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Is Pakistan the most boring Test nation?

Some folks missing the point here. Its not about style or playing like T 20. Its about mindset and taking control of the situation after a good start. When you play at home, the onus is on you to win the game.
 
PCB were scared to lose on this ground as it is mostly favourable for fast bowlers if there is bit of grass just like against SA.

Dead pitch, good for draw
 
Contrary to the popular notion about Pakistan being unpredictable and exciting, I find the current Pakistan team to be the most boring test team to watch. There is no excitement especially when they bat. There is lack of intent and no proactiveness. Its like they are stuck in the 80s batting at 2 runs per over. Is it just me or others feel the same way as well :misbah?

It’s the inability to innovate and inability to have diversity not only within the batting skill set but also in the game plan.

It’s more of Misbahesque mindset - block block block (because you lack the skill of continuously rotating the strike AND inability to play mind games with the opposition team) - put yourself in a shell of self imposed pressure, and wait for the bad balls to hit fours OR bore the opposition to the death to a point where they lose appetite in the game.

Does this plan and mindset work?
If you are good at tuk tuk then most of the time yes - but it also puts a tag on you to be boring.

475 runs in two days of batting is perhaps unacceptable in modern day fast pace game. though.
 
It all depends on the type of players you have at your disposal.

At the moment Pakistan doesn't really have many flamboyant cricketers who can change the course of a match in a short space of time.

The players are steady rather than spectacular these days in the Pakistan camp.
 
have seen these threads a million times when we used to play in UAE.

First wait for Day 5 result, than do the analysis.

This is proper test cricket. You play at the rate of 2.9-3. You are not going to see wacky shots and 3.5+ run rates.

Wait for Australia to bat and than see
 
I don't understand the whining.

It's a 3-test series. This innings alone has deflated Australia for the rest of this game. If they go 0-1 down, it will be hard to get back up again.
 
I don't understand the whining.

It's a 3-test series. This innings alone has deflated Australia for the rest of this game. If they go 0-1 down, it will be hard to get back up again.

because we have been watching tonty tonty cricket for 6 months now.... People here expect Shaheen to come in the first over and take wickets and rizwan and Babar to smackk 4s and 6 from the first over.

To get a resullt off this wicket, you need to stay on it as long as you can and let the pitch crack.

Australia played to our advantage by having 3 main pacers player, thus cracking the pitch more for us.

The score is good enough against a quality bowling. Had the team batted at 3.5 an over fans would had still cried about it. Its the t20 effect.

On such pitches scoring runs are not as important as staying on the wicket and get the bowler to create footmarks on the pitch and open it up. Pakistan with 3 spinners can have a field day now if it doesnt rain
 
Looks like OP is new at test cricket he hasn't watched Pakistan series over the years from Eden Gardens to Akhtar silencing Indian crowd to gifting Kumble 10fer to Asian Test Championships hattrick by King of swing to Afridi spanking Bhajji in Mohali to Razzaq n Kamran recovering from 6-39 to Inzy forfeiting to Akhtar taking timber of Flintoff et al in 2005 to Asif destroying Sl in Kandy to Yk scoring triple ton to Amir magic and shame at Lords to infamous Sydney test to Steyn machine owning Professor and Faculty at Centurions for 49ers to clean sweeping Eng at fortress UAE to No.1 rank side and so and so on.....
 
I don't understand the whining.

It's a 3-test series. This innings alone has deflated Australia for the rest of this game. If they go 0-1 down, it will be hard to get back up again.

After two days, the first innings ends at 475 against an opponent like Australia?

Unless Pak bowlers show some spectacular bowling, the chances of a draw become slightly higher in such cases, (Misbah’s favorite test match result)

If you have batted for two days, you should’ve 600+ on the board to put a real hard pressure on the likes of Australia.

Well,
Let’s hope the game turns interesting and we see a hard fought result.
 
It's a slow wicket for heavens leave it draw is not the end of this world
 
After two days, the first innings ends at 475 against an opponent like Australia?

