Making Shoaib Malik the makeshift captain is one of PCB's biggest blunders

[Mirpur express]

Malik is not just a better caption but a better player then Sarfraz, don’t know what the fuss is about & sarfi might be street wise but Malik is just next level in terms of tactical know how & sheer experience, don’t see how Sarfraz can walk back into the team after such a long run of poor form in all formats & then the brain fade too

 

[Greenstorm]

The numbers I mentioned are of the last four years which accurately show that he has been a consistent performer recently. The numbers you mentioned also include his performances during the formative years of his career when he was finding his feet in international cricket and the late 2000's when his career went down-hill. The difference is that the numbers I mentioned are relevant to the argument.

I never said anything about late 2000s. Check his numbers in SENA countries during last four years, they are abysmal for a player who has been playing this game for so long. Malik is useless outside Asia and will be another specialist captain although maybe better than his predecessor.

 

[indianpanacea]

Imad wasim would have been the best choice as captain

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

I never said anything about late 2000s. Check his numbers in SENA countries during last four years, they are abysmal for a player who has been playing this game for so long. Malik is useless outside Asia and will be another specialist captain although maybe better than his predecessor.

Seems to me like you have some sort of bias against Malik which you are trying to reinforce here. Pakistan won 2 out of 15 ODIs in SEN between 2016-17. It was a collective failure on part of the entire team and Malik actually played a match-winning knock in winning one of those ODIs against England in which Pakistan were chasing 300+
Regardless, the WC will be a the truest test of his mettle. We'll see how he does.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Imad wasim would have been the best choice as captain

Agreed. But I think he needs to up his batting even more so he becomes a more reliable all-rounder. He showed flashes during the 2016 England tour and in the 3rd ODI but Pakistan need consistent performances from him.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

hahaha He will do anything to be in the team.... wait and watch it 'll all come out in a few years. Malik and Hafeez are the two guys with most political connections and influences. Amazing that the guy keep crying he doesn't want captaincy and don't even have a place in playing 11 and made captain.

All I'll say is that don't listen to all the conspiracy theories my friend. You'll be better served sticking to reality.

And if you think Malik doesn't have a place in the team then I think you haven't been watching cricket for the last few years. Malik is one of the few players who walks into the side because of his experience and capability as a middle-order batsman

 

[Mp812]

S.Malik recently saved the team from a ODI loss to Afg.
He deserves to be captain for his experience.

 

[Plumb]

All I'll say is that don't listen to all the conspiracy theories my friend. You'll be better served sticking to reality.

And if you think Malik doesn't have a place in the team then I think you haven't been watching cricket for the last few years. Malik is one of the few players who walks into the side because of his experience and capability as a middle-order batsman

Nope... been watching cricket since Imran era players of this era are mediocre to say the least... Yes Malik is the best bat in team who can play 125 kph thunderbolts aimed at his body

If you don't know about (true) conspiracy theories then you don't know enough about pak cricket...

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

Let Malik retire with grace. If he has enough brains he'd reject the offer.

 

[rhony]

Seems to me like you have some sort of bias against Malik which you are trying to reinforce here. Pakistan won 2 out of 15 ODIs in SEN between 2016-17. It was a collective failure on part of the entire team and Malik actually played a match-winning knock in winning one of those ODIs against England in which Pakistan were chasing 300+
Regardless, the WC will be a the truest test of his mettle. We'll see how he does.

Here's his record since Jan 1 2018 against top 8 teams .

Is he an "experienced" finisher with SR of 69.69 and Zero Not outs?
Is he an "experienced" middle order batsman with an average of 24.76?

 

[gazza619]

Imad wasim would have been the best choice as captain

Are you serious? Imad barely keeps his place in the eleven

 

[Snak3eye5]

My vote for Shan masood for captain after World Cup.

 

[Markhor]

The OP is correct. Malik doesn't not justify a place in the team and will be another specialist captain.

For a senior batsman to average 23 at a SR of 77 in this series is appalling but consistent with Malik's performances outside Asia in his career.

 

[Hawkeye]

What did I say, folks?

You'd have to agree with me at the end of the day, but obviously, easily to get fooled by 4th ODI's performance, which had nothing to do with Malik.

He's not only a pathetic batsman who doesn't make the team, also a very bad captain as shown by his PSL stint.

Rose tinted glasses.

 

[Hawkeye]

Nope... been watching cricket since Imran era players of this era are mediocre to say the least... Yes Malik is the best bat in team who can play 125 kph thunderbolts aimed at his body

If you don't know about (true) conspiracy theories then you don't know enough about pak cricket...

