Misbah-ul-Haq clinging on, but is there a 2019 Test Championship?

[Junaids]

This weekend the ICC is expected to announce that the two top ranked Test teams will play a World Championship Final at Lords in 2019.

We have known this for ages, and teams like Australia have thrown out every single player aged over 30 to ensure that they are as well positioned as possible for this.

Yet meanwhile Misbah-ul-Haq is clinging on to the Test captaincy by his fingernails. His batting has been exposed as that of a very fit middle-aged man who has lost his hand-eye coordination and reflexes, while his captaincy has to be seen to be believed. In the Third Test in Australia he actually opened the bowling with Yasir Shah.

In case you have forgotten, Yasir Shah had been overbowled to the tune of 40-2-167-1 in the First Innings, and Misbah's decision to open with him instead of Wahab Riaz reaped a return of 14-0-124-1 (while Wahab Riaz was used as first change and took 7-0-28-1).

Misbah's batting and especially his captaincy have already been completed exposed. He is clinging on by saying that a new skipper should not have been exposed in New Zealand and Australia, presumably for fear that he might average 11 with the bat and lose all 5 Tests, except hold on..........

But doesn't there need to be a new skipper and new Number 5 to try to propel the team to the 2019 Test Championship Final and indeed to play in it?

Doesn't that mean that Misbah is actually BLOCKING the development of the team?

Because either he intends to play in the 2019 Final - he'd be 45 years old - or he is being selfish and blocking the development of the team to play in it.

It has to be one or the other. There are no other options.

 

[MRSN]

PCB doesn't care. Just because he whitewashed young England,Aus teams in UAE who were very weak against spin, he has earned this right to play as long as he can and milk PCB until they realize it's getting too much.

 

[ExpressPacer]

Before I make any comments, I'd like everyone to know that I most definitely want Misbah to retire.

Now, I would disagree with the majority of whatever you have said. Misbah ul Haq failed in Australia, as a batsman and perhaps as a captain too but I don't buy the "he's been exposed" "His age is catching up" crap. Misbah Ul Haq was your best batsman in the odd test he played vs New Zealand. He averaged 50 in the series vs WI and was prolific in the series vs England.

His only bad outing recently has been in Australia and to be very honest with you, I don't know what Pakistani fans, or cricket fans in general were expecting. Pakistan losing in Australia has got more to do with ability. I would expect you to understand this better than anyone else, Junaids, considering you're a psychiatrist. Pakistan has always had a psychological problem with playing in Australia and winning the series was always out of question. - No matter who was captain, Pakistan was certainly not winning and the captains tactics would've been criticized.

I'm 100% sure of the fact that the result would have been no different whether Yasir Shah was bowled more, less or whatever you're suggesting. Or whoever would've played. This was an impossible task. The aim should have been for Pakistan to have at least drawn a couple of tests; for which they got the chance in the first and last test but failed miserable owing to abysmal performances from players OTHER than Misbah.

As for Misbah's batting, I would disagree. He's always been a weak batsmen in Australian and South African conditions. So, I don't understand what we were expecting? Did you honestly expect him to hit a couple of double hundreds? Yes, of course, he had a bad tour but who doesn't? Especially in the toughest of conditions against the toughest of bowlers? You can send anyone in to bat the fact is, they would've suffered more. Our batsmen are used playing on dead pitches of UAE with no crowds, they simply cannot take the pressure of a 70,000 people audience.

This guy has given you performances for the past half decade and to be frank, everyone has a couple of bad series. I most certainly want him to retire but he is, in my opinion, from nowhere finished. He can still go on, again I'll say, I don't want him to, but if he were to, I wouldn't expect performances similar to those in Aus.

Also, who do we have to replace him with? KAkmal? Or is it Fawad Alam. Please tell me its not your favorite Salman Butt the "youngster".

Yes, he most certainly cannot go on until 2019 but PSL will decide his fate. Or more so, he will himself. My point is, he's receiving a lot of undue criticism and this is unjust. We as cricket fans need to cut him some slack because he most definitely does not deserve this. Everyone has bad patches of form and tours. This was only a tour.

