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Are Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub the worst opening batting pair Pakistan has ever produced?

Farabi said:
The easiest format to open in is ODIs. Tests and T20s are both much harder to open for different reasons which is why they are harder for players to pin down and sustain.
I am pretty sure they will settle down. Pitches are usually flat, batters get time to settle down with low/no pressure of strike rate. Imam Fakhar made records, now Gill already breaking them, Jaisawal will break those, it’s getting easier to open an ODIs
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I hope they do because So far, these 2 have been one-match wonders. As I said about Abdullah.
 
Mamoon said:
Sharjeel and Khalid Latif. They were lucky to get banned for fixing.
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They have one of the most memorable t20 wins against England in t20

The worst has to be jamshed and Farhat from 2013 ct. That was dreadful.
 
mominsaigol said:
I saw that game live. Was an epic phainti
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Of course people who have an allergy to modern cricket and improvement in white ball approach will dislike that innings.

Performances like that one and the one yesterday by Saim are a defecation on the false misconceptions that they hold onto dearly when it comes to white ball cricket approach.
 
Rana said:
What a joke

They set Cardiff alight! One of the greatest overseas victories for Pakistan in T20i cricket.
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Do you mean the T20 in Manchester?

I don't think that atmosphere has been replicated in any T20 match in the UK since.

Stadium was bouncing.
 
Rana said:
Of course people who have an allergy to modern cricket and improvement in white ball approach will dislike that innings.

Performances like that one and the one yesterday by Saim are a defecation on the false misconceptions that they hold onto dearly when it comes to white ball cricket approach.
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Saim is a class act but only if he gets settled.

He's a very very nervous starter. Gives me Ijaz Ahmed vibes. Nervous starter. Walking wicket at thr start. But if he survives, it's over for the opposition.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
Do you mean the T20 in Manchester?

I don't think that atmosphere has been replicated in any T20 match in the UK since.

Stadium was bouncing.
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Yes you are right. I thought it was Cardiff

Manchester absolutely tore the roof down, but they were treated to a Sharjeel Khan special. He did justice for the passionate Pakistan fans who turned up that day!
 
Rana said:
What a joke

They set Cardiff alight! One of the greatest overseas victories for Pakistan in T20i cricket.
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It was a fluke performance vs a lollipop attack on a flat pitch. England were not interested after bashing Pakistan in the ODI series.

Both were very poor players.
 
Mamoon said:
It was a fluke performance vs a lollipop attack on a flat pitch. England were not interested after bashing Pakistan in the ODI series.

Both were very poor players.
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It was a fluke performance

Even if thats the case. Calling them the worst is a far cry from the truth.

Their isnt a single Opening pair that has been more incompetent then imran farhat and nasir jamshed.

It's a shame they only shared like 5 to 6 games together as a pair, otherwise their numbers whould have made saim ayub + Abdullah's opening stands look like the 2nd coming of Gilchrist and Hayden.

Thats how bad those 2 were. Jamshed and farhat couldn't even get their scores in double digits by 2013.
 
Rana said:
Yes you are right. I thought it was Cardiff

Manchester absolutely tore the roof down, but they were treated to a Sharjeel Khan special. He did justice for the passionate Pakistan fans who turned up that day!
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Was a brilliant atmosphere. One of the best I have attended .
 
I think Pakistan needs to persevere with these two. Not because they are brilliant, they are not. Both players have flaws, but not every country can produce an endless line of world class superstars. These two have the basics needed for openers in that they are not afraid of fast short deliveries and will get in line. They will fail at times, but both have the capability to score runs against most attacks. That's not a terrible situation.
 
Cpt. Rishwat said:
I think Pakistan needs to persevere with these two. Not because they are brilliant, they are not. Both players have flaws, but not every country can produce an endless line of world class superstars. These two have the basics needed for openers in that they are not afraid of fast short deliveries and will get in line. They will fail at times, but both have the capability to score runs against most attacks. That's not a terrible situation.
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As you rightly said both are flawed and even with the flaws they are OK. They need competition to force the hard working and improvement. It's the only thing that makes our guys improve. For example Moin Khan/Latif, and more recently Sarfi and Riz forced each other to improve.
 
dont want to see imam back. Saim and abdullah are doing just fine. Maybe once fakhar is back, it could be a good headache to have
 
Mamoon said:
It was a fluke performance vs a lollipop attack on a flat pitch. England were not interested after bashing Pakistan in the ODI series.

