"I have never been out of the team on the basis of my performances" : Haris Sohail

[Abdullah719]

Haris Sohail talking after the first ODI vs Australia:

"Before this, such totals haven't been chased at Sharjah. Nowadays ODI cricket has changed, you need to take wickets after putting up such a total but credit goes to Finch and Marsh for the way they batted"

"When you make a century for your country, it's a different feeling but the real enjoyment comes when you win the match. If we would've won, I would've enjoyed the 100 more"

"Earlier on we lost a couple of wickets and on these pitches, it's a bit tough for new batsmen. At the end, we covered that as Imad hit out in the last couple of overs"

"You can say 280 was enough because the bat doesn't come onto the ball early on but we need to take wickets, if we took wickets then the result could have been different"

"Overall, the bowlers bowled well but we lacked in taking wickets. If you give a target of 300 but you don't take wickets then it can be chased down"

"When you play a knock like this after a long time out then it helps to maintain your form"

"We fought well and took the match to the last over, we'll try to give them a tough time in the coming matches and get good results hopefully. We'll come well prepared"

"Their morale is high, defeating the Indian team in their own home is a big thing. We will try our best to win the remaining games"

"When there's only 1-2 batsmen out then it's easy for set batsmen in these conditions to do well (in the death overs)"

"When I come for a series, I come well prepared and I keep it simple"

"I was playing at Babar's position and he's given lots of performances at this position. I've watched him a lot so I wanted to try and bat through the innings and take the other batsmen through to the end and that was the team plan"

"We need to make runs but we also need to keep the modern brand of cricket in mind and I'm trying to do that"

"When I went to the middle, the ball wasn't coming onto the bat. It looked like 275-280 would be a great score on this pitch. But I will say that ODI cricket has changed and you need to take some wickets"

"I will try in upcoming matches to perform even better than this and hopefully we can get better results"

"Coming back from injury is difficult because you're under pressure. All the players are trying to get some good preparation ahead of the World Cup"

"I had a bit of a tendon issue because I played series for a few months and workload was a lot but I've worked on it a lot"

"If you take any match, if you perform and win the match then you enjoy it more. In the World Cup, pitches will be a little different and there will be high scoring games. Here, you get stuck a bit and hopefully our brand of cricket will be better in upcoming games"

"If I look back at my career, I've never been out of the team on the basis of my performances. Unfortunately I do struggle a bit with my knee injuries"

 

[The_Odd_One]

When I went to the middle, the ball wasn't coming onto the bat. It looked like 275-280 would be a great score on this pitch. But I will say that ODI cricket has changed and you need to take some wickets

Then may be you should have played a bit faster so the team could score additional 30-40 runs.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Then may be you should have played a bit faster so the team could score additional 30-40 runs.

He did his job. His SR was higher than Finch's. The openers ate too many balls.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Then may be you should have played a bit faster so the team could score additional 30-40 runs.

The way our fast bowling looks I feel the Aussies will even chase 330-340 here. Their batsmen in form didn't even get a chance to bat.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

He did his job. His SR was higher than Finch's. The openers ate too many balls.

Finch didn't need to have a higher SR knowing the total he had in mind to chase.

Haris did not have this luxury.

Haris was lacking in intent all through his innings, clearly happy at batting through and remaining not out till the end with whatever score Pakistan get.

I am not saying Haris is responsible for our loss, but it explains why Finch can get away with a lower SR while a batsmen batting first has to go for his shots at some point.

The lack of intent is worrying.

 

[The_Odd_One]

He did his job. His SR was higher than Finch's. The openers ate too many balls.

Finch was chasing a target, Haris was setting one.

 

[The_Odd_One]

The way our fast bowling looks I feel the Aussies will even chase 330-340 here. Their batsmen in form didn't even get a chance to bat.

Agreed but I find it cheap from him to blame bowlers because ODIs have changed and not accepting that perhaps the batsmen should have scored some extra runs.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Finch didn't need to have a higher SR knowing the total he had in mind to chase.

Haris did not have this luxury.

Haris was lacking in intent all through his innings, clearly happy at batting through and remaining not out till the end with whatever score Pakistan get.

I am not saying Haris is responsible for our loss, but it explains why Finch can get away with a lower SR while a batsmen batting first has to go for his shots at some point.

The lack of intent is worrying.

He most likely would have fallen had he tried.

UAE is not a place where you can change gear easy. Haris' job is to hold the innings together. Our openers were both striking at 60, had they been in the 80s, we post 300 easy.

