Do the current generation of Pakistani players lack heart?

[observer1]

First thing's first, cricket is just a game. I don't take it serious as many here do. That said, I feel any athlete/player representing his team in any sport needs to be professional, passionate and committed.

The last few years, I've seen most of the team smiling, happy, bubbly, chewing, laughing and more interested taking selfies of their partners all over Social Media. Other's here (and elsewhere on Social media) have also commented on their casual attitude in the field. They seem like High School Teenagers.

Even when NZ Bowlers were threatening to throw the ball back at the batsmen, Pakistani batsmen nearly dived out of the way with a pathetic smile. I mean seriously? Where's your self respect.

I hate comparing players to the "back in the day". But one of the reasons why Wasim, Waqar, Imran Khan, Anwar, Javed, Yousuf, Inzi etc. were all successful is they had either the focus, arrogance, dedication, competitiveness etc. to improve their game and be their best. Wasim and Waqar were known to be almost selfish/jealous in that they wanted to be the one to succeed and pick up the wickets.

The current team fold like a pack of cards. I can only think of Babar Azam who looks completely focused when he's on the pitch. Sarfraz, Imad, Rauf seem to bring their passion to the game. Everyone else would rather be on Instagram like High School teenagers.

Shan Masood, Haaris Sohail, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Yasir Shah, Wahab "Wiki" Riaz need to get this casual attitude away from the field. Don't get me started on the likes of Ahmed Shehzad, Hasan Ali and Rumaan Raees and their celebrations. Azhar Ali seems soft too, but I can't say much since he has been one of Pakistan's better batsmen in recent years.


This nonsense is fine in PSL and franchise cricket. It shows your immaturity and childlike outlook when on the International Stage.

If you look at what was written about the recent U-19 World Cup says a lot about the attitude of Pakistani players coming through the system compared to the Indians.

You can have the talent and potential, but you'll never get anywhere being a Buzdil Insaan. in Sports.

NZ, Aus, India, England etc. are full of "Banter", but they're complete dogs on the field and good on them. Pakistan really needs to address this pathetic dressing room culture.

Also request to the Mod's, don't be petulant and merge this with some other thread. In an era where Sports teams are spending a fortune on Sports Psychologists, it is worthy of a discussion on the state of National Team.

 

[zain7077]

I feel Shaheen also seems dedicated towards performing for the country.

 

[Savak]

Success breeds confidence. When you habitually lose and get outplayed by the opposition, you actually embrace that you suck and don't deserve to belong there. An inspiring captain makes a world of a difference in Cricket.

 

[observer1]

Success breeds confidence. When you habitually lose and get outplayed by the opposition, you actually embrace that you suck and don't deserve to belong there. An inspiring captain makes a world of a difference in Cricket.

Possibly. That's a good point.

My issue is that we've seen that our bowlers can get wickets and make runs. They can be sublime in the field. The moment there is any resistance or pressure, all that goes out of the window.

The way Pakistan capitulated against Australia and NZ despite having good positions and momentum needs addressing.

 

[Buffet]

They don't lack heart. Attack lacks a leader with skills to lead the attack when an opponent is resisting.

 

[Last Monetarist]

No, they lack skills and talent. Nothing to do with nebulous concepts such as heart or passion.

 

[Hasan123]

I think they are trying their best but just lack the skills and ability against better teams.

 

[observer1]

I think they are trying their best but just lack the skills and ability against better teams.

I agree with some of the players. Especially the openers. The middle order and bowlers are capable though.

 

[Titan24]

Its a mixed bag I would say.

Some players lack skills and ability while there are definitely some who lack heart, will, hard work and determination required to succeed at an international level. Pak cricket has done poorly to possibly polish the second set of individuals and lack of leadership in Pakistan team since Wasim Akram also played a huge role in not getting the best out of individuals with good enough skillet.

There is lack of integration and cohesiveness in the unit that Pakistan team is, even the player with skills and heart becomes victim of the same system and falls into the loop. Also with lack of performances and losses, morale as a whole goes down and players who are decent also start loosing their heart due to that abyss of disappointments.

So this loop needs to break which can only be done with some leadership and man management abilities at least in the captain or the team management. In this way atleast players which have what it requires to perform decently at international stage wont become the victim of the overall environment. Pushing players to become the best version of themselves and getting best out of them is really important and I think it is something which is definitely lacking making whole generation of players to look like the one which lacks heart.

