Afghanistan vs Pakistan | 3rd ODI | Colombo | 26 August, 2023 | Pakistan innings

[MenInG]

Another win and Pakistan take the top ODI Ranking slot.

Stakes are high for this game so I wonder if Babar Azam and Co will look to retain their winning combo again?

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[sam_ahm]

Pakistan should look to play Saud Shakeel in this match ahead of iftikhar and probably look at playing Nawaz ahead of Usama Mir, although I don't know how exactly is Nawaz a better option than Imad but anyways.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Pakistan should look to play Saud Shakeel in this match ahead of iftikhar and probably look at playing Nawaz ahead of Usama Mir, although I don't know how exactly is Nawaz a better option than Imad but anyways.

yes i wil go with saud in place of iftikhar to bat at number 4 and bring rizwan to number 5 position. Nawaz for Usama Mir.

 

[mominsaigol]

Ideally pakistan should test the entire bench strength but hell will freeze over before that happens. Ik this won't happen but I'll type anyway.

1) Abdullah Shafique ( Rest fakhar and have management focus on his lack of confidence so far)

2) Imam ul haq

3) Babar Azam

4) Saud Shakeel (don't get why include him, if you're not giving this lad a chance to prove he's a worthy investment for World cup)

5) Tayyab Tahir ( Again don't know why he's a bench warmer)

6) Muhammad Haris ( rest Rizwan)

7) Muhammad Nawaz ( Rest usama)

8) Shadab Khan

9) Muhammad waseem ( Rest Naseem because naseem seemed tired yesterday and we need him at 100% for future games, I'd Rest him for the opening game with Nepal as well and have him return against india)

10) Haris Rauf ( He's a better bat then shaheen honestly)

11) Shaheen Shah afridi.

5 bowlers should be enough for one game.

Again ik this won't happen, management is too restrictive bit Ideally they should have fixed the middle order from the get go, but pak wants WINNING 11 every game. Won't be siprised if winning 11 makes an appearance today as well

 

[mominsaigol]

Can someone ask Inzimam if faheem is secretly related to him? Faheem seems to really enjoy free ridding and being a water boy.

 

[Firebat]

Shafique and M Haris are must-haves in this game.

 

[hitthestump]

Shafique and M Haris are must-haves in this game.

Who will they replace?

Babar tends to go with a winning combination and so close to the WC it makes sense. This is the most balanced and deserving XI we have. Giving them a run of games and subsequent confidence seems like the right thing to do.

 

[Firebat]

Who will they replace?

Babar tends to go with a winning combination and so close to the WC it makes sense. This is the most balanced and deserving XI we have. Giving them a run of games and subsequent confidence seems like the right thing to do.

The obvious answer is that I don't believe that this is the most balanced and deserving XI we have. If you are playing 2 frontline 10-over spinners in Usama and Shadab, as well as the 3 pacers, why do you need 2 all-rounders in Agha and Ifti? If the WC started tomorrow I'd take out one (Agha) and put in another proper batter like Shafique.

This XI has only taken the pitch for the first time in this series, Babar himself is still unsure of his best XI and is still testing team combinations. In the previous ODI series against NZ (which we won 4-1), the likes of Masood, Nawaz, Wasim, Shafique were regulars.

Since the middle order is still obviously fragile, the series is won and there's plenty of cricket to be played until the WC (thanks to Asia Cup), why not test a bit more to see if you can get the balance better?

 

[Cricket Warrior]

The straightforward point is that Babar doesn't want to make changes; he simply wants to stick with what he has and due to this, there might come a time when sudden changes will become necessary, and you'll be in search of your best combination.

 

[shamaan]

Pakistan should look to play Saud Shakeel in this match ahead of iftikhar and probably look at playing Nawaz ahead of Usama Mir, although I don't know how exactly is Nawaz a better option than Imad but anyways.

Nawaz we already know what he can and can't do so we should continue with Usama so then he has given enough opportunities.

 

[shamaan]

I would go with

Imaam
Fakhar
Babar
Tayyab Tahir
Rizwan
Agha
Shadab
Mir
Wasim Jnr
Shaheen
Rauf


Naseem Shah should be rested he looked exhausted after his bowling spell.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

I didn't find Usama Mir particularly effective, and his batting hasn't been noteworthy either. So, it might be better to replace him with Nawaz, who can at least contribute decently with the bat.

