasonably experienced FC players to see what each can offer going forward to make the LOI unit more stronger.

 

[Khan12]

Experimentation is not always about inducting youngsters (Teenagers) rather trying backup players like Zafar Gohar, Saud Shakeel, Amad Butt, Khushdil Shah (In ODIs as well), Aamir Yamin etc. who are not teenagers but, young and are reasonably experienced FC players to see what each can offer going forward to make the LOI unit more stronger.

The sooner we get rid of this beghairat the better for our cricket. He's the absolute worse thing to happen to Pakistan cricket. Imran the clown wanted to fix our cricket not destory. Why bring misbah.

 

[Titan24]

World championship points or world cup shouldnt be an excuse of never trying the backup players even against lower ranked teams to test how to make the best combination going forward as that excuse can remain there for ever.

 

[Titan24]

The sooner we get rid of this beghairat the better for our cricket. He's the absolute worse thing to happen to Pakistan cricket. Imran the clown wanted to fix our cricket not destory. Why bring misbah.

Wanted to wait and see how he does in the role but, I have to admit that I havent been too impressed with what I have seen till now especially with some of the decisions he had made so far as both chief selector and coach.

 

[Khan12]

Wanted to wait and see how he does in the role but, I have to admit that I havent been too impressed with what I have seen till now especially with some of the decisions he had made so far as both chief selector and coach.

At least you know now what 90% were saying in regards to this awful person. Doesn't even want to try new players against Zimbabwe. Pathetic to say the least.

 

[Kroll]

Wanted to wait and see how he does in the role but, I have to admit that I havent been too impressed with what I have seen till now especially with some of the decisions he had made so far as both chief selector and coach.

A lot of us saw it coming and we haven't been wrong. Misbah isn't the saviour he's made out to be. Pak cricket would have survived with or without Misbah post spot fixing scandal.

It's a fable we're told over and over again to justify his presence upon the team.

Now we have to watch this clown waste series after series with awful selections and tactics. Just wait until the NZ series, the same knackered bums will be selected again.

 

[Major]

Misbah is right. the team's bowling line up is young. Malik and Hafeez are needed after the t20 debacle against sri lanka.
Malik and Hafeez have proven to perform aswell

 

[aloo paratha]

The problem is our players are either 20 or 35, so they are either inexperienced or declining. Where are the players that are in their prime?

 

[Rayyman]

If he is speaking of the LO team then he is right, but the Test match squads have been ridiculous.

 

[Energy]

Political merchant is back at it. The guy is not fit for the pace of modern cricket, and needs to be replaced as quickly as possible. Young team, lol.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

He is full on trying to save his job.

After destroying Zimbabwe full chest thumping mode will be on. Misbah will tell how settled and great T20 side they are.

No progression, nothing. Just survival mode.

 

[Kaddy]

Someone needs to inform him that we are not playing too many ODis before 2023 world cup. So he should start building the team for next WC from this series.

Ok there is no need to change the whole squad but at least he should give chances to 2 or 3 young players (preferably in their mid-twenties) and groom them for the world cup.

Personally I would like to see a new middle order batman and a new spinner in our ODi team in this series.

 

[BreadPakoda]

Hafeez and Wahab are critical and in top form. Shouldn’t be dropped. Malik was crucial till a year back, he can still make a comeback.

 

[Shaka81]

Misbah and his love for "experienced" players.... expect a couple of more over 35 picked and players in their 20s dropped. Throw in a few teenagers and claim it's a young squad on average...
Misbah and his pals are happy. The only losers Pakistani cricket and it's future.

 

[Saj]

Misbah and co. got some direct feedback regarding not giving youngsters a chance in England and yet he's come up with this.

Worrying comments.

 

[Kroll]

Someone needs to inform him that we are not playing too many ODis before 2023 world cup. So he should start building the team for next WC from this series.

Ok there is no need to change the whole squad but at least he should give chances to 2 or 3 young players (preferably in their mid-twenties) and groom them for the world cup.

Personally I would like to see a new middle order batman and a new spinner in our ODi team in this series.

Exactly!

The road to the WC in India may seem a while away but if we don't start planning now, we will see the same debacles of the previous campaigns if not worse.

Misbah is only paying lip service in order to keep the public satisfied with his statements and thereby retaining his budday pals in the team.

Luckily more and more people are seeing right through his lies and deceit.

 

[Titan24]

A lot of us saw it coming and we haven't been wrong. Misbah isn't the saviour he's made out to be. Pak cricket would have survived with or without Misbah post spot fixing scandal.

