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England vs Pakistan | 1st Test | Manchester | Aug 5-9, 2020 | Pre-Match Discussion Thread

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Abdullah719

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Based on the players' performances so far in the warm up games, what will be your first-choice XI?
 
There are a few concerns for me:

Both openers struggled in Derby
The number 6 spot is still wide open
Yasir Shah's form and fitness has to be a concern
 
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It’s almost given, apart from one spot -

Shan
Abid
Azhar
Babar
Asad
Open spot
Rizwan
Yasir
Shaheen
Naseem
Abbas

For that No. six spot it’s tight between Fakhar, Imam, Shadab & Iftikhar; unfortunately Fawad missed his chance. Iftekhar can bowl a bit while Imam is not a middle order and Fakhar has blasted a 99, but he doesn’t bowl.

I probably will go for Fakhar and bat him at six (he is not a middle order either, but he has the capacity to race with tail putting valuable runs, I believe his debut was at middle order), but PAK can play Shadab as well, if they really think he can make it with bat. One extra leggi can be handy against England for a series starting in August. Can’t think how Fawad or Iftekhar fits in this team.
 
1. Abid Ali
2. Shan Masood
3. Azhar Ali
4. Babar Azam
5. Fawad Alam
6. Asad Shafiq
7. Mohammad Rizwan
8. Yasir Shah
9. Shaheen Afridi
10. Mohammad Abbas
11. Naseem Shah
 
1. Abid Ali
2. Shan Masood
3. Azhar Ali
4. Babar Azam
5. Iftikar Ahmed
6. Asad Shafiq
7. Mohammad Rizwan
8. Yasir Shah
9. Shaheen Afridi
10. Mohammad Abbas
11. Naseem Shah
 
MMHS said:
For that No. six spot it’s tight between Fakhar, Imam, Shadab & Iftikhar; unfortunately Fawad missed his chance. Iftekhar can bowl a bit while Imam is not a middle order and Fakhar has blasted a 99, but he doesn’t bowl.
Click to expand...

Actually Fakhar does bowl, obviously he doesnt have the same pedigree with the ball in hand as the other 3 but has 20 List A wickets @32. Has one wicket in ODI and surprisingly bowled in CT17 final as well. Bowled few overs in PSL too.

Not sure if management will be looking in that direction but he does ball and has a pretty decent SLA action as well.
 
usmanraheel said:
1. Abid Ali
2. Shan Masood
3. Azhar Ali
4. Babar Azam
5. Iftikar Ahmed
6. Asad Shafiq
7. Mohammad Rizwan
8. Yasir Shah
9. Shaheen Afridi
10. Mohammad Abbas
11. Naseem Shah
Click to expand...

Considering form and everything it looks like a decent XI. I will probably move Iftikhar to no 7 as he can hit pretty well if required with tail or at the back end. Iftikhar was decent with the bat in the warm up and can be utilized against Burns and Stokes with ball in hand. Was hoping that Faheem and Shadab can produce impressive performance but other than Shadab's batting which has been decent it hasnt looked great in the warm ups. Lets see what management is thinking.
 
Titan24 said:
Actually Fakhar does bowl, obviously he doesnt have the same pedigree with the ball in hand as the other 3 but has 20 List A wickets @32. Has one wicket in ODI and surprisingly bowled in CT17 final as well. Bowled few overs in PSL too.

Not sure if management will be looking in that direction but he does ball and has a pretty decent SLA action as well.
Click to expand...

I know he bowls, but PCT management doesn’t see it that way - they won’t factor that for selection. Otherwise, for a bowler with his FC & List A stats, he hasn’t bowled a single ball in three Tests so far. If Fakhar gives a dedicated try, not sure if Shadab can hold on to his spot in few months time - as a bowler.
 
Asad ,azhar ali retired out in warm match to accommodate ifti bhai and give him easy time against bowling pair of shan ,babar. it is almost certain misbah will prefer ifti due to his personal liking and his mantra about "allrounder has to be a complete bowler or batsmen"
 
I don't think Fakhar will get in over Abid or Shan, not typically Misbah's style to break a combo based on just 1 performance.

#6 spot appears to be the only open spot, I'd go with Fawad. He's gritty and capable of getting 50+ runs, I'd go with him over Ifti. Not considering Shadab for now - need a more dependable batsmen imo.
 
