Changes to the Pakistan squad for the New Zealand Test series

[Amjid Javed]

A rest for Rizwan (if true) is probably a good decision.

He is an all format player and by the end of the Test series against England he was looking a bit lost.

His final shot in the first innings to a full toss was a disaster, and in the second innings he was effectively dismissed in consecutive balls to a debutant — Zak Crawley dropped a catch, and then immediately afterwards Rizwan edged a legspinner behind to the keeper off Rehan.

Needs to be dropped for more than just 1 games, hes not going to iron out his issues with bat or gloves by missing one test if this is whats being reported. Azhar mentioned in his interview that he was "rested" for 2nd test, its pathetic if this is message team management is putting out. You dont perform you get dropped and go away and improve on your weaknesses. rizwan has become complacent and has been poor in tests and ODIs this year.

 

[indianpanacea]

I think Babar,Rizwan and company need to be given test as they are playing nonstop cricket from last 3 months.
Let us try to build a new team and anyway they can't do more worse than England series
Abdullah Shafiq
Shaan Masood
Usman salahuddin
Saud shakeel
Tayyab tahir
Kamran ghulam
Sarfaraz(C)
Abrar
Zafar gouhar
Husnain
Hassan ali

 

[BreadPakoda]

I think Babar,Rizwan and company need to be given test as they are playing nonstop cricket from last 3 months.
Let us try to build a new team and anyway they can't do more worse than England series
Abdullah Shafiq
Shaan Masood
Usman salahuddin
Saud shakeel
Tayyab tahir
Kamran ghulam
Sarfaraz(C)
Abrar
Zafar gouhar
Husnain
Hassan ali

New team with Sarfaraz as captain?

 

[jupiter2007]

Sarfaraz might not be the best option but in current scenario he might be the only option. Someone who has experience and should be there to take the pressure.

 

[TeymurBlake]

A rest for Rizwan (if true) is probably a good decision.

He is an all format player and by the end of the Test series against England he was looking a bit lost.

His final shot in the first innings to a full toss was a disaster, and in the second innings he was effectively dismissed in consecutive balls to a debutant — Zak Crawley dropped a catch, and then immediately afterwards Rizwan edged a legspinner behind to the keeper off Rehan.

I 100% agree. Sure there are areas that he needs to work on, but the fact of the matter is, he is Pakistan all format WK.

He's played quite a lot of cricket in the last couple of months and his form is up & down.

Him being rested isn't a bad idea. But if the alternative is Sarfaraz, then Pakistan have another walking wicket in the team.

Might as well try someone young or a domestic experience WK which Pakistan don't have many of, kind of like John Simpson for England last year.

 

[TheSultan]

There’s a lot of dilly dallying around. There’s been a dumb push to make Rizwan a frontline batsman. There’s a push for multiple random allrounders too.


Pick 6 batsmen, a keeper and 4 bowlers if you believe batting is your strength. If bowling is, 5 batsmen, keeper and 5 bowlers.

It would be great to have an allrounder, but we don’t have any good enough so stop trying. The 5th bowler could be someone who can bat a bit maybe. That’s it.

 

[Farabi]

I think Babar,Rizwan and company need to be given test as they are playing nonstop cricket from last 3 months.
Let us try to build a new team and anyway they can't do more worse than England series
Abdullah Shafiq
Shaan Masood
Usman salahuddin
Saud shakeel
Tayyab tahir
Kamran ghulam
Sarfaraz(C)
Abrar
Zafar gouhar
Husnain
Hassan ali

Sure, why don’t we just start again with under 16 players in test cricket. They will have such a long career…lol

 

[Hawkeye]

Pakistani wickets have historically demanded a minimum of 3 fast bowlers, one pace bowling all rounder and a full time spinner for a complete attack with the fast bowlers capable of bowling well with the new ball and coming back strong with reverse swing with the old ball.

Imran Khan usually picked Qadir as the only full time leg spinner in the team and then others would roll their arm over if needed. In the 90's Mushtaq Ahmed was the only full time leg spinner selected and Aamir Sohail would turn his arm over if needed.

Spin has never been the way to go on Pakistani wickets unlike India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It has usually always been pace. Pakistan needs to go back to this formula

Pakistan has been woeful in Tests at home since ages.
Specially since the 90s.

And we had our greatest players at that time playing for Pak, including the best fast bowlers.

Only during 2012-2021 we had good success rate at home grounds.

Right now it's obvious that we need good fast bowlers, but it's not the only thing we need. More than fast bowlers, we need good spinners.

Only one really good fast bowler paired with a support pacer can do the job in local conditions.

Pitches have to be made spin friendly like they are in the domestic circuit. We're not really a pacer-friendly country like SA/Eng/Aus.

 

[Hawkeye]

First change:

-Kick Rizwan out, just for a change so he understands his position is on the line. Bring in Sarfraz.
-Imam has to go.
-Shan Masood has to go.


Bring in batters with a solid technique and assertive approach.

AVOID timid personalities.
AVOID timid scorers.

You'll just get a bunch of Asad Shafiqs and Shan Masoods then!

I'm not following the domestic circle so don't know who's scoring well with a solid technique.

The likes of:

Haris Sohail
Umar Amin

They used to be good, are they still good?

Bowling stocks - they're all empty.

Mir Hamza
Sameen


They're both pathetic.

