I don’t wish to sound rude, but I am baffled at the absolute obsession with the 50 over World Cup when Pakistan has a Blue Riband Test Tour to Australia that starts almost immediately afterwards.
Pakistan is very well placed in the World Test Championship. They are unbeaten and have already won one of their 3 away series, and are due to tour South Africa in 15 months, which is a very winnable prospect because of South Africa’s lack of any international class batsmen. They have home series against Bangladesh, West Indies and an England team with no spinners.
So the Australian tour holds the key. If Pakistan can win one of the 3 Tests, they are brilliantly placed for the World Test Championship Final.
The same formula always seems to go wrong for Pakistan in Australia.
In similar conditions in South Africa in 2018-19, Yasir Shah played 2 Tests and Shadab Khan played 1.
Shadab averaged 52 with the bat while Yasir Shah averaged 3.50.
Shadab took 4 wickets in 1 Test at an average of 20.00, while Yasir Shah took 1 wicket in 2 Tests at an average of 123.00.
This time there is no excuse.
1. Pakistan need to pack their batting with all-rounders who shorten the tail.
2. Pakistan need to pick 4 quick bowlers – BUT
a) one of the quicks needs to bat at 8 and average 30 with the bat.
b) one of the quicks needs to bat at 9 and average 20 with the bat.
c) one of the quicks must be very tall and
d) one of the quicks must be very fast.
3. Pakistan need to accept that 2 part-time spinners who can bat will deliver more with both bat and ball than 1 specialist spinner who can’t bat.
(Consider the success of Washington Sundar in Australia. He was the difference between winning or losing the series.)
4. Pakistan also need to accept that Sarfraz Ahmed doesn’t leave enough balls outside off-stump to thrive in Australia.
5. Pakistan need to recognise that the three best batsmen last time they toured Australia were Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood.
I’m not sure that Naseem Shah will be as big a loss as he would have been elsewhere. Bowlers his height rarely succeed in Australia, and three short right-arm quicks in the team would be too many.
In other words, the team probably needs to look something like:
1. Abdullah Shafique
2. Shan Masood or Imam-ul-Haq
3. Mohammad Rizwan (wk)
4. Babar Azam
5. Saud Shakeel
6. Agha Salman
7. Shadab Khan
8. Faheem Ashraf
9. Hasan Ali or Mohammad Amir (I'd prefer Mohammad Waseem Jr for his height and pace though)
10. Haris Rauf
11. Shaheen Shah Afridi
The idea of this team is for the spinners to only bowl around 3 overs each per session, with the 3 slower quicks (Shaheen, Hasan Ali and Faheem) bowling a 6 over spell every session and Haris Rauf bowling a single, very fast spell of 4 overs per session.
This is a team designed for Australian conditions. The only thing missing is a right-arm quick of at least 6’2 in height, given that Mohammad Waseem jr probably isn't refined enough yet with bat or ball to play tests in Australia.
Pakistan is very well placed in the World Test Championship. They are unbeaten and have already won one of their 3 away series, and are due to tour South Africa in 15 months, which is a very winnable prospect because of South Africa’s lack of any international class batsmen. They have home series against Bangladesh, West Indies and an England team with no spinners.
So the Australian tour holds the key. If Pakistan can win one of the 3 Tests, they are brilliantly placed for the World Test Championship Final.
The same formula always seems to go wrong for Pakistan in Australia.
- They pick quick bowlers who are neither tall enough nor quick enough for the conditions,
- They don’t pick batsmen who have done well before in Australia or South Africa.
- They overbowl a leggie (Abdul Qadir in 83-84, Mushtaq in 99-00, Yasir Shah in 16-17 and 19-20) as a specialist spinner instead of picking a fourth quick, and watch him get tonked.
In similar conditions in South Africa in 2018-19, Yasir Shah played 2 Tests and Shadab Khan played 1.
Shadab averaged 52 with the bat while Yasir Shah averaged 3.50.
Shadab took 4 wickets in 1 Test at an average of 20.00, while Yasir Shah took 1 wicket in 2 Tests at an average of 123.00.
This time there is no excuse.
1. Pakistan need to pack their batting with all-rounders who shorten the tail.
2. Pakistan need to pick 4 quick bowlers – BUT
a) one of the quicks needs to bat at 8 and average 30 with the bat.
b) one of the quicks needs to bat at 9 and average 20 with the bat.
c) one of the quicks must be very tall and
d) one of the quicks must be very fast.
3. Pakistan need to accept that 2 part-time spinners who can bat will deliver more with both bat and ball than 1 specialist spinner who can’t bat.
(Consider the success of Washington Sundar in Australia. He was the difference between winning or losing the series.)
4. Pakistan also need to accept that Sarfraz Ahmed doesn’t leave enough balls outside off-stump to thrive in Australia.
5. Pakistan need to recognise that the three best batsmen last time they toured Australia were Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood.
I’m not sure that Naseem Shah will be as big a loss as he would have been elsewhere. Bowlers his height rarely succeed in Australia, and three short right-arm quicks in the team would be too many.
In other words, the team probably needs to look something like:
1. Abdullah Shafique
2. Shan Masood or Imam-ul-Haq
3. Mohammad Rizwan (wk)
4. Babar Azam
5. Saud Shakeel
6. Agha Salman
7. Shadab Khan
8. Faheem Ashraf
9. Hasan Ali or Mohammad Amir (I'd prefer Mohammad Waseem Jr for his height and pace though)
10. Haris Rauf
11. Shaheen Shah Afridi
The idea of this team is for the spinners to only bowl around 3 overs each per session, with the 3 slower quicks (Shaheen, Hasan Ali and Faheem) bowling a 6 over spell every session and Haris Rauf bowling a single, very fast spell of 4 overs per session.
This is a team designed for Australian conditions. The only thing missing is a right-arm quick of at least 6’2 in height, given that Mohammad Waseem jr probably isn't refined enough yet with bat or ball to play tests in Australia.