4 years on - the lack of planning to replace Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq

[daytrader]

Yes, what is Misbah’s excuse?

Because Umar Akmal hit centuries in the last two QEA domestic First Class finals.

Lol there's no winning with you as you made up your mind and will just use another selective stat to further your agenda.

Anyways I will try with the same logic you used earlier in terms of the failure and pass rates and apply it to FC cricket. Maybe if I speak your language you might understand. I'm considering a pass performance to be either a century or half century.

Umar has played 177 innings. His pass rate is 32%
Misbah has played 399 innings. His pass rate is 36%

Now you might comeback with that this is a small margin. But keep in mind Misbah has played 222 more innings.That's more than double the career of Umar and I seriously doubt Umar can keep up those numbers if he could even play for that long. He doesn't have the testament, the fitness or the work ethic. Plus your favouritr argument, he woild also decline with age

 

[daytrader]

Anyone that knows cricket knows Umar Akmal had loads of talent that he never fully utilized due to his lack of brains. His celling was much higher than Misbah. Which is why Misbah failed to score many big daddy hundreds. I'll go as far as to say that Misbah the batsmen is overrated by some fans.

Anyone that follows cricket would compare apples to apples and would know that Misbah was kept out of the national setup when he was of prime age and form. Lets apply the same 'what if' logic and try to understand that if he played during those wasted years his numbers would've been even better. You guys are comparing a 20 year old guy's numbers to someone that was 37 when he cemented his place in the national team. The 37 year old guy still performed better

 

[Saj]

Misbah was on a different level to Umar Akmal as a Test batsman.

Ask Shane Bond, or Mitchell Johnson.

Misbah was at a vastly INFERIOR level to Umar Akmal.

That’s why he kept being dropped in series which Umar Akmal played through (viz Third Test in Australia, 2010).

The thing is, Misbah padded his average by playing on dead bounceless wickets in the UAE and against a school-quality West Indies attack.

Whereas Umar Akmal only ever played 1 Test in Asia.

Can you show me the quotes where Johnson and Bond have said Umar Akmal was a better Test batsman than Misbah?

 

[Cric1234]

It's test cricket not LOIs, strike rates are secondary. Primary goal is to score lots of runs and occupy the crease for a long period.

And yes Haris and Fawad are also better test batters

No they are not Umar is definitely a better test batsman than Haris and Fawad after Younis our best test batsman in the last decade unfortunately he hasn’t been backed while others have.

 

[Cric1234]

Anyone that follows cricket would compare apples to apples and would know that Misbah was kept out of the national setup when he was of prime age and form. Lets apply the same 'what if' logic and try to understand that if he played during those wasted years his numbers would've been even better. You guys are comparing a 20 year old guy's numbers to someone that was 37 when he cemented his place in the national team. The 37 year old guy still performed better

While it is true Misbah came late to the test scene was up against Younis Inzimam and Yousuf before he played a decent number of matches in favourable conditions where he blocked the fast bowlers and scored against spin negating his slower reflexes.

More matches outside Asia would’ve seen his average drop below 45 he’s a bit better version of Azhar Ali as a test batsman.

 

[topspin]

Babar and Haris were earmarked as their replacements and they were immediately drafted in the playing XI.

However, Babar has proved to be an extremely overrated player who is weak player of spin and also lacks temperament. He is not the world, class champion batsman that Pakistani fans think.

Haris is a more refined Test player than Babar but he does not have the fitness to last in this format.

Azhar hit a purple patch in 2016-17 and he was expected to take the mantle from Younis and establish himself as a match-winning Test batsman, but his form deteriorated alarmingly between 2018 and 2020.

Shafiq remained the same batsman with or without those two, but his inconsistency became a greater talking point because he was no longer able to hide behind Younis and Misbah.

Perhaps Fawad should have played every Test after their retirement. He is now too old and on his last legs, but his presence in the middle-order could have prevented those humiliating series defeats to Sri Lanka and New Zealand in the UAE in 2018.

