Disappointed with Sarfaraz Ahmed's batting strategy with the tail-enders

[MenInG]

Make no mistake, he played well today and could have won the game for the side but was it necessary to expose Mohammad Amir to Australia's finest?

This is where Sarfaraz will need to work much harder - game awareness - we could have easily taken the game much closer than this.

 

[nitrous]

Make no mistake, he played well today and could have won the game for the side but was it necessary to expose Mohammad Amir to Australia's finest?

This is where Sarfaraz will need to work much harder - game awareness - we could have easily taken the game much closer than this.

Work harder? His time is up, what is he going to work on?

 

[Kianig89]

Sarfraz is not a machine or robot he played sensibly just counted out overs of Starc and Cummins with SR and anchoring the ship unlike selfish imam and prof. Who had a collective brainfade

 

[AamchiMumbaikar]

Wahab got out so Amir walked in, he did not expose Amir to Starc deliberately.

 

[pillionrider]

Think you mean Shaheen. Amir was out in the same over vs Starc after Wahab.

 

[Energy]

He wouldn't have finished the game anyway. It was Wahab and Hassan who got the score closer to the finish and could actually hit it out.

 

[Captain]

He lacks game awareness... Very pathetic of him

 

[Zaz]

Make no mistake, he played well today and could have won the game for the side but was it necessary to expose Mohammad Amir to Australia's finest?

This is where Sarfaraz will need to work much harder - game awareness - we could have easily taken the game much closer than this.

U mean shaheen?

Yes that was an awful decision He shouldve stood and took responsibility on his shoulders than expose shaheen but the game was done when amir got out so its a moot point

 

[JellyBro]

He didnt do jack to anchor the ship. He only hit oneboundary, didnt take the inititiave at all. It was Hasan and wayans heroics that got us this close.

 

[adil79]

He is very clever and has become professional to find a easy way out. He knows his inability and he uses every tactic to throw anyone off of himself if he is under scrutiny,

He knew he couldn't score boundaries as he has failed lately. So he took the single when it looked like it was for the match cause. And he didn't even try to dive, while run out. Run out makes you a victim instead of answering for inability to score runs.

 

[AdamM97]

Sarfraz shouldn’t have had taken the single when Shaheen batted. However, Sarfraz did mostly well apart from that run out.

 

[Kianig89]

He didnt do jack to anchor the ship. He only hit oneboundary, didnt take the inititiave at all. It was Hasan and wayans heroics that got us this close.

He did what hafeez and imam failed to do #occupy1end

 

[DrSchultz]

Sarfraz wanted to get his useless not out. Thankfully he got run out in the end so that strategy also failed.

 

[Syed1]

I mean Wahab was out and Amir came on strike, Sarf didn't expose Amir. If you mean expose Shaheen then yeah he should have shielded him, but when you are 9 down and 40+ runs adrift then not much you can do.


The blame lies with Saint Imam and Professor Hafeez. Well set and cruising to win then both decide why not spice it up a bit and gift our wickets.

 

[Barragan]

You should be blaming the batsmen, who couldn't even last long enough to get the game close!

Poor dismissals by the well settled Hafeez and Imam, plus no contributions from malik, zaman or asif (three biggest culprits).

Sarfraz tried his best and well done to him.

 

[DrSchultz]

You should be blaming the batsmen, who couldn't even last long enough to get the game close!

Poor dismissals by the well settled Hafeez and Imam, plus no contributions from malik, zaman or asif (three biggest culprits).

Sarfraz tried his best and well done to him.

Sarfraz is also a batsman. Is it only in Pakistan where wicketkeepers aren't expected to score any runs? Never heard such comments from any other set of fans.

 

[Plumb]

Why noone is blaming Malik... With all his experience and the "backbone" of team this is what he does?? game after game and still we count on him??