Unless Pak bowlers show some spectacular bowling, the chances of a draw become slightly higher in such cases, (Misbah’s favorite test match result)

If you have batted for two days, you should’ve 600+ on the board to put a real hard pressure on the likes of Australia.

Well,
Let’s hope the game turns interesting and we see a hard fought result.

fyi misbah has most wins as a test captain for pakistan..

also, 600 runs is possible when you play 180 overs atleast.
 
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fyi misbah has most wins as a test captain for pakistan..

also, 600 runs is possible when you play 180 overs atleast.

If you drill down, you will notice that it was mostly a combo of Saeed Ajmal and UAE pitches that played an integral part behind many of those wins.

Any Pak captain would’ve taken the crown - Misbah had no personal batting impact in many of those wins.

If there are 2 runs to win, and it’s last over of day 5, and the last two men are on the crease with Misbah facing, Misbah would block the first 5 balls and happily take a single to avoid defeat.

This is all what Misbah’s batting mindset and batting approach was.

He was a one dimensional batsmen who was super good in doing tuk tuk to cover up his inability of innovation and lack of bravery.

But yes, one thing I WILL give to Misbah.
He pulled Saeed Ajmal into the Pak team thru his personal influence - otherwise Ajmal was long discarded by our idiotic selectors.
 
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Just an aside, if you're suffering from insomnia, go and watch and Pakistan test match when its their inns, you'll be cured in no time. :misbah
 
Forget everything. Why did Rizwan and ifti not up the anti when they were sent in exactly to do that? Answer: everyone in this team is looking for personal milestones. Imam was worse.
 
It all depends on the type of players you have at your disposal.

At the moment Pakistan doesn't really have many flamboyant cricketers who can change the course of a match in a short space of time.

The players are steady rather than spectacular these days in the Pakistan camp.

We the fans are more upset because we are just not used to steady. Growing up we have always seen flamboyance in Pakistan cricket and today it is clearly missing. Yes we have big total on board which took 2 days but how can you expect people to stay interested in test cricket with this bore fest?
 
We the fans are more upset because we are just not used to steady. Growing up we have always seen flamboyance in Pakistan cricket and today it is clearly missing. Yes we have big total on board which took 2 days but how can you expect people to stay interested in test cricket with this bore fest?

That flamboyance isn't there. The Akhtars, Wasims, Waqars, Inzi's etc aren't there.

At best we have two or three lads who one could class as flamboyant at times, the rest are steady performers.
 
Azhar actually been playing at good rate since Babar arrived at the crease. Rizwan was trying to play lots of shots but kept missing or mis timing them, and just when he started to score well Babar made the declaration,seeing Iftikhar wasting balls and not even attempting to tonk any of them. Imam also wasted lot of time just before and after after his century. Azhar was equally slow till he got his century. Either way killing some time was important too otherwise Aussies are quite capable of turning tables on Pakistan.
 
It's not a bad total however some 30-40 run could've been added if accelerated well before declaration.
Score of 510/4d would've looked much better. Not to mention the pressure of trailing 500 runs when Aus resumes first inning.

So at the end Pak is just 8-10 boundaries short which wasn't a big ask if they were 3-4 down only. But 475 still is good total.

If I were a Pak fan, I would've been more disappointed that Pak got one over only to bowl before end of day. They should've got atleast an hour against Aussies. I guess that was the plan but bad light ruined it.
 
If you drill down, you will notice that it was mostly a combo of Saeed Ajmal and UAE pitches that played an integral part behind many of those wins.

Any Pak captain would’ve taken the crown - Misbah had no personal batting impact in many of those wins.

If there are 2 runs to win, and it’s last over of day 5, and the last two men are on the crease with Misbah facing, Misbah would block the first 5 balls and happily take a single to avoid defeat.

This is all what Misbah’s batting mindset and batting approach was.

He was a one dimensional batsmen who was super good in doing tuk tuk to cover up his inability of innovation and lack of bravery.

But yes, one thing I WILL give to Misbah.
He pulled Saeed Ajmal into the Pak team thru his personal influence - otherwise Ajmal was long discarded by our idiotic selectors.

