Debunking every misconception about our 2023 World Cup squad.

[mominsaigol]

No one has made a post addressing the genuine issues so I am going to compile the most common arguments that people have made towards our team and address them here, once and for all.

Argument 1: Opening Dilema: Imam is parchi and Fakhar is needed as an impact player.

Answer: Incorrect, Imam has an average of 55 and a strike rate of 86 since 2021. He is needed, Problem with Imam is that he is a liability in chasing massive totals or a liability after the 40th over due to lack of massive shots, meaning he requires babar or Fakhar to hold his hand.

In the past he complimented fakhar well as fakhar was the striker and didn't have to fear Imam getting out the other end. Similar duo's in the past have existed for Pakistan and other teams, one strikes and the other anchors. But that is no longer the case unfortunately.

Fakhar atm is technically inept, has lost his form and impact, its time to move on.

Argument 2: Babar is selfish, Only stat pads.

Answer: Babar isn't selfish, he's a solid no 3, problem is Pakistan batting is entirely dependant on Babar and Imam performing, if they don't perform, Game over. Babar however along with Imam are anchorers, they ain't kholi Level dynamic players. They are good to have in the team, but Pakistan needs players to help them while they anchor. Yes they are needed, but Babar ain't no Kholi, he ain't gonna single handedly win you games, just contribute towards that goal, Problem is, we don't have contributors and we falsely believe Babar is our saviour, when in reality he and Imam are just anchorers and need genuine strikers to bat freely around them, but we don't have that.

Argument 3: the middle order dilemma: Chacha is needed as our finisher, Shadab is important to the team and Agha is an amazing player of spin.

Answer: Wrong, Pakistan has plenty of options to groom genuine middle order batsmen and genuine all rounders but we persist with bits and pieces players in our squad. Agha is not good against spin lol, he's a bits and pieces player, can bat a bit, can bowl a bit, Same with chacha and same with shadab. A bunch of minnow bashing or 2nd string bashing has deluded you all into thinking their needed in our team and are more important then grooming genuine players.

Argument 4: Saud isn't the answer due to his SR, Abdullah is poor in List A, Tayyab was a tailender against afghanistan, Saim and haris are raw, Imad is a bad bowler and has terrible stats.

Answer: first of people are forgetting that we would have badly lost the SL test series if it weren't for Abdullah and saud. Abdullah unlike fakhar has no technical weakness and found his form back, fakhar lost it, so don't get why he's a water boy. As for saud, Tayyab, Saim, Haris people are forgetting no player starts off great, babar on debut looked horrible and unsteady. Same with Sachin on debut.

That's why you play them in their natural positions and groom them over time. Unlike fakhar or these bits and pieces players like Agha, Saim, Abdullah and saud do not have any technical errors. More play time with no fear of being dropped means they'll iron out all their issues and become important players for the future since their genuine middle order batsmen and Abdullah is a genuine Opener.

Argument 5: our bowling trio is overrated.

Answer: They are not, they just weren't fit today and had a bad day. Problem isn't this trio, they won't perform in every match, problem is that unlike India or England, we don't have back up options. Our whole team is dependant on our bowling trio or Imam and Babar saving us.

If let's say kholi or rohit or Gill all 3 fail for India, Sheryas, Pandya, Rahul, Kishan can recover India, Same with England if Roy, bairstow and Milan fail, Butler, stokes, moeen Ali can chip in and rescue. Or if bumrah and siraj fail, Kukdeep yadav and jadeja can pull it back.

We don't have that luxury, bowling trio fails then gane over, same with our batting, Imam and Babar fail then game over. This is what happens when you pick bits and pieces as your other options and keep genuine players as water boys.

Argument 6: We are ranked no 1 for a reason

Answer: Rankings are as relevant as Umar akmal and Ahmed shezad at this point, aka irrelevant.

Argument 7: We need sharjeel, Azam Khan, asif ali etc etc back

Answer: no we don't, their bits and pieces as well, again our fans ignore all the tines they failed and will highlight one or 2 instances but will critisie consistent players like Babar to death.

Argument 8: Rizwan

^^ Ive chamged my mind about him, their is just way way way way too much for me to talk about this guy. Hes not the answer, just like fakhar hes got technical errors. Unlike abdullah and saud who can be improved, playets with technical problems cant be improved.

Conclusion: Pakistan have so so so many options. Like why is abrar a genuine spinner not being considered. Why is imad waseem a genuine allrounder sitting out but bits and pieces shadab is in? Why is saud, Tayyab, Abdullah and haris sitting as water boys when their genuine opening and middle order players but agha, chacha and fakhar get free passes?

