"I have always raised concerns over Imam's strike rate": Shoaib Akhtar

[hafizexpress]

I blame IMam for Fakhar’s wicket only.

Besides that I thought he batted well but if Babar and Hafeez didn’t step it up, then Imam would have looked terrible even with that score

Post 74 is in response to this

 

[hafizexpress]

Ian ward and nick knight are my favourite commentators
And KP used to be great

The English are great at commentary and analysis in general.

I am so glad Shoaib isn't a commentator, watching the matches would be painful.

 

[coy0607]

When the target is 300, 100 off 110 is what you need. Unfortunately Imam couldn't get to that but his start was perfectly suited to the target.

Well that means he didn't do his job then

 

[Baigel]

Well that means he didn't do his job then

And everybody else did? Why don't you comment on the rest of the team?

 

[MenInG]

One comment on Imam from my end is this.

I do not like it when he slows down near a milestone. To me that is selfishness.

If a player does that, then invariably they lose their wicket after reaching the milestone as he is trying to catch up.

 

[Muhammad Sahal]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">i have always raised concerns over imam's strike rate. Scored 53 off 75 balls, put the whole team under pressure. Hence, the crumbling. Sigh. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ausvpak?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5etfw">#ausvpak</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cwc19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5etfw">#cwc19</a></p>— shoaib akhtar (@shoaib100mph) <a href="https://twitter.com/shoaib100mph/status/1138833201512820737?ref_src=twsrc%5etfw">june 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

i am not even sure what to say regarding this. I have always liked imam in terms of his temperament and pressure handling, yes he should increase the sr but not sure if the criticism is due or not. What do you guys think?

he has a habbit of watching afridi and kamran watching openers few fours and sixess bundle of strike rates fifty or century once in a blue moon

 

[hadi123]

One comment on Imam from my end is this.

I do not like it when he slows down near a milestone. To me that is selfishness.

If a player does that, then invariably they lose their wicket after reaching the milestone as he is trying to catch up.

I don't think he does slow down. In his 151 against England, he actually accelerated in his 70s/80s so sped up.

 

[Draeoftroy]

One comment on Imam from my end is this.

I do not like it when he slows down near a milestone. To me that is selfishness.

If a player does that, then invariably they lose their wicket after reaching the milestone as he is trying to catch up.

Not in the last match, he made milestone in 80-90 strike rate. It was due to Hafeez doing exceptionally well on the other end. Imam was putting considerable amount of pressure on his partners in a run chase.
He took forever to get his first run his dot bowls consumed 2 [Fakhar, Babar] players only Hafeez was able to overcome this and score well. The team management has probably not given him a role they are just letting him do what he wants at the center. He never takes responsiblity to play scoring shots as he knows he does'nt have the range or the skill to hit all around the park.

He only rotates strike in three to four field positions if the other batsman is well-settled or else he slows down the RR.

His club level technique makes him vulnerable to soft dismissals even a school level cricketer won't make. Still remember how he gave a soft caught and bowl off Moeen Ali in the England series. The commbox was laughing at him and Pakistan, probably on our system.

 

[Amjid Javed]

One comment on Imam from my end is this.

I do not like it when he slows down near a milestone. To me that is selfishness.

If a player does that, then invariably they lose their wicket after reaching the milestone as he is trying to catch up.

Babar Azam and a few others do that as well... seems to be a pakistani thing...

 

[Amjid Javed]

Eating up dot balls in PP, not rotating strike. Then getting out when well set with a snail like inns. Am sure his uncles was proud and waiting with a box of mithai for his masterful effort.

I dont see any other team in this world cup using a pinch blocker at top of the inns, this isnt the 1999 world cup

 

[Grunge101]

I didn't blame him for the loss. He did his best within his capacity, but once the game went to like 42 of 36, he should have shielded Wahab from Strac's over. AUS won't have won it had PAK batted out 50 overs, and they had one odd over to make-up as well, but Sarfraz seemed to be unaware of the situation. PAK actually was in a position that even sacrificing one Strac over for maiden could have been negotiated.

.

I wasn't talking about Sarfraz, i was talking about Imam..