 

[hitthestump]

The obvious answer is that I don't believe that this is the most balanced and deserving XI we have. If you are playing 2 frontline 10-over spinners in Usama and Shadab, as well as the 3 pacers, why do you need 2 all-rounders in Agha and Ifti? If the WC started tomorrow I'd take out one (Agha) and put in another proper batter like Shafique.

This XI has only taken the pitch for the first time in this series, Babar himself is still unsure of his best XI and is still testing team combinations. In the previous ODI series against NZ (which we won 4-1), the likes of Masood, Nawaz, Wasim, Shafique were regulars.

Since the middle order is still obviously fragile, the series is won and there's plenty of cricket to be played until the WC (thanks to Asia Cup), why not test a bit more to see if you can get the balance better?

Agha and Ifti aren't really typical all rounders though, they play more of a Joe Root role. Agha is currently being picked for his batting. He is a good player of spin and was scoring runs before this series. Meanwhile Abdullah Shafique hasn't done anything of note in 50 over cricket yet. I don't think he will give us much more than Agha has except with the obvious hinderance of being unable to bowl spin which is a meaningful point in Agha's favour.

Of course it's worth trying different combos, but i don't think the Agha/Ifti experiment should be shelved just yet either. I'd also drop Ifti for Haris before i dropped Agha for Abdullah or Saud.

 

[mominsaigol]

Who will they replace?

Babar tends to go with a winning combination and so close to the WC it makes sense. This is the most balanced and deserving XI we have. Giving them a run of games and subsequent confidence seems like the right thing to do.

Bhai our so called winning combination will lose 8 out of 10 times if fakhar, Babar or imam, one of these 3 fail to get their 100. If pakistan lose these 3 for let's say 150 for 3 by the 30th over, then we will be all out for less then 250, 9 out of 10 times.

We have 2 solid middle order batsmen averaging over 40+ in fc, one make shift Opener and one lower order hitter sitting as water boys on our bench, just so we can have bits and pieces cricketers in the middle order.

Rizwan is not a 4, agha is not the type of batsmen who can play match winning knocks at no 5 besides maybe once ot twice, chacha is not a lower order batter with his misbah style play of blocking every delivery and waiting for a bad ball to tonk it, and shadab is not a batsmen, shadab is a bowler who can bat and hold his own and makes for an excellent no 8, but he's not a lower order batsmen.

Saud, Tayyab, haris and Abdullah are solid middle order players even if haris is raw, haris is a natural no 7 unlike chacha and Abdullah can make shift open as well if needed. Why are these people bench warmers? Because babar loves his WINNING 11.

 

[Justcrazy]

Bring in Nawaz , Waseem and test them. Rest Shaheen shah and Shadab.

 

[RidiculousMan]

This game should be used to play those players who are going to make it in the XI for the main Asia Cup and World Cup team, as well as players who are going to be the backup players. Not to mention one of our pacers could use a rest as well.

 

[MenInG]

I ask you again, does any Pak Team Management worth its salt have the guts to change this winning combo with the Number ODI ranking at stake if we win?

 

[MenInG]

In case you missed the thrilling 2nd ODI game:

 

[Ahmed216]

I ask you again, does any Pak Team Management worth its salt have the guts to change this winning combo with the Number ODI ranking at stake if we win?

The captain doesn't have the guts. Mickey or bradburn might just be able to coax him into making a solitary change. Saud/Tayyab in for Agha/ Ifti

 

[mominsaigol]

The captain doesn't have the guts. Mickey or bradburn might just be able to coax him into making a solitary change. Saud/Tayyab in for Agha/ Ifti

I'm actually suprised by mickey Arthur this series. He's usually the type of guy to experiment with new people. He's the one who cultivated fakhar, Imam and Babar.

So i don't understand why he's now adopting the winning 11 mantra.

 

[Usman Chadda]

I'm actually suprised by mickey Arthur this series. He's usually the type of guy to experiment with new people. He's the one who cultivated fakhar, Imam and Babar.

So i don't understand why he's now adopting the winning 11 mantra.

I would only play Haris and Nawaz today, the rest should stay on the bench. No chance of anyone of them really improving the team, maybe besides Abdullah Shafique.

 

[Rana]

No changes expected

We want to stay lumber 1 entering Asia cup and World Cup

 

[mominsaigol]

No changes expected

We want to stay lumber 1 entering Asia cup and World Cup

Why does pakistan even care about icc rankings? Icc rankings are the most useless measure of how strong a team is, or how good a player is.

Kholi is ranked 8th or 9th, but we all know, he's still likely top 3 in international cricket whereas babar is ranked no 1, but babar isn't better then the likes of Bairstow, Williamson, Kholi etc.

