Haris Sohail, Imad Wasim, Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf - Who should take the remaining ODI spot?

[ads101]

With Hafeez in good form, it's certain he's getting an ODI place. So it's between these four to who gets the remaining batting place and I'm pretty sure only one of these will play.

Haris - Increases batting stability, probably the most well rounded batsman out of the four. Struggles hitting extra gear and accelerating, and finds it hard getting into the team with Imam and Hafeez in. Also is likely to make the top 4 have 3 left handers which might not be ideal. Offers good part time bowling. If Haris plays, Sarfraz will probably play at 7 who struggles to hit/perform there.

Faheem - Only pace option out of the four. Questions with the bat, but can hit. If he plays, probably will be at 8. IMO the weakest addition due to the brittle state of Pakistan's batting line up, and think the 4th pacer option is unnecessary. Good fielder.

Asif - Best hitter in the team. If he plays now, think he'll slot in at 7. No bowling provided which makes Hafeez and Malik handle the fifth lot of overs which is risky with Hafeez's remodelled action. Might make our batting line up too fragile, and concerns are whether he's just a T20 player.

Imad - Second spin option. A worse bat than Asif and Haris probably, but he's quite inventive in his batting, goes for a lot of smart shots. I'd personally rate him ahead of Faheem batting wise. Strengthens our spin attack, taking pressure off Shadab. Again concerns whether our batting line up is strong enough, or whether the 2nd spinner will be needed in England. Lacks power game a bit, isn't a genuine hitter like Asif or Faheem.

I'd personally go for Imad or Haris, leaning towards Imad, hoping that what he brings with the ball will outweigh making the batting slightly weaker.


Who would would you choose?

 

[Taaya]

Haris Sohail needs to play every ODI until the World Cup. He is one of the best players of pace in the team, and will be crucial in the upcoming SA tour and the WC.

Even Simon Doull mentioned that Haris is essential after the match yesterday when the ODI XI for Pakistan was being discussed - while Ramiz and Waqar did not even mention him.

 

[ahsan_888]

No doubt Asif Ali

Asif is the best option available as Pakistan clearly lacks in the pinch hitting department and except for Asif we have no one else to take up that role. TBH Faheem and Imad are not at the mark needed to be called as an allrounder. Asif is not only a T20 player he can rotate the strike quite well and build up an innings which he showed in the NZ series and the Asia Cup match against Bangladesh. He just needs some time. Asif all the way

 

[coy0607]

Asif is useless - literally provide's no value, a power hitter who can't connect with any consistency. Very lucky to be getting such a long run

Harris is a good player, but with Sarfraz, Hafeez, Malik, Babar, Imam already in the 11, there isn't room for another accumulator

Faheem and Imad have been generally good with the ball, and both have the ability (although inconsistent) to hit with the bat

 

[DRsohail]

Haris Sohail should play and Imad as well.Fahim looks to be fir just for T20i.

 

[Justcrazy]

Harris has to play.

pakistan need to strike right balance according to pitch conditions.

Fakhar
Babaar
Harris
Hafeez
Malik
Sarfaraz
Asif
Faheem
Imad / shadab
Hassan
Afridi

 

[ads101]

Haris Sohail should play and Imad as well.Fahim looks to be fir just for T20i.

Isn't realistic though, Imam is playing. I have my doubts but the man averages 64, and looked better than most at the Asia Cup. He's starting for sure I feel. He'd have to have some pretty horror series results to not make WC at this point.

 

[ads101]

Harris has to play.

pakistan need to strike right balance according to pitch conditions.

Imam will play he averages 64, Haris has only played 3 ODIs I think since he returned. And Imam opens the batting, Haris on the other hand will be compared to Babar and Hafeez. Can not see Imam not playing. So if you only had to choose one, who would you go for?

 

[Chokli]

1.Babar Azam
2.Fakhar Zaman
3.Haris Sohail
4.Mohammad Hafeez
5.Sarfraz Ahmed
6.Shoaib Malik
7.Imad Wasim
8.Faheem Ashraf/Shadab Khan depending on pitch
9.Junaid Khan
10.Shaheen Afridi
11.Mohammad Amir

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Even Simon Doull mentioned that Haris is essential after the match yesterday when the ODI XI for Pakistan was being discussed - while Ramiz and Waqar did not even mention him.