Solution: Do what England did, rotate players and play them at their positions, be flexible, stop going with the same winning 11 qnd same bowler rotation nonsense and formula planning, let players play without fail of failure, start sending 2nd string sides in bilateral so that you can see who can be groomed into the international team for upcoming world cups, Focus on players who have good technique because these players have learning curves, not bits and pieces and technically flawed players.

^^ Follow the ecb formula and you're golden.

 

[hassan918]

I agree with your point on Agha. For me, Saud should be playing instead of him is the ODI XI for Pakistan and I think we will see this in the match against Sri Lanka on Thursday.

 

[shamaan]

Rizwan needs to bat at 5 we need proper batter at 4.

 

[shamaan]

You can't make multiple changes before a world cup.

 

[hitthestump]

Conclusion: Pakistan have so so so many options. Like why is abrar a genuine spinner not being considered. Why is imad waseem a genuine allrounder sitting out but bits and pieces shadab is in? Why is saud, Tayyab, Abdullah and haris sitting as water boys when their genuine opening and middle order players but agha, chacha and fakhar get free passes?

I mean there are perfectly rational answers to all these questions. None of the names you've mentioned were really in contention and for good reason.

I think you may be overreacting based on one loss.

 

[Ummer Khan]

You can't make multiple changes before a world cup.

Why not? Please elaborate on this.

 

[Ummer Khan]

For the next game it is imperative to drop Fakhar, Salman Agha, Faheem Ashraf and bring in Abdullah, Saud and Wasim Jnr/Usama Mir (depending on the pitch)

 

[Cricket Warrior]

For the next game it is imperative to drop Fakhar, Salman Agha, Faheem Ashraf and bring in Abdullah, Saud and Wasim Jnr/Usama Mir (depending on the pitch)

i think they will not drop fakhar at this time as they are heading towards the worldcup but i agree with you fakhar zaman should have droped now and go with Abdullah Shafiq.

 

[Ummer Khan]

Fakhar zaman may be useful on placid pitches where the ball comes onto the bat. He is going to struggle on SL pitches where there is lateral movement and the bounce is also not true.

On the contrary, Abdullah Shafique's technique gives him a chance to survive the seam/swing and he is also one of the few pak batters who uses his feet against spinners to good effect.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Fakhar zaman may be useful on placid pitches where the ball comes onto the bat. He is going to struggle on SL pitches where there is lateral movement and the bounce is also not true.

On the contrary, Abdullah Shafique's technique gives him a chance to survive the seam/swing and he is also one of the few pak batters who uses his feet against spinners to good effect.

His technique doesnt allow him to play outswingers, Whenever the ball pitches on the fourth stump and moves away a bit, he tends to get caught at slip.

 

[mominsaigol]

I mean there are perfectly rational answers to all these questions. None of the names you've mentioned were really in contention and for good reason.

I think you may be overreacting based on one loss.

State the rational answers.

 

[hitthestump]

State the rational answers.

Sure. I mean it's easy to explain why each player you mentioned wasn't in contention for this series and why the likes of Chacha, Agha and Fakhar were ahead of them. This tournament was on the eve of the WC and we were out of time to experiment. We needed momentum, not to chop and change what was a settled line up. Each player you mention comes with a significant downside which i will briefly explain below.

Imad Wasim - Averages 45 with the ball and hasn't played an ODI in nearly 3 years. Rightfully dropped for Nawaz and appears to have evolved into a t20 specialist ever since. Question marks over whether he even has the fitness to play 50 over cricket, let alone have any passion for it.

Saud Shakeel - No power game. Has hit a total of 12 sixes across his entire List A career (69 innings). No international white ball experience to speak of. Naturally not high in the pecking order as Pakistan have no shortage of batsmen like this.

Tayyab Tahir - Unproven. Looked ok in the Afghanistan series but nothing special to suggest he should leapfrog those ahead of him.

Abdullah Shafique - Underwhelming white ball returns, he has played seven list A games in his entire career and never crossed 27 runs. Another accumulator of which Pakistan have plenty.

Haris Sohail - No fitness.


I doubt this will do anything to change your mind as you are on an emotional rampage. You might have had a point if we had 2 years til the WC but we don't. All players who are out of the side end up seeming like our saviours, when the reality is that they are just as flawed, one dimensional or frustrating as what we have now.

