Asia Cup 2023: A welcome reality check for Pakistan?

[mominsaigol]

Now that pakistan's Asia cup endeavour is over, its time to deep dive into what actually happened during our endeavour.

Introduction:

On surface everything seemed perfect before heading into the Asia cup. We were ranked no 1, had a top order that hasn't changed since 2018, with each of the top 3 being ranked in top 5 occ rank batsmen, a supposed Worlds best wicket keeper batsmen at no 4, a world class bowling trio in the form of shaheen, naseem and haris, a finisher in iftikhar Ahmed whos past reputation has earned him the moniker "Iftimania" and finally a spin attack led by allrounder Shadab Khan hailed as a match winner over the years.

^^ And yet despite all this, not only did we suffer one of the most humiliating defeats at the hands of our rivals, get kicked out of the Asia cup by a 2nd string Sri Lankan side suffering from the absence of certain players and if Bangladesh manages to upset India today, we will be exit the super 4 stage at the bottom of the points table. Not good signs I'm afraid.

Deepdive: The top order dilemma

Fakhar Zaman despite having solid 150+ scores including a 200 over the years and winning a tournament for his country against our rivals, his string of poor form was exposed in the recently concluded LPL in which several technical issues were exposed of his inability to play anything from him or angling into him, a run of poor form which continued in the following Afghanistan series and his inability to perform even against minnows, and hence the question that needs to be asked is, should fakhar have even been persisted with? Given that we are so close the world cup? Irrespective of his impact playing nature?

What about imam? While by no means a bad player and definitely a breath of fresh air ever since the dark days of Ahmed shezad, nasir jamshed an asad shaifiq hogging the Top spot, his technical inability to play lofted strokes has always made him a liability from over 40 onwards. Its the same reason no one, not even framchise teams opt for him to open in a t20 game. In a world where we have openers like Devon Conway, Johnny bairstow, shubman Gill etc, is Imam's 1990's era style batting really needed at the top order? Should players like sain ayub be groomed in his place? With Imam being relegated to the test spot.

And finally babar, I find babar world class, but has the world overrated his caliber? By having a world class accumulator and marketing him as the 2nd coming of kholi? The biggest concern that babar faced was his lack of technique against spin, Something which has proceeded to get him 4 stump outs, Turned him into a literal tailender while facing jaysuria during the Sri lankan test series and and heavily heavily struggling against mujeeb, Rashid and wallenge. So how shpuld babar iron out his spin issues?

Deep dive no 2: is rizwan the answer?

Rizwan is an odd case. A player who has contributed and played good innings, but has also played match losing innings for his team as evident in the last Asia cup against Sri Lanka. Rizwan isn't as bad as people say he is, but he's not the wixket keeping no 2 t20 Star that people have portrayed him to be either, with 3 accumulators are the Top with technical limitations, is rizwan at no 4 a vital asset? Or another liability?

Deep dive no 3: The middle order dilemma

Let's be honest, Pakistan typically plays agha at no 5, chacha at no 6, Shadab at no 7 and Nawaz/Faheem at no 8. With the exception of chacha who I am skeptical about shadab, Faheem, Nawaz and agha are some of the worst middle order batsmen I have ever seen. Pakistan desperately needs to upgrade their middle order.

Another question is chacha's age, do you really want a 40+ year old as the key to pakistan's future success, instead of grooming an up and rising blue blooded youngster?

Deep dive no 4: the spin / Extra pacer options dilemma

Our spin has been atrocious, with chacha ironically doing better then our so called front line spinners, is it time to move on from nawaz and shadab and try to groom usama and abrar?

We also have the issue of overly relying on our trio, faheem is a horrible 4th seamer option, Pakistan needs to try investing in ihsanullah and atshad iqbal as the back up options.

Deep dive no 5: The mishandling of our trio.

Whats the point of playing pur trio against every single team including Nepal? On extremely hot and humid conditions? Why wasnt rest given to them?

Is Pakistan really suprised that haris, and naseem got injured? Look how exhausted naseem was during the Afghanistan series. Shame on the management with even shaheen being injured with a broken finger.

