Did a lack of Test matches recently lead to Pakistan's poor performances in Australia?

[Mean&Green]

Though I know our team is extremely mediocre and sending such a young team to Australia with 3-4 debutants in the squad was the dumbest decision one could possibly ever make. But here’s another thing we were literally playing a test match after 11 months that is a very very long gap. Any team or player will find it extremely difficult to adapt to the format when you’ve barely played in such a long time. Where else a team like India has already played like over 10 test matches in a span of like 6 months. Our main test players don’t even play odi cricket yasir, Azhar, Abbas, shafiq. I don’t even think they were mentally prepared for a tour of this sort after so long. Agreed our team lacks extreme skill but you cannot be doing this bad it has to be a lack of mental preparedness. Discuss

 

[sharmaji]

Good observation. Very valid point. Its not easy to just walk into a match after almost a year. And in Australia, as tough as it gets.

 

[Relic]

This is what I try to tell people and then they just said "Yeah but we've been playing 7-8 matches a year since the '80s"
Maybe that's the reason why we've never dominated world cricket.

 

[geraltofrivia]

No. They are just not good enough. They did the 16-17 tour with loads of "match practice" but still lost.

 

[Mean&Green]

No. They are just not good enough. They did the 16-17 tour with loads of "match practice" but still lost.

Of course I’m not saying we wouldn’t have lost even if we had akram waqar Imran we would have still lost but definitely not in this manner. But for a player like Abbas not playing for a whole year he totally lost his rhythm he only landed two balls in his total 20 overs on the stumps. For a bowler who is known for bowling wicket to wicket every ball that is clearly a lack of game practice. Every player knows their is nothing better than match practice and clearly he didn’t have any.

 

[dhump]

Lols yes mate it is the lack of test cricket otherwise we would have set the world on fire. I think we Pakistanis have some kind of couping mechanism after many years of humiliation from everywhere not only cricket that makes us create the logic in this ultimate situation of shame when we know there is nothing but incompetence to blame. We love to find some kind of reason and then accept it ourselves if not this we could have blamed it on RAW or Israel etc.

 

[Abid Z]

Some of them like azhar and Abbas have been playing four day cricket in England for 3 months. Yes it’s not ideal preparation to hardly play any matches all year and then be thrown into the couldron that is Australia but still after playing for so many years you expect them to understand the basics.

 

[AAli98]

Aus are so lucky Imam & co came in cold otherwise:

Shan sobers would have hit a ton before lunch
Naseem Lillie would have got 5/12
Rizwan gilchrist would have 15 catches by now!!

 

[pakistanisgreat]

we are not good enough. That's what happened when we do not do justice and select things on merit. we selected young kids they did not even play 10 first class games. However, there are players like fawad alam, mir hamza, ashgar, etc who has been performing we did not select them. On top of that we gave all the posts to only one person on what basis?

 

[Shoaibbtt]

Though I know our team is extremely mediocre and sending such a young team to Australia with 3-4 debutants in the squad was the dumbest decision one could possibly ever make. But here’s another thing we were literally playing a test match after 11 months that is a very very long gap. Any team or player will find it extremely difficult to adapt to the format when you’ve barely played in such a long time. Where else a team like India has already played like over 10 test matches in a span of like 6 months. Our main test players don’t even play odi cricket yasir, Azhar, Abbas, shafiq. I don’t even think they were mentally prepared for a tour of this sort after so long. Agreed our team lacks extreme skill but you cannot be doing this bad it has to be a lack of mental preparedness. Discuss

well to be fair it was the world cup this year and to be honest it's not as if you haven't got enough resources to keep you active.

 

[Khan12]

Aus are so lucky Imam & co came in cold otherwise:

Shan sobers would have hit a ton before lunch
Naseem Lillie would have got 5/12
Rizwan gilchrist would have 15 catches by now!!

And you would have been man of the series.

 

[Bullet Drive]

No.

We are just rubbish

 

[Hawkeye]

Partly yes.

Mostly it's the lack of good bowlers and terrible openers.

When your openers are Shan Masoods and Imam, you're guaranteed a 30/2.

Everyone on PP was going crazy for Abbas. Told them he's also rubbish. Turned out to be the worst one, at 120kph.

Need people with zip and the ability to make flat pitches lively.

 

[Hasan123]

We are just not good enough.

 

[Hawkeye]

No.

We are just rubbish

Sup BD, long time no see. Are you still backing Shehzad?

 

[sweep_shot]

Lack of Test matches was a factor but this shouldn't be the excuse.

I think team selection was really bad. Blunders after blunders.

 

[Hawkeye]

Lack of Test matches was a factor but this shouldn't be the excuse.

I think team selection was really bad. Blunders after blunders.

Pool of available players is also old, tried failures or too inexperienced.

