Being aggressive as captain is not always a good thing

[Major]

So last year when Azhar Ali was captain, all the Lahori fans cried and said we need an aggressive captain

They got Mcculum this year, and poor Azhar sat out for all the games.

Results are same, lahore still at the bottom from last year.

Fault in captaincy? Or fault in the fact that you need to gell your team properly ?

 

[Hawkeye]

Come on Major.

It has nothing to do with aggressiveness. Why you indirectly referencing Misbah here where he's already considered defensive? You want to say that defensive captains like Misbah win you matches?

Just say that both Azhar and McCullum aren't responsible for the losses. It's their poor balance of the team.

Everyone hated Azhar but it wasn't his fault. Results are the same with BMac.

 

[Rayyman]

Yes it is.
2

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Lahore were a far better team under McCullum. There's no doubt about it. We lost 3 games we should have easily won. Lahore was never in those positions under Azhar.

 

[ads101]

The team for Lahore doesn't gel. Same results this PSL, in fact every team has got more or less the same standings as last time. Because they are basically the same teams.

Lahore especially I've noticed hardly any Pak players are performing there. Mostly international and to some extent umar akmal. Thus hard for them to win.

 

[Major]

Come on Major.

It has nothing to do with aggressiveness. Why you indirectly referencing Misbah here where he's already considered defensive? You want to say that defensive captains like Misbah win you matches?

Just say that both Azhar and McCullum aren't responsible for the losses. It's their poor balance of the team.

Everyone hated Azhar but it wasn't his fault. Results are the same with BMac.

Im pointing out how everyone thought everything that lied fault on was with Azhar Ali, and the answer to it was being AGGRESSIVE.

and yet the results are same even after bringing in MR. Aggressive captain in.

Point being, captaincy is done by acting upon the right way in a situation. Defensive where required, aggressive where needed.

 

[Major]

Lahore were a far better team under McCullum. There's no doubt about it. We lost 3 games we should have easily won. Lahore was never in those positions under Azhar.

far better? You guys are still at the bottom. maybe you guys have really low standards

 

[Major]

Lahore had the best Lot of players if you look at their team.

Problem is their owners and coaches being fools.

Aqib javed and co are brainless.

Had Lahore retained the last year team, they would done alot better.

Thing about league cricket is taht you need to gell your team together, and develop an understanding.

Look at United, Watson who never bats below opening, is batting at no.6 for teams sake. WHy? Becuase the team and him have developed this understanding where they have started to put the teams need before their owns

 

[Chief Destroyer]

far better? You guys are still at the bottom. maybe you guys have really low standards

Did you read the post or comprehension is not your strong suit? We lost some very close games in which we were in the driving seat for majority of the game. We choked and paid the price.

 

[Muhammad10]

Well, McCullum's brilliant captaincy and aggressive batting took his country (underdog side) to the World Cup final, but I suppose succeeding in the mighty PSL would be considered a greater achievement for some.

 

[pacesensation]

Anyone knows how long lq's talent hunt scheme was?
and did any player from that scheme played?

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Anyone knows how long lq's talent hunt scheme was?
and did any player from that scheme played?

Irfan was the only one. It was a couple of weeks.

They have a development squad for the best prospects found in that hunt.

 

[Muhammad10]

Anyhow, it looks like McCullum is finished as a player and no longer of any real use with the bat. A good captain, but Lahore will probably need to look elsewhere next year.

 

[Muhammad10]

Brendon probably was not familiar with local talent, but Lahore's treatment of one of our best spin-bowling prospects in Zafar has been nothing short of disgraceful.

 

[pacesensation]

Irfan was the only one. It was a couple of weeks.

They have a development squad for the best prospects found in that hunt.

Don't think irfan has the pace to excel at international level. Yasir jan can only bowl with both hands. I was seriously hoping that they would have found one good fast bowler. Punjab is famous for express fast bowlers.