 

[DHONI183]

Sarfraz is not a hitter, or at least not the best in the world, so I don´t necessarily blame him for exposing the tail, as it was Hasan Ali and Wahab after all who got Pakistan so close, and then Amir got out right away after Wahab. So that bit is fine, but why on earth did he let Shaheen take a single of the second last over? I´m well aware of the fact that the match couldn´t have been won anymore with just one wicket in hand, but Sarfraz could´ve at least attempted to stay on strike to go for the big hits for the sake of the net run-rate. Getting closer and losing by a smaller margin counts in this tournament obviously. Poor from him, but except that, his innings was pretty good and was everything that Pakistan needed from his end at that time given the collapse.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

I wouldn’t blame the loss on Sarfraz here. He made one mistake. Responsibility lies with the batsmen and their awful dismissals

 

[IAJ]

This is the least of worries at the moment. This team needs a psycologist asap. They keep bottling even before preassure is on.

Bowlers bowled rubbish, batsmen gifted their wickets. This is WC, not gully muhalla cricket. They are struggling with basics.

 

[K4Kohli]

Only mistake he did today was to take a single and expose Shaheen. Apart from that he was okay batting wise

 

[Technics 1210]

Catches win matches irrespective of strategy.

 

[JellyBro]

I mean Wahab was out and Amir came on strike, Sarf didn't expose Amir. If you mean expose Shaheen then yeah he should have shielded him, but when you are 9 down and 40+ runs adrift then not much you can do.


The blame lies with Saint Imam and Professor Hafeez. Well set and cruising to win then both decide why not spice it up a bit and gift our wickets.

Well I won't fault them for this loss though. Malik and asif were terrible. They needed to do what the tailenders did for the team. Sarfaraz should have taken the lead after the tail end started and absorbed the pressure equally. Is that too much to ask from the CAPTAIN of the team who, on paper, should be the best player in the team? BUt we all know he is physically and mentally weak and doesnt have any talent with the bat

 

[Titan24]

It was a poor strategy.

I am not too worried about Sarfaraz and Mickey, Inzi co as all will be going after the world cup. We can just hope somebody can show some individual brilliance like CT 17 otherwise things arent looking great.

 

[Barragan]

Sarfraz is also a batsman. Is it only in Pakistan where wicketkeepers aren't expected to score any runs? Never heard such comments from any other set of fans.

He was making runs (was 40*) and the main issue was he ran out of partners to work with, also the reason why this thread was created.

How can you say, he didn't make runs? Really bizarre!

 

[Junaid_ahmed]

fakhar gifted his wicket
Imam gifted his wicket
Babar gifted his wicket
Hafeez gifted his wicket
Shoaib looser
Asif incompetent at international level
but
Sarafaraz cost the match......there is no limit of biased & hate.

 

[aloo paratha]

Insane decision to take the single at the end of the over and expose Shaheen even more. Starc purposely bowled on the legs in hope that we'd take the single, and we were dumb enough to take the Bait.

 

[moghul]

He wants to go not out, winning was not his first priority. Who would otherwise let Shaheen take single on last ball of the over to face the next full over.

 

[adil79]

fakhar gifted his wicket
Imam gifted his wicket
Babar gifted his wicket
Hafeez gifted his wicket
Shoaib looser
Asif incompetent at international level
but
Sarafaraz cost the match......there is no limit of biased & hate.

Agreed with you. But what do you think of the single? Even number 9 batsmen protect number 11 at that stage

 

[Lovelydayall]

Sarf should have advised Amir to cover the wickets against Starc just as Wahab did during his inning. Revealing all three wickets to Starc and expecting not get bowled out is just flabbergasting.
Obviously Sarf was snoozing when he slept-walk the single exposing Shaheen to face Richardson. When Sarf gets disappointed he loses his senses and intelligence all together and hence the leadership goes down the drain for him. He needs to have a better grip of his emotions and continue to look for positives even when he get frustrated and disappointed. He should see a mental doctor before next match and sort out his attitude.

 

[DrSchultz]

Don't forget Sarfraz hid behind Wahab Riaz in the Starc over by taking a single off the first ball. Imagine that, the strike bowler for Australia comes on to bowl and you make no effort to protect your tail. Predictably Starc got Wahab's wicket in that over.

 

[Junaid_ahmed]

Agreed with you. But what do you think of the single? Even number 9 batsmen protect number 11 at that stage

Match was all over already time when amir was bold.

 

[Energy]

Sarfaraz has constantly being targeted by commies using the terminology 'barking instructions'. I would take offense in that.

Funny part is nobody even listens to him. They do their own thing.

