Babar Azam undergoes bowling action test, ready to play as an all-rounder

[pakistanigoneaussie]

Pakistan’s aspiring right-hand batsman Babar Azam is ready to make his comeback as an all-rounder after his bowling action was tested in Brisbane, Australia, on Friday.

Azam was banned from bowling when his action was reported during his U19 career, an official of the team management informed DawnNews.

The former under-19 captain travelled to Brisbane from Adelaide to have his bowling action tested.

“Babar, who bowled for the U-19 squad as an off-spinner, underwent the test at ICC lab in Brisbane, while the final reports will be given in a period of 15 days,” said the PCB official.

In the recent tour, Babar scored 282 runs against Australia in five ODI matches with a century in the last match at Adelaide. He, however, failed to perform in during the test series down under, only scoring 68 runs.

The 22-year-old completed 1,000 ODI runs in his 21st match and joined the fastest 1,000 ODI runs cub alongside the greats such as Sir Vivian Richards from West Indies, England’s Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott and South Africa’s Quinton de Kock.

Now the team management is planning to use Babar as an all-rounder, since the team will definitely be needing an off-spinner in future.

http://www.dawn.com/news/1311074/babar-azam-ready-to-make-comeback-as-all-rounder

 

[shah_1]

Babar Azam ready to make comeback as all-rounder

Babar Azam ready to make comeback as all-rounder

Pakistan’s aspiring right-hand batsman Babar Azam is ready to make his comeback as an all-rounder after his bowling action was tested in Brisbane, Australia, on Friday.

Azam was banned from bowling when his action was reported during his U19 career, an official of the team management informed DawnNews.

The former under-19 captain travelled to Brisbane from Adelaide to have his bowling action tested.

“Babar, who bowled for the U-19 squad as an off-spinner, underwent the test at ICC lab in Brisbane, while the final reports will be given in a period of 15 days,” said the PCB official.

In the recent tour, Babar scored 282 runs against Australia in five ODI matches with a century in the last match at Adelaide. He, however, failed to perform in during the test series down under, only scoring 68 runs.

The 22-year-old completed 1,000 ODI runs in his 21st match and joined the fastest 1,000 ODI runs cub alongside the greats such as Sir Vivian Richards from West Indies, England’s Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott and South Africa’s Quinton de Kock.

Now the team management is planning to use Babar as an all-rounder, since the team will definitely be needing an off-spinner in future.

http://www.dawn.com/news/1311074/babar-azam-ready-to-make-comeback-as-all-rounder

 

[The_Odd_One]

Azhar, Harris, Harris should be able to bowl few overs of spin when needed.

 

[fazleefridi]

What??

He's finding his feet, and Pakistan wants to bowl him off spin

Pakistan knows how to spoil the talent.

Oh my goodness.

He ll concentrate on bowling, and in return his batting will do down.

He'll become lethargic, my bowling is good and won't improve his batting.

Ridiculous.

Let the kid complete atleas 50+ Odis..

Poor planning by the PCB, alas it's PCB

 

[Uzair Gooner]

What??

He's finding his feet, and Pakistan wants to bowl him off spin

Pakistan knows how to spoil the talent.

Oh my goodness.

He ll concentrate on bowling, and in return his batting will do down.

He'll become lethargic, my bowling is good and won't improve his batting.

Ridiculous.

Let the kid complete atleas 50+ Odis..

Poor planning by the PCB, alas it's PCB

He is actually an allrounder, used to bowl his quota of 10 overs during his u19 days

 

[The_Odd_One]

What??

He's finding his feet, and Pakistan wants to bowl him off spin

Pakistan knows how to spoil the talent.

Oh my goodness.

He ll concentrate on bowling, and in return his batting will do down.

He'll become lethargic, my bowling is good and won't improve his batting.

Ridiculous.

Let the kid complete atleas 50+ Odis..

Poor planning by the PCB, alas it's PCB

If bowlers are required to know how to bat then why should not batsmen be required to bowl? Every batsman in the team should be ideally able to bowl a few overs if needed.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

im afraid this will hamper his growth as a batsman...

 

[fazleefridi]

He is actually an allrounder, used to bowl his quota of 10 overs during his u19 days

If bowlers are required to know how to bat then why should not batsmen be required to bowl? Every batsman in the team should be ideally able to bowl a few overs if needed.