)

Malik is our 2nd worst batsman after Rizwan.

 

[Plumb]

)

Malik is our 2nd worst batsman after Rizwan.

No Malik is the best batsmen according to some folks here... the guy can barely hold the bat at the moment. Malik hafeez rizwan awesome lineup... I see only hafeez in the playing 11 else we are doomed...

 

[topspin]

What did I say, folks?

You'd have to agree with me at the end of the day, but obviously, easily to get fooled by 4th ODI's performance, which had nothing to do with Malik.

He's not only a pathetic batsman who doesn't make the team, also a very bad captain as shown by his PSL stint.

Rose tinted glasses.

You are correct however if you had a toss up between the 2 specialist captains, who would you choose?

For me I see 5 options:

Hafeez
Imad
Fakhar
Amir
Malik

Malik is perhaps the worst captain to have out of these 5 since he's the only one who doesn't make the team on merit, but I would rather have him than Sarfraz because he will get more out of his bowlers and the younger players (4-5 players) will play for him, whereas they look subdued playing under the suspended captain.

 

[xricket]

Sarfraz would have removed Shaheen after he had gone for runs. Impressive captaincy by Shoaib. Knowing wickets are the key to win. Even Ramiz was asking for it, although he lacks the sense of the game.

 

[Hawkeye]

Another one of OP's threads that has backfired. Not even surprised anymore.

Cool story, how many times have you repeated the word "backfired" before it backfired on you?

Just blindly support your guy without any facts or insight.

 

[Oneking]

It’s not a blunder but a smart choice
Preventing grouping with in team. Making a clear statement Sarfraz will stay in command
And not bubbling any younger head

 

[Square Drive]

Cool story, how many times have you repeated the word "backfired" before it backfired on you?

Just blindly support your guy without any facts or insight.

Aww look at you giggling and having fun over this loss.

No such thing as "my guy" because I actually support the team instead of backing individuals.

Please do tell me what any other captain could've done differently to lead us to a win in both the 4th as well as 5th ODIs.

You're a bit of a laughing stock around the forums though, so I'm sure that's too much to expect from you.

 

[BakuGM]

Malik should not be in the ODI team let alone the Captain.... He may fool you in Asia but outside Asia he has always been useless and will continue to be a burden on the team if they decide to include him in the World Cup squad. I was thinking back to 1992 WC win and realized that Inzamam came out of nowhere and helped us win the SF and Final as he was given the opportunity by selectors and captain. Maybe Pakistan can finally dump Malik and chances to youngsters in the next few months and find their "Inzamam" for the World Cup.

 

[fitCricFan]

A captain does not have a magic wand to lift the performance of mediocre players. Doesn't matter who is at the helm, you need the entire team to perform consistently. Individual performance can win you occasional games but you rely on the entire unit to get you across the finish line

You can get SA back or any of the other (Imad, Hafeez etc) to captain our side but it is still going to be the same

 

[MMHS]

Malik doesn't make the situation better than Sarfraz as both don't deserve to be in playing XI on merit. Having said that, I'll pick Malik as specialist Captain any day.

 

[Hawkeye]

You are correct however if you had a toss up between the 2 specialist captains, who would you choose?

For me I see 5 options:

Hafeez
Imad
Fakhar
Amir
Malik

Malik is perhaps the worst captain to have out of these 5 since he's the only one who doesn't make the team on merit, but I would rather have him than Sarfraz because he will get more out of his bowlers and the younger players (4-5 players) will play for him, whereas they look subdued playing under the suspended captain.

I'd probably choose Hafeez as the short term captain because he can be useful with the bat in England.

And is shrewd.

One of Hafeez or Malik make the team, and the latter certainly doesn't in England.

 

[Syed1]

I'd probably choose Hafeez as the short term captain because he can be useful with the bat in England.

And is shrewd.

One of Hafeez or Malik make the team, and the latter certainly doesn't in England.

We have tried Hafeez as captain in WT20 and he completely wilted under pressure

 

[topspin]

I'd probably choose Hafeez as the short term captain because he can be useful with the bat in England.

And is shrewd.

One of Hafeez or Malik make the team, and the latter certainly doesn't in England.

Agreed I would also want Hafeez because he has the tactical nous as evident when he led the side to a win that ODI in Aus two years ago and we don't have time to be experimenting the leadership.