 

[pacesensation]

Brendon probably was not familiar with local talent, but Lahore's treatment of one of our best spin-bowling prospects in Zafar has been nothing short of disgraceful.

hasan mohsin not being played by kk was also not cool

 

[Ummii]

Fawad Rana ko ground se bahar rkho team yehi rkho..they can win

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

it is an overused word on this forum and in cricket commentary.

you cannot be aggressive if you do not have the right tools for the job. baz did not just take his team to the final because he was aggressive, he also had a team which had many talented players. they had an inform bowler in boult, a classy opener in guptill, and all-rounder galore that helped them be aggressive.

cricket matches are won by aggression when the skill levels are the same. if there is a skill gap, no amount of mental strategy can overcome that. you can send a non-batter to open and tell them to swing from the hip and be 'aggressive' or you can ask gayle to take the attack to the bowler.

lahore had a problem last year with fast bowlers and they did nothing in that regards. a talent hunt that went around in circles and ended up selecting usman qadir and a couple of fast bowlers who by no means were better than ehsan adil or zia ul haq. all they needed was a bowler that they could bank on and they never had it, you can ask kohli or smith to captain but the bowling would have been the same.

you do not win trophies when bhatti, amir yamin, and sohail tanvir are your core attack.

end rant

 

[Syed1]

If it comes down to it I will ALWAYS have Mcculum as my captain over Misbah in each and every format.

 

[Syed1]

LQ were a good team but a couple of things didn't go in their favour. Jason Roy who was giving excellent starts but left in the middle of the season. Fakhar Zaman after exploding in the first few matches failed like no tomorrow after. Their batting was heavily reliant on perennial failure like Umar Akmal. They had left-handed and right-handed Tanvir making the bulk of their fast bowling.

Fix these problems and LQ might manage to come better than last in the next PSL.

 

[Dubawi]

Fault as per me was Umar Akmal this year.

If you look at all the other teams their local main batsman has kicked on and as a result they have ended on winning side most of the times. Ahmed Shahzad (Quetta), Babar and Malik (Karachi), Kamran and Afridi (Peshawar) and Misbah (Islamabad).

While Umar Akmal playing at 4 has not been able to play longer and responsible knocks to win them at least one game. The game where he scored 66 he played his part but was finished off by Elliott. Lahore needed Umar to fire but I guess it backfired.

 

[JibranAnsari]

A captain should be comfortable doing captaincy , you dont want a captain who is always worried about who is going to bowl the last 2 overs in t20 or last 6 in ODIS. Our captains have been too worried about that lately especially azhar in odis , he lets the game slip away. Lahore is a dysfunctional unit and I never had a doubt that they would fail.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Brendon probably was not familiar with local talent, but Lahore's treatment of one of our best spin-bowling prospects in Zafar has been nothing short of disgraceful.

yes that is a very important point...but they had narine and yasir in already but still they could have afford to play zafar... and they kept mudassar out and kept playing Irfan Jr and Tanvir as well..they should have taken one more batting prospect from pakistan like talat or khushdil shah or saad ali may be... but they hardly have any except UA who we all know how he is...

 

[ask_analyse_act]

hasan mohsin not being played by kk was also not cool

they have Babar malik and imad, couldnt find a place for him , but should have given him a game or two... a player like mahela is being wasted in their lineup which is also very bad...

 

[RickyG]

Lahore Qalandars epitomize their owner. They provide great entertainment but no one takes them seriously. Both the team and the owner have have delivered fantastic moments of hilarity for the neutrals. Long may it continue!

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Don't think irfan has the pace to excel at international level. Yasir jan can only bowl with both hands. I was seriously hoping that they would have found one good fast bowler. Punjab is famous for express fast bowlers.

Irfan is hardly a finished product. Currently, he's generating all his pace from armspeed. He releases the ball just before he braces the front leg. Once he learns to brace, he becomes a 140k+ bowler easily.

Even at this stage, he's capable of clocking 135k+ consistently if he bowls seam up and is running in with confidence. But he's not a one pace bowler. He relies on a variety of deliveries such as cutters, yorkers where he rolls his fingers to get the ball to drop at the last second. Hence why he'd go from clocking 138ks to 129ks the next ball.

