Is Pakistan cricket heading in the right direction?

[babajee]

Some people would have us believe that Pakistan cricket is heading down a path of mediocre mediocrity.

However... are we really?

PSL has again brought more quality players into the national team.

One by one, the TTFs seem to be getting phased out.

Are we on the right track to greater heights?

 

[ManFan]

Some people would have us believe that Pakistan cricket is heading down a path of mediocre mediocrity.

However... are we really?

PSL has again brought more quality players into the national team.

One by one, the TTFs seem to be getting phased out.

Are we on the right track to greater heights?

We will be a top 3 team in 3-5 years time in ODI’s.

As far as Tests, I do not see anyone to have the spin playing ability of MisYou as of now. I think our bowling might win us the odd match here and there overseas but we will struggle big time with our fragile batting. I think we will at best be at #4 for the next 4-5 years. Until we get a top order of pure youth and leave behind the quaint method of timidness that has haunted us for the last 10 years, we cannot become a top Test team.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Yes.We are on the right track in LOI's.We need to phase out the likes of Hafeez and Malik from ODI's.

As for Tests,we need to find the right combination for different conditions.Misbah/Younis will not easily be replaced.I expect our test team to lose a few more matches before getting on the right track.We will probably have a tough time in England this May

But no,Pakistan cricket is not dead or declining,as some would have us believe.Interest in cricket is not declining.

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

If you consider that in 2010-2011 our cricket was on the verge of collapse and then the shocking performances in 2013 CT and 2015wc, not to mention the horrible limited overs cricket we were playing in general , the only conclusion is we are heading the right way

 

[Hasan123]

Ditch the deadwood and we'll be fine in LO. In tests it will take a bit of time. But I'm hopeful with time we will improve.

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

This team has so much heart in the shorter formats. A total and pure joy to watch. The performance in New Zealand was an exception to the rule and not the norm.

The young guns are confident and take on people and if the combinations are good, and proper players are selected, and work on their fitness then we can have a good competitive team. As a fan, all one can hope is that ones team goes out and plays cricket with heart and fearlessness. This team does that and there's a possibility of so much more to come.

MashAllah.

 

[Send1983]

this is my honest opinion, not to offend anyone.. Pakistan team's performance has been mediocre overall for the last decade or so. I am talking about all the formats and also not the BIG tournaments alone. Pakistan overall did not play like one of the top teams. I don't see much difference between both Pak and SL, however I see signs that coming years these two teams will perform way better than what they have done in the last decade or so. So overall I feel, they are going in right direction. But India is way ahead compared to these teams and Bangladesh is catching up with them.. if these two don't improve for some reason, then Bangla will join that club soon.

 

[PakLFC]

Where are the fast bowlers and world class batsmen? We are well behind the top sides. This is to be expected when we mostly are playing the likes of Bangladesh, SriLanka and even Afghanistan. Pak hardly plays top sides, playing and defeating mediocre makes us believe we're class!!

 

[babajee]

Where are the fast bowlers and world class batsmen? We are well behind the top sides. This is to be expected when we mostly are playing the likes of Bangladesh, SriLanka and even Afghanistan. Pak hardly plays top sides, playing and defeating mediocre makes us believe we're class!!

Fast bowlers:

Amir, Hasan, Junaid, Usman, Rumman, Faheem

We’ve got promising upcoming pacers too such as Shaheen, Hasnain, Musa, Arshad, Shaur.

Imo we have the best pace bowling resources apart from Australia maybe.

Batting is a bit of a worry but Fakhar and Babar have the potential to be among the world’s best. Talat is also a solid prospect.

 

[The_Odd_One]

The death of ridiculous claims like there is no talent in Pakistan, cricket interest is dying in Pakistan, and that Pakistan will be playing the likes of Nepal in world cup qualifiers.

 

[shokz1408]

We are heading in the right direction in T20s. We have good youngsters coming through from what we saw in the PSL.

In ODIs however after that NZ series, I need to see some more ODI cricket against top teams to have a better idea of how this team works. All rounders, spinners and fast bowlers these are addressed. Can the batting hang in odis? Looks pretty fragile to me. Missing some real stability in the middle order, and yet to find a permanent opener alongside Fakhar.

 

[Deewana]

The death of ridiculous claims like there is no talent in Pakistan, cricket interest is dying in Pakistan, and that Pakistan will be playing the likes of Nepal in world cup qualifiers.

