Is the 'sluggish' Test cricket that Pakistan is playing against West Indies the right way to go?

[Umairee95]

Even the commentators today -- including Waqar Younis -- were critical of Pakistan's ultra-defensive, unremarkable approach on day 2 in Dominica.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Batting mostly at 1.5 to 2.0 runs per over in 147 overs is just pointing towards that they want to play out time more than anything else. Don't see what that achieves for them as they still skittle out for under 400 where as if they aim to score at 3-4 an over they could have 450 before being bowled out.

 

[MRSN]

It's not defensive..it's selfish.

 

[BD-fan]

Batting mostly at 1.5 to 2.0 runs per over in 147 overs is just pointing towards that they want to play out time more than anything else. Don't see what that achieves for them as they still skittle out for under 400 where as if they aim to score at 3-4 an over they could have 450 before being bowled out.

Yes, as if 3-4 an over without fall of wickets are guaranteed. Flip side is if they had gone for 3-4 runs an over, they could have been all out 250 with no new ball required. WI licking chops then. You can't win a game in one session. But definitely you can lose a game in a session trying to up the runrate in first innings without any score to back up.

 

[aloo paratha]

I think 2.2 an over was a bit too slow, it's ok to start slow but once Misbah and Azhar had played out so many balls there shouldve been more intent. Not happy with today's performance but I'm sure it will turn out better than "go at 4 an over" would get them.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Yes, as if 3-4 an over without fall of wickets are guaranteed. Flip side is if they had gone for 3-4 runs an over, they could have been all out 250 with no new ball required. WI licking chops then. You can't win a game in one session. But definitely you can lose a game in a session trying to up the runrate in first innings without any score to back up.

Didn't say that they should have played at that rate from the start but at least look to score at that once they had a settled pair in the middle. Batting at 2 or less isn't justified on a flat track at all especially when you know rain is around and not full days can be expected and with the series on the line.

 

[MajidBhuta-AamirFan]

One the the creepiest test series ever I have seen in my entire cricket watching career..

btw I have been watching cricket since 85...

so you can easily say very experience cricket watcher......

This team should be labeled as nillay pay dhillay.
Openers slow, then one down even more slow, and then two down even more slow and then three down even more slow ... I can easily say there were like turtle race going on in West Indies....

 

[naddo]

Of course not - you may win the occasional series but as a philosphy defensive play never pays in the long run. Australia early 80s, India 70s-80s, Windies 50s, England 90s, Pak 60s-70s etc clearly demonstrates why.
In general teams play defensively when they either dont have a captain who is prepared to lose (to win), or if they have the small team mentality we see in the english FA cup when a minnow goes to a "big" team.
The mentality should be to be better than this.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Do not know if you guys noticed but whenever some guys tried to play positive they lost their wickets. Which tells you that there are some batsmen in there who just aren't stroke makers or struggle to rotate the strike.

We all know about Misbah, but he isn't the only one who knows his limitations. As a result they think about surviving instead of thinking about the chances of the team.

 

[Buffet]

You have to play according to your skill set. I am not saying that it's a good thing for winning tests, but you can't play outside of your comfort zone.

 

[Hamza_]

You have to play according to your skill set. I am not saying that it's a good thing for winning tests, but you can't play outside of your comfort zone.

Is 1 off 51 balls called comfort zone?

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Is 1 off 51 balls called comfort zone?

That's someone who has serious issues getting on especially against pace bowlers.

 

[Ab Fan]

Obviously not. You gotta score runs at the end of the day if you have to win games.2 runs per over is just not good enough and that too when the team situation wasn't even bad and wickets weren't fallen early.

Any form of cricket requires aggressive batting time and again and unless teams have got enough runs on board they cant win games.

 

[Hamza_]

That's someone who has serious issues getting on especially against pace bowlers.

He isn't exactly facing some very high class bowlers.

 

[mohnip]

Most coward team while batting..

Well i foresee that pakistan team will left with least number of cricket fan in world, the way batsmen are playing seems they know only 1 way to score that is when ball automatically hits the bat.