Well to be honest I never said he was some sort of saviour. I usually prefer to see how people go about their job in terms or decision making and other aspects before judging them and that was the thing I always said at the start as well when he was appointed. It’s easier to right people of straight away but I prefer patience to take a certain stance especially when someone is in a new role.

Thing is people do change and learn from their mistakes over time so its always better to give someone time in a new role before forming an opinion. I havent been too impressed whatever I have seen till now. Lets see how he goes from here.

 

[Titan24]

“The Pakistan team is already composed of young players,” he said. “It had lost two senior players right after the World Cup.

Well he did say team lost two senior players from ODIs so there is that.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Well he did say team lost two senior players from ODIs so there is that.

Never doubt the commitment of Hafeez and Malik to play for their country

 

[Kroll]

Lets see how he goes from here.

Let's not. A year of utter buffoonery is enough for me.

I'm not here to change your views as everyone will have their own POV and this needs to be respected.

However, my guess is you've been brought up watching Pak cricket the most during the last decade and as result are more tolerant to the mediocrity we're witnessing.

Accepting and embracing mediocrity may be the way to go though as long as Misbah is still at the helm.

 

[coy0607]

Misbah, please stay quiet. Every time you open your mouth you embarrass yourself

In the recent England tour, both Pakistani Test and T20 teams average age was older than the England team's

 

[Zaz]

Throw in a couple of 18yr olds with some 40yr olds Hey presto you have a young squad

 

[El Generico]

Misbah is right. the team's bowling line up is young. Malik and Hafeez are needed after the t20 debacle against sri lanka.
Malik and Hafeez have proven to perform aswell

The debacle where Msibah picked Shahzad and Akmal? I mean picking Hafeez and Malik would have been justified if young players failed against SL but in reality it was “seniors” like Akmal and Shahzad that let the team down.

 

[moghul]

What a shameless person.

He is beyond shameless.

 

[angrypathan]

Please get rid of this shameless conman.

 

[MMHS]

I think, it’s about his perception- Misbah himself was a late bloomer and cemented his place at official 35+, and he is totally clueless regarding the appropriate age band for a player to be called young. Otherwise, he can’t be be this deluded - I believe what he is saying, he believes that.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

We haven't played ODI's in more than a year I guess, so I don't really know how the ODI team would look like. Would prefer Wahab and maybe Amir to be benched though and let Shaheen lead the attack.

 

[Bigboii]

Someone needs to inform him that we are not playing too many ODis before 2023 world cup. So he should start building the team for next WC from this series.

Ok there is no need to change the whole squad but at least he should give chances to 2 or 3 young players (preferably in their mid-twenties) and groom them for the world cup.

Personally I would like to see a new middle order batman and a new spinner in our ODi team in this series.

from know on we should add this when we are talking about experimenting with young players

 

[GreenKhan]

Misbah is getting unnecessary slack in my opinion. He’s introduced youngsters with out trying to harm the core to much . He has also tried out players who have been knocking on the door for selection . From the top of my head.

Test matches -
Musa Khan
Naseem shah
Fawad Alam ( he had to be given a chance by someone )
Iftikhar Ahmed
Mohammad Rizwan

The above either are young or were on the fringes of selection without actually getting picked previously .

T20s
Khushdil shah
Haider Ali
Naseem shah
Usman qadir-
Iftikhar

It’s fair to say the above names have performed with mixed results but there are quite a few youngsters their.

Obviously against Zimbabwe it’s good to try out players but it has to be done with causing to much disruption to the team as even a solitary loss in any match against them will be considered catastrophic .

 

[Gullycricket]

So now we are supposed to fear Zimbabwe too. We are so scared of losing.

 

[shamaan]

Misbah is getting unnecessary slack in my opinion. He’s introduced youngsters with out trying to harm the core to much . He has also tried out players who have been knocking on the door for selection . From the top of my head.

Test matches -
Musa Khan
Naseem shah
Fawad Alam ( he had to be given a chance by someone )
Iftikhar Ahmed
Mohammad Rizwan

The above either are young or were on the fringes of selection without actually getting picked previously .

T20s
Khushdil shah
Haider Ali
Naseem shah
Usman qadir-
Iftikhar

It’s fair to say the above names have performed with mixed results but there are quite a few youngsters their.

Obviously against Zimbabwe it’s good to try out players but it has to be done with causing to much disruption to the team as even a solitary loss in any match against them will be considered catastrophic .

What has musa naseem done to knock on the door.
Fawad is really young same with iftikhar.

 

[Mamoon]

Pakistan went with three young fast bowlers in Australia and two young fast bowlers in England and they failed with flying colors.

