Ahmed Shehzad's hitting straight to fielders vs Imam-ul-Haq's blocking & leaving the balls

[Kohli The King of Chase]

Shahzad is one of the worst opener to have played these many matches. But, he timed his shots really well, but more often than not it went straight to fielders

Imam, my goodness u don't block and leave these many balls in tests, and here..That too against the C attack of ZIM team.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

That sums up our batting, in this day and age

I hope they sort this out before World Cup. Otherwise, likes of WI and BD will humiliate us and we'll return home winless

 

[babajee]

This is why you open with Babar.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

These guys and Umar Akmal are legends already in their own ways.

Indians just want to glorify them even more than Pakistanis.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Both are not good enough to open in international cricket

 

[London_Lahori]

Farhan or Sohail to open should be given chances.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Farhan or Sohail to open should be given chances.

Haris isn't an opener so why wreck a player who's done decently in the middle?

 

[London_Lahori]

Haris isn't an opener so why wreck a player who's done decently in the middle?

Because he's one of our better players and there's no room for him in the middle.

Sometimes thinking outside of the box and getting players to open works out for the best, the likes of Rohit and even Butler now in T20's are good examples.

 

[mkyawar]

Because he's one of our better players and there's no room for him in the middle.

Sometimes thinking outside of the box and getting players to open works out for the best, the likes of Rohit and even Butler now in T20's are good examples.

butler and rohit and dilshan were al middle orders who have the ability to powerhit. Powerhit requires fitness which those 3 have but harris severly lacks. Do not think he can open

 

[Oligochaetes]

Imam scores 2nd 100 in 5 innings. Whadda playa!

 

[Saj]

Both are slow starters, but 1 of them gets out after wasting a lot of deliveries, the other makes sure he goes onto get big scores and improves his run-rate. It doesn't take a genius to work out which one is Shehzad and which is Imam.

 

[Sirris]

There was a time when it was rare to see a Pakistani batsman, let alone an opener score a century irrespective of the opposition. Babar Azam was the first one to start the trend after a very long time and now with Imam we have another player who has shown the ability to play big innings.

Purely for cricketing reasons you can't justify calls for dropping Imam especially since he has only played 5 matches so far and is a new player. And when you put his today's innings and the slow start in the context of the match then it is hardly any cause for concern. We won by over 200 runs.

We should be giving new and upcoming players atleast 10 matches and tell them exactly what kind of a gameplay we expect from them and then judge the improvements.

Confidence is gained in bits and pieces and a skill is honed by consistent training. What message are you sending out to you b aspiring cricketers who haven't made a debut yet, when you are willing to drop a new player despite scoring 2 centuries in 5 innings just because the start was slow? That's not being picky, that's being unnecessary harsh. We should be harsh towards seniors like Shehzad, Malik and Hafeez. However Imam is just starting out.

The least we could is give a new player our trust and confidence and a chance to blossom. I am hopeful that with time and clear instructions from the team management Imam will be able to overcome his shortcomings.

Now if some of you are trying to pick on the kid because of his family relations than just say it directly.

 

[gazza619]

Haris isn't an opener so why wreck a player who's done decently in the middle?

Haris Sohail should be reseved for T10 cricket because all he does is scores 30s.

 

[shaz619]

There was a time when it was rare to see a Pakistani batsman, let alone an opener score a century irrespective of the opposition. Babar Azam was the first one to start the trend after a very long time and now with Imam we have another player who has shown the ability to play big innings.

Purely for cricketing reasons you can't justify calls for dropping Imam especially since he has only played 5 matches so far and is a new player. And when you put his today's innings and the slow start in the context of the match then it is hardly any cause for concern. We won by over 200 runs.

We should be giving new and upcoming players atleast 10 matches and tell them exactly what kind of a gameplay we expect from them and then judge the improvements.

Confidence is gained in bits and pieces and a skill is honed by consistent training. What message are you sending out to you b aspiring cricketers who haven't made a debut yet, when you are willing to drop a new player despite scoring 2 centuries in 5 innings just because the start was slow? That's not being picky, that's being unnecessary harsh. We should be harsh towards seniors like Shehzad, Malik and Hafeez. However Imam is just starting out.