Why weren't arshad iqbal, Ihsanullah, abass afridi or any bowler tried in their place? Was every single match in hot, humid conditions with frequent travelling really necessary.

Final Deep dive: the captaincy dilemma

It is clearly Mr formula captain is not a suitable leader for Pakistan. But who leads Pakistan? Surely not shadab or rizwan?

Imad seems to be the best option but our nepotism culture won't allow it since he isn't inzi's and babar's buddy.

Shaheen is the best option on paper but the dangers of making a fast bowler play every match means an injury is waiting to happen. So shaheen shpuld only be a t20 captain at best.

 

[kingusama92]

Great points.

In terms of priority, their biggest concern is spin bowling and then the middle order. Not having a good spinner (i.e. prime Ajmal) is becoming a real issue because it's also reducing the fast bowlers' potency. When teams have a good spinner, their bowlers can relax, focus on the basics, and not lose the plot if something goes wrong with the new ball.

Right now it seems the pacers are compensating for the average spin options and that rarely works for tournaments hosted in South Asia.

The middle order is a tough one to solve quickly.

They can look at Tayyib Tahir but he's going to be brand-new to international cricket despite having domestic experience. Mohammad Haris himself is green and Saud Shakeel is another accumulator (although better than the current options).

The only solution is to avoid stuffing the side with so many "allrounders" like Shadab, Agha, Iftikhar, Faheem. Keep 2/4 and replace the others with specialists. Ideally, a specialist batsman and a specialist spinner.

In the short term, I think they will focus more on stability because the WC is right around the corner. They can't start making wholesale changes now.

I'm guessing they can do something like this to rework the group a bit:

Fakhar Zaman/Saim Ayub
Imam Ul Haq
Babar Azam (C)
Mohammad Rizwan (WK)
Saud Shakeel/Tayyib Tahir
Iftikhar Ahmed
Shadab Khan
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Naseem Shah
Haris Rauf
Usama Mir/Abrar Ahmed

They still have an imbalance with too many accumulators but that's an unfortunate part of the resources available to them right now. Over the long term, they can work on making changes to add a bit of assertiveness to the batting.

 

[mominsaigol]

Great points.

In terms of priority, their biggest concern is spin bowling and then the middle order. Not having a good spinner (i.e. prime Ajmal) is becoming a real issue because it's also reducing the fast bowlers' potency. When teams have a good spinner, their bowlers can relax, focus on the basics, and not lose the plot if something goes wrong with the new ball.

Right now it seems the pacers are compensating for the average spin options and that rarely works for tournaments hosted in South Asia.

The middle order is a tough one to solve quickly.

They can look at Tayyib Tahir but he's going to be brand-new to international cricket despite having domestic experience. Mohammad Haris himself is green and Saud Shakeel is another accumulator (although better than the current options).

The only solution is to avoid stuffing the side with so many "allrounders" like Shadab, Agha, Iftikhar, Faheem. Keep 2/4 and replace the others with specialists. Ideally, a specialist batsman and a specialist spinner.

In the short term, I think they will focus more on stability because the WC is right around the corner. They can't start making wholesale changes now.

I'm guessing they can do something like this to rework the group a bit:

Fakhar Zaman/Saim Ayub
Imam Ul Haq
Babar Azam (C)
Mohammad Rizwan (WK)
Saud Shakeel/Tayyib Tahir
Iftikhar Ahmed
Shadab Khan
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Naseem Shah
Haris Rauf
Usama Mir/Abrar Ahmed

They still have an imbalance with too many accumulators but that's an unfortunate part of the resources available to them right now. Over the long term, they can work on making changes to add a bit of assertiveness to the batting.

I don't have an issue with Imam, Babar, Rizwan individually. The issue as you highlighted is playing every single one of them combined. That's the problem.

Abdullah is an accumulator but unlike imam who can't play lofted strokes for the life of him, Abdullah has shown the ability to access 4th and 5th gear and he tends to outperform imam in test anyway. Saim is more technically compact them fakhar and isn't an accumulator, he's an actual striker + the left and right hand combo will be a breath of fresh air.

Saud is an accumulator but then he's also an accumulator who plays spin 50x better then rizwan and Babar, we know how bad Babar is with spin.