Both were very poor players.
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Lol at Khalid latif the guy was so useless against pace and his SR was 103 in t20s even his domestics stats are a joke.
 
khyberlion said:
Lol at Khalid latif the guy was so useless against pace and his SR was 103 in t20s even his domestics stats are a joke.
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The title of this thread is worst opening pair produced.

Sharjeel khan's and Khalid Latif's performance in Cardiff automatically disqualifies the 2 from worst.

Anyone who's actually watched cricket would know imran farhat + Nasir jamshed were easily the worst.

Nothing can top these 2 clowns. Individually jamshed has performances ahainat India and aus, and farhat has performances pre rishta.

But together they were awful. A joke pair in ct 2013.
 
mominsaigol said:
The title of this thread is worst opening pair produced.

Sharjeel khan's and Khalid Latif's performance in Cardiff automatically disqualifies the 2 from worst.

Anyone who's actually watched cricket would know imran farhat + Nasir jamshed were easily the worst.

Nothing can top these 2 clowns. Individually jamshed has performances ahainat India and aus, and farhat has performances pre rishta.

But together they were awful. A joke pair in ct 2013.
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Anyone who actually watched cricket will know that hacks like Khalid latif are even worse than Imran farhat who actually has runs against much better teams and played tests.
 
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In recent years, ODIs have become the easiest format for openers, with records being broken year after year. First, Imam and Fakhar set new milestones, and now Gill and Jaiswal are scoring even faster.

With flat pitches, extended powerplays, and more time to settle in—unlike T20s, which demand fearless intent, or Test cricket, which requires solid technique for survival—ODIs provide an ideal setting for batters to find their rhythm. That’s why Saim and Abdullah should adapt quickly in this format. The real challenge will be excelling in Test and T20 cricket.
 
There is a long list of openers who have been deprived of opportunities by frauds Rizwan and Babar.

Asif Ali, Sharjeel khan, Mo Haris, Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan, Mohammad Akhlaq, Saud Shakeel are some of the names...
 
Rana said:
That’s like saying Ramiz Raja and Imam ul Haq are the worst opening combination in history, although they never played together.

The purpose of the thread is to pick two who played and opened together.

Besides, there are two versions of Imran Farhat. The first is the one that wasn’t married to the PCB director’s daughter, the second is post marriage.

The pre-marriage, earlier version of Imran Farhat was quite an exciting talent. He played very positively and had strong shots particularly on the off side.

The returned, watchful version was absolute trash.
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I never liked either of Imran Farhats.
 
Hopefully, they can repeat the performance because they could be a one-match wonder, these 2.
 
Let's go and secure a 10-wicket win SAIM AND ABDULLAH. Time to repeat the performance.
 
Pakistan opening batter Abdullah Shafique in a video message at Perth Stadium after winning the famous 2-1 ODI series against Australia in Australia:

"And because big targets weren't being set—rather, a lot of tricky targets were set—as the batting unit, we got a good start, which gave the team momentum and allowed us to control the game.

"The opening partnership between Saim Ayub and me wasn’t going so well at the beginning, but a good understanding is developing. The more we play together, the more that understanding will grow."
 
Farabi said:
In recent years, ODIs have become the easiest format for openers, with records being broken year after year. First, Imam and Fakhar set new milestones, and now Gill and Jaiswal are scoring even faster.

With flat pitches, extended powerplays, and more time to settle in—unlike T20s, which demand fearless intent, or Test cricket, which requires solid technique for survival—ODIs provide an ideal setting for batters to find their rhythm. That’s why Saim and Abdullah should adapt quickly in this format. The real challenge will be excelling in Test and T20 cricket.
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Jaiswal is yet to make ODI debut.
 
Ahmed216 said:
There is a long list of openers who have been deprived of opportunities by frauds Rizwan and Babar.

Asif Ali, Sharjeel khan, Mo Haris, Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan, Mohammad Akhlaq, Saud Shakeel are some of the names...
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Except Sharjeel and Fakhar no one is an opening material.
 
They did well this series. Especially Saim.

Interesting what to do when fakhar comes back. These two openers are our future and as long as they perform I wouldn’t drop them whether or not they deserved to be selected before start of series.

