If not Imam-ul-Haq as a Test opener for Pakistan, then who else?

[MenInG]

Imam not impressing anyone with his slow go technique and I don't see him improving soon.

So who are the other options to replace him in the future?

Surely there has to be a plan B?

 

[waseem84]

I'd go for said ayub, let him play the Warner role if he fails just give him a run

 

[BouncerGuy]

Saim Ayub is the best guy available in the Squad ATM for the next match. He can take the attack on the bowlers instead of getting stuck on the crease like Imam. Other guy included Shan himself.

 

[MenInG]

Saim Ayub is the best guy available in the Squad ATM for the next match. He can take the attack on the bowlers instead of getting stuck on the crease like Imam. Other guy included Shan himself.

Will Saim Ayub's aggressive style of play work on Australian pitches?

 

[BouncerGuy]

Will Saim Ayub's aggressive style of play work on Australian pitches?

David warner style worked. Why not Saim ayub?

 

[MenInG]

David warner style worked. Why not Saim ayub?

Warner plays on his own pitches all the time. Saim needs a good 2 seasons in FC to move up - or he will get demoralized by failures

 

[BouncerGuy]

He is young. Nothing better to reward a young guy oozing with confidence backed up by his performances in the domestic season. Imam is a dead fish. Let Saim know that you have to face this bowling line-up, Get ready.

 

[ahmadharis1]

Either bring in Saim or have Shan open

 

[hafizexpress]

I feel like there are a few changes that would have changed the outcome of this match. Saim in for Imam, Rizwan in for Sarfraz, and Wasim Jr in for Faheem. I know it's easier to say now but I've been saying it and I'm confident that with those changes, this match would have looked different to what it is right now. I can't believe that the management actually trusts Faheem. What has this guy actually done to impress anyone

 

[hafizexpress]

I don't actually support Saim playing right now but at the same time Imam is a total dud. Not an international level player

 

[MenInG]

I feel like there are a few changes that would have changed the outcome of this match. Saim in for Imam, Rizwan in for Sarfraz, and Wasim Jr in for Faheem. I know it's easier to say now but I've been saying it and I'm confident that with those changes, this match would have looked different to what it is right now. I can't believe that the management actually trusts Faheem. What has this guy actually done to impress anyone

I would hold off on Sarfaraz

His experience is necessary but both Riz and Sarf depend a bit on the top order to atleast get them a 30-40 over ball to play - not to play as openers!

 

[SamNJ]

Why are people blaming Imam ?
He did his job in the first innings by tiring the bowlers and it is a minefield here in 2nd innings so can't judge anyone on this.
It was failure of Babar, Sarfraz and to an extent Shan to not cash on that start.

 

[MenInG]

Why are people blaming Imam ?
He did his job in the first innings by tiring the bowlers and it is a minefield here in 2nd innings so can't judge anyone on this.
It was failure of Babar, Sarfraz and to an extent Shan to not cash on that start.

He has a job to do as an opener.

No need to compare. Let's talk about Imam also.

This is the issue with us.

Whenever we start to talk about a player not performing, out come comparisons.

 

[viveks]

There really isn't any justification for dropping a 27 year old opener who averages 38 when the 34 year old Number 3 captain averages 28

 

[Mamoon]

He is better than Masood. Always was and always will be. Please get off his back.

 

[MenInG]

He is better than Masood. Always was and always will be. Please get off his back.

Again comparisons.

We are talking about Imam here.

Explain why he should keep his place and not replaced.

 

[Mamoon]

Again comparisons.

We are talking about Imam here.

Explain why he should keep his place and not replaced.

Because he is better than the captain who is the worst top-order batsman in history of Pakistan cricket.

No point in questioning his place when he is not even the worst player or the worst problem. That’s the captain.

Get rid of Masood and then we can talk about Imam.

 

[viveks]

Again comparisons.

We are talking about Imam here.

Explain why he should keep his place and not replaced.

Generally you get rid of your worst players first. If you can't replace someone who averages 28, it's safe to assume there isn't a suitable replacement waiting on the bench.

 

[Marooned]

Saim Ayub and Hurraira.

Hurraira top scored in 2 consecutive QEA trophies and then gets dropped without ever getting a game while Imam never has to worry about proving anything.

In subcontinent even Abid Ali is 100x the player Imam is.

 

[MenInG]

Because he is better than the captain who is the worst top-order batsman in history of Pakistan cricket.

No point in questioning his place when he is not even the worst player or the worst problem. That’s the captain.

Get rid of Masood and then we can talk about Imam.

Scoring 2 and 60 in God knows how many deliveries.

No sorry I don't want him opening the innings

 

[Marooned]

We can also open with Masood now that he is the captain anyway, and make a spot for Kamran Ghulam.

That guy deserves his chance in red ball.

 

[Rana]

Sharjeel and Fakhar are better options than Abdullah technique and Imam of Parchis

 

[Chip32]

He’s the least of your issues when you’ve got a bloke that’s nothing more than an English speaking diplomat as the captain of your national test side.

 

[Misia]

Fakhar Abdullah in test off the top my head as I can't think of anyone else , Imam was very negative when we came out to bat our 1st innings, I understand getting your eye in and seeing off the new ball, but Imam was playing some other type of cricket

 

[angrypathan]

A wooden plank would have better output

 

[RidiculousMan]

Khurram Manzoor

 

[batandballbattle]

Saim seems like the best fit. But they'll just look at this top score in isolation and play him for the next two anyway

 

[Amjid Javed]

No technical improvements in his game, especially against short ball. Just playing survival cricket then throwing it away in a dumb manner is criminal

 

[sweep_shot]

Should Fakhar replace Imam in Test?

