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

[Sajjad-007]

Who is more aggressive? Whose strike rotation ability is good.Will they make a good Pair?If u have to choose one of them for opening spot who would you prefer?

 

[ammar_merry]

sharjeel is backfoot player and is natural timer of the ball vs pace and can provide fast starts.
fakhar a frontfoot players and is better at rotating the strike and far better against vs spin.
sharjeel is more talented but what fakhar has done in CT17 is hard to replicate.
for now i will take fakhar due to his resolve.

 

[Eagle_Eye]

Sharjeel is a leg side hack... can't play spin to save his life and on top a dodgy character.

 

[Slog]

Sharjeel is a leg side hack... can't play spin to save his life and on top a dodgy character.

Calling him a leg side hack is unfair and frankly ignorant

 

[Kroll]

Sharjeel is the bigger hitter, but it would have been great to have both players opening for Pakistan, one is more dominant on the leg side and the other very good with offside play. Apprently, one is weaker with the shorter ball while the other is strong.

This means a confusing situation for the attack coming in. Also, this sort of opening would keep the pressure on the bowling at all times due to their aggressive nature and not allowing the bowling to "settle in".

 

[mak36]

Sharjeel enjoyed pace on the ball. Conversely, he struggled on slow pitches and against spinners as was made clear in the 2016 WT20. I would say Fakhar has a stronger all-round game.

Plus, Fakhar actually performed on the big stage which says a lot about his mental strength.

 

[sshakir411]

Sharjeel is far better batsman than Fakhar and even most of our current line up (including Babar). People calling him a hack have obviously never played professional cricket nor know how to hold a bat. Please watch his innings in England and Australia and then explain how a hack can literally cut,flick, pull, and drive bowlers bowling over 95mph with so much finesse. Even the great Inzi didn't have that kind of eye and touch.

 

[StreetSmart]

Fakhar is better than Sharjeel. Sharjeel still looks clueless on off stump he plays sensibly but throw his wicket away at the same ball same position OFF STUMP

 

[Hasan2K8]

Both hacks. Fakhar seems better. Sharjeel couldn't hit a straight one from Arafat Sunny asia cup 2016

 

[idrizzy]

Sharjeel enjoyed pace on the ball. Conversely, he struggled on slow pitches and against spinners as was made clear in the 2016 WT20. I would say Fakhar has a stronger all-round game.

Plus, Fakhar actually performed on the big stage which says a lot about his mental strength.

Would you relate that to his time with the army? Hence why he's mentally resilient? Or was there another factor?

I agree with your points. Sharjeel is an explosive hitter that can tonk a ball for 100m whereas Fakhar will be a handful be it pace or spin.

 

[from_da_lost_dim3nsion]

Need both of them opening in our T 20 team ASAP and need to be transitioned in the ODI team soon .Can't have tuk tuks in modern LOI cricket anymore.

 

[Waqar's inswinging yorker]

Play both of them in T20 and ODI as openers. More often than not 1 of them will come off and give us the sort of starts we need- now all we need is to get 2 reliable hitters below the solid middle order core and the batting line up starts to look formidable.

 

[yasir]

Sharjeel is notch above FAkhir. Sharjeel has best pull and cut among entire Pakistani team, lot better against pace, there is no comparison ATM. Fakir is good against spin, but so is Malik/Hafeez and million others in domestic. His key to success was darring cricket not so much quality of shots. Even Rahim looked better puller and hooker of ball than Fakir...Lets see how he grows, to me bench mark is always how much somebody score against high quality pacers, Sharjeel has done much better than him on that front and that too in AUS as well, where everybody from Pakistan fails....

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Fakhar Zaman.

 

[Eye_Done]

If not for the no ball in final nobody would have been talking about Zaman. Sharjeel innings in Aus showed he on different level than Zaman.Both will do great but I have to select one Sharjeel wins hand down.

 

[Hasan123]

Sharjeel is better.

 

[Belawal2014]

Don't know if Sharjeel could have played the innings Fakhar did in that Final. On talent alone, Sharjeel is much better, but talent alone can only take one so far.

