Ahmed Shehzad vs Imam-ul-Haq - The World Cup spot

[Sports_Psychologist]

Iman has been in supreme form, he has performed in odi all over specially South Africa. He has matured as a batsman and his confidence is at his peak because you know "MAMU JAAN" is chief selector so his place is never in doubt. On the other hand Shehzad has just performed in 4 matches of PSL, it will be unfair to him if he got selected for the world cup, as a nation we need to realize that playing international cricket requires a lot of match exposure. Shehzad should only make a comeback if he is able to perform in at least 2,3 domestic seasons continuously.

 

[a_tahir]

Iman has been in supreme form, he has performed in odi all over specially South Africa. He has matured as a batsman and his confidence is at his peak because you know "MAMU JAAN" is chief selector so his place is never in doubt. On the other hand Shehzad has just performed in 4 matches of PSL, it will be unfair to him if he got selected for the world cup, as a nation we need to realize that playing international cricket requires a lot of match exposure. Shehzad should only make a comeback if he is able to perform in at least 2,3 domestic seasons continuously.

"Ramiz bhai wo mere chachu hain"

 

[Slim]

Dad's dream and Chachu's dream both exposed today.

 

[MRSN]

They don't come as big as Malik and Haris when it comes to TTF.

Harris has scored against quality sides. He has scored a thousand runs in just 22 games despite injuries and media criticism. It shows his mental toughness as well.

 

[umerz]

My 14 for the WC with my first choice 11 being the first 11 players

1 Babar
2 Fakhar
3 Haris
4 Umer Akmal
5 Sarfraz
6 Malik
7 Faheem Ashraf
8 Imad Wasim
9 Amir
10 Talha
11 Shaheen Shah
12 Imam
13 Wahab Riaz
14 Asif Ali

 

[ammar_merry]

who is talha?

 

[umerz]

My 14 for the WC with my first choice 11 being the first 11 players

1 Babar
2 Fakhar
3 Haris
4 Umer Akmal
5 Sarfraz
6 Malik
7 Faheem Ashraf
8 Imad Wasim
9 Amir
10 Talha
11 Shaheen Shah
12 Imam
13 Wahab Riaz
14 Asif Ali

Missed out Shadab. So a team of 15 and 2 players from Faheem, Imad and Shadab to be in the playing 11

 

[umerz]

who is talha?

lol sorry i meant Hasnain.

 

[umerz]

OMG there is Hasan Ali too. There is serious competition

 

[MenInG]

Imam needs to score some runs or Shehzad could catch up

 

[Boi]

Shan is better than both. Seems like a decent guy too compared to these two.

 

[gazza619]

Another failure for Imam. The problem is not that he didnt score, its just the way in which he gets out annoys me. He lacks game and match awareness and tries to play beyond his limitations. Not a good sign I am sorry. He get out of jail stroke is charging down the wicket to pacers. Will not succeed if thats the best he has to offer.

Imam may end up scoring cute 60 odd in the next game but for me Shehzad is more of an impact player.

 

[Zhasan]

Imam needs to score some runs or Shehzad could catch up

That's never going to happen as long as Inzi is CS.

 

[Farhan93]

Shehzad has already failed in two worldcups, don't need him. Thank you.

Nephew is just a burden on the team, not good enough.

Can't believe fans here back selfish knocks over impactful knocks.

Bringing Azhar back would be more sensible, not a modern opener but at least he plays for the team unlike imam and Shehzad and he was doing so well with Fakhar, but Inzi decided to break their combination to Include his selfish nephew.

Sharjeel and Fakhar would have been ideal with Azhar as a backup opener but if we can't bring Sharjeel back we must think about Azhar

 

[Slim]

Chachu's and dad's dream fails again.

But no worries, chachu and daddy got both of you while deserving players sit out.

 

[Sports_Psychologist]

Ideally i would go with following for final world cup batting line up

01. Imam Ul Haq / Fakhar Zaman
02. Ahmed Shehzad
03. Babar Azam
04. Haris Sohail
05. Sarfaraz Ahmed
06. Fakhar Zaman / Umar Akmal / M. Hafeez
07. Imad Waseem / M. Hafeez
08. Shadab Khan
09. Hasan Ali
10. M. Amir
11. M. Hasnain

12. Junaid Khan
13. Shoaib Malik
14. Faheem Ashraf
15. M. Abbas

 

[Slim]

Imam ul Haq has only one release shot:

Dance down the wicket to hit a boundary.