I think an attacking opener may not be a bad idea (Sehwag, Warner etc.).

 

[shaz619]

I would have said drop this bloke but he did perform in one of the innings, even if it lacked potency; Pakistan had a solid platform to build on, but Shan, Babar and Shakeel let Pakistan down.

 

[Cryin Out Loud]

The problem as I see it is that some batsmen can’t be dropped - Shan because he is your captain, Babar because he’s your best batsman (even now), Saud and Shakeel because they are presumably your (comparatively new) gun batsmen.

In the top and middle order that leaves the one man, Imam who ironically has scored the highest number of runs, playing out the maximum number of balls for Pakistan in this Test.

I know Imam is mediocre. But he scored the most runs out of a bad lot, so where does that leave Pakistan?

And Saim - I hear he’s very talented but do you want to throw someone so young into the deep end? Talent at the international level is so hard to find amd so much more difficult to nurture - it should be introduced gradually in favourable circumstances. He should be introduced preferably down the order in easier conditions, or up the order against weaker teams, be it here or elsewhere.

Easy to say just send him out there; if he fails (and chances are he will) they’ll want to discard him just as quickly. Opening is a hard hard skill - even teams like Australia and and India often struggle to find more than 2/3 international level openers in their entire Ceo system.

You know what, if you want someone to go bang bang at the outset, you may as well just have Imam ‘suffer an injury’ and get in Fakhar Zaman.

 

[Buffet]

Again comparisons.

We are talking about Imam here.

Explain why he should keep his place and not replaced.

How do you get the best 11 players? By getting rid of worst ones first.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Will Saim Ayub's aggressive style of play work on Australian pitches?

Graeme Smith's batting style shouldn't have worked anywhere especially England yet he was good everywhere. One just needs to be really really good at how he bats. Pakistan's history has taught us we aren't usually good enough for that but Saim has to be given a chance soon.

 

[hassan918]

Shan Masood can open with Abdullah and Babar can play at number 3. This will also give an opportunity to add Rizwan in the lineup as a batsman along with Sarfaraz in the XI as well.

 

[adzzy786]

Shan Masood can open with Abdullah and Babar can play at number 3. This will also give an opportunity to add Rizwan in the lineup as a batsman along with Sarfaraz in the XI as well.

Looks like the PCB head doesn’t want Rizzy in the team, so won’t be happening

 

[BouncerGuy]

If you want Rizwan in the team than shan can open with Abdullah otherwise Saim Ayub can come in for sure.

 

[shehz]

If you're seeking an attacking player akin to Warner, there's no question that Fakhar Zaman is the ideal candidate for the opening slot. While we've observed him adopting a defensive approach in ODIs and T20s, which was frustrating but this would be welcomed in Test cricket. Saim on the other hand is too young and raw. He will give you quick runs but his average would be hovering around 20's.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Fakhar is not in the squad atm. Talking about the current squad, we only got saim to replace as an opener, until somebody comes up with some extra ordinary plan to play Rizwan as an opener LOL

 

[Cricket Warrior]

I think Shan should open the innings with Abdullah and move Imam to the 1 down position because he tends to struggle with the new ball.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1739209377041756638

 

[Cricket Warrior]

it was a tough call to drop imam i guess

no doubt saim is a serious talent but its too early for him to face such attack in Australian conditions

so in my opinion it was better to stick with imam

 

[Asif321]

Reports saying Imam will be back in squad

 

[BouncerGuy]

Reports saying Imam will be back in squad

back to the zero.

 

[Abid Z]

If imam is opening instead of Saim Ayub then that’s really good news. This Saim guy what little I’ve seen of him has nothing about him that a good bowler cant figure out in 2 overs if he lasts that long. He needs to spend a good few years in first class to work on every aspect of his game. Right now we can do far worse than imam

 

[Rana]

Back to crappy cricket

Oh well, that’s Pakistan cricket in general for you.

 

[BouncerGuy]

If imam is opening instead of Saim Ayub then that’s really good news. This Saim guy what little I’ve seen of him has nothing about him that a good bowler cant figure out in 2 overs if he lasts that long. He needs to spend a good few years in first class to work on every aspect of his game. Right now we can do far worse than imam

Why should he be preferred above Huraira who was selected ahead of him??

 

[Abid Z]

Why should he be preferred above Huraira who was selected ahead of him??

I don’t know. I haven’t actually seen huraira play. Once I do I can make a judgement. But I will say this. The trend is in other countries (or ought to be) that a player has to get a debut and if he looks decent then after 5-10 tests you ought to introduce the next slot. Fill one slot at a time otherwise you end up with a rookie team and they make elementary mistakes like getting out minutes before tea or slogging the ball needlessly when they ought to see off a new ball. Obviously there’s caveats sometimes changes are forced upon you and you get 3 or 4 players thrown in at the same time. Sometimes your best players are so out of form that you get rookies playing with out of form players and this is a disaster.

Look at the team. Abdullah is just getting into his groove. Saud is still quite new, Babar and Rizwan look really out of touch. The whole bowling attack has a very naive feel to it. I would say an experienced test player and a left handed player is better than a rookie right now. They need to fix the bowling and possibly have 5 bowlers and move Shan to open. I’m not sure the composition of the bowlers or bowling all rounders but Jamal, agha and Naseem are three of the bowlers. Therefore you are in effect saying 3-4 rookies (not debutants) in the same match. This would be a disaster.

 

[batandballbattle]

If the reports are true then we are regressing by recalling Imam

 

[RyanRyan10]

Back to crappy cricket

Oh well, that’s Pakistan cricket in general for you.

He's returning to create Pakistan's Kolkata 2001 moment

 

[Slim]

Ahmed Shehzad would have been a much better choice.