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Bilal Asif epitomises everything wrong with Pakistan cricket

pakistanigoneaussie

pakistanigoneaussie

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A 30 year old who averages 17 in list a and 22 in first class is opening the batting for Pakistan. This is one of those situations where "I could have done better' is actually true.

I actually felt sorry for him, utterly out of dept

I held a bit of hope he could have an okay bowler and a late order tonker but that's seems wishful thinking
 
The worse to play for Pakistan in the last decade...today seeing him opening I Wonder that even i can open for Pakistan

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
 
A pinch hitting tailender opening in international cricket .India used to send srinath up the order in the 90s , that never ended well .
Imad wasim is 10 times the player Bilal is , Pakistan will miss him throughout the series.
 
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He's mediocre.

He's not good enough at this level.

How on earth he got selected I'm not sure what the selectors are smoking or Maybe they are taking backhanders.
 
Worst player to play for us in the last 10 years. Absolutely terrible with bat and ball.
 
The only explanation can be that they wanted him as an attacking option - problem with that is he can barely hold the bat. He's a tailender, he could barely get in line with the ball.

Utterly rubbish 'cricketer'. Yes he got a 5-fer vs Zimbabwe but they're atrocious against spin, against better quality sides he was bound to be exposed. I know Imad Wasim is injured but surely we can find better alternatives ?

Its like Shai Hope and Rajendra Chandrika being selected for the West Indies - another two rubbish players with batting averages a touch over 20 yet somehow get selected for the national side.
 
Clearly the management has some next level 'intel' to make this decision.

Babar Azam opens in List-A almost all the time. Averages 45+. Has a proper technique. But obviously there must be a logical reason for opening with the guy who looks like he is facing swing bowling for the first time.

I agree with OP's statement. I don't blame Bilal for this. Extremely dumb thinking by whoever had this brainwave.
 
Was this guy just randomly picked off the street? its pathetic how such technically inept players get picked by pakistan!
 
Babar azam opens for his domestic team and just made a 167, amazing they didn't make him open when it's clear that bilal probably only has hope against some spinners where he can slog a few
 
Amjid Javed said:
Was this guy just randomly picked off the street? its pathetic how such technically inept players get picked by pakistan!
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Made a 100 in a T20 once for Sialkot (he didn't open in that innings :)) ) and they suddenly think he is the best opener in the country. Has no other scores of substance after that knock. :137:
 
Imad Wasim can't come back soon enough.

Horrible.

What a hack with the bat and I rarely say that about players.
 
Our domestic cricket is rubbish and we seem to produce garbage players like Asif, shan masood, Khurram Manzoor and awais zia etc... just goes to show how clueless our selectors are when it comes to team selection.
 
Amjid Javed said:
Our domestic cricket is rubbish and we seem to produce garbage players like Asif, shan masood, Khurram Manzoor and awais zia etc... just goes to show how clueless our selectors are when it comes to team selection.
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The others you have mentioned are mediocre

Bilal looks as if he is straight from the street. In a way it's cruel to make him open
 
pakistanigoneaussie said:
Another Shakeel Ansar
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I said this immediately after his century in the domestic cup. Just had one look at his stats and knew he was not good enough.

Haven't seen a bigger hack than him, Awais Zia is probably a better batsman. But you can't fault him. Have to fault the management for opening with him.
 
Ahson8 said:
I said this immediately after his century in the domestic cup. Just had one look at his stats and knew he was not good enough.

Haven't seen a bigger hack than him, Awais Zia is probably a better batsman. But you can't fault him. Have to fault the management for opening with him.
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Zia is a proper hack yet miles ahead of him, with Zia you know he could at least hit the ball
 
Id like to know whose decision it was to 1st pick him in starting x1 and then to open with him,

Waqar and Azhar have alot to answer for here!
 
Nikhil_cric said:
OTT thread. He'll be out when Umad comes back anyway.
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Not OTT. Why is management asking / allowing him to open?

I wonder what happens behind the scenes for these decisions to happen...was he smashing Yasir Shah and Wahab Riaz for sixes in the nets or something?
 
Said the first time I saw him play. The man is a hack without the know-how in how to bowl or bat.

