Babar Azam's ODI hundred at Adelaide - only the second by a Pakistani batsman away against Australia

[Abdullah719]

Out of 53 knocks of 50+ runs by Pakistani batsmen in ODIs in Australia against Australia, only two have gone on to make hundreds.

The first was Zaheer Abbas, who made 108 (off 110 balls!!!) in a chase of 223. A very underrated player who was far ahead of his time.

Babar Azam joined the list today with his 100 off 109 balls.

The only other one to reach 90 was Aamer Malik at Perth in 1989.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

He has it in him to make it big. He is a special talent and together with sharjeel will become the core of this Pakistani team. Two slots are fixed. Needs to drop Hafeez, Malik and azhar from ODIS.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Our best batsman along with Sharjeel. Their places are cemented in the top 3. Need to find a dynamic opener to partner Sharjeel now and Umar is the man. Haris will soon occupy that number 4 spot. Formidable top 4

 

[saeed5646]

well done boy very good inning

He is our best odi batsmen.i like his temperament doesn't throw his wicket easily which he was early in his career

 

[Diffusion]

Excellent inning from what I saw. Just wish he accelerated a bit earlier

 

[moghul]

Our best batsman along with Sharjeel. Their places are cemented in the top 3. Need to find a dynamic opener to partner Sharjeel now and Umar is the man. Haris will soon occupy that number 4 spot. Formidable top 4

N0t a bad time to recall Shehzaib Hasan, the guy is hard hitting, strong and has improved his game a lot since last played for Pakistan.

 

[street cricketer]

Not the best innings from the perspective of the match, but a good knock nonetheless when you consider his age and Pakistan's past history in Australia.

I find him more similar to Williamson than Kohli.

 

[Jabo]

He has it in him to make it big. He is a special talent and together with sharjeel will become the core of this Pakistani team. Two slots are fixed. Needs to drop Hafeez, Malik and azhar from ODIS.

What's Malik done?
Could do with someone with experience and he's been scoring so isn't a passenger

But future looks interesting

Sharjeel
Azam
Sohail
Malik
Akmal
?
Sarfraz
Amir
?
?
?

 

[Hasan123]

Our best odi batsmen.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

What's Malik done?
Could do with someone with experience and he's been scoring so isn't a passenger

But future looks interesting

Sharjeel
Azam
Sohail
Malik
Akmal
?
Sarfraz
Amir
?
?
?

I think Pakistani fans had enough of this experience and senior players BS and would like to see young players than TTFs.

 

[Statsman]

Should have pressed the pedal earlier and gone for a win. This was more of a consolation 100 for a line up satisfied with a respectable loss.

That said, Babbar is a fine talent and should do well with time.

 

[Brilliance]

What's Malik done?
Could do with someone with experience and he's been scoring so isn't a passenger

But future looks interesting

Sharjeel
Azam
Sohail
Malik
Akmal
?
Sarfraz
Amir
?
?
?

1 Sharjeel.
2 Haris.
3 Babar.
4 Saad.
5 Sarfaraz*.
6 Khushdil.
7 Yamin.
8 Imad.
9 Amir.
10 Hassan.
11 Irfan jnr.

 

[waleed88]

Not the best innings from the perspective of the match, but a good knock nonetheless when you consider his age and Pakistan's past history in Australia.

I find him more similar to Williamson than Kohli.

Williamson isn't a good ODI Bat.. But yes Babar can only play the Williamson role, he doesn't have anything more to offer to be called Kohli, Root, De'villers, Smith of his time

Our fans will be happy he's raking up the numbers in losing causes.. gives us hope for a 'distant future'

 

[speedking]

this was extremely selfish innings

 

[SaadAliG]

Woah, excellent innings comments yet again after the match thread?

I wonder how many of you actually saw what happened during the match instead of having a quick glance at Cricinfo.

He sure has it in him to score big, played good shots but he took that match away completely from rest of the batsmen. He pressured Sharjeel to hit every delivery out of the park which resulted in him getting out. He was batting at the strike rate of 60 chasing 370. Once Sharjeel got out he never took the charge but tried to hide behind Malik and Hafeez and wasted 5,6 overs with unnecessary block shots until both were out/hurt up until he saw the opportunity to complete his hundred and then played a blind shot after his personal achievement.
He wasted the fielding restrictions, he came in when RRR was 7.5 and left when it was improbable. He cost us the match, it was a very very selfish innings how can anyone say it was a great innings. Under circumstances I repeat, it was a pathetic innings.