Smith, despite being a bowler, gave up his bowling, as he wanted to concentrate fully on his batting.

And here, poor PCB wants KOHLI and ASHWIN in one. Moreover, he's still finding his feet in the batting department.

As rubbish, as it can be.

Pathetic Cricket Board (PCB)

 

[Al-Canon]

Nobody wants him to be Ashwin. He will just be required to bowl 5 economical overs. Hardly a stress on his batting. This is a golden opportunity to get rid of Hafeez.

 

[Abdullah719]

I was wondering why he hasn't bowled much recently, didn't realise he had a suspect action in the past.

This gives me hope that we're willing to move on from Hafeez and Malik.

 

[fazleefridi]

Not much I can argue.

Really, lost for words.

And our neighbors, then cry that they don't produce good batsmen.

They have good, core set of players.

Sharjeel
Umar
Babar
Haris
Sarfraz
???
Imad


Let those clowns do, what they think is right.

But, if Babar regresses, then it's of no use to cry over spilt milk.

 

[Syed1]

I always wondered why he never bowled since I knew he was quite good in his u19 days. Now I know.


Hope he passes his test.

 

[HitWicket]

Root, Williamson and Smith all manage to be handy part time options whilst maintaining their status as some of the best batsmen in the world.

 

[ExpressPacer]

[MENTION=140419]fazleefridi[/MENTION] is spot on. Pakistan just recently made a gamble with their best batsmen, Haris Sohail, by transforming him into a bowler which had an effect on his batting and he ended up getting injured too. I was against Ashwin batting higher up the order too because cricket is a game of specialists. If you want all rounders, you get SPECIALIST all rounders.

 

[Moiza]

Root, Williamson and Smith all manage to be handy part time options whilst maintaining their status as some of the best batsmen in the world.

Kohli can also bowl well enough

 

[MightyObnoxious]

I don't know why there is a fuss with Babar bowling. It's not something he hasn't done before. He just had a suspect action, which he hopefully will have corrected. Nobody expects him to be a world class bowler, just a decent enough bowling option, just like Azhar is currently. And beside, he just took advantage of an opportunity, Got his action tested again while he was in Aus, who knows when he will be required to bowl but wouldn't be able to due to suspect action.

 

[MightyObnoxious]

I always wondered why he never bowled since I knew he was quite good in his u19 days. Now I know.


Hope he passes his test.

Umar Akmal used to be allrounder at U-19 level too. But because Akmal was deemed to be a WK..;p

 

[Syed1]

Umar Akmal used to be allrounder at U-19 level too. But because Akmal was deemed to be a WK..;p

Akmal is not an alrounder anymore, he is just round.

 

[moghul]

Please, don't try to make him an all rounder. In Pakistan all rounder means "can't bowl can't bat" Let him concentrate him on batting. After a long time we found a serious talent in batting.

here is the list of " all rounders " in Pakistan

Hafeez, Anwar, Nawaz, Hammad, Bhatti. ridiculous .

 

[Kakar]

Don't get the reaction of some posters. If anything, it's a good thing that he will be able to bowl. Nobody is expecting him to shatter records, it will only be to bowl a few decent overs, which won't put much pressure on him.

 

[Syed1]

Don't get the reaction of some posters. If anything, it's a good thing that he will be able to bowl. Nobody is expecting him to shatter records, it will only be to bowl a few decent overs, which won't put much pressure on him.

Exactly if Haris and Babar are consistently able to bowl 10 overs in an innings then it will allow us to play an extra batsman.

All international teams these days rely on part-time spinners to make up the overs allowing them the opportunity to play extra long batting line-ups and score 350+ consistently.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Don't get the reaction of some posters. If anything, it's a good thing that he will be able to bowl. Nobody is expecting him to shatter records, it will only be to bowl a few decent overs, which won't put much pressure on him.

u dont know about this pak team... they will make him bowl every match and make him concenterate a bit more to make him a regular part-timer like hafeez or malik which will affect his batting performance in the long run...

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Exactly if Haris and Babar are consistently able to bowl 10 overs in an innings then it will allow us to play an extra batsman.