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

Hurreira
Abdullah
Usman
Saud
Babar
Rizwan
Gohar
Hasan
Abrar
Abbas
Yasir
I’ve seen Yasir bowl recently, and he has been getting a good turn from the wickets in domestic cricket. Hasan and Abbas gives you the option to introduce pace in short bursts. Abrar and Gohar gives you the wicket taking options and they’ll be the constant threat for the opposition if utilised properly. Hurreira and Usman makes it into the squad based on Qed performances.

I am also tempted to add Asad Shafiq in the mix as well just in case there is any injury or if the management feels more confident in Asad taking up the mantle from Azhar Ali for the role of a senior batter. He’d certainly be in my 15 for his Qed form but definitely not in the 11. Umar Amin can be another alternative but I feel he has been a proven ttf whereas Asad has had a few decent knocks in his career to merit a comeback.

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

Also add Mir Hamza and Nauman Ali/Sajid Khan as backup bowlers in the squad for any potential injury.

 

[shamaan]

Also add Mir Hamza and Nauman Ali/Sajid Khan as backup bowlers in the squad for any potential injury.

Mubasir should be picked based upon qaid e azam.

 

[wrongun]

Batting
Hurreira
Imam
Abdulla
Babar
Saud
Rizwan
Mubasir- if you are looking for an allrounder, try the one doing best in domestic cricket. Also young so worth investing in early without having to play as the main spinner.

Bowling

Gohar- bats at #8. You could go back to Yasir, but might not want two leggies in the team. Gives you a right arm orthodox allrounder, a lefty orthodox spinner and legbreak/googly attacking spinner.

Abrar- picks himself. NZ will do their homework on him now though.


Quick #1: Lack of experience left the quicks looking a bit defenceless vs Bazball. So I'd pick one of Hasan or Abbas, given the current injury crisis. Abbas seems in slightly better form but either one.

Quick #2: someone who can reverse it. Hasan Ali can if he'sin form and he had a decent county season. Is Hasnain fit? Can Dahani reverse a ball?

 

[Chip32]

Lol at Rizwan playing every meaningless T20 series against B/C string sides but now he’s resting for an important home test series and his replacement is Sarfraz. This management is something else.

 

[MenInG]

So with news that a temporary selection committee may be in place soon, wonder if the NZ Test squad will be chosen by them or by M Wasim?

 

[Amjid Javed]

So with news that a temporary selection committee may be in place soon, wonder if the NZ Test squad will be chosen by them or by M Wasim?

If its a temp committee then that's a pretty good indication PCB ain't happy with Mo wasim and his PowerPoint selections. Good riddance mo wasim.

 

[Rana]

If its a temp committee then that's a pretty good indication PCB ain't happy with Mo wasim and his PowerPoint selections. Good riddance mo wasim.

There is a lot of effort that goes into making a PowerPoint presentation

 

[Amjid Javed]

There is a lot of effort that goes into making a PowerPoint presentation

Stats without Analysis - if the presentation was graded it would get a 0% marking

 

[sweep_shot]

Pakistani batting has gone significantly weaker.

Now that Azhar is gone, one space is open. Also, Agha Salman should be dropped probably.

 

[Monsee]

Pakistani selectors always do this i.e. when a player is in form, they won't select him, and when he loses his form, they bring the player in and use that form he had (earlier), as the reason for his selection!

Hurraira could easily have come in for Agha Salman (even in the last series), whose bowling is being used as an excuse to keep him in the team...and yes, Hurraira is an opener, he could still open and we push all others down one position.

Agha Salman has barely bowled any significant number of overs in the 5 matches he has played so far and have only 2 wickets to show for in all!

Here are his numbers, which barely look average, let alone earth shattering (by any stretch); he did score 3 fifties in 5 games but on these flat roads, is that all we expect from our batters?


Batting:

Mat Inns NO Runs HS Avg BF SR 100s 50s 0s 4s 6s
overview
5 10 1 267 62 29.66 502 53.18 0 3 0 29 2


Bowling:

Mat Inns Overs Mdns Runs Wkts BBI BBM Avg Econ SR 5w 10w
overview
5 7 46.0 3 214 2 1/41 1/66 107.00 4.65 138.0 0 0

 

[shamaan]

Pakistani batting has gone significantly weaker.

Now that Azhar is gone, one space is open. Also, Agha Salman should be dropped probably.

Saud should bat at 3 and Kamran at 5.

 

[shamaan]

Pakistani selectors always do this i.e. when a player is in form, they won't select him, and when he loses his form, they bring the player in and use that form he had (earlier), as the reason for his selection!

Hurraira could easily have come in for Agha Salman (even in the last series), whose bowling is being used as an excuse to keep him in the team...and yes, Hurraira is an opener, he could still open and we push all others down one position.

Agha Salman has barely bowled any significant number of overs in the 5 matches he has played so far and have only 2 wickets to show for in all!

Here are his numbers, which barely look average, let alone earth shattering (by any stretch); he did score 3 fifties in 5 games but on these flat roads, is that all we expect from our batters?


Batting:

Mat Inns NO Runs HS Avg BF SR 100s 50s 0s 4s 6s
overview
5 10 1 267 62 29.66 502 53.18 0 3 0 29 2


Bowling:

Mat Inns Overs Mdns Runs Wkts BBI BBM Avg Econ SR 5w 10w
overview
5 7 46.0 3 214 2 1/41 1/66 107.00 4.65 138.0 0 0

Agha should have been replaced by Mubasir.