 

[Aman]

He's like Kane, could be a problem for Pakistan in big chases unless he finds another gear and rotate strike better early in the innings.

 

[Xoib]

Not the best innings from the perspective of the match, but a good knock nonetheless when you consider his age and Pakistan's past history in Australia.

I find him more similar to Williamson than Kohli.

every line up needs one batsman who can average 45 @ 80 SR Babar can be one of those players He is anchor around whom we should find our aggressive batsman even Kohli in his first couple of years got siumilar 100's it was not until that knock vs SL at Hobart did he find another gear in his batting that happened 2 1/2 years in to his ODI career.

Having said that Babar need to work on his power game he's too much a touch player.

 

[saeed5646]

Williamson isn't a good ODI Bat.. But yes Babar can only play the Williamson role, he doesn't have anything more to offer to be called Kohli, Root, De'villers, Smith of his time

Our fans will be happy he's raking up the numbers in losing causes.. gives us hope for a 'distant future'

what ever you said but he is 10 time better than shehzad, umar akmal,asad shafiq,azhar ali so i would

take him in my team blindly looking at the other batsmen in squad

 

[waleed88]

Woah, excellent innings comments yet again after the match thread?

I wonder how many of you actually saw what happened during the match instead of having a quick glance at Cricinfo.

He sure has it in him to score big, played good shots but he took that match away completely from rest of the batsmen. He pressured Sharjeel to hit every delivery out of the park which resulted in him getting out. He was batting at the strike rate of 60 chasing 370. Once Sharjeel got out he never took the charge but tried to hide behind Malik and Hafeez and wasted 5,6 overs with unnecessary block shots until both were out/hurt up until he saw the opportunity to complete his hundred and then played a blind shot after his personal achievement.
He wasted the fielding restrictions, he came in when RRR was 7.5 and left when it was improbable. He cost us the match, it was a very very selfish innings how can anyone say it was a great innings. Under circumstances I repeat, it was a pathetic innings.

He was batting as if we were batting first, and we want to give Aussies a score of more than 100...

He was in cruise control during the chase..

Got criticized by Chappell as well... 'only 4 boundaries and 1 six in his 80 odd'

 

[Xoib]

Pakistan will not be chasing 370 every game he is an ideal batsman to carry a chase of 280-320.

 

[SaadAliG]

1 Sharjeel.
2 Haris.
3 Babar.
4 Saad.
5 Sarfaraz*.
6 Khushdil.
7 Yamin.
8 Imad.
9 Amir.
10 Hassan.
11 Irfan jnr.

Unbalanced batting order, 5,6,7,8,9 can't hit the ball. Otherwise batting line is fine. We have our fair share of openers performing in domestic cricket, why should a middle order batsman who's been out for years be opening the innings?

 

[waleed88]

what ever you said but he is 10 time better than shehzad, umar akmal,asad shafiq,azhar ali so i would

take him in my team blindly looking at the other batsmen in squad

Akmal looked more like he was trying to play for the win today..

However its not Babar's fault either, he has gurus in Hafeez and Malik, who have both played selfish knocks in the 2nd ODI and 4th ODI to make sure their competition remains solvent

 

[IMMY69]

Barber has a decent technique and a good head on his shoulders and should be persisted with long term.

It's better he learns on the job and is afforded the opportunity to get better with time then to rot away in domestic cricket. Same can be said about Sharjeel.

We Just need one or two more like them.

 

[street cricketer]

every line up needs one batsman who can average 45 @ 80 SR Babar can be one of those players He is anchor around whom we should find our aggressive batsman even Kohli in his first couple of years got siumilar 100's it was not until that knock vs SL at Hobart did he find another gear in his batting that happened 2 1/2 years in to his ODI career.

Having said that Babar need to work on his power game he's too much a touch player.

This is not the 2000s anymore mate..

 

[waleed88]

I dunno if this thread is a praised to Babar Azam, or how poor we are as a team in Australia...

Sarfaraz got a 100 against Ireland in the WC in Aus... Sangakarra managed 4 in one tournament, its not the players' fault they visit Aus only once a decade... pitches have changed in Australia quite alot in this time

 

[Abdullah719]

I dunno if this thread is a praised to Babar Azam, or how poor we are as a team in Australia...