 

[aloo paratha]

Then may be you should have played a bit faster so the team could score additional 30-40 runs.

He is the anchor. Faheem couldn't press on. At least Imad came in and got us to a reasonable total.

 

[aloo paratha]

He most likely would have fallen had he tried.

UAE is not a place where you can change gear easy. Haris' job is to hold the innings together. Our openers were both striking at 60, had they been in the 80s, we post 300 easy.

Yep, that too. I'm tired of our openers not rotating the strike.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Finch was chasing a target, Haris was setting one.

And? Both were batting on the same pitch. If it was easier to go at a higher SR, Finch would have.

 

[The_Odd_One]

He is the anchor. Faheem couldn't press on. At least Imad came in and got us to a reasonable total.

Being an anchor does not mean that you won't accelerate. Yousuf, Inzamam, and Miandad were all anchors but they had the capability and intent to demolish bowlers at the end.

 

[The_Odd_One]

And? Both were batting on the same pitch. If it was easier to go at a higher SR, Finch would have.

Batting strategy is different when you are setting a total vs when you are chasing one. I can't believe I have to explain this.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Batting strategy is different when you are setting a total vs when you are chasing one. I can't believe I have to explain this.

Batting strategy is also different depending on your role and the pitch you're playing on. I can't believe, I have to explain this.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Batting strategy is also different depending on your role and the pitch you're playing on. I can't believe, I have to explain this.

Yes, that's why Finch gets the MoM award and Haris goes home empty handed.

 

[Khan12]

Delighted for haris. Such a shame we have wasted do many years of his and thanks to his injuries too. Hopefully now he can save us for the next 5 years or so. Could have been a world class batsmen.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Yes, that's why Finch gets the MoM award and Haris goes home empty handed.

Thanks to their respective teams.

 

[Khan12]

280 is a match winning score for in UAE, in case people didn't know.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

280 is a match winning score for in UAE, in case people didn't know.

Then why are we on the losing side with the opposition coasting home with 8 wickets in hand ?

 

[Khan12]

Then why are we on the losing side with the opposition coasting home with 8 wickets in hand ?

Just look up what [MENTION=141557]Chief Destroyer[/MENTION] has stated no need to repeat.

 

[Amjid Javed]

So 280 is a decent total?

Bowlers are to blame?

Also am sure copying babar in snail like selfish batting helped?

Sohails comments

 

[Sadozai]

Then why are we on the losing side with the opposition coasting home with 8 wickets in hand ?

Because we have the world's best bowling attack.

 

[Amjid Javed]

280 is a match winning score for in UAE, in case people didn't know.

Its a winning score for opposition not pakistan.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Just look up what [MENTION=141557]Chief Destroyer[/MENTION] has stated no need to repeat.

So basically you are saying it was a 2nd string Pakistani pace attack against a world class Australian pace attack and so we lost?

 

[babajee]

Hopefully he can score another century in the upcoming games to cement his position at #4 going into the England series.

 

[hadi123]

How are people blaming him for this loss?

 

[Abdullah]

When we got to 280 I thought we had won.
285 is highest successful chase in Sharjah
Stop blaming Sohail

 

[aloo paratha]

I don't know why it's so hard for people to understand that 2 of the bowlers who played today have pretty much no chance of being in the world cup squad. 1 other bowler who played today would probably just be a backup in the squad.

 

[Khan12]

Haris haters at full flow.

 

[Abdullah]

The guy needs to bowl more . Especially as Malik isn't interested

 

[volcyz]

0 impetus all innings

 

[Smooth criminal]

It was a very selfish knock. There is no justification for scoring only 6 boundaries and 1 six considering the fact that he came in to bat in the 8th over and remained not out. Even in the final overs his only intention was to pass the 100 runs mark.

 

[The Viper]

Haris is consistent in this format. One of our best players. Certainly weren’t the reason for the loss. Like others have said, I think the start was too slow really. But the bowling was atrocious also.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

People are assuming this is Australian first choice attack.

It was a 2nd string Australian attack too barring Lyon and Zampa who will likely be one of the two in every match.

There was no Cummins, no Starc, no Hazlewood and then there is no Warner and Stevie.

If the excuse is Pakistan had now bowlers, then Australia could use the same excuse to say they conceded 280 because they had no front line bowlers.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Finch didn't need to have a higher SR knowing the total he had in mind to chase.

Haris did not have this luxury.

