An Asad Shafiq special at the Gabba

[msb314]

Great knock by Shafiq when he and the team were really under the pump!

Hope he can take us to victory tomorrow!

 

[Major]

Bandwagoners jumping on the Asad train after his performance today.

Will want him dropped the next match if he fails.

I for one dont go around critisizing players of our test in every thread. If they dont perform i believe in a bad purple patch.

I would want even babar to play next game

 

[Tabishbeigh]

i have always thought of shafiq as a classy batsman ,he averages low because of the number he bats at and ofcouse the weak tailenders pak has.i would never drop a guy like him.He has most no of 100's for a no 6 batsman. Thats something to be kept in mind.He has his flaws ,everyone has but surely he isnt a great FTB. Mishab ,well if he is good at only marshaling his troops ,i believe he should be made manager of the team or something like a coach. I rather not him play as a batsman , sad to say the old wine does taste better but it does become unfit for drinking after sometime.

 

[KB]

What was so impressive was the 'intent' shown and by this I don't necessarily mean hitting boundaries, but working the ball around for singles. He also ran the first run quickly, looking to convert into 2s. Australia were certainly tiring towards the end and he was looking to exploit that.

He now has a century in South Africa, England and Australia. Not something that many Pakistani batsmen have achieved (in fact I can only remember Saeed Anwar achieving this).

This won't stop Australia winning, but I thought it was a brilliant innings.

 

[TalhaSyed]

Bah gawwd do you believe in miracles, i doubt they can now I would be more positive if Shafiq had a recognised batsman as his partner, Yasir can hang around but not long enough for us to score 100

Yea I had a lot more hope before Wahab fell right at the end of the day.

108 runs with 3 wickets in hand is tough but doable

108 runs with 2 wickets in hand - that too onenof them being Rahat - makes it nothing short of miraculous.

A great fight back by the boys none the less and regardless of the outcome of this game and In-Shaa-Allah hope the spirit of positivity gained by the team in this second innings can help going forward in the remainder of the series.

 

[Syed1]

Till Shafiq is there I'm not giving up hope that we can still win this.

Remember Yasir is quite a competent batsman and only 100 odd runs to go..

 

[shaz619]

Yea I had a lot more hope before Wahab fell right at the end of the day.

108 runs with 3 wickets in hand is tough but doable

108 runs with 2 wickets in hand - that too onenof them being Rahat - makes it nothing short of miraculous.

A great fight back by the boys none the less and regardless of the outcome of this game and In-Shaa-Allah hope the spirit of positivity gained by the team in this second innings can help going forward in the remainder of the series.

InshaAllah they do it if not doesn't matter because we'll take this boost to our confidence and morale, other positive is that pretty much all our batsman have spent time in the middle besides Babar I believe but he'll come good. If Shafiq can pull it off his knock will be the undisputed GOAT in Test Cricket

 

[Pete Rose]

Till Shafiq is there I'm not giving up hope that we can still win this.

Remember Yasir is quite a competent batsman and only 100 odd runs to go..

It is the hope that kills

 

[GLORY OF '92]

It is the hope that kills

Yes. That chance of glory that is just out of our grasp.

 

[Slog]

Australia, England and South Africa are the three big places for any Asian batsma and where they most struggle

Shafiq has centuries all three countries

How many other Pakistani batsmen have this

Yousuf I know.

 

[Pete Rose]

Australia, England and South Africa are the three big places for any Asian batsma and where they most struggle

Shafiq has centuries all three countries

How many other Pakistani batsmen have this

Yousuf I know.

Yousuf does not, in South Africa.
Saeed Anwar does in all three

 

[Slog]

Yousuf does not, in South Africa.
Saeed Anwar does in all three

Yousuf never scored a ton in SA!?! Wow!

I guess this question would only apply to post 90 batsmen though as Javed, Zaheer Abbas etc never played in SA

 

[Slog]

How about inzi?

The famous one in Hobart. England I'm sure he has multiple there

SA I remember rhe had a brilliant 92 not out to win us a match. Any centuries there? (Though even if he doesn't that 92 had more worth than most centuries)

 

[Zohaib Shah]

Quiet suprised by this comeback. Even if we lose I am happy we fought this hard. Shafiq deserves some praise here. Sure he may be inconsistent but right now he deserves praise for the effort he made. As supporters we can only hope he takes it forward.