Cricket interest was declining a bit but the PSL and CT Victory( more important defeating India in the final) played a vital role in reawakening the interest , we are on right path hopefully will put off a good fight come England 2019

 

[Mr.Q]

It’s definitely going in the right direction, especially when you consider the state of affairs a few years back. Things look a lot more professional now. PSL is THE REASON behind all this in my opinion.

There is plenty of room for improvement in batting though. It’s a very important aspect as well since that’s what keeps the game alive. Excitement in cricket = batting for 90% of the people.

I wouldn’t say that cricket as a sport is going in the right direction. Interest is declining. We’re going to see the effect in the coming years.

 

[Railu Katta]

Yes.We are on the right track in LOI's.We need to phase out the likes of Hafeez and Malik from ODI's.

As for Tests,we need to find the right combination for different conditions.Misbah/Younis will not easily be replaced.I expect our test team to lose a few more matches before getting on the right track.We will probably have a tough time in England this May

But no,Pakistan cricket is not dead or declining,as some would have us believe.Interest in cricket is not declining.

Only personal computers think Pakistan cricket is dead because that's what they want.

 

[Send1983]

Fast bowlers:

Amir, Hasan, Junaid, Usman, Rumman, Faheem

We’ve got promising upcoming pacers too such as Shaheen, Hasnain, Musa, Arshad, Shaur.

Imo we have the best pace bowling resources apart from Australia maybe.

Batting is a bit of a worry but Fakhar and Babar have the potential to be among the world’s best. Talat is also a solid prospect.

Best bowling lineup? Why did it get whitewashed by NZ and SL? Stop hyping dude.

 

[Syed1]

Best bowling lineup? Why did it get whitewashed by NZ and SL? Stop hyping dude.

We beat SL 5-0 and 3-0 in the LOI leg of the tour. Funny you are comparing tests and LOI all together.

 

[Syed1]

Our LOI cricket is definitely headed in the right direction but the Test side is absolute garbage and probably ranked a couple of slots higher than what it deserves. We still play the same brand of "attritional" cricket introduced by a former captain. Attritional is just a fancy word for meek, scared and buzdil form of cricket. We have guys like Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq forming the meat of the batting lineup who start getting nervous and breaking into a sweat if they have to bat at greater than 2 rpo. In any case test cricket is a dying brand and most Pakistani fans could care less about it. Infact hardly anyone will notice if Pakistan stops playing test cricket from tomorrow.

For our ODI side I would want something like this:

Fakhar
Babar (Farhan still needs alot of work)
Haris
Sarfaraz
Talat
Asif (Hope the PSL is not just a fluke - we need someone like him in our ODI side)
Shadab
Fahim
Hasan
Amir
Junaid/Shinwari/Shaheen



Three out and out pace bowlers, a leggie with plenty of guile, a world-class pace bowling alrounder and plenty of part-time bowling options.

Fakhar to bring the hurt upfront, Babar and Haris to have that 5rpo partnership in the middle overs, Saifi to up the tempo and Talat and Asif to come and provide the finishing touches. If we really want to do a June 18th again we can send Klusener up the order and bury the opposition.

This team can win the WC.

 

[HuzaifaE]

If you told me after the 2015 WC, that in three years we'd be CT winners, the PSL would be such a success, we'd uncover gems like Shadab and cricket would be well on its way back to Pakistan, I would have laughed at your face. We're well and truly on the right trajectory.

 

[Abdullah719]

The thread is about Pakistan, let's keep it on track please.

 

[PakLFC]

Fast bowlers:

Amir, Hasan, Junaid, Usman, Rumman, Faheem

We’ve got promising upcoming pacers too such as Shaheen, Hasnain, Musa, Arshad, Shaur.

Imo we have the best pace bowling resources apart from Australia maybe.

Batting is a bit of a worry but Fakhar and Babar have the potential to be among the world’s best. Talat is also a solid prospect.

None of the ones you have mentioned are fast bowlers in my opinion. They are all medium pacers in my view. Our batting is always struggling outside subcontinental conditions.

 

[MMHS]

I think, most posters are stating just what they can see or relate or expect to happen, overlooking the root cause. There are 3 formats in cricket, and PAK already is among the best T20 sides, poor ODI team and horrible Test side - being 7th in Test ranking, behind SRL doesn't need explanation.