His bowling might get him few wickets here and there, but overall he'll be a poor addition.
 
Asif is being tried out as a pinch-hitter. I don't see what is wrong with experimenting with new players, at least the management is being proactive. Sure, he's proven that he's not good enough but I would like to see the management try out new players like him instead of going back to same TTFs that have plagued our cricket for so long.
 
An absolute disaster with the bat and mediocre with the ball. Seeing him open the batting in a Pakistan shirt is travesty of highest order.
 
Bilal7 said:
Asif is being tried out as a pinch-hitter. I don't see what is wrong with experimenting with new players, at least the management is being proactive. Sure, he's proven that he's not good enough but I would like to see the management try out new players like him instead of going back to same TTFs that have plagued our cricket for so long.
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Maybe open with the specialist opener (Babar) or even Hafeez? This is not the 90s, pinch hitters don't open in intl. cricket anymore. Specially not players who have probably never opened before in their lives. For God's sake, he's 30 years old, he isn't gonna become a competent opener overnight.
 
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Bilal7 said:
Asif is being tried out as a pinch-hitter. I don't see what is wrong with experimenting with new players, at least the management is being proactive. Sure, he's proven that he's not good enough but I would like to see the management try out new players like him instead of going back to same TTFs that have plagued our cricket for so long.
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Players like Zia and khalid Latif. Those are justified experiments becuase they have done it a fair few times domestically and have decent overall records

Anwar Ali has a better record then bilal who apart from one t20 Ton has done next to nothing

This is just horrible management
 
what happened to Sami Aslam?

I saw very little of him against BD but he looked really good and I was rather impressed by his debut innings.
 
I rather have sami aslam or nauman anwar for the opening spot

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk
 
Sami aslam is a good example actually, I personally have serious issues with his technique but the boy can hit the ball, has a proven domestic record and is just a kid who can improve

Not to mention he is a left Hander
 
My question is how he got on the team? Where is the nepotism and cronyism link?

Otherwise it makes 0 sense.

I could name 20 players who based on merit one would give a chance.
 
Lols I have been saying this since I saw him play against Zim, he is not a proper batsman at all, might give you some runs every now and then down the order, but is a walking wicket like Many others we have tried.
 
Ilan Bluestone said:
My question is how he got on the team? Where is the nepotism and cronyism link?

Otherwise it makes 0 sense.

I could name 20 players who based on merit one would give a chance.
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Lack of right hand spinners in Pakistan so misbah initially asked him to be picked for the Zimbabwe Odis as a trail for the England test matches, didn't need him at the end becuase Malik did the job
 
pakistanigoneaussie said:
Lack of right hand spinners in Pakistan so misbah initially asked him to be picked for the Zimbabwe Odis as a trail for the England test matches, didn't need him at the end becuase Malik did the job
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Hell, I still think Mansoor Amjad who hasn't seen the light of day in many years is an option Pakistan still dismisses and should still be on the radar. Still only 27 and can actually be a handy ARer. Don't know what happened to him and why PCB destroyed his career.
 
Ilan Bluestone said:
Hell, I still think Mansoor Amjad who hasn't seen the light of day in many years is an option Pakistan still dismisses and should still be on the radar. Still only 27 and can actually be a handy ARer. Don't know what happened to him and why PCB destroyed his career.
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He's a leg spinner not an off break bowler
 
Ilan Bluestone said:
Hell, I still think Mansoor Amjad who hasn't seen the light of day in many years is an option Pakistan still dismisses and should still be on the radar. Still only 27 and can actually be a handy ARer. Don't know what happened to him and why PCB destroyed his career.
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Why blame PCB for everything?
 
pakistanigoneaussie said:
He's a leg spinner not an off break bowler
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Fair play, I was more so just ranting about PCB.

I don't see what Asif even offers. To have a certain type of bowler just for the sake of it who really provides nothing is a waste of time and space.

It's always one step forward, two steps back with PCB.

Finally this year I saw us taking the right steps, and then I see YK pencilled in at #4 today and my head just shakes.
 
Bilal Asif's T20 hundred was quite impressive though! Have a look at the youtube video. Looked really good even though if was a domestic match and bowling standard maybe not so good.