England is exceptional for Buttler at 6 and for their tail, but don't think any other current team could have done it apart from few odd days. Slogging has an elasticity - when the game was around 200-250 range, teams could reach 100-1 in 30 overs, still the asking is just about run a ball; but when the initial asking is 6+, teams have to keep up with the asking through-out. Even for a batting line-up like ENG, they failed to chase 348 on a much better surface & batting condition, because of tight middle overs. They were always at around 6/over, but once the asking went past 9, they started to lose vital wickets

I would disagree there. They might have failed on one occasion but generally I would back England to chase down 170 odd in 25 overs with 7 wickets in hand most times than not. Their number 10 can bat.

and i dont think Its just England. Take India, 3 wickets down they would have Dhoni and Rahul on crease with Pandya, Jadhav, Kumar and Yadav to follow. NZ would have Taylor and Latham with Neesham, Grandhomme and Santner to follow. Australia would have Smith and Maxwell with Stoinis, Carey and Coulter-Nile to follow. Heck, even South Africa would have a decent chance with their middle and lower order.

 

[coy0607]

And everybody else did? Why don't you comment on the rest of the team?

because this thread is about Imam. Fakhar, Malik, Asif deserve more criticism than Imam, but we are talking about those guys in other threads... My understanding is that is generally how forums work

 

[Afhan Ali]

Looks like couple of innings for combined 77 of 54 by No. 8 & 9 has fooled lots of people here. Today’s game ended close because Hasan & Wahab played the innings of their life - it won’t happen every day and PAK won’t be so close chasing 308, after one opener scores 53 of 75.

When Imam was out playing a horrible shot after “protecting” PAK middle order against the rage of Strac & Cummins, target was exactly 173 of 25 overs, with 7 wickets at hand - I can bet, 9 times out of 10, teams chasing that sort of target will end up losing the game from that position, even teams like England won’t chase over 50% times. Business usual, PAK would have lost it by ~100 margin from 160/6, didn’t happen because of Hasan & Wahab ..... hence fan boys have smart words for covering the most selfish innings of this WC so far.

It’s not a rocket science to explain that if an opener plays out 50 overs, it becomes easier to chase any target - but, has it ever happened that Imam has batted through or PAK has chased a tough target after his usual rear guard innings? It’s easy to explain the game from scorecard after the game has ended, but every game I have seen PAK chasing, there is a common pattern - gradually increased asking, until there is a bust of wickets and an eventual middle order collapse, which inevitably will end up in a loss, EVERY TIME. Is there any difference between today’s knock and the Asia Cup knock on 26th Sep 2018? Yes, there is ..... today Wahab & Hasan slogged their way to make it a 41 runs defeat chasing 308, that day Shaheen connected few to make it 39 runs defeat chasing 240 - innings pattern was almost identical. Today, the bust of middle order was between 136 to 160, that day was between 85 to 100.

I hope one day Imam stays till 45th over for PAK to chase a target successfully, with this batting strategy.

It is not rocket science but we doesn't have any better opener than him at the moment and he is our most reliable player

 

[MMHS]

It is not rocket science but we doesn't have any better opener than him at the moment and he is our most reliable player

He is made to look reliable - make no mistake about that. He came in to PAK side with 30/70 sort of List A stats and then given a role that suits his game (rather read a role was created to fit him in).

What reliability? **!!!! - put Haris or Abid Ali in opening and ask them to play a role of 53 in 75, chasing 308 - both will be more reliable, Babar will be outstanding - even without bashing ZIM reserves, he can maintain a 65/65 stats . In Soccer, we say country behind 2 Clubs in Spain .... in PCT, entire management is to establish one player. There is a double standard set in PAK cricket - Umar Akmal is cursed for his "Brain ****", and Imam ul Haq is cherished for his reliability - end result is loss for PCT, but one is reliable, other one is ...... Not for long though - uncle's days are counted.

 

[Captain caveman]

Eating up dot balls in PP, not rotating strike. Then getting out when well set with a snail like inns. Am sure his uncles was proud and waiting with a box of mithai for his masterful effort.

I dont see any other team in this world cup using a pinch blocker at top of the inns, this isnt the 1999 world cup

lol pinch blocker.
Very funny and unfortunately, very true!

 

[chacha kashmiri]

The English are great at commentary and analysis in general.

I am so glad Shoaib isn't a commentator, watching the matches would be painful.

I think Rambo and Shoaib would make a great team

 

[chacha kashmiri]

The English are great at commentary and analysis in general.

I am so glad Shoaib isn't a commentator, watching the matches would be painful.

I think Rambo and Shoaib would make a great team

 

[topspin]

Eating up dot balls in PP, not rotating strike. Then getting out when well set with a snail like inns. Am sure his uncles was proud and waiting with a box of mithai for his masterful effort.

I dont see any other team in this world cup using a pinch blocker at top of the inns, this isnt the 1999 world cup

LOL this killed me