How can Pakistan play an ODI in 2018 with Azhar Ali and Imam-ul-Haq as openers?

[Abdullah719]

I know Fakhar is injured but seriously, what is there to lose by trying something else?

Azhar partnering Fakhar is contentious enough but Azhar and Imam, together?

Two one-dimensional openers who both score at a sedate rate is not what you want in an ODI side in this day and age. Specially not in a tiny Kiwi ground.

 

[Hamza_]

I know Fakhar is injured but seriously, what is there to lose by trying something else?

Azhar partnering Fakhar is contentious enough but Azhar and Imam, together?

Two one-dimensional openers who both score at a sedate rate is not what you want in an ODI side in this day and age. Specially not in a tiny Kiwi ground.

By nepotism.

 

[CricFan2012]

We need to take a page out of Englands book and play more bashers, they have Roy and Hales which is why they are such an amazing team right now, Fakhar is an inferior version of Hales, it will do but need another opener of this mold.

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

Who else is there ?

I agree it’s stupid but we haven’t gotten out of 92 mentality

Imam had a dream start to his career but his list A record was that of a grafter and that’s what he still is

There is no firepower in our top 6 without Fahkar

 

[Markhor]

Most teams in the world play two explosive, hard hitting openers. NZ play Guptill and Munri but we're wholly dependent on Fakhar for fast starts.

I'd be tempted to select one if not two of Sahibzada Farhan, Hussain Talat or Mukhtar Ahmed for the T20s.

 

[TheInaudibleParadox]

Dude it is Pakistan.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

And then M.Hafeez and Shoaib Malik at #4 and #5

 

[Kohli The King of Chase]

I know Fakhar is injured but seriously, what is there to lose by trying something else?

Azhar partnering Fakhar is contentious enough but Azhar and Imam, together?

Two one-dimensional openers who both score at a sedate rate is not what you want in an ODI side in this day and age. Specially not in a tiny Kiwi ground.

Ur post is incomplete.

Add to that

Babar at 3
Professor at 4
Mian at 5
Sarfraz at 6.

Actual brave batsmen are 7 , 8 and 9...lol

 

[MRSN]

Because you gotta see off the new ball and play 50 overs and it's not mickey mouse cricket... Pakistan is almost 10 years behind rest of the world with this ancient batting line up.

 

[srh]

I know Fakhar is injured but seriously, what is there to lose by trying something else?

Azhar partnering Fakhar is contentious enough but Azhar and Imam, together?

Two one-dimensional openers who both score at a sedate rate is not what you want in an ODI side in this day and age. Specially not in a tiny Kiwi ground.

Sharjeel is the answer of all our worries.

 

[Abdullah]

It's just the openers (today). The rest are fine.

 

[Abdullah]

^they just need to show more intent. Like hafeez did when he started

 

[troodon]

Just like India plays an overseas test with Rohit and Dhawan In the playing XI.

 

[Hamad_H]

I thought Sarfraz should have led from the front and opened with Azhar/Imam and Haris/Yamin comes in as Fakhar is injured, especially after the criticism he has had for batting too low.

 

[hadi123]

These two wouldn't be a bad partnership in Tests but in ODI's painful.

Munro + Guptill vs

Azhar + Imam.


No wonder we are losing this match.

 

[Hasan123]

Ask the revolutionary.

 

[Pete Rose]

These two wouldn't be a bad partnership in Tests but in ODI's painful.

Munro + Guptill vs

Azhar + Imam.


No wonder we are losing this match.

It’s not just these two. The one down superstar is also a notoriously slow starter. The most fluent batsmen in the team right now are Shadab, Faheem, hasan, and Aamir

 

[Pete Rose]

I thought Sarfraz should have led from the front and opened with Azhar/Imam and Haris/Yamin comes in as Fakhar is injured, especially after the criticism he has had for batting too low.

Sarfaraz is playing a dangerous game here. Under the guise of giving seniors all the chances to fail, he is also getting exposed. He needs to bat at 4

 

[boomboom6]

It's pretty obvious to everyone except Inzi and the management. You cannot expect to change the batting culture by selecting batsmen who simply don't have the skills for modern LOI game.

We need to select 2 more openers in the squad besides Fakhar who are dashers and can take on fast bowling upfront. Ideally Sharjeel's ban gets reversed shortly and he returns to partner with Fakhar but in the meantime we need to find another explosive opener to open with Fakhar. Enough is enough. We still have time till 2019 WC to build the right combination. We should use our failures in NZ as a lesson moving forward and rectify the mistakes.

Seriously Inzi, this is not rocket science man!

 

[Justcrazy]

Pakistan management is a big failure , its pretty much evident.

 

[Syed1]

Most teams in the world play two explosive, hard hitting openers. NZ play Guptill and Munri but we're wholly dependent on Fakhar for fast starts.

I'd be tempted to select one if not two of Sahibzada Farhan, Hussain Talat or Mukhtar Ahmed for the T20s.

Well we are in the capable hands of Inzi and Arthur... we should be rocketing up the rankings right?

 

[Syed1]

It’s not just these two. The one down superstar is also a notoriously slow starter. The most fluent batsmen in the team right now are Shadab, Faheem, hasan, and Aamir

Yesterday it seemed our batting started when Shadab walked in

 

[The cricket enthusiast]

[MENTION=488]peter[/MENTION]ose amir yamin you mean?
cox M.Amir is nower near what he use to be before fixing saga he is now proper tail ender

 

[sam_ahm]

You people can talk about young talent for days, but truth is on form Kamran Akmal deserves a pkace in tbe side and what better than opening with Fakhar zaman.