If saud is included then Babar or rizwan, one of these boys needs to go but that won't happen.

The rest as you mentioned have zero international experience are raw and untested.

 

[Marooned]

Agree with pacers management part. That happened ever since we found Shaheen as an 18 year old. We have actually reduced Shaheen's effectiveness by running him into ground.

Before his 1 year injury, there was a stretch of about 2 years when he bowled the most overs in international cricket for any pacer. His pace was down and he looked completely fatigued before his injury.

However, the pacers themselves too should look after themselves. Money is not everything. Be a little less greedy and take less chances with your health when important tournaments are on the horizon.

Naseem was playing LPL until 2 days before Asia Cup. Got injured too and then said oh I was just tired.

 

[PakLFC]

In the WC we will need a much better spinner then Shadab. Also the fourth pace bowler worries me if we go in with him. There is also a lack of big hitter/s late in the order. Plenty for us Pak fans to worry about and give us sleepless nights as we near the big one. Openers and fielding where do I start or end?.

 

[MenInG]

Excellent post

Is Pakistan really suprised that haris, and naseem got injured? Look how exhausted naseem was during the Afghanistan series. Shame on the management with even shaheen being injured with a broken finger.

And we are seeing that now with news that NS will miss some WC games.

 

[Farah Sohail]

Agree with pacers management part. That happened ever since we found Shaheen as an 18 year old. We have actually reduced Shaheen's effectiveness by running him into ground.

Before his 1 year injury, there was a stretch of about 2 years when he bowled the most overs in international cricket for any pacer. His pace was down and he looked completely fatigued before his injury.

However, the pacers themselves too should look after themselves. Money is not everything. Be a little less greedy and take less chances with your health when important tournaments are on the horizon.

Naseem was playing LPL until 2 days before Asia Cup. Got injured too and then said oh I was just tired.

Yes Naseem Shah definitelygot this shoulder injury in LPL..his LPL captain did say that Naseem missed the match due to shoulder injury..but Naseem Shah refuted him and said no I am fine.. I just got break because I had been playing continuously.. Naeem Should have definitely missed Afghanistan series..but he played… played even against Nepal… its the same shoulderi injry which would have been minor then… It got agge ated and now he might miss crucial matches in world cup…

When will our pacers..start getting honest with themselves and the country?

babar was in the same team as Naseem LPL.. he knew that he got shoulder strain so why didnt he rest him for Afghanistan series, when he knew WC is around the corner.. Senseless..

 

[SM1989]

Yes the Asia Cup was a reality check but it is more than that.

It is in fact a trailer of what we can expect at the world cup against full strength teams. I do not expect this team to beat anyone other than Netherlands, Bangladesh and maybe Afghanistan.

 

[Rana]

Yes the Asia Cup was a reality check but it is more than that.

It is in fact a trailer of what we can expect at the world cup against full strength teams. I do not expect this team to beat anyone other than Netherlands, Bangladesh and maybe Afghanistan.

That’s the wins pakistan is targeting

Add South Africa in that list too

 

[hassan918]

Pakistan finished at the bottom of the Super Four Table.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Yes the Asia Cup was a reality check but it is more than that.

It is in fact a trailer of what we can expect at the world cup against full strength teams. I do not expect this team to beat anyone other than Netherlands, Bangladesh and maybe Afghanistan.

Afghanitan could become so lethal on indian tracks, they will get maximum spin support there and it wont be so easy for Pakistan to handle rashid and co on such tracks.

 

[Rafay586]

HAAAAH timing is good or bad; we don't know maybe it will help us in rethinking our plans for WC (better for us; how if we get this situation in WC)

 

[Stark]

I am disappointed that the title is not along the lines of 'blessing(s) in disguise'

 

[Firebat]

It is a great reality check and it will force some positive squad changes for the WC, I bet you it's stirring in Inzi's mind as we speak.

 

[mominsaigol]

Why doesn't everyone just do what I said regarding playing cricketers in their positions?

Just have rizwan open, he's limited, but I stand by what I said. Rizwan will continue to remain medicore if he's batted at no 4. At opening he'll become good though. Not world class but an improvement over imam and fakhar.