Prior to the England series, we were told that Naseem Shah will blow England away and end up as the top wicket-taker.

We were also told that the two Shahs will bring back memories of the two Ws from the 92 series in England.

I can guarantee that if Misbah had picked the likes of Imran and Sohail in the playing XI over Naseem or Shaheen or both, our fans would have bashed him like no tomorrow and would have told me a gazillion times that if Misbah didn’t favor oldies and would have picked Naseem and Shaheen, we would have won the series.

That is the problem with Pakistani fans. They are not willing to accept that we are not good enough and most of our young players are rubbish.

Our best batsman in the T20 series was a 40 year old Hafeez and if we had gone with some hyped youngster instead of him, we would have lost the series 2-0.

Regardless of Misbah’s credentials as coach and selectors, what I love about him is that he is not feeding our delusions in his press conferences like Mickey who knew how to make gullible and deluded Pakistani fans happy and excited with his we are a proud team and we hate losing drama and every young player reminds me of some foreign legend etc.

Misbah continues to tell us uncomfortable truths and bitter facts we do not want to here. Over the last month, he has given Pakistani fans the following reality-checks by directly and indirectly stating that we are not good enough as a team to beat the likes of England, we are not overflying with young talent and we are actually playing a good number of young/new players.

All of these are proper facts that our fans do not want to hear.

I really hope he continues like this and doesn’t buckle under pressure like Mickey who was quite honest in his pressers early on but then quickly learned to sell dummies and excite Pakistani fans with sweet words.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

I think, it’s about his perception- Misbah himself was a late bloomer and cemented his place at official 35+, and he is totally clueless regarding the appropriate age band for a player to be called young. Otherwise, he can’t be be this deluded - I believe what he is saying, he believes that.

Saeed Ajmal was a late bloomer too, debuting at 30, and he has seen Afridi, Younis, Hafeez, Malik all push the playing age limit to 40. Before that there was Imran, Wasim, Miandad who all retired very late.

In the Pakistan system, 30 years old means you have at least 8 years left in you. So yes, Misbah is definitely deluded in perception to the extent that he doesn’t realize the shocking nature of his attitude.

 

[naseem]

Saeed Ajmal was a late bloomer too, debuting at 30, and he has seen Afridi, Younis, Hafeez, Malik all push the playing age limit to 40. Before that there was Imran, Wasim, Miandad who all retired very late.

In the Pakistan system, 30 years old means you have at least 8 years left in you. So yes, Misbah is definitely deluded in perception to the extent that he doesn’t realize the shocking nature of his attitude.

The sooner Misbah is gone the better the team selection and results will Imran khan won't let him a free ride

 

[Gullycricket]

Pakistan went with three young fast bowlers in Australia and two young fast bowlers in England and they failed with flying colors.

Prior to the England series, we were told that Naseem Shah will blow England away and end up as the top wicket-taker.

We were also told that the two Shahs will bring back memories of the two Ws from the 92 series in England.

I can guarantee that if Misbah had picked the likes of Imran and Sohail in the playing XI over Naseem or Shaheen or both, our fans would have bashed him like no tomorrow and would have told me a gazillion times that if Misbah didn’t favor oldies and would have picked Naseem and Shaheen, we would have won the series.

That is the problem with Pakistani fans. They are not willing to accept that we are not good enough and most of our young players are rubbish.

Our best batsman in the T20 series was a 40 year old Hafeez and if we had gone with some hyped youngster instead of him, we would have lost the series 2-0.

Regardless of Misbah’s credentials as coach and selectors, what I love about him is that he is not feeding our delusions in his press conferences like Mickey who knew how to make gullible and deluded Pakistani fans happy and excited with his we are a proud team and we hate losing drama and every young player reminds me of some foreign legend etc.

Misbah continues to tell us uncomfortable truths and bitter facts we do not want to here. Over the last month, he has given Pakistani fans the following reality-checks by directly and indirectly stating that we are not good enough as a team to beat the likes of England, we are not overflying with young talent and we are actually playing a good number of young/new players.

All of these are proper facts that our fans do not want to hear.

I really hope he continues like this and doesn’t buckle under pressure like Mickey who was quite honest in his pressers early on but then quickly learned to sell dummies and excite Pakistani fans with sweet words.