 

[amvbfm]

Had little to do with strategy. He simply gave up after Amir got out.

 

[dildilpak]

Don't forget Sarfraz hid behind Wahab Riaz in the Starc over by taking a single off the first ball. Imagine that, the strike bowler for Australia comes on to bowl and you make no effort to protect your tail. Predictably Starc got Wahab's wicket in that over.

Not just that, he ran single off last ball & let Shaheen Shah Afridi keep strike. Irresponsible & mindless behavior from Sarfaraz, has absolutely no game awareness.

 

[Hasan123]

He's just not good enough. Lack of awareness and 0 personality off the field. Pakistan cricket needs to move on from this pathetic cricketer who has been given too much time.

 

[MRSN]

Pathetic display of match awareness. Should not have exposed too much of Starc to Wahab and that last ball single to allow Shaheen retain strike takes the cake. Most teams have a captain a fighter and we have this clown. Wasted all the hard work done by Hasan and Wahab to pull the game back.

 

[Syed1]

Pathetic display of match awareness. Should not have exposed too much of Starc to Wahab and that last ball single to allow Shaheen retain strike takes the cake. Most teams have a captain a fighter and we have this clown. Wasted all the hard work done by Hasan and Wahab to pull the game back.

Wahab had played Starc quite well, why would he shield him.


Even Sarfaraz in worst form is a better cricketer than the Akmals combined. Deal with it.

 

[JellyBro]

He needs to inspire his team to step up. How can you do that when you cower behind the tailenders? People lose respect for you and stop taking you seriously, although they would never say it out loud.

 

[Lion]

I don't blame Sarfraz here
Risky but it was part of his overall strategy to treat tailenders like batsmen and give them confidence & have them take responsibility

Some of them did rise to the occaison

Overall I'd say it did more good than harm

 

[Syed1]

People are making it so that the only reason we lost is because Sarf took single... pathetic haters

 

[IMMY69]

Safaraz Ahmed's strategy with the tail enders was the least of our worries.
The game was lost by the time Shaheen Shah Afridi walked to the crease.

We lost because Shadab was dropped for Shaheen, of our pathetic bowling (other then from Amir) our atrocious fielding and pathetic, brainless batting.

 

[umerz]

Why did he let Shaheen to take single on the last ball of the over ?

that lost the match for us. It wasnt that we needed 10-15 runs we needed more than 40 runs where number 11 had to do something for us to win

 

[Captain caveman]

Safi played better than i thought he would, but it was too much for him to do.
We need to strenghten our batting!
Open with imam and haris.
Fakhar should replace asif at 6.
Shadab and imad need to come back into the side.

Asif, malik and afridi should not play any further part in this wc.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

He wouldn't have finished the game anyway. It was Wahab and Hassan who got the score closer to the finish and could actually hit it out.

sarfraz would have stayed there till the end to make a valiant 50 and losing the match comfortably...

Good shaheen got him runout, which will not help sarfraz avg...

 

[Greenstorm]

Sarfaraz relies on strike rotation which means he cannot highhandedly win games while batting with tailenders. Its beyond his capabilities and good thing is that he knows it.

 

[MRSN]

Safaraz Ahmed's strategy with the tail enders was the least of our worries.
The game was lost by the time Shaheen Shah Afridi walked to the crease.

We lost because Shadab was dropped for Shaheen, of our pathetic bowling (other then from Amir) our atrocious fielding and pathetic, brainless batting.

Are you in your senses? 40 off 5 overs against bowlers who were smashed by Wahab and Hasan and Maxwell still had one over to go. Sarfraz could have at least taken a chance for God's sake speak some sense here.

 

[DrSchultz]

Sarfaraz relies on strike rotation which means he cannot highhandedly win games while batting with tailenders. Its beyond his capabilities and good thing is that he knows it.

If you take Fawad Alam and then divide his power hitting by 5, you get Sarfraz.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Safi played better than i thought he would, but it was too much for him to do.
We need to strenghten our batting!
Open with imam and haris.
Fakhar should replace asif at 6.
Shadab and imad need to come back into the side.