Just have rizwan open, with either imam or Abdullah at his side. Probs imam due to left hand right hand combo.

Slot in saud at 4. Pur 5, 6 and 7, idc I just know shadab, nawaz and faheem have to exit our team.

At 5 you can play tayyab. 6 and 7 can be chacha and imad. 8 to 11 can be our trio with ihsanullah/ Arshad iqbal/ Abass afridi if the trio ain't fit and usama and abrar as our lead spinners this cup.

Just play people in proper positions. It's clear rizwan functions the best at opening. He'll probs relish odi opening more then t20 opening.

 

[kron]

a

It is a great reality check and it will force some positive squad changes for the WC, I bet you it's stirring in Inzi's mind as we speak.

also we must remember conditions were awful. lot of rain, swing and stop start which affected the game.
wont happen in india as its alot more sunny.

 

[Kriketer]

Excellent post. Don't understand why Rizwan is not supported for opening in ODIs when he's a good accumulator in T20 opening. Not sure if he has opened yet in ODIs? We need someone striking the ball hard in opening and if Fakhar is not there then I can't think of anyone else courageous enough to go after the ball other than Rizwan. Imam and Abdullah are quite conservative for ODIs. It's in India and big scores are a must to win games and opening pairs are the absolute driving force for attaining big scores

 

[TheSultan]

Excellent post. Don't understand why Rizwan is not supported for opening in ODIs when he's a good accumulator in T20 opening. Not sure if he has opened yet in ODIs? We need someone striking the ball hard in opening and if Fakhar is not there then I can't think of anyone else courageous enough to go after the ball other than Rizwan. Imam and Abdullah are quite conservative for ODIs. It's in India and big scores are a must to win games and opening pairs are the absolute driving force for attaining big scores

Because his technique is very poor against the swinging ball. As displayed in the game against india, give an opening bowler who can swing it with the new ball (most opening bowlers) a spell against him and he’ll be done like a kipper every time.

 

[Rana]

It is a great reality check and it will force some positive squad changes for the WC, I bet you it's stirring in Inzi's mind as we speak.

Na mate Inzi would rather have no headaches and enjoy the tea+samosas at the PCB team meetings.

He would rather avoid taking tough decisions and shift the blame on others

 

[Ali T]

I think this Asia cup showed how reliant we are basically on our top 3.

At least one of Fakhar, Imam or Babar generally make big scores and when they don't, our middle order is quite weak to compensate.

As much as posters aren't a fan of Rizwan, he's done pretty well at no. 4 and needs to be persisted with for now. We have to rate him in his current form which is pretty good, and not vs a year ago.

Problem is like OP mentioned, we have too many accumulators in the team, but for this world cup would rather keep this squad instead of experimenting with new players as the pressure of the world cup is already high enough for experienced players.

In the future would definitely like to see Saim Ayub in the team.

Our middle order needs strengthening as well - maybe Saud Shakeel is the answer ? Although unclear if he is also an accumulator.

Our spinning options and allrounder positions need to be examined a bit more closely too - Shadab Khan doesn't seem to be in great nick and Agha Salman, Mohammed Nawaz and Faheem Ashraf don't seem to be long term prospects.

I have high hopes for Qasim Akram though he still needs a bit more experience in the domestic circuit. Seems like a hard hitter that can bowl a few useful overs.

 

[Omer2002]

Qasim Akram will be similar to Hafeez ...people are talking about Saud he again will be hit and miss same as others.

I think we need to come to terms we just do not have any talent what so ever. I was looking at the indian side full of potential and stars. The players on the bench were class too. Their all rounders such as Ashwin Axar etc have better techniques than our batters.

 

[Ali T]

Qasim Akram will be similar to Hafeez ...people are talking about Saud he again will be hit and miss same as others.

I think we need to come to terms we just do not have any talent what so ever. I was looking at the indian side full of potential and stars. The players on the bench were class too. Their all rounders such as Ashwin Axar etc have better techniques than our batters.

I'll take the end of Hafeez's career any day. When he started playing lower down the order he played some very useful knocks for us as at a good pace.

