What's new

Is it time to move on from Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq?

S

Surf

Debutant
Joined
Mar 26, 2016
Runs
205
Azhar, Asad have been with the test team for more than 7 years yet I don't see them taking any responsibilty or show any intent. Not to mention that they failed on away tours except one or two knocks while Misbah and YOunis carried the team even in the UAE. Where we lost because of the loss of two great and Azhar neither Asad could step up.

So is it Time. Discuss
 
Azhar is crucial because he blunts the new ball with his 30 balls twos and threes.
 
Surf said:
Azhar, Asad have been with the test team for more than 7 years yet I don't see them taking any responsibilty or show any intent. Not to mention that they failed on away tours except one or two knocks while Misbah and YOunis carried the team even in the UAE. Where we lost because of the loss of two great and Azhar neither Asad could step up.

So is it Time. Discuss
Click to expand...

No.
 
Shafiq is a yes. His time is up and still hasn't averaged 40 which isn't good enough for someone who has played all his home games in UAE. If he was still in his 20s I would persist but he's only going to go downhill. Needs to be booted out after the SA tour.
 
Asad has looked our best batsman in the series along with Babar and Haris
 
Surf said:
Azhar, Asad have been with the test team for more than 7 years yet I don't see them taking any responsibilty or show any intent. Not to mention that they failed on away tours except one or two knocks while Misbah and YOunis carried the team even in the UAE. Where we lost because of the loss of two great and Azhar neither Asad could step up.

So is it Time. Discuss
Click to expand...

not really; both of them got very good balls to get out. Its time to move on from Sarfraz though.
 
Both scored fifties in the last Test in trying conditions. The batting lineup is inexperienced as it is so let's not unsettle it further.
 
Not yet. Keep Azhar in the format but keep an eye on Shafiq he does have a tendency to just go out of form.
 
aliasad1998 said:
Asad has looked our best batsman in the series along with Babar and Haris
Click to expand...

If someone "looked" cool when batting, and was new, I certainly would have given him more chances.

Shafiq is not that guy.

He's a friggin senior with years and years of being in the team. Heck, even Hafeez looks way better than Shafiq when batting (and he's decent in LOIs), but in Tests those aesthetics mean nothing when someone is as poor as Shafiq.

Needs to be booted out, even if not permanent at the start.
 
Asad has punched above his weight, he is always going to have the output and body language of a debutant.
 
They've both punched above their weight, Azhar more so. As I said in a previous post, in my eyes a great player is one who changes the course of a match and wins you games, whether it be a a quick fire 20 or you take 1 wicket but the crucial wicket of a world class player. Never have I ever felt Azhar has done that. Even with a 200 against Australia we still lost. Shafiq isn't that much better and even though his average is less than azhars, he's definitely won more games for pakistan or changed the course of a game than Azhar has.

People need to realise this. If Pakistan miracously win this match, we will look back at Hasan Ali's 20 and shadab's 50 as the turning point. I have never said that for Azhar Ali
 
Both are spineless players. Such a shame that we wasted so much time on these two.
 
We all need to relax a bit

Azhar deserves a long rope, he has been excellent for us given what we are used to

Asad is a bit more complicated. I have been a massive critic since he basically debuted. For the investment that has been made in him he has massive under delivered. However the issue is none of the new batsmen have established himself and Sarfraz’s form has gone off the cliff. If Babar and Haris had a ton by now you could then bring in a new player.

They haven’t though and we have some tough matches upcoming. Hence I’d give Asad till the SA tour.
 
They both cannot be dropped because even though they are garbage, we have absolutely noone in the domestic circuit who I think will do better. And please don't say fawad alam. Just no
 
Jumping to conclusions already.
These guys are your best batsmen in the team. A few failures won't matter.2 years time, they'll be the backbone of our test team.
 
Azrim_91 said:
They both cannot be dropped because even though they are garbage, we have absolutely noone in the domestic circuit who I think will do better. And please don't say fawad alam. Just no
Click to expand...

Fawad Alam. Because yes.
 
actually we would be better off by getting rid of supporters like OP.. but sadly we cant so we will have to deal with it..
 
Mamoon said:
Azhar is crucial because he blunts the new ball with his 30 balls twos and threes.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I don't think this blunting approach is going to work in the 2nd innings. If he gets out without scoring many runs, then too much pressure on the rest and we'll just crumble.
 
They are pretty mediocre batsmen , but Pakistan need to find better than them . Only after that you can get them out. Getting them out and bringing in similar mediocrity is foolish move.
 