Both Yasir and Shadab have turned into rotten spinners. Guess what i would pick both as i cant stand Faheem in my team and Yasir and Shadab are better allrounders than Faheem in every way

Imam-ul-Haq
Shan Masood
Azhar Ali
Babar Azam
M Rizwan
Asad Shafiq
Shadab Khan
Yasir Shah
Shaheen Afridi
Naseem Shah
M Abbass
 
Its very very tricky to get an ideal 11 as openers are poor, Faheem is disliked by nearly all. Yasir and Shadab are poor quality spinners and the backup pacers are garbage.

1. Abid Ali
2. Shan Masood
3. Azhar Ali
4. Babar Azam
5. Asad Shafiq
6. Mohammad Rizwan
7. Shadab Khan
8. Faheem Ashraf
9. Shaheen Afridi
10. Mohammad Abbas
11. Naseem Shah
 
Kroll said:
Its very very tricky to get an ideal 11 as openers are poor, Faheem is disliked by nearly all. Yasir and Shadab are poor quality spinners and the backup pacers are garbage.

1. Abid Ali
2. Shan Masood
3. Azhar Ali
4. Babar Azam
5. Asad Shafiq
6. Mohammad Rizwan
7. Shadab Khan
8. Faheem Ashraf
9. Shaheen Afridi
10. Mohammad Abbas
11. Naseem Shah
Click to expand...

This is it. This should be the team to play 1st test.
 
Shan
Abid
Azhar
Babar
Rizwan
Asad
Shahdab
Faheem/Ifthikar
Shaheen
Abbas
Naseem
 
Kroll said:
Its very very tricky to get an ideal 11 as openers are poor, Faheem is disliked by nearly all. Yasir and Shadab are poor quality spinners and the backup pacers are garbage.

1. Abid Ali
2. Shan Masood
3. Azhar Ali
4. Babar Azam
5. Asad Shafiq
6. Mohammad Rizwan
7. Shadab Khan
8. Faheem Ashraf
9. Shaheen Afridi
10. Mohammad Abbas
11. Naseem Shah
Click to expand...

Faheem and Shadab are incapable of taking wickets. Not only that, but they will release all pressure the other bowlers build up - Faheem went for 74 in 18 overs, and Shadab went for 104 in 17 overs in the last bowling performance leading in to the 1st test, against a depleted batting attack. I don't understand why anyone wants to see either of these two playing the test.

Shadab can contribute a little with the bat, but his 20-30 runs are not worth the hammering he will take with the ball. Lets not even talk about Faheems batting
 
If we forget about shadab the bowler, I genuinely think he has a great chance of scoring as many runs as ifti, fawad, at number 6 spot.
So unless they play Haider or fakhar at 6, I'd play him.

Then it's a toss up between Yasir depending on conditions and faheeem. (. Sohail isn't gonna last 5 days)
 
coy0607 said:
Faheem and Shadab are incapable of taking wickets. Not only that, but they will release all pressure the other bowlers build up - Faheem went for 74 in 18 overs, and Shadab went for 104 in 17 overs in the last bowling performance leading in to the 1st test, against a depleted batting attack. I don't understand why anyone wants to see either of these two playing the test.

Shadab can contribute a little with the bat, but his 20-30 runs are not worth the hammering he will take with the ball. Lets not even talk about Faheems batting
Click to expand...

I understand what you're saying but these are the spinners we've got and I think Yasir will get the nod ahead of Shadab. However, Yasir's going to get thrashed as he's no longer the bowler he once was.

Gohar should have been selected as he won't bowl any worse than these two.

Faheem's batting is poor but he could pick up some wickets. I think he's the best option we have to allow the others to bowl at their optimum.

Also, I wouldn't base an opinion on these warm matches solely. We have to take into account other data and the eye test.

That being said, its going to be a mediocre side on paper but we just have to be optimistic with whoever is in the final 11.
 
I don’t see any issue with Pakistan trying Fakhar Zaman at number 6 to play as an aggressive lower order batsman, someone who can see them through to the second new ball and beyond.
 
Shan
Abid
Azhar
Babar
Asad
Fakhar
Rizwan
Yasir
Shaheen
Amir
Naseem
 
1. Abid Ali
2. Shan Masood
3. Azhar Ali
4. Babar Azam
5. Asad Shafiq
6. Mohammad Rizwan
7. Yasir Shah
8. Shadab Khan / Fahim Ashraf (sadly, there is no standard all rounder)
9. Shaheen Afridi
10. Mohammad Abbas
11. Naseem Shah
 
SARJ_BD said:
1. Abid Ali
2. Shan Masood
3. Azhar Ali
4. Babar Azam
5. Asad Shafiq
6. Mohammad Rizwan
7. Yasir Shah
8. Shadab Khan / Fahim Ashraf (sadly, there is no standard all rounder)
9. Shaheen Afridi
10. Mohammad Abbas
11. Naseem Shah
Click to expand...

