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Ahmed Shehzad should replace Azhar Ali as ODI opener

Ilan Bluestone said:
He played very selfishly due to dot balls, but Ahmed knows how to stay at the crease and he does have shots. If he has improved the selfish play and the ability to rotate the strike, I wouldn't mind it. He has an affinity to score big, but it always was just a big score that would not help Pakistan. Azhar after his purple patch fell off a wagon so there is an opening, and if Shehzad improved on his weak areas, then a 25 year old opener of his caliber to stay through an innings with a power player on the other side wouldn't be the worst thing.

It could fail but looking at him recently in Pakistan, he is on a tear in the last year. Here's hoping.
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yes Shehzad has an affinity to 'play big' and 'stay through an innings' but somehow still averages 33
 
and then we cry why we're stuck with TTFs.........

Won't even say anything here - I once read a saying 'never try to argue with an idiot, he'll drag you to his level and beat you with experience'.

This particularly holds true for most threads related to a Shahzad's comeback.
 
He throughly deserves another chance , scored @ an average of 90 this one day season with a SR of 90 and scored 2 160 plus scores as well. Also he managed to score his first fifty in quick time too which has been his problem. Lets hope that he has a good psl.
 
yasir said:
I agree with you on that, Shezad does not have guts not skills to face best bowler in the world and go after him. If I have to bring tried player, I might as well bring Kamran, who hit Styen over his head in WC SF back in 2009, his starts in SF and Final made sure we don't jitter those chases, he had guts to hit top bowlers... he is a better clutch player.

I want to take a look at Shabaz and Awais, Pakistan has to look for better players of pull and cut that is absolutely must for openers in LOIs, Kammy also like Sharjeel has good cut and pull, not as good but better than rest. For me strength of pull and cut is litmus test, we got to develop players with those shots to be a modern LOI unit.
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To underline the point on confidence and courage. For much of the odi series, the Pakistani batsmen wanted to play hazlewood like they did in the test series: is see him off. Sharjeel was the only one who attacked him and it payed off individual for him. So aggressive openers have ambition because their brief is to go out there and give it a whack. If they score 50 or beyond you can be sure it will be a strike rate of 150 or beyond.
 
Let's not indulge in revisionism here. Both him and Misbah were key factors why we struggled to post anything close to 300 during the 2013-2015 period, but our tuk tuk culture was at its peak at that time.

Misbah was never a great ODI captain and Waqar has always been a tactical failure. Since the appointment of Mickey, there has been an honest attempt to revise our batting strategy in ODIs and Inzamam has been vocal about strike rates as well.

Shehzad wil not be allowed to get away with his tuk tuk now and he will have to change his approach or get the boot. Play for the team = good job; play for your place in the team = go home.

Whether he will excel or not remains to be seen, but he certainly deserves a go because the way he has been playing in the domestic 50 over format is exactly what we need in our ODI team.
 
Ahmad "King" Shehzad, all talk no show. Looked uncomfortable as ever. :shezzy
 
He shouldn't be playing T20Is anyway, not explosive enough for this format, but can earn himself a place in the ODI and Test team.
 
Mamoon said:
He shouldn't be playing T20Is anyway, not explosive enough for this format, but can earn himself a place in the ODI and Test team.
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I disagree,

1. Can he play pull and cut against 145 clicks pace?? - No, only player who can pull and cut is Sharjeel, rest are not even close... Without that you are not going to be international class opener in LOIs.

2. Does he knows his off-stump, against Anderson and Styen, Hazelwood? - Hell, No, Sami Aslam is far better at blunting world class seam bowlers...

Right now, in test we have Azhar as excellent opener(probably one of the best in the world), we pair him with Sharjeel in most wickets except may be England and NZ... On those wicket Sami or somebody else like him can be used... What Sharjeel gives us even in test is excellent starts...What people don't understand, when you attack in test, bowlers loose their lengths, unless conditions are really tricky(which is not the case most of the time)...Sehawag, Warner were really successful on relatively flatter conditions only, not on green top...

