After 2015 Usman Qadir is only the second specialist spinner to play for a Pakistan white-ball team

[Titan24]

So since Saeed Ajmal Pakistan team tried 3 specialist spinners in 2015 for white ball cricket Yasir Shah, Zafar Gohar (1 match) and Bilal Asif (3 matches). After that again Yasir was the only one who was tried between 2015-2019. Other than that Pakistan has only played all rounders in the form of Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz.

Now in 2020 November after almost 5 years Pak has tried another specialist spinner for white ball cricket in the form of Usman Qadir in T20I.

Lack of fast bowling all rounders obviously played a role in the combinations as Pak had to rely mostly on spin bowling all rounders for batting depth. Lack of quality in specialist spinners could also have played a role. Still pretty surprising.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Not surprising whatsoever as Pakistan's dearth in finding good spinners and good pace all rounders in the last 5-10 years has been abysmal.

It is easy to sit on the outside and scream talent talent we have so much talent but there is just that word talent which is used for each individual who performs once in a while.

Qadir has just been given a go and his 3 games against a team like Zimbabwe can be expected especially when they are not the best in spin or team going around in World Cricket.

Pakistan's selection has played a big role too in this in particular as Gohar has been someone who was given 1 game a couple of years ago (2015 to be exact) and was then discarded for no reason even though he did not do badly taking 2 wickets in his sole ODI.

They needed to persist with him and you never know he could have developed to be a decent ODI, T20 and maybe a Test bowler with Yasir by now with 5 years experience under his belt.

 

[Hasan123]

Absolutely embarrassing stat. Nearly everyone is playing with a specialist spinner and Pakistan don't even wanna give a specialist 2 games in a row. Hopefully with the next WC in India, we will try out some specialist spinners.

 

[Rana]

Says a lot doesn’t it. No real control in the middle overs since Ajmal and Hafeez were banned

 

[lahoriyah1234]

I really like Usman, I have not seen him bowl before. But he has what it takes to become a good limited over spin bowler we need. Ok fine it was Zimbabwe, but i think we can use in series Against SA - Aus and Eng. the delivery that made me jump was his googly, never seen anything like this since long time. Miss grt Leggie like Anil kumble and Shane warne.

 

[Usman]

The reason for this stat is because Shadab and Imad have genuinely added more to the team than a specialist spinner was likely to do so. That's because unless you are some wizard like Ajmal (granted his wizardry was down to chucking), you're generally not likely to perform consistently with the ball at a higher level than Shadab and Imad. So why should you be picked ahead of Shadab and/or Imad when both of these two perform to the same/better level and add match-winning runs to the total down the order?

So, the reason for not playing a "pure" spinner is because Shadab and Imad add more to the team. Simple.

As for Usman Qadir, he's done well but it's against Zimbabwe - a team which any half decent bowler should be able to run through. So far in his career, he hasn't done anything at all against a remotely decent team. My judgment on Qadir is therefore reserved until he plays against better quality oppositions.

 

[hitthestump]

There's been no one to pick. Pretty simple.

Usman Qadir is also one series away from being found out. It's well known that Zimbabwe are clueless against leg spin. Usman will be treated like a club level bowler in NZ and that'll be the end of that story.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

The reason for this stat is because Shadab and Imad have genuinely added more to the team than a specialist spinner was likely to do so. That's because unless you are some wizard like Ajmal (granted his wizardry was down to chucking), you're generally not likely to perform consistently with the ball at a higher level than Shadab and Imad. So why should you be picked ahead of Shadab and/or Imad when both of these two perform to the same/better level and add match-winning runs to the total down the order?

So, the reason for not playing a "pure" spinner is because Shadab and Imad add more to the team. Simple.

As for Usman Qadir, he's done well but it's against Zimbabwe - a team which any half decent bowler should be able to run through. So far in his career, he hasn't done anything at all against a remotely decent team. My judgment on Qadir is therefore reserved until he plays against better quality oppositions.