Asif, malik and afridi should not play any further part in this wc.

asif and malik yes... shaheen i will give another chance..

this 4 pacer lineup should have been played against ind not aus...

dumb heads will bring back imad and shadab against ind and they both will get hammered...

pak and their strategy is a laughing stock...

 

[umerz]

Sarfaraz relies on strike rotation which means he cannot highhandedly win games while batting with tailenders. Its beyond his capabilities and good thing is that he knows it.

bad thing is no batsmen from current lot has won any game single handedly

 

[MRSN]

Wahab had played Starc quite well, why would he shield him.


Even Sarfaraz in worst form is a better cricketer than the Akmals combined. Deal with it.

Your defense for this clown is immeasurable. I don't care about Akmals but this clown has zero fighting spirit. Pathetic and coward and average cricketer. Shame he is our leader.

 

[Junaid_ahmed]

If you take Fawad Alam and then divide his power hitting by 5, you get Sarfraz.

So Pakistan lost bcz Sarfarz did not hit the big shots, is that are you saying?

 

[Greenstorm]

bad thing is no batsmen from current lot has won any game single handedly

Hafeez actually did in the previous game but then again he was dropped.

 

[Rayyman]

I'm not worried about Sarfraz. He's a good guy and a decent cricketer.

Just as a captain, he needs to improve his appearance and represent Pakistan better. Other than that, he is a key player for us.

 

[nads_rocks]

This is his last few games as captain, he has done nothing as a captain this world cup, he lets his fielders keep their hands in their pocket, drop catches and smirks at them, he has lost his aggression and all he can do is put his hands on his head.

 

[MMHS]

It's not faulty strategy, rather limitation. Today Hasan & Wahab connected few, so the game went long and Sarfraz actually did the right thing - hung on to one end as long as the slog was working and made sure that a partnership is built. They actually reduced the asking to a manageable level, but Strac's couple of brutal balls ended the hope. Finch made a blunder of keeping one loose over, most likely to be bowled on 48th over - had Wahab survived till then, PAK had a genuine shot at 308, but he got out on DRS, and Amir didn't allow Sarfraz to shed him.

Don't think it's poor tactics, rather he is just not good enough. His game suits perfectly for No. 4-5, and the few months that his ODI career left, he should bat there, do the same thing. If he tries to blast, it'll backfire almost always.

 

[DrSchultz]

So Pakistan lost bcz Sarfarz did not hit the big shots, is that are you saying?

There were several reasons for the loss buddy, watch the post match analysis on ptv sports if you're confused.

 

[PakLFC]

Sarfaraz is not a big hitter. Even without the last run out we would have easily lost the match. Wahab had to make at least 30 more for us to have any chance. Shaheen makes other tailenders appear like world class batsmen so clueless is he.

 

[PakPremi]

He wanted run every ball. That's how he plays. People forgetting that he also run himself out at the end the very next ball trying to goto strike.

 

[PakPremi]

fakhar gifted his wicket
Imam gifted his wicket
Babar gifted his wicket
Hafeez gifted his wicket
Shoaib looser
Asif incompetent at international level
but
Sarafaraz cost the match......there is no limit of biased & hate.

You and Syed seem to be the only one who actually watched the match. Pathetic as usual blaming Sarfraz for not giving his wicket away and fighting it out

 

[Greenstorm]

Our fans are expecting too much from Sarfaraz and that is understandable. Over the years, we have seen many captains taking the responsibility and getting their team over the line in crunch situations. But we should realize that Sarfaraz is no Dhoni, Mathews or Inzi. Today I wanted him to hold one end so that Hassan or Wahab could pull off a miracle and that is all you can ask from him.

 

[Junaid_ahmed]

There were several reasons for the loss buddy, watch the post match analysis on ptv sports if you're confused.

Only one reason, batting line failure. But you going hard on sarfaraz is beyond understanding.

 

[Savak]

Lol Sarfaraz cant open, cant come at no 3, cant come too late down the order because he can't hit, is playing a specialist batsman against spinners, cant wicket keep properly, is fat and unfit, cant captain properly. He should be on the chopping block after the WC

 

[PakPremi]

Sarfaraz is not a big hitter. Even without the last run out we would have easily lost the match. Wahab had to make at least 30 more for us to have any chance. Shaheen makes other tailenders appear like world class batsmen so clueless is he.