Personally, I think PSL is a fantastic T20 tournament, well organized and professionally managed, and the quality is getting better. Into it's 3rd year, already contributing to the PAK T20I team in terms of player scouting, combination and skill set (required for the format). It should, get stronger & better, bigger - so should be PAK's T20I fortune. It perfectly indicates, where PSL is taking PAK cricket to.

For last 2/3 years, apart from usual Corporate & Regional Cup (s), PCB is arranging PAK Cup List A tournament, which I think is better than any List A tournament arranged by PCB in last couple of decades I can recall - this is a type of tournament always suggested when the domestic cricket is not structured. The idea is simple - since, domestic teams/tournaments are not standardized, try to gather top players in country and make them compete against each others in a evenly matched competitive tournament. The outcome is actually encouraging - inconsistent, but still PAK ODI team has managed to turn the screw in right direction for last 2/3 years - Arthur & Sarfraz has a big role to play in it, but still this is far away from the 2015 WC or 2013 CT situation. Top 3 could be a long shot, in fact there is a good gap between 5th & 6th spot on ranking table & it'll take a massive improvement in consistency just to make up that ~15 points gap, but indeed it's possible to out perform ranking table in tournaments, as the skill sets are better than the position on ranking table.

There are 5 serious Test teams to be honest - always had been like 5/6, max 7 at some point, but recently WI has managed to relieve themselves from that worthless status, SRL was never there while in NZ, it's going south at an alarming rate and SAF is heading for a major transition in their shift to popularize cricket among 90% brutal majority - it should cost them some years, even if they can recover. Least said about BD, ZIM is better, and I don't have much hope from AFG & IRL in Test cricket. In that context, 7th in ranking and behind NZ, SRL - probably a perfect reflection of Quaid e Azam style - long may it continue, one should see the future in reflection.

 

[DRsohail]

[MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] yes......and i have to ask here off the topic question..do you think Saud Shakil.Saad Ali and Hussain talat should be there for england series?Hussain talat can bowl 10 overs per day?

 

[MMHS]

[MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] yes......and i have to ask here off the topic question..do you think Saud Shakil.Saad Ali and Hussain talat should be there for england series?Hussain talat can bowl 10 overs per day?

NO - though few people are desperately expecting that to happen, trust me - they'll pay the air fair if these kids are selected to master Anderson & Berbi in May-June.

I give you a story, you can relate - I won't take names here, as nothing personal here. PAK went to SAF in 2013 and got chopped by Styen (I won't name, as I said), then to CT - this time sliced - so Jamshed & Maqsood had to pay the price. After that, SAF came to UAE and Shan Masood/Manzoor got their taste of Dale Styen & Vernon Phi .... ...... then came the mighty Lankans, rest is as they say history (CricInfo suggested for further details).

It was a corruption of the highest order not to send Saud, Talat, Saad in UAE to play against that Lankan side (I won't say anything about that declined BD tour for obvious reasons) - it'll be bigger corruption to send them in UK, in May-June, when Poms will be playing at home after proper pasting down under. These 3 can be taken to the tour as squad members, BUT they must not debut in UK - it cost Amin's career.

Don't think who is there & who's not should matter much in that series. If PAK is to win, it has to be through some out of world performance from bowlers and may be from couple of batsmen. I say opposite - once for the last time, bring back MoHa, Fawad, Ahmed, Shan and play them both Tests - that'll protect the future of Saud, Saad, Talat, Hari.....

 

[Kohli The King of Chase]

No.

Test : Below Par. (Downhill)
Odi: Average. (Improving)
T20 I : Top team. (Improving day by day).


Your Psl is contributing to Odi and T20i.
But for test team to improve, u should have a good FC structure. Unfortunately, you don't even have a fixed FC structure (keeps on changing every year), let alone
a good FC structure.


Your current test team is in shambles.

1.Sami(trying his best to block every ball)

2.No opener

3.Azhar (position not certain, and plays the test of 90's)

4. Haris (yet to be tested)

4.Asad (Other name of timidness, gets his usual century when he's about to be dropped)

6.Babar (Waste of place and time)

7. Sarfraz (Fit for flashy 40's, and not a suitable candidate for captainship )

8.Yasir (Only deserving candidate in the 11 and a match winner )

09.Hassan (Untested)

10.Amir (Has become a burden and mulling to be away from tests)

11.Abbas (Temporary fix)



At max just 3(Azhar, Yasir and Abbas) out of 11 are certain.