He's only come on to the scene recently. His body still hasn't filled up and coordination will definitely improve the more he works with professional coaches. There are many other small technical changes he has to make to tighten up his action and run-up.

Irfan's main weapon is bounce and hitting length consistently. He's 6'5-6'6 and stays upright so retains his height at release. He did not hit length enough at the PSL. He was trying too many variations. Every time he hit length, he was hitting the splice and difficult to put away. Irfan can also shape the new ball away and seam it but these are skills you don't see in such dry conditions in 2 over spells with a poor quality ball.

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

So what you think Azhar should be captain again?

He shouldn't have been playing a t20 in the first place

 

[MMHS]

Mac was tactically very good, but as a batsman, he is not more than a tail-ender now. Tactfully, he tried to cover his weakness by dropping down, but this year Umar flopped and their batting was full of hit & miss chokers. Apart from the QG match, his bowling changes were good, however, he had very little clue of PAK players - in last match, his decision of using a spinner was correct, but he had couldn't depend on Fakhar, while shouldn't have given last over to Yamin.

Aggressive captaincy will always result in heavier defeats, unless one can back aggression with performance or if it goes wrong in a bad day. Defensive captaincy is better to maintain statistics - it ends in honorable defeats & close encounters; but it hardly wins matches, unless the opponents are weaker.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

Being a karachite obviously I wanted them (Lahore) to fail but credit needs to be given where it's due as these blokes almost defended 59 runs which certainly entailed that there was indeed a shift in mindset when it came to the overall approach towards the game - I can assure you Azhar would've lost that in the first five overs !!

The problem with Lahore was their personnel were as mediocre as they come. They had UA, Sobers, Bhatti, Batdrop, Irfan Jr (Under cooked youngster) all in the same lineup. This is just asking for trouble, they need to revamp their squad but retain Baz.

 

[Slog]

Irfan is hardly a finished product. Currently, he's generating all his pace from armspeed. He releases the ball just before he braces the front leg. Once he learns to brace, he becomes a 140k+ bowler easily.

Even at this stage, he's capable of clocking 135k+ consistently if he bowls seam up and is running in with confidence. But he's not a one pace bowler. He relies on a variety of deliveries such as cutters, yorkers where he rolls his fingers to get the ball to drop at the last second. Hence why he'd go from clocking 138ks to 129ks the next ball.

He's only come on to the scene recently. His body still hasn't filled up and coordination will definitely improve the more he works with professional coaches. There are many other small technical changes he has to make to tighten up his action and run-up.

Irfan's main weapon is bounce and hitting length consistently. He's 6'5-6'6 and stays upright so retains his height at release. He did not hit length enough at the PSL. He was trying too many variations. Every time he hit length, he was hitting the splice and difficult to put away. Irfan can also shape the new ball away and seam it but these are skills you don't see in such dry conditions in 2 over spells with a poor quality ball.

Well considering Irfan has the misfortune of having to work with Aqib Javed I wouldnt keep hopes up.

 

[CricketAnalyst]

So last year when Azhar Ali was captain, all the Lahori fans cried and said we need an aggressive captain

They got Mcculum this year, and poor Azhar sat out for all the games.

Results are same, lahore still at the bottom from last year.

Fault in captaincy? Or fault in the fact that you need to gell your team properly ?

A couple of things worth noting.

1) A lot of the problem was that Lahore was neither aggressive nor defensive. Their general approach was to be super aggressive and then chicken out and go back to being defensive when things started looking dicey. What BMac wanted was all-out aggression, and what he got was aggression till they lost a couple of wickets.

Neither did they play his way, nor did they play the way they wanted to and as a result they were caught in between.

2) Their personnel simply wasn't very good. Umar Akmal, Rizwan, Elliot, Tanvir, etc are all very average considering that they were auto selections and the backbone of the squad. On top of that B Mac was out of form.

3) They were two very close matches away from not just qualifying but topping the table. But for an unreal assault by Pietersen, and two late sixes by Pollard, they would have topped the table. Calling it unqualified failure lacks perspective.

With such weak personnel and divided minds they still came quite close to a really good result losing only in very close matches, so criticizing the mentality is really missing the point.