No selection will make Pak win in Aus. I'm surprised people thought we'll have a good time in Aus that too with a young team.

 

[Savak]

Not really. It's simply the fact we get exposed by a much superior team. This team has now been in Australia for a month and that is decent time to acclimatize

 

[sweep_shot]

Pool of available players is also old, tried failures or too inexperienced.

No selection will make Pak win in Aus. I'm surprised people thought we'll have a good time in Aus that too with a young team.

I refuse to believe that a cricket crazy country like Pakistan doesn't have good players. It really all comes down to selection.

First of all, not sure why Yasir Shah keeps on playing. He gives away too many runs too quickly and it eases off the pressure. I think it is time Pakistan drop Yasir for good and give other spinners chances.

Imran had no business being in Australia. Musa is too inexperienced. These two shouldn't have been in Australia.

Thirdly, Pakistan need to get solid middle-order batsmen. This is where they are screwing up. Apart from Babar (and occasionally Asad), nobody contributes.

 

[Pete Rose]

Yes. It did, but it’s not the only reason

 

[Last Monetarist]

The issue isn't that the team is good enough or not, they patently aren't, but the lack of application and fight shown in these two matches from the players apart from Babar, Shaheen, and possibly Rizwan in patches. They have given up because they have started to believe they aren't good enough, and when that happens it's the end of the road for those players.

Without adequate preparation, training, and match practice, only a fool believes that a foreign team can compete in Australia. The players and management are scratching around as predicted because a lot in the PCB believe that a team can turn up to a test match in Australia and start taking wickets and scoring runs. This series is no different to anything that has gone on in the last 20 years worth of Pakistani tours to Australia.

 

[Zaz]

Yes of course You cant just rock up playing test cricket after 12months and expect players to be at their best

Its certainly hinders the test team that they just dont play enough and form and rhythm is affected

The other issue with the team is the selections There is awful haphazard team selection game to game from the misbah I dont think frankly he has a clue

Certain players like shafiq azhar and yasir have huge rope and will not get dropped no matter how poorly they perform Others like harris and the bowlers play game to game with constant threat of being dropped

Players are picked on basis of t20 performances and how they perform in other formats

How many proven fc players are in this current team?

The selection are all over the place and there is no set policy or merit based selections anymore Hence this is the result

 

[arunpsm]

Babar Azam, whadda playa! Poor thing stuck with a team hell bent on self destruction...

 

[JaDed]

Babar Azam, whadda playa! Poor thing stuck with a team hell bent on self destruction...

He will Shine in Pak than he would in other teams.

 

[Aman]

More matches can't make up the gulf in quality.

Sure, Pakistan haven't given a good account of themselves, but the biggest issue still remains the gap in quality.

Aus in these conditions are just godly, and Pakistan just don't have the talent to compete in these conditions. Their bowlers in a few years could be world class, but atm they're still new and learning how to play at this level.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Nope, Misbah's incompetence.

 

[Relic]

More matches can't make up the gulf in quality.

Look at Ishant Sharma from 2011 and compare him to the 2019 one.

Of course it does make a big difference. It doesn't mean you'll become a quality player, shafiq being a prime example but it does increase your chances.

Our bowling lineup have played only 18 matches in total. That's less than how many matches Babar has played and Babar's only been playing test cricket for 3 years.

 

[Aman]

Look at Ishant Sharma from 2011 and compare him to the 2019 one.

Of course it does make a big difference. It doesn't mean you'll become a quality player, shafiq being a prime example but it does increase your chances.

Our bowling lineup have played only 18 matches in total. That's less than how many matches Babar has played and Babar's only been playing test cricket for 3 years.

The bowlers can definitely improve as they're really young, the batsmen outside Babar have no hope.

I really can't remember the last time I saw a thrashing this bad. It's like Aus are playing an affiliate team, when did Pakistan get this bad?

 

[Aman]

Ideally this series should end 3-5 careers of the batsmen, never should play for Pakistan again.

 

[Relic]

The bowlers can definitely improve as they're really young, the batsmen outside Babar have no hope.

I really can't remember the last time I saw a thrashing this bad. It's like Aus are playing an affiliate team, when did Pakistan get this bad?

A thrashing this bad happened just a few weeks ago. Ind vs SA.
Pakistan scored 570 odd for 3 against the windies in 2017 when Azhar scored his 300
It's actually not that uncommon.

 

[Relic]

Ideally this series should end 3-5 careers of the batsmen, never should play for Pakistan again.

Our squad for the Pakistan tour will tell us how likely that is. If Shafiq is still a part of it then I think we might even lose to Sri lanka.

 

[pakistanisgreat]

Our squad for the Pakistan tour will tell us how likely that is. If Shafiq is still a part of it then I think we might even lose to Sri lanka.

I think all the teenagers will be kicked out and tested failure will come back.

