Hasan, Babar, Shadab, Faheem, Fakhar, Shinwari etc. - What do these players all have in common?

[Sirris]

Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman and Usman Khan Shinwari.

What do these players have in common?

They are all young and upcoming players who have only recently been given a chance. On this tour almost all of them have outshined the senior players, who have been in the international arena for many years. Some have been around since decades.

In today's match even Mohammed Nawaz showed what a difference new players can make.

Now imagine for a moment we didn't give anyone of them a chance and kept on pinning our hope on the likes of Anwar Ali, Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz, Umar Akmal and Asad Shafiq.

This is not to say that each one these new players is a world beater or will be a future great. But it is a fact that they have given performances which were unheard when we were still giving the same old bunch of players one more final chance.

Usman Khan taking 5 wickets in 21 balls, Baber Azam scoring consecutive centuries, Hasan Ali picking up wickets almost every time he is given the ball and now Faheem Ashraf becoming the first Pakistani player to achieve a hatrick in T20Is. These are examples from past 6 matches alone!

To be fair a balance is always needed between experienced players and newbies. Though at the moment the experienced players are the like of Hafeez, Shehzad and Malik. Besides Malik I don't think the other two can give any worthwhile guidance to the youngsters.

My point is that we should to always look for better and new alternatives when the same batch of players has proven to been incompetent over and over again. There is no reason why Hafiz and company should keep on playing till WC 19 just because they feel like it.

With no disrespect inconsistent oldies out new youngsters in, every single time.

 

[ExpressPacer]

Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman and Usman Khan Shinwari.

What do these players have in common?

They are all young and upcoming players who have only recently been given a chance. On this tour almost all of them have outshined the senior players, who have been in the international arena for many years. Some have been around since decades.

In today's match even Mohammed Nawaz showed what a difference new players can make.

Now imagine for a moment we didn't give anyone of them a chance and kept on pinning our hope on the likes of Anwar Ali, Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz, Umar Akmal and Asad Shafiq.

This is not to say that each one these new players is a world beater or will be a future great. But it is a fact that they have given performances which were unheard when we were still giving the same old bunch of players one more final chance.

Usman Khan taking 5 wickets in 21 balls, Baber Azam scoring consecutive centuries, Hasan Ali picking up wickets almost every time he is given the ball and now Faheem Ashraf becoming the first Pakistani player to achieve a hatrick in T20Is. These are examples from past 6 matches alone!

To be fair a balance is always needed between experienced players and newbies. Though at the moment the experienced players are the like of Hafeez, Shehzad and Malik. Besides Malik I don't think the other two can give any worthwhile guidance to the youngsters.

My point is that we should to always look for better and new alternatives when the same batch of players has proven to been incompetent over and over again. There is no reason why Hafiz and company should keep on playing till WC 19 just because they feel like it.

With no disrespect inconsistent oldies out new youngsters in, every single time.

Brilliant post. Absolutely brilliant. But you're forgetting another guy, Imam Ul Haq - scoring a century in his very first game despite so much pressure. And at good pace too!

Younger players will always be better!

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

They all kind of started their careers under Sarfraz and got the confidence and backing.. Mickey also played his part.

I will be very honest, apart from Shadab all of them would have been dropped under Afridi, Misbah and Waqar after some matches and replaced with mediocrity like Asad Shafiq and Wahab Riaz...

 

[Sirris]

Brilliant post. Absolutely brilliant. But you're forgetting another guy, Imam Ul Haq - scoring a century in his very first game despite so much pressure. And at good pace too!

Younger players will always be better!

My fault. So many upcoming youngsters that it's getting hard to keep up!

 

[ExpressPacer]

My fault. So many upcoming youngsters that it's getting hard to keep up!

Lets not jinx it.

Also, we're forgetting another guy - Raees. Brilliant bowler.

 

[CricFan2012]

They all kind of started their careers under Sarfraz and got the confidence and backing.. Mickey also played his part.

I will be very honest, apart from Shadab all of them would have been dropped under Afridi, Misbah and Waqar after some matches and replaced with mediocrity like Asad Shafiq and Wahab Riaz...

Absolutely, those were dark times for Pakistan, incredibly foolish, and selfish captaincy from Afridi and Misbah, and poor coaching from Waqar set us back big time

 

[Sirris]

They all kind of started their careers under Sarfraz and got the confidence and backing.. Mickey also played his part.

I will be very honest, apart from Shadab all of them would have been dropped under Afridi, Misbah and Waqar after some matches and replaced with mediocrity like Asad Shafiq and Wahab Riaz...

Yeah most of the new players have been introduced after the change in coach and captaincy. At the same time PSL gave the youngsters hood platform to announce themselves and the public pressure must have been to big for selectors to just ignore.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Yeah most of the new players have been introduced after the change in coach and captaincy. At the same time PSL gave the youngsters hood platform to announce themselves and the public pressure must have been to big for selectors to just ignore.

Our selectors just dont watch domestic matches.. These kids had the same potential before PSL too. PSL gave a platform for the selectors and awaam to watch every match on TV. And as you said got pressure on selecting performing players.. I still believe we are playing at 70-75% of our potential.. We have some even better players in domestic...

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Absolutely, those were dark times for Pakistan, incredibly foolish, and selfish captaincy from Afridi and Misbah, and poor coaching from Waqar set us back big time

Can you imagine playing under 40 year old captains with a danda on your head that you will be dropped.. Also under an egoistic coach?... Even with all the talent, I think there is a 90% chance I will not perform when I am not confident in my mind... Few bad performances and I will be history ... Has happened with Pakistani players so many times in past.