That tail is way too long.

They'll go with 6 batsmen and Rizwan at 7.
 
Saj said:
That tail is way too long.

They'll go with 6 batsmen and Rizwan at 7.
Click to expand...

Cant win in England without 5 proper bowlers. I do not consider Iftikhar, Azhar, Haris as proper bowlers
 
Saj said:
That tail is way too long.

They'll go with 6 batsmen and Rizwan at 7.
Click to expand...

Y Shah has a test century in Aus against the likes of Cummings starc Lyon which the likes of Masood can only dream of.. I’d put yasir Shah at no:5
 
Based on the performances of the 2 day Intra game and 4 game Intra game, along with previous form and selection preferences by Misbah I think the team will be the below:

Shan
Abid
Azhar
Babar
Asad
Iftikhar
Rizwaan
Yasir
Abbas
Shaheen
Naseem

This gives you the 6 - 4 dimension with Iftikhar helping out with part time bowling (mainly aimed at left handers).

If Harris Sohail had made himself available for the tour, i believe he would have been preferred at 6 over Iftikhar for the same reason that he can offer something with the ball.

I've always been an advocate of Mohammed Rizwaan and I think management should look to have him bat at 6 rather than the at 7. A solid number 6 then allows you to play an All Rounder depending on conditions. Unfortunately we currently don't have good enough All Rounder to occupy that spot in this squad.

Haider Ali looks a great talent and i think when he is introduced into the Test team in the future, he should bat at number 6 and work his way up and hopefully a number 3 batsmen.
 
Shan
Abid
Imam
Azhar
Babar
Asad
Rizwan
Yasir
Abbas
Shaheen
Naseem S
This should be our team...
 
With Waqar coming out talking about potentially playing two spinners which I think will likely be a bluff from him.

1. Shan Masood
2. Abid Ali
3. Azhar Ali
4. Asad Shafiq
5. Babar Azam
6. Fawad Alam/Ifti chacha
7. Mohammad Rizwan (WK)
8. Yasir Shah
9. Mohammad Abbas
10. Shaheen Shah Afridi
11. Naseem Shah

If Amir arrives on time and is able to play the Test series, then I suspect they could drop a pacer or a spinner or even a batsman for him. Don't see them dropping Yasir at all, knowing how much Misbah trusts him in being poor outside Asia.
 
Shan Masood
Abid Ali / Imam Ul Haq
Azhar Ali (c)
Babar Azam (vc)
Asad Shafiq
Fakhar Zaman / Iftikhar Ahmad
Muhammad Rizwan (wk)
Yasir Shah
Muhammad Abbas
Naseem Shah
Shaheen Shah Afridi
 
Look, Fakhar isn’t a suitable test player due to his technical flaws.

But I still feel like he can be of good use in this series due to rain. In such conditions, having an aggressive hitter play at 5 or 6 is useful if he can put up a huge score in little time.
 
Saj said:
That tail is way too long.

They'll go with 6 batsmen and Rizwan at 7.
Click to expand...

You mean Fawad? My fear is they might go with Iftikhar and Yasir as a fourth pacer is the ideal combination to give the main strike force the required rest.
 
Kroll said:
Its very very tricky to get an ideal 11 as openers are poor, Faheem is disliked by nearly all. Yasir and Shadab are poor quality spinners and the backup pacers are garbage.

1. Abid Ali
2. Shan Masood
3. Azhar Ali
4. Babar Azam
5. Asad Shafiq
6. Mohammad Rizwan
7. Shadab Khan
8. Faheem Ashraf
9. Shaheen Afridi
10. Mohammad Abbas
11. Naseem Shah
Click to expand...

I was always in the seat of shadab khan play but hes got battered in the warm up game so that and fahim opposition is up for debate not sure who they will pick
 
Shan masood
Abid ali
Azhar
Babar
Shafiq
Rizwan
Ifti (based on warm up and can bowl abit)
Yasir
Shaheen
Abbas
Naseem
 
Kroll said:
You mean Fawad? My fear is they might go with Iftikhar and Yasir as a fourth pacer is the ideal combination to give the main strike force the required rest.
Click to expand...

I think Iftikhar is in the hot seat unless Fawad does something special in the next warm-up match.
 
