Correlation between poor fitness and abysmal batting form: Analysis of Pakistani batsmen

[xricket]

We all know what's wrong with our batsmen. They don't play sensibly when the situation demands.

But do you ever wonder how that happens?

If you were to watch matches, you would know how they don't run well between the wickets for single or double often and look for big shots?

Like: 0, 0, 0, 4, 0, 1

Unlike: 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 0

Which is more beneficent for team? Obviously the 2nd one. And that way risk is small as well.

And you are then able to score targets easily. Precisely the opposite of what Pakistani team usually does.

They are fat & have poor fitness. Just look at the likes of Umer Akmal (Perfect Example of this). Sarfraz. Haris Sohail.

When you are fat, it doesn't matter if you have passed the fitness tests. With science you would be able to understand that, fat people aren't usually associated with someone who is active.

So, what happens is that, you look for short cuts or to score more with less effort, meaning less running and more stand and deliver type shots. Which is what you see as batsmen seldom rotate strike and look for boundary each over with one or two singles, instead of singles all the way.

This then results in more poor shots as batsmen look for boundaries and results in our team loosing wickets. I think this is precisely why Younis & Yousaf were successful during the middle period, as they run mostly singles and doubles.

Now a days, our guys are just lazy af.

What are your thoughts on it?

 

[xricket]

So, Umer Akmal scored 43 off 44. I wonder if he had been better off scoring singles and doubled without taking un-necessary risk. Virat Kohli does this best.

I mean, they take risk for improving strike rate better than 100, not to make it 100. While our players, sit back and relax and tries to hit boundaries to make the strike rate 100, while missing on scoring singles and doubles as they play dots and hit balls to fielders.

Should work in the gaps and run more.

 

[xricket]

What did all that risk do? When you all they managed to do is score run a ball? I know some bowlers can be tough, but still, at that level, you should be able to work the ball for singles and doubles while chasing such mammoth total.

Scoring boundaries for improving strike rate better than 100, should be our guys' motto.

 

[Gharib Aadmi]

Completely agree. They get tired, and when that happens what should be 3 runs become 2 , two runs become 1, 1 run becomes a dot ball. Not to mention all the runs they cost the team with their poor fielding. I feel Pakistan starts the match down 40 - 50 runs due to their poor fitness.

 

[xricket]

Completely agree. They get tired, and when that happens what should be 3 runs become 2 , two runs become 1, 1 run becomes a dot ball. Not to mention all the runs they cost the team with their poor fielding. I feel Pakistan starts the match down 40 - 50 runs due to their poor fitness.

Exactly. Look how all the greats of modern cricket are fit and athletic. Virat Kohli being prime example. How many risks does Root take? And williamson? They all play for the end and take the game there, with singles and doubles with boundary when offered loose deliveries.

 

[ElRaja]

urmm, fakhar, malik, asif are skinny and fit but bat the same way. these guys have technical deficiencies, being tubby doesnt help but its not the root of the problem.

 

[xricket]

urmm, fakhar, malik, asif are skinny and fit but bat the same way. these guys have technical deficiencies, being tubby doesnt help but its not the root of the problem.

Yes, you could say. But Fakhar & malik takes more singles than normal and are able to consolidate more. Fakhar showed that in champions trophy final. He rotated the strike more. And then scored boundaries to make his strike rate above 100. While Malik is just old now. But when he was at his peak, he used to score more singles and doubles, still do, but can't capitalize on loose deliveries as he was able to back in the day.

Asif is not skinny. I wonder what Asif are you talking about. That guy literally reminds me off laziness and has misfielded so many times

 

[Kaka4pope]

Too true, too many looking big around the waist and don’t have the stroke play (inzi) to get away with it.

Also, unsure how full time our international cricketers are in comparison to modern standards, same for the training levels - remember Masood saying that using a batting machine in England felt like a novelty - ***.

 

[Hasan123]

It's a lack of ability, not a lack of fitness. These guys aren't taught how rotate strike.

 

[xricket]

It's a lack of ability, not a lack of fitness. These guys aren't taught how rotate strike.

And they are probably too stupid to pick this neat trick? No, thanks, I don't believe that. They just look for shortcuts as is the case with most pakistanis.