Haris was lacking in intent all through his innings, clearly happy at batting through and remaining not out till the end with whatever score Pakistan get.

I am not saying Haris is responsible for our loss, but it explains why Finch can get away with a lower SR while a batsmen batting first has to go for his shots at some point.

The lack of intent is worrying.

Keep in mind it is a requirement for team like pak with such a fragile batting lineup to have some one at the top to score a century and carry the bat till the end to put a decent total. That is what Imam was doing in SA

His century was remarkable for the following reasons

Coming back from injury and scoring a century
Against the in form AUS who just beat India in India
Considering the fact pak playing their b team with the tail starting from UA at 4.
If he hasn’t scored the 100 it would be 220 all out
On a dry n sluggish wicket of Sharjah where ball not coming onto the bat.

He did his job , hope he makes more centuries.

 

[Madplayer]

People are assuming this is Australian first choice attack.

It was a 2nd string Australian attack too barring Lyon and Zampa who will likely be one of the two in every match.

There was no Cummins, no Starc, no Hazlewood and then there is no Warner and Stevie.

If the excuse is Pakistan had now bowlers, then Australia could use the same excuse to say they conceded 280 because they had no front line bowlers.

How many times has 280 been chased on this ground?

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Keep in mind it is a requirement for team like pak with such a fragile batting lineup to have some one at the top to score a century and carry the bat till the end to put a decent total. That is what Imam was doing in SA

His century was remarkable for the following reasons

Coming back from injury and scoring a century
Against the in form AUS who just beat India in India
Considering the fact pak playing their b team with the tail starting from UA at 4.
If he hasn’t scored the 100 it would be 220 all out
On a dry n sluggish wicket of Sharjah where ball not coming onto the bat.

He did his job , hope he makes more centuries.

Again you are missing the point.

I am not criticizing his century or his runs.

Intent to score is a big idea.

Remember how Amla batted like this and South Africa scored 270 odd for 2 which Pakistan chased down in South Africa.

Sure, Haris played well for his 80 runs.

After that he shut shop, milked the singles, interested in his 100 and even after his 100 the last few balls, he was happy to remain not out.

Such sort of intent should be discouraged rather than encouraged at the pretense of coming back from injury or importance of the knock.

There is no difference between losing and losing gracefully no matter what you might believe.

If Pakistan were to score 220 all out and lose and score 280 for 5 wickets and still lose, both losses are equivalent.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

How many times has 280 been chased on this ground?

It's irrelevant how many times what has been chased.

434 was never chased before in history, but South Africa pulled it off against Australia on a pitch.

Read my other thread.

It is not the AMOUNT of runs that matter, but the manner of getting them. During the whole innings, Pakistan looked like they figured 260 would be enough on this pitch.

This is the equivalent of South Africa believing 270-2 would be enough against Pakistan in South Africa before having a rude shock. They had no intent to score and lost to Pakistan.

Now make the same equivalence.

Pre-deciding a target yesterday, got 20 odd more than 260, didn't attack AT ALL in entire innings, and Umar Akmal showed that it was possible to hit sixes with ease here smashing 3 in one over. If that didn't show ominous signs for Pakistan, then perhaps they deserved the loss.

There's always a first time for everything. If we go by the logic, how many times has a score been chased on what ground, rather than the actual ground conditions, we are going to be losing many many matches in the near future.

 

[Madplayer]

It's irrelevant how many times what has been chased.

434 was never chased before in history, but South Africa pulled it off against Australia on a pitch.

Read my other thread.

It is not the AMOUNT of runs that matter, but the manner of getting them. During the whole innings, Pakistan looked like they figured 260 would be enough on this pitch.

This is the equivalent of South Africa believing 270-2 would be enough against Pakistan in South Africa before having a rude shock. They had no intent to score and lost to Pakistan.

Now make the same equivalence.

Pre-deciding a target yesterday, got 20 odd more than 260, didn't attack AT ALL in entire innings, and Umar Akmal showed that it was possible to hit sixes with ease here smashing 3 in one over. If that didn't show ominous signs for Pakistan, then perhaps they deserved the loss.

There's always a first time for everything. If we go by the logic, how many times has a score been chased on what ground, rather than the actual ground conditions, we are going to be losing many many matches in the near future.

Maybe Aussies bowled better than Pakistanis?

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Maybe Aussies bowled better than Pakistanis?

That could have been the conclusion, had Pakistan showed INTENT and faltered.

So tell me, where did you see the intent yesterday besides Imad and Umar somewhat in the middle?