Realistically, i back our 3 pacers to take 75% of wickets. The biggest problem this team has with them is that they are all number 11's. Hence, we need a strong batting line up to support them and give them a breather.

Shan
Abid
Azhar
Babar
Shafiq
Iftikhar
Rizwan
Shadab
Abbas
Shaheen
Naseem

3 pacers, leg and off variety in spinners, and genuine batting until 8.

Yasir is dropped as he'd be too high at 8 considering how weak the tail is and i don't expect him to be that much more effective than Shadab.
 
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Saj said:
I think Iftikhar is in the hot seat unless Fawad does something special in the next warm-up match.
Click to expand...

I think my blood pressure will go through the roof if both Iftikhar and Yasir are selected. :livid:
 
Shan masood
Abid ali
Azhar
Babar
Shafiq
Rizwan
Ifti or shadab
Yasir
Shaheen
Abbas
Naseem

I think realistically just the 6th batsmen will be pakistans real tough decision to make.
 
Shadab and Amir have to play. By far the team that gives us the best chance:

Abid
Shan
Azhar
Babar
Shafiq
Rizwan
Shadab
Amir
Shaheen
Abbas
Naseem

The bowling would be incredibly strong and although the batting is weak - Shadab and Amir should be able to combine and do at least as well as Yasir and Iftikhar with the bat.
 
Forum363 said:
Shadab and Amir have to play. By far the team that gives us the best chance:

Abid
Shan
Azhar
Babar
Shafiq
Rizwan
Shadab
Amir
Shaheen
Abbas
Naseem

The bowling would be incredibly strong and although the batting is weak - Shadab and Amir should be able to combine and do at least as well as Yasir and Iftikhar with the bat.
Click to expand...

This lineup is terrific. These 4 quicks are as good as any in the world (2 left arm, 2 right arm) and can get 20 wickets between them. Somebody please convince Amir to make himself available for the tests and the selection committee to pick Amir.
 
Shah said:
This lineup is terrific. These 4 quicks are as good as any in the world (2 left arm, 2 right arm) and can get 20 wickets between them. Somebody please convince Amir to make himself available for the tests and the selection committee to pick Amir.
Click to expand...

Now that he’s joining the squad, it will be very easy to convince him. It’s just a case of everyone (especially Misbah and Waqar) swallowing their ego/ pride and coming up with a solution that benefits Pakistan.
 
The 11 are more or less confirmed...Shan masood despite his failures will be the opener...Abid Ali is injured so Imam or him fight it out
AZAR
BABAR
ASAD
Faddy has failed miserably so has Ifti but with i am sure they will go with him..
Rizwan
Yasir
Shaheen
Naseem
Abbas


I am not a betting man but i am 99% sure the above will be team on 5th August...
 
MMHS said:
I know he bowls, but PCT management doesn’t see it that way - they won’t factor that for selection. Otherwise, for a bowler with his FC & List A stats, he hasn’t bowled a single ball in three Tests so far. If Fakhar gives a dedicated try, not sure if Shadab can hold on to his spot in few months time - as a bowler.
Click to expand...

Pakistan coaches and management do not have the art of developing skills in players . Fakhar , Fawad both can bowl. Just the way India developed the bowling skills of Yuvraj , these two could have been developed as a part time bowler , but they never did it.
 
Kroll said:
Its very very tricky to get an ideal 11 as openers are poor, Faheem is disliked by nearly all. Yasir and Shadab are poor quality spinners and the backup pacers are garbage.

1. Abid Ali
2. Shan Masood
3. Azhar Ali
4. Babar Azam
5. Asad Shafiq
6. Mohammad Rizwan
7. Shadab Khan
8. Faheem Ashraf
9. Shaheen Afridi
10. Mohammad Abbas
11. Naseem Shah
Click to expand...

Good team!

I'd go with Imam over Abid and I highly doubt Misbah has the guts to drop Yasir.
 
Snowflake said:
Good team!

I'd go with Imam over Abid and I highly doubt Misbah has the guts to drop Yasir.
Click to expand...

I agree because I don't think there would be much between Abid and Imam. He might get his chance as Abid looks as though he's struggling with a few niggles.

Yes Yasir will play as he's a Misbah favourite. We could also be looking at Iftikhar.
 
I would play Fakhar. And have Mushie work hard with him to improve on bowling. If you guys recall Haris wasnt a real part timer until Hafeez got banned once and then Mushie worked in nets with Haris for a while and turned him into a decent part time bowler. If not Fakhar I would go for Haider Ali and make Yasir bowl longer spells with Shan Masood, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq chipping in with 15 overs combined daily.
 