 

[moghul]

Things will get better once Misbah is gone. He was like a dark cloud over Pakistan cricket, sun will shine under Sarafraz.

 

[nads_rocks]

Knowing its Misbah and Younis last game before retirment and last time they will represent Pakistan you would hope and expect them to go out on a high but no they have not learnt anything at all from the last 2 tests.

It just seems they do not want to win at all. 1 session was washed out but still did not matter to them that maybe they should up the rate. Nobody asking for boundaries just find the gaps run. If Safraz can find them then why can't the others. Is Safraz playing on a different pitch than the top 5 batsman in the team?

You can't eat up 51 deliveries as a captain leading from the front and just make 1 run then eat up more deliveries especially when you are settled I mean 1 off 51 then 15 off 77. Is asking for trouble because you put yourself in so much pressure by not scoring or rotating strike at all then of course the bowlers will sniff a chance and once a wicket falls they all tumble...

Even if you give this team a batting paradise they will still bat at 1-2rpo. They are so boring to watch and I guess with Misbah and Younis leaving things should look up but with Babar also batting slow and Shafiq well less said about him the better, it shows that with only Azhar and Safraz in the team who are able to score and rotate strikes well safraz mainly then its a long road up for Pakistan. Need to bring in some hungry players who play for their country who want to do their country proud who show passion and can score more than 2 runs an over.

 

[Buffet]

Is 1 off 51 balls called comfort zone?

Well, that's very poor by any standards. Who did that?

 

[moghul]

If 1 run in 51 balls is someone's comfort zone, he should have sacked two years ago.

He is not interested in winning, he plays only for himself, was looking for his individual score , nothing else.

 

[Hamza_]

Well, that's very poor by any standards. Who did that?

Captain Misbah.

 

[Buffet]

Captain Misbah.

I saw that in other thread. My comment wad just a general one and I was not following the match closely. It's ridiculous way to play any cricket unless you are trying to save a test. I personally don't find myself watching Pakistan batting most of the times and it's due to batsmen having very limited skill sets. But 1(50) is not just due to skill set, intention to score has to be a huge factor here.

 

[Hamza_]

I saw that in other thread. My comment wad just a general one and I was not following the match closely. It's ridiculous way to play any cricket unless you are trying to save a test. I personally don't find myself watching Pakistan batting most of the times and it's due to batsmen having very limited skill sets. But 1(50) is not just due to skill set, intention to score has to be a huge factor here.

It's 51 actually, Yes not due to limited skills but lack of intention to score, You also need to consider that there was alot of rain disruption and loss of time.

 

[Sadevdesai]

Still 3 days to go, and in Test Match Cricket anything can happen. But having batted, the way we did, certainly did not help our cause. WI only need to Draw this match and go up in the Rank, while we will certainly go down. Hope we get them All Out by Tea tomorrow to have any chance of winning this Test Match !!!!!

 

[Speedster777]

It's not just Misbah, even Azhar Ali played too slow.

 

[Syed1]

Misbah was trying to prolong his last innings at the crease. No intention to win the match. Glad he didn't get an undeserved century.

 

[Junaids]

I love Test cricket, but this strategy is stupid and self-defeating.

Basically Younis and Misbah are far too old to score quickly. And Azhar is not very good at it.

I actually felt sorry for Asad Shafiq getting out trying to make up for their slowness. He deserved a medal.

 

[Executioner]

This is I believe why teams like Afghanistan and Bangladesh are progressing while Zimbabwe and Pakistan are regressing. The first two teams are always aggressive. Seldom will you see Bangladesh slowing down considerably even when a wicket falls especially in limited overs.

The Pakistan side of the past were defensive at times but could switch gears. But modern era requires that you keep on attacking especially against a weaker opposition which is West Indies

In the last innings Amir was the second highest run scorer. He attacked the bowlers.

The issue is Pakistan should look to beat Windies in Windies who are effectively one of the weakest test teams in the world. WI still have 20 wickets left in the bag