 

[CricketAnalyst]

Lahore had the best Lot of players if you look at their team.

Problem is their owners and coaches being fools.

Aqib javed and co are brainless.

Had Lahore retained the last year team, they would done alot better.

Thing about league cricket is taht you need to gell your team together, and develop an understanding.

Look at United, Watson who never bats below opening, is batting at no.6 for teams sake. WHy? Becuase the team and him have developed this understanding where they have started to put the teams need before their owns

In what way do they have best players?

Do a man for man comparison with ANY other squad and explain this?

They have so many mediocrities like Sir Sohail Tanvir, Grant Elliot, Rizwan, Akmal, Irfan Jr etc playing regularly.

No matter how well they gel, a lot of these guys are just not as good at cricket as the people they were playing against.

 

[shariqnoor]

I've said it many times on this forum that aggressiveness is an overrated trait when judging a captain. You need a captain who is aggressive when need be but also willing to go back on the defensive when the situation demands it. McCullum knows only one way how to captain a team and he was horribly exposed in the PSL.

Now people here are again trying to make excuses in trying to protect McCullum from criticism but failing to defend 200+ and getting bowled out for 59 is pathetic. Just go back a few threads and see how many of you were thinking Lahore has a great squad. Now Azhar Ali and Brendon McCullum have been absolved of blame by saying the Lahore has a mediocre squad. He came out with a statement that "he would prefer to get caught out on the boundary than be bowled or Lbw". While this may sound credible to the ears, this is a "live by the sword and die by the sword" approach. This is a workable solution for a couple of players in the team who you want to be ultra aggressive from Ball 1 so as to maintain a high SR of the team, but it is an extremely poor approach if you are imposing this style on 11 members of your team. 59 all out is what happens then.

Misbah on the other hand is an astute captain who recognizes when to pounce and when to defend. And with the kind of attack he has had with Pakistan team, he was more on the defensive side which gives the illusion that he is a defensive captain by nature. When Pakistan were defending 215 against Australia in the WC, he had slips all along the match. He got Clarke out with having a deep short leg. Wasn't that aggressive captaincy for people? Sure there are times when he could do better but this can be said about all captains in the history of the game.

I would have Misbah as captain 99% of the time over McCullum.

 

[Major]

I've said it many times on this forum that aggressiveness is an overrated trait when judging a captain. You need a captain who is aggressive when need be but also willing to go back on the defensive when the situation demands it. McCullum knows only one way how to captain a team and he was horribly exposed in the PSL.

Now people here are again trying to make excuses in trying to protect McCullum from criticism but failing to defend 200+ and getting bowled out for 59 is pathetic. Just go back a few threads and see how many of you were thinking Lahore has a great squad. Now Azhar Ali and Brendon McCullum have been absolved of blame by saying the Lahore has a mediocre squad. He came out with a statement that "he would prefer to get caught out on the boundary than be bowled or Lbw". While this may sound credible to the ears, this is a "live by the sword and die by the sword" approach. This is a workable solution for a couple of players in the team who you want to be ultra aggressive from Ball 1 so as to maintain a high SR of the team, but it is an extremely poor approach if you are imposing this style on 11 members of your team. 59 all out is what happens then.

Misbah on the other hand is an astute captain who recognizes when to pounce and when to defend. And with the kind of attack he has had with Pakistan team, he was more on the defensive side which gives the illusion that he is a defensive captain by nature. When Pakistan were defending 215 against Australia in the WC, he had slips all along the match. He got Clarke out with having a deep short leg. Wasn't that aggressive captaincy for people? Sure there are times when he could do better but this can be said about all captains in the history of the game.

I would have Misbah as captain 99% of the time over McCullum.

Good post.

Mcculum has been exposed big time in this league.

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

people have to understand the context of the current obession Pakistani's fans have with ''agression"'.

Over the past few years we have had

1. Afridi - a defensive captain despite what his fans would say
2. Misbah a captain who approach to the game has been utterly repudiated by the modern game
3. Azhar Ali a captain who is arguably to slow in tests let alone ODIs, and a complete dud as a captain


So yeah we want change, and when we have to deal with the above people go OTT. That doesnt mean in reality people want some crazy approach to the game.