 

[UzmanBeast]

You have to remember that in almost every series we're either introducing a new player or changing something about the team. A team needs time to blend in and understand the strengths of each other, and melt into their respective roles. It's like a fist, you need all the fingers to understand what they're doing before you can deliver the punch.

That being said, what I see a lacking in is our aggression in bowling. Haris Rauf is really aggressive in his bowling, and I like seeing that. I'd like to see a bit more from our bowlers after bowling a ball at 90mph, like show some character. There seems to be a lack of leadership in our bowlers, because Shaheen is too young to be the head of the pack. This is one of the reasons I'd want to see Amir back in the team, because he's the leader of the pack in white-ball cricket. When Hasan Ali comes back, hopefully we see him filling in this role in tests.

In our batting, we're seeing a lot of batsmen surrender. They play without emotion, and there is hardly any grit and perseverence in our batting. There's a lot of 50s but rarely any conversions from players other than Babar, and that's a cause of concern, because when a lot of batsmen are doing well, you can help others get into form. Look at Nicholls and New Zealand, he was around the likes of Williamson and slowly he improved himself. We need a few of our batsmen to go big and bring some confidence into the team. These also can't just be 100s, it's been so long since we've seen anyone go into a 200 score. You need those innings to give the whole team some confidence and belief in themselves.

 

[Hyperion66]

What they lack is talent and skills, your batsmen showed immense heart against NZ bowlers repeatedly. It is not easy to face a world class attack at their own den without the only true world class bat in the team. They took up the challenge and gave their all and that is what heart is all about. Credit where it is due.

 

[Hyperion66]

Success breeds confidence. When you habitually lose and get outplayed by the opposition, you actually embrace that you suck and don't deserve to belong there. An inspiring captain makes a world of a difference in Cricket.

Underrated comment.

 

[ElRaja]

they have heart, they lack brains and concentration. the bowling attack don't have the mental proficiency to work out plans to batsmen, and if they do work them out they aren't disciplined enough to stick to them for long periods of time.

also as said above, the cycle of losing in the southern hemisphere is so self reinforcing for pak, they will need a lot of aggressive cricket to break it, and for that u need self confidence, which is clearly not there at the moment.

 

[Savak]

Underrated comment.

This is why Misbah did irreparable damage to our cricket both as a player, captain and now coach. He embraced mediocrity, that it was okay to be mediocre, to lose games, to play defensive cricket, to bat for your own place in the side rather than the team, to bat at a SR of 60-70.

We now need an Imran, Dhoni, Kohli like captain to change the style of Cricket we play, the attitude of our players to bring about a change

 

[Savak]

The one player who I find really lacks heart is Harris Sohail, his body language sucks

 

[Saj]

PSL is their goal and number one aim.

Forget playing 4 day, Tests etc.

 

[Hyperion66]

We now need an Imran, Dhoni, Kohli like captain to change the style of Cricket we play, the attitude of our players to bring about a change

You need a captain like Ganguly.

 

[Shoaibbtt]

We lack funding to better prep our players. You can chop and change all you want but there is no extra ordinary talent out there besides Babar Azam and Shaheen at the moment. The rest of the players need proper development and grooming which is what PCB fail to do each time, i.e. recommending they play English County Cricket which is why Indian batsmen like Pujara have excelled so much.

 

[shaz619]

They have poor awareness and the desire is not always there, I just think they are not motivates enough for Tests / appreciate the format, the culture is awful

 

[Kroll]

Whilst the stuff about lacking ability and skills is true, OP is also correct about the lack of dedication to the cause.

You can clearly see this when Yasir rolls up with his fat belly and someone made an observation that Haris is carrying burgers and fries in his pocket when he comes out onto the field.

The utter casualness when it come to fielding is proving very painful and is unbecoming of an international standard side.

More focus is definitely required improving mentally as well as technically. Otherwise forget about competing with top sides and be content to battle it out with Bangladesh/Zimbabwe to retain #7/8 rankings.

 

[Savak]

Whilst the stuff about lacking ability and skills is true, OP is also correct about the lack of dedication to the cause.

You can clearly see this when Yasir rolls up with his fat belly and someone made an observation that Haris is carrying burgers and fries in his pocket when he comes out onto the field.

