Did Babar Azam make the wrong call to bowl first in the Super 4 game against India?

[MenInG]

A lot of people shocked by the decision but his justification was

Babar Azam: We will bowl first. I think there is a bit of moisture, we need to use that.

So, did Babar get it wrong or will he be proven right later?

 

[emranabbas]

It the right call
bowling by afridi and fielding have been poor

 

[Usman Chadda]

You can’t do much if your premier bowler starts spraying it around.

 

[MenInG]

You can’t do much if your premier bowler starts spraying it around.

But was the thinking/thought process right in the first place?

 

[Usman Chadda]

But was the thinking/thought process right in the first place?

Definitely, the ball was seaming around as evident by Naseem’s brilliant spell. That spell got completely negated by Shaheen spraying the ball around and giving Gill easy runs.

 

[hass]

Terrible call... it's a hot day on a mostly dead deck. Undoubtedly though the bowling has crumbled under pressure and the field went too defensive too early making the situation much worse.

 

[Saj]

Let's see how the match goes.

Wasim Akram was criticising the decision also whilst on commentary.

 

[gazza619]

It was the right call but the team selection is wrong again.

I would have picked M Wasim & M Haris in place of the so called allrounders Faheem & Shadab.

 

[Marooned]

Wrong call. 100% wrong.

It has been much more helpful for bowlers under lights throughout the tournament. They needed to bat while the sun was out. You won't get better batting conditions in this game.

 

[Firebat]

Can only make a proper judgement when both sides have batted.

 

[AAli98]

Cowardly decision basically saying I don’t trust my batsman hopefully we’ll get wckts upfront & win the game from there!

 

[Rana]

They will have to contest with 20 overs of Kuldeep and Jadeja chasing 250+

Best of luck

 

[Rana]

Well done for not taking a review

Bounce Rizwan shouldn’t be taken seriously

 

[Energy]

Correct call with the weather always best to chase in a shortened game.

 

[Kaptan]

You have to perform in every condition. If you can't bowl here how will you cope up in Indian pitches?

 

[Major]

It was the right call but the team selection is wrong again.

I would have picked M Wasim & M Haris in place of the so called allrounders Faheem & Shadab.

than we would have had 4 bowlers plsaying

 

[gazza619]

than we would have had 4 bowlers plsaying

Shadab is a part timer, so are Agha & Ifti.

Agha & Ifti can do the same job that Shadab does. Playing M Wasim means you have 4 proper pacers, and playing M Haris means you have an x-factor in the XI.

 

[Major]

Shadab is a part timer, so are Agha & Ifti.

Agha & Ifti can do the same job that Shadab does. Playing M Wasim means you have 4 proper pacers, and playing M Haris means you have an x-factor in the XI.

shadab is not a part timer. Yes he didnt bowl good today, but that doesnt make him a part time bowler.
ANd sorry, Agha and Ifti cant do the same job. Thats a very poor statement.

Shadab spins the ball. He gets break on the ball. Ifti and Agha only bowl line and length deliveries, they dont get break or spin on the ball. THere ball doesnt spin away or into the batsman.

X factor? These are just fancy terms sorry.

You need 5 bowlers and proper batters to play cricket.

 

[Saj]

The think-tank probably thought that Shaheen would cause the same problems as the previous match and therefore opted to bowl first in the hope of taking a couple of early wickets.

What they didn't account for was the positive intent that India came out with today. It was a different Indian opening duo to the last match.

 

[Asad T]

The think-tank probably thought that Shaheen would cause the same problems as the previous match and therefore opted to bowl first in the hope of taking a couple of early wickets.

What they didn't account for was the positive intent that India came out with today. It was a different Indian opening duo to the last match.

Yes, and to add, Naseem was bowling incredibly well. We just didn't capitalise in the slips

 

[gazza619]

You need 5 bowlers and proper batters to play cricket.

do you genuinely think Shadab & Faheem are proper bowlers?

These two are glorified allrounders who will never win you a game against quality sides.

My move is rather bold and attacking. Drop 130 kph Faheem for a 140 kph Wasim Jnr. Now you have a 4 pace attack who bowls 140 kph plus. Like I said Ifti & Agha are a decent spinners to cover for the fifth bowler.