Abid Ali
Azhar Ali
Babar
Asad
Fakhar
Haider Ali
Rizwan
Yasir Shah
Abbas
Shaheen
Naseem

Yasir will need to make sure he doesnt leak too many runs during his long spells.

Haider and Fakhar are far better talents than likes of ifti and fawad and going forward their attacking play in middle order can be really handy if they apply themselves and balance aggression with caution.

Ifti plays with very low hands and good bowlers will get him with back of a length bowling outside Asia and Fawad at 35 should be well past his peak
 
Abid Ali
Shan Masood
Azhar Ali
Babar Azam
Asad Shafiq
Mohammad Rizwan
Shadab Khan
Faheem Ashraf (replace with Amir if available)
Shaheen Afridi
Naseem Shah
Mohammad Abbas

In an ideal world you could play 4 seamers with Amir and have Haris Sohail at 6, but thats not happening. I think Shadab has real potential as a Test All-Rounder especially as a batsmen and I would be tempted to try and see how he does at 6 but Rizwan's form has been too good to justify playing Shadab ahead of him in the lineup. Faheem is easily the weakest link in this lineup, which is why having Amir available would be huge, but at least he has experience playing tests in England already so he might be alright.
 
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Pakistan need to play two all rounders at 6 and 7 , with Yasir at 8 who can get some runs too. Thus these 3 can contribute something with bat .

Shadab and Faheem can be tried as two all rounders.
 
When was the last time Pak won at OT? 2001?

Are the batsmen able to put up a score of at least 250 - that is the big question.

In an ideal world, I would have liked to have seen a different spinner given a go, but alas we are stuck with Yasir. I just hope he doesn't bowl as atrociously as he has in recent times.

One thing that does give me hope is that fact that England's batting doesn't exactly inspire confidence and so I think we can get them out, but our batsmen will need to stand up to have any chance of getting something from the series.
 
shady said:
Abid Ali
Shan Masood
Azhar Ali
Babar Azam
Asad Shafiq
Mohammad Rizwan
Shadab Khan
Faheem Ashraf (replace with Amir if available)
Shaheen Afridi
Naseem Shah
Mohammad Abbas

In an ideal world you could play 4 seamers with Amir and have Haris Sohail at 6, but thats not happening. I think Shadab has real potential as a Test All-Rounder especially as a batsmen and I would be tempted to try and see how he does at 6 but Rizwan's form has been too good to justify playing Shadab ahead of him in the lineup. Faheem is easily the weakest link in this lineup, which is why having Amir available would be huge, but at least he has experience playing tests in England already so he might be alright.
Click to expand...

I dont think amir is available for tests.. but if that is the point then sohail khan fits in as a wicket taking fourth seamer. waiting to see how he does in the next warm up...if he can get wickets in English conditions bowling at 120-130kph then surely will try him instead of faheem and if amir not available..Sohail can also bat a bit..
 
Abid Ali
Shan
Azhar Ali
Babar Azam
Haider Ali
Asad Shafiq
Rizwan
Yasir Shah
Abbas
Naseem Shah
Shaheen Afridi

If going for 5 bowlers then

Abid
Shan
Azhar
Babar
Asad
Rizwan
Shadab Khan
Sohail Khan (if Amir not available)
Abbas
Naseem
Shaheen
 
Imam ul-Haq
Shan Masood
Azhar Ali*
Babar Azam
Asad Shafiq
Mohammad Rizwan+
Imad Wasim
Faheem Ashraf
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Mohammad Abbas
Naseem Shah
 
Forum363 said:
Shadab and Amir have to play. By far the team that gives us the best chance:

Abid
Shan
Azhar
Babar
Shafiq
Rizwan
Shadab
Amir
Shaheen
Abbas
Naseem

The bowling would be incredibly strong and although the batting is weak - Shadab and Amir should be able to combine and do at least as well as Yasir and Iftikhar with the bat.
Click to expand...

I really like this team. The pace attack is phenomenal.

The batting is very good too and I don't think it can get better, without sacrificing the bowling. Shadab has looked good, scored in the warmups and has improved quite a lot as a batsman (I think he can and will improve even further), plus he gives you a fifth bowling option.

I'll give him the today's match too before judging his bowling, Fakhar had a freak day and that coild easily have been Yasir if he was bowling. He is not as bad as his figures in the previous game.

If it's a spinning wicket, pick Yasir but apart from that he shouldn't be playing especially if you can work around him to get the overs in.