 

[Snowflake]

Agreed I would also want Hafeez because he has the tactical nous as evident when he led the side to a win that ODI in Aus two years ago and we don't have time to be experimenting the leadership.

There's no way Hafeez would be play the way he's playing right now if given captaincy. You can see how aggressive and uninhibited his style of play has become recently. We'll see the return of the old 2(20) Hafeez if we add responsibility on him.

 

[Snowflake]

We have tried Hafeez as captain in WT20 and he completely wilted under pressure

Exactly! Very smart tactician but deteriorated as a batsman

 

[topspin]

There's no way Hafeez would be play the way he's playing right now if given captaincy. You can see how aggressive and uninhibited his style of play has become recently. We'll see the return of the old 2(20) Hafeez if we add responsibility on him.

For me it's a toss up between Hafeez and Imad, however PCB will be adamant on choosing an over 30 captain (in accordance to the seniority culture of course). The latter is a natural leader and you can see that from the way he bats however do we have the time to be experimenting with a new captain?

Under no circumstances should we continue with Sarfraz - that guy has lost it!

 

[todfod 11]

Malik doesnt justify his place in the playing 11. once harris sohail is back he will be dumped.
By the yesterdays pak team is the weakest i have seen in years. only 4 batsmen.. Any good team would heavily rely on 3 good middle order batsmen. sp the openers are free to play there game and lower order can smack few balls freely rather extra burden on them like shadab had o him yesterday. He plays well when he is free to play his shots.

 

[Hawkeye]

What did I tell you folks?

Malik is worst than even Sarfraz.

Malik has a terrible, terrible captaincy record and Karachi Kings under Malik was the worst team of the PSL as well, multiple years.

Not only he's clueless, he also doesn't make the team on merit.

Bowling shinwari )

 

[arehaan]

Malik is totally useless as captain. He has made too many blunder in these 2 t20s. I am not Sarfrazs biggest supporter but surely he is miles ahead of Shoaib in t20 captaincy.

 

[Barragan]

Agreed, garbage captain!

KK replaced him midway with Bopara because he was absolutely trash.

Hafeez should have been made the temporary captain.

 

[Rana]

Outdated captain. Still thinks its the year 2007

 

[waleed88]

What did I tell you folks?

Malik is worst than even Sarfraz.

Malik has a terrible, terrible captaincy record and Karachi Kings under Malik was the worst team of the PSL as well, multiple years.

Not only he's clueless, he also doesn't make the team on merit.

Bowling shinwari )

Malik is good at man management, good speaker, good mentor for the youth.

What he isn't is a tactician.

Always of the mould of Inzamam as captain, Malik mirrored inzi in alot of ways as captain. Timid, passive and indecisive. Not that Shinwari bowling trash was his fault, Sarfraz doesnot compromise on performance, he will be howling behind the stumps if Shinwari bowled like that (not that its a good thing)... Malik won't do that

 

[Rana]

Malik is good at man management, good speaker, good mentor for the youth.

What he isn't is a tactician.

Always of the mould of Inzamam as captain, Malik mirrored inzi in alot of ways as captain. Timid, passive and indecisive. Not that Shinwari bowling trash was his fault, Sarfraz doesnot compromise on performance, he will be howling behind the stumps if Shinwari bowled like that (not that its a good thing)... Malik won't do that

Hain??? This guy is the reason why Pakistan's troubles in the dressing room started in 2010 Australia. Hes a mates captain!

 

[waleed88]

Hain??? This guy is the reason why Pakistan's troubles in the dressing room started in 2010 Australia. Hes a mates captain!

He has a good personality, he talks well, speaks well.... I don't really rate him as a leader/captain on field thats all.

Youngsters in the squad seem to like him more...

 

[Hawkeye]

Can't bat.

Can't lead.

No tactics.

Karachi Kings went on a losing streak under him. They had to kick him out and replace with Bopara to give their side a chance.

And here, we're sticking with this failure.

Fooling Pak cricket since 1999.

 

[Pete Rose]

Can't bat.

Can't lead.

No tactics.

Karachi Kings went on a losing streak under him. They had to kick him out and replace with Bopara to give their side a chance.

And here, we're sticking with this failure.

Fooling Pak cricket since 1999.

Coaching or commentary beckons

 

[Asif321]

Malik is too soft to be captain
He is good mentor and good in talking
Our team can’t work with soft captains
We need captain who is always with dhanda

 

[waqar goraya]

The experienced Malik has been tactically poor in the T20s. He made sure Pakistan won't be chasing any manageable score.

Less said about his batting the better !