Fakhar Zaman : Have we found the new Sharjeel Khan?

[Khwaja]

He's our Sharjeel for now.. when Sharjeel returns he will be Sharjeel partner.

 

[ExpressPacer]

He's our Sharjeel for now.. when Sharjeel returns he will be Sharjeel partner.

That's IF he returns..

 

[Usman Chadda]

Fakhar will face a stern test from Malinga. Very difficult to counter if you've never faced him before. Rest of the Sri Lankan bowling, except Sandakan maybe, is not that flash and should be manageable.

 

[Ilan Bluestone]

One match.

It has been one match and we are comparing A player to B player?

Do people recall three consecutive fifties from Sohaib Maqsood and how he was the next Inzi?

A couple of hundreds against India and Nasir Jamshed was the next Saeed Anwar?

Can we just watch a player play for a little while before we make boxes for them and then disappointment to follow?

 

[AZulfi]

Too early to say..

 

[Khwaja]

He can only improve

 

[Khwaja]

He's playing tomorrow against SL.. INSHALLAH he will perform.

 

[Wowqar]

Sharjeel needs to get on a treadmill. I love his batting, but the guy looks like a blob.

Fakhar Zaman though I approve of. Let's hope he smashes a century today.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Sharjeel needs to get on a treadmill. I love his batting, but the guy looks like a blob.

Fakhar Zaman though I approve of. Let's hope he smashes a century today.

Sharjeel's got bodyfat but he's solid. He doesn't need a treadmill, he needs sprint training.

 

[kingusama92]

Sharjeel needs to get on a treadmill. I love his batting, but the guy looks like a blob.

Fakhar Zaman though I approve of. Let's hope he smashes a century today.

He was showing progress according to the fitness tests they ran since he was selected. That's all you can ask for from a player.

Definitely not an Umar Akmal type abomination.

 

[Khwaja]

my apologies..
im sure sharjeel would be loosing a lot of weight in this Ramadan if he was still playing for Pakistan..

 

[PakLFC]

Hopefully we have not found the new obese and unfit Sharjeel Khan. What we need is the new Fakhar Zaman. What is this obsession with finding the new this or that?

 

[Khwaja]

Fakhar Zaman at the crease in his 2nd ODI...

*grab popcorn (for iftar if you're in Pakistan)

 

[Mamoon]

Good intent is all we need at this point. Someone has to counter Azhar, Hafeez and Babar.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Good intent is all we need at this point. Someone has to counter Azhar, Hafeez and Babar.

Don't pair Babar up with azhar. Yes he has disappointed a bit in this tournament so far but I assure you he will come good. He does need to show more intent but before this tournament even in England he would try to score from ball 1

 

[Runner Up]

Why Sharjeel Khan? what is so special about Sharjeel what special has he done for Pakistan? Why not Saeed Anwar or at least Amir Sohil?

 

[Mamoon]

Don't pair Babar up with azhar. Yes he has disappointed a bit in this tournament so far but I assure you he will come good. He does need to show more intent but before this tournament even in England he would try to score from ball 1

He has been in the same mode as Azhar, Hafeez and Shehzad in this tournament. I'm not saying he won't come good, but my statement was in context of this tournament.

 

[pillionrider]

Shehzad might come in for Azhar, but no way ever should Shehzad ever replace Fakhar

 

[CadPakFan]

Impressive so far but it's unfair to hype him up this early.

 

[sam_ahm]

I'd love to see Sherjeel and Falhar, but if Sherjeel is found guilty and gets banned then open with Kamran and Fakhar... Kami is still better than Azhar and Shehzad, or open with Sarfraz and play Umar Akmal in the middle order.

 

[shaz619]

[MENTION=43583]KingKhanWC[/MENTION] are you watching the game? what do you think now?

 

[Khwaja]

Maiden quick half century. MASHALLAH

 

[Lion]

Watching him play makes it seem for the first time in a long time that the pakistan batting has some balls....

 

[pillionrider]

Gone but well played.

He has the aggression, freedom and insanity that you associate with a Pakistani opener.

 

[Mamoon]

Weak against the short ball, but at least he is prepared to give it a good whack when the ball is in his zone.

 

[Hamza_]

I'd love to see Sherjeel and Falhar, but if Sherjeel is found guilty and gets banned then open with Kamran and Fakhar... Kami is still better than Azhar and Shehzad, or open with Sarfraz and play Umar Akmal in the middle order.