P.S

Are you telling me Pakistan bowled so well that Amla was forced to stay 270-2?

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

"If I look back at my career, I've never been out of the team on the basis of my performances. Unfortunately I do struggle a bit with my knee injuries"

True, very sad that what he has gone through with knee injuries :/

Performance wise he is in top 5 players of current Pakistani test and odi team.

 

[Major]

if a team scores 280 and only takes 2 wickets, then yes bowlers are to be blamed.

Anythng above 250 shouldnt be chased with 8 wickets to spare

 

[shah_1]

The bowlers were pathetic and so were the openers. Haris shouldn't be blamed but his intent after scoring 80 was questionable and its understandable to be cautious to score his FIRST HUNDRED. Amla had scored many hundreds before so this is bit different.

 

[Hawkeye]

280 is a decent total at Dubai.

Sharjah with a good batting track every chance it can be chased down.

Imam and Shaan lost us the match. Haris was fine but had a lot of chances to show intent, accelerate, but he didn't.

 

[Muhammad10]

It was a good total in the UAE. Yasir Shah is not an ODI bowler, never has been. Imad has minimal impact with the ball in ODIs. Amir keeps getting a free ride in ODIs (even retains the new ball despite having one of the worst averages with the new ball in recent times), perhaps due to his T20 exploits. Abbas is unproven, with limited potential, in ODIs. Faheem is decent at best. Hopeless bowling lineup. Need to give Hasnain a go and get rid of Yasir ASAP.

 

[Madplayer]

That could have been the conclusion, had Pakistan showed INTENT and faltered.

So tell me, where did you see the intent yesterday besides Imad and Umar somewhat in the middle?

P.S

Are you telling me Pakistan bowled so well that Amla was forced to stay 270-2?

I agree with you that they didnt assess the pitch correctly. However, its shameful that 280 was chased so easily without even losing any significant number of wickets. Cannot just give the bowling attack a clean chit on this.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

I agree with you that they didnt assess the pitch correctly. However, its shameful that 280 was chased so easily without even losing any significant number of wickets. Cannot just give the bowling attack a clean chit on this.

Of course the bowling has issues.

The main issue was these weren't the bowlers who were gonna go to the World Cup except Imad or maybe Faheem.

But these are definitely the batsmen who will end up playing the World Cup.

Imam, Haris, Umar, Malik, Imad, Faheem are definitely going to the World Cup as batsmen or all rounders.

 

[a_tahir]

That could have been the conclusion, had Pakistan showed INTENT and faltered.

So tell me, where did you see the intent yesterday besides Imad and Umar somewhat in the middle?

P.S

Are you telling me Pakistan bowled so well that Amla was forced to stay 270-2?

Yeah if u ask me. Miller was trying to hit in the last 5 overs but was unable to do so.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Yeah if u ask me. Miller was trying to hit in the last 5 overs but was unable to do so.

I was talking about Amla not showing intent.

In this match it was Haris not showing intent.

Of course Imad was trying to hit, Faheem was trying to hit and Miller was trying to hit.

But at 45 overs, the idea should be both batsmen hitting out, instead of one batsmen, assuming everything is all right and we already have a great score.

 

[Darkrai]

Well played Harry.

 

[TeymurBlake]

If Haris continues to have a good series he definitely will strengthen his chance of playing in the world cup. The same could be said for Umar Akmal. Malik and Hafeez could find themselves on the bench.

 

[Blistering Barnacle]

It's irrelevant how many times what has been chased.

434 was never chased before in history, but South Africa pulled it off against Australia on a pitch.

Read my other thread.

It is not the AMOUNT of runs that matter, but the manner of getting them. During the whole innings, Pakistan looked like they figured 260 would be enough on this pitch.

This is the equivalent of South Africa believing 270-2 would be enough against Pakistan in South Africa before having a rude shock. They had no intent to score and lost to Pakistan.

Now make the same equivalence.

Pre-deciding a target yesterday, got 20 odd more than 260, didn't attack AT ALL in entire innings, and Umar Akmal showed that it was possible to hit sixes with ease here smashing 3 in one over. If that didn't show ominous signs for Pakistan, then perhaps they deserved the loss.

There's always a first time for everything. If we go by the logic, how many times has a score been chased on what ground, rather than the actual ground conditions, we are going to be losing many many matches in the near future.

Holy....

This is the same poster who bashed Akmal for going for shots under Misbah, and who praised Misbah's innings that weren't even as good as this one by Haris.