 

[MenInG]

4 changes!

Pakistan have won the toss and elected to bat

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Rizwan not doing anything in the first 2 games has meant that Haris won’t get a game lol

 

[Rana]

Wow

How does Harris still not make the team and Rizwan keeps going?

See this is the nepotism, protection this man has enjoyed which I have always eluded to.

The criteria of resting/dropping players doesn’t apply equally to him

 

[mominsaigol]

Faheem about to get nuked today.

 

[mominsaigol]

Wow

How does Harris still not make the team and Rizwan keeps going?

See this is the nepotism, protection this man has enjoyed which I have always eluded to.

The criteria of resting/dropping players doesn’t apply equally to him

Hasn't nepotism existed for faheem and shan as well? Not just rizwan?

 

[Ahmed216]

4 changes!

Pakistan have won the toss and elected to bat

Much much better top 7

 

[Rana]

Hasn't nepotism existed for faheem and shan as well? Not just rizwan?

I don’t like Shan in white ball cricket. But he hasn’t been as protected as Rizwan has

Rizwan is the worst ever piece of politics I have seen in cricket

 

[Ahmed216]

Rizwan not doing anything in the first 2 games has meant that Haris won’t get a game lol

He scored a breezy 70 odd against new Zealand last series. Then Imam ran him out in second game this series.
He's much improved ODI player in last year or so and a couple of low scores doesn't change that.
Yes no. 4 position is high for him he should be at 5

 

[PakPremi]

Usama could had played in place of Faheem, but I got a feeling Faheem is being given a chance to fail, so they can make an excuse to not play him ever again for a while.

 

[PakPremi]

He scored a breezy 70 odd against new Zealand last series. Then Imam ran him out in second game this series.
He's much improved ODI player in last year or so and a couple of low scores doesn't change that.
Yes no. 4 position is high for him he should be at 5

Rizwan also looked good in first game and that was nice but short inning.

 

[Rana]

Rizwan also looked good in first game and that was nice but short inning.

Looked good against Farooqi only

 

[mominsaigol]

Problem with todays match is that our bowling isn't great. Waseem and shaheen are good but faheem will get tonked, and not sure about nawaz.

This is why haris and Imad are needed at 6 and 7, they can strike, bat and accelerate.

Good decision to rest Rauf and naseem but it's better to have players like zaman Khan and abrar in the dug out, not faheem lol

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Not sure why Saud Shakeel is playing when he's not part of the Asia Cup and is unlikely to play World Cup. Surely you want to test out Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Haris, and Abdullah Shafique?

 

[MenInG]

Not interested in a Rizwan debate on this thread.

 

[cricenjoyer]

Same players living in posters head rent free

 

[Vikram1989]

I think in all these inconsequential matches, teams winning tosses should opt for doing the tough task to test them for the wc knock outs / pressure matches. I wonder why the sub contentinental managements are so rigid.

 

[mominsaigol]

Not sure why Saud Shakeel is playing when he's not part of the Asia Cup and is unlikely to play World Cup. Surely you want to test out Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Haris, and Abdullah Shafique?

The mistake is not taking saud in the Asia cup.

 

[cricenjoyer]

Good changes today, let's see if Saud is all he is hyped to be

 

[Nikhil_cric]

The mistake is not taking saud in the Asia cup.

Don't think he has the game for LOI's

 

[mominsaigol]

Good changes today, let's see if Saud is all he is hyped to be

Saud has already proven himself to be pur best test batsmen, if he fails today, it won't convince me to change my stance. He, tayyab and Abdullah should have played all 3 games or atleast 2.

Saud wouldn't even be playing today if we didn't win the 2nd odi.

 

[mominsaigol]

Don't think he has the game for LOI's

He's an accumulator, and a very very good one at that. He's the type of guy to anchor and help you chase down 300+ scores.

Only worry I have for saud is the same worry I have for imam, in that he might end up becoming useless after 40 to 42 overs.

 

[MenInG]

Babar Azam: We'll bat first. The pitch looks very dry. Little bit of grass and the first ten overs will be crucial. We'll try to put runs on the board and then put pressure on them. We'll try to win this game. Everyone's excited. We have four changes. We are pretty satisfied. We are trying different combinations in this match. We'll try to give our best today also. Today's pitch is different from the ones we had in the LPL. I think it's a good pitch. I think 280-290 is a good total.

 

[mominsaigol]

I'm calling it rn, 50+ score for saud today.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Why does pakistan even care about icc rankings? Icc rankings are the most useless measure of how strong a team is, or how good a player is.