 

[Shafi]

Since there is no liabilities about performances, backing by board and no self respect nobody wants to retire until turn 50.
We do not have replacement for S Anwar, Miandad, Yousuf, S Akhter, Wasim, Waqar, Razzak and Saqlain. So based on Misbah's comment should we brought them back.
PCB hits its own foot by giving to much power and authorities to these players whether they want to resign or continue. Also Misbah backs Azhar and he backs Rahat, Shafiq, Hafeez. So its unlikely we see any significant change in next 5 years.
If Misbah gets job in PCB then there will not be any hope for promising young players and we will become as bad as Kenya.
R.I.P Pakistan cricket.

 

[Shafi]

Before I make any comments, I'd like everyone to know that I most definitely want Misbah to retire.

Now, I would disagree with the majority of whatever you have said. Misbah ul Haq failed in Australia, as a batsman and perhaps as a captain too but I don't buy the "he's been exposed" "His age is catching up" crap. Misbah Ul Haq was your best batsman in the odd test he played vs New Zealand. He averaged 50 in the series vs WI and was prolific in the series vs England.

His only bad outing recently has been in Australia and to be very honest with you, I don't know what Pakistani fans, or cricket fans in general were expecting. Pakistan losing in Australia has got more to do with ability. I would expect you to understand this better than anyone else, Junaids, considering you're a psychiatrist. Pakistan has always had a psychological problem with playing in Australia and winning the series was always out of question. - No matter who was captain, Pakistan was certainly not winning and the captains tactics would've been criticized.

I'm 100% sure of the fact that the result would have been no different whether Yasir Shah was bowled more, less or whatever you're suggesting. Or whoever would've played. This was an impossible task. The aim should have been for Pakistan to have at least drawn a couple of tests; for which they got the chance in the first and last test but failed miserable owing to abysmal performances from players OTHER than Misbah.

As for Misbah's batting, I would disagree. He's always been a weak batsmen in Australian and South African conditions. So, I don't understand what we were expecting? Did you honestly expect him to hit a couple of double hundreds? Yes, of course, he had a bad tour but who doesn't? Especially in the toughest of conditions against the toughest of bowlers? You can send anyone in to bat the fact is, they would've suffered more. Our batsmen are used playing on dead pitches of UAE with no crowds, they simply cannot take the pressure of a 70,000 people audience.

This guy has given you performances for the past half decade and to be frank, everyone has a couple of bad series. I most certainly want him to retire but he is, in my opinion, from nowhere finished. He can still go on, again I'll say, I don't want him to, but if he were to, I wouldn't expect performances similar to those in Aus.

Also, who do we have to replace him with? KAkmal? Or is it Fawad Alam. Please tell me its not your favorite Salman Butt the "youngster".

Yes, he most certainly cannot go on until 2019 but PSL will decide his fate. Or more so, he will himself. My point is, he's receiving a lot of undue criticism and this is unjust. We as cricket fans need to cut him some slack because he most definitely does not deserve this. Everyone has bad patches of form and tours. This was only a tour.

Just because he thinks there is no replacement of him does not mean we will never have or we currently have. Why can't we groom any young promising batsman age 18-20 like other countries? All our great players come from same system.
Honestly I don't see Misbah retiring anytime soon may be after 2018. But my point is why he decided to retire after Melbourne test, then played in Sydney and now wants to prolong his career?

 

[MenInG]

PCB doesn't care. Just because he whitewashed young England,Aus teams in UAE who were very weak against spin, he has earned this right to play as long as he can and milk PCB until they realize it's getting too much.

The "young England" team were rated one of the top teams when we "just" whitewashed them. I understand you like to skip over parts of history to make your points but not a good idea.

 

[goran]

Since there is no liabilities about performances, backing by board and no self respect nobody wants to retire until turn 50.
We do not have replacement for S Anwar, Miandad, Yousuf, S Akhter, Wasim, Waqar, Razzak and Saqlain. So based on Misbah's comment should we brought them back.
PCB hits its own foot by giving to much power and authorities to these players whether they want to resign or continue. Also Misbah backs Azhar and he backs Rahat, Shafiq, Hafeez. So its unlikely we see any significant change in next 5 years.
If Misbah gets job in PCB then there will not be any hope for promising young players and we will become as bad as Kenya.
R.I.P Pakistan cricket.