 

[CricFan2012]

For the first time in years I am optimistic of our chances in world cup matches and big games, we have finally inducted young blood after so many years of moaning and crying as fans.

I hope now we can dispell the myth that Misbah was a decent captain, and that Whatmore/Waqar were good coaches, they should have, they needed to convince their own selectors about including youngsters, this has all happened under Mickey, Sarfaraz, and Inzi.

Just Hafeez needs to be dropped from all formats, he's a selfish, cheating, and cunning cricketer, Shehzad needs to go from LOI formats unless he improves his dot ball issue.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

For the first time in years I am optimistic of our chances in world cup matches and big games, we have finally inducted young blood after so many years of moaning and crying as fans.

I hope now we can dispell the myth that Misbah was a decent captain, and that Whatmore/Waqar were good coaches, they should have, they needed to convince their own selectors about including youngsters, this has all happened under Mickey, Sarfaraz, and Inzi.

Just Hafeez needs to be dropped from all formats, he's a selfish, cheating, and cunning cricketer, Shehzad needs to go from LOI formats unless he improves his dot ball issue.

Shehzad and Hafeez should be dropped. More than their mediocrity, I dislike their selfishness.

 

[CricFan2012]

Shehzad and Hafeez should be dropped. More than their mediocrity, I dislike their selfishness.

Once Haris replaces Hafeez, we will have an incredibly solid middle order.

Fahim has the potential to be our Stokes and Hardik, needs to be given more chances, to bat and to bowl.

Last issue is opener, not convinced by Imam, he is slow, Azhar is slow as well.

If Sharjeel ever comes back, then we will have a destuctive opening pair of Sharj and Fakhar, they can go all guns blazing, but if they get out, we have 2 awesome batsmen with great defence in Babar and Haris, Malik is our best bat currently, and Sarf isn't too bad, hes the weaker batsman but can't drop him because of his great captaincy.

 

[Sirris]

To sum up today's match while the seniors took their time in the middle and scored a brilliant 8(20) and 14(19).

It were the new players in the like of Faheem and Shadab who had to face the heat and take on the toughest job. Surprisingly or unsurprisingly the youngsters once again outshined the seniors, whose performance was as predictable as ever, once the pressure was on.

 

[abughio]

Also we are playing with sri .. other teams wont give us the respite they are offering.
Ofcourse potential is there to see.

 

[MMHS]

Most common thing among them is that none of them hardly played for PAK if Misbah & Qasim were in charge.

 

[pkwdpassion]

Well said
agree Pakistan team's only problem are the insecure non-performing seniors in the team.

Pakistan's batting department is suffering for a longtime due to their presence .
Afridi and misbah destroyed Pakistan cricket for 10+ years to halt any new cricketer to be inducted in the side.
Will never forget how Afridi favored shamelessly for Akmal and selfie shehzad by asking selection cmmte. for a Khurram manzoor [with a not even 100 strike rate] in T20 Asia Cup Dhaka.

The senior leeches have played enough politics to ruin Pakistan cricket.

Sarfraz is responsible for placing faith in youngsters and has become the only successful captain after Salim Malik [in 1994] to win an ODI championship as well as keeping a winning streak of 9 consecutive ODI wins and 11 wins out of 13 t20 matches in 2017 under his captaincy.

Young players hold promise and need to be nurtured and this Pakistan team has the ability to be contenders.

Unfortunately these senior leeches/players are backed by many people in the corrupt system. Selfie Shehzad, Shan Masood, Shoaib Malik, Akmals, & Salman Butt make bold statements cos they know their favored personality Inzamam is in the selection cmmtee. He will find a way to bring them back in.
The more powerful Arthur-Sarfraz are in our awful system the better it is for Pakistan cricket.

 

[Markhor]

Our selectors just dont watch domestic matches.. These kids had the same potential before PSL too. PSL gave a platform for the selectors and awaam to watch every match on TV. And as you said got pressure on selecting performing players.. I still believe we are playing at 70-75% of our potential.. We have some even better players in domestic...

Shadab was identified by Inzamam and the selectors before the PSL - he was taken on the A team tour of Zimbabwe in the autumn of 2016 where he made a big impact. Hasan Ali, Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman were also involved with the A team so its not true these youngsters weren't on the selectors radar before PSL.

Yes PSL gave them a worldwide platform to showcase their talents and helped force the selectors' hands - so what ? That's the point of selection - a player SHOULD be battering Inzamam's door down. Before, even proven performers were being ignored by dinosaur Haroon.

Mohammad Abbas and Usman Salahuddin have been performing for years in domestic cricket and Inzamam picked them for the Test team so I don't understand how you can say the selectors don't watch domestic cricket. Sahibzada Farhan was someone who Wajahatullah Wasti spotted and fast-tracked into the Pakistan Cup.

So I don't see why fans still keep taking swipes at the selectors especially when you compare them to the multiple disasterous tenures of their predecessors like Haroon Rasheed, Iqbal Qasim and Wasim Bari. Personally, I think they're doing an excellent job.

 

[DRsohail]

Most common thing among them is that none of them hardly played for PAK if Misbah & Qasim were in charge.

nailed it.they would have taken the natural flair from them and there would have been mental midget in the team.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

UAkmal and other players you mentioned also started well. The question is how will they do over time.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Shadab was identified by Inzamam and the selectors before the PSL - he was taken on the A team tour of Zimbabwe in the autumn of 2016 where he made a big impact. Hasan Ali, Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman were also involved with the A team so its not true these youngsters weren't on the selectors radar before PSL.