Younis and Misbah should not be grouped together. Although Misbah was a very solid Test batsman who rarely got out cheaply, he did not have the ability to score big hundreds and double-hundreds like Younis.

Misbah the Test batsman was and is easily replaceable, but Pakistan is clearly struggling to replace the 50+ average batting of Younis and the concentration levels, fitness and skill against spin bowling to score those big hundreds and double-hundreds.

Bang on here.

It is disrespectful and quite frankly insulting to Younis that certain Pakistan fans have grouped the him with a very limited batsman like Misbah under the "MisYou" tag.

Younis was levels above Misbah as a batsman.

Younis

 

[Saj]

No they are not Umar is definitely a better test batsman than Haris and Fawad after Younis our best test batsman in the last decade unfortunately he hasn’t been backed while others have.

Umar Akmal played only 16 Tests and averaged 35, with just one hundred.

Hardly anything to write home about.

 

[Cric1234]

Umar Akmal played only 16 Tests and averaged 35, with just one hundred.

Hardly anything to write home about.

While it doesn’t look great the record can be explained only 1 innings in home conditions where he made only 4 but it’s just one innings.

His record in Aus NZ Eng and WI is decent average of 38 for a young new to international cricket batsman is fine how many currently do better it’s a better cumulative average than Misbah in those 4 countries.

To build an average of 45-50 he needed to play in UAE and Asia he should’ve been given at least 20 matches in these more familiar conditions.

 

[Junaids]

Umar Akmal played only 16 Tests and averaged 35, with just one hundred.

Hardly anything to write home about.

His record after 16 Tests was better than Babar Azam.

And he never played again, even though he was only 21.

 

[Arsal_AK]

We have already replaced Misbah. Fawad, Rizwan and Babar all are doing a better if not equally good job of getting such scores. Azhar does a similar job as well.

We are yet to find a replacement for YK and that is the problem. Someone who can get those big hundreds, make those huge stands. That is what's missing and Babar has all his work cut out for him, if he wants to be that batsman. These pretty little 100s and out are not going to cut it. Not to mention he is nowhere close when it comes to playing spin, no one is to be fair and that is a big worry.

 

[Saj]

His record after 16 Tests was better than Babar Azam.

And he never played again, even though he was only 21.

Why he never played is largely his own fault.

If he was more disciplined and professional then he would have had more chances.

In fact many would say he had too many chances.

 

[Junaids]

Why he never played is largely his own fault.

If he was more disciplined and professional then he would have had more chances.

In fact many would say he had too many chances.

LAST 13 AWAY TESTS - i.e. Umar Akmal's entire career
Misbah-ul-Haq: 767 runs at 34.86
Umar Akmal: 943 runs at 41.00

Why was Umar Akmal's career terminated aged 21 after 13 away Tests in which he averaged 41.00?

The answer is simple: a position had to be created to carry a Brearley-style captain who was a very mediocre batsman outside Asia but a capable diplomat.

 

[Junaids]

More to the point, during the span of those 13 Tests in which Umar Akmal scored 943 runs at an average of 41.00, Azhar Ali was only selected for 9 of those Tests, and scored 504 runs at an average of 31.94.

And Misbah was only selected for 9 of those 13 Tests too.

 

[Saj]

LAST 13 AWAY TESTS - i.e. Umar Akmal's entire career
Misbah-ul-Haq: 767 runs at 34.86
Umar Akmal: 943 runs at 41.00

Why was Umar Akmal's career terminated aged 21 after 13 away Tests in which he averaged 41.00?

The answer is simple: a position had to be created to carry a Brearley-style captain who was a very mediocre batsman outside Asia but a capable diplomat.

Forget the ifs, buts, maybes, whys.

Misbah overachieved as a batsman/professional.

Umar Akmal underachieved as a batsman/professional.

When Misbah was out there going into bat with the score at 20/3, Umar was most probably in trouble outside of cricket.

Umar has been his own worst enemy, I've told him that plenty of times.