The least we could is give a new player our trust and confidence and a chance to blossom. I am hopeful that with time and clear instructions from the team management Imam will be able to overcome his shortcomings.

Now if some of you are trying to pick on the kid because of his family relations than just say it directly.

Ideally we'd like someone more dynamic at the top, sadly Sharjeel chose kebabs instead of representing his country. There are people who will unjustly berate Imam regardless of how well he does due to his name but he is not a perfect saint who can't be criticised at all, in the context of the game his knock was great; but we'd like for him to improve by reducing his dot ball %, against a team like Zimbabwe we can get away with it but not against opposition of a higher calibre.

Additionally the modern games demands openers to show more intent, gone are the days where we try to see off the new ball for as long as it took against someone like a Mcgrath or Donalld; you're always going to get some generic medium fast bowler who will pitch it on a length and bowl gun barrel straight at you; in this situation release strokes are required to take advantage of the power play overs to ensure you're going at the very least at a run per ball to begin with.

Imam style of play is more suited for Tests and while he has been satisfactory in ODI's so far there is certainly room for improvement.

 

[Titan24]

Both are slow starters, but 1 of them gets out after wasting a lot of deliveries, the other makes sure he goes onto get big scores and improves his run-rate. It doesn't take a genius to work out which one is Shehzad and which is Imam.

Exactly, I think many posters are being too hard on a 22 years old guy. Yes his game is not perfect, he is a slow starter. However, its something which can be improved.

He has already got very good temperament, game awareness and passion to do well unlike Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal etc

 

[Square Drive]

There was a time when it was rare to see a Pakistani batsman, let alone an opener score a century irrespective of the opposition. Babar Azam was the first one to start the trend after a very long time and now with Imam we have another player who has shown the ability to play big innings.

Purely for cricketing reasons you can't justify calls for dropping Imam especially since he has only played 5 matches so far and is a new player. And when you put his today's innings and the slow start in the context of the match then it is hardly any cause for concern. We won by over 200 runs.

We should be giving new and upcoming players atleast 10 matches and tell them exactly what kind of a gameplay we expect from them and then judge the improvements.

Confidence is gained in bits and pieces and a skill is honed by consistent training. What message are you sending out to you b aspiring cricketers who haven't made a debut yet, when you are willing to drop a new player despite scoring 2 centuries in 5 innings just because the start was slow? That's not being picky, that's being unnecessary harsh. We should be harsh towards seniors like Shehzad, Malik and Hafeez. However Imam is just starting out.

The least we could is give a new player our trust and confidence and a chance to blossom. I am hopeful that with time and clear instructions from the team management Imam will be able to overcome his shortcomings.

Now if some of you are trying to pick on the kid because of his family relations than just say it directly.

Well said.

I would've played Haris over Imam today but now that the latter has shown his appetite for runs, persist with him.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

He is technically very solid, will certainly do well in Tests if he keeps improving.
I don't have anything against him, yes he is a bit slow for modern ODI cricket but i think he needs to be given time, he may or may not come good, but better to give chance to someone who can make it count. Not comparing, but Lokesh Rahul, when started out, was also a very defensive batter, but has turned into a very aggressive batter.
Imam needs to work extremely hard though.

 

[Justcrazy]

Once he is selected , he should be given at least 8 - 10 innings.

 

[Zaz]

Well it’s early days but he seems to have the hunger for big runs which is a good thing because you want your openers to get the big scores and lay the foundations for consistent big totals

Yes strike rate is as important too You can’t bat at 75 anymore and look to make up the runs later in the innings Release shots are needed You need to look busy at the crease and try to bat at close to 100 as possible, it’s something just not him but the whole team needs to work on And hopefully the management are in his ears regarding this It’s a requirement of modern day limited overs batting

He’s young and new to the team so a rope needs to be given Hopefully with confidence and hard work he’ll become better

 

[Khan12]

He's a test player but can develop into a odi batsmen if he shows more intent and develops more shots. At the moment his six hitting shot is coming down the track and hitting straight which is easy to cut down if you bowl wider.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

The question is will Imam survive better bowling line ups? He had issues against Eng for example.