Not time to move on, however both need to perform more consistent.

Asad shafiq should not be batting at 4, he's a 5/6
 
Azhar has a batting average of 45 and has 14 hundreds in 65 tests. It is laughable to say to move on from them. He is a good batsmen and arguably the best Pakistan has.

It is not his problem that he is the best among the whole lot of mediocrity.
 
Give them till South Africa tour at the end of the year... If they are still misfiring then thank them for their services, shake their hand and send them on their way. Hopefully by that time Bobby, Harry and Mani would have established themselves.
 
Azher Should not open the innings, he Should bat at 3/4, Asad on the other hand Should be dropped If he doesn’t perform in the second innings and the next match.
 
Not good enough to occasionally show up in UAE. Need to show some consistency one would expect after a decade of international cricket.
 
Shafiq has been pretty inconsistent for a while now.

Azhar deserves a longer rope,i.e until the next series.
 
Give them till SA tour and then change it thereafter if they replicate this UK tour.
Imam Harris Babar need to be playing for the next 15 tests before we judge .
 
MeanAndGreen said:
And who are you replacing them with?
Click to expand...

Just look at the domestic stats and pick the two best one amongst them.

I am not afraid of losing. However I hate nothing more than putting my trust in some guys who never justify my trust when the going gets tough.

I would rather lose while giving a consistent run to new players. At least that way we can find out which players from the domestic have it in them and which don't.

By sticking to Azhar and Shafiq over and over again while they fail to take responsibility and lead the team is like going into circles. It is no progress and annoys me.
 
People speaking as we have options.

Imam ul Haq doesn't belong at this level and should be replaced by Fawad Alam. With Babar coming back then we got the best XI we can put out for the time being.
 
CricFan2012 said:
People speaking as we have options.

Imam ul Haq doesn't belong at this level and should be replaced by Fawad Alam. With Babar coming back then we got the best XI we can put out for the time being.
Click to expand...

You have to create options to begin with for the options to exist. If you keep selecting the same players over and over again of course it would seem like there are no options.

How man of us predicted the option we would have in the shorter format? I admit I didn't. The options in the shorter format exist because we had the courage to try out new players and say farewell to the likes of Shehzad, Akmal and Wahab Riaz.
 
No.

>Takes out our 2 most experienced batsmen out the Test side, we lose a test or two:
"out team is too young! where's the experience?!"

>Keeps both batsmen, they had a couple bad games:
"omg these two need to go! we need to replace these with young players!"
 
CricFan2012 said:
People speaking as we have options.

Imam ul Haq doesn't belong at this level and should be replaced by Fawad Alam. With Babar coming back then we got the best XI we can put out for the time being.
Click to expand...

Lol.

Fawad Alam isn't intl material and is not coming back. Imam is here to stay.
 
Yes, it's time to move on. Their consistent failure in the 4th innings have costed Pakistan numerous matches.
 
idrizzy said:
No.

>Takes out our 2 most experienced batsmen out the Test side, we lose a test or two:
"out team is too young! where's the experience?!"

>Keeps both batsmen, they had a couple bad games:
"omg these two need to go! we need to replace these with young players!"
Click to expand...

The two most experienced players have amount to nothing good when things aren't going our way.

I have enough of them. They have lost my trust. Every game I put my trust in them and they disappoint. After repeated disappointment I am well in my right to say enough is enough.
 
In these foreign and difficult conditions and taking both innings into account:

Azhar Ali was able to last 43 balls.
Asad Shafiq lasted 53 balls.

Imam ul haq has so far successfully managed 63* balls.
Usman Salahuddin has successfully managed 55* balls.

The two inexperienced and newbies players have comfortably survived more balls than our most experienced batsmen. What would we be without the value these two experienced players bring to the team.
 
Shafiq got some good balls in this series but Azhar has been the bigger disappointment aside from his fifty at Lord's.

33 years old and still playing around his front pad, still vulnerable to inswinging deliveries especially from Anderson.
 
Sirris said:
In these foreign and difficult conditions and taking both innings into account:

Azhar Ali was able to last 43 balls.
Asad Shafiq lasted 53 balls.

Imam ul haq has so far successfully managed 63* balls.
Usman Salahuddin has successfully managed 55* balls.

The two inexperienced and newbies players have comfortably survived more balls than our most experienced batsmen. What would we be without the value these two experienced players bring to the team.
Click to expand...