If I am not wrong, Misbah & YK are already in a special advisory committee formed by the PCB. So even if he retires, his mates like Azhar & Hafeez will continue to haunt us for many more years to come.

 

[MRSN]

The "young England" team were rated one of the top teams when we "just" whitewashed them. I understand you like to skip over parts of history to make your points but not a good idea.

did he bowl himself to whitewash England and Australia? Pakistan would have white washeed those sides without having any captain. There is no rocket science in beating English and Australian sides on rank turners.All you need is good ftbs and good spinners who can turn the ball. Look at the Sri Lankan side struggling to win a single game in SA at the moment but Mathews did lead his side to white wash Aussies 3-0 at home not too long ago and they looked like champions. Too bad Mathews had to travel SA straight after that series Unlike Misbah who played 3 years nonstop UAE cricket. Similarly Kohli achieving same results against English side at home.

 

[ExpressPacer]

Just because he thinks there is no replacement of him does not mean we will never have or we currently have. Why can't we groom any young promising batsman age 18-20 like other countries? All our great players come from same system.
Honestly I don't see Misbah retiring anytime soon may be after 2018. But my point is why he decided to retire after Melbourne test, then played in Sydney and now wants to prolong his career?

Because retiring, resigning or stopping to do something you've been doing for countless years on and on isn't only hard, its ground shaking. This is the person you are, this is what you've always dreamed of and now you're about to let it go. Its never easy. But that shouldn't be an excuse for players to carry on and not retire. But for Misbah, I totally understand where he is coming from. He is only being criticized because one ONE bad tour. I repeat ONE tour. And the majority of that criticism is because he's 42. Had he been 26, nobody would've raised a finger even if 3 tours had not gone too well. This is unfair.

 

[MenInG]

did he bowl himself to whitewash England and Australia? Pakistan would have white washeed those sides without having any captain. There is no rocket science in beating English and Australian sides on rank turners.All you need is good ftbs and good spinners who can turn the ball. Look at the Sri Lankan side struggling to win a single game in SA at the moment but Mathews did lead his side to white wash Aussies 3-0 at home not too long ago and they looked like champions. Too bad Mathews had to travel SA straight after that series Unlike Misbah who played 3 years nonstop UAE cricket. Similarly Kohli achieving same results against English side at home.

Sorry now we are changing goal posts are we?

He was Pakistan captain in charge of the team, including team selection, field settings etc when we won.

This is tough to take I understand but it is true.

Dont worry about where we played; fact is we won and we beat England at a time, when no one was giving us a chance in hell.

The same applied when we went to England last summer

As for Australia, we hadnt won before so this wasnt a huge shock. The NZ series, I do agree was bad.

 

[street cricketer]

When is the cut off date for the test championship?

Hopefully India is one of the teams. I know it's difficult at this stage but it would be great if Pakistan were the other team and a final were to happen at Lords.

Bah Gawd it would be epic.2

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Misbah's time is up.Should be asked to leave but I doubt anyone in the PCB will do that.

 

[R0H1T]

When is the cut off date for the test championship?

Hopefully India is one of the teams. I know it's difficult at this stage but it would be great if Pakistan were the other team and a final were to happen at Lords.

Bah Gawd it would be epic.2

Why Lord's though, Kolkata (even Bangalore or Chennai) would be much more thrilling? What if England qualify, do they get to doctor the surface like Lord's in 2014 ?

 

[street cricketer]

Why Lord's though, Kolkata (even Bangalore or Chennai) would be much more thrilling? What if England qualify, do they get to doctor the surface like Lord's in 2014 ?

It was already decided that the final was going to happen in England at Lords as far as I know.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

If MISBAH not retiring he is definitely blocking the way for haris sohail or usman salahuddin for the no.5 or no.6 slot...When he retire and we bring these guys in straight to an English summer or SA or NZL or AUS as they wasted an in-form young UMAR AMIN in the english summer with no seniors to rub shoulders with which nearly halted his career...