At the moment he does what he can do, but Zim, Lanka are not oppositions you can take seriously.

I do not know what the thinking proces is, but maybe Mickey/Inzi want an opener alongside Fakhar who can bat long? Is that the reason they kept selecting Azhar, Shezzy? If that's the reason then Imam could provide them, but is that wise? We are in 2018 where 350 isn't a big total anymore.

Either way Imam remains a question mark. Pak could have used these matches to see what someone like Sahibzada or Haris/Babar provide opening the batting.

 

[mak36]

Both are slow starters, but 1 of them gets out after wasting a lot of deliveries, the other makes sure he goes onto get big scores and improves his run-rate. It doesn't take a genius to work out which one is Shehzad and which is Imam.

Correct, but if you want to be a slow starter you need to have the power game to make up for it a la Rohit or Gayle etc.

 

[Syed1]

The issue is the other option is Shahibzada Farhan who is another one of those tuk tuk tuk six type of batsman.


Why is it so hard to find someone who can play at 80-90 SR without having to resort to slogging?

 

[mak36]

There was a time when it was rare to see a Pakistani batsman, let alone an opener score a century irrespective of the opposition. Babar Azam was the first one to start the trend after a very long time and now with Imam we have another player who has shown the ability to play big innings.

Purely for cricketing reasons you can't justify calls for dropping Imam especially since he has only played 5 matches so far and is a new player. And when you put his today's innings and the slow start in the context of the match then it is hardly any cause for concern. We won by over 200 runs.

We should be giving new and upcoming players atleast 10 matches and tell them exactly what kind of a gameplay we expect from them and then judge the improvements.

Confidence is gained in bits and pieces and a skill is honed by consistent training. What message are you sending out to you b aspiring cricketers who haven't made a debut yet, when you are willing to drop a new player despite scoring 2 centuries in 5 innings just because the start was slow? That's not being picky, that's being unnecessary harsh. We should be harsh towards seniors like Shehzad, Malik and Hafeez. However Imam is just starting out.

The least we could is give a new player our trust and confidence and a chance to blossom. I am hopeful that with time and clear instructions from the team management Imam will be able to overcome his shortcomings.

Now if some of you are trying to pick on the kid because of his family relations than just say it directly.

The 2 centuries in 5 matches is something of a red herring (given the level of opposition, and the element of luck involved in the innings).

But I agree with your wider point that it wouldn’t be fair/healthy for the team environment if Imam was dropped after playing only 5 matches. Indeed, one of the best things about the Mickey-Inzi-Sarfaraz era has been a willingness to give newcomers a proper opportunity even if they initially failed.

With all that said, it is equally vital a newcomer is made aware of their shortcomings and if there isn’t any improvement the management needs to look elsewhere.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Quite annoyed to see Imam back in ODIs. We don't need any more conserved batsmen. Unless he's shown some serious game in the nets, we're just wasting time.

 

[mak36]

Quite annoyed to see Imam back in ODIs. We don't need any more conserved batsmen. Unless he's shown some serious game in the nets, we're just wasting time.

Watching his first fifty runs or so was painful.

 

[mak36]

Both are slow starters, but 1 of them gets out after wasting a lot of deliveries, the other makes sure he goes onto get big scores and improves his run-rate. It doesn't take a genius to work out which one is Shehzad and which is Imam.

Correct, but if you want to be a slow starter you need to have the power game to make up for it a la Rohit or Gayle etc.

Holds true.

Imam will start slowly but to his credit if he gets in he will get it up to around 100 s/r.

The issues are: (i) this assumes he will convert against stronger teams and (ii) this method of batting works best if he has a power game once set- 100 s/r is not good enough.

In the meantime, he needs to work on his strike rotation.