It is good to experiment. However agree that this one has failed!
 
pakistanigoneaussie said:
Players like Zia and khalid Latif. Those are justified experiments becuase they have done it a fair few times domestically and have decent overall records

Anwar Ali has a better record then bilal who apart from one t20 Ton has done next to nothing

This is just horrible management
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Abdullah719 said:
Maybe open with the specialist opener (Babar) or even Hafeez? This is not the 90s, pinch hitters don't open in intl. cricket anymore. Specially not players who have probably never opened before in their lives. For God's sake, he's 30 years old, he isn't gonna become a competent opener overnight.
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Asif did score a quick-fire century in some domestic game, while opening, right? South Africa opened their second innings with Philander in a test match recently, so the pinch-hitter hasn't completely become redundant.

Besides, if he doesn't open, where else does he bat? We need four bowlers and there is no space for a batsman in the lower-order thanks to Hafeez batting at #3 and Younis coming into the side.
 
Bilal7 said:
Asif did score a quick-fire century in some domestic game, while opening, right? South Africa opened their second innings with Philander in a test match recently, so the pinch-hitter hasn't completely become redundant.

Besides, if he doesn't open, where else does he bat? We need four bowlers and there is no space for a batsman in the lower-order thanks to Hafeez batting at #3 and Younis coming into the side.
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Easy, make Babar open like he does domestically, sarfraz up to 6, bilal at 7
 
pakistanigoneaussie said:
A 30 year old who averages 17 in list a and 22 in first class is opening the batting for Pakistan. This is one of those situations where "I could have done better' is actually true.

I actually felt sorry for him, utterly out of dept

I held a bit of hope he could have an okay bowler and a late order tonker but that's seems wishful thinking
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the bolded numbers are shocking. are you sure?
 
Its baffling that someone as technically inept as Bilal Asif is opening for us. Waqar has truly lost his marbles. Babar Azam or even Ahmad Shehzad could have been better options. After just one look at him in the Zimbabwe series and I realized that he is not international material.
The team management and the selectors who are handsomely paid for their services should be answerable for such incompetence.
 
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Remember seeing his innings vs Zimbabwe and I recall how lucky he was that innings. Just a complete slogger that got lucky there too.

Also, boring off spinner. Really does not bring much. What basis was he selected?
 
Amir said:
Remember seeing his innings vs Zimbabwe and I recall how lucky he was that innings. Just a complete slogger that got lucky there too.

Also, boring off spinner. Really does not bring much. What basis was he selected?
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He took 6 wickets in an innings against England in a warm up game. Batting wise if he can slog a few he should probably be coming down the order not opening.
 
Bilal7 said:
Asif did score a quick-fire century in some domestic game, while opening, right? South Africa opened their second innings with Philander in a test match recently, so the pinch-hitter hasn't completely become redundant.

Besides, if he doesn't open, where else does he bat? We need four bowlers and there is no space for a batsman in the lower-order thanks to Hafeez batting at #3 and Younis coming into the side.
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Can't compare Philander being put in with this.

Philander was put in because the two openers can't play spin well at all.

In this case, Babar Azam is a specialist opener in domestic cricket for List A games. How is he down the order to have Asif open the batting?

Azam is more than capable in such conditions. Absolutely ridiculous decision and I had thought they would learn after the first time he opened. Shocking.
 
I sometimes wonder how these bizarre decisions are made
 
Amir said:
Remember seeing his innings vs Zimbabwe and I recall how lucky he was that innings. Just a complete slogger that got lucky there too.

Also, boring off spinner. Really does not bring much. What basis was he selected?
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our selectors and management probably think hes the 2nd coming of shahid afridi :facepalm:
 
kingusama92 said:
Can't compare Philander being put in with this.

Philander was put in because the two openers can't play spin well at all.

In this case, Babar Azam is a specialist opener in domestic cricket for List A games. How is he down the order to have Asif open the batting?

Azam is more than capable in such conditions. Absolutely ridiculous decision and I had thought they would learn after the first time he opened. Shocking.
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Maybe they are just easing Azam into international cricket. I'm sure he'll be opening soon, now that the Asif experiment has failed.
 
He can be a decent bowling A/R down the order, but definitely not as an opener.