The whole purpose of this thread is to vindicate Misbah, but that's another extreme, one that has been proved false many times over

 

[SL_Fan]

Captaining in these T20 leagues would be quite tough especially for internationals. They would be fairy limited in what they know about the local guys and most of the internationals in the side are there to earn a quick buck. So not all that easy to get everyone switched on and get the best out of them.

 

[waleed88]

Lahore were a far better team under McCullum. There's no doubt about it. We lost 3 games we should have easily won. Lahore was never in those positions under Azhar.

Coming 5th but with a better attitude? It must be an improvement

I think this is what [MENTION=135038]Major[/MENTION] was referring to... attitude didn't make a difference in the end

 

[SL_Fan]

One that really stands out for me is Darren Sammy. Would make a great captain in these T20 leagues I think. Has got it down to a tee.

 

[waleed88]

Well, McCullum's brilliant captaincy and aggressive batting took his country (underdog side) to the World Cup final, but I suppose succeeding in the mighty PSL would be considered a greater achievement for some.

His team weren't underdogs, they were favorites, they played in their home conditions until the final took place, which they duely lost because that was the first taste of away conditions they faced in the tournament...

Mccullum's suicidal captaincy was exposed when they almost couldn't chase down a 130 against an Aussie attack which had Mitchell Starc firing on all cylinders... but they didn't respect his good bowling either and tried to go after him too.. almost cost them the match

 

[waleed88]

Lets be honest no team will want to get into a position to defend 59 in the first place... a normal captain with normal beliefs would have atleast played out the full 20 overs, instead of getting out in half the overs bowled..

This ott praising of bravado, and cavalier attitude is wayyy to overrated

 

[waleed88]

Misbah's captaincy didn't pay much dividends either... he won one more match than Mccullum's team did in the end... but his team was the second to qualify for playoffs, and he has been on the receiving of end of two rain hit games, which only went 10-15 overs... as a team you would want to be chasing totals because overcast conditions make the ball move around a bit more in a scenario like this..

 

[CricketAnalyst]

Lets be honest no team will want to get into a position to defend 59 in the first place... a normal captain with normal beliefs would have atleast played out the full 20 overs, instead of getting out in half the overs bowled..

This ott praising of bravado, and cavalier attitude is wayyy to overrated

What's the point of getting 110? That will be defended only 2 or 3% of the time. If by attacking, there's even a 10 or 20% chance of getting a good score, you go for it. Loss is a loss whatever the margin.

 

[Major]

Did you read the post or comprehension is not your strong suit? We lost some very close games in which we were in the driving seat for majority of the game. We choked and paid the price.

You cant put it whatever way you want. But last year lahore was at bottom and this year they were at bottom aswell.

People said with mcculum coming in there was going to be a revolution in the team and what not.

Lahore were not far better as you had put it in earlier.

 

[waleed88]

What's the point of getting 110? That will be defended only 2 or 3% of the time. If by attacking, there's even a 10 or 20% chance of getting a good score, you go for it. Loss is a loss whatever the margin.

What world are you living in? Its a crime when you have 11 players and you can't even bat out 20 overs due to overaggression... that is cricketing basics that you are taught at school level.. and when you are playing at top level it never looks nice

 

[waleed88]

What's the point of getting 110? That will be defended only 2 or 3% of the time. If by attacking, there's even a 10 or 20% chance of getting a good score, you go for it. Loss is a loss whatever the margin.

Also you are more likely to defend 110, than 59.. that is just common sense that needs to prevail sometimes

 

[CricketAnalyst]

What world are you living in? Its a crime when you have 11 players and you can't even bat out 20 overs due to overaggression... that is cricketing basics that you are taught at school level.. and when you are playing at top level it never looks nice

Obviously it's more likely 110 will be defended than 59. That's not the point.