Yes PSL gave them a worldwide platform to showcase their talents and helped force the selectors' hands - so what ? That's the point of selection - a player SHOULD be battering Inzamam's door down. Before, even proven performers were being ignored by dinosaur Haroon.

Mohammad Abbas and Usman Salahuddin have been performing for years in domestic cricket and Inzamam picked them for the Test team so I don't understand how you can say the selectors don't watch domestic cricket. Sahibzada Farhan was someone who Wajahatullah Wasti spotted and fast-tracked into the Pakistan Cup.

So I don't see why fans still keep taking swipes at the selectors especially when you compare them to the multiple disasterous tenures of their predecessors like Haroon Rasheed, Iqbal Qasim and Wasim Bari. Personally, I think they're doing an excellent job.

Inzamam is slightly better than previous selectors but he is not doing enough for what he is being paid for.. Inzamam and the selectors should watch first class matches by being there in ground rather than taking end of season stats.. that thing you, me and everyone can do too.. Pakistan is a cricket crazy nation and no way we will ever have talent drought... Inzamam and co even should push for the inclusion of some club cricketers like Ehtesham Sultan and Rafay Ahmed in high class domestic teams.. I will be very honest, there are quite a few in PP who are more passionate about Pakistan cricket than these selectors.. Selectors and PCB staff are not doing justice with their salary. Sorry!

 

[Markhor]

Inzamam is slightly better than previous selectors but he is not doing enough for what he is being paid for.. Inzamam and the selectors should watch first class matches by being there in ground rather than taking end of season stats.. that thing you, me and everyone can do too.. Pakistan is a cricket crazy nation and no way we will ever have talent drought... Inzamam and co even should push for the inclusion of some club cricketers like Ehtesham Sultan and Rafay Ahmed in high class domestic teams.. I will be very honest, there are quite a few in PP who are more passionate about Pakistan cricket than these selectors.. Selectors and PCB staff are not doing justice with their salary. Sorry!

Inzamam can't demand domestic teams select Player X or Y - we all know how corrupt some of these regional associations are and the seniority culture that exists. That is something only the PCB hierarchy can address. If you're to hold someone accountable - blame the guy who's supposed to be running domestic cricket is a journalist and political appointee with zero cricket connections.

The selectors don't have to be physically present at every FC ground - their eyes and ears are the coaches and captains of those domestic teams. Plus they have access to video footage, they can call up young prospects up to the NCA and watch them (which they have done) in person etc. This isn't the 1970s.

As for fans having more passion - passion doesn't qualify you to be a selector and we all know how fans especially on here have a tendency to hype players to high heaven only for them to disappoint later on. I also don't know how you can accuse someone who successfully captained his country after the embarrassment of the 2003 World Cup, matchfixing scandals and the cancerous infighting of the 1990s, and has a claim to be one of the greatest Pakistani batsmen as "lacking passion".

Passion is irrelevant, results are what matters. The ODI team has gone from 9th to 6th in the rankings picking up an ICC trophy on the way, and the T20 team has gone from 7th and humiliatingly exiting the group stages of the World T20 to 2nd and has a real chance to win the next WT20. Test team needs work but given what we've seen with the LOI teams there's no reason we can't recover in that format too.

 

[ads101]

We just happen to have talent about now that's all. We debuted all these players pretty much as soon as we could. The guys you mentioned, Asad, Umar, Riaz etc debuted more than 5 years ago when all these youngsters you named would have been under 18 and ineligible to play. Fakhar was a late starter to cricket, being involved in the navy first.

People said the same thing years back, that the likes of umar, asad, Anwar Ali etc should be given a go and were better than the seniors. Then years later fans turn on them. People buy into the myth Pakistan doesn't try out players but this isn't true, we try out lots of players, often at very young ages. If anything Mickey seems reluctant to blood in too many new guys at a time, evident to why it took so long for Haris or Fakhar to make a return/debut.

Hasan, Babar, Shadab are special talents who would have been inducted 5 years back if they were around. Out of years back the special talent IMO was Jamshed, Umar, Amir and Haris. Haris got injured, Amir got banned for corruption, Umar lost it/got fat, and Jamshed just fell apart (feel it was almost a mental thing). The period before that you had Younis (in tests), Yousuf, Akthar, Asif, Inzi.

Talent comes and goes. And some start off well to become worse over time e.g. Umar, or start well and continue to do well e.g. Azhar in tests. Just play your best players regardless of age. Malik for example is perhaps our best T20 player currently, I doubt our T20 team will suddenly improve dropping him. As For Hafeez, age doesn't have much to do with it, it's the fact he isn't performing enough. Shehzad ain't even old, he's younger than Fakhar, just again isn't performing.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Passion is irrelevant, results are what matters. The ODI team has gone from 9th to 6th in the rankings picking up an ICC trophy on the way, and the T20 team has gone from 7th and humiliatingly exiting the group stages of the World T20 to 2nd and has a real chance to win the next WT20. Test team needs work but given what we've seen with the LOI teams there's no reason we can't recover in that format too.