PCB is a mess and it will continue to keep u interested all the time..

 

[Shafi]

Because retiring, resigning or stopping to do something you've been doing for countless years on and on isn't only hard, its ground shaking. This is the person you are, this is what you've always dreamed of and now you're about to let it go. Its never easy. But that shouldn't be an excuse for players to carry on and not retire. But for Misbah, I totally understand where he is coming from. He is only being criticized because one ONE bad tour. I repeat ONE tour. And the majority of that criticism is because he's 42. Had he been 26, nobody would've raised a finger even if 3 tours had not gone too well. This is unfair.

Performance is the key. If he can't perform he should leave.Why cling on and let team suffer. But I am sure he will be captain for another few years. Should never put a diplomat in top post. Not good enough to make decision

 

[ExpressPacer]

Performance is the key. If he can't perform he should leave.Why cling on and let team suffer. But I am sure he will be captain for another few years. Should never put a diplomat in top post. Not good enough to make decision

I'm not against him carrying on given he can keep on performing. 3 tests of no performance in arduous conditions against the world's best bowling attack is not enough sample size to say that a player is not performing, in my opinion. Or at least to discard him. He averaged 50 in the test series vs WI. Was your best bat in the odd test vs NZ. His only bad outing was in Aus - something every sportsman has.

However, I do agree. I would not like him anywhere near the board in the future because I have noticed him preferring older players with no future instead of youngsters.

 

[ExpressPacer]

Why Lord's though, Kolkata (even Bangalore or Chennai) would be much more thrilling? What if England qualify, do they get to doctor the surface like Lord's in 2014 ?

Why not Gaddafi then?

 

[Shafi]

I'm not against him carrying on given he can keep on performing. 3 tests of no performance in arduous conditions against the world's best bowling attack is not enough sample size to say that a player is not performing, in my opinion. Or at least to discard him. He averaged 50 in the test series vs WI. Was your best bat in the odd test vs NZ. His only bad outing was in Aus - something every sportsman has.

However, I do agree. I would not like him anywhere near the board in the future because I have noticed him preferring older players with no future instead of youngsters.

Can't believe he is supporting Azhar as well.Does he really want the best for our team? I wonder

 

[ExpressPacer]

Can't believe he is supporting Azhar as well.Does he really want the best for our team? I wonder

Yeah, I'm a little struck about that too. But what would you expect? Do you think he, as a fellow player and captain of the Test team would actually say something against his best batsman? I really doubt it. It would create a lot of dressing room problems and rivalries which is why he is staying neutral.

All he said was that changing the captain isn't going to change things. The problem lies deep within the board and the system. And he's not wrong. The captain should be changed but we shouldn't expect to see Pakistan suddenly winning out of nowhere. The problem is much greater than mere captaincy.

 

[MRSN]

Because retiring, resigning or stopping to do something you've been doing for countless years on and on isn't only hard, its ground shaking. This is the person you are, this is what you've always dreamed of and now you're about to let it go. Its never easy. But that shouldn't be an excuse for players to carry on and not retire. But for Misbah, I totally understand where he is coming from. He is only being criticized because one ONE bad tour. I repeat ONE tour. And the majority of that criticism is because he's 42. Had he been 26, nobody would've raised a finger even if 3 tours had not gone too well. This is unfair.

Your fundamental point surrounds around the age. Can you name athletes from other supports who are 42 and still playing?

 

[MRSN]

Yeah, I'm a little struck about that too. But what would you expect? Do you think he, as a fellow player and captain of the Test team would actually say something against his best batsman? I really doubt it. It would create a lot of dressing room problems and rivalries which is why he is staying neutral.

All he said was that changing the captain isn't going to change things. The problem lies deep within the board and the system. And he's not wrong. The captain should be changed but we shouldn't expect to see Pakistan suddenly winning out of nowhere. The problem is much greater than mere captaincy.

whoa you have great definition of being a neutral. I'm sure you are aware of him recommending Azhar when the whole world was thinking about Sarfraz to be the next captain.