Probably best to drop Abdullah down to 3, Babar 4 and Rizwan at 5. Then kamran (or saud) comes back at 3 if Abdullah can’t make 3 work. Don’t think that’ll effect Babar or Rizwan that much, but Abdullah could struggle not opening anymore.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
Jaiswal is yet to make ODI debut.
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I stand corrected but the argument is still valid. Whenever he does debut, he will be breaking records in ODIs. Heard it from me.
Another top order batter whose milking runs in ODIs is Shai Hope, but hes nowhere in the picture when it comes to T20s and test cricket.
 
Abdullah should absolutely be dropped for Fakhar.

Fakhar Zaman & Saim Ayub opening together will do wonders for Pakistan at the top and Saim will be able to free his arms a lot more, opposed to dealing with a partner like Abdullah who not only gets bogged down, he doesn’t have more than 3 gears and Saim has to take the iniative. That’s fine, but it is better when you’re aware your partner can turn it on and Fakhar is one of Pakistans greatest when it comes to that.
 
shaz619 said:
Abdullah should absolutely be dropped for Fakhar.

Fakhar Zaman & Saim Ayub opening together will do wonders for Pakistan at the top and Saim will be able to free his arms a lot more, opposed to dealing with a partner like Abdullah who not only gets bogged down, he doesn’t have more than 3 gears and Saim has to take the iniative. That’s fine, but it is better when you’re aware your partner can turn it on and Fakhar is one of Pakistans greatest when it comes to that.
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well in T20 i agree to make such move but for ODIs i will keep this left right combo so for Fakhar u need to bring saim down the order maybe at #1.
 
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It's become fashionable to criticise Abdullah. Yeah he has been a mental midget sometimes but it can be worked on. When on song he is a class act.

Abdullah and Saim will be in the side across all formats for the next 12 years.
 
Cricket Warrior said:
well in T20 i agree to make such move but for ODIs i will keep this left right combo so for Fakhar u need to bring saim down the order maybe at #1.
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Yes I would ideally like a left/right combo but I think Saim is more suited to open and I can’t see Babar wanting to bat higher either. Pakistan shouldn’t hinder themselves, Australia never use to think like that; all out attack with Hayden & Langer at the top.
 
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DeadlyVenom said:
It's become fashionable to criticise Abdullah. Yeah he has been a mental midget sometimes but it can be worked on. When on song he is a class act.

Abdullah and Saim will be in the side across all formats for the next 12 years.
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It’s not fashionable, the guy is just sh!t and a bore for the limited forms; no way is he better than Fakhar and lacks the dynamism of Saim. As an opener, he offers Pakistan very little, and anchors are not required in modern cricket, especially at the top.
 
shaz619 said:
It’s not fashionable, the guy is just sh!t and a bore for the limited forms; no way is he better than Fakhar and lacks the dynamism of Saim. As an opener, he offers Pakistan very little, and anchors are not required in modern cricket, especially at the top.
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He can develop beyond being an anchor. He has played some good knocks at domestic level that shows. His problem is mainly mental and that is something that can be worked on in time. If it doesn't work out and he remains this way then fair enough, but there is something there that can potentially be moulded. 6 50+ scores in just 15 games shows that he has something about him.

Yes Fakhar is better but he is out of the team and also 34 years old. If he comes back into the side he should play over Abdullah ( unless Abdullah can be shifted down the order) but this guy needs to be persisted with for a while too.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
It's become fashionable to criticise Abdullah. Yeah he has been a mental midget sometimes but it can be worked on. When on song he is a class act.

Abdullah and Saim will be in the side across all formats for the next 12 years.
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Abdullah has this annoying habit of not taking advantage of the chances. You watch him bat and it just looks as if he's there to play pretty drives rather than constructing an inning or taking attack to the opposition. Scoring runs is the main thing here something that doesn't look like what Abdullah is going for. He has the shots and timing to go berserk as well. His shots carried well into the stands. He needs to kill his habit of going for perception and focus solely on scoring.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
He can develop beyond being an anchor. He has played some good knocks at domestic level that shows. His problem is mainly mental and that is something that can be worked on in time. If it doesn't work out and he remains this way then fair enough, but there is something there that can potentially be moulded. 6 50+ scores in just 15 games shows that he has something about him.