All international teams these days rely on part-time spinners to make up the overs allowing them the opportunity to play extra long batting line-ups and score 350+ consistently.

In the indian team sehwag, rohit sharma, raina, sachin and even kohli can bowl but dhoni randomly picks raina, sharma and hardly sehwag.... this will be ok.. but using a batsman in every match to bowl regularly five economical overs is not easy,.. U can see why smith gave up bowling to concenterate more on batting and he is leading the team now, it has to go that way for babar .... pak will go into a match selecting the playing 11 as such requiring 5 economical overs from Babar, same they did with haris ...

 

[Rayyman]

Only part-time spin please. If you want an off-spinner all-rounder, tell Akmal to practice or recall Ifti for middle-order position.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

Just bat well please for the next few years. Don't worry about bowling. Just concentrate on batting.

 

[Belawal2014]

...let the man master the craft of batsmanship. No need for him to be the jack of all trades.

 

[Cricket World]

These days even Kane Williamson is also bowling part time spin so nothing wrong in my opinion as long as we don't over do and try to make him bowl full quota of 10 overs.

 

[Boi]

Finally we can get rid of Hafeez. No reason to keep selecting him now.

 

[Hasan123]

Good news, shows that Hafeez and Malik maybe coming to the end. We may need him to bowl some overs if our regular bowlers have an expensive day and when the opposition have a lot of left handers.

 

[ads101]

Very important. Atm feel like we're forced to pick someon who can bat and bowl to make up the last ten overs. If we have other part timers to bowl, then we can just pick our best seven batsmen. Imad at 7 isn't the answer as I've said, it makes our batting far too weak.

 

[pasha404]

Good move root and Williamson also bowl with out affecting their batting

 

[Markhor]

If he can roll his arm over and provide a handy few overs as a 6th bowling option I'm all for it.

No more than that though.

 

[ali2220]

If he can bowl a few overs then its a great news, as then we don't need Hafeez and Malik in the team.Babar and Harris can do the job better and have age on their side.

 

[Nil Dhumrojal]

Here comes his batting downfall and getting out of the team. :-(

 

[Square Drive]

Oh, so that's why he hasn't been bowling all this time!

Damn, if he can pass the test, I think we're actually going to get rid of Hafeez/Malik (even one of them will suffice).

Exciting times ahead!

 

[msb314]

I was wondering why he hasn't bowled much recently, didn't realise he had a suspect action in the past.

This gives me hope that we're willing to move on from Hafeez and Malik.

The PCB will never move on from Mian and National Treasure [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION]

 

[JibranAnsari]

If Harris gets fit , he can bowl a few overs too. If Pakistan opts to go for fakhar zaman as an opener , he can bowl a few overs too. Pakistan can get 10 out of these three and we can be rid of hafeez. Personally I would love to see a specialist spinner in the side like gohar or asghar because 20 overs spin of imad and three part time spinners won't help us much.

 

[JibranAnsari]

Fakhar
Sharjeel
Babar
Haris
SarfraZ
Akmal
Imad/yamin
Amir
Hassan
Junaid
Asghar

 

[Stallion__]

It's too early for him. Let him be a proper test batsman first. If you want to focus him on any other thing apart from his batting, it has to be his fielding and fitness first.

 

[samiakh]

Not much I can argue.

Really, lost for words.

And our neighbors, then cry that they don't produce good batsmen.

They have good, core set of players.

Sharjeel
Umar
Babar
Haris
Sarfraz
???
Imad


Let those clowns do, what they think is right.

But, if Babar regresses, then it's of no use to cry over spilt milk.

Umar Akmal!!!!

 

[Obstructing_the_field]

Not much I can argue.

Really, lost for words.

And our neighbors, then cry that they don't produce good batsmen.

They have good, core set of players.

Sharjeel
Umar
Babar
Haris
Sarfraz
???
Imad


Let those clowns do, what they think is right.

But, if Babar regresses, then it's of no use to cry over spilt milk.

really ? akmal? after all the crap and waste of space he is...

really do we not know anything abt cricket anymore here?

umar akmal is the worst player to have played 100 odiz in recent years around the globe..

we gave chances to youngsters and they cemented their place... sharjeel / babar / imad ... we just need to get rid of these waste TTB and just give new bunch a chance..