 

[Pete Rose]

How about inzi?

The famous one in Hobart. England I'm sure he has multiple there

SA I remember rhe had a brilliant 92 not out to win us a match. Any centuries there? (Though even if he doesn't that 92 had more worth than most centuries)

92 is his highest....that was a matchwinning hand though: masterclass of batting with the tail. He got a 90 odd way back in 1992 as well in the one-off test in south africa. in fact I dont think inzi has a 100 against south africa either home or away.

 

[Pete Rose]

The way Shafiq Bats reminds me of Sachin Tendulkar

hehe...knock it off man. the last time someone said that, shafiq produced a score sequence that looked like an international dialing number.

 

[TalhaSyed]

InshaAllah they do it if not doesn't matter because we'll take this boost to our confidence and morale, other positive is that pretty much all our batsman have spent time in the middle besides Babar I believe but he'll come good. If Shafiq can pull it off his knock will be the undisputed GOAT in Test Cricket

Yup will be a huge achievement if we pull this off In-Shaa-Allah.

Hopefully Babar & Misbah can also get some time in the middle in the next innings & help boost us to a win or two.

 

[KB]

Yousuf does not, in South Africa.
Saeed Anwar does in all three

Saeed Anwar scored his century in Australia on day 4 at Brisbane as well just like Shafiq. He was also unbeaten at the end of day 4.

This was in 1999 and Pakistan were batting in the third innings. At the end of day 4 they had wiped off the deficit of about 200 runs with 4 wickets down, so whilst Australia were favourites, Pakistan were in with a decent chance of avoiding defeat on day 5. Unfortunately, Anwar was dismissed early on day 5 and Australia went on to win easily.

 

[Pete Rose]

Saeed Anwar scored his century in Australia on day 4 at Brisbane as well just like Shafiq. He was also unbeaten at the end of day 4.

This was in 1999 and Pakistan were batting in the third innings. At the end of day 4 they had wiped off the deficit of about 200 runs with 4 wickets down, so whilst Australia were favourites, Pakistan were in with a decent chance of avoiding defeat on day 5. Unfortunately, Anwar was dismissed early on day 5 and Australia went on to win easily.

Yes, I remember that match well. That was pretty much our story in Australia throughout the 90's. Dropped catches and/or losing nerve when victory beckoned.

 

[Barragan]

Kidher hain yaar saaray Babar Azam fans??? [MENTION=136113]Barragan[/MENTION] [MENTION=57576]MRSN[/MENTION]

He played a very good knock today, but that still doesn't address the issue of him batting at no. 6 and hogging it.

As for Babar, he needs to play at no. 6 or be dropped (if he carries on like this).

 

[KB]

Yes, I remember that match well. That was pretty much our story in Australia throughout the 90's. Dropped catches and/or losing nerve when victory beckoned.

The interesting thing about the 1999-2000 tour was that the batting actually performed reasonably well at least in the first two Tests. It was the bowling that was a huge let down.

 

[Pete Rose]

The interesting thing about the 1999-2000 tour was that the batting actually performed reasonably well at least in the first two Tests. It was the bowling that was a huge let down.

yeah fair call that - I would make two points:
- the catching was the worst ever I saw from Pakistan.
- I think Mohammad Akram was a better bowler for those conditions than Akhtar.

 

[Faisalsq092]

You are romanticizing too much. He's an inconsistent player and will remain inconsistent.

I have defended him enough, and I defended him when others wanted him dropped, but I am done with his inconsistencies and false hopes.

He will follow this up with a string of weak performances as usual.

Mamoon is right when he says he had defended Shafiq enough. I remember you were always backing him even when others had there doubts. Naturally, now most of them have switched sides after Asad has scored runs. Personally speaking, I never was a huge fan of his and always thought he scored those 'soft' 100s but believe me today his effort was certainly monumental. The situation in which he personally was before he scored those runs and the way he has given has just that tiny bit of hope speaks volume of his innings. During his previous soft hundreds, there wasn't a point where we at least had hope for even a miracle, today it has provided us hope going to bed. Australia are under pressure and don't think there intensity was down.