Yes Fakhar is better but he is out of the team and also 34 years old. If he comes back into the side he should play over Abdullah ( unless Abdullah can be shifted down the order) but this guy needs to be persisted with for a while too.
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By all means they can keep him around, but there are vastly better options now however and Fakhar can still deliver for Pakistan until the next World Cup I would think. Yes he does have a mental block, but I’ve not seen him go beyond third gear, I think that’s another area for improvement because the way to go at the top is having openers who have the ability to bat very aggressively and have a big say in the match. Am not sure if Abdullah is comfortable opening as well? he’s always going life and death with the bowlers when he comes out to bat during the initial portion of his innings
 
Ahmed216 said:
There is a long list of openers who have been deprived of opportunities by frauds Rizwan and Babar.

Asif Ali, Sharjeel khan, Mo Haris, Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan, Mohammad Akhlaq, Saud Shakeel are some of the names...
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Surprising how you can still want Sharjeel Khan and Azam Khan back in the team..

They are pathetic players... please let's keep them away from Pakistan cricket...

Sharjeel khan is a fixer also...

Both of these have never produced any impactful performance at international level, and yet I see some fans asking to bring them back - is this some sort of paid publicity?
 
ads101 said:
They did well this series. Especially Saim.

Interesting what to do when fakhar comes back. These two openers are our future and as long as they perform I wouldn’t drop them whether or not they deserved to be selected before start of series.

Probably best to drop Abdullah down to 3, Babar 4 and Rizwan at 5. Then kamran (or saud) comes back at 3 if Abdullah can’t make 3 work. Don’t think that’ll effect Babar or Rizwan that much, but Abdullah could struggle not opening anymore.
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Abdullah is a pure accumulator, he should be thankful to our bowlers they didn’t have to chase any meaningful target.

He would easily crumble if the team has to score anything over 280.
 
Ahmed216 said:
But when will the haters learn!?. that was sarcasm bro
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I've given up my quest for sharjeel as I firmly believe saim can replace him.

I had zero hopes from saim as I felt he was just a tuk tuk opener being overhyped like he's the 2nd coming of viv Richards.

However after seeing his performance, While he's still medicore, it's clear he can improve and he can become an all format opener for pak.

He and fakhar need to open asap
 
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Why was saim and abdullah were not retained in t20 after seeing how well they performed in those challenging conditions i think that cost pakistan the t20 series big time plz discus.
 
PCB made changes thinking they will be blanked 6-0 so more players required to share the blame
 
Sunny_majoka said:
Rizwan hasn't even tried to improve his strike rate
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Don't disagree. Rizwan is a limited batsman who is unfit for this format where you may have to explode most of the days. Occasionally on a tricky surface you may have to take your time. In general ability to clear inner ring is the order of the day.
 
Aqib_mustafa said:
Bro i still back saim and abdullah over agha and usman khan atleast they know how to play and find boundaries.
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I know Rizwan is unfit for this format. But i am just guessing this is why they sat him out. Pakistan tried to conver him into an all format player. It is very hard to do that role without losing touch in one format or the other.
 
Abdullah Shafique has the potential to be a highly dynamic T20 in best case, and even in the worst case scenario he has potential to be a equally good anchor as Bobby and Riz

I would have him in the side for sure.
 
If both Saim and Shafiq play T20, infact the worst opening duo of Pakistan then team will be

Saim
Shafiq
Fakhar
Babar
Irfan
Nawaz
Rizwan
SSA
Jamal
Abbas
Spinner
---------------
 
DeadlyVenom said:
Abdullah Shafique has the potential to be a highly dynamic T20 in best case, and even in the worst case scenario he has potential to be a equally good anchor as Bobby and Riz

I would have him in the side for sure.
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This is the problem with our think tank and fans. They don't know much about cricket. Abdullah has all the shots and can hit, his problem is mental. He needs to free himself and will be as good as anyone in Pakistan for t20s. He got a very good range too.
 
Yes they have the potential but really are they the worst opening pair for Pakistan even surpassing

Khalid Latif Imran Farhat

Khurram Manzoor Fawad Alam

Shazeb Hasan Kamran Akmal

Ahmed Shehzad Azhar Ali
 
khyberlion said:
This is the problem with our think tank and fans. They don't know much about cricket. Abdullah has all the shots and can hit, his problem is mental. He needs to free himself and will be as good as anyone in Pakistan for t20s. He got a very good range too.
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They have unfairly written this lad off.
 