Sharjeel
Khalid latif
Babar
Harris
Sarfraz
Malik ( for now , hope we get some1 good in PSL2)
Imad

 

[Zohaib Shah]

This is great for Pakistan

 

[Dark Magician]

Ever since Duminy has stopped bowling, his batting performances have improved. Just saying.

 

[Ahson8]

Should just focus on his batting.

 

[Pollack]

So is he a chucker naturally? Rehabilitation is a difficult process for any chucker. Good thing he hasnt bowled much even in domestics otherwise(assumption)

 

[sl-fan-of-pak]

Akmal is not an alrounder anymore, he is just round.

haahhhahahhahhahahhhaahahahaaha

 

[Pollack]

Akmal is not an alrounder anymore, he is just round.

Witty fella. )

 

[Justcrazy]

Azhar, Harris, Harris should be able to bowl few overs of spin when needed.

There is only one harris

 

[Justcrazy]

Its a good move .

Harris , Babaar can pinch in few overs , it will benefit Pakistan in the long run.

Get rid of Hafeez.

A positive move

 

[MMHS]

The PCB will never move on from Mian and National Treasure [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION]

I think, trying few overs with specialist bat is always handy - it gives options to the Captain, if he has it in him. For example, in 4th ODI, PAK actually had decent bowling option, particularly spin options - Azhar never tried himself - but even 30 years back, Imran extracted quality overs from his batsmen - Mudassar, Ijaz, Muztaba, Sohaib, SMalik, Sohail, Saeed, Shahid Saeed, even Inzi.

For Babar, as long as he is not neglecting his batting & fielding, I don't mind few overs from him. It's always a win-win situation for part-time bowlers - if he goes for a beating, Captain'll take him off; but if he gets a wicket or two, that's bonus. Often, teams don't go against part-timers, unless it's essential, because they fear losing a wicket to a non regular bowler. Also, part-time bowlers use their bating psyche - a counter strategy of what they themselves would have done, hence often batsmen like Viv, Mark, Tendulkar, Hari, Salim Malik.... & many other part-time bowlers had been great success in past, particularly while defending large asking rate. Problem for the part timers is, when one plans to bowl 10 overs with them - normally teams don't risk much against 6th bowler, but if a part-timer (or 2 of them) is made to bowl 10 overs, batting teams can plan their charge at the toss.

Regarding Mian/MoHa - I think, more than PCB, it's Inzamam, Azhar (Captain) - they are trying to accommodate as many of their pals as much possible. Since MoHa was dropped - Inzi, Misbah, Azhar has tried in every scope to bring in him - even they delayed naming the Dubai Test squad to give MoHa a chance to make an useless 50 in a practice match & I can bet, he would have played all 3 Tests over Babar/Nawaz had he some how managed a 35. And, he is good enough to make a 75+ in 6 innings against that WI side in UAE, which would have guaranteed a starting spot in ANZ Test series.

It's a vicious circle - Shahriar will back Misbah & Azhar as Captain as it makes his job easier - educated, gentleman Captain; while these people don't deserve a spot in playing XI - hence, they'll keep backing their trusted people.

 

[The_Odd_One]

I think, trying few overs with specialist bat is always handy - it gives options to the Captain, if he has it in him. For example, in 4th ODI, PAK actually had decent bowling option, particularly spin options - Azhar never tried himself - but even 30 years back, Imran extracted quality overs from his batsmen - Mudassar, Ijaz, Muztaba, Sohaib, SMalik, Sohail, Saeed, Shahid Saeed, even Inzi.

For Babar, as long as he is not neglecting his batting & fielding, I don't mind few overs from him. It's always a win-win situation for part-time bowlers - if he goes for a beating, Captain'll take him off; but if he gets a wicket or two, that's bonus. Often, teams don't go against part-timers, unless it's essential, because they fear losing a wicket to a non regular bowler. Also, part-time bowlers use their bating psyche - a counter strategy of what they themselves would have done, hence often batsmen like Viv, Mark, Tendulkar, Hari, Salim Malik.... & many other part-time bowlers had been great success in past, particularly while defending large asking rate. Problem for the part timers is, when one plans to bowl 10 overs with them - normally teams don't risk much against 6th bowler, but if a part-timer (or 2 of them) is made to bowl 10 overs, batting teams can plan their charge at the toss.