Now that Shafiq has done that, its upto him to stamp his authority and leave a mark on Australian soil. I hope he expresses himself more in the coming matches and do turn a corner.

 

[Mainul]

Kohli's hundred at Adelaide was on a tougher pitch and the match was still alive when he walked to the crease.

Pakistan had already lost when Shafiq arrived. It's essentially no different to the hundreds he scored vs SA and NZ in the UAE.

Not comparable to Kohli's innings.

I have also noticed that Asad's hundreds are not in winning cause most of the time,rather in losing cause.Injamam was the best in this regard.I think probably 21 of his 24 hundreds resulted in his team winning.

Nevertheless, it was really great effort from Asad and Pakistan,.Asad's place was in jeopardy because of his too much inconsistency.He has again cemented back his place for next 5 tests .What everyone hopes that he won't fail in next 4 innings as usual.Great test teams were great because their players were consistent.

 

[Buffet]

I have also noticed that Asad's hundreds are not in winning cause most of the time,rather in losing cause.Injamam was the best in this regard.I think probably 21 of his 24 hundreds resulted in his team winning.

If you score tons only against weaker teams then your tons are likely to result in win. If you score tons against stronger teams then many tons will result in loss. It's very simple equation. Best two teams during Inzzy days were SA and Aus. Inzzy had 1 ton in all formats combined against both in 100+ innings. So if you don't score any ton against stronger teams then you won't have many tons in losses. Stats of tons in wins are useless without context.

I am not commenting on Asad here, just making a general point.

 

[Slog]

If you score tons only against weaker teams then your tons are likely to result in win. If you score tons against stronger teams then many tons will result in loss. It's very simple equation. Best two teams during Inzzy days were SA and Aus. Inzzy had 1 ton in all formats combined against both in 100+ innings. So if you don't score any ton against stronger teams then you won't have many tons in losses. Stats of tons in wins are useless without context.

I am not commenting on Asad here, just making a general point.

Actually very good point

Hadn't thought of it this way

 

[On_the_up]

Also if you get a ton from 6 or lower that usually means your team has been in a big hole, to allow you enough time to get one. It is harder to turn a ship around than to get one moving, i.e. from the top 4 positions. A good inns might ensure a draw but to actually win requires your bowlers to also pull out the stops.

Moeen Ali at Oval this year was another case in point.

Might be interesting to see how many hundreds from position 6 or below have resulted in a victory in test history.

 

[Mainul]

If you score tons only against weaker teams then your tons are likely to result in win. If you score tons against stronger teams then many tons will result in loss. It's very simple equation. Best two teams during Inzzy days were SA and Aus. Inzzy had 1 ton in all formats combined against both in 100+ innings. So if you don't score any ton against stronger teams then you won't have many tons in losses. Stats of tons in wins are useless without context.

I am not commenting on Asad here, just making a general point.

Did you watch Injamam's hundred in Multan against Bangladesh? Bangladesh was a super minnow at that time, but they played that match like a champion team and was well on course to winning.But Inji was there who snatched victory from jaws of Bangladesh with fighting hundred.It's not always wise to judge a hundred on basis of weaker or stronger team, context of the match is the most important thing.

 

[Mamoon]

Some might think that I dislike Shafiq, but as [MENTION=139679]Faisalsq092[/MENTION] pointed out, I have always had a big soft spot for him and have defended him vehemently to the point that I have come up with every excuse under the sun to justify his selection in ODIs.

However, as I said before, I have felt let down by him far too often to look much into this performance. In isolation, it was a brilliant innings but history shows us that Shafiq always flatters to deceive.

At this point, I don't have any faith in him or his career. I really don't see the next 4-5 years to be any different to the last 4-5 years. Brilliance in patches but too much mediocrity to ignore and justify.

If this is indeed that turning point in his career that I have longed to see for years, I will be more than happy for him because I genuinely like him as a player. However, I will not bring up my hopes again because I have been through it many, many times.

 

[Bilal7]

Can be as epic an innings as Amla's 196, Sanga's 192 or AB's 2008 heist if he takes Pakistan deep and gets to 140-150.

 

[Bilal7]

Some might think that I dislike Shafiq, but as [MENTION=139679]Faisalsq092[/MENTION] pointed out, I have always had a big soft spot for him and have defended him vehemently to the point that I have come up with every excuse under the sun to justify his selection in ODIs.