We should get in Sahibzada Farhan. Why that Kami Akmal again?

 

[Hamza_]

Weak against the short ball, but at least he is prepared to give it a good whack when the ball is in his zone.

[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] time to get Farhan opening with him after him. Sahibzada Farhan is a quality player

 

[Khwaja]

Management should do a 1.5 hour session of short balls to Fakhar.. and some practice on avoiding run outs.. he's a great player but need get rid of weaknesses

 

[Mamoon]

[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] time to get Farhan opening with him after him. Sahibzada Farhan is a quality player

Too early.

 

[Hawkeye]

Let's just ignore the flaws for now because he goes after the ball, and that's what we need!!!

He may eventually find more difficult to score with time when teams bowl at his body or bowl short. Not giving room.

But maybe he'll overcome that weakness too with time.

Need a good partner for him, get rid of Azhar.

 

[Haroon786]

Weak against the short ball, but at least he is prepared to give it a good whack when the ball is in his zone.

Would call that poor shot selection rather than a weakness against the short ball because you shouldn't be pulling a head high short ball.

 

[StreetSmart]

to sum-up, Sharjeel is weak on offside and Fakhar is useless on legside let's see if he improves

 

[Hamza_]

Too early.

I don't think so. And in these Pakistani domestics he will only regress, Better get him in with Grant Flower.

We all saw how Sharjeel was shaping up, Farhan plays Short Ball and Cut very well.

 

[Syed1]

to sum-up, Sharjeel is weak on offside and Fakhar is useless on legside let's see if he improves

Bro... Fakhar was labelled as legside hack just two matches ago

 

[Khwaja]

Sharjeel is still one the best power hitters Pakistan has ever produced in history... Sharjeel style and rythm is similar to Afridi.. while Fakhar is a stroke master and plays every shot in the book along the ground, over the ground similar to the style of Saeed Anwar... Both Sharjeel and Fakhar are future of Pakistan. when these two play together, we can make great scores like 80/0 after 10 overs... and when Babar walks to the crease he can play freely without pressure... and so on and so forth for every batsmen in lineup... Total should be 300+ In ideal first innings batting situation

 

[mak36]

Surely all the doubters are convinced that he is now worth a run in the ODI/T20I? A couple of observations:

1. Very strong on the offside, particularly if there is any width.
2. Aggressive intent- both in terms of his boundaries but also his strike rotation- played very few dot balls.
3. His shot selection was a good mix of power and placement.
4. His strike rate will put less pressure on Babar Azam (who can take a few deliveries to get started).

However:

1. Needs to develop his leg-side game
2. Struggled against the short ball, especially when it was targeted at the body- this was the biggest flaw of his game. The immediate concern (if Pakistan get through to the semi-finals) will be England's quicks- I have no doubt they will pepper him with short balls.

 

[Mamoon]

Would call that poor shot selection rather than a weakness against the short ball because you shouldn't be pulling a head high short ball.

Got hit on the head twice against SA and crouches a bit too much.

 

[big_gamer007]

He really needs to practice against fast short pitched bowling, he is not a newbie now and teams will know of his weakness and exploit it.. Grant flower needs to work with him, he's a good talent and will only get better if worked properly by coaches

 

[srh]

Pakistan is depending too much on him already. Among the top 4 batsmen he is the only one who rotates the strike

 

[Haroon786]

Got hit on the head twice against SA and crouches a bit too much.

Fair enough but a key element of batsmanship is also knowing what shot not to play.

 

[SpiritOf1903]

Selfish batting

 

[mak36]

Fair enough but a key element of batsmanship is also knowing what shot not to play.

Part of me thinks he took on the shot to try and prove that he does not have a weakness against body-targeted short balls.

 

[StreetSmart]

Bro... Fakhar was labelled as legside hack just two matches ago

No who have seen Fakhar they know he is not very good on the leg side, I never said worst. and forget about PP label they made Umer Akmal world beater

 

[Titan24]

No who have seen Fakhar they know he is not very good on the leg side, I never said worst. and forget about PP label they made Umer Akmal world beater

He isnt bad on legside but struggled a bit against short ball although I think he can easily overcome it like Sharjeel overcame the offside weakness.

 

[cricketInsight]

England will target his weakness need to develop his short ball game.

 

[the7s]

I Can't wait to see Sharjeel & Fakhar opening innings together.
I would say Fakhar reminds me of Amir Sohail.