 

[R0H1T]

Why not Gaddafi then?

Sure so long as it's a neutral venue outside of England

 

[ExpressPacer]

Your fundamental point surrounds around the age. Can you name athletes from other supports who are 42 and still playing?

Firstly, even if I am not able to name any, that does not make a difference as Misbah has worked hard on his fitness and that has nothing to do with any other people the same age not having worked on their body. He is fitter than most people in sport half his age.

Second, there are many athletes from other sports who are 40+ and still playing. Most notably in Golf, but I'm going to ignore golf here. There's many players who aren't as famous but I'll mention the few famous ones.

1) Andre Miller. Basketball player. An important member of his NBA team.
2) Adam Vinatieri. 44. American football player. Was recently in the news for his heroics.
3) Mark Schwarzer. 45. Football/Soccer player for the Australian national team. Just retired last year.

There's so many more people who I probably don't even know of because I don't follow other sports as religiously. But these are players who are still finding a lot of success despite their age.

Age, in my opinion, is just a figment of our thoughts. All in the mind. Look at Federer. The average tennis player retires from playing singles at 30 and goes onto playing doubles at until 36. Federer just won his 18th grand slam a week ago at the age of 36. Not only is he playing and finding a lot of success but also winning titles against very strong players like Nadal.

Take another example in crickets very own Brad Hogg. He's what, 47 odd years young and still a very important player for his BBL team. He's STILL even in contention for the Aussie squad.

Then there's Mohammad Ali who last won against a very strong Trevor Berbick, IIRC at 40.

Thirdly, I'd like to state, my fundamental point may surround around the age but that is not my main focus. What I've been trying to say this entire time is that just because he had one bad tour, it is unfair to sideline him because of his age. There shouldn't be any hypocrisy. If PCB does this, then they should also drop each and every youngster after hundreds of good tours follow by a bad one.

 

[Junaids]

Before I make any comments, I'd like everyone to know that I most definitely want Misbah to retire.

Now, I would disagree with the majority of whatever you have said. Misbah ul Haq failed in Australia, as a batsman and perhaps as a captain too but I don't buy the "he's been exposed" "His age is catching up" crap. Misbah Ul Haq was your best batsman in the odd test he played vs New Zealand. He averaged 50 in the series vs WI and was prolific in the series vs England.

His only bad outing recently has been in Australia and to be very honest with you, I don't know what Pakistani fans, or cricket fans in general were expecting. Pakistan losing in Australia has got more to do with ability. I would expect you to understand this better than anyone else, Junaids, considering you're a psychiatrist. Pakistan has always had a psychological problem with playing in Australia and winning the series was always out of question. - No matter who was captain, Pakistan was certainly not winning and the captains tactics would've been criticized.

I'm 100% sure of the fact that the result would have been no different whether Yasir Shah was bowled more, less or whatever you're suggesting. Or whoever would've played. This was an impossible task. The aim should have been for Pakistan to have at least drawn a couple of tests; for which they got the chance in the first and last test but failed miserable owing to abysmal performances from players OTHER than Misbah.

As for Misbah's batting, I would disagree. He's always been a weak batsmen in Australian and South African conditions. So, I don't understand what we were expecting? Did you honestly expect him to hit a couple of double hundreds? Yes, of course, he had a bad tour but who doesn't? Especially in the toughest of conditions against the toughest of bowlers? You can send anyone in to bat the fact is, they would've suffered more. Our batsmen are used playing on dead pitches of UAE with no crowds, they simply cannot take the pressure of a 70,000 people audience.

This guy has given you performances for the past half decade and to be frank, everyone has a couple of bad series. I most certainly want him to retire but he is, in my opinion, from nowhere finished. He can still go on, again I'll say, I don't want him to, but if he were to, I wouldn't expect performances similar to those in Aus.

Also, who do we have to replace him with? KAkmal? Or is it Fawad Alam. Please tell me its not your favorite Salman Butt the "youngster".