There is no point of taking any other test opener other than Sharjeel, we missed out on not playing him in AUS...He should be one opener in all formats, its no brainer... Again, his cut and pull are not fluke, there is method, technique and consistency to it...He is not a blind slogger
 
Mamoon said:
I think he deserves another opportunity. I have been impressed with his domestic 50 overs performances. I have been one of his earliest critics, before hating on him became the cool thing to do, but as I said in another thread, I like to keep an open mind and based on his recent form, he should get another go.

Don't agree with the notion that he is limited etc., think he has all the shots but the wrong approach. Played too much for his position in the team and the tuk tuk mentality, but he clearly has an array of shots unlike Azhar.

He had a tough childhood and lost his father early, thus spending his youth looking for a father figure and ended up in the wrong hands of folks like Afridi etc.

However, things and people change, or at least have the potential to change. Hopefully Shehzad will have a good PSL and catches the eye of Mickey, who can help him play international cricket with the same freedom and aggression that he plays domestic cricket.

I urge PPers to keep an open mind like me and look beyond petty personal grudges and who said what etc.

P.S. Don't pollute this thread with all the stats and dot ball percentages. People are aware of that already and there are other threads for it. This thread is philosophical in nature and doesn't have anything to do with his current stats in LOIs.
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Would not recommend a dig into Shehzad's personal life, about losing his father and looking a father figure in Afridi. I think it was not needed and we should avoid to be too nosy about players personal life and should stick to their professional life only.
 
moghul said:
Would not recommend a dig into Shehzad's personal life, about losing his father and looking a father figure in Afridi. I think it was not needed and we should avoid to be too nosy about players personal life and should stick to their professional life only.
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How is this a 'dig'? I'm only explaining the source of his attitude problems. Not having a father figure at a young age or idolizing the wrong folks can lead to the problems Shehzad has shown symptoms of. If anything, I'm only sympathizing with him because there are legit causes for his attitude problems.
 
This thread does not seem to have any future now. Shehzad still playing in his classical way.
 
Mamoon said:
How is this a 'dig'? I'm only explaining the source of his attitude problems. Not having a father figure at a young age or idolizing the wrong folks can lead to the problems Shehzad has shown symptoms of. If anything, I'm only sympathizing with him because there are legit causes for his attitude problems.
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No question, you wrote with good intentions, but over-diagnosis is the worst thing you can do to anyone , that too with mental illness. To me there is nothing wrong with Shehzad other than inconsistent performance which is quite common in young Pakistani players and taking selfies is not a disease.

Unless you're trained psychiatrist and have examined him, you should not be portraying this fine young man as some kind of a patient with serous mental illness. Again, you did not intend to do this but you did nevertheless.
 
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moghul said:
No question, you wrote with good intentions, but over-diagnosis is the worst thing you can do to anyone , that too with mental illness. To me there is nothing wrong with Shehzad other than inconsistent performance which is quite common in young Pakistani players and taking selfies is not a disease.

Unless you're trained psychiatrist and have examined him, you should not be portraying this fine young man as some kind of a patient with serous mental illness. Again, you did not intend to do this but you did nevertheless.
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I'm not diagnosing any mental illness. Attitude problem does not have always have anything to do with a mental illness. My point is that at times, it is important to look at the roots of the problem instead of shunning individuals down.

Everyone brays about Shehzad's attitude problem but no one has cared enough to consider why he has those problems in the first place, and that is what I was trying to explain.
 
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He wont have to replace Azhar now. We'll be going back to glorious combination of Azhar and Shehzad opening the batting for us in ODIs. #thankyousharjeel :yk
 
[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] shows sympathy towards a cricketer and look how his fortune change. Now Shehzad not only has one openers spot to go for but two slots. Only question, would he take strike or defer it to the other dude.
 
cricketInsight said:
[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] shows sympathy towards a cricketer and look how his fortune change. Now Shehzad not only has one openers spot to go for but two slots. Only question, would he take strike or defer it to the other dude.
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One man's loss is another man's gain. Ball is in Shehzad's court now, if he doesn't make it count, he only has himself to blame.
 
