All five batsmen out were of retirement age!

[Junaids]

A lot of nonsense is being written by Pakistanis about typical English conditions.

But people ignore that Pakistan has now got the oldest batting line-up in the world.

Most Test batsmen lose their place forever by the age of 31 or 32. And today’s batsmen out were aged:

30 years 10 months
35 years 6 months
32 years 10 months
34 years 6 months
34 years 10 months

All apart from Shan Masood would have been discarded by every other country - even Bangladesh or Zimbabwe - with such mediocre records at such elderly ages.

 

[Junaids]

Would you rather not lose with youngsters than geriatrics?

 

[Titan24]

Just to add other than Azhar's peak they werent anything extraordinary as well in their careers to start with. I can understand keeping a legend like Younis in the team post that age but when you have as ordinary stats as some of these names it doesnt make sense to carry them on.

 

[Cric_lover4487]

Add 3-4 years of age fraud too

 

[hb787]

Terrible. Most boards would think to groom their future players but PCB decided to drag the team with seniors

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

The seniority culture in Pak is a curse and nothing will change.

We couldn't get rid of Malik, Hafeez so what makes you think we will get rid of Asad, Azhar who are a few years younger?

Only a maniac like Akhtar would drop these seniors straight away.

 

[GreenKhan]

This is a very ridiculous post. Why are we so obsessed with dismissing over 30s.

A lot of batsman get better post 30s so I am not sure how the OP has managed to conclude that most team get rid of batsman at the age of 31-32.

I understand that they need to be performing , but to just discard players once they hit let’s say 32 if they have a bad series makes no sense whatsoever.

Batsman can play till 37-38 as long as they are performing . Obviously Azhar and Asad are completely at sea at the moment and deserved to be axed , but each team needs a couple of middle order batsman who have experience. Your only gna play 70 plus tests if you play into your 30s.

We had two seniors who largely led from the front and guided the other youngsters at the time , and the hope was Azhar and Asad did the same. Unfortunately it’s not transpired that way .

Somebody like Abid Ali who has performed wonderfully in the domestic circuit deserves his chance . No issues with him being over 30. If he can continue to perform then he deserves to be in the team .

 

[Local.Dada]

Pakistan team either has 30+ players or 17-20 year old teenagers, nothing in between

The only guy at the right age is Babar Azam and may be Rizwan and they seem to be your best performers. In Rizwan‘S case he is a gun keeper.

 

[Barragan]

asad should be the first to be kicked out.

Azhar needs to open, otherwise he also goes and make Shan the temp captain.

 

[b.lesner]

In test cricket you need mature players as every team has experienced players. You can't expect Haider Ali to come and score double hundred against Australia straight away.

having said that Azhar and Asad shafiq need to go seen enough of them failing for last 3-4 years and then get away with some odd fifty in last dead rubber test.

In future you can try Haider Ali, Rohail nazir, Adil Amin or Saud shakeel etc in ODI but not tests. You need to keep min criteria to make test selection atleast 3 seasons of First class and atleast 3000 FC runs and also look at number of hundreds scored and how many in difficult conditions

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Would you rather not lose with youngsters than geriatrics?

They have been losing right left and centre with Misbah and Younis too,, nothing changed until they call it a day. Same will happen with these two Azhar and Asad. Misbah since2007 trying to pull the team down whenever he can. Loser.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Misbah and Yoni have motivated a generation of Pakistani batsmen to go on to play till 42.

 

[Junaids]

This is a very ridiculous post. Why are we so obsessed with dismissing over 30s.

A lot of batsman get better post 30s so I am not sure how the OP has managed to conclude that most team get rid of batsman at the age of 31-32.

I understand that they need to be performing , but to just discard players once they hit let’s say 32 if they have a bad series makes no sense whatsoever.

Batsman can play till 37-38 as long as they are performing . Obviously Azhar and Asad are completely at sea at the moment and deserved to be axed , but each team needs a couple of middle order batsman who have experience. Your only gna play 70 plus tests if you play into your 30s.

We had two seniors who largely led from the front and guided the other youngsters at the time , and the hope was Azhar and Asad did the same. Unfortunately it’s not transpired that way .

Somebody like Abid Ali who has performed wonderfully in the domestic circuit deserves his chance . No issues with him being over 30. If he can continue to perform then he deserves to be in the team .

Look at the last domestic season - Fawad Alam was the 24th highest scorer until the international bowlers left for Australia.

There are younger batsmen who are performing better and who have future potential - unlike these junk geriatrics.