 

[Hasan123]

And they are probably too stupid to pick this neat trick? No, thanks, I don't believe that. They just look for shortcuts as is the case with most pakistanis.

Shan Masood had excellent fitness but for the most part of his international career he has struggled to rotate strike.

The coaching needs to change at grassroots levels and pitches need to be improved in domestic cricket.

 

[xricket]

Shan Masood had excellent fitness but for the most part of his international career he has struggled to rotate strike.

The coaching needs to change at grassroots levels and pitches need to be improved in domestic cricket.

Yeah, I noticed that too with Shan. Also, with Babar as the difference between him and the Root/Williamson & Kohli is probably rotation of strike instead of looking for big shots throughout the innings

 

[Savak]

Lack of a batting culture. To be honest Inzamam and Yousaf were the last great Pakistani batting legends who youngsters could look up to in all formats of the game

 

[Pak Warrior]

I wonder what kind of fitness regime Australia batsmen follow. We could just follow them, they are good in all conditions, and scenarios. I wonder if the fitness is part of it along with the training the youngsters get from early age, the importance is put on bowling usually and batting secondary in our culture

 

[GBK_Fan]

Agree with the OP. I watched a part of the Pakistani innings and all of Harris, Umar and Imad need to lose a few kgs. I am fitter than those guys and I am not even an athlete

 

[aloo paratha]

urmm, fakhar, malik, asif are skinny and fit but bat the same way. these guys have technical deficiencies, being tubby doesnt help but its not the root of the problem.

Fakhar and Malik do rotate the strike pretty well. Asif Ali doesn't last long enough at the crease to make a judgement on him.

 

[todfod 11]

Pakistan doesnt have a culture of people being fit. Most players are unfit while pkayi g do estic cricket and then suddenly they get a call up for national team. They get confused mentally as well.. Whereas they should be focussing on their batting and bowling in national team. They get concentrated on getting their fitness level up.
Pakistan is the only team in the world where players come to the national team unfit and then their fitness programme starts. Domestic cricket isnt being taken seriously by so called players and then they want the national team selector and coach to give importance to it.

If players come to national side with optimum fitness and then the coaches just have to work on their batting technique or bowling results will be different. But here 70 percent of the time voaches are busy getting the player fit for international level.
I cant understand if the coaches are hired for coaching or are they working as fitness trainers. Blame should go to domestic coaches as well. They come TV talk big about blah blah player not being picked up but no one talk about about the fitness of that player.

 

[gazza619]

Completey agree with you. This is where Abid Ali was amazing in the previous game. I was so disappointed at his failure today.

 

[Hasan123]

Yeah, I noticed that too with Shan. Also, with Babar as the difference between him and the Root/Williamson & Kohli is probably rotation of strike instead of looking for big shots throughout the innings

Kohli and Root can switch gears. Babar hasn't shown that enough.

 

[Bilal7]

Some of the greatest batsmen ever have had poor fitness and almost none of them were great atheletes. Fitness, in a sport like cricket, is given far more importance than it should.

 

[GBK_Fan]

Some of the greatest batsmen ever have had poor fitness and almost none of them were great atheletes. Fitness, in a sport like cricket, is given far more importance than it should.

Not in the last 2 decades. The world has changed, keep up

 

[Hasan123]

Some of the greatest batsmen ever have had poor fitness and almost none of them were great atheletes. Fitness, in a sport like cricket, is given far more importance than it should.

Name these batters .

 

[Savak]

Am not sure if a country where the cupboard is empty can afford to be selective and leave batsmen out on the basis of fitness alone. Mickey Arthur and the team management will ultimately be judged on the teams overall performance and the players overall performance in all formats of the game, no one will care about how fit or unfit the players are if the performances arent forth coming.

 

[Misia]

tape ball mentality, its like they are trying to or chasing a record for amount of bounderys hit during the innings or careers

 

[ads101]

The guys that have talent like Sharjeel, Umar, Jamshed etc. all lacking in fitness

The guys who are lacking talent like Fawad, Rizwan, Masood have supreme fitness.

It's so dumb lol.