Which is why mickey arthur and sarfraz lost in uae....

The same misbah you bashing twice made his team do a run chase on the fifth day
 
My biggest concern is the bowling attack's ability to pick up 20 wickets. On such a flat wicket, you should atleast have 3 pacers along with 2 spinners. 2 pacers will be run to the ground but when you play an extra pacer, you allow them to be used in short sharp bursts. Mohd Wasim Jr should have been picked in place of Iftikhar.
 
Admittedly, the scoring rate has been quite slow.

If Pakistan’s spinners bowl out Australia for 250 tomorrow however, then the game rather opens up and the game suddenly looks quite winnable.

Which would make the solid and steady approach from the Pakistan batters justified.

See how the Test match plays out first.
 
The Aussies going at 4 an over in our back garden whilst we were going at 2ish throughout our 1st innings, what an embarrassment.

Hopefully, Aus win the toss next game and bat first, give the fans something to watch.
 
The Aussies going at 4 an over in our back garden whilst we were going at 2ish throughout our 1st innings, what an embarrassment.

Hopefully, Aus win the toss next game and bat first, give the fans something to watch.

Its weird wanting to watch the opposition team bat over your own team. Shows how awful our brand of cricket is.
 
Man this is not acceptable... Look at the pitch and tired bowling and also situation of the match... This block block block is no way justified... This is worst personal selfish cricket on display

When you play selfish players in the team, this is supposed to happen... Declaration was not early, it was the lack of intent of batters that will halt them badly.. I kept on saying that scoring at 2 runs an over is not justified on this pitch also when you are 300 for 1... But some PPers here were saying that we are t20 lovers and do not know the test cricket.. Now good luck with your test cricket guys.. I guess khwaja and Warner also doesn't know much about test cricket and they are also playing t20
 
PCB lost the plot the moment they went the Misbah ul Haq/ Waqar Younis / Babar Azam / Mohammad Rizwan route

We have become a very boring brand
 
When you play selfish players in the team, this is supposed to happen... Declaration was not early, it was the lack of intent of batters that will halt them badly.. I kept on saying that scoring at 2 runs an over is not justified on this pitch also when you are 300 for 1... But some PPers here were saying that we are t20 lovers and do not know the test cricket.. Now good luck with your test cricket guys.. I guess khwaja and Warner also doesn't know much about test cricket and they are also playing t20


"If we try to play fast and get out of our comfort zone, we get out".
Our test batting culture has Misbah written all over it.
 
This is not about flamboyance, flair, talent. It’s about batsmanship, guts, game awareness. Khawaja is not flamboyant or has any flair, but he’s playing at a good rate, and just at the rate the team needs it.

We can’t just give up and say “oh well, we haven’t got any flair so let’s just give up”
 
Misbah's shadow looms large. Before him Pakistan played a different game altogether.

Misbah's approach paid rich dividends in UAE, boring but very effective. Now that cricket is back home, under a new skipper, hopefully Pak adopts a more proactive, positive approach. Hard to keep fans interested the way they played the first two days here.
 
Pakistan don't have the skilled players bar Babar Azam to score at a higher rate. I was actually ok with 250/1 for a first day total on the basis you accelerate on day 2. The day 2 effort wasn't great. To put in perspective however that Australian bowling line up is miles ahead of Pakistan's bowling and the Aussies bowled with discipline.
 
The truth is we are playing as if we are trying to save the match from day 1. Run rate of 2 on a flat track is just horrendous
 
They are playing in different pitches against VERY different oppositions. Pakistan is playing against a World Cup winning team that is ranked No. 1 in Tests and is on the back of a thumping Ashes win.

India, on the other hand, is playing against Sri Lanka. Need I say more?

This world cup winning team will get almost the same treatment if they will tour India like Sri Lanka is treated. Only Pakistan plays defensive kind of cricket under their own backyard among the major teams.
 
Yes because of the pitches they prepare. The current batsmen are a bunch of tuk tuks who have Misbah's mentality passed on to them as well.