Sami Aslam - he topped the averages in England in 2016.

Zeeshan Malik

Imran Butt

Haider Ali

The talent is there and has scored the runs at the next level down.

But Misbah picks his friends instead.

 

[Kroll]

Pakistan team either has 30+ players or 17-20 year old teenagers, nothing in between

The only guy at the right age is Babar Azam and may be Rizwan and they seem to be your best performers. In Rizwan‘S case he is a gun keeper.

It's pretty comical. We'll play mostly pensioners but throw in a couple of school kids just to make it look we're playing some younger players.

 

[Bullet Drive]

Look at the last domestic season - Fawad Alam was the 24th highest scorer until the international bowlers left for Australia.

There are younger batsmen who are performing better and who have future potential - unlike these junk geriatrics.

Sami Aslam - he topped the averages in England in 2016.

Zeeshan Malik

Imran Butt

Haider Ali

The talent is there and has scored the runs at the next level down.

But Misbah picks his friends instead.

Abdullah Shafique

Saud Shakeel.

 

[Grunge101]

Whilst i agree with the general gist if the OP, he divulged into quite a lot of exaggeration to make his point.

Modern day Test players dont just retire at 30, lots of them continue to perform well into the mid and even late thirties at times.From the England side

Anderson 38, Broad 34, Buttler and Root 30, Stokes 29.

Azhar and Asad need to be shown the door, tho not because theyre too old but because they were never good enough and never will be,

 

[GreenKhan]

Look at the last domestic season - Fawad Alam was the 24th highest scorer until the international bowlers left for Australia.

There are younger batsmen who are performing better and who have future potential - unlike these junk geriatrics.

Sami Aslam - he topped the averages in England in 2016.

Zeeshan Malik

Imran Butt

Haider Ali

The talent is there and has scored the runs at the next level down.

But Misbah picks his friends instead.

I actually like Sami Aslam and believe he should have been persisted with . I am sure he played the bulk of his matches when misbah was captain .

Secondly saying Fawad was the 24th highest batsman etc is just nitpicking for the sake of it .

The guy has a first class average of 55 over a 100 matches which means he has performed consistently well for a number of years . He deserved his chance and a few games now to prove his mettle .

The above names you mentioned also need to be given a chance . But playing them all together will mean we have a very young and inexperienced batting line up, and when they start failing the same people who wanted them in their team will be calling for their heads , as most fans on here make a player a hero based on one match and a utterly rubbish if they fail in the next one .

 

[Major]

fickle.

after the 150, OP wanted SHan Masood to be the captain. Now look at him change stance.

 

[Canistani Hero]

Fickle, however Shan-Abid has earned the right to be the opening combo in Tests for the upcoming series..I wish PCB scheduled a test match against Ireland at Malahide -- would love to see a top 5 of Shan-Abid-Imam-Babar-Haris (may inducing Saud Shakeel) if Haris is not ready..

 

[Junaids]

fickle.

after the 150, OP wanted SHan Masood to be the captain. Now look at him change stance.

I still do.

He is the only player over 30 whom I would retain in this team.

I’d go to New Zealand with:

Sami Aslam
Imam-ul-Haq
Shan Masood (c)
Babar Azam
Haider Ali
Mohammad Rizwan (wk)
Shadab Khan
Faheem Ashraf
Mohammad Amir
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Naseem Shah

Reserves:
Imran Butt
Zeeshan Malik
Rohail Nazir
Zafar Gohar
Sajid Khan
Haris Rauf
Ehsan Adil

 

[Energy]

Only in Pakistan would you 'invest' and 'build' a team and when there's time to reap rewards things go haywire.

 

[coy0607]

Other top international batsmen - and their retirement ages

Alastair Cook - 33
Michael Clark - 34
Graeme Smith - 34
ABD - 34

Azhar, Asad and co are no where near as good as these guys, yet they talk about playing 4-5 more years at ages 34/35

Yeah, some others like Sanga, Tendulkar, Kallis, Younis played into their later years - but that's because they kept up performances. Not because of seniority/experience complex

 

[Third Man]

In test cricket you need mature players as every team has experienced players. You can't expect Haider Ali to come and score double hundred against Australia straight away.

having said that Azhar and Asad shafiq need to go seen enough of them failing for last 3-4 years and then get away with some odd fifty in last dead rubber test.

In future you can try Haider Ali, Rohail nazir, Adil Amin or Saud shakeel etc in ODI but not tests. You need to keep min criteria to make test selection atleast 3 seasons of First class and atleast 3000 FC runs and also look at number of hundreds scored and how many in difficult conditions

Saud Shakeel has 36 FC matches under his belt. He's been playing FC for a while now.