Misbah is a loser if he accepting things as it is and not trying to induce change. Arthur knew it deep down but still he kept giving confidence to players. We got lots of talented youngsters groomed under him. We won CT, topped T20 rankings and were upwards in ODI's barely missing semis in WC. Tell me is it a coincidence that we are now struggling with pathetic Misbah and are on downwards spiral. Talk when Misbah achieves anything noteworthy. I still believe despite all faults Mickey Inzi combo was best

 

[Mamoon]

Misbah is a loser if he accepting things as it is and not trying to induce change. Arthur knew it deep down but still he kept giving confidence to players. We got lots of talented youngsters groomed under him. We won CT, topped T20 rankings and were upwards in ODI's barely missing semis in WC. Tell me is it a coincidence that we are now struggling with pathetic Misbah and are on downwards spiral. Talk when Misbah achieves anything noteworthy. I still believe despite all faults Mickey Inzi combo was best

Mickey got lucky with the fluke Champions Trophy but it was all downhill since then. We got smashed 5-0 in New Zealand few months after the Champions Trophy, and we were also humiliated in the Asia Cup.

Leading into the World Cup, we lost 12 matches on the trot and 21 defeats in 25 matches overall. Is this what you call upward trend?

And finishing 5th in a 10 team World Cup is not an achievement, especially with a pathetic NRR.

The 2019 World Cup came 3 years into Mickey’s tenure and it was a real test of his 3 years of coaching, and our campaign basically ended after the first game when we were dismissed by West Indies for a 100 runs.

Mickey was a monumental failure and couldn’t even win Tests in UAE.

That fake T20 ranking was meaningless. The only reason we were number 1 was because we beat underpowered teams and more importantly, didn’t face India.

India would have demolished us and it would have been a bigger and more embarrassing reality check than the 2018 Asia Cup, where they thrashed us twice without Kohli.

Misbah might or might not be a loser, but it does not change the fact that Mickey certainly was. He was all talk and no show.

 

[naseem]

Mickey was a mixed package ......once his support ing staff gone esp the fielding staffs........the fielding came crashing down.....and the level of superstardom the likes of Hasan Ali shadab Faheem engulfed themselves in......is embarrassing........giving up on hardowrk only showing off in field......Sarfraz barking from behind...as if he is Imran Khan's reincarnation......... Poor Mickey can't do anything........still there are many deluded players who enjoy fake stardom.........shadab Imad Rauf.......as if they have conquered the world.........the quickly they are brought to ground the better

 

[Shafi]

Even Weaker Zimbabwe has courage to play 3-4 new players but under Misbah there may be 1~2 players.
I bet if Singapore U-19 team comes, Misbah will still play our first choice team. This guy is nothing but coward and cunning at the same time.
He is preparing himself for NZ whitewash excuse.

 

[Shafi]

The sooner Misbah is gone the better the team selection and results will Imran khan won't let him a free ride

Misbah still has 2 more years without another extension (3 years)

 

[Shafi]

Mickey got lucky with the fluke Champions Trophy but it was all downhill since then. We got smashed 5-0 in New Zealand few months after the Champions Trophy, and we were also humiliated in the Asia Cup.

Leading into the World Cup, we lost 12 matches on the trot and 21 defeats in 25 matches overall. Is this what you call upward trend?

And finishing 5th in a 10 team World Cup is not an achievement, especially with a pathetic NRR.

The 2019 World Cup came 3 years into Mickey’s tenure and it was a real test of his 3 years of coaching, and our campaign basically ended after the first game when we were dismissed by West Indies for a 100 runs.

Mickey was a monumental failure and couldn’t even win Tests in UAE.

That fake T20 ranking was meaningless. The only reason we were number 1 was because we beat underpowered teams and more importantly, didn’t face India.

India would have demolished us and it would have been a bigger and more embarrassing reality check than the 2018 Asia Cup, where they thrashed us twice without Kohli.

Misbah might or might not be a loser, but it does not change the fact that Mickey certainly was. He was all talk and no show.

Then what you will call 1992 World Cup win? We were far better team than 1992 in 2017.

 

[Mamoon]

Then what you will call 1992 World Cup win? We were far better team than 1992 in 2017.

That was also a fluke.

Our only genuine and clean trophy is the 2009 WT20.

 

[Hawkeye]

Misbah is getting unnecessary slack in my opinion. He’s introduced youngsters with out trying to harm the core to much . He has also tried out players who have been knocking on the door for selection . From the top of my head.

Test matches -
Musa Khan
Naseem shah
Fawad Alam ( he had to be given a chance by someone )
Iftikhar Ahmed
Mohammad Rizwan

The above either are young or were on the fringes of selection without actually getting picked previously .

T20s
Khushdil shah
Haider Ali
Naseem shah
Usman qadir-
Iftikhar

It’s fair to say the above names have performed with mixed results but there are quite a few youngsters their.