He is in tbe form of his life since two seasons running. He has scored eyns in First class, list A, T20s, on green wickets, on batting tracks, when others hace failed he has performed. You pick guys in form. Age is just a number these days, I dare say Kamran deserves a place in the side even ahead of your captain Sarfraz Ahmed. Like it or not.

 

[The cricket enthusiast]

You people can talk about young talent for days, but truth is on form Kamran Akmal deserves a pkace in tbe side and what better than opening with Fakhar zaman.

He is in tbe form of his life since two seasons running. He has scored eyns in First class, list A, T20s, on green wickets, on batting tracks, when others hace failed he has performed. You pick guys in form. Age is just a number these days, I dare say Kamran deserves a place in the side even ahead of your captain Sarfraz Ahmed. Like it or not.

nice troll for a moment i was like are you serious.

 

[sam_ahm]

nice troll for a moment i was like are you serious.

How is that a troll? How is he scoring tons and tons of runs at domestic level if he is crap? Even in QEA trophy where most baysmen have struggled, Kamran has done well. His international record is also pretty good. Yes, when he was dropped it was the right decision at that time.

Just because people don't like someone, it doesn't make him bad.

I always thought Misbah was crap, but when he made a comeback at the age of 33 in WT20 he was a completely different player. Lance Klusener was never a brute of a batsman, he was a bowler who can bat, but in 1999 WC he became a completely different player.
Sanath Jayasuriya, at the start of his career batted at no.8, he was a spinner who can bat a bit. Since 1996 WC, the world has seen what he was capable of.

Just because a person failed in a subject once, doesn't mean you don't allow him to write that examination ever again. Even when he is studying hard and outshining everyone else in the class for 2 years.

 

[lonex]

How is that a troll? How is he scoring tons and tons of runs at domestic level if he is crap? Even in QEA trophy where most baysmen have struggled, Kamran has done well. His international record is also pretty good. Yes, when he was dropped it was the right decision at that time.

Just because people don't like someone, it doesn't make him bad.

I always thought Misbah was crap, but when he made a comeback at the age of 33 in WT20 he was a completely different player. Lance Klusener was never a brute of a batsman, he was a bowler who can bat, but in 1999 WC he became a completely different player.
Sanath Jayasuriya, at the start of his career batted at no.8, he was a spinner who can bat a bit. Since 1996 WC, the world has seen what he was capable of.

Just because a person failed in a subject once, doesn't mean you don't allow him to write that examination ever again. Even when he is studying hard and outshining everyone else in the class for 2 years.

Kamran has failed multiple times at International level. He does know his way around in domestic cricket though. Top it off with his poor fielding which costs more runs then he scores.

 

[paklvr_82]

It's pretty obvious to everyone except Inzi and the management. You cannot expect to change the batting culture by selecting batsmen who simply don't have the skills for modern LOI game.

We need to select 2 more openers in the squad besides Fakhar who are dashers and can take on fast bowling upfront. Ideally Sharjeel's ban gets reversed shortly and he returns to partner with Fakhar but in the meantime we need to find another explosive opener to open with Fakhar. Enough is enough. We still have time till 2019 WC to build the right combination. We should use our failures in NZ as a lesson moving forward and rectify the mistakes.

Seriously Inzi, this is not rocket science man!

Its been 2 years already since Inzamam became selector and Inzamam biggest achievement is sneaking in his nephew. In 10 months he will sneak in his son or some other relative. If there was no PSL or McCullum captaining Qalandars, Fakhar Zaman would still be toiling in the domestic. And Shadab, Hassan would be paying extra fees to Shakeel Sheikh to stay onto the Islamabad region team whereas our seniors like Misbah and Afridi would be saying, 'where is the talent?'. Our club culture where a mentor groomed players has been destroyed by the nepotism and corruption of the ad-hoc board.

I only expect Inzamam to somehow push in the Akmal, Salman Butt or Ahmed Shehzad again if Mickey Arthur position becomes weaker with the losses.

 

[Madplayer]

These two wouldn't be a bad partnership in Tests but in ODI's painful.

Munro + Guptill vs

Azhar + Imam.


No wonder we are losing this match.

Wow, this tells us something doesnt it? The difference between class couldnt be any more clear. Here we have Munro and Guptil, one of the most ferocious hitters of the ball and then we have our acha bacha munna raja Azhar and Chachu ka Ladla Imam who are turtles when it comes to strike rates. How on earth is Pakistan supposed to score 320?

 

[Arham_PakFan]

How is that a troll? How is he scoring tons and tons of runs at domestic level if he is crap? Even in QEA trophy where most baysmen have struggled, Kamran has done well. His international record is also pretty good. Yes, when he was dropped it was the right decision at that time.

Just because people don't like someone, it doesn't make him bad.

I always thought Misbah was crap, but when he made a comeback at the age of 33 in WT20 he was a completely different player. Lance Klusener was never a brute of a batsman, he was a bowler who can bat, but in 1999 WC he became a completely different player.
Sanath Jayasuriya, at the start of his career batted at no.8, he was a spinner who can bat a bit. Since 1996 WC, the world has seen what he was capable of.

Just because a person failed in a subject once, doesn't mean you don't allow him to write that examination ever again. Even when he is studying hard and outshining everyone else in the class for 2 years.

Kamran was given 3 ODI’s and 3 T20’s to prove his worth in the WI tour last year.He didn’t impress with the bat and was absolutely poor in the field.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

We've had Zaheer Abbas, JM, Saeed Anwar, Moyo and Inzi is ODIs.

We are stuck in the late 90s

People used to blame Misbah but he did what he could. Same can be said about Afridi's slogs.

Pak's ODI top order has been a mess for many years now.

 

[MenInG]

This cannot work in this day and age - one of them has to drop to the no 3 position.