khyberlion said:
This is the problem with our think tank and fans. They don't know much about cricket. Abdullah has all the shots and can hit, his problem is mental. He needs to free himself and will be as good as anyone in Pakistan for t20s. He got a very good range too.
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Are you sure. He plays everything dead straight which can easily be blocked.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
Are you sure. He plays everything dead straight which can easily be blocked.
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The key word is if he frees himself. He's too obsessed with dead batting everything. He's actually got a power game and the modern shots to succeed, but plays in his comfort zone.
 
khyberlion said:
The key word is if he frees himself. He's too obsessed with dead batting everything. He's actually got a power game and the modern shots to succeed, but plays in his comfort zone.
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Are there any evidence at any level. It is hard to have that kind of mindset for everyone as it invites inconsistency, series of failures eventually boot. You will have wasted significant amount of time on that guy before realizing he is not good enough.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
Are there any evidence at any level. It is hard to have that kind of mindset for everyone as it invites inconsistency, series of failures eventually boot. You will have wasted significant amount of time on that guy before realizing he is not good enough.
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There have been glimpses of that in Psl and domestics at times. It's not like we are spoilt for choices. Our batting talent is as mediocre as it gets. He has the ability to be better than what he is but he needs to take the step himself. He got far far better potential than the likes or farhan,Usman etc.
 
khyberlion said:
There have been glimpses of that in Psl and domestics at times. It's not like we are spoilt for choices. Our batting talent is as mediocre as it gets. He has the ability to be better than what he is but he needs to take the step himself. He got far far better potential than the likes or farhan,Usman etc.
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He is your test batasman as well. In my observation most players don't do well in multiple formats at the same time. Abdulla is fundamentally a test match player. That instinct will not go away. Specialists should be the way to for long term success.
 
khyberlion said:
Abdullah is far better than the like of salman and farhan in limited overs.
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Why is Farhan even in the discussion?

The guy is simply not good enough

Pak don't need another version of Rizwan and Babar at this point
 
Ahmed216 said:
Not a bigger joke than Sahibzada and Salman
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The solution to replacing Farhan is.......

Replace him with another one similar to him.

Agha is playing because Shadab failed as a middle order batsman and no other option out there

All either openers being forced in the middle order like Fakhar or Usman Khan or lower order hitters like Asif Ali, Ifthikhar etc
 
Barragan said:
Why is Farhan even in the discussion?

The guy is simply not good enough

Pak don't need another version of Rizwan and Babar at this point
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He will have a successful career if he was another version of them. He's pretty hopeless, same with Salman who's also useless in t20s and odis.

In terms of Abdullah I have clearly said he needs to play freely with the right mindset. His power game is much better than Babar and Rizwan.
 
khyberlion said:
He will have a successful career if he was another version of them. He's pretty hopeless, same with Salman who's also useless in t20s and odis.

In terms of Abdullah I have clearly said he needs to play freely with the right mindset. His power game is much better than Babar and Rizwan.
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He did well in the ODI series, hence everyone has now jumped on the bandwagon and want him in every format - that is Pak cricket in a nutshell

Player X does well in one format and all of a sudden he has to play every other format - rinse and repeat

He has proven nothing in T20's, hence he is down the pecking order

Having Rizwan, Babar and Abdullah would be absolutely stupid

All the same type of batsmen and more pressure on the likes of Saim, middle order and lower order

Only one of them should be playing in the top 3
 
Barragan said:
He did well in the ODI series, hence everyone has now jumped on the bandwagon and want him in every format - that is Pak cricket in a nutshell

Player X does well in one format and all of a sudden he has to play every other format - rinse and repeat

He has proven nothing in T20's, hence he is down the pecking order

Having Rizwan, Babar and Abdullah would be absolutely stupid

All the same type of batsmen and more pressure on the likes of Saim, middle order and lower order

Only one of them should be playing in the top 3
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I don't know if it is deliberate or you are missing my point. I only want Abdullah in team if he plays freely which he is capable of. He would need to show that in domestics first before even considering him for national selection. Rizwan needs to go from t20s.

I don't want him in t20s and definitely not because he performed in Odi's even though he can comfortably outperform rubbish like Usman, Farhan and Salman.
 
khyberlion said:
I don't know if it is deliberate or you are missing my point. I only want Abdullah in team if he plays freely which he is capable of. He would need to show that in domestics first before even considering him for national selection. Rizwan needs to go from t20s.

I don't want him in t20s and definitely not because he performed in Odi's even though he can comfortably outperform rubbish like Usman, Farhan and Salman.
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Yes, I agree with this
 
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