The point is that there are inflection points where an extreme result is less valuable. For example if you can guarantee 230, than there is no need to risk getting less by aiming for 260, because both these totals are incredibly unlikely to be chased. Similarly, if you are 40/6 it makes sense to hit and give yourself a chance to get 130, even if that happens only very rarely rather than let yourself end on 100 after 20 overs, which will almost never be defended.

In the first place every thing you are taught at school is not strategically robust (and believe me my coaches were just as traditional as yours are). I agree being bowled out cheaply doesn't look nice, but it's a professional team and they should play to maximize win probability, not to save face. The teams which are not afraid to look silly will gain an edge.

And again, as I reminded people above, but for one freak innings of KP and two last ball sixes, Lahore Qalandars would have topped the table despite having a very mediocre squad. Can't conclude too much from the fact that they were eliminated.

 

[shariqnoor]

Obviously it's more likely 110 will be defended than 59. That's not the point.

Similarly, if you are 40/6 it makes sense to hit and give yourself a chance to get 130, even if that happens only very rarely rather than let yourself end on 100 after 20 overs, which will almost never be defended.

That logic was properly refuted in the Peshawar - Lahore game. Had Lahore batted out the 20 overs and got 100 instead of 59, they could've defended that. Peshawar lost 7 wickets in getting to 60. A few more runs and the result could've been different.

The moral is that 100 times out of 100 you should look to bat out the full quota of overs rather than go for the extreme aggressive approach of spanking everything just so, as in your own words, give yourself a chance to get 130 rather than end on 100 after 20 overs. You will only get to 130 once in 10 attempts with that approach but you'll get to 100 7-8 times out of 10 by playing sensible cricket and batting out the overs. Every single run is vital.

 

[CricketAnalyst]

That logic was properly refuted in the Peshawar - Lahore game. Had Lahore batted out the 20 overs and got 100 instead of 59, they could've defended that. Peshawar lost 7 wickets in getting to 60. A few more runs and the result could've been different.

The moral is that 100 times out of 100 you should look to bat out the full quota of overs rather than go for the extreme aggressive approach of spanking everything just so, as in your own words, give yourself a chance to get 130 rather than end on 100 after 20 overs. You will only get to 130 once in 10 attempts with that approach but you'll get to 100 7-8 times out of 10 by playing sensible cricket and batting out the overs. Every single run is vital.

But you won't defend 100 even 1 in 20 times. If you don't believe me just filter Statsguru for all games where batting side scored less than 110 and you will see what I mean.

And your argument is self-contradictory. If you think that a side on 40/6 will get to 100 70% of the time, than clearly at 60/7 Peshawar had a 75% chance of winning even if the target was 100 as per your own logic. And obviously 60/7 will be in the bottom 10 percentile of scores that Peshawar would have when chasing and even that is favourite to get 100 as per your reasoning. This is why I'm saying you need 130.

 

[Pakpak]

people have to understand the context of the current obession Pakistani's fans have with ''agression"'.

Over the past few years we have had

1. Afridi - a defensive captain despite what his fans would say
2. Misbah a captain who approach to the game has been utterly repudiated by the modern game
3. Azhar Ali a captain who is arguably to slow in tests let alone ODIs, and a complete dud as a captain


So yeah we want change, and when we have to deal with the above people go OTT. That doesnt mean in reality people want some crazy approach to the game.

[I]The whole purpose of this thread is to vindicate Misbah, but that's another extreme, one that has been proved false many times over[/I]

This +1.

As for the thread, Akmal failing badly didn't help and we need to get rid of Tanvir. The guy is a disaster batting and bowling. The way Gohar was sidelined was horrible too.

 

[shariqnoor]

But you won't defend 100 even 1 in 20 times. If you don't believe me just filter Statsguru for all games where batting side scored less than 110 and you will see what I mean.

And your argument is self-contradictory. If you think that a side on 40/6 will get to 100 70% of the time, than clearly at 60/7 Peshawar had a 75% chance of winning even if the target was 100 as per your own logic. And obviously 60/7 will be in the bottom 10 percentile of scores that Peshawar would have when chasing and even that is favourite to get 100 as per your reasoning. This is why I'm saying you need 130.