Obviously against Zimbabwe it’s good to try out players but it has to be done with causing to much disruption to the team as even a solitary loss in any match against them will be considered catastrophic .

Good post.

In fact, we have the most number of young players in a Pak team in decades.

Also, likely the youngest international cricket team on average age.

Yet, it was the SENIOR Hafeez who actually saved us. The guy who gets abused day and night by emotional posters, yet always performs specially in T20s, the last few years.

All youngsters have been failing, but I love Misbah that he backs them.

He's built the youngest squad on average age and the youngest in decades too when it comes to Pak cricket.

He also doesn't sugar coat things and tells them as is.

This young crop, at least some of them will build a foundation in later years for us.

 

[Hawkeye]

Pakistan went with three young fast bowlers in Australia and two young fast bowlers in England and they failed with flying colors.

Prior to the England series, we were told that Naseem Shah will blow England away and end up as the top wicket-taker.

We were also told that the two Shahs will bring back memories of the two Ws from the 92 series in England.

I can guarantee that if Misbah had picked the likes of Imran and Sohail in the playing XI over Naseem or Shaheen or both, our fans would have bashed him like no tomorrow and would have told me a gazillion times that if Misbah didn’t favor oldies and would have picked Naseem and Shaheen, we would have won the series.

That is the problem with Pakistani fans. They are not willing to accept that we are not good enough and most of our young players are rubbish.

Our best batsman in the T20 series was a 40 year old Hafeez and if we had gone with some hyped youngster instead of him, we would have lost the series 2-0.

Regardless of Misbah’s credentials as coach and selectors, what I love about him is that he is not feeding our delusions in his press conferences like Mickey who knew how to make gullible and deluded Pakistani fans happy and excited with his we are a proud team and we hate losing drama and every young player reminds me of some foreign legend etc.

Misbah continues to tell us uncomfortable truths and bitter facts we do not want to here. Over the last month, he has given Pakistani fans the following reality-checks by directly and indirectly stating that we are not good enough as a team to beat the likes of England, we are not overflying with young talent and we are actually playing a good number of young/new players.

All of these are proper facts that our fans do not want to hear.

I really hope he continues like this and doesn’t buckle under pressure like Mickey who was quite honest in his pressers early on but then quickly learned to sell dummies and excite Pakistani fans with sweet words.

Yes.

But

On facts, he actually has inducted probably the most number of youngsters in decades.

And these emotional posters here still come up with new names daily and want the new young players to be replaced by their favorite youngster beauties after every other series.

Like, no logic no thought.

They hype one player to the moon. He gets picked up by Misbah. Fails. Then they start abusing Misbah to bring the next youngsta beauty they've started hyping up.

Cycle goes on.

 

[Shafi]

Yes.

But

On facts, he actually has inducted probably the most number of youngsters in decades.

And these emotional posters here still come up with new names daily and want the new young players to be replaced by their favorite youngster beauties after every other series.

Like, no logic no thought.

They hype one player to the moon. He gets picked up by Misbah. Fails. Then they start abusing Misbah to bring the next youngsta beauty they've started hyping up.

Cycle goes on.

Out if nowhere Misbah bought promising youngsters U Akmal, A Shehzad and Imran Khan.

 

[Hadi Rizvi]

Yeh kya aadmi hai yaar. I feel like tearing my goddamn hair out.

IF YOU DON'T EXPERIMENT AGAINST ZIMBABWE, THEN WHO DO YOU EXPERIMENT AGAINST? ANTARCTICA!?!?!?

I so want to back the team and be positive but statements like this make me want to choke Misbah.

What a curse on the team

I feel like we all should be mentally prepared for whitewashes against NZ and SA very soon.
This combo of Misbah and Waqar is going to take us into the qualifiers for the WC.
Can't bear to even listen these two now.

 

[Mamoon]

Misbah is aware of the following facts:

- Zimbabwe is one of the 2/3 teams we are good enough to beat.

- most of our young players are nothing more than products of overhyping. They are poor cricketers.

Hence, why would Misbah shoot himself in the foot and take a risk? If he loses a single match with the new team, everyone would blame him and not the young players who would end up failing.

Misbah is forever the punching bag. He picked Naseem Shah against England who got owned and he is still getting criticized.

Had he picked Imran or Sohail instead of Naseem, he would then have faced criticism for favoring oldies and the gullible, deluded fans would be telling us all day long that Naseem would have won the series for us.