However, as I said before, I have felt let down by him far too often to look much into this performance. In isolation, it was a brilliant innings but history shows us that Shafiq always flatters to deceive.

At this point, I don't have any faith in him or his career. I really don't see the next 4-5 years to be any different to the last 4-5 years. Brilliance in patches but too much mediocrity to ignore and justify.

If this is indeed that turning point in his career that I have longed to see for years, I will be more than happy for him because I genuinely like him as a player. However, I will not bring up my hopes again because I have been through it many, many times.

What's wrong with Shafiq continuing to average 45 and scoring the odd, superb century? That's the makings of a very good player and that is what Sjafiq's ceiling has always been. He's not a Kane or Root.

 

[sshakir411]

It is imperative to move Asad to 4. He's here to stay...regardless of what the pp experts say

 

[Buffet]

Did you watch Injamam's hundred in Multan against Bangladesh? Bangladesh was a super minnow at that time, but they played that match like a champion team and was well on course to winning.But Inji was there who snatched victory from jaws of Bangladesh with fighting hundred.It's not always wise to judge a hundred on basis of weaker or stronger team, context of the match is the most important thing.

I am pointing to general trend and that's a big factor in having more tons in win. Point was not even about Inzzy. Sure, you don't always judge each test based on weaker or stronger team, but you do judge the trend on that basis. When we talk about 20-25 tons then we are not talking about individual case here, we are talking about a trend. We were talking about a trend when it comes to Asad.

It's just a simple fact if you take out Asad's 2 tons vs SA then his % of tons in wins will go up. From that angle, Asad's ton % in wins would have been better if he had never scored a ton against SA and some one could have claimed that hey look he has a superior % of tons in win. But Asad is better batsman by scoring 2 tons against SA on top of other tons. It's not a dig at BD or weaker teams here.

It was a very good knock by Inzzy, but I was talking about large sample size and if you score only against weaker sides then your ton is likely to go down as a ton in win. I am not really defending Asad here, just making a general point.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

Did you watch Injamam's hundred in Multan against Bangladesh? Bangladesh was a super minnow at that time, but they played that match like a champion team and was well on course to winning.But Inji was there who snatched victory from jaws of Bangladesh with fighting hundred.It's not always wise to judge a hundred on basis of weaker or stronger team, context of the match is the most important thing.

It's Inzamam mate !!

 

[Mainul]

It's Inzamam mate !!

My mistake as always!

 

[Mainul]

I am pointing to general trend and that's a big factor in having more tons in win. Point was not even about Inzzy. Sure, you don't always judge each test based on weaker or stronger team, but you do judge the trend on that basis. When we talk about 20-25 tons then we are not talking about individual case here, we are talking about a trend. We were talking about a trend when it comes to Asad.

It's just a simple fact if you take out Asad's 2 tons vs SA then his % of tons in wins will go up. From that angle, Asad's ton % in wins would have been better if he had never scored a ton against SA and some one could have claimed that hey look he has a superior % of tons in win. But Asad is better batsman by scoring 2 tons against SA on top of other tons. It's not a dig at BD or weaker teams here.

It was a very good knock by Inzzy, but I was talking about large sample size and if you score only against weaker sides then your ton is likely to go down as a ton in win. I am not really defending Asad here, just making a general point.

You are right on your point.But one thing that i want to mention here that in 90s there were not huge difference in the strength in between test playing sides of top of the table and the lower ones in ranking.He scored some centuries in 90s against West Indies,Zimbabwe,Srilanka .They were formidable test sides then.Scoring hundreds against Walsh,Ambrose,Vaas,Murali,Streak,Strang brothers,Whittal was not a lesser achievement.And also Inzamam scored 8 hundreds in total against England and India which are stronger sides.But yes, if Inzamam had a few against mighty Aussies and South Africa it would have been a lot better.