M Haris is a match winner who can do crazy things with the bat.

ODIs are won by playing proper batters and bowlers, not by bits & pieces players and I am sorry to say but your Shadab & Faheem are nothing cricketers.

 

[Major]

do you genuinely think Shadab & Faheem are proper bowlers?

These two are glorified allrounders who will never win you a game against quality sides.

My move is rather bold and attacking. Drop 130 kph Faheem for a 140 kph Wasim Jnr. Now you have a 4 pace attack who bowls 140 kph plus. Like I said Ifti & Agha are a decent spinners to cover for the fifth bowler.

M Haris is a match winner who can do crazy things with the bat.

ODIs are won by playing proper batters and bowlers, not by bits & pieces players and I am sorry to say but your Shadab & Faheem are nothing cricketers.

Well they are. Shadab is a spinner. Not the best, but he isnt as bad as people are making him out here.

He bowls well and gets good spin. If there is a better spinner than him and sure bring him. But he can bat aswell and that also plays a factor. But his main role is spinner first.

Faheem is needed as a pace bowling allrouner in a place like India. Trust me, 140plus means nothing on indian wickets cause it will be a spinners paradise in the world cup.

Agha and Ifti bowl line and length deliveries. They dont spin it. Shadab has varaities.

Harris has no domestic experience, he can become another Haider Ali if they continue to give him international chances without experience.

Faheem isnt that great, i agree, but an allrounder will be needed to bowl pace

 

[Asad T]

 

[sweep_shot]

Considering there is rain, I think batting second is better.

 

[TheSultan]

It was alas, as usual, a defensive, scared call. There was a little in the wicket yes and as we saw with Naseem, if you have the quality to move the ball and bowl a great length it can ge dangerous.

However, it was a very true pitch, predictable bounce so you could cash in. Babar was probably concerned with the top order (including himself) falling cheaply.

 

[emranabbas]

Excellent decision
So now we bowl fresh tomorrow morning

 

[Nasty Naz]

Wrong decision and its so frustrating to see. Our batters haven't even had any batting practice against India's bowlers at all meanwhile India is getting all the batting practice they need to be prepared against us.

Yeah I get there is rain and everything and maybe know what score to chase exactly makes for better game planning but SL conditions are not easy to chase under and honestly, the more you can preserve your own bowlers and tire out India's bowlers, the better. If we had batted first, India bowler's would have had to bowl today, potentially tomorrow and then they also have another match vs SL the following day.

Doesn't help our bowlers had a bad game either but I suppose they were due for a bad one considering the run they had been on.

 

[Devadwal]

Perfect for indian batsman as they were already face the Pakistan attack and now hey can negotiate them easily

 

[IMMY69]

Initially I read on Cricinfo that during the pre match pitch inspection Waqar said there is moisture under the surface. When I read that I thought oh god I hope the team doesn't listen to him..

But watching the first few overs it did look like a reasonable decision. Just that you can't account for Shaheen's opening spell and our slip fielders...

The wicket required disciplined bowling and I'd hate to think what India's bowlers would have done to our top order

 

[SpiritOf1903]

Emphatically though pathetically small boundaries with some sixes barely beating the rope. Take the catch that missed everyone and is a different game

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Taking rain into account batting second is a favorable choice as it allows you to benefit from a revised target.

 

[Firebat]

Naseem's opening spell showed that there was something there for the bowlers. And it's always favourable to chase in shortened games.

 

[pakistanisgreat]

No it was not a wrong call. What if he decided to bat first and loss 2 or 3 early wickets within 10 overs then everyone would bash him why he decided to bat first since there was something in for bowlers.

It is just that SSA has a bad day. SSA always go for full and swing. He needs to realize that this is not gonna work all the time some times he needs to do short of length deliveries just like naseem.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Shahid Afridi speaking in an interview:

"Many people on social media questioned why Pakistan chose to bowl first after winning the toss. In my opinion, if Pakistan had bowled properly like Naseem Shah started off. But Shaheen's line and length were not right in the match, where he wanted to bowl, and it didn't work out for him. In the initial overs, if Shaheen didn't get wickets, it becomes frustrating for him because his reputation is such that he takes wickets early on,"