Fawad is in all sorts and Iftikhar has no idea how to bat in test matches. So, picking Shadab is not as bad as it looks like unless they are planning on playing Haider which would improve the batting lineup considerably.
 
Kroll said:
I agree because I don't think there would be much between Abid and Imam. He might get his chance as Abid looks as though he's struggling with a few niggles.

Yes Yasir will play as he's a Misbah favourite. We could also be looking at Iftikhar.
Click to expand...

If Iftikhar plays, we do not deserve to win. With Misbah in charge, it's just so hard to get behind this team.
 
Should Sohail Khan start ahead of Mohammed Abbas, based on the current form?

Abbas has been pretty bad off late. Sohail Khan has been bowling really well, and already has two five fors on this tour

Also can swing his bat as compared to Abbas.

It’s insane not to pick him ahead of Abbas, especially based on the current form


I’d personally go with this 11

Batting is fixed, even though the openers have failed

Abid
Shan
Azhar *
Babar
Asad
Rizwan +
Iftikhar/ Shadab/ Faheem (based on the pitch)
Yasir
Sohail
Shaheen
Naseem
 
Babar_Azam_fan said:
Abbas has been pretty bad off late. Sohail Khan has been bowling really well, and already has two five fors on this tour

Also can swing his bat as compared to Abbas.

It’s insane not to pick him ahead of Abbas, especially based on the current form


I’d personally go with this 11

Batting is fixed, even though the openers have failed

Abid
Shan
Azhar *
Babar
Asad
Rizwan +
Iftikhar/ Shadab/ Faheem (based on the pitch)
Yasir
Sohail
Shaheen
Naseem
Click to expand...

Let's see how he does in the second ininings first
 
Babar_Azam_fan said:
Matches are set in the first innings. If he can do it in the first innings, he can huff and puff and bowl in the second innings, as it’s a 5 bowler strategy
Click to expand...

What if they dont go with 5 bowler strategy and he can only play if abbas is dropped it injuried
 
Sohail was fantastic but Abbas himself have been pretty decent and as per his stats have bowled with decent control through out the warm ups. Was decent in last two test series as well. Averages 20 in tests so I dont think so he should be dropped.

To give an example; I dont think Cummins is gonna get dropped by Aus to replace with a bowler taking 5fer in a warm up. Abbas is our most successful experienced pacer in tests and should be starting.

If Pak decides to go with 4 man pace attack then Sohail automatically comes in 4 Yasir.
 
Imran Khan took a fifer as well in the warm up match in Aus but couldnt replicate that in the test match. Sohail is a skillful bowler and can do great on his day but he shoudlnt be selected over Abbas in my opinion.
 
Titan24 said:
Imran Khan took a fifer as well in the warm up match in Aus but couldnt replicate that in the test match. Sohail is a skillful bowler and can do great on his day but he shoudlnt be selected over Abbas in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Also Sohail Khan is not so effective in the second inning as he is in the first inning. On his day he is fantastic in the first inning but when its the second inning he doesnt take lots of wickets.
You can see in the first warm up match, how he picked up five wickets in the first inning but when second inning came he got no wickets and his economy was expensive.
Don't get me wrong he is a good bowler as you have said but we just have to see in the second inning of this current warm up match.
 
Dropping Abbas for Sohail Khan isn't justified at this point. Sohail Khan has only been performing in a few warm up matches, it isn't enough to disrupt our main 3.

I'd go with Yasir at 8 and play Iftikhar for his decent batting and part time capabilities.
 
My playing eleven in ist test....
Abid Ali
Imam ul Haq
Babar Azam
Azhar Ali
Mohammad Rizwan
Hyder Ali
Shadab Khan
Sohail Khan
Shaheen
Naseem shah
M Abbas
.....
12th man
Yasir Shah
 
With the openers, you have to pick Fakhar given that he scored 99 in the last game and is the only opener to show form.

Fawad Alam has not made his case (yet). Neither has Iftikar but he's been marginally better.

Sohail Khan has made a very strong case for selection. He is old yes but he's pitching the ball up and getting a lot of swing.

Shadab has not made a case for selection and so despite Yasir's shortcomings, Yasir will play.

So taking all that into account, my playing XI would be:

Fakhar Zaman
Shan Masood - I've no fan but neither Abid nor Imam have made a case
Azhar Ali
Barbar Azam
Asad Shafiq
Mohammed Rizwan
Yasir Ali
Sohail Khan
Mohammed Abas
Shaheen Sha Afridi
Naseem Shah

I accept that we are a batsman short but as I say, neither Fawad nor Iftikhar have made a case. Plus I feel a decent extra bowler adds more value to our team than an average batsman.