Odi and t20 success has more to do with Sarfraz captaincy.. Inzi and selection committee are still selecting a one paced batting line up.. Same team struggled under Azhar and was pummeled for 300+ runs for fun.. Sarfraz utilizes his bowlers well and restrict teams to below par scores.. He did the same for Quetta Gladiators too.. If Azhar would have been our captain, one of Sri Lanka or SA would have easily scored 270 with Pakistan bundle out at 240 maximum and eliminated from Champions trophy.. This is the quality only Sarfraz has right now in our setup (restrict oppositions to small totals). As Sir Viv said, Sarfraz is someone who takes wickets with his tactics.

As I said, Inzi is slightly better than previous chief selectors but still needs extra work.. He even doesn't know about some top performers of domestic..

 

[pkwdpassion]

Odi and t20 success has more to do with Sarfraz captaincy.. Inzi and selection committee are still selecting a one paced batting line up.. Same team struggled under Azhar and was pummeled for 300+ runs for fun.. Sarfraz utilizes his bowlers well and restrict teams to below par scores.. He did the same for Quetta Gladiators too.. If Azhar would have been our captain, one of Sri Lanka or SA would have easily scored 270 with Pakistan bundle out at 240 maximum and eliminated from Champions trophy.. This is the quality only Sarfraz has right now in our setup (restrict oppositions to small totals). As Sir Viv said, Sarfraz is someone who takes wickets with his tactics.

As I said, Inzi is slightly better than previous chief selectors but still needs extra work.. He even doesn't know about some top performers of domestic..

100% Agree with u,

Inzamam is playing his dirty game whereas Arthur and Sarfraz doing their job for the betterment of Pakistan cricket

the common force behind these names even being featured is Sarfaraz Ahmad and his captaincy.

This was same Hasan Ali who has sorry econ. figures in 2016 due to having Azhar Ali as captain.
Hasan Ali growing in performance is due to having Sarfaraz leading them.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

100% Agree with u,

Inzamam is playing his dirty game whereas Arthur and Sarfraz doing their job for the betterment of Pakistan cricket

the common force behind these names even being featured is Sarfaraz Ahmad and his captaincy.

This was same Hasan Ali who has sorry econ. figures in 2016 due to having Azhar Ali as captain.
Hasan Ali growing in performance is due to having Sarfaraz leading them.

Pakistanis and people in general underestimate the value of captain big time... Captaincy and individual performance are different things.. I have never said Sarfraz is a great batsman or keeper but he definitely is the best thing happend to Pakistan cricket as captain. Same team which was pummeled for 300+ runs for fun,struggling to qualify for world cup looked totally different under Sarfraz.. Similarly SA look totally different under Faf ... According to majority fans here they should do well under AB De Villers as he is the better player but then why they struggled under him? May be captaincy is vital in cricket.

Do you know why our 90s team despite having world class players never won a tournament in after Imran?

 

[Hamza_]

Management have created an excellent atmosphere and these ghys are passionate.

Look at Hasan Ali, Shadab, Faheem the way these guys get along and compliment each other shows the strength as a team.

Everyone gives their 110%

 

[yasir]

Misbah and Afridi gone, all of sudden so many youngesters are back, team looks like modern unit.

Credit goes to Mickey for enforcing fitness culture. Azhar appears to be lot more approachable and works with youngesters much better than Waqar. Waqar had ego issues and his own way of doing things that did not work.

Sarfraz is a big reason, he has changed the atmosphere of dressing room. He is not big star, hence does not have big ego. His streets skills are his assets. Lot of credit goes to him for building modern Cricket unit for Pakistan. Misbah, Azhar Ali, Malik, Afridi could not create such environment in last 10 years, that Is an extra ordinary achievement.... I still worry about burden on him, three formats, keeping and Captaincy, it’s too much on his shoulder.

Hasan and Shahab are also neucleous of this modern unit, they express their talent and others are following their lead. They are next super stars for Pakistan, the 90s style of personalities. Management is allowing them there space and canvas, not going after them...

 

[Rana]

They all kind of started their careers under Sarfraz and got the confidence and backing.. Mickey also played his part.

I will be very honest, apart from Shadab all of them would have been dropped under Afridi, Misbah and Waqar after some matches and replaced with mediocrity like Asad Shafiq and Wahab Riaz...

Shadab would never have got selected under Afridi in the first place

 

[MMHS]

Looks like people are too impressed with Ul Haq!!!

I give a data - since Imran, he was the most powerful PAK Captain and lead PAK among the most numbers of consecutive weeks, probably over 200. Starting from late 2003 to late 2007 and in that period he had a father like figure - Woolmer, to guide him. Still, in that period, if I am not wrong grand total of 3 (three) players debuted under him - Riaz Afridi (played 1 Test), Md. Asif (debuted at SCG, dropped for a year, came back in the game IUH missed for injury), A Rehman (Inzi's last 2 Tests, when he himself was passenger).

Irony is that, in that period PAK won 2 U19 WCs - 2004 and 2006!!!!! And, those were not isolation days - PAK had enough, enough home matches to debut few from those 2 WC winning teams; and many more in their early to mid 20s. In fact, I can make an International class team with players that were denied by that cursed era - divine revenge is that, after starting fantastically (won a series in IND 4-2, from 0-2), that very, very good PAK team had very, very little to show in terms of achievements.

Rest if I write more, mods'll get busy and people will think it's personal.

 

[Hamza_]

Inzi is a bad CS. I'll agree with [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION]

 

[Bilal7]

Inzamam, Sarfaraz and Arthur should be given a lot of credit for finding these talented players and totally transforming the Pakistani team.