Misbah will not pick whoever is the latest flavor of the month on PP. He will pick the players that he knows will win the series for us.

So expect the usual faces.

 

[Mamoon]

Yeh kya aadmi hai yaar. I feel like tearing my goddamn hair out.

IF YOU DON'T EXPERIMENT AGAINST ZIMBABWE, THEN WHO DO YOU EXPERIMENT AGAINST? ANTARCTICA!?!?!?

I so want to back the team and be positive but statements like this make me want to choke Misbah.

What a curse on the team

I feel like we all should be mentally prepared for whitewashes against NZ and SA very soon.
This combo of Misbah and Waqar is going to take us into the qualifiers for the WC.
Can't bear to even listen these two now.

Big teams experiment against minnows. Small teams don’t. Misbah is the coach/selector of a small team.

 

[Shafi]

Big teams experiment against minnows. Small teams don’t. Misbah is the coach/selector of a small team.

So you think If we play 4-5 new players ZImbabwe will win the series? Even Bangladesh rested atleast 4 players.
Most likely Zim will rest 3-4 new players where we may play 1~2. So who is bigger? Zim or us?

 

[Shafi]

^^^ I mean Zimbabwe can field 3-4 new players

 

[Titan24]

Let's not. A year of utter buffoonery is enough for me.

I'm not here to change your views as everyone will have their own POV and this needs to be respected.

However, my guess is you've been brought up watching Pak cricket the most during the last decade and as result are more tolerant to the mediocrity we're witnessing.

Accepting and embracing mediocrity may be the way to go though as long as Misbah is still at the helm.

I dont want mediocrity but then Misbah was awarded a contract for 3 years, terminating that would mean paying in full and hiring a new coach. Also not to forget that would mean PCB is taking a side way step from their original decision which takes a big heart for any CEO or organization to accept. Yes it can happen but, I think Misbah is gonna be there for sometime while PCB hopes he turns thing around.

At the same time I believe national team performances are really important so if there are costs associated with a decision which turned out to be not great till now, PCB should accept it. Misbah definitely hasnt lived upto the talks he had with Wasim and Wasim Khan isnt too happy, NZ tour and home series vs SA will be really important I think.

 

[MenInG]

Pakistan will look to try out few combinations but won’t experiment too much in the ODI home series against Zimbabwe as it is part of ICC’s one-day Super league, the qualification process for the 2023 World Cup, said head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq.

The home series against Zimbabwe will consist of three ODIs and three T20 Internationals beginning with the first one-dayer in Multan on October 30. It will be followed by the second and third ODI on November 1 and 3 respectively.

“We are very excited to be playing our first ODI series after more than a year at home and we will try a combination of experienced and young players but we don’t intend to experiment too much,” Misbah said.

The former Pakistan captain noted that the national team had not played any 50-over games for one year now and it was important to have a good series against Zimbabwe.

Pakistan’s last ODI series was against Sri Lanka at home in October, 2019 and it was also scheduled to play a lone ODI against Bangladesh in April in Karachi but that match was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have to keep in mind that the points at stake in the series against Zimbabwe will count towards the 2023 World Cup qualification process so the coming series not only gives us a chance to get points but also start trying out different combinations for the next World Cup,” Misbah said.

“The idea is we start building a good combination with good reserve players from the Zimbabwe series onwards leading to the 2023 World Cup.”

The Zimbabwean team which reaches Islamabad next month will also play three T20 matches against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on November 7, 8 and 10.

Misbah said if South Africa tours in January it will be another great opportunity to work on the next World Cup.

He admitted that after winning the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017 the Pakistan team has seen a slide in 50-over format and this needs to be reversed.

“We need to start improving our rankings keeping in mind the qualification process for the World Cup.”

He said all the 21 players, who returned home after the tour to England, had undergone COVID-19 tests and came negative and had been cleared to play for their respective teams in the National T20 Championship which kicks off in Multan from September 30 before moving to Rawalpindi from October 9.

https://www.insidesport.co/cricket-...-experiment-too-much-against-zimbabwe-misbah/

 

[Savak]

Lol Misbah as captain played a full strength 11 against Zimbabwe and lost an ODI and a test match against them.

He is not going to change, once a panoti always a panoti

 

[Shafi]

Misbah may recall Kamran, Butt and Shehzad.

 

[Shafi]

Lol Misbah as captain played a full strength 11 against Zimbabwe and lost an ODI and a test match against them.