 

[KingKhanWC]

[MENTION=43583]KingKhanWC[/MENTION] are you watching the game? what do you think now?

He batted really well today, hits the ball very hard and can defend when it's not there to hit.

He will be targeted by the short ball by the opposition, doesn't look very comfortable and loves to get bat and ball. Still a lot of improvement needed but looks better than his previous outings.

 

[StreetSmart]

He isnt bad on legside but struggled a bit against short ball although I think he can easily overcome it like Sharjeel overcame the offside weakness.

Thank you, this is what I was trying to say his issues can be overcome just imagine once his game on short ball is good what he is going to do

 

[shaz619]

He batted really well today, hits the ball very hard and can defend when it's not there to hit.

He will be targeted by the short ball by the opposition, doesn't look very comfortable and loves to get bat and ball. Still a lot of improvement needed but looks better than his previous outings.

Good signs, he strikes the ball well, rotates the strike and doesn't try to smash every ball like a brainless bat but his match awareness is good. Area of concern is the short ball and it's something he'll need to work on tomorrow because Wood will run in hard and target him with his 90mph thunder bolts, obviously don't expect a drastic change so soon but am positive that he will get better so long he is given a long rope and the coach's work with him extensively, that along with international exposure should elevate his development hopefully but we the fans also need to support the guy! I admire his intent and we should give our newbies a chance, likes of Hafeez have been trolling us since the dawn of time! Fakhar is for the many, not the few!

 

[Arham_PakFan]

The signs are there.Sharjeel was also a bit of a hack when he first emerged in internationals.Had improved miles upon his return,and was doing well.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Also good to see is the fact that he takes a lot of singles.

 

[Major]

yeh yeh

3 years from now, we would be bashing him.

I have no hope from our young batsmen. They start of great but fall real hard.

Babar Azam is going down the same road.

 

[Madplayer]

He really needs to practice against fast short pitched bowling, he is not a newbie now and teams will know of his weakness and exploit it.. Grant flower needs to work with him, he's a good talent and will only get better if worked properly by coaches

can you name more than 3-4 players in the world who are comfortable with fast short pitch bowling?
Not saying he doesnt need to improve but people are making it too big a deal.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Good signs, he strikes the ball well, rotates the strike and doesn't try to smash every ball like a brainless bat but his match awareness is good. Area of concern is the short ball and it's something he'll need to work on tomorrow because Wood will run in hard and target him with his 90mph thunder bolts, obviously don't expect a drastic change so soon but am positive that he will get better so long he is given a long rope and the coach's work with him extensively, that along with international exposure should elevate his development hopefully but we the fans also need to support the guy! I admire his intent and we should give our newbies a chance, likes of Hafeez have been trolling us since the dawn of time! Fakhar is for the many, not the few!

Agreed, how he handles Wood will show us a lot about him. If I was Mickey Arthur I would tell him to duck the short balls unless they are below shoulder height. There is no need to go after short balls as an opener. I like his confidence, no fear against any bowler and I expect this to continue v England.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Agreed, how he handles Wood will show us a lot about him. If I was Mickey Arthur I would tell him to duck the short balls unless they are below shoulder height. There is no need to go after short balls as an opener. I like his confidence, no fear against any bowler and I expect this to continue v England.

I think there's virtually no chance he'll score against England, they have the bowlers to get the ball in short outside off stump which seems to be a real blind spot for Fakhar. That's the difference with Sharjeel who I think is impossible to stop once he gets going. Even so, Fakhar has some good shots on the offside, and he rotates the strike well. Even if he fails in the semi final he should be given the openers slot for a while now because he is an attacking batsman. Pakistan is very short on those so we have to appreciate them when we get them.

 

[Khwaja]

If Fakhar puts a few short balls to the rope.. those England bowlers will stop bowling them.. let's hope for the best.

 

[shaz619]

Agreed, how he handles Wood will show us a lot about him. If I was Mickey Arthur I would tell him to duck the short balls unless they are below shoulder height. There is no need to go after short balls as an opener. I like his confidence, no fear against any bowler and I expect this to continue v England.