It's very simple. I'd rather give myself a chance of defending 100 70-80% of the time than have to defend 130 only 10% of the time and have the rest of the time defending scores of 59.

Things don't work out in mathematical ratios brother like you just defined up there. Lol. If the batting team is at 250/4 in the 40th over and ends up 350 after 50 overs DOES NOT mean the chasing team who is also 250/4 in the 40th over has a 100% chance of getting to 350. Your Peshawar 75% chance of winning example was pretty poor.

 

[CricketAnalyst]

It's very simple. I'd rather give myself a chance of defending 100 70-80% of the time than have to defend 130 only 10% of the time and have the rest of the time defending scores of 59.

Things don't work out in mathematical ratios brother like you just defined up there. Lol. If the batting team is at 250/4 in the 40th over and ends up 350 after 50 overs DOES NOT mean the chasing team who is also 250/4 in the 40th over has a 100% chance of getting to 350. Your Peshawar 75% chance of winning example was pretty poor.

No. You said that at 40/6 if a team bats defensively they will get 100 70% of the time. So as per your own estimate, Peshawar from 60/7 should have around that chance to get 100. This is your own logic. I'm not the one who gave these percentages.

And if even from 60/7 it's quite likely Peshawar will chase it down, then clearly I would want to give myself even that 10% chance of having 130.

 

[yasir]

Well, McCullum's brilliant captaincy and aggressive batting took his country (underdog side) to the World Cup final, but I suppose succeeding in the mighty PSL would be considered a greater achievement for some.

NZ went into finals mainly because of playing every match in NZ, there style and team was designed for home conditions... I said it that time, as soon as NZ step outside of NZ, they will be brutally exposed in the WC, even if it was not AUS, they would have still lost the final, Australia just murdered them, well brutally...Also, they won't have won the SF against SA if played in AUS, noway they could beat SA else where...

 

[yasir]

Irfan is hardly a finished product. Currently, he's generating all his pace from armspeed. He releases the ball just before he braces the front leg. Once he learns to brace, he becomes a 140k+ bowler easily.

Even at this stage, he's capable of clocking 135k+ consistently if he bowls seam up and is running in with confidence. But he's not a one pace bowler. He relies on a variety of deliveries such as cutters, yorkers where he rolls his fingers to get the ball to drop at the last second. Hence why he'd go from clocking 138ks to 129ks the next ball.

He's only come on to the scene recently. His body still hasn't filled up and coordination will definitely improve the more he works with professional coaches. There are many other small technical changes he has to make to tighten up his action and run-up.

Irfan's main weapon is bounce and hitting length consistently. He's 6'5-6'6 and stays upright so retains his height at release. He did not hit length enough at the PSL. He was trying too many variations. Every time he hit length, he was hitting the splice and difficult to put away. Irfan can also shape the new ball away and seam it but these are skills you don't see in such dry conditions in 2 over spells with a poor quality ball.

Irfan can never be 140K bowler with this action, his action is horrible, you cannot release the ball after your front leg with this action, look at Tanvir, he could have easily gain extra 10 clicks of pace, if he had a different action...No fast bowler in the history of cricket had phanka(fan) like action, I don't know where these guys learn such a terrible action...

He must change his action period. Have a more conventional high arm action...

 

[silent ischemia]

Aggression is OK as a captain but McCullum showed overconfidence at times. Bringing himself on in the game against Karachi was totally uncalled for. Karachi was staring down the barrel and a 15 odd runs over was all they needed to get into rhythm and BMac provided them that.
He is not even a part time bowler

 

[MMHS]

Irfan can never be 140K bowler with this action, his action is horrible, you cannot release the ball after your front leg with this action, look at Tanvir, he could have easily gain extra 10 clicks of pace, if he had a different action...No fast bowler in the history of cricket had phanka(fan) like action, I don't know where these guys learn such a terrible action...

He must change his action period. Have a more conventional high arm action...