Sarfaraz got a 100 against Ireland in the WC in Aus... Sangakarra managed 4 in one tournament, its not the players' fault they visit Aus only once a decade... pitches have changed in Australia quite alot in this time

This thread is about a stat. It's about exactly what the title says. We have had only two centurions away against Australia and the last one was 36 years ago.

 

[Stallion__]

Don't care actually. Our only chance, if at all was till the time Sharjeel was at the crease. That's when he struggled to maintain his scoring pace. We need to find more batsman like Sharjeel who can build the innings around Babar. Don't expect Babar to win matches on his own like Kohli or Smith.

 

[srh]

Out of 53 knocks of 50+ runs by Pakistani batsmen in ODIs in Australia against Australia, only two have gone on to make hundreds.

The first was Zaheer Abbas, who made 108 (off 110 balls!!!) in a chase of 223. A very underrated player who was far ahead of his time.

Babar Azam joined the list today with his 100 off 109 balls.

The only other one to reach 90 was Aamer Malik at Perth in 1989.

His 100 cost Pakistan the match. It looks like his 100 was more important than winning the match. Selfish inning.

 

[JaDed]

Don't care actually. Our only chance, if at all was till the time Sharjeel was at the crease. That's when he struggled to maintain his scoring pace. We need to find more batsman like Sharjeel who can build the innings around Babar. Don't expect Babar to win matches on his own like Kohli or Smith.

Not every batsman should be judged based on that as a benchmark,ofcourse he needs to evolve but considering everything he is a good talent having said that he needs to be pushed this cannot always be his "natural" game.

Sharjeel with a mix of Babar could actually do wonders for Pakistani batting 320 is a good score to reach considering Pakistani batting standards.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

Only 21, he is a special player. We have finally found our no.3.

Time to build game awareness and become captain at 26.

 

[Lynx]

He has ticked the 'Score a 100 in Australia' checkbox. Good for him. However, in the context of the match, seeing we were chasing 370, it was an EXTREMELY selfish innings, regardless of what posters here say. Anyone with half a brain and an ability to analyze would tell you the same. Even an Aussie commentator (don't remember who he was) criticized Babar's innings. He batted at a SR of around 60 for more than half of his innings. Had someone like Azhar or Younis Khan (that century he made against NZ in a failed chase just before the 2015 WC, eerily similar to the one Babar made today) played such an innings, the entire PakPassion community would be up in arms about it.

Having said that, at no point in the match did I feel as if Pakistan actually wanted to chase the target down. Blatantly obvious we took this chase as batting practice.

 

[Brilliance]

Unbalanced batting order, 5,6,7,8,9 can't hit the ball. Otherwise batting line is fine. We have our fair share of openers performing in domestic cricket, why should a middle order batsman who's been out for years be opening the innings?

Yamin has shown glimpses of being good striker of the ball in the little he's played.

Khushdil is a strong lad . He can hit the ball big. Perhaps you haven't seen much of him . You can see more of him in the PSL if given chancea there.He is reliable too if there is early collapse in the middle.

Imad too can score at greater than 100 strike rate. He scored couple of good 50's in England last year down the order.

They need to be given chances until they get used to the job . We have nothing to lose now. These will surely be better than the short term fixes like Khalid Latif who is a hack and Umar Akmal who is never going to learn and has been disappointing.

We don't have any good dynamic openers in the domestic circuit.

Shahzaib is not a good choice. He usually gives one or two chances early to the opposition even until he has reached 20 in the domestics. He can't get away with that at the international level.

Then there is Shehzad who is nothing better than Azhar Ali . He doesn't work too hard on his game.

Fakhar Zaman isn't ready yet and needs to work more on his strike rotation.

Haris Sohail has proven that he is a good player of the pace and swing. If Australia can play a no. 5 batsman at opening position why can't we, even though Haris played at no. 3 not no. 5.

Haris, Saad and Sarfaraz in the above line up can all play with a strike rate of 100. Sharjeel's strike rate has been above 130 since the comeback. Yamin , Khushdil and Imad can play with a strike rate between 100 - 120. So if they play to their potential we will get more than 300 easily often. You don't need every one in the line up to play with 120+ strike rate and score 350 every time to beat the opposition.

I think this is the best young line up we have right now.

 

[Varun]

I saw the innings from start to finish.

Him and Sharjeel were rock solid in their approach. It's the ones that follow - Hafeez and Malik, and Azhar up front who are old-school and drag Pakistan backward in any ODI run chase.