Saud has a fantastic domestic record but not sure what to make of his ability to rotate strike + power hitting. Don't agree he'll be a hit and miss. Just a question mark around his tempo.

 

[Kriketer]

Because his technique is very poor against the swinging ball. As displayed in the game against india, give an opening bowler who can swing it with the new ball (most opening bowlers) a spell against him and he’ll be done like a kipper every time.

Does the ball not swing in T20 when he opens? Fail to buy that reasoning. A good swinging delivery will have many openers back in the hut, e.g we saw how clueless Gill was against Shaheen in the first rainout game.

Rizwan has changed Pakistani batting fortunes in past couple of years and given Indian pitches, he is more likely to be successful than our other options. Even quickfire 30-40 runs up the order gives a team tremendous mental boost which Pakistan has been lacking

 

[TheSultan]

Does the ball not swing in T20 when he opens? Fail to buy that reasoning. A good swinging delivery will have many openers back in the hut, e.g we saw how clueless Gill was against Shaheen in the first rainout game.

Rizwan has changed Pakistani batting fortunes in past couple of years and given Indian pitches, he is more likely to be successful than our other options. Even quickfire 30-40 runs up the order gives a team tremendous mental boost which Pakistan has been lacking

I’ve said this a few times - yes there are deliveries that can take you out with one ball and if that happens, fair enough. However, there’s the other aspect where sometimes a swing bowlers wants a few overs to work a batsman over. You don’t have that luxury in t20s but in ODIs you do.

Rizwan’s whole problem is that he can’t score a quickfire 30-40. He by his own admission likes to “anchor the innings”.

Rizwan is a dud who may be useful no7. So if he tameez se does that, then he can stay

 

[mominsaigol]

I’ve said this a few times - yes there are deliveries that can take you out with one ball and if that happens, fair enough. However, there’s the other aspect where sometimes a swing bowlers wants a few overs to work a batsman over. You don’t have that luxury in t20s but in ODIs you do.

Rizwan’s whole problem is that he can’t score a quickfire 30-40. He by his own admission likes to “anchor the innings”.

Rizwan is a dud who may be useful no7. So if he tameez se does that, then he can stay

Rizwan can't be a no 7 lol, he's an achorer and the reason misbah promoted him because he was a proper failure at no 6/7, which is where he originally batted.

Unlike other posters, I don't hate rizwan but our top 4 accumulators are just too much.

In the past fakhar while an accumulator would quickly enter 4th and 5th gear after playing 20 to 30 deliveries and would score big so imam and fakhar complimented each other.

That's no longer the case and Babar coming at no 3 was fine, but we had hafeez come in at 4, Haris sohail at 5, with malik and imad shifting up and down the order. Hafeez while medicore would quickly enter into 4th gear and haris would genuinely play at a ridiculously fast pace clearly the boundary with virtual ease. Theirs a reason the guy has the highest average at no 5 and a solid solid strike rate too.

Now we just have accumulators lol. Hafeez and malik and imad by no means were atg's but they could hit.

Look at our line up

1) Imam : Limited accumulator
2) Fakhar: Regressed to Tail ender
3) Babar: good Accumulator but limited against spin.
4) Rizwan: Limited accumulator
5) Agha: Either a bad player or another accumulator
6) Chacha: Striker but takes time to get going, much longer time then imad or haris sohail.
7) Shadab: Tailender pretending to be an allrounder.
8) Nawaz/Faheem: Same as above.

^^ And people still have the gall to tell me our 2023 team is superior to our 2017-2019 team .

 

[Saj]

The reality checks were simple, obvious and not surprising at all:

Our batting is woeful
We lack power hitters
Our middle-overs bowling is ordinary
If Shaheen doesn't take early wickets, our bowling struggles
Babar is tactically weak as a skipper

 

[Cricket Warrior]

These reality checks keep coming after every tournament, but the problem is that no one addresses these issues for the betterment.

 

[Rana]

These reality checks keep coming after every tournament, but the problem is that no one addresses these issues for the betterment.

Exactly

Reality check ho gaya…chalo koi na mitti pao

 

[TheSultan]

Rizwan can't be a no 7 lol, he's an achorer and the reason misbah promoted him because he was a proper failure at no 6/7, which is where he originally batted.