Experienced players are definitely needed and the likes of Malik and Sarfaraz are doing a good job with that but experience only counts when the player is able to use it to churn out good performances himself.

The test loss to Sri Lanka was a minor failure. The test guys are clearly missing Younis and Misbah but a couple of series more and they will become confident in their own abilities and we'll become a great team across formats.

 

[Bleedgreen4ever]

Looks like people are too impressed with Ul Haq!!!

I give a data - since Imran, he was the most powerful PAK Captain and lead PAK among the most numbers of consecutive weeks, probably over 200. Starting from late 2003 to late 2007 and in that period he had a father like figure - Woolmer, to guide him. Still, in that period, if I am not wrong grand total of 3 (three) players debuted under him - Riaz Afridi (played 1 Test), Md. Asif (debuted at SCG, dropped for a year, came back in the game IUH missed for injury), A Rehman (Inzi's last 2 Tests, when he himself was passenger).

Irony is that, in that period PAK won 2 U19 WCs - 2004 and 2006!!!!! And, those were not isolation days - PAK had enough, enough home matches to debut few from those 2 WC winning teams; and many more in their early to mid 20s. In fact, I can make an International class team with players that were denied by that cursed era - divine revenge is that, after starting fantastically (won a series in IND 4-2, from 0-2), that very, very good PAK team had very, very little to show in terms of achievements.

Rest if I write more, mods'll get busy and people will think it's personal.

Completely agreed...Inzi has a minor role in our revamp
Sarfaraz deserves most credit
Inzi's selection is as bad as Misbah's..

 

[Mueez]

The most common thing is that the new players are fearless and they want to attack,attack,attack!

 

[Bilal7]

Looks like people are too impressed with Ul Haq!!!

I give a data - since Imran, he was the most powerful PAK Captain and lead PAK among the most numbers of consecutive weeks, probably over 200. Starting from late 2003 to late 2007 and in that period he had a father like figure - Woolmer, to guide him. Still, in that period, if I am not wrong grand total of 3 (three) players debuted under him - Riaz Afridi (played 1 Test), Md. Asif (debuted at SCG, dropped for a year, came back in the game IUH missed for injury), A Rehman (Inzi's last 2 Tests, when he himself was passenger).

Irony is that, in that period PAK won 2 U19 WCs - 2004 and 2006!!!!! And, those were not isolation days - PAK had enough, enough home matches to debut few from those 2 WC winning teams; and many more in their early to mid 20s. In fact, I can make an International class team with players that were denied by that cursed era - divine revenge is that, after starting fantastically (won a series in IND 4-2, from 0-2), that very, very good PAK team had very, very little to show in terms of achievements.

Rest if I write more, mods'll get busy and people will think it's personal.

As a Bangladeshi, you must not know much about the Pakistan team from that era.

I'll just ask you one question, how many players debuted during the peaks of the great Australia ans West Indian teams? The unfortunate consequence of having a strong, settled team is that few players outside of the set-up will be given a chance.

Inzamam has been great for Pakistan and is our greatest chief selector ever.

 

[MMHS]

As a Bangladeshi, you must not know much about the Pakistan team from that era.

I'll just ask you one question, how many players debuted during the peaks of the great Australia ans West Indian teams? The unfortunate consequence of having a strong, settled team is that few players outside of the set-up will be given a chance.

Inzamam has been great for Pakistan and is our greatest chief selector ever.

Got into own trap - easily could have checked Wiki before posting

If I take the 1999 WC to 2007 WC as the golden generation of AUS ODI team, in 8 years they debuted only 27 players. Here is the list -

Jimmy Maher
Bradley Young
Andrew Symonds
Brett Lee
Stuart MacGill
Nathan Bracken
Simon Katich
Brad Haddin
Brad Williams
Ryan Campbell
Nathan Hauritz
Shane Watson
Michael Clarke
Michael Hussey
James Hopes
Cameron White
Stuart Clark
Brad Hodge
Mick Lewis
Mitchell Johnson
Brett Dorey
Phil Jaques
Dan Cullen
Mark Cosgrove
Ben Hilfenhaus
Shaun Tait
Adam Voges

If I take that PAK-AUS Brisbane Test of 1999 as the start of the great AUS Test generation, which ended with the Ashes loss of 2005 - that's about 69 months period, that wonderful AUS side had 15 debutantes. Here is the list

Adam Gilchrist
Scott Muller
Brett Lee
Simon Katich
Martin Love
Brad Williams
Nathan Bracken
Andrew Symonds
Michael Clarke
Nathan Hauritz
Shane Watson
Shaun Tait
Michael Hussey
Brad Hodge
Phil Jaques

Lots of common names, so I did an unique filter - it comes 30 unique names.
So, for that wonderful team, over 7 years (average of 2), in total 42 names in 2 formats - that's 6/year, which is twice of Inzi's entire tenure of 4+ years. If I take the numbers of matches played by the new names (Rehman 2, Afridi 1, Asif may be say 12), compared to Aussie debutantes, you know ....

By the way, even that golden Aussie generation didn't have 2 U19 world champs in that period of 8 years.

Information is universally available in this age, if you know what to look for, where to find it, how to find it and what to do with the info .......... it's beyond boundary.

I think, you can find the same for WI easily, if you are still interested.

 

[Naim]

Shadab was identified by Inzamam and the selectors before the PSL - he was taken on the A team tour of Zimbabwe in the autumn of 2016 where he made a big impact. Hasan Ali, Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman were also involved with the A team so its not true these youngsters weren't on the selectors radar before PSL.