 

[sali]

They will compliment each other if we can get them both to open the inning. Depending upon what start we get, Azhar can come in at no 3 followed by Babar, Umer akmal, and Hafeez.

 

[Da_Future_Knick]

Fakhar is a lot better against spin than Sharjeel. Sharjeel however is better against genuine pace and bounce.

If they both open together, they can cause a ton of problems for the opposition

 

[mak36]

Would you relate that to his time with the army? Hence why he's mentally resilient? Or was there another factor?

I agree with your points. Sharjeel is an explosive hitter that can tonk a ball for 100m whereas Fakhar will be a handful be it pace or spin.

I imagine his time in the Navy certainly helped. His mental strength is remarkable- I can't think of another time a debutant was thrown into an an ICC event and then played with the freedom and confidence that Fakhar did. Plus it wasn't just a one-innings wonder, he did it throughout the tournament, with every match he played virtually a knock-out game. He also showed he thinks about his game and bats according to the field, which is a great sign for the future.

Sharjeel was a sight to behold against pace- anything short he would cut and pull with wondrous speeds. But he had some obvious shortcomings, which is why I said Fakhar has a stronger all-round game.

 

[Dr_Green]

They will form a formidable T20 opening partnership....however in ODI's stick to fakhar & Azhar opening ....they compliment each other perfectly (left & right, junior & senior, aggressive & steady) and can play long innings in testing conditions ... sharjeel to bat at 6 in ODI would be the final overs basher we need

 

[asfandyar]

Both hacks. Fakhar seems better. Sharjeel couldn't hit a straight one from Arafat Sunny asia cup 2016

If he did hit it, he would be out obstructing the field.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

What I truly admire about them is their fearlessness. This attitude is what we require.

Shehzad can learn something from them.

 

[OmaIR1]

One plays for the country the other plays with the country.

 

[cricketAXEpert]

Who is more aggressive? Whose strike rotation ability is good.Will they make a good Pair?If u have to choose one of them for opening spot who would you prefer?

Fakhar Zaman, I believe is much better than Sharjeel. I would not pair Fakhar with Sharjeel, Sahibzada Farhan & Fakhar opening partnership will be better.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

Sharjeel is one of the most destructive batters in world cricket.

 

[Arsalan Pro]

Would form a lethal opening combo if they play together, both have their strengths and weaknesses with Sharjeel being better at playing pace while Fakhar at playing spin. Both are neck to neck I guess, but if I were to pick one, it would be Fakhar Zaman.

 

[Justcrazy]

fakhar is better player of spin bowling so he should be at number 3. Sharjeel and Babbar can make left right opening combo.

 

[ExpressPacer]

People calling Sharjeel Khan a legside hack are ignorant, keyboard warriors and nothing else. I bet none of these armchair experts even watched his most recent innings. He looked extremely comfortable playing strokes on the off-side versus express pace and even spin.

What made Sharjeel so unique was his ability to play pace so well, unlike most other Pakistani batsmen. He thrives on short balls, almost always hitting them towards the boundary. The only thing that edges Fakhar over him is his ability to play the longer innings and a better temperament but nobody even poses competition to Sharjeel Khan's hitting ability.

 

[mak36]

People calling Sharjeel Khan a legside hack are ignorant, keyboard warriors and nothing else. I bet none of these armchair experts even watched his most recent innings. He looked extremely comfortable playing strokes on the off-side versus express pace and even spin.

What made Sharjeel so unique was his ability to play pace so well, unlike most other Pakistani batsmen. He thrives on short balls, almost always hitting them towards the boundary. The only thing that edges Fakhar over him is his ability to play the longer innings and a better temperament but nobody even poses competition to Sharjeel Khan's hitting ability.

Fakhar is a better player of spin. Sharjeel showed signs of improvement, but that doesn't make him a better player of spin.

 

[ExpressPacer]

Fakhar is a better player of spin. Sharjeel showed signs of improvement, but that doesn't make him a better player of spin.

I never stated Sharjeel was the better player of spin. All I said that he had improved his game versus spin.

 

[mak36]

People calling Sharjeel Khan a legside hack are ignorant, keyboard warriors and nothing else. I bet none of these armchair experts even watched his most recent innings. He looked extremely comfortable playing strokes on the off-side versus express pace and even spin.