He is good enough with the ball and him being an off-spinner is a bonus.

May have had a bad day with the ball.
 
Barragan said:
He can be a decent bowling A/R down the order, but definitely not as an opener.

He is good enough with the ball and him being an off-spinner is a bonus.

May have had a bad day with the ball.
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did you see his List A and FC record which [MENTION=57355]pakistanigoneaussie[/MENTION] mentioned?
 
srh said:
did you see his List A and FC record which [MENTION=57355]pakistanigoneaussie[/MENTION] mentioned?
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Already knew about those stats and that's why I wouldn't want him to open.

I'm not saying he should open.
 
srh said:
those numbers are too bad for a person to even select let alone bat
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He is a good bowler and I can tell you, Zafar has worse numbers than him with the bat.

You wouldn't select Zafar - based on his batting stats alone?

Zafar is a handy lower order batsman and the same goes for Bilal.
 
simulacra

Amjid Javed said:
our selectors and management probably think hes the 2nd coming of shahid afridi :facepalm:
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how ironic.

the belief that he's the second coming of afridi was the reason that afridi kept getting picked.

at the end of the day, we hope not for consistency, even skill - as it is conventionally conceived - but hope itself.

hence, pace is pace, and smash is smash.
 
Horrible watching him play but the man had a dream game just before this one in a similar situation and while opening.

Deserves ONE more chance as opener (though I don't have high hopes) just to be fair. After that I guess either Bilal bats at #7 or Yamin replaces him.
 
Don't see him opening next game, though. If Rizwan is unable to make it (which I think is likely, considering the next game is on Friday), Shehzad will slot in as an opener, meaning Bilal bats at #7.
 
Square Drive said:
Horrible watching him play but the man had a dream game just before this one in a similar situation and while opening.

Deserves ONE more chance as opener (though I don't have high hopes) just to be fair. After that I guess either Bilal bats at #7 or Yamin replaces him.
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He has never opened in his List-A career AT ALL prior to the Zim matches. In fact, he has only batted once above #6. The only people who think he is a batsman is our thick tank. At best, he is a bowling all-rounder who can slog a few/bat a bit. Don't blame him one bit. He shouldn't be dropped since bowling is his forte, but should not bat above 7, probably not even above 8 since Anwar is a better bat.
 
Abdullah719 said:
He has never opened in his List-A career AT ALL prior to the Zim matches. In fact, he has only batted once above #6. The only people who think he is a batsman is our thick tank. At best, he is a bowling all-rounder who can slog a few/bat a bit. Don't blame him one bit. He shouldn't be dropped since bowling is his forte, but should not bat above 7, probably not even above 8 since Anwar is a better bat.
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Trying him as a pinch-hitter for 1-2 games is OK.

Also, his 'forte' wasn't anything to write home about today. :shehzad
 
I don't understand why they are sending him to open.

It might work once in a while but most of the time this tactic will not work.
 
Square Drive said:
Trying him as a pinch-hitter for 1-2 games is OK.

Also, his 'forte' wasn't anything to write home about today. :shehzad
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Well, he is a bowler primarily so I don't mind if he's given a few more chances with that.

Asking him to do something he's never done before, on the basis of one T20 innings? Nah to that. :ibutt
 
i dont think this guy will have much of an international career just looks awful with bat and ball.
 
I guess Shehzad will come in next game for YK, so Bilal will probably bat in the lower order (as he should).
 
Watsupdoc said:
I guess Shehzad will come in next game for YK, so Bilal will probably bat in the lower order (as he should).
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I really hope not. Zafar Gohar should come in or Aamir Yamin even if they aren't proper batsman. Our batting depth is good enough that we can pull this off. You simply cannot have Azhar and Shehzad in the same team and score a lot of runs.
 
What a pathetic cricketer, absolute garbage.

get Zafar Gohar in there ASAP.

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk
 
Watsupdoc said:
I guess Shehzad will come in next game for YK, so Bilal will probably bat in the lower order (as he should).
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asman say gira khajoor mein atka.

Conspiracy to select Bilal Asif as opener so that Ahmed Shehzad looks better option?
 
One of the many reasons why Shehzad NEEDS to be playing - right now....
 
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