It will take atleast 24 months to fix ur team.

 

[ManFan]

Seeing as Tests are the format for us to worry about, here’s a solid XI to work on for the next few years.

UAE: Fakhar, Azhar, Babar, Haris, Usman, Talat, Sarfraz, Agha Salman, Yasir( should be eventually replaced with Shadab), Hasan, Shaheen.
2 pacers + 2 spinners.

Outside UAE: Fakhar, Azhar, Babar, Haris, Usman, Talat, Sarfraz, Faheem, Yasir( should eventually be replaced with Shadab), Hasan, Shaheen.
3 pacers + 1 spinner + pace-bowling all-rounder.

 

[Markhor]

In the last 18 months we reached #1 in the Test rankings, won a 50 over tournament and have reached #1 in the T20 rankings. Sri Lanka, West Indies, New Zealand and Bangladesh would cut their right hand off for an 18 months like that.

We constantly criticise and too easily forget the achievements of a cricketing nation still lacking in a professional domestic structure and no full home international series for nearly a decade. I couldn't be more proud of their recent achievements.

However that's not to say there aren't any problems. The Test team badly needs a fixed batting lineup. I do think Mickey and Sarfraz have experimented too much with the positions.

The ODI team suffered a hammering in NZ but that's an extremely difficult place to tour, but the silver lining is the likes of Azhar and Hafeez are on their way out, and the likes of Hussain Talat are on their way in.

The T20 side seems fine with great bowling variety but needs a couple more hard hitting batsmen.

 

[Hiraeth]

Fast bowlers:

Amir, Hasan, Junaid, Usman, Rumman, Faheem

We’ve got promising upcoming pacers too such as Shaheen, Hasnain, Musa, Arshad, Shaur.

Imo we have the best pace bowling resources apart from Australia maybe.

Batting is a bit of a worry but Fakhar and Babar have the potential to be among the world’s best. Talat is also a solid prospect.

Junaid, Rumman and Usman ) May the Lord help us.

Junaid's mediocre record since his return is there for everyone to see. Rumman should be as far away from the ODI team as possible, one of the worst bowlers to EVER represent Pakistan, nothing to his game apart from an umpteenth amount of slower balls and Usman is a 135 kph spray gun- I found Sameen more impressive whom bowled around the same pace but gets considerable bounce and is accurate.

 

[junaidji]

Our LOI cricket is definitely headed in the right direction but the Test side is absolute garbage and probably ranked a couple of slots higher than what it deserves. We still play the same brand of "attritional" cricket introduced by a former captain. Attritional is just a fancy word for meek, scared and buzdil form of cricket. We have guys like Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq forming the meat of the batting lineup who start getting nervous and breaking into a sweat if they have to bat at greater than 2 rpo. In any case test cricket is a dying brand and most Pakistani fans could care less about it. Infact hardly anyone will notice if Pakistan stops playing test cricket from tomorrow.

For our ODI side I would want something like this:

Fakhar
Babar (Farhan still needs alot of work)
Haris
Sarfaraz
Talat
Asif (Hope the PSL is not just a fluke - we need someone like him in our ODI side)
Shadab
Fahim
Hasan
Amir
Junaid/Shinwari/Shaheen



Three out and out pace bowlers, a leggie with plenty of guile, a world-class pace bowling alrounder and plenty of part-time bowling options.

Fakhar to bring the hurt upfront, Babar and Haris to have that 5rpo partnership in the middle overs, Saifi to up the tempo and Talat and Asif to come and provide the finishing touches. If we really want to do a June 18th again we can send Klusener up the order and bury the opposition.

This team can win the WC.

Farhan is much better than Shehzad, Umar Amin, or Azhar. We can select him but he can be on the bench and play occasional games, that way we can have a variety of openers in Fakhar, Babar, and Farhan. We should also include an extra spinner in Zafar against teams like South Africa and West Indies.

 

[junaidji]

Junaid, Rumman and Usman ) May the Lord help us.

Junaid's mediocre record since his return is there for everyone to see. Rumman should be as far away from the ODI team as possible, one of the worst bowlers to EVER represent Pakistan, nothing to his game apart from an umpteenth amount of slower balls and Usman is a 135 kph spray gun- I found Sameen more impressive whom bowled around the same pace but gets considerable bounce and is accurate.