Unlike other posters, I don't hate rizwan but our top 4 accumulators are just too much.

In the past fakhar while an accumulator would quickly enter 4th and 5th gear after playing 20 to 30 deliveries and would score big so imam and fakhar complimented each other.

That's no longer the case and Babar coming at no 3 was fine, but we had hafeez come in at 4, Haris sohail at 5, with malik and imad shifting up and down the order. Hafeez while medicore would quickly enter into 4th gear and haris would genuinely play at a ridiculously fast pace clearly the boundary with virtual ease. Theirs a reason the guy has the highest average at no 5 and a solid solid strike rate too.

Now we just have accumulators lol. Hafeez and malik and imad by no means were atg's but they could hit.

Look at our line up

1) Imam : Limited accumulator
2) Fakhar: Regressed to Tail ender
3) Babar: good Accumulator but limited against spin.
4) Rizwan: Limited accumulator
5) Agha: Either a bad player or another accumulator
6) Chacha: Striker but takes time to get going, much longer time then imad or haris sohail.
7) Shadab: Tailender pretending to be an allrounder.
8) Nawaz/Faheem: Same as above.

^^ And people still have the gall to tell me our 2023 team is superior to our 2017-2019 team .

When it’s put this way it is crazy isn’t it. Accumulators, accumulators.

They want every batsman to be homogenous. Low risk, accumulate, preserve wickets blah blah blah.

Just because we have a good bowling attack (when the first choice are fit), there seems to be a strategy that let’s put something on the board and our bowlers can defend it. Except you can’t do that with just 3 bowlers. If you had a 4th, an effective spinner ok I’d say I still don’t agree with the tactic, but ok there might be some method to the madness.

In reality even if you had Shaheen, Naseem, Rauf fully fit and we had a world class spinner, it still doesn’t give you the excuse of of playing accumulators accumulators.

Just because we have a good bowling attack, don’t think you’re special because let’s face it, every team can argue they have just as good an attack. They don’t just sacrifice runs just because they have a good bowling attack, the game has changed.

Out think tank are sleepwalking their way to oblivion.

Now let’s see - even if you delusionally believe your bowling is greater than everything else, with Naseem injured and Rauf not fully fit, Shadab being a complete dud, will reality sink in? Will you accept that your bowling can’t bail you out? Will you try and make it up and take some risks with your batting line up?

I seriously doubt it. And for that reason alone, babar and co should all walk

 

[mominsaigol]

When it’s put this way it is crazy isn’t it. Accumulators, accumulators.

They want every batsman to be homogenous. Low risk, accumulate, preserve wickets blah blah blah.

Just because we have a good bowling attack (when the first choice are fit), there seems to be a strategy that let’s put something on the board and our bowlers can defend it. Except you can’t do that with just 3 bowlers. If you had a 4th, an effective spinner ok I’d say I still don’t agree with the tactic, but ok there might be some method to the madness.

In reality even if you had Shaheen, Naseem, Rauf fully fit and we had a world class spinner, it still doesn’t give you the excuse of of playing accumulators accumulators.

Just because we have a good bowling attack, don’t think you’re special because let’s face it, every team can argue they have just as good an attack. They don’t just sacrifice runs just because they have a good bowling attack, the game has changed.

Out think tank are sleepwalking their way to oblivion.

Now let’s see - even if you delusionally believe your bowling is greater than everything else, with Naseem injured and Rauf not fully fit, Shadab being a complete dud, will reality sink in? Will you accept that your bowling can’t bail you out? Will you try and make it up and take some risks with your batting line up?

I seriously doubt it. And for that reason alone, babar and co should all walk

The thing is accumulators aren't a bad thing, provided you have one or max 2 in your line up.

An accumulator allows strikers to play freely without the fear that they themselves will have to go into a shell for wickets falling on the other hand.

In 2017-2019 we ironically use to adopt this philosophy which is why we won in 2017.

Azhar and Babar were our accumulators while fakhar at the time quickly went into 4th and 5th gear so he would transition to a striker very effectively. Followed by hafeez, haris sohail, malik, imad waseem and sarfraz who would make shift himself depending on the situation we had a decent team.