 

[Nervesofsteel]

This obsession with age is just getting ridiculous man. Every post of yours is about it. Get over it.

 

[MMHS]

I think, key is performance, not age. The big issue here is that players picked on experience have to perform, which is not happening here, it’s not about how many they scored - Azhar, Abid, Asad & Fawad looked poor. I had absolutely no issues with YK - in fact I wrote that YK should have been given Test captaincy for a year or two and that could have saved PAK’s series against SRL or NZ in .

Worst part is, Misbah might replace them with Iftekhar and call back Shahzad, Maqsood

 

[Bullet Drive]

I still do.

He is the only player over 30 whom I would retain in this team.

I’d go to New Zealand with:

Sami Aslam
Imam-ul-Haq
Shan Masood (c)
Babar Azam
Haider Ali
Mohammad Rizwan (wk)
Shadab Khan
Faheem Ashraf
Mohammad Amir
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Naseem Shah

Reserves:
Imran Butt
Zeeshan Malik
Rohail Nazir
Zafar Gohar
Sajid Khan
Haris Rauf
Ehsan Adil

How have you missed the two upcoming Pakistani greats?

Abdullah Shafiq and Saud Shakeel?

 

[Giannis]

Shan is not at retirement age, in most sports mid 20s to early 30s is your prime. Shan is only 30, almost 31.

 

[Giannis]

Add 3-4 years of age fraud too

Unless you have evidence don't make false accusastions. At least Shaan and Azhars age is accurate as well as Fawads.

 

[Giannis]

In the NBA and baseball a lot of players are in there prime around 30 and don't retire until late 30s, OP must be a fossil cause he must be comparing players to back in his time.

 

[gazza619]

My focus would be more on the merit than age.

Times have changed and 30 is the new 25.

 

[Buffet]

5 batsmen are not performing. If they were performing then age won't matter.

Simply go by performance. You can not carry players irrespective of their age if they are not performing.

 

[UsmanhailsAfridi]

5 batsmen are not performing. If they were performing then age won't matter.

Simply go by performance. You can not carry players irrespective of their age if they are not performing.

Agree but a younger player should get more leeway to build up his come fix his issue. In Pakistan it’s the opposite

 

[cric_4life]

Performance should be the criteria and not the age.
Age shouldnt be an issue if a batsmen is performing.

 

[Buffet]

Agree but a younger player should get more leeway to build up his come fix his issue. In Pakistan it’s the opposite

That's problem for sure. Young players can improve and have a good career.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

I actually like Sami Aslam and believe he should have been persisted with . I am sure he played the bulk of his matches when misbah was captain .

Secondly saying Fawad was the 24th highest batsman etc is just nitpicking for the sake of it .

The guy has a first class average of 55 over a 100 matches which means he has performed consistently well for a number of years . He deserved his chance and a few games now to prove his mettle .

The above names you mentioned also need to be given a chance . But playing them all together will mean we have a very young and inexperienced batting line up, and when they start failing the same people who wanted them in their team will be calling for their heads , as most fans on here make a player a hero based on one match and a utterly rubbish if they fail in the next one .

How is that nitpicking? There’s 23 people who performed better than him in the most recent domestic season. Even after everyone left there were 7 people who performed better than Fawad, namely Sami Aslam, Imran Butt, and a couple others.

 

[GreenKhan]

How is that nitpicking? There’s 23 people who performed better than him in the most recent domestic season. Even after everyone left there were 7 people who performed better than Fawad, namely Sami Aslam, Imran Butt, and a couple others.

You clearly are nitpicking as you have based it on the current season and then gone to the trouble to figure out when the team went Australia . Did you see the bowlers who went to Australia? It included musa khan and Naseem shah . So the more experienced Bowlers with pedigree were still playing in the domestic season .

Well I have a stat for you brother. Fawad Alam has the 6th highest first class average of all players currently playing who have scored 5000 runs .

For me that indicates that he most definitely deserves his chance . He was also with the squad for the last few series so it’s only a natural progression that he would be next if a place became vacant .

Stop begrudging man his deserved chance just because you have an issue with over 30s.

Peace

 

[Thunderbolt14]

You clearly are nitpicking as you have based it on the current season and then gone to the trouble to figure out when the team went Australia . Did you see the bowlers who went to Australia? It included musa khan and Naseem shah . So the more experienced Bowlers with pedigree were still playing in the domestic season .