Umar Akmal and Sarfraz probably are the worst cases. These guys used to be very good at taking singles before they lost their fitness, it's like a complete handicap on their game. At least certain plays like Sharjeel etc. have always been fat so never relied on singles.

 

[Savak]

The guys that have talent like Sharjeel, Umar, Jamshed etc. all lacking in fitness

The guys who are lacking talent like Fawad, Rizwan, Masood have supreme fitness.

It's so dumb lol.

Umar Akmal and Sarfraz probably are the worst cases. These guys used to be very good at taking singles before they lost their fitness, it's like a complete handicap on their game. At least certain plays like Sharjeel etc. have always been fat so never relied on singles.

Umar Akmal's fitness woes started after marriage, i suspect his wife is an amazing cook

 

[xricket]

Cricket has become so fast. You can't afford to play dots. When you do so, you need to compensate the dots with boundaries, which ultimately involves risk. It's Cricket 101, a very basic thing which should be understood by the teams, management & their fans.

In previous times, you could afford to being less fit and still be able to win games for your team, as the targets in those days were seldom above 300. Times have changed drastically. Unless our bowlers could deliver another Champions Trophy like performance, which is highly unlikely, expect minimum of 320-330 in world cup. This is the new norm on flat pitches. Hardly over run a ball, but since we are not used to chasing this much, we end up losing wickets on regular intervals. Precise reason we stutter on flat wickets by playing poor shots while chasing 300+

What happens is that, while chasing score more than 300, batsman is constantly required to not play dots. In other words to have strike rate close to 100. Now this is easy, as if you had to tell a batsman to score a single or double, all it would take is put a ball in the gap or just play it with soft hands to any fielder to pinch a single.

But, since our guys are lazy & lack fitness, they are looking for shortcuts. They will try to hit too hard, and in doing so ball would travel fast to the hands of the fielders, thus giving them no time to run single. Or they would flash too hard that their bat would miss the ball altogether, resulting in a dot.

We need to promote the idea of playing the ball with soft hands and encouraging batsmen to score at least 6 runs in an over by running for a normal match, while a boundary would be a bonus. Since there will be less dots, strike rate of batsmen would then be close to 90-100 without taking much risk and then if the opportunity presents itself, which will it surely do as no bowler is perfect, a loose ball would then be smashed to four or a six, making strike rate even better than 100, thus helping with chasing targets greater than 300 easily. Even 350 would be easy that way.

Kohli is the perfect example. You would find him scoring so easily without much risks and then he pounces upon weak deliveries or his favorite zone for boundaries as well, while India chases targets easily above 300 even against good bowling attack.

Our priories are all wrong. We are looking for an aggressive player like Asif Ali who could score six 6s out of 6 balls, but don't question the dots played earlier in the match, which could have been scored easily for singles or doubles, or made up later part of the match with doubles, which would not require us to play Asif Ali at all, and instead let us give chance to play a more accomplished player with better chance of winning us a game.

This can help us win the world cup, not kidding.

 

[Bilal7]

Not in the last 2 decades. The world has changed, keep up

The last two decades would be from 2000-onwards. How fit were the likes of Jayasuriya, Inzamam ul Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Sachin Tendulker, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Chris Gayle, Matthew Hayden, Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla and Herchell Gibbs? I'm sure I missed a few.

Only fast bowlers need to be at peak fitness and are the only cricketers that can be considered elite athletes. If you're a batsman or a spinners, fitness should not be a primary concern. Also, I would love to know what you logic is behind saying "the world has changed" in this context. Are today's batsmen running on longer pitches or are they playing timeless tests again with innings lasting weeks? If anything, the increased dependence on boundary hitting due to the advent of T20 cricket has made things easier for batsmen like Chris Gayle that can barely move their lower bodies.

 

[MMHS]

And they are probably too stupid to pick this neat trick? No, thanks, I don't believe that. They just look for shortcuts as is the case with most pakistanis.

You have absolutely no idea how batting works - it’s technique & skills, not fitness & attitude. Obviously, in any sports one has to be fit, even pro chess players spend considerable time in Gym & Yoga, but batting rotational skills are completely dependent on batting techniques - a player with better fitness should be able to convert 2 into 3 even after batting for 3 hours, no question about that. These current generation isn’t the fittest around compared to contemporary best players, but they are fitter than Javed, Zaheer or Asif Iqbal for sure, while Shan Masood is fitter than Tendulkar ever was.... as if Asif Ali’s fitness (or lack of it) is behind his batting style!!!!