Ramiz and Waqar have no clue. 18 matches and he should play them all. We should not expect youngsters to perform right away when players like Malik and Hafeez score on slow pitches but fail against quality pacers. I will even take him over Asif Ali.

 

[ARK Rafay]

This will be our line-up

1. Fakhar
2. Imam
3. Babar
4. Hafeez
5. Malik
6. Sarfraz
7. Imad
8. Shadab
9. Hasan
10. Junaid
11. Shaheen

 

[szundercover]

There is no place for haris sohail in this odi team.He has become more of a test specialist now.

 

[szundercover]

This will be our line-up

1. Fakhar
2. Imam
3. Babar
4. Hafeez
5. Malik
6. Sarfraz
7. Imad
8. Shadab
9. Hasan
10. Junaid
11. Shaheen

That is one solid line up .

 

[DRsohail]

Isn't realistic though, Imam is playing. I have my doubts but the man averages 64, and looked better than most at the Asia Cup. He's starting for sure I feel. He'd have to have some pretty horror series results to not make WC at this point.

''''''''''''''''he is joke of a bat in ODI dont go by stats you are better than this.

 

[Ahmed216]

Imad for sure in spin friendly conditions and Faheem elsewhere

 

[ameemlutfi]

This will be our line-up

1. Fakhar
2. Imam
3. Babar
4. Hafeez
5. Malik
6. Sarfraz
7. Imad
8. Shadab
9. Hasan
10. Junaid
11. Shaheen

Might be tempted to take one of the fast bowlers out (probably hasan) and replace him with harris to shore up the batting.

 

[Sports_Psychologist]

I guess,
01-Haris Sohail
02-Fakhar Zaman
03-Babar Azam
04-Sarfaraz Ahmed
05-Shoaib Malik
06-Muhammad Hafeez
07-Faheem Ashraf
08-Shadab Khan
09-Imad Waseem
10-Hasan Ali
11-Junaid Khan

 

[Canistani Hero]

Imam
Fakhar
Babar
Hafeez
Sarfraz
Malik
Shadab
Imad
Hasan
JK
Shaheen

 

[Extra_Cover]

This will be our line-up

1. Fakhar
2. Imam
3. Babar
4. Hafeez
5. Malik
6. Sarfraz
7. Imad
8. Shadab
9. Hasan
10. Junaid
11. Shaheen

I think this is the most realistic line up which we might see. Ideally, I would like to see Sarfraz at 4 and push Hafeez and Malik a place down, simply because Sarfraz cannot score at decent rate after 35 overs. This line should be persisted with till world cup, the only changes in this line up should be rotating fast bowlers and replacing Imad/Shadab with Faheem on pace friendly wickets

 

[Hasan123]

For NZ ODIs what I would go with


Imam
Fakhar
Babar
Haris (but Hafeez will play )
Malik
Sarfraz
Imad (Faheem should start outside of Asia)
Shadab
Hasan
Junaid
Shaheen

 

[Misia]

always known for strong bowling lineup, the batting is were we struggle so for me its Harris

 

[New Yorker]

For NZ ODIs what I would go with


Imam
Fakhar
Babar
Haris (but Hafeez will play )
Malik
Sarfraz
Imad (Faheem should start outside of Asia)
Shadab
Hasan
Junaid
Shaheen

So here's a conundrum;

You have 5 bowlers with the following stats:

A Ave 27 SR 31 Econ 5.20
B Ave 22 SR 26 Econ 5.20
C Ave 26 SR 33 Econ 4/7
D Ave 20 SR 28 Econ 4.2
E Ave 15 SR 19 Econ 4.6

A, B, C are Junaid, Hasan and Shadab, all of whom are automatic selections for most people

D,E are Faheem and Shinwari, who are either conditional selections or already off the radar as far as most people are concerned

But the more I see of Faheem the more I feel that he's a gem of an LOI bowler. The econ rate in particular is stunning, he's always giving his captain control, in other words doing what had become Amir's supposed job before he was finally sent off.

Shinwari meanwhile, after Hasan's decline, has a 5 fer after only 9 games, and has looked like the only new ball bowler capable of running through a side by himself. Yes he went off the boil in the Asia Cup but so did many others. With those figures that he has he arguably merits a few more chances.

