If I had it my way,
1_Azhar
2_Imam
3_Haris
4_Babar
5_Fakhar
6_Shadab
7_Fahim
8_Sarfraz
9_Amir
10_Hassan
11_Abbas
Thats the best possible combo considering all things, Batting till 10, 3 fast bowlers one fast medium all rounder, one spin all rounder, 2 left arm 2 right arm pacers, plus 3 good part timers, mean 8 possible bowling option, which mean variety and depth, this team have it both, plus great left right combo in batting with 6 righties and 5 lefties, once upon a time we had one or 2 lefties at most that too bowlers, Asad and Azhar both have been bang average thus for in this tour but Azhar recent performances have earned him a longer rope, Asad can still be in the squad but don't deserve to be in the XI, and before most of you jump in and say both Azhar or imam are too defensive but tell me with a straight face who have more chances to survive clouderson and Barbie in early summer under cloudy skies, these two with solid defense or fakhar? And it's coming from big fakhar fan, his attacking prowess should be used in middle order out of Asia, and if our openers can score even 50 without no loss till lunch they would have done their job of saving middle order from new cherry, and this middle order is dynamic enough to score at over 3.5 and all of them potentially can bat at 50 plus career strike rate. So they can make up for slow start. [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] [MENTION=138254]Syed1[/MENTION] [MENTION=137148]Rayyman[/MENTION] [MENTION=134608]Hawkeye[/MENTION] [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] [MENTION=140234]DRsohail[/MENTION] [MENTION=9]Saj[/MENTION] agree guys?
You tagged me in this identical post in 3 threads - I am trying to answer all 3 here.
First, if FZ hits a hundred against L'ster - he almost did that. No, I won't drop Azhar in any case. He has been out for single digit mostly (in this tour), which doesn't really say that he is finished. In a longer game, a series of 3/4 single digit scores don't tell that batsman is struggling; rather if he gets out regularly after an hour stay is more alarming - it indicates lack of capability. Once Azhar survived 1st hour, batted for 2 sessions - I'll keep him as opener. Besides, he is a limited player, but extremely gutsy - he improves with time in to the series. I expect him to do well at Lord's.
I don't think, FZ deserves a spot in XI if PAK goes with a 5 batsmen combination. In that case, only open spot is Haris (Asad isn't going while Babar did save his spot in last innings) - which I think wrong in 2 aspects - 1. Haris is better fitted in Test game (though he needs to deliver now). 2. Which is critical - replacing FZ means, either he'll bat at 3 (or 1-2), and Babar or Azhar at 3 - neither is a good idea for me. I read, it's going to be a dry London (When I used to live there; in May, dry means, we could see Sun for few hours, but time might have changed now) - in that case PAK might go for a 6+4 combination (which from team talk, sounds unlikely though), taking a chance of 35-40 overs from part-timers. In that case I'll take FZ at 6, at the expense of Fahim. Usman has batted well, but I don't think at 6 he adds any dimension - it's like playing Azhar at 6.
Among PAK batsmen, I am not sure who is going to score most; but if it's dry summer, Asad should enjoy his drives. I would expect Babar to score lot - he is too good for an average of 25, at one point he'll start to make up ground. For PAK, MOST critical is Sarfraz to get runs - at this age/fitness, he is not going to improve in Keeping drastically, so his best chance to contribute (read not cost his team) with bat. I hope in 4 innings, he scores close to 150, at least over 100 with one critical innings of 60-70, in crunch time. Advantage (if you look it in a positive way) for PAK line-up is, it's not dependent on one Kohli or Smith for putting a winning total - all 6/7 are almost equally good or bad. This can be a strength as well - often fielding side gets caught off-guard from an unexpected corner; it think PAK's best chance to compete with bat is this surprise - score some quick runs when Poms just can get a bit complacent. In that regard, Sarfraz, Fahim/FZ, Shadab are most important batsman for me, unless top order puts them at 57/5 every time.
For the combination of first Test, if I am honest - I won't have played Sarfraz. If there was a VC assigned & a back-up WK, I guess Sarfraz would have been "injured" by now. He is playing and for that I actually would play 6 batsmen & take a chance with 4 bowlers + part-timers - Fahim'll miss the cut, for FZ at 6 (Sarfraz at 7). If it's a dry Lord's, Fahim's bowling isn't going to work much, rather FZ might become handy on 4th innings. Also, in that case PAK should bat first and try to set up a score for Shadab, Hasan & Haris, FZ in 4th innings - in any case ENG might bowl first.
I think, it'll be a good game, but couple of PAK players have to play outstanding game to make it close.
. Anyways, good luck!