The utter casualness when it come to fielding is proving very painful and is unbecoming of an international standard side.

More focus is definitely required improving mentally as well as technically. Otherwise forget about competing with top sides and be content to battle it out with Bangladesh/Zimbabwe to retain #7/8 rankings.

I actually find this liking, disliking where the head coaches originally came into the role promising uniform fitness standards, no compromises but then you see removing players they don't using fitness as an excuse but they ignore the poor fitness of the players they have a soft spot for. This stuff is contradictory and unlikely to make the players in large respect you and take you seriously.

I remember the episode where John Wright in 2002 had slapped Virender Sehwag who returned to the dressing room after throwing away his wicket, the entire team was incessed, unhappy and refused to play any further under Wright unless the BCCI forced him to apologize to the players for the episode. I believe it was Sachin Tendulkar who implored the BCCI not to force John Wright to tender any apology because doing so would undermine his power, authority as the team's coach. We severely lack leaders who think of the team rather than themselves in the dressing room right now

 

[Saj]

Nearly every Talent Spotter we do, there is a comment about how they wish to play in the PSL and how they hope to attract one of the PSL franchises. Very few actually say that I wish to play 50 Tests for my country.

 

[moghul]

First thing's first, cricket is just a game. I don't take it serious as many here do. That said, I feel any athlete/player representing his team in any sport needs to be professional, passionate and committed.

The last few years, I've seen most of the team smiling, happy, bubbly, chewing, laughing and more interested taking selfies of their partners all over Social Media. Other's here (and elsewhere on Social media) have also commented on their casual attitude in the field. They seem like High School Teenagers.

Even when NZ Bowlers were threatening to throw the ball back at the batsmen, Pakistani batsmen nearly dived out of the way with a pathetic smile. I mean seriously? Where's your self respect.

I hate comparing players to the "back in the day". But one of the reasons why Wasim, Waqar, Imran Khan, Anwar, Javed, Yousuf, Inzi etc. were all successful is they had either the focus, arrogance, dedication, competitiveness etc. to improve their game and be their best. Wasim and Waqar were known to be almost selfish/jealous in that they wanted to be the one to succeed and pick up the wickets.

The current team fold like a pack of cards. I can only think of Babar Azam who looks completely focused when he's on the pitch. Sarfraz, Imad, Rauf seem to bring their passion to the game. Everyone else would rather be on Instagram like High School teenagers.

Shan Masood, Haaris Sohail, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Yasir Shah, Wahab "Wiki" Riaz need to get this casual attitude away from the field. Don't get me started on the likes of Ahmed Shehzad, Hasan Ali and Rumaan Raees and their celebrations. Azhar Ali seems soft too, but I can't say much since he has been one of Pakistan's better batsmen in recent years.


This nonsense is fine in PSL and franchise cricket. It shows your immaturity and childlike outlook when on the International Stage.

If you look at what was written about the recent U-19 World Cup says a lot about the attitude of Pakistani players coming through the system compared to the Indians.

You can have the talent and potential, but you'll never get anywhere being a Buzdil Insaan. in Sports.

NZ, Aus, India, England etc. are full of "Banter", but they're complete dogs on the field and good on them. Pakistan really needs to address this pathetic dressing room culture.

Also request to the Mod's, don't be petulant and merge this with some other thread. In an era where Sports teams are spending a fortune on Sports Psychologists, it is worthy of a discussion on the state of National Team.

Great post, very important topic , we hardly talk about.

Yes, the passion for the game and playing for the country is much lower in players of recent time. Losing a game is not a big deal for them.

Not just players, cricket followers also don't have the same level of passion what we had 20-25 years ago.

When I was in school / college and then played club cricket, we were so passionate about winning the game for our team and that passion continued when following the national team, that level I don't see among school/college going boys now .

In USA, where I live , and I'm sure in UK and other places also, people follow their team like crazy. In return players also the know prize of winning and the consequences of losing a game, this is not the case in Pakistan .

I don't hide it , the person I hate most in Pakistan cricket history is no other than this guy Misbah, whom actually I used to like in the beginning. There are many reasons, ( I can write a book about sins he committed to Pak cricket ) for it but one big reason for that is he changed the culture of Pakistan team . He never gave his 100% to win a game, biggest example is 2011 semifinal. Then he never gave a thought about stepping down as player or captain when he was almost 40 and was failing as captain and as player. Since then this new culture of " losing is not a big deal, its part of the game " has emerged .