 

[jeetu]

List of 4th inning century by Pakistani Batsman
[table=width: 700, class: grid, align: center]
[tr][td]Player [/td][td]Runs [/td][td]Mins [/td][td]4s [/td][td]6s [/td][td]SR [/td][td]Opposition [/td][td]Ground [/td][td]Start Date [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Younis Khan [/td][td]171* [/td][td]428 [/td][td]18 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]63.09 [/td][td]v Sri Lanka [/td][td]Pallekele [/td][td]3-Jul-15 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Saleem Malik [/td][td]155 [/td][td]338 [/td][td]26 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]64.58 [/td][td]v Sri Lanka [/td][td]Colombo (SSC) [/td][td]26-Apr-97 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shoaib Malik [/td][td]148* [/td][td]488 [/td][td]21 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]40.1 [/td][td]v Sri Lanka [/td][td]Colombo (SSC) [/td][td]26-Mar-06 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Inzamam-ul-Haq [/td][td]138* [/td][td]317 [/td][td]20 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]59.48 [/td][td]v Bangladesh [/td][td]Multan [/td][td]3-Sep-03 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Asad Shafiq [/td][td]137 [/td][td]334 [/td][td]13 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]66.18 [/td][td]v Australia [/td][td]Brisbane [/td][td]15-Dec-16 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Asif Iqbal [/td][td]135 [/td][td]245 [/td][td]20 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]- [/td][td]v West Indies [/td][td]Kingston [/td][td]15-Apr-77 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Younis Khan [/td][td]131* [/td][td]344 [/td][td]9 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]56.95 [/td][td]v South Africa [/td][td]Dubai (DSC) [/td][td]12-Nov-10 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Younis Khan [/td][td]130 [/td][td]350 [/td][td]16 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]52.84 [/td][td]v South Africa [/td][td]Lahore [/td][td]8-Oct-07 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mohammad Ilyas [/td][td]126 [/td][td]- [/td][td]15 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]- [/td][td]v New Zealand [/td][td]Karachi [/td][td]9-Apr-65 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Younis Khan [/td][td]126 [/td][td]233 [/td][td]18 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]78.75 [/td][td]v South Africa [/td][td]Karachi [/td][td]1-Oct-07 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shan Masood [/td][td]125 [/td][td]337 [/td][td]11 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]53.64 [/td][td]v Sri Lanka [/td][td]Pallekele [/td][td]3-Jul-15 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shahid Afridi [/td][td]122 [/td][td]179 [/td][td]9 [/td][td]6 [/td][td]128.42 [/td][td]v West Indies [/td][td]Bridgetown [/td][td]26-May-05 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Ijaz Ahmed [/td][td]121 [/td][td]450 [/td][td]11 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]36.55 [/td][td]v Australia [/td][td]Melbourne [/td][td]12-Jan-90 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Ijaz Ahmed [/td][td]120* [/td][td]337 [/td][td]16 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]48.58 [/td][td]v Australia [/td][td]Karachi [/td][td]22-Oct-98 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Moin Khan [/td][td]117* [/td][td]283 [/td][td]13 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]56.25 [/td][td]v Sri Lanka [/td][td]Sialkot [/td][td]22-Sep-95 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mohammad Wasim [/td][td]109* [/td][td]215 [/td][td]17 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]66.06 [/td][td]v New Zealand [/td][td]Lahore [/td][td]21-Nov-96 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Younis Khan [/td][td]107* [/td][td]211 [/td][td]14 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]58.79 [/td][td]v India [/td][td]Kolkata [/td][td]30-Nov-07 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mudassar Nazar [/td][td]106 [/td][td]255 [/td][td]11 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]56.68 [/td][td]v New Zealand [/td][td]Hyderabad (Sind) [/td][td]25-Nov-84 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Yasir Hameed [/td][td]105 [/td][td]229 [/td][td]15 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]65.21 [/td][td]v Bangladesh [/td][td]Karachi [/td][td]20-Aug-03 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mohsin Khan [/td][td]104 [/td][td]258 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]76.47 [/td][td]v England [/td][td]Lahore [/td][td]19-Mar-84 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Javed Miandad [/td][td]103* [/td][td]245 [/td][td]13 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]52.02 [/td][td]v New Zealand [/td][td]Hyderabad (Sind) [/td][td]25-Nov-84 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Azhar Ali [/td][td]103 [/td][td]238 [/td][td]6 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]75.18 [/td][td]v Sri Lanka [/td][td]Sharjah [/td][td]16-Jan-14 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mohammad Hafeez [/td][td]102* [/td][td]209 [/td][td]11 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]70.83 [/td][td]v Bangladesh [/td][td]Peshawar [/td][td]27-Aug-03 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Javed Miandad [/td][td]102 [/td][td]436 [/td][td]8 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]38.49 [/td][td]v West Indies [/td][td]Port of Spain [/td][td]14-Apr-88 [/td][/tr]
[/table]

 

[Buffet]

You are right on your point.But one thing that i want to mention here that in 90s there were not huge difference in the strength in between test playing sides of top of the table and the lower ones in ranking.