Regarding Mian/MoHa - I think, more than PCB, it's Inzamam, Azhar (Captain) - they are trying to accommodate as many of their pals as much possible. Since MoHa was dropped - Inzi, Misbah, Azhar has tried in every scope to bring in him - even they delayed naming the Dubai Test squad to give MoHa a chance to make an useless 50 in a practice match & I can bet, he would have played all 3 Tests over Babar/Nawaz had he some how managed a 35. And, he is good enough to make a 75+ in 6 innings against that WI side in UAE, which would have guaranteed a starting spot in ANZ Test series.

It's a vicious circle - Shahriar will back Misbah & Azhar as Captain as it makes his job easier - educated, gentleman Captain; while these people don't deserve a spot in playing XI - hence, they'll keep backing their trusted people.

Reminded me of good old days when Salim Malik was used as a partnership breaker and it used to work a lot of times. Aravinda's part-time spin was one important reason behind SL's 1996 WC glory.

 

[MMHS]

Reminded me of good old days when Salim Malik was used as a partnership breaker and it used to work a lot of times. Aravinda's part-time spin was one important reason behind SL's 1996 WC glory.

They bowled under 2 Captains who were like Intel, duel Core i7 - when I had my first computer a 386 machine. Now, I have a MacBook Pro - and PAK has a Captain, who is 1944 model main frame Computing machine ........

 

[Barragan]

This will add more depth for Pak and increase the bowling options.

Both Root and Kane are very capable bowlers and bowl regularly, but they still are world class batsmen and bowling hasn't had an impact on their batting.

 

[ExplicitAI]

It's not as if bowling is new to him, he's bowled before in u19 and domestic cricket and that hasn't hampered his batting. People here who are worried should only feel like that towards someone like Pujara who said he wanted to start bowling leggies because of lack of opportunities.

 

[cricketerB94]

Are the reports out? Has he been cleared or not?

 

[Belawal2014]

Akmal is not an alrounder anymore, he is just round.

) how did I miss this gem.

 

[rhony]

Its a good move .

Harris , Babaar can pinch in few overs , it will benefit Pakistan in the long run.

Get rid of Hafeez.

A positive move

Where is this Harris by the way

 

[Nil Dhumrojal]

He should stick to batting only. Bad move.

 

[run-out]

How good was he as a bowler?

 

[msb314]

) how did I miss this gem.

hahahaha

 

[msb314]

Could be a decent all-rounder.

We could soon have a decent spin bowling lineup with Malik, Haris, Imad and Babar all available to bowl. Definitely useful to have that variety in Asian conditions.

 

[rhony]

Great batsmen like Richards, Ten'kar have bowled regularly without imapacting their batting. The only worry is if he's caught chucking again. That's not good for Brand Babar. That could impact his confidence.

 

[Stumper]

Good to see he is trying to contribute as much as he can for the team. But i am afraid he might focus less on batting in nets which may start his downfall as a batsman.

 

[Abdullah]

results?. its been 2 weeks

 

[MenInG]

So wonder what happened to those 'all-rounder' aspirations?

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

So wonder what happened to those 'all-rounder' aspirations?

Was thinking about this as well, it’s very strange

Maybe he wasn’t good enough with his new action

It’s a shame because his bowling was pretty decent

 

[anonymous_guy]

Was thinking about this as well, it’s very strange

Maybe he wasn’t good enough with his new action

It’s a shame because his bowling was pretty decent

The "Management" might have advised him to focus only on his batting and fielding.

 

[Hasan123]

Him being to turn his arm over for 10 overs in tests isn't a bad idea.

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

Bump

Has their ever been any update to this?

 

[Mamoon]

A Pakistani bowler getting his action cleared means little. When the going gets tough, he will - like others before him - inevitably resort to chucking. Pakistan should give up on his dodgy bowling and focus on the likes of Haris and Fakhar whose actions will never come under scrutiny.

Malik is perhaps the only bowler who has managed to maintain some dignity in his bowling after getting tested and banned, but he too is a shell of his former-self and can at most bowl a few overs as a 6th bowling option.