Sorry but the SR of around the lower mid 70's is always been a problem and I don't see why it isn't now. He can't always hit fours to get it up in internationals.
 
Major opportunity now for Shehzad now that Khalif Latif and Sharjeel are gone.

It amazes me how some people get lucky with things falling in place at the right time for them.

it is up to him to grab this chance with both hands and not look back.

Wish him the very best...
 
The days of Azhar and Shehzad opening are coming back. More 230-250 scores coming from Pakistan.
 
Love to hate the guy but the strike rotation seems to have improved along with intent to run when the ball is in the circle. Too early to call but maybe this time around he has actually worked hard on his game.
 
He is coming back because Sharjeel and Latif are gone not because of ability.
 
He deserves a go in the next odi series considering the current situation, this should be the squad, I believe we can do well with this team :

1. Shehzad
2. Fakhar Zaman
3. Babar Azam
4. Malik
5. Sarfaraz
6. Aamer Yamin
7. Shadab Khan
8. Imad Wasim
9. Amir
10. Hassan Ali
11. Wahab Riaz

12. Junaid Khan
13. U Akmal
14. Haris Sohail
15. Rumman Raes
 
Seamer said:
He deserves a go in the next odi series considering the current situation, this should be the squad, I believe we can do well with this team :

1. Shehzad
2. Fakhar Zaman
3. Babar Azam
4. Malik
5. Sarfaraz
6. Aamer Yamin
7. Shadab Khan
8. Imad Wasim
9. Amir
10. Hassan Ali
11. Wahab Riaz

12. Junaid Khan
13. U Akmal
14. Haris Sohail
15. Rumman Raes
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That is actually a very good team, however, I don't think Yamin has done much to deserve selection. We can play a proper batsman in his place since your team already has 5 bowlers + Malik
 
Seamer said:
He deserves a go in the next odi series considering the current situation, this should be the squad, I believe we can do well with this team :

1. Shehzad
2. Fakhar Zaman
3. Babar Azam
4. Malik
5. Sarfaraz
6. Aamer Yamin
7. Shadab Khan
8. Imad Wasim
9. Amir
10. Hassan Ali
11. Wahab Riaz

12. Junaid Khan
13. U Akmal
14. Haris Sohail
15. Rumman Raes
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4 pacers are a bit over kill, besides there are 3 spinners & Zaman can bowl a bit. One of Wahab or Yamin should be dropped for Haris or Umar. Ideally, both should be dropped for JK (as long as Umpires are happy) & Haris should play at 4.

Not sure about Fakhar, but the best lefti should open with Ahmed - if it's him, so it be but I would have tried with Amin. Fakhar is extreme limited in off side shots, which international teams will expose in 2/3 overs. Amin can do a decent job as 4th seamer as well & he is easily one of the best fielders in PAK.

back up should be entirely new faces, barring Umar, who is back up WK, just in emergency. Other 3 are Saad Ali, Saud Shakeel & a young pacer.

It's not a great team, but a very good potential team to work for couple of years before WC - by that time Mian should fight it out with 3 other players for that no. 6 spot.
 
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Good innings. He has looked good and needed a 50+ score.

Looking forward to seeing him get picked for the Caribbean tour. It will be a mistake to neglect him. Arthur can bring the best out of him.
 
Mamoon said:
Good innings. He has looked good and needed a 50+ score.

