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Fakhar Zaman vs Sharjeel Khan - Who is the better opener?

pakistanigoneaussie said:
There is a lot of revisionism in this thread

Fahkar has made his place in Pak history but it’s clear Sharjeel had more ability
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Even a layman could see that Fakhar is overall better batsman than Sharjeel. Sure the latter can hit longer sixes and play at a faster rate, but Fakhar has both off-side and leg-side game can rotate the strike with ease and on top of that isn't a complete dud against spin like Sharjeel.

And one thing is not stressed enough, Fakhar is one of the most fit players in the side and I would wager that he is the best fielder in the eleven after Shadab. On the other hand Sharjeel was an absolute and utter liability.
 
Both are equally good and are badly needed for next 5-8 years.

Eagerly waiting for the Sharjeel Khan's ban to come end.
 
Fakhar vs Sharjeel

the biggest issue with Sharjeel was his limited strokeplay. He himself admitted on the Australia tour that he needed to expand his offside game. Sharjeel was largely an onside player, with the pull, hook and pickup shots being his strengths."

What are your thoughts on this?
 
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Fakhar is a lot more consistent however Sharjeel's batting looked very pleasing to the eye, was a lot more destructive than Fakhar but you wouldn't rely on him as much as Fakhar. Can't wait for the day these two open together.
 
Watching Sharjeel bat always made me anxious, as he was so liable to deliveries outside off, was often caught nicking behind while playing on the off side, Fakhar is a gun with anything that offers him width, his cuts and cover drive are pretty good to watch.
Plus Sharjeel's ability to play spin was atrocious, he would even miss full tosses and get out. He was pretty susceptible to spin when it offered any flight.
 
Sharjeel is probably more gifted as far as natural talent is concerned but Fakhar is mentally tougher and a lot smarter as a cricketer.

Sharjeel, despite his insane natural ability, was quite error prone and his shot selection was pretty dodgy at times.
 
Man, I miss Sharjeel. What a player he was turning out to be. He would've also completed our slip cordon in tests with Asad and Haris. Three players with great hands and patience when catching.
 
Chief Destroyer said:
Man, I miss Sharjeel. What a player he was turning out to be. He would've also completed our slip cordon in tests with Asad and Haris. Three players with great hands and patience when catching.
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Babar has been good in the slips.
 
Red Devil said:
Sharjeel is probably more gifted as far as natural talent is concerned but Fakhar is mentally tougher and a lot smarter as a cricketer.

Sharjeel, despite his insane natural ability, was quite error prone and his shot selection was pretty dodgy at times.
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I don't know about mental toughness with Fakhar. He seems to get frustrated pretty often when he's not getting boundaries
Ends up throwing his wicket away quite often
 
Endurance and mental toughness then Fakhar.

Dynamic and better smasher of pace bowing - Sharjeel

I would say they complement each other more, and for me it too close to call. If I had to pick one I would say Fakhar for being the best batsman in CT 2017 tournament and stand out performer in the final.

We can all agree I'm sure that if they opened together it would be a menacing opening pair.
 
Pakistan fans deserve to see this opening combo atleast once. Sharjeel at the other end will make Fakhar a better player.
 
After WC '19, Pak should have this line up

Sharjeel
Fakhar
Babar
Haris
Sarfraz + *
Akmal.U (if he redeems himself)
H Talat / H Mohsin

H Talat and H Sohail should be the 5th bowling option.
 
Kohli said:
After WC '19, Pak should have this line up

Sharjeel
Fakhar
Babar
Haris
Sarfraz + *
Akmal.U (if he redeems himself)
H Talat / H Mohsin

H Talat and H Sohail should be the 5th bowling option.
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Amazing you have already come up with the line up post WC :P
 
Sharjeel every time.

Fakhar was good I’m the CT17. However since then he’s performed against minnows. The story end fhere.

Every time he plays a top side he struggles. Why? He’s technically poor. Good teams figure you out. Either the batsman up his game or perishes.
Fakhar is another one series wonder. He should be dropped within a series or two.
 
Fakhar has been found out will be dropped soon

Sharjeel won’t get a look in, uncle Inzy will make sure of that!!
 
fakhar cant play in slow surfaces and as compared to him sharjeel was equally good in australia ireland england and he smashed srilankans in sharjah and uae as well
 
he is been in the team since two years now he is not a bad player at all but just comparing him with sharjeel

eventhough i would like to see both of them batting togather and shamshing the oppositions one day inshAllah
 
People have a very weak memory.
Apart from Australia series sharjeel has nothing much to admire.

His record in Asia is not better than fakher even he was poor in England.

Fakher just need to calm down he seems in a hurry to fulfill his role every time he come on to bat.
Fakher is much better than sharjeel
 
Sunny_majoka said:
People have a very weak memory.
Apart from Australia series sharjeel has nothing much to admire.