Yes, more than skill and talent, current players lack heart.

 

[Savak]

Great post, very important topic , we hardly talk about.

Yes, the passion for the game and playing for the country is much lower in players of recent time. Losing a game is not a big deal for them.

Not just players, cricket followers also don't have the same level of passion what we had 20-25 years ago.

When I was in school / college and then played club cricket, we were so passionate about winning the game for our team and that passion continued when following the national team, that level I don't see among school/college going boys now .

In USA, where I live , and I'm sure in UK and other places also, people follow their team like crazy. In return players also the know prize of winning and the consequences of losing a game, this is not the case in Pakistan .

I don't hide it , the person I hate most in Pakistan cricket history is no other than this guy Misbah, whom actually I used to like in the beginning. There are many reasons, ( I can write a book about sins he committed to Pak cricket ) for it but one big reason for that is he changed the culture of Pakistan team . He never gave his 100% to win a game, biggest example is 2011 semifinal. Then he never gave a thought about stepping down as player or captain when he was almost 40 and was failing as captain and as player. Since then this new culture of " losing is not a big deal, its part of the game " has emerged .

Yes, more than skill and talent, current players lack heart.

Misbah promoted a culture in the team where it was okay to be mediocre, it was okay to lose games, it was okay to play for yourself at the expense of your team, it was okay to bat at a SR of 60-70 when the rest of the world had moved to 90-120, it was okay to pack your side with spinners and use pacers in a supporting holding role, it was okay to treat the sport as a 9-5 job, it was okay not to have a long term vision of the team and to take ownership of where the team will be when i leave, it was okay to do exactly as the selectors, PCB demanded, it was okay to be a yes man, it was okay to smile while the opposition is abusing you. Misbah has wrecked havoc with the soul of Pakistan Cricket. It will take an inspiring captain and leader to undo the damage he has done to our Cricket.

 

[moghul]

Misbah promoted a culture in the team where it was okay to be mediocre, it was okay to lose games, it was okay to play for yourself at the expense of your team, it was okay to bat at a SR of 60-70 when the rest of the world had moved to 90-120, it was okay to pack your side with spinners and use pacers in a supporting holding role, it was okay to treat the sport as a 9-5 job, it was okay not to have a long term vision of the team and to take ownership of where the team will be when i leave, it was okay to do exactly as the selectors, PCB demanded, it was okay to be a yes man, it was okay to smile while the opposition is abusing you. Misbah has wrecked havoc with the soul of Pakistan Cricket. It will take an inspiring captain and leader to undo the damage he has done to our Cricket.

Well said.

 

[Pakpak]

Misbah promoted a culture in the team where it was okay to be mediocre, it was okay to lose games, it was okay to play for yourself at the expense of your team, it was okay to bat at a SR of 60-70 when the rest of the world had moved to 90-120, it was okay to pack your side with spinners and use pacers in a supporting holding role, it was okay to treat the sport as a 9-5 job, it was okay not to have a long term vision of the team and to take ownership of where the team will be when i leave, it was okay to do exactly as the selectors, PCB demanded, it was okay to be a yes man, it was okay to smile while the opposition is abusing you. Misbah has wrecked havoc with the soul of Pakistan Cricket. It will take an inspiring captain and leader to undo the damage he has done to our Cricket.

Very well said. And now we are afflicted by him being our coach. I have this recurring nightmare one day he will be the PCB head.

 

[Mamoon]

It is not a mystery.

They have no talent, no skill and no intelligence. The only thing they have is big mouths.

 

[Bigboii]

The one player who I find really lacks heart is Harris Sohail, his body language sucks

150% agreed

And it's not just injuries remember Azhar also has a knee issue but you don't see him getting ballooned up after every few months

 

[Savak]

150% agreed

And it's not just injuries remember Azhar also has a knee issue but you don't see him getting ballooned up after every few months

Even Imad Wasim has a knee problem but you can see the emotions in him whenever he gets hit for a boundary, six, gets a wicket, when someone misfileds or if he gets out at a crucial time.

 

[MenInG]

It is not a mystery.

They have no talent, no skill and no intelligence. The only thing they have is big mouths.

You are repeating this in every thread and its getting tiresome.

Best to say something which adds value to any discussion.