The innings played by Azhar and Imam are nothing worthy of mention.
 
because we have been watching tonty tonty cricket for 6 months now.... People here expect Shaheen to come in the first over and take wickets and rizwan and Babar to smackk 4s and 6 from the first over.

To get a resullt off this wicket, you need to stay on it as long as you can and let the pitch crack.

Australia played to our advantage by having 3 main pacers player, thus cracking the pitch more for us.

The score is good enough against a quality bowling. Had the team batted at 3.5 an over fans would had still cried about it. Its the t20 effect.

On such pitches scoring runs are not as important as staying on the wicket and get the bowler to create footmarks on the pitch and open it up. Pakistan with 3 spinners can have a field day now if it doesnt rain

Hopefully they can have a field day tomorrow aswell bring Misbah out of retirement as a thank you gesture.
 
Pakistan needs a player like Pant or Rockstar Jadeja in test team.
Though I am not big fan of Pant due to him playing reckless shots frequently, there is no doubt he keeps score ticking. As a viewer you stays on the edge of the seat when he is batting.

Jadeja is a rockstar. You can't keep him out of the game for long. Even his fielding keeps you interested in the game.

Both these players have their own share of failures like any other player and team has suffered when they failed to perform. But players like Pant/Jadeja make you watch cricket.
 
We are a good 20 years behind every other major test nation. Our brand is boring, passive, unassertive, resigned and docile.
 
Under Misbah we were boring but Atleast winning at home and not being embarrassed abroad barring Australia and SA tours. Now it’s torture all round
 
My biggest concern is the bowling attack's ability to pick up 20 wickets. On such a flat wicket, you should atleast have 3 pacers along with 2 spinners. 2 pacers will be run to the ground but when you play an extra pacer, you allow them to be used in short sharp bursts. Mohd Wasim Jr should have been picked in place of Iftikhar.

It was an obvious blunder from Babar.
 
This is not about flamboyance, flair, talent. It’s about batsmanship, guts, game awareness. Khawaja is not flamboyant or has any flair, but he’s playing at a good rate, and just at the rate the team needs it.

We can’t just give up and say “oh well, we haven’t got any flair so let’s just give up”

Khawaja had 2 life's thou.
 
Great to see Pakistan have begun playing for the draw from Day 1.
 
Poor pitch again and even worse tactics from Pakistan — in the complex circumstances the first Test everyone gets a pass for, but this is getting really disappointing now.
 
have to say, pbly yes. cant think of any other country producing these 1970s pitches and aiming to control the run rate on the first days play.
 
No South Africa are the ultimate bores. I hate watching them play.
 
Not when they are playing at home

Pakistan is probably the only team that plays for draws even in home tests !

I don't think playing for draws at home to Aus is a tragedy. We haven't had a home series in Pak for donkey's years so the groundsmen could have been unprepared. They may even have forgotten how to prepare a result oriented wicket.
 
I don't think playing for draws at home to Aus is a tragedy. We haven't had a home series in Pak for donkey's years so the groundsmen could have been unprepared. They may even have forgotten how to prepare a result oriented wicket.

If you are playing for a draw against Australia at home - wonder what the team's mindset is when they tour Australia ?

Anyways not a good look for any team to play for draw at home !
 
Absolutely pathetic from the pakistan players laughing and joking around. What an embarrassing display of negative tactics. Babar has to go as a captain absolutely pathetic as a captain.

We are literally playing for a draw in a home series shocking
 
If you are playing for a draw against Australia at home - wonder what the team's mindset is when they tour Australia ?

Anyways not a good look for any team to play for draw at home !

It is not the team strategy but the wicket that appears to be the problem here. Aussie wickets are different to Pak ones, there is no comparison.
 
The fans have been deprived for so long and this is what they get, may as well go back to bed then come out for this. Not good for future ticket sales or a good advert for the young generation.

Hopefully the Aussies win to force Pakistan to go toe to toe in the final test. Cowardly behaviour.
 