Kholi is ranked 8th or 9th, but we all know, he's still likely top 3 in international cricket whereas babar is ranked no 1, but babar isn't better then the likes of Bairstow, Williamson, Kholi etc.

Kohli is not a better batsman than Babar right now. It's a myth. Bairstow definitely was until his injury. For a smaller sample size, Shubman Gill has been brilliant and Travis Head for Australia as well.

 

[Saj]

Babar saying the target is 280 to 290.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

He's an accumulator, and a very very good one at that. He's the type of guy to anchor and help you chase down 300+ scores.

Only worry I have for saud is the same worry I have for imam, in that he might end up becoming useless after 40 to 42 overs.

Rizwan batted well at 5 vs. NZ earlier this year. He should have dropped to 5 and PAK should have got Tayyab in at 4. I understand why they went for Shakeel - they want a left-hander who plays spin in the middle order but even then he should play at 4 and Rizwan at 5.

 

[Omer2002]

Fakhar is looking like a proper tail ender..although this pitch is defo diff

 

[MenInG]

Babar saying the target is 280 to 290.

divide by 10 those numbers currently!

 

[lontje]

unreal support by lankan fans for pakistan .. much love to them

 

[Ahmed216]

Gutless batting from imam.

 

[lontje]

Fakhar connecting some shots finally

 

[Markhor]

Well that's one way to try to fix your middle-order problems - bat all the way down to No.11 !

Although I don't consider Faheem to be much of a batsman...or cricketer.

 

[MenInG]

Ok FZ getting into his groove now

 

[AAli98]

It’s like parchii ul haq swears on oath before he leaves dressing room he won’t bat over a strike rate of over 25 even if he gets hit me balls!!

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

Imam has been dropped at least 1 time in each game. Will not happen against better opposition.

 

[MenInG]

Imam has been dropped at least 1 time in each game. Will not happen against better opposition.

Would have been a stunner

 

[imshally81]

Best top 7 for WC.. Even top 8

 

[Omer2002]

Fakhar gone..with the hack as always

 

[Markhor]

I'm all for aggression but what on earth was that from Fakhar ?

 

[imshally81]

Fakhar gone

 

[MenInG]

Fakhar gone..with the hack as always

Why o Why!?

 

[Ahmed216]

Imam did not help Fakhar. 9 off 21 when u have 8 batters is poor

 

[mominsaigol]

I've never come across a player who can score 3 back to back centuries including a 180 and then immediately straight after play as if he's been out of form his whole life. Fakhar is an odd one.

 

[imshally81]

2 (4)
30 (34)
27 (33)

Fakhar in current series...

 

[Ahmed216]

I've never come across a player who can score 3 back to back centuries including a 180 and then immediately straight after play as if he's been out of form his whole life. Fakhar is an odd one.

He struggles a bit on slow low surfaces

 

[imshally81]

How is pitch today?

 

[Ahmed216]

How is pitch today?

Not much bounce. Easy paced or may be even slow.
Not much grip for spinner so far

 

[Omer2002]

Defo something in the pitch but there is no execuse of such timid batting..especially when our bowling will be weaker today

 

[Omer2002]

Mujeeb bowled 2 consec maidens at the beginnong when not much spin how is that even possible in white ball

 

[Ahmed216]

Babar is playing with improved technique. Not planting his front foot in advance

 

[Marooned]

Well that's one way to try to fix your middle-order problems - bat all the way down to No.11 !

Although I don't consider Faheem to be much of a batsman...or cricketer.

This guy is immortal. I've lost count of the times Faheem makes a return for absolutely no reason.

 

[Marooned]

Wow

How does Harris still not make the team and Rizwan keeps going?

See this is the nepotism, protection this man has enjoyed which I have always eluded to.

The criteria of resting/dropping players doesn’t apply equally to him

You have a point. Harris certainly deserved a go in this game.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Not much bounce. Easy paced or may be even slow.
Not much grip for spinner so far

It’s not easy paced.

Ball is stopping in the pitch. Driving isn’t easy.

 

[Omer2002]

Imam with another hack...

 

[Marooned]

We will probably give Gulbudin a 5fer. That's an achievement in itself.

 

[imshally81]

Imam gone

 

[Markhor]

This guy is immortal. I've lost count of the times Faheem makes a return for absolutely no reason.

He is the Jason Voorhees of cricket. No matter how times you try getting rid of him, he keeps coming back.

His bat avg and bowl avg is 11 and 46 in ODIs but maybe the selectors think it's the other way around.