His record in Asia is not better than fakher even he was poor in England.

Fakher just need to calm down he seems in a hurry to fulfill his role every time he come on to bat.
Fakher is much better than sharjeel
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Sharjeel Khan was not poor in England.
 
Sunny_majoka said:
People have a very weak memory.
Apart from Australia series sharjeel has nothing much to admire.

His record in Asia is not better than fakher even he was poor in England.

Fakher just need to calm down he seems in a hurry to fulfill his role every time he come on to bat.
Fakher is much better than sharjeel
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It was his first ODI series and showed a lot of promise. The Sky commentators I remember for a fact rated him highly. He also performed very well (albeit a low run chase) in the T20 after the ODIs.
 
Who's better? - Fakhar Zaman or Sharjeel Khan

Both are the same age so if you had to pick who would you pick???
Fakhar is getting exposed badly. At least sharjeel knew how to pull the ball.

One of these two can even play for pak in the 2023 WC so...
 
One averages close to 50 in ODIs, other in 30s

One delivered an ICC Trophy by beating arch rivals in a Final, other put shame to his country and never won anything special for us.

One is ranked in Top 10 batsmen in 2 of the 3 formats, other only dreamed about that.

Who would you pick?
 
Fakhar Zaman. Sharjeel is not only an average batsman but incredibly unfit as well. International Cricket is over for him.
 
Arsalan Pro said:
One averages close to 50 in ODIs, other in 30s

One delivered an ICC Trophy by beating arch rivals in a Final, other put shame to his country and never won anything special for us.

One is ranked in Top 10 batsmen in 2 of the 3 formats, other only dreamed about that.

Who would you pick?
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Sharjeel smashed the aussie bowling in 2017 IN AUS. The same bowling which won them the world cup.
 
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Ronaldo7 said:
Both are the same age so if you had to pick who would you pick???
Fakhar is getting exposed badly. At least sharjeel knew how to pull the ball.

One of these two can even play for pak in the 2023 WC so...
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is this even a question its sharjeel khan all the way proper hitter of the ball guy is a beast sorry fakhar zaman but u cant play outside of stump one dimensional batsman he is a failure
 
Wonder how Fakhar will fare once Sharjeel is available for selection.

Fakhar still has credit left and probably will remain in the side unless his average falls under fifty. If he scores in one of the three games it's still reasonable for someone with his batting style.
 
Does anyone know when sharjeel will be eligible to play domestic cricket?
I think his ban is ending in August.
 
Sharjeel is far more gifted, there’s no comparison when it comes to natural ability.
 
Prince of Pakistan said:
Wonder how Fakhar will fare once Sharjeel is available for selection.

Fakhar still has credit left and probably will remain in the side unless his average falls under fifty. If he scores in one of the three games it's still reasonable for someone with his batting style.
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Actually that has already happened, he averages 48.6
 
I guess both should be in the team if we are not getting into morality debate after Sharjeel is available. Fakhar can bat in the middle even if necessary as he is decent aggressor against spin too. Sharjeel was a beast against pace bowling.
 
Arsalan Pro said:
BTW, whom do you prefer?
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I don't mind actually. I don't know if Sharjeel will be the same after the ban. He wasn't too consistent himself. Looking at Fakhar's current performances I may want to give sharjeel a chance though.
 
Sharjeel was improving.

The Sharjeel 2.0 instilled fear into the opponents
 
Chokli said:
Sharjeel was improving.

The Sharjeel 2.0 instilled fear into the opponents
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The only batsmen in the last decade for Pak who literally created shivers in the bodies of pacers. Against spin he needed to improve his game.
 
Sharjeel is naturally more talented and had a better shot range. Fakhar just find a way to score runs but has the same aggression.

I think if Sharjeel didn't get banned , he would have been a better player.
 
Fakhar is the better cricketer.

I’m done with overweight, lazy, lethargic players like Imad, Asif, Umar and Sharjeel. They will cost you more games than they’ll win in the future just through their poor, unprofessional attitude towards the game.

Any player scoring less than 18 in the yoyo tests shouldn’t be considered at all for any domestic team nevermind the national side going forward if we want to become a proper, professional cricketing team.
 
Boi said:
Fakhar is the better cricketer.

I’m done with overweight, lazy, lethargic players like Imad, Asif, Umar and Sharjeel. They will cost you more games than they’ll win in the future just through their poor, unprofessional attitude towards the game.

Any player scoring less than 18 in the yoyo tests shouldn’t be considered at all for any domestic team nevermind the national side going forward if we want to become a proper, professional cricketing team.
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Agreed, PCB should have a zero tolerance policy regarding overweight players. Either you're fit or you don't get to play.
 