 

[Aman]

A thrashing this bad happened just a few weeks ago. Ind vs SA.
Pakistan scored 570 odd for 3 against the windies in 2017 when Azhar scored his 300
It's actually not that uncommon.

I didn't watch the game, this match Pakistan didn't look like taking a single wicket for most of it and Aus were scoring runs with ease.

 

[Nasty Naz]

Problem is Pakistan didn't come to Australia a month earlier like they do for England tours to really prepare and get used to the pitches.

It's also the fact that most Pakistani batsmen aren't that good. Shan Masood and Imam FC average is around 35 which is quite mediocre. Azhar Ali has been woeful for a couple of years now, so this is basically gifting Australia three easy wickets. Shafiq is inconsistent. And unfortunately, Haris struggled and under-performed. Iftikhar is basically starting his Test career in Australia which is a tough ask for anyone.

If Azhar is going to continue to remain on this team, he has to open the batting without question. Pakistan openers are too poor to have two walking wickets and another one at 3 down with Azhar.

Shan Masood career in Tests should probably come to an end. His domestic track record is awful too. He is worth trying in ODI's but he shouldn't be playing Internationally in any other formats.

 

[Shazzam]

Not really. They play as though they are playing in UAE. So its clear they know what they are doing. This is no excuse to not play well. Players are trained professionals who have to be ready to perform at any given time. Its the team managements job to prep them to be able to take ideas and plans to execute them properly. If they cannot do that they are simply not good enough.

 

[Savak]

Lame Excuses. Some of these players have been playing in county cricket and were playing domestic cricket in Pakistan and then they played in the two warm up games in Australia.

They simply did not prepare professionally for such a tough tour in all departments

 

[Savak]

Problem is Pakistan didn't come to Australia a month earlier like they do for England tours to really prepare and get used to the pitches.

It's also the fact that most Pakistani batsmen aren't that good. Shan Masood and Imam FC average is around 35 which is quite mediocre. Azhar Ali has been woeful for a couple of years now, so this is basically gifting Australia three easy wickets. Shafiq is inconsistent. And unfortunately, Haris struggled and under-performed. Iftikhar is basically starting his Test career in Australia which is a tough ask for anyone.

If Azhar is going to continue to remain on this team, he has to open the batting without question. Pakistan openers are too poor to have two walking wickets and another one at 3 down with Azhar.

Shan Masood career in Tests should probably come to an end. His domestic track record is awful too. He is worth trying in ODI's but he shouldn't be playing Internationally in any other formats.

More than the batsmen, I think it's our bowlers who need to come here in order to acclimatize to the pitches, grounds and figuring out the right line, length to bowl on these pitches and the correct field placings to adopt

 

[Nasty Naz]

More than the batsmen, I think it's our bowlers who need to come here in order to acclimatize to the pitches, grounds and figuring out the right line, length to bowl on these pitches and the correct field placings to adopt

Yep. It would help both bowlers and batsmen if they were in Australia earlier, practicing and getting used to pitches. Instead they are back home, playing on lifeless pitches in FC games and are unable to adjust to the bounce so quickly.

Bowlers are bowling nonsense short length and line that aren't properly attacking the batsmen stumps.

I also want to emphasize that its not all doom and gloom. No doubt, it was a horrendous tour, as expected but that's what happens when you're a rebuilding side against a set time with players in their prime. Even our best batsmen in Babar, is still coming into his own in Tests and is not quite there yet. More than anything, it shows Pakistan have to really build their bowling attack in Tests but there is huge abundance of upside in Shaheen and Naseem which are young, excellent building blocks.

 

[Savak]

Yep. It would help both bowlers and batsmen if they were in Australia earlier, practicing and getting used to pitches. Instead they are back home, playing on lifeless pitches in FC games and are unable to adjust to the bounce so quickly.

Bowlers are bowling nonsense short length and line that aren't properly attacking the batsmen stumps.

I also want to emphasize that its not all doom and gloom. No doubt, it was a horrendous tour, as expected but that's what happens when you're a rebuilding side against a set time with players in their prime. Even our best batsmen in Babar, is still coming into his own in Tests and is not quite there yet. More than anything, it shows Pakistan have to really build their bowling attack in Tests but there is huge abundance of upside in Shaheen and Naseem which are young, excellent building blocks.

India has toured Australia numerous times in the last 10-12 years. 2007-08, 2011/12, 2014/15, 2018/19.

Their present squad has many players who have been regulars on these tours especially Kohli, Sharma, Dhawan and Ishant Sharma, Mohd Shami, Bhuveneshwar Kumar, Ashwin and eventually these guys knew what to expect in Australia

Unfortunately we end up touring extremely infrequently in comparison

 

[Titan24]

Definitely its never easy to start a season after a gap but still Pak should have done better.