[EXCLUSIVE] "Leaving out big players worked for Pakistan": David Lloyd

[FearlessRoar]

Pakistan have clawed their way back into the Test series against England, levelling it 1-1. With the third and final Test starting tomorrow in Rawalpindi, there's a lot of buzz about the pitch conditions, England's potential response, and whether Pakistan can clinch the series.

To preview the series decider, Saj is joined by former England and Lancashire legend, David 'Bumble' Lloyd. Together, they discuss Pakistan's victory in the second Test, England's shortcomings, and what to expect from the Rawalpindi pitch.

Bumble also offers valuable insights and praises the contributions of Pakistan's spin duo, Noman Ali and Sajid Khan.

Topics Covered in this Interview:

• How to use home conditions to your advantage
• PCB's decision to leave out big players like Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Naseem Shah
• Noman Ali’s growth and maturity with the ball
• England's ultra-aggressive approach

Watch full interview here:

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Lol...it appears Lloyd had a liking for selection committee's new approach. His critical comments on Bazball ultra aggressive nature just highlight the flaw of this monotonous approach

 

[Asad T]

interesting to see how calm England is. Lose a Test and they don't panic, just "forget about it and move on" as Bumble says.
Pakistan in the meantime, get so flustered

 

[BouncerGuy]

I agree. Leaving big players out has worked. When big players are out of form for years, then they deserve to be rested for a series or 2.

 

[Asad T]

Who needs Shaheen and Naseem hah

 

[shaz619]

Bumble is on the right side of history

 

[Snowflake]

He's correct, but it is critical to understand that this is Pakistan cricket. This was just a knee-jerk desperate attempt to stop the losing streak. More like a stopgap arrangement. Come the next tour and we will see these "big players" walk into this side and we will be back to square one.

It's not a strategy or a vision based on which Pak took this decision. It's only temporary.

 

[emranabbas]

He's correct, but it is critical to understand that this is Pakistan cricket. This was just a knee-jerk desperate attempt to stop the losing streak. More like a stopgap arrangement. Come the next tour and we will see these "big players" walk into this side and we will be back to square one.

It's not a strategy or a vision based on which Pak took this decision. It's only temporary.

have a listen to aqib's interview before the start of the 2nd test

 

[Savak]

And Gillespie is angry because he was not allowed to retain Babar, Shaheen, Nasim.

 

[BouncerGuy]

And Gillespie is angry because he was not allowed to retain Babar, Shaheen, Nasim.

Naseem was too much but i think they made a decision to make spin wickets that is why they rested him as well.

It was well needed

 

[Stewie]

He's correct, but it is critical to understand that this is Pakistan cricket. This was just a knee-jerk desperate attempt to stop the losing streak. More like a stopgap arrangement. Come the next tour and we will see these "big players" walk into this side and we will be back to square one.

It's not a strategy or a vision based on which Pak took this decision. It's only temporary.

I don’t think we are asking the right questions here. It’s not about who should play here. The question should be what sort of wickets should we prepare for home tests.

Some genius in the past came up with the brilliant idea of using flat pancakes when we had the likes of Shaheen, Naseem, etc are our disposal. Can you really blame their lack of performance?

I would say Babar was rightly rested here due to poor form but you can’t blame the pace attack if you don’t give them a decent wicket to bowl on.

 

[BouncerGuy]

I don’t think we are asking the right questions here. It’s not about who should play here. The question should be what sort of wickets should we prepare for home tests.

Some genius in the past came up with the brilliant idea of using flat pancakes when we had the likes of Shaheen, Naseem, etc are our disposal. Can you really blame their lack of performance?

I would say Babar was rightly rested here due to poor form but you can’t blame the pace attack if you don’t give them a decent wicket to bowl on.

That is a fair point. Naseem was rested which was not really needed but Shaheen and Babar have been out of form for couple of years now. Not just red-ball, but Shaheen was a failure in white ball too.

 

[Snowflake]

I don’t think we are asking the right questions here. It’s not about who should play here. The question should be what sort of wickets should we prepare for home tests.

Some genius in the past came up with the brilliant idea of using flat pancakes when we had the likes of Shaheen, Naseem, etc are our disposal. Can you really blame their lack of performance?

I would say Babar was rightly rested here due to poor form but you can’t blame the pace attack if you don’t give them a decent wicket to bowl on.

Hasn’t Pak historically produced roads?

Yet we managed to get performances out of fast bowlers. Wasim/Waqar/Shoaib/Asif never bowled on greenbeds at home. It’s about skill and fitness - both lacking in this current lot

 

[Stewie]

Hasn’t Pak historically produced roads?

Yet we managed to get performances out of fast bowlers. Wasim/Waqar/Shoaib/Asif never bowled on greenbeds at home. It’s about skill and fitness - both lacking in this current lot

Cricket has changed. Batsmen are more aggressive and our long format cricket has not been the same either since the late 90s and early to mid 2000s.
What we are seeing now is a gradual decline of test match fast bowling in pakistan due to this and a number of other factors.

We relied too much on spinners when we had Ajmal, etc. and after Asif, Shoaib and Amir. Till their time we were doing fine. And wickets were not absolute roads like we produced recently, that’s another misconception. Our grounds were not up to scratch during the absence of international cricket at home and on top of that we did not persist with fast bowlers. You need simply look at number of test matches our fast bowlers have played since Asif, Gul, Shoaib, etc.

We had ABBAs who did good but then we unceremoniously dumped him.

So I would say 1. We definitely need seam friendly pitches for our fast bowlers to perform, not suggesting we produce absolutely green tops but at least give them something to work with and 2. The fast bowlers need to play more domestic red ball cricket and be persisted with.

Noman and Sajid are great but making spin friendly pitches with all our eggs in the basket of two spinners is not a long term solution. We should ideally have two fast bowlers, two spinners and one all rounder in the team and have pitches that will help seam and spin.

Bottom line is Pakistan never won consistently and imposed itself in world cricket on the back of massive batting performances, at home or abroad. We always won test matches due to our bowling and we need to give them the best possible shot at success. Make them play more first class and produce sporting tracks. We might struggle at first but I promise you that is the only long term success strategy. What Aqib Javed is advocating for is very short term and he is suffering from tunnel vision. When visiting teams figure out how to bat against our spinners and if they get injured or lose form we will be behind the right ball again.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Bold decisions are difficult to make but on majority of occasions such decisions turn out to be worth it.