Pitch is one thing but lack of quality bowlers is a serious issue specifically spinners Naseem Hassan Touseef Ahmed Iqbal Qasim Abdul Qadir Mushtaq Ahmed Saqlain Mushtaq Arshad Khan Danish Kaneria Saeed Ajmal Abdur Rehman Yasir Shah all were international level bowlers
But these two are just roll overs
 
Definitely. I am sure that if Aus won the toss in Pindi test, we would have a result in that test because they would have scored 500 runs at the runrate above 4 and Pakistan batters would have crumbled under pressure there.

The funny thing is that Pakistan players and captain have been very happy with their timid performances in the first test. Babar is telling in press conferences that his team took 10 wickets of Australia and his batters score 100s, like this is what is required from his team. He needs to understand the to be a top 3 team, he needs wins and an attractive brand of cricket where the teams bat at runrate above 4.

In the second test, there are already a lot of questions marks on the captaincy of Babar on first day. The leg-side tactic for extended period, the under-utilization of pacers when ball was reversing, the lack of attacking plans. These are not the things that will bode well for Babar.
 
Definitely. I am sure that if Aus won the toss in Pindi test, we would have a result in that test because they would have scored 500 runs at the runrate above 4 and Pakistan batters would have crumbled under pressure there.

The funny thing is that Pakistan players and captain have been very happy with their timid performances in the first test. Babar is telling in press conferences that his team took 10 wickets of Australia and his batters score 100s, like this is what is required from his team. He needs to understand the to be a top 3 team, he needs wins and an attractive brand of cricket where the teams bat at runrate above 4.

In the second test, there are already a lot of questions marks on the captaincy of Babar on first day. The leg-side tactic for extended period, the under-utilization of pacers when ball was reversing, the lack of attacking plans. These are not the things that will bode well for Babar.

Someone should remind him that you need 20 wickets to win a test.
 
Someone should remind him that you need 20 wickets to win a test.

Yes im sure he realises that

What you and a lot of ppers dont realise is that you cant let the game get away from you either in pursuit of wkts

Aus were going at over 3.5 an over after the first 2 sessions n the pitch looks dead If you cant get wkts the next best thing to do is slow the run rate down which hez done

Pakistan are still in the game n can attack tmrw morning n a couple of early wkts and they wil be on top
 
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Yes im sure he realises that

What you and a lot of ppers dont realise is that you cant let the game get away from you either in pursuit of wkts

Theres no point going all out only to get a punch in the face

Aus were going at over 3.5 an over after the first 2 sessions n the pitch looks dead If you cant get wkts the next best thing to do is slow the run rate down which hez done

Pakistan are still in the game n can attack tmrw morning n a couple of early wkts and they wil be on top

I have not criticized Pakistan in 2nd test last session approach. Slowing down the runs was needed.

Pakistan played the first test for the draw the entire time despite being in a strong position. That was negative cricket. In the context of the test match, Babar pointing out that Pakistan took 10 wickets is just absurd. There was no need for Pakistan to play so negative cricket in the first test.

Playing negative cricket when you are in dominating position vs playing negative cricket to stop other team to dominate you are two different situations.
 
Yes im sure he realises that

What you and a lot of ppers dont realise is that you cant let the game get away from you either in pursuit of wkts

Aus were going at over 3.5 an over after the first 2 sessions n the pitch looks dead If you cant get wkts the next best thing to do is slow the run rate down which hez done

Pakistan are still in the game n can attack tmrw morning n a couple of early wkts and they wil be on top

When the reverse was happening they should have kept atleast of the seemers on.
 
If you forget the historic nature of the tour and look purely on the cricketing aspect, Pakistan is the worst place for Test cricket.

The SAF series last year was an outlier. Most Test series have been like this in Pakistan pre-2009 - dull, painstakingly slow moving Tests on placid, unresponsive pitches.

There's a reason why Test crowds were so poor pre-2009.
 
This is what happens when your brand is boring passive cricket. Its matter of time you collapse under little pressure. Lots of things need to be changed
 
If you forget the historic nature of the tour and look purely on the cricketing aspect, Pakistan is the worst place for Test cricket.