 

[dhump]

Good inning congrats to Babur I hope he keep working hard and come out good.

 

[Xoib]

This is not the 2000s anymore mate..

Williamson, Root and Smith all average mid 40's with SR around 85

babar just finished his first series in Australia averaging 56 with SR of 83 I don't see what the fuss is if he ends up with similar figures to above 3 batsmen Kohli in a notch above Kane, Root and Smith but that does not mean they are below average batsmen. A Babar will ensure we consistently score 320 in odi's provided there are good hitters following him

 

[Stallion__]

Not every batsman should be judged based on that as a benchmark,ofcourse he needs to evolve but considering everything he is a good talent having said that he needs to be pushed this cannot always be his "natural" game.

Sharjeel with a mix of Babar could actually do wonders for Pakistani batting 320 is a good score to reach considering Pakistani batting standards.

No doubt they both are gems by our batting standards. But I am kinda disappointed to see him not sensing the match slipping away (or better say that he could have kept us in the hunt for longer) and showing lack of game awareness. He is going to find himself in such situations quite often and my worry for the future is that his approach is a bit too cavalier. With little more application, he can become much more useful for us.

 

[IMMY69]

Williamson, Root and Smith all average mid 40's with SR around 85

babar just finished his first series in Australia averaging 56 with SR of 83 I don't see what the fuss is if he ends up with similar figures to above 3 batsmen Kohli in a notch above Kane, Root and Smith but that does not mean they are below average batsmen. A Babar will ensure we consistently score 320 in odi's provided there are good hitters following him

I think the important point here is that the four batsmen you've mentioned were all brought up in a proper first class system. Barber has been plying his trade in a sub standard system, poor bowlers, poor fielders, poor wickets, poor grounds... The fact that he's done so well is a testament to his overall potential.

Provided he keeps his head in check, and doesnt go the Umar Akmal or Ahmed Shehzad way, he should improve further with time.

 

[j_kazmi]

Yes he was batting abit slow in the begin but he accelerated a little later on.

When he got out he left Pakistan at a score of around 230 from 38 overs which is good at 6 runs an over. But what we needed in the end was a couple of good hitters who i could chase down the total which we don't have.

But I understand if he batted a little faster overall he would have made the jobs of the finishers a little easier.

 

[Xoib]

I think the important point here is that the four batsmen you've mentioned were all brought up in a proper first class system. Barber has been plying his trade in a sub standard system, poor bowlers, poor fielders, poor wickets, poor grounds... The fact that he's done so well is a testament to his overall ability.

Provided he keeps his head in check, and doesnt go the Umar Akmal or Ahmed Shehzad way, he should improve further with time.

yes Babar is doing just fine its not his fault that we don;t have aggressive players down the order who can take advantage of the solidity he provides I can bet if we can find our Butler' Stokes, Maxwell, Anderson Babar's utility would increase 10 fold

 

[IMMY69]

yes Babar is doing just fine its not his fault that we don;t have aggressive players down the order who can take advantage of the solidity he provides I can bet if we can find our Butler' Stokes, Maxwell, Anderson Babar's utility would increase 10 fold

Well you're absolutely right.

The question most people should ask is whether we would have got even close to 300 had it not been for Barber's innings?

 

[street cricketer]

Williamson, Root and Smith all average mid 40's with SR around 85

babar just finished his first series in Australia averaging 56 with SR of 83 I don't see what the fuss is if he ends up with similar figures to above 3 batsmen Kohli in a notch above Kane, Root and Smith but that does not mean they are below average batsmen. A Babar will ensure we consistently score 320 in odi's provided there are good hitters following him

I don't find too many faults with him. Think he'll definitely be a very good batsman for Pakistan team. That's why I feel he's more similar to Williamson.

Just felt two of his knocks (today and another one a match or two ago) wasn't fitting for what the match needed.

 

[pillionrider]

Should have pressed the pedal earlier and gone for a win. This was more of a consolation 100 for a line up satisfied with a respectable loss.

In the cake scheme of things, this was a winner

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Folks need to stop comparing him with Kohli,AB or whoever. He is the most talented Pakistani ODI batsman i have seen since Saeed Anwar and above the likes of MoYo and Inzi for me. If you are gonna compare him to an all time great ODI bat like Kohli, of course he's gonna fail. And hes only played 20 odd matches. Some very dumb criticisms of Babar on this forum.