Yes PSL gave them a worldwide platform to showcase their talents and helped force the selectors' hands - so what ? That's the point of selection - a player SHOULD be battering Inzamam's door down. Before, even proven performers were being ignored by dinosaur Haroon.

Mohammad Abbas and Usman Salahuddin have been performing for years in domestic cricket and Inzamam picked them for the Test team so I don't understand how you can say the selectors don't watch domestic cricket. Sahibzada Farhan was someone who Wajahatullah Wasti spotted and fast-tracked into the Pakistan Cup.

So I don't see why fans still keep taking swipes at the selectors especially when you compare them to the multiple disasterous tenures of their predecessors like Haroon Rasheed, Iqbal Qasim and Wasim Bari. Personally, I think they're doing an excellent job.

This . Agreed 100% with you he is doing excellent job.

 

[pkwdpassion]

[MENTION=53290]Markhor[/MENTION]

People should atleast talk with facts.
Inzamam is a chief selector[alongwith Wajahatullah Wasti, Tauseef Ahmed] since Apr. 2016. How many new players made debut in 2016 and how many 'new players' were not selected after not getting into Final XI, there is whole list of such people which I can put here, players like Asif Zakir and Usman Salahuddin. I am sure Inzi would not deselect his nephew Imam in such a manner. It was PSL not Inzamam that got Shadab Khan, Sharjeel Khan and Hasan Ali into Pakistan team.

Inzamam is such an opportunist how he sent his nephew(in the squad) as only opener knowing Ahmed Shehzad's mental situation shows he could've selected much better players (atleast one opener from domestics like Farhan) which he did'nt. Not one top order batsman was selected. Inzamam is the reason all the senior leeches from his favorite Shoaib Malik, Asad Shafiq, Hafeez, selfie shehzad with connected Shan Masood are in the team. If there was a weak yes-man captain like Misbah instead of Sarfraz. Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal would also be in the team with the same excuse of 'they have more experience(of not performing for 10+ years)'.

Inzamam was given duty by the PCB(briefed by Mickey Arthur, Rixon & Co.)to find and groom youngsters where the NCA did'nt. Inzamam put his son and nephew in those high performance camps at the first opportunity where he is being paid millions.

If there was no Sarfraz or had some local coach instead of Mickey Arthur (like Waqar Younis) with Inzamam as chief selector. Winning is further away their fights would've been discussed in media with these egoistic people diverting blame from one another in public and going for more powers and pay privately.

 

[Hedz]

Sarfraz, Amir, Malik and Hafeez should act as the experienced players. No place for Shehzad in either squad, he should make way for a youngster- Imam in Odi (hope he keeps performing) and Sahibzada Farhan in T20Is.
Another player that has to go out of the ODI team is Imad Wasim. He is a good T20 bowler and pinch hitter, but hasn’t had the same fortune in ODI. Especially against the top sides he goes for a lot of runs. Bring in the likes of Mohammad Asghar, or another youngster who is performing well.
Most of these youngsters are here thanks to the PSL! A tournament which has grown immensely in just 2 years. For all it’s flaws, it’s done what it looked to achieve: provide fresh talent to the national team and bring international cricket back to Pakistan!
Hope PSL 3 is bigger and better #AbKhel6Ka

 

[Markhor]

[MENTION=53290]Markhor[/MENTION]

People should atleast talk with facts.
Inzamam is a chief selector[alongwith Wajahatullah Wasti, Tauseef Ahmed] since Apr. 2016. How many new players made debut in 2016 and how many 'new players' were not selected after not getting into Final XI, there is whole list of such people which I can put here, players like Asif Zakir and Usman Salahuddin. I am sure Inzi would not deselect his nephew Imam in such a manner. It was PSL not Inzamam that got Shadab Khan, Sharjeel Khan and Hasan Ali into Pakistan team.

Inzamam is such an opportunist how he sent his nephew(in the squad) as only opener knowing Ahmed Shehzad's mental situation shows he could've selected much better players (atleast one opener from domestics like Farhan) which he did'nt. Not one top order batsman was selected. Inzamam is the reason all the senior leeches from his favorite Shoaib Malik, Asad Shafiq, Hafeez, selfie shehzad with connected Shan Masood are in the team. If there was a weak yes-man captain like Misbah instead of Sarfraz. Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal would also be in the team with the same excuse of 'they have more experience(of not performing for 10+ years)'.

Inzamam was given duty by the PCB(briefed by Mickey Arthur, Rixon & Co.)to find and groom youngsters where the NCA did'nt. Inzamam put his son and nephew in those high performance camps at the first opportunity where he is being paid millions.

If there was no Sarfraz or had some local coach instead of Mickey Arthur (like Waqar Younis) with Inzamam as chief selector. Winning is further away their fights would've been discussed in media with these egoistic people diverting blame from one another in public and going for more powers and pay privately.

Nobody is arguing Inzamam hasn't made mistakes - no selector is infallible but my argument is given the alternatives (Iqbal Qasim, Haroon Rasheed, Mohsin Khan, Wasim Bari) Inzamam is far more preferable and the good decisions so far outweigh the bad. Selection is a thankless task as every fan thinks they can be one. Responding to your points:

1) Inzamam is not responsible for getting players into the final XI. If the captain and coach don't want to use that player then its better if they are dropped from the squad and back playing domestic cricket instead of rotting on the bench.