Looking forward to seeing him get picked for the Caribbean tour. It will be a mistake to neglect him. Arthur can bring the best out of him.
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He has failed so far and has played an average innings. You are bashing Umar who has played 2 better innings of which one was among the best 3 by a Pakistani batsman in this PSL. Asad's innings in this match was better than shehzad and asad is a garbage ODI player. So please. Don't use his one average knock to justify this awful players selection.
 
aliasad1998 said:
He has failed so far and has played an average innings. You are bashing Umar who has played 2 better innings of which one was among the best 3 by a Pakistani batsman in this PSL. Asad's innings in this match was better than shehzad and asad is a garbage ODI player. So please. Don't use his one average knock to justify this awful players selection.
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Umar is a more gifted batsman, but also more dumb. Shehzad has better application and has scored more hundreds already than Umar ever will in his entire career. Let's not make Shehzad look worse than he actually is just to promote Umar.

I won't mind them opening together tbh, Shehzad for Azhar and Umar for Sharjeel, especially now that the wheels have come off for Kamran after the great knock on opening day.
 
I made that stat thread on PP regarding Azhar's dot ball percentage - two days later Azhar resigns from ODI captaincy.

I win POTW for Shehzad's dot balls and subsequently the lad crubs the evil and is performing better than before.

I made one for Sarfarz and the bloke was handed ODI captaincy and is probably on his way to winning the PSL for Quetta :)) - Plus those Knocks :14:

Who should I make one for ??!! :yk
 
Azhar Ali is just not made for ODI .. Should only concentrate in test Cricket! Keep Tuktuk players away from Limited over games .. Azhar Ali is a big time Tuktuk player
 
ahmedwaqas92 said:
I made that stat thread on PP regarding Azhar's dot ball percentage - two days later Azhar resigns from ODI captaincy.

I win POTW for Shehzad's dot balls and subsequently the lad crubs the evil and is performing better than before.

I made one for Sarfarz and the bloke was handed ODI captaincy and is probably on his way to winning the PSL for Quetta :)) - Plus those Knocks :14:

Who should I make one for ??!! :yk
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Mohammed Hafeez,so he can be dropped for good.
 
ahmedwaqas92 said:
I made that stat thread on PP regarding Azhar's dot ball percentage - two days later Azhar resigns from ODI captaincy.

I win POTW for Shehzad's dot balls and subsequently the lad crubs the evil and is performing better than before.

I made one for Sarfarz and the bloke was handed ODI captaincy and is probably on his way to winning the PSL for Quetta :)) - Plus those Knocks :14:

Who should I make one for ??!! :yk
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Misbah in Tests, please.
 
With Sharjeel banned and Pakistan ODI cricket drifting into obscurity, now is the time to try crazy things. What's the worst that will happen, we'll lose? We're losing already! I too have been very critical of Shehzad, as well as Umar Akmal, but our current way of playing is just useless. How about this for an ODI squad?

Ahmed Shehzad
Umar Akmal
Babar Azam
Azhar Ali
Shoaib Malik
Asad Shafiq
Sarfraz Ahmed
Imad Wasim
Mohammad Amir
TWO OTHER BOWLERS DEPENDING ON PITCH/OPPOSITION (Wahab, Hasan Ali, Yasir, Junaid, Sohail Khan, new bowlers, etc)
 
It took six Quetta matches for this thread to be bumped. We can now expect him to succeed in internationals.
 
adil_909 said:
With Sharjeel banned and Pakistan ODI cricket drifting into obscurity, now is the time to try crazy things. What's the worst that will happen, we'll lose? We're losing already! I too have been very critical of Shehzad, as well as Umar Akmal, but our current way of playing is just useless. How about this for an ODI squad?

Ahmed Shehzad
Umar Akmal
Babar Azam
Azhar Ali
Shoaib Malik
Asad Shafiq
Sarfraz Ahmed
Imad Wasim
Mohammad Amir
TWO OTHER BOWLERS DEPENDING ON PITCH/OPPOSITION (Wahab, Hasan Ali, Yasir, Junaid, Sohail Khan, new bowlers, etc)
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Azhar,Malik and Shafiq? Shehzad too? Amazing
 
adil_909 said:
With Sharjeel banned and Pakistan ODI cricket drifting into obscurity, now is the time to try crazy things. What's the worst that will happen, we'll lose? We're losing already! I too have been very critical of Shehzad, as well as Umar Akmal, but our current way of playing is just useless. How about this for an ODI squad?