To focus on ODIs, more important in today's cricket than T20is, there is a place for both, particularly as we are short of accelerators lower down the order:

Sharjeel (more consistent punisher of bad balls, not a strong runner)
Abid (again punishes bad balls better than Imam for me)
Babar (is Babar)
Rizwan (accumulator + wk)
Haris (suited to 5 as can hit out)
Fakhar (attack the old ball, stronger runner)

Imad
Ifthikar

Amir
Shaheen
Rauf (needs to be given a shot)

Bench: Imam, Shadab, Hasnain

Not suggesting a world beating XI here, just a combo that could serve us best, given current resource.
 
Both are poor.

Sharjeel is laughably overrated on this forum. The notion that he had improved a lot and was turning into a world beating opener is a big myth.

Getting banned at that point was the best thing that happened to his reputation. Without that ban, he would either be out of the team now or the fans would be begging for him to be axed.

If Umar Akmal was banned in 2011, people would have been adamant that we lost a champion batsman.
 
Sharjeel is better than Fakhar. Once Fakhar got found out, he was done and looking at his SR and Avg. in last couple of years proves that. Whereas Sharjeel was decent and consistent as a hitter.
 
Sharjeel should play in t20s even thou he disappointed me in national cup
 
Fakhar Zaman. He won an ICC tournament final in 2017 batting first by setting up a 330+ total.
 
Fakhar has definitely had the better career but if Sharjeel didn't do his fixing I'm sure he would have had a better career. He has a better shot range and isn't as limited as Fakhar.
 
Fakhar hasn't had a meaningful moment in international cricket in years now. He beat up on a weak SL attack a couple of times, but that isn't saying much. It's hard to imagine he will continue to get a run.

That being said, Sharjeel hasn't exactly been lighting up domestic cricket and pushing for selection.

Neither is consistent, but Sharjeel is definitely more explosive
 
Would still back Fakhar. He is still an asset in the field and much more athletic. Just extremely low on confidence right now.
 
Mamoon said:
Both are poor.

Sharjeel is laughably overrated on this forum. The notion that he had improved a lot and was turning into a world beating opener is a big myth.

Getting banned at that point was the best thing that happened to his reputation. Without that ban, he would either be out of the team now or the fans would be begging for him to be axed.

If Umar Akmal was banned in 2011, people would have been adamant that we lost a champion batsman.
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You probably think Eoin Morgan is a legend too, who happens to have similar stats to UA.
 
The problem with Sharjeel is people just assume talent can make up for no footwork, no fitness (I literally mean this, this man is severely unhealthy, don't think I've seen such a poor fitness/unhealthy sportsman playing for us). And obvious poor discipline, getting involved in fixing and a mediocre international record (even is domestic isn't that great).

It just doesn't work that way. With all those issues even aside from fixing he was doomed to fail. Honestly if the one thing he did lack was talent and but excellent in all those other areas I mentioned, he'd probably have had a better chance of succeeding. There's a reason you hardly ever see guys like Sharjeel at international level (at any sport).
 
Fakhar has been a real disappointment since his knock in 2017 CT final he has not really done much noticeable till date - Yes I did not watch that 200 knock against Zimbabwe and neither do I count it or rate it as such.

He has really struggled for the past couple of years and has not really changed or altered much into his technique either. Always seems to be playing cross batted strokes and perishes while trying to do so or lofts one in the air. His struggle against quality attacks has been there for everyone to see.

He has not really shown much or any improvement as he did at one stage promise quite a lot but has not lived up to any expectations and he is now in his 30's where the chances do not seem to be that high unless things change, or he decides to changes things himself drastically as he has always maintained that there are no issues in his technique and does not need to change/improve much in anything in his style of batting which I always said was wrong of him to say.
 
YousafTheBeast said:
You probably think Eoin Morgan is a legend too, who happens to have similar stats to UA.
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I don’t think I need to explain why and how Morgan is a much better batsman and a billion times better cricketer than Umar.
 
TeymurBlake said:
Sharjeel is better than Fakhar. Once Fakhar got found out, he was done and looking at his SR and Avg. in last couple of years proves that. Whereas Sharjeel was decent and consistent as a hitter.
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Sharjeel was never consistent at any point in his career. Fakhar got found out later, but Sharjeel was found out from day one.

Apart from three impact-less and inconsequential half-centuries on pitches where Australia scored 350 and 370, Sharjeel has literally done nothing in his career.

Even in his latest comeback after PSL 1, he badly failed in the WT20 and in the ODI series in England.

Since he scored three useless fifties right before getting banned, he fooled people into thinking that he had improved and turned a corner.

He would have been history by now if he didn’t get banned. Lazy, unfit and technically poor batsman.
 
Mamoon said:
Sharjeel was never consistent at any point in his career. Fakhar got found out later, but Sharjeel was found out from day one.