The tail is very long indeed but that will be the case no matter what. Abbas, Naseem and Afridi cannot bat. It's just an unfortunate fact.
 
The batting display I have seen so far (apart from the second innings of last game), I am not sure if extra batsman can add much value to PAK batting - the only way PAK to make any impact with bat is Babar performing something like what Lara used to do in his last few series for WIN; then others can chip in.

In that regard, I think better combination can be to load the side with bowlers, five of them and keep constant pressure on English batting, which itself is extremely shaky. Despite a rare contribution from Butler & Broad, they could manage 369, against quite a flat WIN bowling, which actually suggests what PAK can do with all out, relentless attack.

Ideally, best combination could have been Shadab & Faheem + 3 specialist bowlers, but that can end up with a leg-spinner with zero bowling impact and a support pacer who might not score more than any of the strike pacers. I won’t get into that, because I have zero confidence on Shadab to deliver with bat, let alone ball; rather Faheem can be better deal because he can at least give 35 decent, tight overs even if he doesn’t score much.

I’ll pick both Yasir & Sohail + three pacers and back that Babar will bring his A game - anything over 450 in combined innings, PAK is in the game; make it 575+, nine times out of ten, Poms won’t win that Test. It’s a trade off between 25, may be 35 extra runs (between the pairs of Shadab/Faheem vs Yasir/Sohail; not sure though Yasir averaged 48 in Australia and Sohail can connect golf swings better than Faheem), but the bowling impact is massive. Five bowlers will allow Sohail to focus on first innings and Yasir on second while the other three can share load equally in both innings. Sohail is moving the new ball late and he is probably the best PAK pacer with new ball, but doesn’t have the legs for 40 overs in the game - his best out put can be 17+ 12 overs out of 200, and most of those 29 overs with new ball, something that has been a problem for PAK attack. Yasir can do the opposite.

It’s not going to be a batting game for either side, rather it’s a game of taking 20 wickets for lesser cost - unless it rains for significant period, I don’t see any Test to reach day 5 and odd one can finish inside 3.

Two of Shan, Abid, Fakhar
*Azhar
Babar
Asad
+Rizwan
Sohail
Yasir
Shaheen
Abbas
Naseem

- Keep attacking relentlessly and take your catches; it can happen.
 
Warm up matches are there for players to acclimatise and get used to the conditions .

A player can’t be dropped just because he has not fared that well in a couple of warm up games, if their recent test form has been good.

For example Abid Ali, and Shan Masood. They deserve a good run in the test side because their recent test form has been very good . They may have struggled in the warm ups , but that does not merit being dropped . It’s plain stupid . It does not really matter what fakhar and imam have done in the warm ups. Their should be consistency in selection .

People are making fantasy lineups out of these warm ups. In a normal situation their would have been a 16 man squad . The extra players is to compensate for the lack of county games .

For me the onkt change from the last test is due to Haris not being here . This means either fawad/ ifti get in or we go for an all rounder .
 
1. Abid Ali
2. Shan Masood
3. Azhar Ali
4. Babar Azam
5. Asad Shafiq
6. Mohamad Rizwan
7. Faheem Ashraf
8. Yasir Shah
9. Shaheen Afridi
10. Mohammad Abbas
11. Naseem Shah

Hopefully they won't make the mistake of playing Sohail or Iftikhar
 
GreenKhan said:
Warm up matches are there for players to acclimatise and get used to the conditions .

A player can’t be dropped just because he has not fared that well in a couple of warm up games, if their recent test form has been good.

For example Abid Ali, and Shan Masood. They deserve a good run in the test side because their recent test form has been very good . They may have struggled in the warm ups , but that does not merit being dropped . It’s plain stupid . It does not really matter what fakhar and imam have done in the warm ups. Their should be consistency in selection .

People are making fantasy lineups out of these warm ups. In a normal situation their would have been a 16 man squad . The extra players is to compensate for the lack of county games .

For me the onkt change from the last test is due to Haris not being here . This means either fawad/ ifti get in or we go for an all rounder .
Click to expand...

Yes but it sounds so much like Pakistan to go with Sohail and drop one of the front-line pacers. Nevermind the fact that he will be playing against a far superior batting line-up (especially in those conditions) than the one he got all his wickets against.

