Let's see what you are made of

[Junaids]

So, Test series coming up against Australia, New Zealand and then South Africa. No minnows, teams with ability and skill and teams who will present a tough challenge for Pakistan in the 5-day format.

Time to see what Pakistan are made of in Test cricket.

But all we learned was just how inept the Sethi administration's planning had been:

1. The incomprehensible decision to recall Mohammad Hafeez, which ensured the team went to South Africa without a settled opening partnership.

2. The blind selection of the wrong pace bowlers for South Africa, with short medium pacers taking up almost every slot.

3. The incredible decision to send only 3.5 fit fast bowlers to South Africa - fewer than even Bangladesh or Zimbabwe have ever sent on a tour to South Africa.

4. After the awful decision to allow Misbah and Younis to age and retire at the same time, the exact same error was made with Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq. There appear to be no consequences for 30-something batsmen who average less than 30 over a couple of years. The end result was a marquee Test series in which Azhar Ali only scored 8 more runs than Kagiso Rabada did in 3 Tests. And 7 more runs than Shadab Khan scored in 1 Test!

Azhar Ali: 59 runs in 6 innings at an average of 9.83
Shadab Khan: 52 runs in 2 innings at an average of 52.00.

It's been incredible across the 6 Tests in Ireland, England and South Africa to see that we have reached a point at which Shadab Khan is a superior and more reliable Test batsman outside Asia compared to Azhar Ali.

But on Inzamam's sleepy watch, that's where we have ended up.

A mediocre "senior" retained far beyond his Sell-By date purely because of what he used to be capable of.

 

[Junaids]

But all we learned was just how inept the Sethi administration's planning had been:

1. The incomprehensible decision to recall Mohammad Hafeez, which ensured the team went to South Africa without a settled opening partnership.

2. The blind selection of the wrong pace bowlers for South Africa, with short medium pacers taking up almost every slot.

3. The incredible decision to send only 3.5 fit fast bowlers to South Africa - fewer than even Bangladesh or Zimbabwe have ever sent on a tour to South Africa.

4. After the awful decision to allow Misbah and Younis to age and retire at the same time, the exact same error was made with Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq. There appear to be no consequences for 30-something batsmen who average less than 30 over a couple of years. The end result was a marquee Test series in which Azhar Ali only scored 8 more runs than Kagiso Rabada did in 3 Tests. And 7 more runs than Shadab Khan scored in 1 Test!

Azhar Ali: 59 runs in 6 innings at an average of 9.83
Shadab Khan: 52 runs in 2 innings at an average of 52.00.

It's been incredible across the 6 Tests in Ireland, England and South Africa to see that we have reached a point at which Shadab Khan is a superior and more reliable Test batsman outside Asia compared to Azhar Ali.

But on Inzamam's sleepy watch, that's where we have ended up.

A mediocre "senior" retained far beyond his Sell-By date purely because of what he used to be capable of.

And worst of all, the New Zealand ODI and T20 series were played before the Tests, which robbed the Test team of the chance to depart at a sensible time for South Africa.

 

[rhony]

But all we learned was just how inept the Sethi administration's planning had been:

1. The incomprehensible decision to recall Mohammad Hafeez, which ensured the team went to South Africa without a settled opening partnership.

2. The blind selection of the wrong pace bowlers for South Africa, with short medium pacers taking up almost every slot.

3. The incredible decision to send only 3.5 fit fast bowlers to South Africa - fewer than even Bangladesh or Zimbabwe have ever sent on a tour to South Africa.

4. After the awful decision to allow Misbah and Younis to age and retire at the same time, the exact same error was made with Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq. There appear to be no consequences for 30-something batsmen who average less than 30 over a couple of years. The end result was a marquee Test series in which Azhar Ali only scored 8 more runs than Kagiso Rabada did in 3 Tests. And 7 more runs than Shadab Khan scored in 1 Test!

Azhar Ali: 59 runs in 6 innings at an average of 9.83
Shadab Khan: 52 runs in 2 innings at an average of 52.00.

It's been incredible across the 6 Tests in Ireland, England and South Africa to see that we have reached a point at which Shadab Khan is a superior and more reliable Test batsman outside Asia compared to Azhar Ali.

But on Inzamam's sleepy watch, that's where we have ended up.

A mediocre "senior" retained far beyond his Sell-By date purely because of what he used to be capable of.

If Haris was fit, he would have played instead of Shan. Do you think they would have dropped Azhar for Shan in the 3rd test in that case?

 

[SportsWarrior]

Once the minnow bashing came to an end and this team was properly tested, the true strength of the team was exposed.

Okay you can argue we would likely have won the 3rd ODI vs NZ had rain not played spoiler, but we should have won the 1st ODI had it not been for shambolic batting and captaincy from Sarfraz.

Meanwhile, the Test series against NZ and SA have been a debacle. In the two most important formats huge questions remain.

Same thing will happen to the third format performance once Pak starts facing some real teams..