Hes a mediocre noob and doesnt deserves to be in the playing 11.

 

[OmaIR1]

Both equally crappy.

 

[Chokli]

say whatever you want about him, he's not going anywhere

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Imam ul Haq has only one release shot:

Dance down the wicket to hit a boundary.

Hes a mediocre noob and doesnt deserves to be in the playing 11.

Imam has had an easy time playing against mainly minnows in 2018. Once he has played enough against better sides you will see his real average and SR.

He is mentally strong but that doesn't cut it in international cricket. He needs to improve his stroke making if he wants a career in limited overs cricket. In modern day cricket we cannot have an opener who bats a SR of 75 and can't take singles to save his life.

This is why I prefer Babar as the opener as he will keep it ticking around. Babar is also very efficient in the powerplay overs.

 

[Kroll]

I didn't think the team could get any worse with the current lot, but I'd have to revisit that thought if he brought back Shehzad.

 

[Chokli]

Imam has had an easy time playing against mainly minnows in 2018. Once he has played enough against better sides you will see his real average and SR.

He is mentally strong but that doesn't cut it in international cricket. He needs to improve his stroke making if he wants a career in limited overs cricket. In modern day cricket we cannot have an opener who bats a SR of 75 and can't take singles to save his life.

This is why I prefer Babar as the opener as he will keep it ticking around. Babar is also very efficient in the powerplay overs.

I guess the South African series was an anomaly? Man of the Series award over the South African batsmen and fellow Pakistani colleagues?

Or are South Africans minnows now too?

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

I guess the South African series was an anomaly? Man of the Series award over the South African batsmen and fellow Pakistani colleagues?

Or are South Africans minnows now too?

Is South africa the world cup? Is he awarded the Bradman award after a few games? It was the first time he ever performed against a top 3 side after 1,5 years.

Even in those innings he didn't bat at optimal SR's at several stages on those batting paradises. If you bat at the least 40 overs SR is very important on batting belters. Imam is no born batting prodigy even he has a lot to learn and improve. I like him but there are several things he needs to do better for Pak's sake.

 

[Chokli]

Is South africa the world cup? Is he awarded the Bradman award after a few games? It was the first time he ever performed against a top 3 side after 1,5 years.

Even in those innings he didn't bat at optimal SR's at several stages on those batting paradises. If you bat at the least 40 overs SR is very important on batting belters. Imam is no born batting prodigy even he has a lot to learn and improve. I like him but there are several things he needs to do better for Pak's sake.

What you fail to mention is that was also the first time he went up against a top 3 side, he played a single game in the NZ series, didn't get a full series to show his worth, plus two failures versus the high pressure India matches.

You make it seem like he's been facing top sides for all of his short career and only managed to score against a good side this time.

He faced South Africa in South Africa for the first time and won a Man of the Series award for his RUNS SCORED

Not because of his bowling, not because of his fielding but because of the RUNS SCORED.

That has to count for something if you're winning that award over other batsman, most notably Babar Azam.

Are Pakistani fans oblivious to the fact that more often that not they are 3 or 4 down when their score hasn't even reached triple digits?

If he operates at a strike rate of 80 it is good enough... you're expecting way too much from the type of player he is.

His strike rate in South Africa was 81.

Babar was 83 and Zaman was 86.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

What you fail to mention is that was also the first time he went up against a top 3 side, he played a single game in the NZ series, didn't get a full series to show his worth, plus two failures versus the high pressure India matches.

You make it seem like he's been facing top sides for all of his short career and only managed to score against a good side this time.

He faced South Africa in South Africa for the first time and won a Man of the Series award for his RUNS SCORED

Not because of his bowling, not because of his fielding but because of the RUNS SCORED.

That has to count for something if you're winning that award over other batsman, most notably Babar Azam.

Are Pakistani fans oblivious to the fact that more often that not they are 3 or 4 down when their score hasn't even reached triple digits?

If he operates at a strike rate of 80 it is good enough... you're expecting way too much from the type of player he is.

His strike rate in South Africa was 81.

Babar was 83 and Zaman was 86.