He should not have been in the team ahead of Shadab that too against Australia. If Sarfraz and Mickey should geta blame doe anything them it is exclusion of Shadab as he was loss in batting and bowling

 

[Greenstorm]

It's not faulty strategy, rather limitation. Today Hasan & Wahab connected few, so the game went long and Sarfraz actually did the right thing - hung on to one end as long as the slog was working and made sure that a partnership is built. They actually reduced the asking to a manageable level, but Strac's couple of brutal balls ended the hope. Finch made a blunder of keeping one loose over, most likely to be bowled on 48th over - had Wahab survived till then, PAK had a genuine shot at 308, but he got out on DRS, and Amir didn't allow Sarfraz to shed him.

Don't think it's poor tactics, rather he is just not good enough. His game suits perfectly for No. 4-5, and the few months that his ODI career left, he should bat there, do the same thing. If he tries to blast, it'll backfire almost always.

Maxwell would have bowled the 50th over. He has won a game against Pakistan in the last over.

 

[dhump]

This is the limit of what Sarfraz can do this is his best we are looking at don't expect anything more. The match was lost by Malik and Asif both with bat and field.

 

[Junaid_ahmed]

You and Syed seem to be the only one who actually watched the match. Pathetic as usual blaming Sarfraz for not giving his wicket away and fighting it out

Ok then tell me which Pakistani batsman could have take this match from 160/6 to 309.

 

[PakPremi]

Maxwell went for plenty today hit by everyone. Just because he won one match against Pak once in last over does not mean he would have succeeded today. Pak had a good chance whilstWahab was there and Sarfraz can also hit spinners.

 

[PakPremi]

Ok then tell me which Pakistani batsman could have take this match from 160/6 to 309.

I'm actually agreeing with you lol

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

The game was lost in the first 25 overs of the match. We were just catching up from there on and we ran out of gas.

 

[shariqnoor]

Pakistan players need an IQ test to go along with the Yo-Yo. I swear Pakistani cricketers have the lowest IQ amongst all cricketers in this world cup.

 

[aloo paratha]

fakhar gifted his wicket
Imam gifted his wicket
Babar gifted his wicket
Hafeez gifted his wicket
Shoaib looser
Asif incompetent at international level
but
Sarafaraz cost the match......there is no limit of biased & hate.

Just because others made bigger errors, it Doesn't mean Sarfraz didn't do anything wrong.

 

[PakLFC]

Pakistan players need an IQ test to go along with the Yo-Yo. I swear Pakistani cricketers have the lowest IQ amongst all cricketers in this world cup.

These illiterates wouldn't even know what an IQ means!!

 

[Junaid_ahmed]

Just because others made bigger errors, it Doesn't mean Sarfraz didn't do anything wrong.

He dropped the catch was his only mistake to me, may some others will be but I haven't see anyone highlighting those mistakes.

 

[waleed88]

Make no mistake, he played well today and could have won the game for the side but was it necessary to expose Mohammad Amir to Australia's finest?

This is where Sarfaraz will need to work much harder - game awareness - we could have easily taken the game much closer than this.

Isnt Amir a proper batsman according to some? I remember his knock against Srilanka and alot of fans here wanted to be captain after his all round performance

 

[Swing]

I wouldn't blame him for the loss today he did what he could with the little batting he has lift in him. What I did not understand was that single to keep Shaheen on strike, why would you do that? It was as if he gave up after Wahab got out.

 

[Saj]

Maybe it was too late, but allowing Shaheen that single off the last ball of the over was pretty ordinary cricket.

He should have kept the strike and gone for it in the next over.

 

[hadi123]

Sarfaraz's innings was fine today, Riaz got out and Amir came in so he can't be blamed for that. Only thing that was pathetic of Sarfaraz was letting Shaheen get that single, but in all honesty the game was lost by that point

 

[aloo paratha]

He dropped the catch was his only mistake to me, may some others will be but I haven't see anyone highlighting those mistakes.

That drop cost Pakistan a lot. I'm surprised they took that single, shows a severe lack of game awareness.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Nitpicking much? He did alright. Batting was pretty good. Bowling was the culprit.