Asif Zakir is 34 years old so isn't a long-term option, not everyone can be a Younis or Misbah. You're wrong on Usman Salahuddin - he was retained in the Test squad for Sri Lanka even though he didn't play in the Caribbean. Fans cry out for Inzamam to reward proven domestic performers yet when he selects Salahuddin and Mohammad Abbas he still gets bashed !

2) Shadab Khan was in the A squad for the Zimbabwe tour in the autumn of 2016 BEFORE the PSL. He was ALREADY on the selectors radar. Yes he had a brilliant PSL after which he got picked - what's the problem ? Surely its good that selectors reward PSL performances ?

3) Sahibzada Farhan was Wajahatullah Wasti's spot - he was the one who fast tracked Farhan into the Pakistan Cup when nobody on PakPassion heard his name. Funny how Wasti gets no credit for that from PP's armchair selectors. He's a promising talent but has only played 9 LA games - they may want to take a closer look at him and work on technical issues before debuting him.

There's a lack of hard hitting openers after Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif and Shahzaib Hasan got suspended after the PSL fixing scandal. Awais Zia was awful when he debuted as is Khurrim Manzoor so who are all these superior options you speak of ? Inzamam picked Fakhar Zaman and look how well that selection paid off in the CT.

4) If it was up to PP we'd have the U19s playing for the national team. Its not as simple as seniors = bad, juniors = good. You can't have 11 debutants playing plus Mickey Arthur has said himself he gets the players he wants from Inzamam so let's not create rifts where there aren't any. If they're picked then Arthur and Sarfraz want them there.

Arthur last year said:

I have taken the lead in working out the selections with Inzy

In June, Arthur said:

"Inzi and myself are on exactly the same page," he said in Cardiff ahead of Pakistan's decisive group match against Sri Lanka. "Inzi has bought into exactly what we want to do so there's no disconnect between us at all, we are on the same page."

Inzamam when he was appointed:

"My role is different, when I was the captain I used to give my suggestions. Now, I will listen to them (captains) too about what's their suggestion. When I was the captain I used to have my say. The captain is the main man. Like how I used to give my suggestion, I will give importance to what captain and coach will say because they are the ones who matter inside the ground."

I've doubts about Shoaib Malik outside Asia against pace but you cannot deny he's performed well since his 2015 comeback. Arthur has supported Asad Shafiq publicly. In case you forgot - Sarfraz PICKED Kamran Akmal in the Caribbean so your swipe at Misbah is bizarre. I'd drop Hafeez but they probably wanted him for his offspin against SRL's left hander dominated batting lineup. Shan Masood is there because his father is on the Board of Governors and again, Arthur and Sarfraz don't get the players they don't want. Anyway I doubt he'll be retained after his horror show against SL.

5) Imam-ul-Haq was considered a future prospect long before Inzamam's selection so its unfair to tag him as a nepotism player. He was one of the top performing openers in the QEA Trophy last season and deserved to be in the NCA Camps.

My view is the Sarfraz-Arthur-Inzamam axis is the best management we've had in a very long time. All three men have proven track records. Inzamam is the 11th Chief Selector in 8 years so for god's sake let's stop the chopping and changing and give this project time.

 

[New Yorker]

Looks like people are too impressed with Ul Haq!!!

I give a data - since Imran, he was the most powerful PAK Captain and lead PAK among the most numbers of consecutive weeks, probably over 200. Starting from late 2003 to late 2007 and in that period he had a father like figure - Woolmer, to guide him. Still, in that period, if I am not wrong grand total of 3 (three) players debuted under him - Riaz Afridi (played 1 Test), Md. Asif (debuted at SCG, dropped for a year, came back in the game IUH missed for injury), A Rehman (Inzi's last 2 Tests, when he himself was passenger).

Irony is that, in that period PAK won 2 U19 WCs - 2004 and 2006!!!!! And, those were not isolation days - PAK had enough, enough home matches to debut few from those 2 WC winning teams; and many more in their early to mid 20s. In fact, I can make an International class team with players that were denied by that cursed era - divine revenge is that, after starting fantastically (won a series in IND 4-2, from 0-2), that very, very good PAK team had very, very little to show in terms of achievements.

Rest if I write more, mods'll get busy and people will think it's personal.

potw. sobering to think inzi could have kept asif out.

 

[New Yorker]

Got into own trap - easily could have checked Wiki before posting

If I take the 1999 WC to 2007 WC as the golden generation of AUS ODI team, in 8 years they debuted only 27 players. Here is the list -

Jimmy Maher
Bradley Young
Andrew Symonds
Brett Lee
Stuart MacGill
Nathan Bracken
Simon Katich
Brad Haddin
Brad Williams
Ryan Campbell
Nathan Hauritz
Shane Watson
Michael Clarke
Michael Hussey
James Hopes
Cameron White
Stuart Clark
Brad Hodge
Mick Lewis
Mitchell Johnson
Brett Dorey
Phil Jaques
Dan Cullen
Mark Cosgrove
Ben Hilfenhaus
Shaun Tait
Adam Voges

If I take that PAK-AUS Brisbane Test of 1999 as the start of the great AUS Test generation, which ended with the Ashes loss of 2005 - that's about 69 months period, that wonderful AUS side had 15 debutantes. Here is the list

Adam Gilchrist
Scott Muller
Brett Lee
Simon Katich
Martin Love
Brad Williams
Nathan Bracken
Andrew Symonds
Michael Clarke
Nathan Hauritz
Shane Watson
Shaun Tait
Michael Hussey
Brad Hodge
Phil Jaques

Lots of common names, so I did an unique filter - it comes 30 unique names.
So, for that wonderful team, over 7 years (average of 2), in total 42 names in 2 formats - that's 6/year, which is twice of Inzi's entire tenure of 4+ years. If I take the numbers of matches played by the new names (Rehman 2, Afridi 1, Asif may be say 12), compared to Aussie debutantes, you know ....