Junaid I can agree with, but Rumaan's death bowling is actually fine. Shinwari needs to work on not giving so many runs, though he was one of the leading wicket tackers in this PSL.

 

[babajee]

Junaid, Rumman and Usman ) May the Lord help us.

Junaid's mediocre record since his return is there for everyone to see. Rumman should be as far away from the ODI team as possible, one of the worst bowlers to EVER represent Pakistan, nothing to his game apart from an umpteenth amount of slower balls and Usman is a 135 kph spray gun- I found Sameen more impressive whom bowled around the same pace but gets considerable bounce and is accurate.

Rumman and Usman have lost pace after injuries ... they were touching 140ks and 145ks before respectively. Junaid was also getting his mojo back against SL until he got injured - clocked 147 I think.

Sameen is also a good prospect for the new ball, and Umaid although age is not on his side.

 

[Hiraeth]

Rumman and Usman have lost pace after injuries ... they were touching 140ks and 145ks before respectively. Junaid was also getting his mojo back against SL until he got injured - clocked 147 I think.

Sameen is also a good prospect for the new ball, and Umaid although age is not on his side.

Usman was never express, sure he can get the odd one above 140 kph but largely he’s in the 135-140 kph zone. You can’t be spraying the ball around at that pace, and this goes without saying that he is unable to swing the ball into the right hander.

Rumman has clocked 140 no more than ten times in his career; to put it simply he’s just rubbish. No pace, gets movement on occasions but has zero bowling awareness.

Junaid clocking 140 kph is an achievement, he realises he can’t chuck anymore hence he’s unable to generate the pace he once could and operates in the 130-135 region now, and that too along with being unable to swing the ball.

 

[Hiraeth]

Junaid I can agree with, but Rumaan's death bowling is actually fine. Shinwari needs to work on not giving so many runs, though he was one of the leading wicket tackers in this PSL.

But do we need a specialist death bowler? Why not get someone who can bowl throughout the innings with the same threat level, and not a Rumman who only comes into the game once batsman try to take him on.

 

[babajee]

The T20 side that played yesterday:

Fakhar
Babar
Talat
Sarfaraz
Malik
Asif
Faheem
Shadab
Nawaz
Hasan
Amir

It is damn near perfect. The only improvements I can see are replacing Malik and a genuine spinner instead of Nawaz.

 

[babajee]

Today’s test team:

Azhar
Imam
Haris
Asad
(Babar)
Sarfraz
Shadab
Faheem
Amir
Hasan
Abbas

Top notch side.

 

[Kohli The King of Chase]

Oh Ahmed Shahzad banned!

Truly Pakistan cricket is going in the right direction.

Afridi gone
Hafeez gone from T20is and Tests
Akmal gone
Akmal Jr gone
Shahzad gone from odis and tests, now banned for months
Azhar on the edge, in odis
Wahab gone

 

[Salman4.]

Definitely. We will actually be sprinting towards the right direction if Shehzad gets banned for long.

 

[Sunny_majoka]

Oh Ahmed Shahzad banned!

Truly Pakistan cricket is going in the right direction.

Afridi gone
Hafeez gone from T20is and Tests
Akmal gone
Akmal Jr gone
Shahzad gone from odis and tests, now banned for months
Azhar on the edge, in odis
Wahab gone

Azhar is already out of ODIs now we have to get rid of hafeez

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Who cares what direction it is heading. Start winning some series already.

This direction nonsense has been going on for 2 decades.

 

[Minnowbasher]

Who cares what direction it is heading. Start winning some series already.

This direction nonsense has been going on for 2 decades.

We were going downhill until the champions trophy. Since the champions trophy we have been improving.
In terms of winning series Pakistan having lost a t20 series under sarfraz and in odis we have only played 2 series since the champions trophy.
In tests we drew against England in England which a lot of teams struggle to do.
I agree we need to win more series overall but for that we need to play more series (many coming up).

 

[Minnowbasher]

I don't think any sane person can argue otherwise but we are improving at a slow rate and just because we are improving doesn't mean we are on par or better than other big teams quite yet as we are improving from our poor poor form back in 2015 and before.
However I believe we have good times ahead and I doubt we will go through a 2010-2015/16 phase again for a while considering importance of fielding and fitness has finally been installed in our cricket culture.

 

[Kroll]

Just need to keep picking players on merit, dropping non-performers and passengers. The commitment to keep working hard to improve is also essential.