He is not going to change, once a panoti always a panoti

Zimbabwe series will be a shield for Misbah after NZ and SA series.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Going by Misbah’s statement, he will definitely play the youngsters already in the squad. Haider, Khushdil will get a place. Imam will play as he has been inactive for a year. Babar will play as he needs to be developed as captain. Rizwan will play as he is still developing. I expect Rizwan to get a chance in the top 4 to test new combinations. Same for Shadab. I do expect Shaheen to be rested. I expect Hasnain, Rauf, and Shinwari to get games. This is my expected playing XI:

1. Imam ul Haq
2. Haider Ali
3. Mohammad Rizwan (wk)
4. Shadab Khan
5. Babar Azam (c)
6. Khushdil Shah
7. Imad Wasim
8. Iftikhar Ahmed
9. Mohammad Hasnain
10. Haris Rauf
11. Usman Shinwari

This is my best guess, consisting of players who are already in and around the squad. I doubt any youngster will get a callup from domestics unless they have a spectacular National T20 tournament and PSL playoffs.

 

[Shafi]

Going by Misbah’s statement, he will definitely play the youngsters already in the squad. Haider, Khushdil will get a place. Imam will play as he has been inactive for a year. Babar will play as he needs to be developed as captain. Rizwan will play as he is still developing. I expect Rizwan to get a chance in the top 4 to test new combinations. Same for Shadab. I do expect Shaheen to be rested. I expect Hasnain, Rauf, and Shinwari to get games. This is my expected playing XI:

1. Imam ul Haq
2. Haider Ali
3. Mohammad Rizwan (wk)
4. Shadab Khan
5. Babar Azam (c)
6. Khushdil Shah
7. Imad Wasim
8. Iftikhar Ahmed
9. Mohammad Hasnain
10. Haris Rauf
11. Usman Shinwari

This is my best guess, consisting of players who are already in and around the squad. I doubt any youngster will get a callup from domestics unless they have a spectacular National T20 tournament and PSL playoffs.

Exactly under Misbah you cannot even expect 2 new players against the weakest team.

 

[Markhor]

This youngsters vs seniors debate is tiresome. Misbah's problem isn't that he backs too many seniors or too few youngsters - his problem is selecting the WRONG players to begin with. Let's go through Misbah's biggest selection errors. The first was recalling Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad who've spurned countless opportunities.

But by the same token, Misbah then selected an unproven Musa Khan to tour Australia simply on the basis he could bowl quick, despite poor FC performances where he was conceding at 4 RPO, and got belted.

He selects Naseem Shah, whose selection was clamoured for by most fans, despite Naseem playing just four QEA games and is yet to learn his craft or develop the art of setting up batsmen. Both were taken to Australia and England, when someone like Sameen Gul with more red ball experience under his belt was available.

Now true, Misbah selects as backups Imran Khan and Sohail Khan. The same 33 year old Imran Khan who last time we saw him in Test cricket in 2017, David Warner treated him like a gully bowler, and 36 year old Sohail Khan, who needs an oxygen tank after his first spell. Both averaged 50 and 40 respectively in last season's QEA Trophy.

He selects 35 year old Fawad Alam, who should've gotten a run in Test cricket at least 10 years ago, and persists with Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq while the primes of Usman Salahuddin and Saud Shakeel are wasted. And he selects Kashif Bhatti when Zafar Gohar and Sajid Khan are much younger and can serve Pakistan cricket for a vastly longer period. Yet Misbah also selects Shadab Khan, a kid who hasn't even learnt the basics of red ball bowling.

What these examples prove is Misbah either veers between two extremes - selecting raw kids to appease one lobby, and selecting seniors to appease another lobby. Meanwhile he ignores proven domestic cricketers in their prime between 22-30. That happens when you've no understanding of data, analytics and how to build a successful team which not just Misbah, but is true of practically most of Pakistan's ex-cricketers and pundits.

 

[zeeshanarif1981]

Haha. Besharam insan ko coach bana dia. Bhugto abb sari qoom isey

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Expect nothing from this guy... Such a chicken this guy is.

He will add yasir shah and bilal asif into the team for a more spin option... He will select a spin heavy team with all the oldies.. and win matches very comprehensively making no match against them ...

India can send a team to Asia cup without Kohli under Rohits captaincy and defeat pakistan by 9 wickets and 8 wickets... This guy cant try out new players at home against Zimbabwe, shows how much trust he has on his players and himself ... Gutless individual....

 

[shamaan]

I would go

Sharjeel
Imaam
Babar
Haider ali
Rizwan
Khushdil
Rizwan
Shadab
Husnain
Rauf
Shinwari

But I expect haider to 0pen and imad to play and sharjeel not in the squad

 

[Energy]

Eagerly waiting to see these earth shattering 'combinations' that blend seniors and juniors together like nirvana.