What made Sharjeel so unique was his ability to play pace so well, unlike most other Pakistani batsmen. He thrives on short balls, almost always hitting them towards the boundary. The only thing that edges Fakhar over him is his ability to play the longer innings and a better temperament but nobody even poses competition to Sharjeel Khan's hitting ability.

I never stated Sharjeel was the better player of spin. All I said that he had improved his game versus spin.

It was implied.

 

[ExpressPacer]

It was implied.

I implied what I said. Nothing more, nothing less.

And what I meant by the part that you put in bold was that if I had to choose between the two, the only solid reason I would choose FZ would be for his temperament and ability to play a marathon knock.

Pakistan has plenty of players who play spin really well. Malik, Hafeez, Azam, Azhar and the rest are brilliant players of spin but we barely have any batsmen who thrive on pace the way Sharjeel did and therefore, even if he had a nothing game against spin, I would still choose him over any other batsman in the team.

 

[Asif khan]

Sharjeel - any opening bowler's worst nightmare is a batsman who you can't peg back with a fast bouncer. The guy is the closest thing to the great Aussie LOI opening combo of Hayden and Gilchrist which demoralised fas and ruined their careers because they simply could not bowl length balls to them two.

Sharjeel, whilst not in their class, is a bully who makes mince meat of fast bowlers who dare bowling length to him. The ability to pick up length against that pace is a unique ability and no one else in the Pakistani set up has it.

 

[mak36]

I implied what I said. Nothing more, nothing less.

And what I meant by the part that you put in bold was that if I had to choose between the two, the only solid reason I would choose FZ would be for his temperament and ability to play a marathon knock.

Pakistan has plenty of players who play spin really well. Malik, Hafeez, Azam, Azhar and the rest are brilliant players of spin but we barely have any batsmen who thrive on pace the way Sharjeel did and therefore, even if he had a nothing game against spin, I would still choose him over any other batsman in the team.

In that case, what you wrote and what you meant are two different things. In any case, I don't see how it matters given we both agree Fakhar is the better player of spin. Sharjeel was indeed a joy to watch against pace.

 

[Amirforpresident]

We all know Fakhar is better against spin and can play longer innings, but the question is can he play the way Sharjeel did in AUS against the bowlers Sharjeel faced IN Australia?

Against the likes of Starc and Hazlewood.

 

[Little Master]

I think people's perspective is still somewhat biased towards Fakhar because of his most recent innings. I am sure, after couple of failures the same folks who are singing Fakhar's praises would be calling for Sharjeel to replace him.

 

[mak36]

We all know Fakhar is better against spin and can play longer innings, but the question is can he play the way Sharjeel did in AUS against the bowlers Sharjeel faced IN Australia?

Against the likes of Starc and Hazlewood.

To be honest, he would probably enjoy the pace and bounce of the wickets in Australia. Fakhar is decent against pace- He faced a huge variety in fast bowling, the likes of Rabada, Morkel, Malinga, Wood, Plunkett, as well as the much hyped Indian attack of Kumar, Bumrah and Yadav etc, and he came out on top.

Plus, forget Australia, he performed on the biggest stage of all- an ICC tournament.

 

[New Yorker]

If not for the no ball in final nobody would have been talking about Zaman. Sharjeel innings in Aus showed he on different level than Zaman.Both will do great but I have to select one Sharjeel wins hand down.

Neither here nor there. If he was no more lucky to be reprieved than Bumrah was lucky to shave his edge. What counts is that he made it count big, on the biggest stage possible. If Wahab got 2-3 years off that miserable Watson spell, Fakhar deserves as much after his heroics.

I rate Sharjeel for his steadiness frankly. Hack or no hack I can't remember when a Pakistani ODI opener scored so heavily and consistently up front against a side like Aus. The SR was a bonus. All in all it is hard to imagine that he could be left out if he is cleared. We're lucky to have both.