I could also see them playing Iftikhar (not at all cut out for test cricket) or Imam over one of the openers who have been in red hot form.
 
Last edited:
Usman said:
With the openers, you have to pick Fakhar given that he scored 99 in the last game and is the only opener to show form.

Fawad Alam has not made his case (yet). Neither has Iftikar but he's been marginally better.

Sohail Khan has made a very strong case for selection. He is old yes but he's pitching the ball up and getting a lot of swing.

Shadab has not made a case for selection and so despite Yasir's shortcomings, Yasir will play.

So taking all that into account, my playing XI would be:

Fakhar Zaman
Shan Masood - I've no fan but neither Abid nor Imam have made a case
Azhar Ali
Barbar Azam
Asad Shafiq
Mohammed Rizwan
Yasir Ali
Sohail Khan
Mohammed Abas
Shaheen Sha Afridi
Naseem Shah

I accept that we are a batsman short but as I say, neither Fawad nor Iftikhar have made a case. Plus I feel a decent extra bowler adds more value to our team than an average batsman.

The tail is very long indeed but that will be the case no matter what. Abbas, Naseem and Afridi cannot bat. It's just an unfortunate fact.
Click to expand...

There's no way that playing these 5 bowlers compensate for a tail that starts at 7. I'd understand if we were talking about getting top top bowlers into the XI at any cost, but Yasir and Sohail Khan are not of that ilk.

Realistically we know one of Faheem, Shadab or Iftikhar will definitely play.
 
hitthestump said:
There's no way that playing these 5 bowlers compensate for a tail that starts at 7. I'd understand if we were talking about getting top top bowlers into the XI at any cost, but Yasir and Sohail Khan are not of that ilk.

Realistically we know one of Faheem, Shadab or Iftikhar will definitely play.
Click to expand...

I agree that this is less than ideal. However, playing Faheem is not the answer because he isn't actually any good with the bat - he is a tailender who sometimes comes off, similar to Yasir and Sohail.

Shadab has been going for 6/7 an over against the mighty Azhar Ali. I'm scared he'll go for 30 an over against Stokes!

And Ifti uncle is 29 alright, as in 29 years beyond the age at which he should have retired. He's done nothing in any of the practice games to warrant selection.

So the choice is this - go with 5 bowlers and hope to get England out cheaper or go with four bowlers and play an extra rubbish batsman such as Ifti who adds no value to the team, or play Shadab/Faheem neither of whom are likely to have a positive impact on the game.

I'd be leaning the other way if Harris Sohail was on this tour. He would play and we'd go in with 4 bowlers no doubt. But Ifti just isn't even in the same league.
 
Unfortunately our two players who are highly rated by pak experts should not have been in our team..
1) Azhar Ali..... waste of spot, and advance wicket guaranteed to England. But he is kaptaaan and can't be dropped. And also he not Alester cook, who for his bad series will voluntarily submit his retirement.. No no this will not happen, this guy is going to torture us for next 5 to 6 years..
2) Asad Shafiq.... About this man i will make a prediction that in 6 innings he will fail in five innings, and will score some meaningless runs in last inning in order to secure place for next series...
 
GreenKhan said:
Warm up matches are there for players to acclimatise and get used to the conditions .

A player can’t be dropped just because he has not fared that well in a couple of warm up games, if their recent test form has been good.

For example Abid Ali, and Shan Masood. They deserve a good run in the test side because their recent test form has been very good . They may have struggled in the warm ups , but that does not merit being dropped . It’s plain stupid . It does not really matter what fakhar and imam have done in the warm ups. Their should be consistency in selection .

People are making fantasy lineups out of these warm ups. In a normal situation their would have been a 16 man squad . The extra players is to compensate for the lack of county games .

For me the onkt change from the last test is due to Haris not being here . This means either fawad/ ifti get in or we go for an all rounder .
Click to expand...

Consistanly in selection guess azhar and shafiq should play for next 5 years
 
01. Shan Masood
02. Abid Ali
03. Azhar Ali (C)
04. Babar Azam
05. Iftikhar Ahmad
06. Asad Shafiq
07. Mohammad Rizwan (wk)
08. Sohail Khan
09. Mohammad Amir
10. Mohammad Abas
11. Shaheen Shah Afridi

No need to play a spinner, Iftikhar Ahmad can do the job here.
 
I was optimistic coming into this, but I reckon the think tank Will get about 3-4 selections incorrect.

Imam should be ahead of Abid imo
Number 6 and 8
And then Azhar Ali is borderline.

Rest of the team I am happy and excited about
 
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