 

[mominsaigol]

Sure. I mean it's easy to explain why each player you mentioned wasn't in contention for this series and why the likes of Chacha, Agha and Fakhar were ahead of them. This tournament was on the eve of the WC and we were out of time to experiment. We needed momentum, not to chop and change what was a settled line up. Each player you mention comes with a significant downside which i will briefly explain below.

Imad Wasim - Averages 45 with the ball and hasn't played an ODI in nearly 3 years. Rightfully dropped for Nawaz and appears to have evolved into a t20 specialist ever since. Question marks over whether he even has the fitness to play 50 over cricket, let alone have any passion for it.

Saud Shakeel - No power game. Has hit a total of 12 sixes across his entire List A career (69 innings). No international white ball experience to speak of. Naturally not high in the pecking order as Pakistan have no shortage of batsmen like this.

Tayyab Tahir - Unproven. Looked ok in the Afghanistan series but nothing special to suggest he should leapfrog those ahead of him.

Abdullah Shafique - Underwhelming white ball returns, he has played seven list A games in his entire career and never crossed 27 runs. Another accumulator of which Pakistan have plenty.

Haris Sohail - No fitness.


I doubt this will do anything to change your mind as you are on an emotional rampage. You might have had a point if we had 2 years til the WC but we don't. All players who are out of the side end up seeming like our saviours, when the reality is that they are just as flawed, one dimensional or frustrating as what we have now.

Brother I am not on an emotional rampage . But let me break everything down.

1) Chacha : Chacha is a bits and pieces player who can only smash 2nd string sides so much so that sometimes they send usama mir ahead of him. He's compeltly collapsing against 1st string attacks. He got exposed in LPL because the man can't play wrist spin for the life of him, and proper death bowlers will easily get rid of him. Him smacking a 2nd string MZ who's death bowlers were visibly bowling half trackers means very little at this stage.

2) Agha: I'm still skeptical on agha because his performance in SL test series was goated and proper. But he's clearly out of touch atm, however I will hold off my skepticism on him for now.

3) Fakhar: Analyse fakhar properly. And carefully watch All his high scoring 100 games. Even in those games he would dead bat everything that angled into him and struggle against anything away from him. He basically is excellent at anything legside or pitched within his pull shot hitting zone, but sides have now figured him out. Nepal clearly did their homework on fakhar.

It took time for international sides figuring Jim out but now everyone knows to just bowl to him at a good length pitch and angle it away and you're golden. His stance doesn't allow him to play the ball if it's pitched their.

As for the rest

1) Imad is a proper genuine allrounder. He can bat extremely well and while bowling he bowls wicket to wicket darts. Yes these darts are more effective in t20, but he's more consistent. Shadab was bowling full tosses last game. Shadab is 100x worse then imad and shadab doesn't even have a good economy against 2nd string attacks, imad tore up the NZ 2nd string line up when he played t20. Also imad has fitness and is gearing to play odi lol, he himself ponders why management has an issue with him.

Nawaz is a better player then shadab, and a better bowler. He is decent yes, but nawaz isn't an allrounder that he's pretending to be, his batting is atrocious. And his spin is okay. Also management clearly doesn't have a clue like you're claiming they are. If they did faheem ashraf, Dhani, shan masood wouldn't be selected at all. Its nepotsitic culture at its finest.

2) I have stated this over and over, and ig you ignored what I said. First off, you're claiming saud shouldn't be selected based of having no power game and yet we have selected imam? Lol.

Saud isn't technically limited. Unlike imam who doesn't even have a lofted stroke in his arsenal, saud does and played various lofted strokes. He's raw and hence needs to be groomed and his sr will be fine over time. The whole lack of white ball experience doesn't matter when he's genuinely superior to imam and rizwan even while still being raw. Imam is never scoring a 200 in test in his life. And imam power gane is significantly worse.

3) Tayyab: I am skeptical on tayyab myself, but he's a genuine middle order batsmen, not bits and pieces lol.

4) Abdullah isn't an accumulator, has anyone not read what I said in previous posts? Abdullah isn't technically limited and he plays faster and is not an accumulator. He has 4th and 5th gear. His lack of performance in pdi and t20 was due to lack of confidence, something he regained recently in test and in franchise LPL, which fakhar completly lost in LPL and that's now reflecting in his Asia cup performance.

5) Haris: I was talking about Muhammad haris, not haris sohail. I already said, Haris sohail would have become our best no 5 in these recent years but his knee injury and lack of fitness means his career is over sadly. I feel bad for him, because he's genuinely superior to any of our current middle order frauds including rizwan.