I strongly disagree. Context here is how many tons will go as tons in win if you score against stronger teams. Chances are that many tons will result in loss if you are scoring against SA or Aus in 90s. There was a huge gap between strengths of SA/Aus with other teams in 90s. A distant third best was Pakistan which Inzzy didn't have to face. Not talking about only bowling strengths here. Simply how strong teams were relative to each other, take a look,



Clearly, if you score a ton against SA or Aus, there is lot less chance of it's resulting in win. Simply because SA and Aus were far ahead of others in winning matches in 90s. It's reflected in W/L ratio. Both teams won pretty much twice as often as other teams.

 

[adivic82]

Hope its a breakthrough innings for Asad Shafiq like it was for greats like Lara, Sachin, Kohli, Laxman etc. in Australia. The onus is on him to take this confidence and become a great player for Pakistan.

 

[ddss]

Only thing missing was an extra 35 runs from Khan and it would've been even more special. He has more 100s than 50s.

 

[waleed88]

Saeed Anwar scored his century in Australia on day 4 at Brisbane as well just like Shafiq. He was also unbeaten at the end of day 4.

This was in 1999 and Pakistan were batting in the third innings. At the end of day 4 they had wiped off the deficit of about 200 runs with 4 wickets down, so whilst Australia were favourites, Pakistan were in with a decent chance of avoiding defeat on day 5. Unfortunately, Anwar was dismissed early on day 5 and Australia went on to win easily.

That was the 3rd innings, no Pakistani has scored in the 4th innings beside Ijaz Ahmed in Australia

 

[Mamoon]

What's wrong with Shafiq continuing to average 45 and scoring the odd, superb century? That's the makings of a very good player and that is what Sjafiq's ceiling has always been. He's not a Kane or Root.

Pakistan will need Azhar and Shafiq to do more than that in the future. At least one of them have to average 50+ and lead the batting lineup after Younis and Misbah retires, unless the likes of Babar and Haris become our Inzamam-MoYo.

Simply put, after 6 years, the level of improvement in Shafiq has been minimal. He is more frustrating than Azhar because he is not a strokeless wonder like the latter and is a natural batsman.

A batsman who can score hundreds in his first tours of SA, England and Australia has immense ability, but something doesn't click for him most of the time, to the point where it is difficult to have faith in him.

Of course that doesn't mean that he should be dropped. It is just that the level of expectations from my side are low now, unlike before.

 

[Bilal7]

Pakistan will need Azhar and Shafiq to do more than that in the future. At least one of them have to average 50+ and lead the batting lineup after Younis and Misbah retires, unless the likes of Babar and Haris become our Inzamam-MoYo.

Simply put, after 6 years, the level of improvement in Shafiq has been minimal. He is more frustrating than Azhar because he is not a strokeless wonder like the latter and is a natural batsman.

A batsman who can score hundreds in his first tours of SA, England and Australia has immense ability, but something doesn't click for him most of the time, to the point where it is difficult to have faith in him.

Of course that doesn't mean that he should be dropped. It is just that the level of expectations from my side are low now, unlike before.

Well, it's your fault for having too high expectations. Babar and Haris have a better ceiling than Azhar and Shafiq, who were always 45 average, 15-20 centuries players.

 

[MRSN]

Kidher hain yaar saaray Babar Azam fans??? [MENTION=136113]Barragan[/MENTION] [MENTION=57576]MRSN[/MENTION]

It was indeed a great knock Waleed bhai. but question has not been Asad not capable of putting such performance but consistency. This is the only his concern. He has outperformed his seniors though both on Eng and on this tour which is why I think we have bigger problems than thinking about Asad for moment. We have to think of a honorable exit door for both experienced player and look for future replacements. They need to be told their time is up.