Ahmed Shehzad
Umar Akmal
Babar Azam
Azhar Ali
Shoaib Malik
Asad Shafiq
Sarfraz Ahmed
Imad Wasim
Mohammad Amir
TWO OTHER BOWLERS DEPENDING ON PITCH/OPPOSITION (Wahab, Hasan Ali, Yasir, Junaid, Sohail Khan, new bowlers, etc)
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What a cancerous batting lineup. Do our fans not want us to succeed in LOIs? You can't have shehzad, Azhar and Shafiq in ODIs!!! Shafiq at 6 too. What an absolute joke
 
They both are terrible openers. Even in the innings tomorrow, he was terrible against pace, SR of 50 in power play.

He plays spinner well, so is Hafeez, Malik, Sarfraz and million middle age players in Pakistan, but that means they should compete for slot in middle order, unless they improve there game against pace, none of them can play as opener are power striker for last 15 overs... they will always fail and by that I means all of them Shezad, Hafeez, Sarfraz, Malik, Immad etc, when they have to strike fast bowlers at international level...

People forget Pakistan specific problem has being inability to strike fast bowlers in first 15 or last 15 of ODIs, none of these guys fit for that role. Sharjeel had filled that role some what in last year, but one guy is not enough, you need 2/3, these mature guys spin credentials will not help, I don't get what is there to excite about 🙄🙄🙄

I would not play Azhar, Shezad or Hafeez in first 3 slots, never, they are all TTFs, and their technique and game is exactly what we don't need.
 
Race between him and Babar for Saeed Anwar's 20 centuries record for Pakistan.
 
Mamoon said:
Race between him and Babar for Saeed Anwar's 20 centuries record for Pakistan.
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This guy shouldn't be compared to Babar who will go down as our best ever LOI bat. Now I want shehzad back for the 2017 champions trophy because I can gurantee that he will fail. Rubbish LOI player. What has he even done in this PSL? Do you remember last years psl where he actually did well only to lose us a couple of games in the word t20?
 
The mediocre hafeez is better than shehzad and Azhar in ODIs. All 3 of these guys shouldn't be near the team. At least Azhar is our best Test batsman
 
aliasad1998 said:
This guy shouldn't be compared to Babar who will go down as our best ever LOI bat. Now I want shehzad back for the 2017 champions trophy because I can gurantee that he will fail. Rubbish LOI player. What has he even done in this PSL? Do you remember last years psl where he actually did well only to lose us a couple of games in the word t20?
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You don't have to tell me about the credentials of Babar. I am following his career since 2008 when you were 10 years old.

Babar is a much better batsman than Shehzad, but the latter has some good qualities too. His temperament is good, and he has the hunger to play long innings. He certainly has a good chance of scoring 20+ ODI tons and so does Babar. It remains to be seen who gets there first, but number of hundreds is not the only criteria - Babar is better in most of the other batting aspects and will be remembered as the better player.
 
Mamoon said:
You don't have to tell me about the credentials of Babar. I am following his career since 2008 when you were 10 years old.
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Babar, until his three back to back centuries against a minnowesque West Indies, never really fulfilled the hype that we all heard since 2008/2009......

The U-19 WC was a disaster under him and if I remember correctly we were knocked out in the quarter finals or something. Plus all throughout his FC career he hasn't made any mark that would leave us in awe of his talent.

He's a very good batsman but that seems to be about it, he's not a power hitter neither does he have the game to force the issue when batting like how Warner or Kohli may do. However, he is better than everyone in the current Pakistani team and that makes him the superstar batsman of our team.
 
ahmedwaqas92 said:
Babar, until his three back to back centuries against a minnowesque West Indies, never really fulfilled the hype that we all heard since 2008/2009......