Apart from three impact-less and inconsequential half-centuries on pitches where Australia scored 350 and 370, Sharjeel has literally done nothing in his career.

Even in his latest comeback after PSL 1, he badly failed in the WT20 and in the ODI series in England.

Since he scored three useless fifties right before getting banned, he fooled people into thinking that he had improved and turned a corner.

He would have been history by now if he didn’t get banned. Lazy, unfit and technically poor batsman.
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How did he fail badly in the WT20?
 
Sharjeel has no place at the international level - even if he performs in the playoffs.

Fakhar unfortunately isn’t the best of alternatives but he is all we have unless we want to develop a completely new opener in just 1 year - best to hope he regains form.
 
Thunderbolt14 said:
Sharjeel has no place at the international level - even if he performs in the playoffs.

Fakhar unfortunately isn’t the best of alternatives but he is all we have unless we want to develop a completely new opener in just 1 year - best to hope he regains form.
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Can't Haider Ali open ?
 
Mesozoic said:
Can't Haider Ali open ?
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Then we’ll need someone else at number 3. We can maybe promote Hafeez to 3, but then we need someone at 4, and so on. Either ways, we don’t have a dearth of explosive options for our top 4.

Is there a better number 4 in the country than having Fakhar as opener? Not sure, really. Perhaps we can promote Shadab.

Without Fakhar the only lineup that might make sense is this:

1. Babar Azam (c)
2. Haider Ali
3. Mohammad Hafeez
4. Shadab Khan (vc)
5. Iftikhar Ahmed
6. Khushdil Shah
7. Rohail Nazir (wk)
8. Imad Wasim
9. Wahab Riaz
10. Mohammad Amir / Hasnain / Rauf
11. Shaheen Afridi

I don’t think the 5/6 duo is particularly eye-catching, I would rather have only one of Iftikhar/Khushdil at 6 and then slot Fakhar in up top.

Very few other batsmen in the National T20 cup really stood out to get a call up (a lot were impressive like Abdullah Shafique, Zeeshan Malik, Ali Imran, Azam Khan, and Danish Aziz, but I’m going to need more than one season’s worth of performances to give one of them a 2021 World T20 slot ahead of Fakhar Zaman).

I should also note that we will have to replace Hafeez as well within a year. Best to back Fakhar the way England backed Jason Roy despite countless initial failures - it paid off eventually.
 
Thunderbolt14 said:
Then we’ll need someone else at number 3. We can maybe promote Hafeez to 3, but then we need someone at 4, and so on. Either ways, we don’t have a dearth of explosive options for our top 4.

Is there a better number 4 in the country than having Fakhar as opener? Not sure, really. Perhaps we can promote Shadab.

Without Fakhar the only lineup that might make sense is this:

1. Babar Azam (c)
2. Haider Ali
3. Mohammad Hafeez
4. Shadab Khan (vc)
5. Iftikhar Ahmed
6. Khushdil Shah
7. Rohail Nazir (wk)
8. Imad Wasim
9. Wahab Riaz
10. Mohammad Amir / Hasnain / Rauf
11. Shaheen Afridi

I don’t think the 5/6 duo is particularly eye-catching, I would rather have only one of Iftikhar/Khushdil at 6 and then slot Fakhar in up top.

Very few other batsmen in the National T20 cup really stood out to get a call up (a lot were impressive like Abdullah Shafique, Zeeshan Malik, Ali Imran, Azam Khan, and Danish Aziz, but I’m going to need more than one season’s worth of performances to give one of them a 2021 World T20 slot ahead of Fakhar Zaman).

I should also note that we will have to replace Hafeez as well within a year. Best to back Fakhar the way England backed Jason Roy despite countless initial failures - it paid off eventually.
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Rather invest on Hussain Talat and Abdullah Shafique. Instead of giving chance to a technically defect of form batsman in the team, rather give chances to someone with impressive shot selection and good footwork regardless whether they have one season or not in their resume.

1. Babar(C)
2. Haider
3. Abdullah
4. Hafeez
5. Hussain
6. Khushdil Shah / Danish Aziz
7. Rohail Nazir (wk)
8. Imad Wasim
9. Wahab Riaz
10. Mohammad Amir / Hasnain / Rauf
11. Shaheen Afridi

When Hafeez retires Hussain can take over his position and slotting either Danish Aziz or Saud Shakeel at 5. The youngesters will not going to get better experiance and match practice than in internationals. Sending them to local, is not always the best solutions.
 
Mamoon said:
I don’t think I need to explain why and how Morgan is a much better batsman and a billion times better cricketer than Umar.
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Both have similar stats in all 3 formats, but, one has played with better batsmen around him (which makes it easier for him) and the other more often than not had to come in during batting collapses.
 
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