By the way, even that golden Aussie generation didn't have 2 U19 world champs in that period of 8 years.

Information is universally available in this age, if you know what to look for, where to find it, how to find it and what to do with the info .......... it's beyond boundary.

I think, you can find the same for WI easily, if you are still interested.

great work as always.

 

[pkwdpassion]

[MENTION=53290]Markhor[/MENTION]

See the game of this Umar Amin selected by 'thankless' biased nepotistic Inzi for a t20, shows what 'role' is he playing as selector. Sahibzada Farhan is waaaaaaayyyyy better a player as well as entertaining than the garbage selected. There are a lot of openers in domestic who could play a lot better than how Umar Amin played or how selfie Shahzad was being selected. Inzi's pathetic politics shows there are 3 lower order all-rounders for the same position and no opener(Umar Amin is a middle order bat) for the squad.

 

[Markhor]

[MENTION=53290]Markhor[/MENTION]

See the game of this Umar Amin selected by 'thankless' biased nepotistic Inzi for a t20, shows what 'role' is he playing as selector. Sahibzada Farhan is waaaaaaayyyyy better a player as well as entertaining than the garbage selected. There are a lot of openers in domestic who could play a lot better than how Umar Amin played or how selfie Shahzad was being selected. Inzi's pathetic politics shows there are 3 lower order all-rounders for the same position and no opener(Umar Amin is a middle order bat) for the squad.

I agree Umar Amin is more suited to ODIs than T20s. Seems more of a strike rotator than powerhitter which is our need in T20s right now.

As for lower-order all-rounders, captain and coach can promote Shadab or Fahim if they want. They don't have to bat in the lower-order.

Anyway I notice zero reply to my earlier post. You're entitled to your view, clearly dislike the guy and won't be swayed by any facts or other viewpoints. Therefore I don't see any point in pursuing this debate.

 

[last_knight]

They are playing under Sarfaraz.
Mainly, induction has been under Inzamam.
But Most importantly, they are under a No-NonSense-Coach.

BTW, did Inzamam selected Fakhar Zaman in XI for CT match against SA ?

Not my favourites but Karachi Kings should be credited for recent success of PCT in LOIs. They started it. [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] knows it.

These days I listen to Waqar Younis praising the players ignored by him during his coaching days. That explains everything.

 

[MMHS]

potw. sobering to think inzi could have kept asif out.

I think, Ul Haq actually has exceeded my expectation - must be few other people involve in it, but he should get a bit credit as well. I actually was expecting MoHa, Malik, Wahab, Ajmal, Tanvir, Gul, Irfan, Anwar, Zulfi/Rehman ... to play till 2019 at least.

Apart from Arthur & Sarfraz's contribution, another issue that helped him to improve image (of a loyalist and extremely closed person when it comes to a change or transition) is the cursed Misbah era. What happens that, if you block an entire generation, at one point several players become over aged/obsolete and selectors are forced to bring changes, even if they don't wish to. Normally, if we take a squad of 23-25 players (combined 3 formats), ideal case, may be about 70-75% players should be between 23 to 35 years of age, then you have few U23 & over 35 players and this cycle continues for most teams.

What Misbah era did is that it blocked every young players and a bunch of selected players were growing together without the phasing out. For example, take PAK tour of SAF 2013 - exactly 2 years before next WC, Misbah & Qasim took an ODI squad to SAF like (don't curse me for 1/2 names) Misbah, Afridi, YK, Ajmal, Irfan, Wahab, MoHa, Malik, Kamran, Gul, Razzak, JK, Farhat and probably Asad. Now, looking at that team, anyone can tell that in couple of years time whoever is CS, he'll be forced to bring players, weather he likes or not (Or for the sake of say - weather there is talunt available or not). As I said, 3 players in 4 years under Inzi, followed by another 4 such years under Misbah has an adverse effect, particularly for a country like PAK, where domestics doesn't ensure you bread & butter - unless you make it by 23-25, you should look for another career.

In between, for few months we had Lawson/Malik and later YK in charge and there were new faces - many of them in short time - Ahmed, Umar, Amin, Asad, Azhar, Amir, JK, Wahab, Raja Hasan ...... some of them are really good. Misbah had a crash on 30+ bunch, but to be honest, he did try to bring new faces, albeit his contemporary. His problem was probably insecurity - always wanted known people around and be comfortable on field - but it took the average age of the side alarmingly high.

Obviously, by the time Ul Haq took charge, PAK team was almost 35 years old (average age), on top of that Arthur made his life difficult with strict fitness requirements (sent back Irfan), therefore by wish or being forced, he had to bring new faces. Still, we'll have to remember that none of these young players were brought out of blue - these are brought after Inzi/Misbah's first picks failed measurably - YK (ODI), Asad, Azhar, Gul, Irfan, Rahat, Anwar, Tanvir, Sohail, Zulf, Kamran ...... Last year, Ul Haq sent Zulfi Babar for a series in UK - that's straight negative 10% from me.

I would have given him little more space had Amin been picked for ODI series - someone playing 25+ years should have known that from watching Amin's game.