Hafeez was able to go from ball one and played an extremely crucial innings against India because he went from ball one. Same with haris, imad and malik(Althoufh malik was the weakest link) these guys could go from ball one.

Sarfraz was a liability yes but because he was unselfish and would makeshift himself he ended up playing a crucial knock against Sri Lanka from a collapsed position.

Everyone here ducking in sarfraz not realising he was unselfish, had game awareness, actually rotated amd was the one who ended Ahmed shezad with him and mickey realising hafeez needs to be slotted at 4 and haris at 5 with babar at 3. Sarfraz led well and our 2017 team smokes our current team batting wise.

Since then we've regressed to 5 accumulators and 1 striker who isn't a striker. Chacha is like fakhar, takes time and then switches to 5th gear.

Not gonna count shadab because he's a tail ender lol.

I don't even get why pakistan is doing this. In the past you had 3 anchroers and everyone else were strikers and one of those anchorers sarfraz only came in when he was needed otherwise he'd shove himself back so really it was just 2.

Now everyone is an accumulator, pakistan really needs to go back to its 2017 days, where we had genuine allrounders in malik, hafeez, haris and imad. Not these bits and pieces shadab, Faheem, Nawaz and agha.

 

[TheSultan]

The thing is accumulators aren't a bad thing, provided you have one or max 2 in your line up.

An accumulator allows strikers to play freely without the fear that they themselves will have to go into a shell for wickets falling on the other hand.

In 2017-2019 we ironically use to adopt this philosophy which is why we won in 2017.

Azhar and Babar were our accumulators while fakhar at the time quickly went into 4th and 5th gear so he would transition to a striker very effectively. Followed by hafeez, haris sohail, malik, imad waseem and sarfraz who would make shift himself depending on the situation we had a decent team.

Hafeez was able to go from ball one and played an extremely crucial innings against India because he went from ball one. Same with haris, imad and malik(Althoufh malik was the weakest link) these guys could go from ball one.

Sarfraz was a liability yes but because he was unselfish and would makeshift himself he ended up playing a crucial knock against Sri Lanka from a collapsed position.

Everyone here ducking in sarfraz not realising he was unselfish, had game awareness, actually rotated amd was the one who ended Ahmed shezad with him and mickey realising hafeez needs to be slotted at 4 and haris at 5 with babar at 3. Sarfraz led well and our 2017 team smokes our current team batting wise.

Since then we've regressed to 5 accumulators and 1 striker who isn't a striker. Chacha is like fakhar, takes time and then switches to 5th gear.

Not gonna count shadab because he's a tail ender lol.

I don't even get why pakistan is doing this. In the past you had 3 anchroers and everyone else were strikers and one of those anchorers sarfraz only came in when he was needed otherwise he'd shove himself back so really it was just 2.

Now everyone is an accumulator, pakistan really needs to go back to its 2017 days, where we had genuine allrounders in malik, hafeez, haris and imad. Not these bits and pieces shadab, Faheem, Nawaz and agha.

Yup and that’s exactly my point. 1 or 2 accumulators is fine but you need the stroke players / strikers too - some kind of balance.

As I said they seem to want every player to be a homogenous product.

I remember those cringe dressing room videos they used to release after every game last year and Babar advising Haris that he needs to finish matches. Finish? Way to confuse a kid! You’re sending the kid up to no3 to attack, what do you want him to do, stay there at the end with a century? The instructions to Haris should have been clear - go out there, get a quickfire 30-40, put the opposition under pressure and don’t worry about getting out.

It just goes to show how clueless Babar is. He just wants everyone to bat with his approach

 

[sam_ahm]

Thankfully Pakistan hasn't played Zimbabwe recently, else people like Ramiz Raja would have blamed playing those poor souls as the reason for poor Asia Cup performance, rather than correcting the actual flaws in the system.

Despite playing Eng, Aus, NZ, SL in the last one year, results are still the same.

 

[Bhaijaan]

In hindsight, the defeats in Asia cup helped Pakistan to regroup and strategise and look how much better they are now