 

[New Yorker]

They will form a formidable T20 opening partnership....however in ODI's stick to fakhar & Azhar opening ....they compliment each other perfectly (left & right, junior & senior, aggressive & steady) and can play long innings in testing conditions ... sharjeel to bat at 6 in ODI would be the final overs basher we need

In ODIs Azhar isn't steadier than Sharjeel, if by this you mean that he scores more, or more consistently.
He just scores much much more slowly. Hard to imagine why you would keep him on if you also have
Sahibzada and Sharjeel around.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Sharjeel used to be a legside hack but has improved tremendously under Arthur. I still rate Sharjeel higher. He is useful in all conditions while Fakhar has had issues against genuine pace/short bowling in the past.

A combination of Sharjeel/Fakhar would be amazing!

 

[ExpressPacer]

Sharjeel used to be a legside hack but has improved tremendously under Arthur. I still rate Sharjeel higher. He is useful in all conditions while Fakhar has had issues against genuine pace/short bowling in the past.

A combination of Sharjeel/Fakhar would be amazing!

Exactly my feelings. I've supported Fakhar since day one but the fact is that he has issues against fast bowling and the only reason he got through was because of his gutsy character, positive approach and luck.

Sharjeel on the other hand was a scary character. He demoralized great, scary bowlers with his bullying of the ball. The best thing about him was the fact that he was so open to improvement and was getting better DRASTICALLY with every game he played.

When he first burst onto the scene, he was an obese legside hack who rarely took singles, had no offside game and was a dud against spin. By the Australian series, he'd lost 10 KGs, improved his game vs spin massively (check his sixes vs Lyonn), had a much better offside game (check his 50's in England) and was running more and more singles.

 

[KhalidRafi]

Hmm let's see...
One is a player who is probably looking at 6 month to 1 year ban, doesn't have a central contract and will likely not be in consideration for the upcoming WC, while the other is flawed but destructive opening batsman who could prove to be an integral part of our limited-overs side in the future.

Getting tired of people here talking about Sharjeel as if he is even part of the team.

 

[Abdullah719]

I think people's perspective is still somewhat biased towards Fakhar because of his most recent innings. I am sure, after couple of failures the same folks who are singing Fakhar's praises would be calling for Sharjeel to replace him.

Don't think so, a knock like this in a tournament final isn't forgotten so easily.

However, it's good to see that Fakhar is aware that he needs to keep his feet on the ground.

 

[QalandarFan]

In context Fakhar is already way ahead of any opener we have had in the past decade or so.

 

[Agent 47]

Sharjeel has one gear

Fakhar has two

Sharjeel strong zone is leg side

Fakhar is strong on both off and leg sides

 

[Muhammad10]

Sharjeel has more natural ability, but was relatively inconsistent.

Fakhar displayed superior temperament and performed brilliantly in big games.

 

[khurram39]

Pakistan needs both if sharjeel cleared from allegations it looks a nice pair.

 

[troodon]

Sharjeel is a better opener and better hitter. His Bqckfoot play is pretty good. Can handle short ball better and more destructive.

Fakhar imo will be figured out soon. He is terrible against short ball and relies on luck a lot more than Sharjeel.

 

[waleed88]

Despite Sharjeel's prowess and superior talent he has not made use of good starts, fitness goes a long way and which is why Fakhar Zaman played those crucial knocks in the final and the semis...

Sharjeel starts panting after a 70 and then he perishes

 

[hassammasood]

Fakhar Zaman! Sharjeel is nothing more than a slogger. Any one who thinks other wise has probably never played professional cricket of any value and are merely tape ball gully players.

 

[mmkextreme_1]

Fakhar Zaman! Sharjeel is nothing more than a slogger. Any one who thinks other wise has probably never played professional cricket of any value and are merely tape ball gully players.

Sherjeel is completely not a slogger. To hit a 150 kph bowler over his head is no easy task. He did it with ease versus Australia. Also that flick on his hip, pure class.

 

[Suleiman]

The amount of people who call Sharjeel a slogger or hack have no idea what they are talking about.

A slogger is someone like post 2010 Afridi. You just swing across the line and want to force the ball away.

Sharjeel was a natural timer of the ball, never tried to overhit it. He played it late and timed it and used his wrists. He was over-reliant on the legside in 2013-2014 but after his comeback it was clear he added a new dimension to his game and was able to score both sides of the wicket with improving fitness.