 

[saeed5646]

Folks need to stop comparing him with Kohli,AB or whoever. He is the most talented Pakistani ODI batsman i have seen since Saeed Anwar and above the likes of MoYo and Inzi for me. If you are gonna compare him to an all time great ODI bat like Kohli, of course he's gonna fail. And hes only played 20 odd matches. Some very dumb criticisms of Babar on this forum.

this is what i am afraid of i hope he is not compare otherwise he will get pressurize and that could effect

his game

 

[Xoib]

I don't find too many faults with him. Think he'll definitely be a very good batsman for Pakistan team. That's why I feel he's more similar to Williamson.

Just felt two of his knocks (today and another one a match or two ago) wasn't fitting for what the match needed.

maybe today but then a 370 chase with hacks to follow who can blame him to play a bit selfishly it was his last chance on this tour to get a 100 in Australia, in 3 rd odi I do n not blame him when he got out the base was set for 300-310 which should have been very competitive at Perth once again the lower order let him sown.

 

[Abdullah]

I saw the innings from start to finish.

Him and Sharjeel were rock solid in their approach. It's the ones that follow - Hafeez and Malik, and Azhar up front who are old-school and drag Pakistan backward in any ODI run chase.

Agreed- Babar innings at the start wasn't ideal until sharjeel got out but it was not too far off. When chasing 350+ you have to be comfortable chasing 110-120 of the last 10 and expect to get 3 18+ overs which keep you alive to the end.

Part of me thinks it was a plan to not push too hard from him whilst Sharjeel was around because he did pick up when Sharjeel left.

7/10 innings overall but will improve

 

[Nikhil_cric]

For all of you talking about strike rates. Babar's career Strike Rate of 90 is higher than anyone not named Sharjeel in the pakistan lineup. That too at an average of 50. That is mighty impressive. Consider that in the 2011-2015 period, your best ODI batsmen were Umar - SR of 85, average around 37, Misbah - SR of 70, average around 40 and Hafeez - Sr of 78-80 and average of around 40. It's not like Pakistan had such sky high batting standards anyway.

 

[waleed88]

Well you're absolutely right.

The question most people should ask is whether we would have got even close to 300 had it not been for Barber's innings?

So now 'getting close to' has become a pregerative for Pakistan, if we wanted to do that, we should'nt have come out to bat even.. we should've just stayed inside and forfieghted the match..

What's the point of coming out to bat? When you are not even in the mood to chase the total down?

 

[waleed88]

Chasing down 370 against NZ in Napier (2015), guess who was bashed right here on Pakpassion for playing with a very slow batting rate... even his Strike rate was better than Babar's when he reached his 50

Mohammad Hafeez c Milne b Elliott 86 125 89 5 3 96.62
Ahmed Shehzad c Milne b NL McCullum 55 83 62 8 0 88.70

 

[Abdullah719]

Chasing down 370 against NZ in Napier (2015), guess who was bashed right here on Pakpassion for playing with a very slow batting rate... even his Strike rate was better than Babar's when he reached his 50

Mohammad Hafeez c Milne b Elliott 86 125 89 5 3 96.62
Ahmed Shehzad c Milne b NL McCullum 55 83 62 8 0 88.70

What is Ahmed Shehzad's overall strike-rate in ODIs?

 

[Rana]

The boy is only a bit of muscle away from becoming a force. Relies a lot on his timing and finding the gap. Just needs to add an element of power hitting and he will be as good as Kohli

 

[waleed88]

What is Ahmed Shehzad's overall strike-rate in ODIs?

Overall strike rate is a different debate altogether, we are talking here about the contribution towards the game... where there were similar totals.. even Shehzad looked like he had some intentions to win the game (he is the most hated for being selfish)

What was Babar doing for most of his knock?

 

[Abdullah719]

Overall strike rate is a different debate altogether, we are talking here about the contribution towards the game... where there were similar totals.. even Shehzad looked like he had some intentions to win the game (he is the most hated for being selfish)

What was Babar doing for most of his knock?

Overall strike-rate matters. If Shehzad played a slow knock, people will complain more as it is the norm for him. For Babar, it's out of the ordinary.