The SAF series last year was an outlier. Most Test series have been like this in Pakistan pre-2009 - dull, painstakingly slow moving Tests on placid, unresponsive pitches.

There's a reason why Test crowds were so poor pre-2009.

Yup, this was the place where draws abounded, where hacks like Sehwag was making triple centuries for fun. The SA series was an exception. Its always boring to play Test cricket in Pakistan
 
Pakistan are still in the game n can attack tmrw morning n a couple of early wkts and they wil be on top

There is no way Pakistan can be described as being on top while staring at a deficit of 489 and 2 days of play left.

At best, they pull out a batting performance like in the 1st test and bat out 5 sessions for a draw.

Personally, I don't think they can, with the pressure of saving the game.
 
170 runs in the entire day..... Too negative mindset here...
 
The scoring rate was really poor didn't try and attack the bowlers or put any kind of pressure on the bowlers.
 
Dont think Pakistan is the most boring team.

But for sure its the worst place to advertise test cricket.
 
Dont think Pakistan is the most boring team.

But for sure its the worst place to advertise test cricket.

Pakistan test cricket is all about helping past it players get to useless and impactless centuries, help busted flushes get to a 100 test matches played, take passengers for free vacations on overseas tours, bring back expired players that should have played and finished their test career long ago etc etc.

Playing to win and employing an exciting brand of cricket is not part of the consideration.
 
They have been playing a terrible brand of cricket for over a decade now.

They show glimpses of returning to their former strong side when they had Inzimam, Yousuf, Younis, Akhtar. Afridi, Razzaq and players who were playing the correct brand of cricket appropriate to that time.

Even guys like Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed would play at a strike rate of 50+

Now a strike rate of 35 is very much the norm
 
it reminds me of Indian cricket team from 90s
Even India of 90s had some decent batters but absolute pop gun attack so one two decent batsman and one two decent bowlers of this current Pakistan team is remiscent to India of 90s
 
Pakistan lacks proper match winners, guys that can turn the match on its head. Babar is good but he's elevated by the mediocrity that surrounds him.

No guys with any sort of flair or swagger. As a result, the cricket is dull, boring and horrible to watch, basically watching 4 or 5 of your main batters trying to survive rather than playing shots and taking it to the opposition.
 
Even India of 90s had some decent batters but absolute pop gun attack so one two decent batsman and one two decent bowlers of this current Pakistan team is remiscent to India of 90s

India were a very good team at home in the 90s

The least a avge team can do is protect your home fort and win there

Pakistan cant even do that
 
The saying goes lose with aggression make an aggressive mentality your forte.

Unfortunately the same dross is served year after year slow pathetic batting do the selectors want us to be official minnows before any changes happen?
 
They have been playing a terrible brand of cricket for over a decade now.

They show glimpses of returning to their former strong side when they had Inzimam, Yousuf, Younis, Akhtar. Afridi, Razzaq and players who were playing the correct brand of cricket appropriate to that time.

Even guys like Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed would play at a strike rate of 50+

Now a strike rate of 35 is very much the norm

Strike rate of 35 is the max if you exceed it you might get punished.

Imam was going at the break-neck speed of 50 SR at one point. It seems Azhar walked to the crease and said “hold on there little fella, you tryin’ to kill us or something, take it easy”.

Imam achieved his 35 S/R and promptly got out.

The pace bowling may have some hope, but the batting and spin bowling - one word. Pathetic
 
Pakistan lacks proper match winners, guys that can turn the match on its head. Babar is good but he's elevated by the mediocrity that surrounds him.

No guys with any sort of flair or swagger. As a result, the cricket is dull, boring and horrible to watch, basically watching 4 or 5 of your main batters trying to survive rather than playing shots and taking it to the opposition.

The lack of flair may result in less stroke play, lack of great shots, but to not do simple basics like rotating the strike doesn’t require flair, just some brains.

But these guys don’t want to think. They have one aim regardless of match situation - just don’t get out. And they can’t even do that well when it’s required.

The first test, first innings was the time to really put Australia under the cosh. You made some runs, make them pay. But they spent two days making 470. Fools
 
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