The U-19 WC was a disaster under him and if I remember correctly we were knocked out in the quarter finals or something. Plus all throughout his FC career he hasn't made any mark that would leave us in awe of his talent.

He's a very good batsman but that seems to be about it, he's not a power hitter neither does he have the game to force the issue when batting like how Warner or Kohli may do. However, he is better than everyone in the current Pakistani team and that makes him the superstar batsman of our team.
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Babar was supposed to be the next big thing for Pakistan when he was 13-14. Umar had a lot of hype at that time as well along with Shehzad, but Babar was more exciting because it is unusual for a kid to be tipped for stardom at that age.

I was personally not worried about his inconsistency in F/C cricket because he was still developing as a player and still is, but he looked quality every time I watched him bat. That 200 that he scored in the QeA Trophy final was one of the best innings I have seen in QeA in a long time.

For me, he is the best batting talent produced by Pakistan since MoYo in the late 90's. It is only a matter of backing him and providing him with a system where he can flourish, which is already happened under Arthur.

Next step is of course his own commitment to the game. You cannot be spoon-fed forever as long as you don't have the desire to be amongst the best. He has done well on that front, let's hope that the Azam genes continue to suppress the lethal Akmal genes.
 
as much as i am against bringing TTFsbagain, i thing shehzad deserve another come back as an opener. i don't think pcb will drop azhar for WI series from ODIs so azhar and shehzad could be the openers.
pak have many other options to try new players such as fakhar zaman.
for the opening slot babar, sarfraz or even shafiq can open too.
i wish pak play more alrounders than the so called specialist batsmen.
in this psl we have hasan, shadab, amir yamin which all are new players. why not test them in WI odi and t20.
 
Shehzad looks a different breed when he is around KP and a few of the other foreigners and Viv... as in he enjoys being around foreigners shadows.. or anyone that has some cricketing personality.. doesn't settle for midgets in cricketing terms...

He likes attention, and he's a performer.... I know it is an annoying trait around him, but the team needs players who think they are in the top league... he's improved his game, credit to him, he looks stylish and he has his hunger back.. time to give him a shot again imo
 
Has Shehzad improved? Playing at good strike rate. Bowling faced in todays match is pretty decent.
 
aliasad1998 said:
The mediocre hafeez is better than shehzad and Azhar in ODIs. All 3 of these guys shouldn't be near the team. At least Azhar is our best Test batsman
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Let Ahmed work with Arthur (& Viv/KP) for few months, you'll see a totally different player. His LO game needs few minor adjustments & a change in approach, but other bases are covered. He was hard done by in Test team.
 
I don't know why some people are clinging on to the hope that him working with Mickey or Viv or KP is going to improve his game. This guy has failed to accept his shortcomings as a player time and again and instead blamed 'lack of support' or other BS as the reasons for his failure. The first step for improvement is to accept your own faults which Shehzad hasn't so to expect him to improve under any Tom, Dick or Mickey is wishful thinking.
 
Boi said:
I don't know why some people are clinging on to the hope that him working with Mickey or Viv or KP is going to improve his game. This guy has failed to accept his shortcomings as a player time and again and instead blamed 'lack of support' or other BS as the reasons for his failure. The first step for improvement is to accept your own faults which Shehzad hasn't so to expect him to improve under any Tom, Dick or Mickey is wishful thinking.
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Exactly. He has big time attitude issues and an even bigger ego.

However, if the potential Fakhar/Umar pair as well as Shahzaib flops, then I probably wouldn't mind Shehzad's recall too much.
 
Beautiful batting by Shehzad, well done. 100% certain to tour the Caribbean now. Needed to perform in this PSL and he did, unlike some other individuals who can only complain.
 