 

[saeed5646]

Chasing down 370 against NZ in Napier (2015), guess who was bashed right here on Pakpassion for playing with a very slow batting rate... even his Strike rate was better than Babar's when he reached his 50

Mohammad Hafeez c Milne b Elliott 86 125 89 5 3 96.62
Ahmed Shehzad c Milne b NL McCullum 55 83 62 8 0 88.70

did pakistan win that match or moral victory??

 

[Mamoon]

Finally a solid number 3 ODI batsman who can score hundreds against quality opposition, something we have lacked since Yousuf.

Younis was a disaster and Hafeez only good enough for Sri Lanka and below.

 

[IMMY69]

So now 'getting close to' has become a pregerative for Pakistan, if we wanted to do that, we should'nt have come out to bat even.. we should've just stayed inside and forfieghted the match..

What's the point of coming out to bat? When you are not even in the mood to chase the total down?

The point is that Barber is new to international cricket and will develop as he continues to play if, and its a big IF, he keeps his feet firmly planted to the ground.

We were never going to chase this total and would have fallen even shorter had it not been for Barber's innings. With experience he may develop his game further in which case he'll be able to pace his innings better.

Given Pakistany youngsters propensity to fall by the wayside I'm not yet convinced that he'll be able to convert his great potential. But judging by what we've seen so far there is hope..

 

[waleed88]

Overall strike-rate matters. If Shehzad played a slow knock, people will complain more as it is the norm for him. For Babar, it's out of the ordinary.

Babar has done this twice now, Shehzad was a serial slow batter..

However Shehzad was also at one time 'once in a generation talent', he notched up 6 100s in no time.. some stat that he got his first 6 100s in lesser games than Ponting, Tendulkar, Inzamam and a few other names..

People forget that he was talented, but a little too smart for himself.. for a while his selfish batting went under the radar, but then it started showing up and people realized he had big some problems in the repertoire...

Babar has been somewhat playing on those lines.. first when he played quick, he got out scoring 30s..

Then when he decided to take his time, he goes down to 60ish strike rates for most of his innings...

You're gonna tell me he's young again so I'm not gonna say anything.. but point is he should've done more here and in the 3rd ODI..

 

[waleed88]

Also he's not young anymore [MENTION=133760]Abdullah719[/MENTION] .. he's been playing for Pakistan A for a long time... he's been in the ODI and t20 side for almost 2 years now (he joined us vs Srilanka in August 2015 if I'm not wrong)... this is more than enough time for someone to show what they are really capable of..

He's not a Peter Hanscomb, or a Travis Head...

The guy is in the Pakistan setup in the second year.. now plays tests too

 

[waleed88]

did pakistan win that match or moral victory??

Was today a moral victory for you?

 

[Slog]

Babar has done this twice now, Shehzad was a serial slow batter..

However Shehzad was also at one time 'once in a generation talent', he notched up 6 100s in no time.. some stat that he got his first 6 100s in lesser games than Ponting, Tendulkar, Inzamam and a few other names..

People forget that he was talented, but a little too smart for himself.. for a while his selfish batting went under the radar, but then it started showing up and people realized he had big some problems in the repertoire...

Babar has been somewhat playing on those lines.. first when he played quick, he got out scoring 30s..

Then when he decided to take his time, he goes down to 60ish strike rates for most of his innings...

You're gonna tell me he's young again so I'm not gonna say anything.. but point is he should've done more here and in the 3rd ODI..

Even when Shehzad had those 6 100s he was averaged sub 35

 

[waleed88]

Please read my post above [MENTION=491]IMMY69[/MENTION]

 

[waleed88]

Even when Shehzad had those 6 100s he was averaged sub 35

6 100s is a big deal early on, he's had a stop start career from 2011.. hasn't had a smooth a run as Babar did.

 

[IMMY69]

I think were we fail in our assessments is when we start comparing youngsters to other players.

Some players start their careers off at a breakneck speed only to faulter whereas others start off slower and then develop their game.

With Baber, you just have to watch his technique and see if he has a brain to go with it. Time will tell.

 

[SaadAliG]

Yamin has shown glimpses of being good striker of the ball in the little he's played.

Khushdil is a strong lad . He can hit the ball big. Perhaps you haven't seen much of him . You can see more of him in the PSL if given chancea there.He is reliable too if there is early collapse in the middle.

Imad too can score at greater than 100 strike rate. He scored couple of good 50's in England last year down the order.

They need to be given chances until they get used to the job . We have nothing to lose now. These will surely be better than the short term fixes like Khalid Latif who is a hack and Umar Akmal who is never going to learn and has been disappointing.