Even Haris Sohail can score runs at his own tempo like he showed against Aus. But once these players have to cope with the RRR you see their shortcomings. In modern day cricket there is no luxury of tuk tuking your way to a start. Fakhar will not succeed in every innings!

The thing with Imam, Haris (at times Babar as well)is that they bat 40+ overs at the least and then their batting at a SR of 75/80 limits our chances of reaching an optimal total. Usually when we still manage to score 290 or 300 it's a 330 or 340 wicket and we lose. Gone are the days we could rely on Razzaq, Afridi to get the extra runs.

The positive about Babar is that he has more shots and gets singes a lot easier. Imam also has to improve in this regard and improve his shots reservoir as only coming down to the wicket will often lead to soft dismissals when odds are against you.

Hopefully Imam improves his game instead of only performing once in 1.5 years and failing against Aus, India, NZ etc. etc.

 

[Hasan123]

I would pick Imam over Shehzad.

 

[Chokli]

The thing with Imam, Haris (at times Babar as well)is that they bat 40+ overs at the least and then their batting at a SR of 75/80 limits our chances of reaching an optimal total. Usually when we still manage to score 290 or 300 it's a 330 or 340 wicket and we lose. Gone are the days we could rely on Razzaq, Afridi to get the extra runs.

And if Imam, Babar and Haris don't bat the way they do we're usually bundled out for a low score.

A strike rate of 80-90 is solid, we're just lacking in the Afridi or Razzaq that could push us from that 300 odd to 340 odd.

You're expecting too much from Babar, Imam and Haris to bat at a rate of 100 from the get go.

The positive about Babar is that he has more shots and gets singes a lot easier. Imam also has to improve in this regard and improve his shots reservoir as only coming down to the wicket will often lead to soft dismissals when odds are against you.

Hopefully Imam improves his game instead of only performing once in 1.5 years and failing against Aus, India, NZ etc. etc.

Indeed, it's obviously not going to happen over night, he's only played 25 games.

And the sample size is way too small to already consider him a failure.

 

[topspin]

I would rather open with Fakhar and Babar followed by Haris at 3.

I feel we can get more from Babar opening the bat than Imam and it allows Pakistan to open with a left and right hand combo.

 

[a_tahir]

I would rather open with Fakhar and Babar followed by Haris at 3.

I feel we can get more from Babar opening the bat than Imam and it allows Pakistan to open with a left and right hand combo.

Imam is an opener though so don't think thry would want to make this Change.

 

[Chokli]

Replace Imam's name with a Saud Shakeel, Zeeshan Malik, Saad Ali and all of PakPassion will be crying about giving him more chances to prove himself.

The minute the Ul Haq gets added, no matter what Imam does he's going to be trashed.

 

[topspin]

Imam is an opener though so don't think thry would want to make this Change.

I wouldn't shift Imam down the order but have him in the squad as the back up opener. He's done well and has progressed nicely but the problem with the team is, it's infested with accumulators. You need a balance of firepower and stabilising options but in regards to the latter, Babar is better than him and I'd take Haris at 3 because we may need his bowling as I think it's too little, too late to select a specialist spinner who will be reliable to deliver in the WC.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

And if Imam, Babar and Haris don't bat the way they do we're usually bundled out for a low score.

A strike rate of 80-90 is solid, we're just lacking in the Afridi or Razzaq that could push us from that 300 odd to 340 odd.

You're expecting too much from Babar, Imam and Haris to bat at a rate of 100 from the get go.




Indeed, it's obviously not going to happen over night, he's only played 25 games.

And the sample size is way too small to already consider him a failure.

Never said he is a failure just that he has had it tough against better bowling attacks. I like Imam for his attitude but he has lot to improve for Pakistan's sake. If he lowers his dot ball percentage and improves his stroke play he will be averaging 50+ for a long time for Pak.

 

[Markhor]

Imam consumes too many dots in the powerplay overs and has to find ways of attacking the pacers other than running down the track, but this isn't a hard choice.

Shehzad has had more than enough chances.

 

[unemployedgm]

Neither player is good enough for the ODI Team.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Big lesson for all:

Why can Abid Ali bat at a SR of 120 without any risk while Imam struggles keeping up 80? Because Abid has more shots and is a natural timer of the ball.