I like Junaid in his current form; he was a revelation at the Asia Cup, and I was encouraged by his CT performance; he was certainly the most hard done by after that tournament, with people forgetting how instrumental he was in our success. Showed he was a big game player and deserves more chances.

I wonder if it is not the case that too often people like to select players on the basis of how good they have been (Hasan) and how good they hope they will be (Shaheen), and in the process miss out of players who are in red hot form in the moment.

Hasan in the CT or Hafeez recently have been great example of that, but the lesson to be drawn is not that one should select Hasan forever, but keep an eye out for players who are in form and rotate them in from domestics.

In terms of thinking a bowling strategy for these ODIs I'd make sure that Shaheen got a game, or two, but would also make sure that Shinwari did as well. They priority cannot be on winning but on building a squad for the WC, which means taking risks. I would also try to bowl some players in new roles, like Hasan to take the new ball some more.

I'd also test out Shadab in a higher batting slot, because as a bowler I actually feel he's the least useful of all the options available. We are still missing one genuine strike bowling spinner a la Kuldeep and it is worrying that the management does not seem even interested in finding one. Very typical of Mickey.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Haris is a very good batsmen and he is actually well-suited to ODI's aswell, especially in UAE. However, He can play in place of either Malik or Hafeez, which I do not see happening. Imad and Faheem will both play, Asif will likely miss out because he has badly failed to prove himself as both a power-hitter and a batsman who can score consistently.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Hope Junaid plays all 3 matches. Shinwari does not impress me at all and I would be surprised if they selected him for the World Cup. I hope Rumman Raees recovers soon because he seemed like one bowler who really belonged in the ODI and T20 sides.

 

[mastersaan10]

We kick out Asif, but if we okay hafeez in top 5 then lower order had no firepower and we struggle to make 250

 

[Ahson8]

Fakhar
Imam
Babar
Malik
Sarfraz
Hafeez
Imad
Shadab
Hasan
Shaheen
Junaid

 

[ARK Rafay]

Is Faheem having an extra luxury and be competed as ARs among Shadab and Imad. As he's an AR he'll not compete in a situation where lets say outside Asia Pakistan team will go for Faheem rather than Imad mostly. But he hasn't performed with the bat.

I know he can play for Pakistan solely for his bowling too but then he dosen't have to compete as a sole bowler.

 

[Markhor]

Haris Sohail is the only Pakistani batsman to have scored two fifties against non-minnows in ODIs this year.

For a weak ODI batting lineup likes ours, how can you afford to leave him out.

 

[babajee]

Haris Sohail is the only Pakistani batsman to have scored two fifties against non-minnows in ODIs this year.

For a weak ODI batting lineup likes ours, how can you afford to leave him out.

Because I did too

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Haris Sohail is the only Pakistani batsman to have scored two fifties against non-minnows in ODIs this year.

For a weak ODI batting lineup likes ours, how can you afford to leave him out.

And only in 3 odis...

 

[New Yorker]

Is Faheem having an extra luxury and be competed as ARs among Shadab and Imad. As he's an AR he'll not compete in a situation where lets say outside Asia Pakistan team will go for Faheem rather than Imad mostly. But he hasn't performed with the bat.

I know he can play for Pakistan solely for his bowling too but then he dosen't have to compete as a sole bowler.

He should be played as a specialist bowler with benefits. Perhaps being given a chance to hit out earlier; he's looked recently but doesnt get a chance to settle in. But his bowling numbers are better than Imad's every which way you cut it; better Ave, SR, Economy. His average is better than Junaid's and Hasan's and he has a better SR than Junaid across the latter's career.

 

[New Yorker]

And only in 3 odis...

Haris was a cut above on that tour. Deserves more chances. If Fakhar continues to fail spectacularly I might opt to open with Babar and Imam and let Haris come into the middle order.

 

[hadi123]

Horses for courses. Simple.

 

[Sunny_majoka]

Haris and asif both should play at 3 and 7 .
Imam and babar both are one dimensional players so, idealy babar should open followed by haris

 

[saeedhk]

Only Harris Sohail. The rest are bits and pieces players.