We don't have any good dynamic openers in the domestic circuit.

Shahzaib is not a good choice. He usually gives one or two chances early to the opposition even until he has reached 20 in the domestics. He can't get away with that at the international level.

Then there is Shehzad who is nothing better than Azhar Ali . He doesn't work too hard on his game.

Fakhar Zaman isn't ready yet and needs to work more on his strike rotation.

Haris Sohail has proven that he is a good player of the pace and swing. If Australia can play a no. 5 batsman at opening position why can't we, even though Haris played at no. 3 not no. 5.

Haris, Saad and Sarfaraz in the above line up can all play with a strike rate of 100. Sharjeel's strike rate has been above 130 since the comeback. Yamin , Khushdil and Imad can play with a strike rate between 100 - 120. So if they play to their potential we will get more than 300 easily often. You don't need every one in the line up to play with 120+ strike rate and score 350 every time to beat the opposition.

I think this is the best young line up we have right now.

I haven't seen much of Khushdil to be honest but I'm not sure if Yamin is the one to play in lower middle order, lacks the game awareness for the very highest level though I agree that we don't have much to lose anyway. We can try sohaib at 6 as he's more dynamic than others.

I like Imad but I don't think he has the ability to pick his spots for boundaries. The innings he played in England were not good enough. He was hitting it a lot in the air with the ball ending up in no man's land a lot. He doesn't have the ability to keep the scoreboard ticking. But he's young and can improve.

At the moment it's looking very bleak when I look down at our lower order.

 

[saeed5646]

Was today a moral victory for you?

loose is loose you are one who is trying to make one loose better than other atleast you should have

given a example of winning match

 

[IMMY69]

Please read my post above [MENTION=491]IMMY69[/MENTION]

My post was a continuation from my earlier posts...

Anyway, I suspect there is some sort of agenda here..Shehzad vs Barber.
Surely a discussion for another thread?

 

[Slog]

6 100s is a big deal early on, he's had a stop start career from 2011.. hasn't had a smooth a run as Babar did.

lol are you kidding me

from 2014 to 2016 he almost had an uninterrupted run with a lot of backing

 

[waleed88]

lol are you kidding me

from 2014 to 2016 he almost had an uninterrupted run with a lot of backing

2015.. has been off the team since 2016

 

[SaadAliG]

Williamson, Root and Smith all average mid 40's with SR around 85

babar just finished his first series in Australia averaging 56 with SR of 83 I don't see what the fuss is if he ends up with similar figures to above 3 batsmen Kohli in a notch above Kane, Root and Smith but that does not mean they are below average batsmen. A Babar will ensure we consistently score 320 in odi's provided there are good hitters following him

You're implying he's same or better than tye names you mentioned? Don't get carried away. His 70 odd was very poor and he had 3 catches dropped. His innings today was a very selfish one under the circumstances

 

[waleed88]

loose is loose you are one who is trying to make one loose better than other atleast you should have

given a example of winning match

When have we ever chased 370 down?

Point is... Babar played a selfish knock, like the knock Shehzad played in 2015 vs NZ in Napier when we were chasing 370 down...

Pakpassion itself was a witness to that... alot of posters didn't like that Shehzad played at a S/R of 88... called it the cause of us losing the match.. apparently if that wasn't good enough for PP'ers

Why is this? Obviously their favorite player is playing this knock...so then numbers accumulated becomes a defence for a knock that had little intention to changed the outcome of the game

 

[Syed1]

I couldn't watch the innings but scoring a century in Australia against Australia is a BIG DEAL. Kya player hai yaar yeh larka.

Sometimes I criticize him for playing too slow initially and it seems he may have done the same today but as the saying in Urdu goes "andhoon mein kaana raja".

We need one more Babar type of batsman then atleast we could reach 5-6 in the rankings.


Sharjeel is also playing like a monster these days. If truth be told we only have two batsmen Sharjeel and Babar, the rest are there just to make up the numbers.

 

[saeed5646]

When have we ever chased 370 down?

Point is... Babar played a selfish knock, like the knock Shehzad played in 2015 vs NZ in Napier when we were chasing 370 down...