It's funny how liking a player can completely skew your perspective, right?

for the record, I agree with you, but then again, I should say you agree with me from years ago when you supported terrible innings by Misbah and bashed Akmal for showing urgency and going for the win.

Its a plague having players that manage to do just well enough to hold their place while ensuring the team fails.

I would love for Micky to drop Haris for this innings. But of course he won't. And akmal is living by the skin of his teeth.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Holy....

This is the same poster who bashed Akmal for going for shots under Misbah, and who praised Misbah's innings that weren't even as good as this one by Haris.

It's funny how liking a player can completely skew your perspective, right?

for the record, I agree with you, but then again, I should say you agree with me from years ago when you supported terrible innings by Misbah and bashed Akmal for showing urgency and going for the win.

Its a plague having players that manage to do just well enough to hold their place while ensuring the team fails.

I would love for Micky to drop Haris for this innings. But of course he won't. And akmal is living by the skin of his teeth.

Lets be very clear here.

I support Babar even though he plays a tad selfishly too, but his game is mostly risk free and he makes the runs. So I support anyone who bats fast and sensible.

Anyone who supports the blind slogging of Umar Akmal is a blind supporter.

After remaining in the wilderness for so many years, what does Mr. Akmal do? He comes down the track to Lyon and smashes it in the air while only on 15 odd runs. Mr. Handscomb does well to drop it, to give Umar some sort of lifeline, but its Umar and you know he will give you another chance soon. He duly gives it after hitting 3 sixes in one over.

My point is Umar will have days when he is worth his weight in gold, but most of the other 10 days he will be slogging a cow corner shot straight into the hands of the fielder.

Do we really invest in that player?

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Again you are missing the point.

I am not criticizing his century or his runs.

Intent to score is a big idea.

Remember how Amla batted like this and South Africa scored 270 odd for 2 which Pakistan chased down in South Africa.

Sure, Haris played well for his 80 runs.

After that he shut shop, milked the singles, interested in his 100 and even after his 100 the last few balls, he was happy to remain not out.

Such sort of intent should be discouraged rather than encouraged at the pretense of coming back from injury or importance of the knock.

There is no difference between losing and losing gracefully no matter what you might believe.

If Pakistan were to score 220 all out and lose and score 280 for 5 wickets and still lose, both losses are equivalent.

220 all out means batsman to be blamed. 280 and losing by 8 wickets certainly bowlers are the one to be blamed. Even at 80 there was still 35-40 balls left to play which he made sure they bat all 50 overs. Normally all batsman tend to play slow in their 90s it is the job of Faheem to score quickly where he failed to do so and competing with Haris to score singles.

 

[The_Odd_One]

I hope it is clear now that he's no different than a regular Pakistani batsman who comes good once in a series.

 

[babajee]

He's fine until the WC. After that, I would rather we invested in Saud Shakeel.

Haris just doesn't inspire any confidence with his fitness.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Since he has said this, performing badly. Did he jinxed himself

 

[TeymurBlake]

He needs to perform until the world cup. If does well in the England series then he should play the world cup, but we might want to look at a replacement after the world cup preferably Saud Shakeel.

 

[IAJ]

He is a class player. But the shot he played today, even Chris Martin would have been embarrased.

 

[Ilan Bluestone]

The statement isn't wrong. One low score shouldn't change what he has shown in his career.

 

[Chokli]

As if Saud Shakeel is going to turn our fortunes around

 

[babajee]

As if Saud Shakeel is going to turn our fortunes around

No one is saying he's going to be a world beater or anything, but it just makes sense to invest in someone who seems very similar in ability to Haris but has the potential to serve Pakistan for 10-12 more years as opposed to Haris who will struggle to last for another year or two.

 

[Chokli]

No one is saying he's going to be a world beater or anything, but it just makes sense to invest in someone who seems very similar in ability to Haris but has the potential to serve Pakistan for 10-12 more years as opposed to Haris who will struggle to last for another year or two.

We said the same when Babar and Haris were not regulars in the side.

You can select whomever you want but Pakistan Cricket as a whole will always be like the way it is.

 

[giri26]

He is the anchor. Faheem couldn't press on. At least Imad came in and got us to a reasonable total.

How many anchor's do Pakistan need in the ODI team? Except for Fakhar, everyone in Pakistan batting line up is an anchor.

 

[Asif321]

Another mentally weak player
His body language is so weak . Imam and him should stick to Test cricket

 

[Greenstorm]

He should bat at 4 in WC.