It's actually quite funny that the quality of batting is so low that their success is measured in balls lasted rather than runs scored. If this is not enough to tell you to get rid of them then what is?
 
azhar is the next senior in line who is going to leech his way until he is 45.
Don't know when will it stop.
 
Azhar should come at number 4 position and Shafiq back to number 6 position. Fakhar and Shan Masood should open followed by Babar Azam.
 
Would persist with Azhar still think he is a good Test opener. Shafiq though he has been a disappointment to be averaging under 40 after playing over half of your tests on the UAE featherbeds is not good enough. He has had some highspots his hundreds in Aus Eng SA but he is only good as a supporting act doesnt have the guts as now a senior batsman to take the bull by the horns. I would drop him for a youngster.
 
At the moment, I don't think there's a worse ploy. I understand the urge to drop these two but we need scapegoats for the SA tour. If and when we lose in SA, we can dump it on these two (add Sarfraz in there too) and move on to some new blood.
 
No - Azhar is clearly a limited player however he does a job for his side. Prior to this tour he played ok vs SL, did well in the WIs, and had a good tour of Australia. You can't drop someone after one bad tour.

As for Asad - he has played some phenomenal knocks in his career but with a lot of rubbish in between and for someone who has batted so low down the order for most of his career it's criminal that he doesn't even average 40. Nevertheless, you guys have already lost the experience of Misbah and Younis. Can you really afford to lose another at this stage?
 
Shafiq should be booted out for good, guy has no fight in him despite having the tools to do so. Azhar played like a tailender in this series so is on borrowed time.
 
Gabbar Singh said:
No - Azhar is clearly a limited player however he does a job for his side. Prior to this tour he played ok vs SL, did well in the WIs, and had a good tour of Australia. You can't drop someone after one bad tour.

As for Asad - he has played some phenomenal knocks in his career but with a lot of rubbish in between and for someone who has batted so low down the order for most of his career it's criminal that he doesn't even average 40. Nevertheless, you guys have already lost the experience of Misbah and Younis. Can you really afford to lose another at this stage?
Click to expand...

Pakistan invested on wrong guys. After so many years experience it's difficult to discard them. But Pakistan can't wait long.Asad specially is pretty mediocre.Azhar is not that bad.Infact he has served good for Pakistan.He needs a proactive opener at the other end.Thata all.
 
Hawkeye said:
Lol.

Fawad Alam isn't intl material and is not coming back. Imam is here to stay.
Click to expand...

Fawad would have outperformed all these guys by some distance if he were given a long run in the test side.
 
No because they're still our two best test batsman. Until that changes we can't cut them.

Asad while not brilliant didn't exactly do terrible compared to the rest. Made two half centuries this tour and got some good balls to get him out. Ideally I'd like to keep batting him at four, making him take responsibility. We'll know if he succeeds or fails overall in the next few test series. Hiding him at 6, we won't know much. We desperately need a senior to stabilise the middle order and clearly Sarfraz isn't doing it, so Asad has to step up.
 
There is hardly anyone else available to open and average in the mid 40's, so don't know why Azhar's place in the side is being questioned.

As for a middle/lower order bat and borderline averages between 30/40, there are plenty of options available and heck, even Shadab can achieve that feat and he will only get better as a batsman (if developed right), hence shafiq should be kicked out of the side now and let guys like Azam, Saad and Saud take over, who are much younger and ready to be developed.
 
Syed1 said:
Give them till South Africa tour at the end of the year... If they are still misfiring then thank them for their services, shake their hand and send them on their way. Hopefully by that time Bobby, Harry and Mani would have established themselves.
Click to expand...

Sorry to say but your "Mani" is not good enough.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

MenInG
PCB appoint Aleem Dar, Aaqib Javed, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali and Hasan Cheema as voting members of Selection Committee
2
Replies
158
Views
42K
Savak
Savak
FearlessRoar
  • Poll Poll
Mistakes by Asad Shafiq as a Selection Committee Member: Is he to blame for Pakistan's white-ball debacle?
Replies
47
Views
1K
FearlessRoar
FearlessRoar
Savak
Should Pakistan's exit from the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 force the PCB to move on from the current players for good?
2
Replies
133
Views
4K
pakistani pride
P
NeVerMind
Is it time for British Pakistanis to support England over Pakistan in cricket?
2
Replies
142
Views
3K
Cpt. Rishwat
Cpt. Rishwat
BouncerGuy
“This is our last Test series in the current ICC World Test Championship cycle, and we would like to finish it on a winning note”: Shan Masood
Replies
12
Views
371
The Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle
Back
Top