Mamoon said:
Beautiful batting by Shehzad, well done. 100% certain to tour the Caribbean now. Needed to perform in this PSL and he did, unlike some other individuals who can only complain.
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[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] I noticed Shehzad's spin play has got much better. But seems to be struggling against pace.
 
Shehzad to me has been the best pakistani batsmen in psl. Babar is doing great but he hardly plays any t20 shots.
 
Wonderful knock, played at a brisk strike rate as the situation demanded and didn't get bogged down which was nice to see for a change, think he has improved his game specially against spinners which is commendable. Moreover he has consistently contributed at the top of the order in this PSL, which should be enough to warrant a recall to the national outfit keeping in mind that we have a far inferior batsman in AA atm who's a liability at the top of order, so there is no question why Shehzad shouldn't be considered to replace him for WI tour and tbh he has earned his recall going by his recent performances in PSL. Hopefully Inzi will make the right call as he's keenly observing the proceedings.
 
Hamzakhalid said:
[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] I noticed Shehzad's spin play has got much better. But seems to be struggling against pace.
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His ability to play spin was his biggest problem. As long as he's improving on that front, the rest will fall in place. He is going to do well on his return.
 
Wow I'm a big Shehzad critic but some of the shots he is playing against spin especially straight down the ground are phenomenal. He's definitely gonna be back and deservedly so.
 
If Shehzad has truly improved his strike rotation and selfish play, then at his age, you have to give him a chance.

I think people forget that a players long term success in the end is long term Pakistani success. I have no affiliation to anyone but Pakistan. Hope he returns and has truly turned a corner. Him being a good opener will bear dividends for Pakistan.

If one of his biggest doubters has turned a corner to give him a chance, then I think the rest of us should at least be open to his success. At least unlike Shafiq, Shehzad has shown some success at the ODI level and has scored big runs.

Here is hoping the sending home has humbled him to not put himself above the team and he will work with Arthur. Arthur told him he should understand he is not above the team. Wish he would stop the selfish and just focus on cricket, but sometimes you cannot take out the personality to a player. Could not care less if he performs and he respects the jersey.

Too many players come in and put themselves above the team, Arthur seems to have quieted this notion. Removing Afridi was a good move, not because of anything cricket related, but superstar mentality without the performance to back it up seems to have plagued our nation for too long.

Sarfraz isn't perfect, but he went home after adversity and fought his way back into the team when he had little to no support, and that too in the World Cup. Shehzad has done the work to return, let's hope he continues down this path and has a similar Renaissance. His age is young and if he does well, then we may actually have an opener who can both anchor an innings from the top and do it with a good SR.

Unfortunate that we may never see what could have been of a Sharjeel/Shehzad combo which would have actually been a perfect balance, but what can we do.

Your turn to make it count Ahmed. You put in the work, don't let your team and yourself down.
 
Shehzad has earned his spot back in the side with his performance in PSL. This is what you want players to do when they lose their spot in the squad. Go back and concentrate on your performance. Improve your performance and come back to the squad. Shehzad has been been of the best Pakistani batsmen on this tournament. I am not a big fan of Shehzad. Mostly not a fan of his inconsistencies. For a player like him who was given an extended run with the team, you want him to grab his position and not let it go. Anyway, He has been an on and off member of the team with some very good performances and some very bad performances. His attitude and tussles with the coach and the captain might have cost him his place in the team. Based on the recent form in the PSL, he has to be included in both the T20 and LOI team.
 
Ilan Bluestone said:
If Shehzad has truly improved his strike rotation and selfish play, then at his age, you have to give him a chance.

I think people forget that a players long term success in the end is long term Pakistani success. I have no affiliation to anyone but Pakistan. Hope he returns and has truly turned a corner. Him being a good opener will bear dividends for Pakistan.

If one of his biggest doubters has turned a corner to give him a chance, then I think the rest of us should at least be open to his success. At least unlike Shafiq, Shehzad has shown some success at the ODI level and has scored big runs.