This day and age in a modern sport, the guy is fussed with a senior junior mentality rather than merit or demand of the game. Ridiculous.

 

[Bewal Express]

This youngsters vs seniors debate is tiresome. Misbah's problem isn't that he backs too many seniors or too few youngsters - his problem is selecting the WRONG players to begin with. Let's go through Misbah's biggest selection errors. The first was recalling Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad who've spurned countless opportunities.

But by the same token, Misbah then selected an unproven Musa Khan to tour Australia simply on the basis he could bowl quick, despite poor FC performances where he was conceding at 4 RPO, and got belted.

He selects Naseem Shah, whose selection was clamoured for by most fans, despite Naseem playing just four QEA games and is yet to learn his craft or develop the art of setting up batsmen. Both were taken to Australia and England, when someone like Sameen Gul with more red ball experience under his belt was available.

Now true, Misbah selects as backups Imran Khan and Sohail Khan. The same 33 year old Imran Khan who last time we saw him in Test cricket in 2017, David Warner treated him like a gully bowler, and 36 year old Sohail Khan, who needs an oxygen tank after his first spell. Both averaged 50 and 40 respectively in last season's QEA Trophy.

He selects 35 year old Fawad Alam, who should've gotten a run in Test cricket at least 10 years ago, and persists with Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq while the primes of Usman Salahuddin and Saud Shakeel are wasted. And he selects Kashif Bhatti when Zafar Gohar and Sajid Khan are much younger and can serve Pakistan cricket for a vastly longer period. Yet Misbah also selects Shadab Khan, a kid who hasn't even learnt the basics of red ball bowling.

What these examples prove is Misbah either veers between two extremes - selecting raw kids to appease one lobby, and selecting seniors to appease another lobby. Meanwhile he ignores proven domestic cricketers in their prime between 22-30. That happens when you've no understanding of data, analytics and how to build a successful team which not just Misbah, but is true of practically most of Pakistan's ex-cricketers and pundits.

The reason fans clamoured for Naseem was because there isn't any decent bowlers and was and remains the best option. I have no problems with his bowling choices but his choice of crap experienced players like AA and AS is not doing anything for the team.

 

[Zaz]

Why would you pick 35 yr olds to sit on the bench? Surely the team needs good fc middling 25 yr olds who can break in and potentially own a position for the next 5-7 yrs not players that should be on the verge of retirement?

 

[iniqbal223]

When someone does not get selected on merit, then he is always on his job savings mode.. If tomorrow , our TV journey say don't select seniors , he will throw them under the bus . Most selfish cricketer to have served

 

[Shoaibbtt]

At least you know now what 90% were saying in regards to this awful person. Doesn't even want to try new players against Zimbabwe. Pathetic to say the least.

Exactly it should be full of youngsters with say perhaps one senior and that senior being say Hafeez for t20s and Sohail for Odi.

 

[Kroll]

Misbah will be annoyed that there simply isn't enough old has-beens he can stuff into the ODI team.

He's probably looking at how he could integrate Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Kashif Bhatti, Imran Khan snr and Sohail Khan etc into the team.

 

[Kaddy]

Does anyone know.....
Has Mohammad Hafeez retired from ODis?

Shoaib Malik officially retired after world cup. But I didn't see any such announcement from Hafeez.

Or we may see his comeback against Zimbabwe......

 

[Rayyman]

Does anyone know.....
Has Mohammad Hafeez retired from ODis?

Shoaib Malik officially retired after world cup. But I didn't see any such announcement from Hafeez.

Or we may see his comeback against Zimbabwe......

Oh gawd u might be right

This quote from the op scares the hell outta me-
“[In fact], we might change a thing or two to make the team even stronger.”

 

[ammar_merry]

Does anyone know.....
Has Mohammad Hafeez retired from ODis?

Shoaib Malik officially retired after world cup. But I didn't see any such announcement from Hafeez.

Or we may see his comeback against Zimbabwe......

Not retired

 

[Shafi]

Does anyone know.....
Has Mohammad Hafeez retired from ODis?

Shoaib Malik officially retired after world cup. But I didn't see any such announcement from Hafeez.

Or we may see his comeback against Zimbabwe......

Oh gawd u might be right

This quote from the op scares the hell outta me-
“[In fact], we might change a thing or two to make the team even stronger.”

Not retired

Shoaib Malik and Azhar Ali have retired from ODI and Hafeez has retired from test
But things can change since Misbah is a head coach and he can order them to cancel the retirement.