His action is poor, but he has time & height to work on. Not saying he'll end as world class but at similar age Asif was nobody until Woolmer saw him. At that height, if he can add just few KMs with perfection on line & particularly length, even with ugly action he can be effective. Tannu didn't develop much because he never tried to become a fast medium swing bowler, rather he was happy to be T20 cheap utility. Besides, Tanvir was 27/28 when he joined PAK team - his learning curve was finished. Still between 2007-09, he was quite decent fast medium swing bowler.

There are few sterling names who actually bowled with wrong foot & windmill action - & they were quite fast as well, say like Jeff Thompson, Mike Proctor. I think, long back, Bill Vice also had similar action but I have never seen any clippings of Voce.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Irfan can never be 140K bowler with this action, his action is horrible, you cannot release the ball after your front leg with this action, look at Tanvir, he could have easily gain extra 10 clicks of pace, if he had a different action...No fast bowler in the history of cricket had phanka(fan) like action, I don't know where these guys learn such a terrible action...

He must change his action period. Have a more conventional high arm action...

Their actions are not comparable. Tanvir bowls completely off the wrong foot. Irfan braces but releases just as he braces. He has control over his arm path, it's not a problem. Once he has control over his lower-body, everything will fall in place.

 

[yasir]

His action is poor, but he has time & height to work on. Not saying he'll end as world class but at similar age Asif was nobody until Woolmer saw him. At that height, if he can add just few KMs with perfection on line & particularly length, even with ugly action he can be effective. Tannu didn't develop much because he never tried to become a fast medium swing bowler, rather he was happy to be T20 cheap utility. Besides, Tanvir was 27/28 when he joined PAK team - his learning curve was finished. Still between 2007-09, he was quite decent fast medium swing bowler.

There are few sterling names who actually bowled with wrong foot & windmill action - & they were quite fast as well, say like Jeff Thompson, Mike Proctor. I think, long back, Bill Vice also had similar action but I have never seen any clippings of Voce.

Thompson was not a windmill action at all, he had a very different action, he had a very high arch in the finish stride, which is completely opposite effect of windmill or phanka action...

If windmill was such good way to generate pace or length control or even swing, we would have seen lot more fast bowler with that action...I still maintain, I have not seen a single fast bowler in last 30 years, who had windmill or phanka action...

Their actions are not comparable. Tanvir bowls completely off the wrong foot. Irfan braces but releases just as he braces. He has control over his arm path, it's not a problem. Once he has control over his lower-body, everything will fall in place.

Main problem of windmill or Phanka action is that with almost 360 degree shoulder swing, amount of force is far less than when you have 120 or less degree of final action, you are wasting too much energy upfront and not enough energy where it needs the most...When you start your action infront of shoulder(his arm gets straight very early, that gives the windmill effect), rather than hip or after, you loose lot of force in final thrust, its hard to bowl effective length balls, right now he does not have that good of length ball, again thanks to 360 degree shoulder swing, completely unnecessary.

He can easily be 135/140K(without any extra effort) bowler with regular high arm action, he will have better control and can have much better heavy bowl with that action. We don't want to ruin another tall guy, this time with terrible action, it has to change now.

 

[MRSN]

The OP has forgotten the results McCullum lead Kiwi team had against Misbah lead team in UAE. Misbah had literally no clue despite losing first game Kiwis hit back hard to draw the series. It still fresh in my memory.

 

[Big Mac]

The OP has forgotten the results McCullum lead Kiwi team had against Misbah lead team in UAE. Misbah had literally no clue despite losing first game Kiwis hit back hard to draw the series. It still fresh in my memory.

Take your memory out of the fridge and give it a sniff because it's starting to curdle, otherwise you'd have remembered that the test the Kiwis won was a complete joke of a game that nobody wanted to continue after the death of Phillip Hughes.

 

[Pak_Pace]

They lost a game or two due to captaincy and a few because of bad luck/individual mistakes.

And I'd say it was the same last year as well. Nabi hitting a six or four off the last ball through a misfield, nobody claiming a catch in that same match v Quetta, Bopara taking 6 wickets in around 3 overs. Can't be blamed on captaincy since their failure to qualify has been by very small margins in both editions.