Pakpassion itself was a witness to that... alot of posters didn't like that Shehzad played at a S/R of 88... called it the cause of us losing the match.. apparently if that wasn't good enough for PP'ers

Why is this? Obviously their favorite player is playing this knock...so then numbers accumulated becomes a defence for a knock that had little intention to changed the outcome of the game

common know you compare shehzad with babar shehzad is way better than babar he is too good for this

8th rank pakistan odi side we deserves more of play like babar

 

[cricketerB94]

A very good innings by a very good batsman. The highest run scorer in this series for Pakistan too.
People who are complaining about his strike rate need to know that scores above 350s are not chased by a batsmen or a couple of batsman. These scores are chased by team and planning.
For now, we have only two batsmen in our team - Sharjeel and Babar. And people who are expecting that only these two batsmen can chase down the totals of 350+ are fooling themselves.
All the successful teams, now a days, have at least 4 Sharjeels and 2 Babars in their batting lineup and they are posting around 350 easily.
We could also make 350+ today if we had 3 more Sharjeels and 1 more Babar. So, this clearly shows that the problem is not Babar or strike rate of Babar. The problem is other batsmen who are in the team just to fill the numbers.

 

[Rana]

A very good innings by a very good batsman. The highest run scorer in this series for Pakistan too.
People who are complaining about his strike rate need to know that scores above 350s are not chased by a batsmen or a couple of batsman. These scores are chased by team and planning.
For now, we have only two batsmen in our team - Sharjeel and Babar. And people who are expecting that only these two batsmen can chase down the totals of 350+ are fooling themselves.
All the successful teams, now a days, have at least 4 Sharjeels and 2 Babars in their batting lineup and they are posting around 350 easily.
We could also make 350+ today if we had 3 more Sharjeels and 1 more Babar. So, this clearly shows that the problem is not Babar or strike rate of Babar. The problem is other batsmen who are in the team just to fill the numbers.

Excellent post

 

[Bilal7]

He has it in him to make it big. He is a special talent and together with sharjeel will become the core of this Pakistani team. Two slots are fixed. Needs to drop Hafeez, Malik and azhar from ODIS.

Exactly. What about Akmal? You think he has it in him to be a Raina-type for Pakistan?

 

[Nil Dhumrojal]

First in 35 years in Australia.quite an achievement.

 

[Khan12]

A very good innings by a very good batsman. The highest run scorer in this series for Pakistan too.
People who are complaining about his strike rate need to know that scores above 350s are not chased by a batsmen or a couple of batsman. These scores are chased by team and planning.
For now, we have only two batsmen in our team - Sharjeel and Babar. And people who are expecting that only these two batsmen can chase down the totals of 350+ are fooling themselves.
All the successful teams, now a days, have at least 4 Sharjeels and 2 Babars in their batting lineup and they are posting around 350 easily.
We could also make 350+ today if we had 3 more Sharjeels and 1 more Babar. So, this clearly shows that the problem is not Babar or strike rate of Babar. The problem is other batsmen who are in the team just to fill the numbers.

completely agree. good post. i honestly watch these 2 bat and when they get out i lose interest in watching the rest of the match. i have been following pak cricket since i was a kid and can't remember the last time i didn't watch the whole game. But recently i just watch these 2 bat and don't really care about the result considering we have a lot of garbage in our team.

 

[Stallion__]

I thought the other player would be axeman. Remember him scoring a ton in colors in Australia. But surprisingly his ODI record in Australia is abysmal considering how good he was in tests in Australia.

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

I couldn't watch the innings but scoring a century in Australia against Australia is a BIG DEAL. Kya player hai yaar yeh larka.

Sometimes I criticize him for playing too slow initially and it seems he may have done the same today but as the saying in Urdu goes "andhoon mein kaana raja".

We need one more Babar type of batsman then atleast we could reach 5-6 in the rankings.


Sharjeel is also playing like a monster these days. If truth be told we only have two batsmen Sharjeel and Babar, the rest are there just to make up the numbers.

sarfraz can do that job as he showed in england.


His 90 was the best innings by a Pak ODI player for sometime, probably since Abdul Razzaq's carnage vs south africa ( which i think is the best by a pakistani ever).

Just because Sarfraz was 10 short a 100 though its goes unappreciated

 

[Buffet]

One of the better batsman in years from Pakistan. He should develop in coming years. I didn't see Pakistani inning so can't comment much about it, but I have seen him bat. He looks a proper batsman. He is new and he is not going to get everything right immediately. No need to criticize too much or compare him with some one like Kohli.