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"It feels good when new guys perform" : Sarfaraz Ahmed

giri26

T20I Debutant
Joined
Apr 1, 2009
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8,468
Post of the Week
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A comprehensive 84-run victory over Scotland in the second and final Twenty20 International in Edinburgh gave Pakistan a 2-0 series win and helped them end their tour of England, Ireland and Scotland on a positive note.

After winning the toss and batting first, Pakistan put up 166/6 courtesy an unbeaten 49 off just 22 balls by Shoaib Malik and a 25-ball 33 by Fakhar Zaman. The bowlers did job thereafter with Usman Khan (2/4) and Faheem Ashraf (3/6) leading the way as Scotland were bowled out for 82 in just 14.4 overs.

Pakistan did not have an imposing total on the board like in the first game, but they defended well.

“I want to credit our bowling line-up to defend targets in such small grounds,” said Sarfraz Ahmed, the Pakistan captain, who returns having won the one-off Test in Ireland and split the two-Test series against England to go with the T20I series win in Scotland.

“Feels good when new guys perform well. The likes of Faheem Ashraf, Shadab (Khan), Hasan Ali, Hussain Talat … the way Usman Khan bowled, it feels good.”

While Khan had a decent outing with bat and ball, hitting a run-a-ball 17 and picking up 1/19, Talat scored 17 off 19 batting at No.3 and Ahmed Shehzad hit a 22-ball 24 at the top of the order.

Pakistan were also excellent on the field, effecting three run outs. “Fitness is really important in today's fast-paced cricket,” pointed out Ahmed. “We knew Scotland would come hard with the bat. We fielded really well. No praise is enough for this young team. Coaching staff worked hard too.”

Kyle Coetzer, the Scotland captain, conceded that it wasn’t an ideal day for the team. Scotland had created a big splash by beating England, the No.1-ranked ODI team, in an ODI over the weekend, but were found wanting against the No.1 T20I team.

“Wasn't an ideal day for us. Pakistan came out with a high-quality seam attack and the early wickets put us in trouble,” Coetzer said.

“They hit their lengths hard, the left-arm spinner (Mohammad Nawaz) mixed it up as well. Great opportunity to play the No.1 side in the world. This is where we want to be testing ourselves. Today we obviously struggled with our batting.”

https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/723356
 
Good to see Pakistan youngsters doing what they have been hired to do!
 
Good to see Mickey backing youngsters to perform. One can just think of the horrifics that would occur if Waqar was still coach

Edit: Also Misbah as captain
 
Misbah/Waqar time cant be compared as situation was entirely different.
SPOT fixing has lead PCB to go back to domestics to find old wise heads, as many young players(that included young captain) got caught.

I think people should go and check the context of many decisions that has been taken, instead of start making conclusions about Misbah/Waqar.

For Misbah, challenge was different, priority was to restore that cricketing image of Pakistan, and the continuation of that. Which I think he done very well.
 
In last 6/8 years, everyone played their part in whatever Pakistan cricket is today to recover from the damage that was done by Butt and others. So move on, instead of always comparing this to that.
 
I think he started well, but lost its way somehow last year because of his injury and fitness.
His bowling looks very good against non Asian teams, his batting is suitable for 5/6 position, not 7/8 hitter Quite recently, his batting was not up to the mark.
 
I think he started well, but lost its way somehow last year because of his injury and fitness.
His bowling looks very good against non Asian teams, his batting is suitable for 5/6 position, not 7/8 hitter Quite recently, his batting was not up to the mark.

Imad? Yeah, good assessment. I prefer Nawaz at this stage, also because he can play a no. 9 hitter. And Nawaz is a better bowler imo. Could now play:

6 - Hafeez 7 - Shadab 8 - Faheem 9 - Nawaz 10 - Hasan 11 - Shinwari/Amir with Sarfraz at 4.
 
Dude, Nawaz does not even merit a contention. His batting is so weak, that even you have put it as your #10 batsman. He is there because Imad is injured.
Check stats and compare both of them.

I am not sure if Hafeez should be in the team. He is past his prime long way back, only CT final innings prolonged his career for some more time. And I am sure team managment dont want to face a scenario if Hafeez bowling action gets reported again before the world cup. They cant afford to play him as a specialist batsman.
 
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