Well I have a stat for you brother. Fawad Alam has the 6th highest first class average of all players currently playing who have scored 5000 runs .

For me that indicates that he most definitely deserves his chance . He was also with the squad for the last few series so it’s only a natural progression that he would be next if a place became vacant .

Stop begrudging man his deserved chance just because you have an issue with over 30s.

Peace

It’s not about the bowlers that went to Australia. Its the batsmen in the top 23 above him.

Also, another stat for you- Don Bradman averages better than all the batsmen in the Pakistan team. Too bad he’s past his prime - same as is with Fawad.

Lastly, I don’t have an issue with over 30’s- if you are 38 and performing much much better than youngsters in domestic, go for it. If you are 34 and have clearly declining reflexes and a shoddy technique, you aren’t worth the opportunity cost.

 

[Junaids]

You clearly are nitpicking as you have based it on the current season and then gone to the trouble to figure out when the team went Australia . Did you see the bowlers who went to Australia? It included musa khan and Naseem shah . So the more experienced Bowlers with pedigree were still playing in the domestic season .

Well I have a stat for you brother. Fawad Alam has the 6th highest first class average of all players currently playing who have scored 5000 runs .

For me that indicates that he most definitely deserves his chance . He was also with the squad for the last few series so it’s only a natural progression that he would be next if a place became vacant .

Stop begrudging man his deserved chance just because you have an issue with over 30s.

Peace

You are judging Fawad Alam by the numbers he put together as a 26, 27, 28, 29 year old with a dodgy technique but a great eye and good reflexes.

That man no longer exists. Now he is a hesitant veteran who has lost his reflexes and hand-eye coordination. Naseem Shah and others made a fool of him last season, and he just inflated his numbers when the good bowlers went to Australia.

 

[sharmaji]

It shouldn't be entirely about age. If someone is getting old, but is still performing well, then why not? Jimmy Anderson is 38 and Broad is 34 and they are still playing well. A lot of current Indian and Australian players are near or past 30 as well.

 

[Junaids]

It shouldn't be entirely about age. If someone is getting old, but is still performing well, then why not? Jimmy Anderson is 38 and Broad is 34 and they are still playing well. A lot of current Indian and Australian players are near or past 30 as well.

Anderson and Broad are 2 of the 4 highest wicket-taking pace bowlers of all time.

Azhar Ali is 35 and hasn’t even got 6,000 Test runs, yet is being treated like a legend with 10,000 runs.

Asad Shafiq is 34 and hasn’t even got 5,000 Test runs, not even an average of 40!!!!!!!!!

You shouldn’t get special treatment if you’re not special.

 

[sharmaji]

I agree. Azhar and Asad don't deserve a place in this team based on their current performance. They should be dropped. Desis have a bad culture of carrying non-performing seniors based on their past reputation. I see your point.

Anderson and Broad are 2 of the 4 highest wicket-taking pace bowlers of all time.

Azhar Ali is 35 and hasn’t even got 6,000 Test runs, yet is being treated like a legend with 10,000 runs.

Asad Shafiq is 34 and hasn’t even got 5,000 Test runs, not even an average of 40!!!!!!!!!

You shouldn’t get special treatment if you’re not special.

 

[sharmaji]

I think this should be the last series for Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Wahab Riaz, Sarfaraz, Sohail Khan etc. Going forward, this should be Pak test team:

Shan Masood
New Opener (Abid Ali is ok for now)
New Test Batsman (Imam ul haq can be tried)
Babar (c)
New Test batsman
New Test batsman
Rizwan
New Allrounder (Shadab is ok for now)
New Spinner (Yasir will do for another two years maybe, but a younger spinner needs to be brought in)
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Mohd Abbas (a younger medium pace bowler needs to be trained)
New Fast Bowler (Naseem Shah is ok for now, but he is too young)

The way I see it, there are many (upto 7) places up for grabs in Pak test XI. Youngsters should be excited about the upcoming opportunities.

 

[AAli98]

Thought I’d never see a worse pak batting line than 2010 eng tour, but this batting line up is the pits virtually playing with 1.5 batsman Rizwan is nothing special with the bat by pak batting standards his QDK.

 

[Blistering Barnacle]

Forget about age. Just drop non-performers. Simple.

 

[Energy]

For all those saying age doesn't matter have no clue about the correlation of age with performance and biomechanics in sport. Unfortunately our selection committee is also filled with heart over brain type comfort-zone thinking.