The guy could've competed with Mark Waugh for legside mastery.

Fakhar while a hard worker and hopefully stays honest, does not have the same natural gifts, but hardwork and dedication have made him an international standard batsman as well.

 

[hassammasood]

Sharjeel Khan is extremely over rated on this website. If you take away the 150 odd he scored against Ireland he averages 27.5 in ODIs. Not really international standard if you ask me. And thats not even taking into account his horrible fitness and lack of proper technique.

 

[hadi123]

I think both have their Strengths and Weaknesses. People are favouring FZ here because of the allegations against SK. If it was FZ who was the fixer, we would all be saying Sharjeel is better.

Sharjeel's strengths: Picking up the length of the ball early, leg side flick
Sharjeel's weaknesses: Bad fitness, bad conversion rate

Fakhar Zaman's strengths: Can bat against spin, rotates strike as he is fitter than SK
Fakhar Zaman's weaknesses: Not great against Short ball

They are both very good batsman though, scoring 3 consecutive 50s in Australia is not easy, neither is scoring a century in a pressure final against your arch rivals. It would be a dream to see them bat together but Sharjeel Khan is still suspended for spot fixing allegations. Let's wait for the verdict on SK and we'll see if the dream of them batting together can become a reality.

 

[sadida97]

Sharjeel is better

 

[mmkextreme_1]

Fakhar will come good, these pitches don't suit his style of batting. Not trying to make an excuse for him, he's also a bit out of form and is a learning experience for him.

 

[Syed1]

Sharjeel is better

You are comparing Sharjeel with 2 years of international experience to Fakhar of 4 months of international experience. Sharjeel was worse at this stage of his career.

 

[srh]

Sharjeel is the best opener Pakistan has produced after Saeed Anwar.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Sharjeel was never successful in UAE apart from one fifty in t20i I guess.

 

[mak36]

You are comparing Sharjeel with 2 years of international experience to Fakhar of 4 months of international experience. Sharjeel was worse at this stage of his career.

As you have said, ill-informed fans already have their knives out.

The fact is players like Sharjeel and Fakhar aren't suited to UAE pitches. They both prefer the ball coming onto the bat.

 

[7sins]

We need fakhar in the team no matter what he is 100 times better than shehzad and some other useless openers we tried. And on the comparison Sharjeel was superb while facing pacers but even he struggled to make runs in uae pitches you can even check his stats. He scored runs in Australia england where its mostly batting conditions.

 

[PerfectionPersonified]

It might sound odd but with Fakhar's current technique he wont last for another 6 months. He has a big heart but lacks judgement, what he did against India was extraordinary but he needs to replicate it more often. He tries to hit every ball very hard THAT is his problem, not sure what batting coach is teaching him and getting paid for. In order to Succeed at international level he is about 70% there, needs to get to above 90%

 

[Rana]

Sharjeel 2.0 is better than Fakhar 1.0. But I think Fakhar needs a bit more time, he will become better because he looks to bat long into the innings and always puts up a partnership of sorts

 

[giri26]

I feel that Sharjeel is a better player than Fakhar. But again this is just the start of Fakhar's career and we need to see how he progresses and how he handles different bowling attacks in different conditions.

 

[Hasan123]

Sharjeel is better but were stuck with Fakhar for now and he could prove to be the better player.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Both will not be consistent because of their natural game which is to hit every ball that is their area.

But Sharjeel had more natural talent and could rely on his hand eye coordination to hit genuine pacers out of the park.

Like I said then people were very quick to dismiss Sharjeel and call Fakhar the next Saeed Anwar. It's something typical Pakistani but time always balances things out and shows us the truth.