How does a batsman scores single with 5 men posted to stop that and bowlers bowling at a negative line/length? That can only happen if you have 360 degree shot making ability on either feet, through either side and against any type of bowling. It needs batting skills of multiple shot making ability, quick judgement of length/line, photogenic memory of where the fielders are placed (& which fielder where), and a great judgement of shot selection. On top of that batsman has to have the batting intelligence for % shots - how much risk to take, against whom and when. These are core batting skills regardless of fitness - a fitter player like Kohli will execute it better, while someone like Inzamam would struggle after batting for couple of hours (hence on around 10 ODI hundreds), but that laziest guy in cricket was probably a better rotator than even Kohli!!!! It’s different era, so statistical comparisons are not fair, but in contemporary cricket, Inzi was a better rotator than any other batsman despite his fitness & mass.

As Dean Jones will explain (he was definitely better rotator than most in history) - taking singles is like net practice - you have 5 (now 4) holes in field; almost every ball you should be looking to guide the ball through one hole and bowlers, fielding captain won’t mske it easy for you. That can only be possible if you have the manuvering skills & touches. Most of the PAK players are extremely limited with very few shots (almost nothing on back foot), so often they end up with a release shot - this has absolutely nothing to do with fitness. And, this batting limitation isn’t for bad gin, rather how the players are groomed and where they are playing their game.

 

[GBK_Fan]

The last two decades would be from 2000-onwards. How fit were the likes of Jayasuriya, Inzamam ul Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Sachin Tendulker, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Chris Gayle, Matthew Hayden, Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla and Herchell Gibbs? I'm sure I missed a few.

Only fast bowlers need to be at peak fitness and are the only cricketers that can be considered elite athletes. If you're a batsman or a spinners, fitness should not be a primary concern. Also, I would love to know what you logic is behind saying "the world has changed" in this context. Are today's batsmen running on longer pitches or are they playing timeless tests again with innings lasting weeks? If anything, the increased dependence on boundary hitting due to the advent of T20 cricket has made things easier for batsmen like Chris Gayle that can barely move their lower bodies.

You really put Hayden in that list? You have seen him hopefully. The only guy who was consistently overweight in your list was Inzi and he too had to contend with constant efforts to lose weight. Everyone else in that list was and probably still are fitter than your current crop of Umar Akmals. You cannot compete in this day and age when other teams have a Finch or a Kohli as their main guy and the best guy you have will tire after 1 hour at the crease

 

[mesmerizer85]

This is why Fawad Alam like players are good as run accumulators and keep ticking the score and building momentum. Unfortunately, our fans desire players who can just slog or hack and get out in the process.

 

[Bilal7]

You really put Hayden in that list? You have seen him hopefully. The only guy who was consistently overweight in your list was Inzi and he too had to contend with constant efforts to lose weight. Everyone else in that list was and probably still are fitter than your current crop of Umar Akmals. You cannot compete in this day and age when other teams have a Finch or a Kohli as their main guy and the best guy you have will tire after 1 hour at the crease

Umar Akmal is the best guy we have? Also, you need to understand that a lack of fitness is not simply about being overweight.

Finch and Kohli's success is based on their batting technique and talent. Fitness plays a minimal part in their success.

 

[xricket]

Umar Akmal is the best guy we have? Also, you need to understand that a lack of fitness is not simply about being overweight.

Finch and Kohli's success is based on their batting technique and talent. Fitness plays a minimal part in their success.

Well, Fitness obviously plays a huge role in modern day cricket. Unless you are rohit sharma or a finch, who are clean hitters and make maximum of scoring opportunities, rotating the strike is the best way to go and it demands a good bit of fitness to be carried out through out the innings

 

[GBK_Fan]

Umar Akmal is the best guy we have? Also, you need to understand that a lack of fitness is not simply about being overweight.

Finch and Kohli's success is based on their batting technique and talent. Fitness plays a minimal part in their success.

Umar Akmal, Abid, Imam, Harris, Sarfraz... not your best bats but half your line up