There is a direct link as to how the reflexes and athletic ability drops with age. Sure there are anomalies but we would have to be ******** to thinking stacking a team with over 30s is a winning recipe.

 

[shamaan]

Forget about age. Just drop non-performers. Simple.

Agreed

 

[shamaan]

Thought I’d never see a worse pak batting line than 2010 eng tour, but this batting line up is the pits virtually playing with 1.5 batsman Rizwan is nothing special with the bat by pak batting standards his QDK.

Hes good more than decent with the bat and excellent behind the stumps

 

[shamaan]

I think this should be the last series for Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Wahab Riaz, Sarfaraz, Sohail Khan etc. Going forward, this should be Pak test team:

Shan Masood
New Opener (Abid Ali is ok for now)
New Test Batsman (Imam ul haq can be tried)
Babar (c)
New Test batsman
New Test batsman
Rizwan
New Allrounder (Shadab is ok for now)
New Spinner (Yasir will do for another two years maybe, but a younger spinner needs to be brought in)
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Mohd Abbas (a younger medium pace bowler needs to be trained)
New Fast Bowler (Naseem Shah is ok for now, but he is too young)

The way I see it, there are many (upto 7) places up for grabs in Pak test XI. Youngsters should be excited about the upcoming opportunities.

I would go

Shan masood c
Sami aslam (imran butt) abid hes okay but to old
Usman salahuddin deserves a chance
Babar
Saud shakeel
Haider ali
Rizwan
Shadab or yamin
Gohar
Mohammed abbas
Naseem
Shaheen

Akif Javed
Husnain
Rauf
Zeeshan malik
Omair bin yousuf
Abdullah shafique

 

[shamaan]

How have you missed the two upcoming Pakistani greats?

Abdullah Shafiq and Saud Shakeel?

What about omair bin yousuf

 

[shamaan]

I think, key is performance, not age. The big issue here is that players picked on experience have to perform, which is not happening here, it’s not about how many they scored - Azhar, Abid, Asad & Fawad looked poor. I had absolutely no issues with YK - in fact I wrote that YK should have been given Test captaincy for a year or two and that could have saved PAK’s series against SRL or NZ in ����.

Worst part is, Misbah might replace them with Iftekhar and call back Shahzad, Maqsood��

Maqsood was decent in odis

 

[shamaan]

Look at the last domestic season - Fawad Alam was the 24th highest scorer until the international bowlers left for Australia.

There are younger batsmen who are performing better and who have future potential - unlike these junk geriatrics.

Sami Aslam - he topped the averages in England in 2016.

Zeeshan Malik

Imran Butt

Haider Ali

The talent is there and has scored the runs at the next level down.

But Misbah picks his friends instead.

Omair bin yousuf imran butt saudi shakeel abdullah shafique

 

[Junaids]

Second Test First Innings

Batsmen over 30: 86-5
Batsmen under 30: 106-1

 

[MMHS]

Second Test First Innings

Batsmen over 30: 86-5
Batsmen under 30: 106-1

This is not fair to any player or any group. The main issue is how the players are performing, not their age. Yes, for future planning, management should promote youngsters and if the seniors are not performing, it’s even worse. And, for a physical game like cricket where reflex & eye sight plays a major role, age definitely is a major issue, but again you can’t put any formula on it.

Problem for PAK is that most of the aged players trusted for their experience are not performing and it’s definitely an issue, but at the same time youngsters picked on potential shouldn’t get a free run - then they’ll get complacent. Don't get me wrong, I am one advocating for reducing average age of PCT by five years at least, but you have to honour/admire performing seniors and be critical for non performing youngsters as well.

You put some selective stats which fits your argument for this Test, but if I do the same for last Test, it’ll read 30+ group - 11 wickets by two bowlers, below thirty group - 3 bowlers 6 wickets ..... and PAK failed to defend 277. If Azhar, Asad is responsible for that loss, Shaheen, Naseem is equally responsible, if not more - despite batting failure by seniors (Shan is 30+ now though), PAK had 277 to defend and the younger trio went for ~2/150 at 3.5+ rate on last innings - that’s pathetic; worse than what at least Asad did.

 

[Kroll]

The younger guys are showing that they are more adept at fighting it out in high pressure situations while old and past their best players like Azhar and Fawad have folded without so much as a whimper.

Can we keep carrying passengers? Or will thick tank finally see some sense with their selections.
No doubt, we will see the apologists still supporting their selections.

 

[Energy]

Fighter Fawad and Fighter Azhar - your services have been highly appreciated. True legends.