Potw!

 

[Markhor]

That's because unless you are some wizard like Ajmal (granted his wizardry was down to chucking), you're generally not likely to perform consistently with the ball at a higher level than Shadab and Imad.

It doesn't take a wizard to average less than 62 with the ball vs the top 5 in ODIs like Imad Wasim, or less than 37 as Shadab Khan does.

As a spin bowling duo they are absolutely mediocre.

So why should you be picked ahead of Shadab and/or Imad when both of these two perform to the same/better level and add match-winning runs to the total down the order?

I agree Imad has produced very useful lower order runs, but when has Shadab done so in international cricket ?

I accept he's improving as a batsman when you look at the PSL and National T20, but he averages 25 at a paltry SR of 68 in ODIs.

So I'm afraid some of these assertions are factually incorrect.

 

[Mamoon]

Imad is Pakistan’s best all-rounder. Yes he is not much of a wicket-taker against good sides, but he is very useful with the bat and has played some important cameos.

The real problem is Shadab. He is the most overrated player in the world. He is a glorified part-timer with the ball and a glorified tail-ender with the bat.

If you look beyond the fielding and the overacting, there is very little substance. His fans claim that he brings value to the team, but in fact, the only thing he does is weaken the batting and the bowling at the same time.

He is okay for T20 cricket at best. His bowling is reasonable for 4 over, but he is a very poor Test and ODI cricketer.

 

[shamaan]

The reason for this stat is because Shadab and Imad have genuinely added more to the team than a specialist spinner was likely to do so. That's because unless you are some wizard like Ajmal (granted his wizardry was down to chucking), you're generally not likely to perform consistently with the ball at a higher level than Shadab and Imad. So why should you be picked ahead of Shadab and/or Imad when both of these two perform to the same/better level and add match-winning runs to the total down the order?

So, the reason for not playing a "pure" spinner is because Shadab and Imad add more to the team. Simple.

As for Usman Qadir, he's done well but it's against Zimbabwe - a team which any half decent bowler should be able to run through. So far in his career, he hasn't done anything at all against a remotely decent team. My judgment on Qadir is therefore reserved until he plays against better quality oppositions.

Great post

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Potw!

Afridi from 2007-2011 was probably better or at par with Ajmal just for his bowling. Stemmed the run flow in the middle overs and took wickets and broke partnerships regularly. Even though Ajmal had the chucking element with his bowling as well.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

The more worrying stat for me would be that there is no credible/regular off spinner in the team, or even in the domestic scene.
Bilal Asif had the novelty factor, but it sort of faded away quickly.
Ever since the crackdown on bowling actions, offies have literally disappeared from Pakistan.

 

[Firebat]

Pakistan's premier LOI spinner doesn't get into the team over 42 year-old Imran Tahir for 4 consecutive games. He then comes into the side and bowls a fantastic spell of 2/22 in 4 overs.

 

[Saj]

It's a concern that one of your main picks in the T20 format is regularly carrying the drinks and towels in the PSL.

 

[Savak]

It's a concern that one of your main picks in the T20 format is regularly carrying the drinks and towels in the PSL.

Imran Tahir was benched in khi, in UAE the team management preferred him to Usman Qadir

 

[hitthestump]

It's a concern that one of your main picks in the T20 format is regularly carrying the drinks and towels in the PSL.

Should franchises be 'strongly advised' to consider the national team when making their selections?

I'm not thinking just Qadir for Tahir or Rizwan for Walton. When our supposed best raw talents like Abdullah Shafique or Saud Shakeel aren't being picked as well, maybe there just needs to be more communication somewhere about what benefits Pakistan cricket.

 

[SangasCoverDrive]

He is clearly the best leg spinner in Pakistan. I dont know why they dont play him regularly in PSL, he could have been a good player for a team like LQ.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Calling Shadab an allrounder is a stretch in ODIs. He plays pretty much as a specialist spinner.