Problem is instinctively as a bat you can feel the need to lash out at those short pitched deliveries aimed at your head, it's a great skill in itself leaving those deliveries! Andy Flower was the master of it and Wasim found it very challenging bowling to him, Flower was the type of player that would force to pitch it up. I don't expect Fakhar to master that skill so soon or get himself in a better position by Wednesday but they should have him in the nets tomorrow practising against the short pitched stuff and Amir can bowl mini bursts at him as well to help out. But either way regardless of how he comes out that match, the team and fans should support his potential

 

[KingKhanWC]

Problem is instinctively as a bat you can feel the need to lash out at those short pitched deliveries aimed at your head, it's a great skill in itself leaving those deliveries! Andy Flower was the master of it and Wasim found it very challenging bowling to him, Flower was the type of player that would force to pitch it up. I don't expect Fakhar to master that skill so soon or get himself in a better position by Wednesday but they should have him in the nets tomorrow practising against the short pitched stuff and Amir can bowl mini bursts at him as well to help out. But either way regardless of how he comes out that match, the team and fans should support his potential

Cardiff has slightly longish boundaries square on either side which helps the bowlers. England will bang it in short all day unless they see some seam and swing but unlikely. He has to play those under his shoulder and use the nets to keep them down on the ground. If he can work out which ones to hit and which ones to leave he will be in a good state to take on the English bowlers.

It's just really unfortunate for him to have Azhar at the other end blocking them. Azhar needs to score a little quicker, will take the pressure off him. The fans have clearly taken him as an exciting prospect so will get a lot of support. I think the Pak fans could match the English fans in terms of numbers on Wednesday.

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

He will be worked over by England but looking forward he can improve. I remember Shafiq getting bounced out reputedly in Bangladesh in all places.

Main thing is beggars can't be choosers, it's good we have found someone with intent

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

Too early.

Yeah but we are desperate and I don't see how domestic cricket will do him much good.
We have a series against SL next, perfect time to introduce, especially if Shazaib/sharjeel are banned

 

[ar2020]

I really miss Sharjeel. Him and Fakhir could give us 100/1 starts within 10 overs.

 

[Hasan123]

Sharjeel and Fakhar would have been a entertaining opening pair.

 

[Khwaja]

Fakhar is at the crease in 10 mins time. This time against England in his 3rd ODI.

 

[Wowqar]

Sharjeel will be back I'm pretty sure.

 

[Khwaja]

Wow! Predictions from this thread are absolutely RIGHT!! Wood bowled a short delivery, Fakhar went after it and hit it for six!! Read my 2nd last post..

 

[The_Odd_One]

A massive, massive upgrade over Shehzad. Had Sharjeel not sold out, he and Fakhar could have been the modern ODI opening pair Pakistan has been looking for so many years.

 

[Amirforpresident]

Guys, does this prove there is still some talent left in Pakistan. We would never have come this far without Hasan, Shadab, Fakhar, fahim, Imad.

 

[QalandarFan]

Guys, does this prove there is still some talent left in Pakistan. We would never have come this far without Hasan, Shadab, Fakhar, fahim, Imad.

It's all the younger players they are playing with swag and aggression. They have absolutely outclassed England.

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

Don't think he gets enough credit for our turnaround, puts all the seniors to shame

also I like that he isn't bad at all at rotating strike

 

[Khwaja]

Fakhar is about to bat in the most biggest game of his life.... the CT 17 Final against India.... let's see how he performs!!!

 

[adzzy786]

Really need him to fire today In'sha'Allah

 

[Khwaja]

INSHALLAH... in the month of Ramadan.. maybe Laylat ul Qadr.. he will score good runs INSHALlAH

 

[Sam18696]

Please let some kind of a miracle happen today.

 

[fawad_wellwisher]

How many shots does he play with his helmet?

 

[Hamza_]

How many shots does he play with his helmet?

Pull shot

 

[joly]

Fakhar has been made to look like a tail ender by India pacers today but it is a miracle he is still batting.Could be out 5-6 times. May ed up getting a 100

 

[fawad_wellwisher]

Indians have done their homework against him today.

 

[fawad_wellwisher]

Fakhar has been made to look like a tail ender by India pacers today but it is a miracle he is still batting.Could be out 5-6 times. May ed up getting a 100

Yes but fortune favors the brave. He has to now settle down and look to score big.

 

[Hamza_]

Nowhere near Sharjeel Level.

 

[idrizzy]

Yes but fortune favors the brave. He has to now settle down and look to score big.

He won't stay in a hole just because the powerplay has finished, he'll still need to carry on. His SR is about 70, I think it'll only get higher.