 

[clean n cool]

one other criteria of comparison: FITNESS
Sharjeel was not the best of runners plus a bit of a burden in the field! So that's a bit of a let down.
wheras Fakhar has already taken some superb diving catches which im sure Sharjeel could not have pulled off. One should not underestimate the number of runs saved in the field and quick singles taken! :

 

[Syed1]

one other criteria of comparison: FITNESS
Sharjeel was not the best of runners plus a bit of a burden in the field! So that's a bit of a let down.
wheras Fakhar has already taken some superb diving catches which im sure Sharjeel could not have pulled off. One should not underestimate the number of runs saved in the field and quick singles taken! :

Sharjeel dropped Butler pretty early on in that 444 beatdown

 

[Nasty Naz]

I think Fakhar is better IMO and has a better all around game. Fakhar can still play well vs spin and rotate strike whereas Sharjeel is extremely reliant on hitting it in the air and for power, mostly on the leg side as well.

Sharjeel is more explosive though but Fakhar is a better bet to play longer innings and at a good strike rate as well.

 

[clean n cool]

im glad unfit players like M. Irfan, Sharjeel and to some extent Sohail Khan are no longer in the playing 11 ... fielding has been improved by heaps and bounds!

 

[Dr_Green]

Fakhar in my eyes is Pakistan's best opener ever...who else has spanked India into submission in a grand final of an ICC tournament ...that kid has a steely temperament ... one for the future

 

[yasir]

Why there is even a question, Sharjeel is miles better than anybody else including Fakhir. He has better pull and cut than anybody from Pakistan in a decade, those shots are must to dominate pace. That was biggest loss in many years

Fakhir has daring style but not the technique, let’s see how he progress

 

[Sirris]

These were sharjeel's performances in his first 9 ODIs. He debuted in 2013.For the most part the opposition was Srilanka.

61(61), 7(11), 2(11), 13(23), 18(35), 26(23), 25(30), 8(6), 9(10)

Sharjeel was then dropped and to his credit he did reinvent himself and had a much better show 3 years later. But as you can see his first outing was nothing to write home about in fact at the same time Shehzad was outperforming him.

On the other hand Fakhar had a far more impressive career so far, debuting in a tournament and playing one pressure game after another with a century in the final to top it off. Which means thus guy has the mental toughness.

In this series his performance hasn't been all too great but I do believe with proper guidance he can deliver consistent performances. The quick rise to fame and after the century in the final he might be too hard on himself and thinking to much when he is out there to bat. I'd give him more time before judging.

Comparing him to Sharjeel just for nostalgia isn't healthy. As we found out with Amir, sometimes getting a ban and becoming unavailable makes you more of a hero than you ever were.

 

[King-Misbah]

Sharjeel is a naturally better stroke maker but Fakhar has the potential to be a good opener for Pakistan and he has already delivered at the biggest stage! I can't wait for Sarjeel to pair with Fakhar and cause carnage. I hope Sethis ego doesn't get in the way but it will.

 

[Suleiman]

These were sharjeel's performances in his first 9 ODIs. He debuted in 2013.For the most part the opposition was Srilanka.

61(61), 7(11), 2(11), 13(23), 18(35), 26(23), 25(30), 8(6), 9(10)

Sharjeel was then dropped and to his credit he did reinvent himself and had a much better show 3 years later. But as you can see his first outing was nothing to write home about in fact at the same time Shehzad was outperforming him.

On the other hand Fakhar had a far more impressive career so far, debuting in a tournament and playing one pressure game after another with a century in the final to top it off. Which means thus guy has the mental toughness.

In this series his performance hasn't been all too great but I do believe with proper guidance he can deliver consistent performances. The quick rise to fame and after the century in the final he might be too hard on himself and thinking to much when he is out there to bat. I'd give him more time before judging.

Comparing him to Sharjeel just for nostalgia isn't healthy. As we found out with Amir, sometimes getting a ban and becoming unavailable makes you more of a hero than you ever were.

Post sums up the entire thread, bold part is exactly what I wanted to say, brilliantly put.

 

[mak36]

Sharjeel is a naturally better stroke maker but Fakhar has the potential to be a good opener for Pakistan and he has already delivered at the biggest stage! I can't wait for Sarjeel to pair with Fakhar and cause carnage. I hope Sethis ego doesn't get in the way but it will.

Yes, it was Sethi's ego which made Sharjeel spot-fix.

 

[Syed1]

Fakhar 100 times more reliable than Sharjeel.

 

[babajee]

We will see fireworks from Fakhar in the T20 series insha allah

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

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