Here is hoping the sending home has humbled him to not put himself above the team and he will work with Arthur. Arthur told him he should understand he is not above the team. Wish he would stop the selfish and just focus on cricket, but sometimes you cannot take out the personality to a player. Could not care less if he performs and he respects the jersey.

Too many players come in and put themselves above the team, Arthur seems to have quieted this notion. Removing Afridi was a good move, not because of anything cricket related, but superstar mentality without the performance to back it up seems to have plagued our nation for too long.

Sarfraz isn't perfect, but he went home after adversity and fought his way back into the team when he had little to no support, and that too in the World Cup. Shehzad has done the work to return, let's hope he continues down this path and has a similar Renaissance. His age is young and if he does well, then we may actually have an opener who can both anchor an innings from the top and do it with a good SR.

Unfortunate that we may never see what could have been of a Sharjeel/Shehzad combo which would have actually been a perfect balance, but what can we do.

Your turn to make it count Ahmed. You put in the work, don't let your team and yourself down.
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Ever since he has been dropped, he has scored in every competition he has played in, he has kept himself fit and he isn't making headlines for controversial statements and Tweets which he used to in the past. He has kept his head down and has probably listened to Arthur/Inzamam or whoever had a word with him. There is no reason why he should not be rewarded for it and if it doesn't work, so what. Move on.
 
Azhar has been dropped from the ODI squad and Shehzad has been selected. A rare good call by Inzi The Revolutionary, and like most things, I could see it coming as well.

With all said and done, the ball is in Shehzad's court now. With both Sharjeel and Azhar out of the picture, he has a great opportunity of cementing his position for a long, long time. Let's see how he performs, I'm personally backing him to do well.
 
Hopefully Mickey Arthur ensures that Shehzad knows full well that he needs to bat with a certain approach otherwise he will be dropped again

With Waqar Shehzad had many off field issues. While I am certain that Shehzad was to blame for this and I also believe that it is unlikely that Shehzad will turn a corner and start delivering world class performances all of the sudden it is important to recognise that Shehzad will be returning on merit.

The hope is that with no afridi around as a source of insurance policy and a new coach with whom he doesn't have a negative personal history with, Shehzad will not have as many distraction and will be able to score big runs
 
To be honest, I've always liked Shehzad because terrific batsman. He has some great centuries in difficult situations and at his age, it really is commendable. The only problem with him, as a batsman was that he played far too slowly, but he wasn't out of the team for that anyway so it doesn't matter. I've seen in the recently concluded PSL that he's worked on his game and is also spending time in the gym and working on his fitness because he's running more, running faster, harder and quicker. So, I like this.

As for his attitude problems, I'm sure being out of the team for over year is a pretty harsh punishment if you think about it and I'm sure he realizes that. Only he knows how tough it was so its a given that he'll remain out of the spotlight for negative reasons.
 
Will get some soft runs against WI but then get exposed against the big boys at the Champions Trophy.
 
Give it a few games and usual problems with these TTFS will show up as usual, i doubt shehzads ability to rotate the strike etc.. has improved or ability to score at a decent strike rate.. pathetic selections from Inzi and once again pakistan will continue to be seen as an ODI laughing stock come any major tournaments.
 
Boi said:
Will get some soft runs against WI but then get exposed against the big boys at the Champions Trophy.
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Runs aren't very easy to come by in West Indies
 
Slog said:
Hopefully Mickey Arthur ensures that Shehzad knows full well that he needs to bat with a certain approach otherwise he will be dropped again

With Waqar Shehzad had many off field issues. While I am certain that Shehzad was to blame for this and I also believe that it is unlikely that Shehzad will turn a corner and start delivering world class performances all of the sudden it is important to recognise that Shehzad will be returning on merit.

The hope is that with no afridi around as a source of insurance policy and a new coach with whom he doesn't have a negative personal history with, Shehzad will not have as many distraction and will be able to score big runs
Click to expand...

Oh respect man what a post...
 
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