Yes, he most certainly cannot go on until 2019 but PSL will decide his fate. Or more so, he will himself. My point is, he's receiving a lot of undue criticism and this is unjust. We as cricket fans need to cut him some slack because he most definitely does not deserve this. Everyone has bad patches of form and tours. This was only a tour.

No Salman Butt.

No Kamran Akmal.

No Fawad Alam.

You don't replace old players with old players.

Nobody over 27 should even be considered to join the team.

 

[Mamoon]

We are not playing that final regardless of whether Misbah stays or goes, but he really should go now.

 

[ExpressPacer]

whoa you have great definition of being a neutral. I'm sure you are aware of him recommending Azhar when the whole world was thinking about Sarfraz to be the next captain.

PCB asked for a recommendation. He has the right to suggest who ever so he wishes. He could suggest Awais Zia for all I care. It's not like his opinion was written in stone and the final judgement.

Also, just because the world was shouting about Sarfraz, or anyone else for that matter does not mean that they would have been the perfect choice. This is not democracy.

 

[Drreddymd]

I thought misbah is an honorable man and will resign but seeing his statements it looks like he want to silence his haters by playing and winning in west indies which will serve no purpose for pak future

 

[ExpressPacer]

No Salman Butt.

No Kamran Akmal.

No Fawad Alam.

You don't replace old players with old players.

Nobody over 27 should even be considered to join the team.

I don't understand how anyone over 27 joining the team is going to benefit them if that player is talented but oh well, are you going to name that Under-27 player who you want to replace Misbah with? I'm all for Misbah being replaced but who do you replace him with?

 

[Junaids]

I don't understand how anyone over 27 joining the team is going to benefit them if that player is talented but oh well, are you going to name that Under-27 player who you want to replace Misbah with? I'm all for Misbah being replaced but who do you replace him with?

I want the sixth Batsman to be the fifth bowler. Not a bona fide all-rounder like
Mitchell Marsh, just a batsman who can bowl ten overs of medium pace per day like Hilton Cartwright or Corey Anderson or Jimmy Neesham.

My five specialist Test batsmen are Azhar, Sami, Shafiq, Babar and Younis for now, so I haven't got a vacancy for an additional batsman, whether Misbah or anyone else.

I'm elevating Sarfraz to bat at 6, and my sixth Batsman (and part-time fifth bowler) is Hammad Azam at Number 7. In Asia it might be Mohammad Nawaz instead.

My skipper needs to be much younger, and I'm going with Mohammad Amir as skipper with Babar Azam as vice-captain.

 

[Shafi]

I want the sixth Batsman to be the fifth bowler. Not a bona fide all-rounder like
Mitchell Marsh, just a batsman who can bowl ten overs of medium pace per day like Hilton Cartwright or Corey Anderson or Jimmy Neesham.

My five specialist Test batsmen are Azhar, Sami, Shafiq, Babar and Younis for now, so I haven't got a vacancy for an additional batsman, whether Misbah or anyone else.

I'm elevating Sarfraz to bat at 6, and my sixth Batsman (and part-time fifth bowler) is Hammad Azam at Number 7. In Asia it might be Mohammad Nawaz instead.

My skipper needs to be much younger, and I'm going with Mohammad Amir as skipper with Babar Azam as vice-captain.

Do you really thing both or either Misbah or Azhar will resign or get sack? I highly doubt it.

 

[Junaids]

Do you really thing both or either Misbah or Azhar will resign or get sack? I highly doubt it.

Misbah isn't good enough to be selected as a player, so he should be dropped. Plus he proved in Australia that he is a completely incompetent skipper.

Azhar has the leadership qualities of a blancmange, so he should be selected in Tests only, and not given the captaincy. He's too old for the captaincy anyway.

 

[Syed1]

Do you really thing both or either Misbah or Azhar will resign or get sack? I highly doubt it.

Very few Pakistani captains have resigned gracefully. Most had to be forcefully removed. Seems like Misbah and Azhar will be a continuation of that tradition.

 

[Asim2Good]

Same useless stuff with new title.
1: pushed for selection of Asif n Salman for months
2: pushed for unknown domestic players like they are world beaters.
3: pushed for Asad n Azhar to be sent with A teams even though they have played 40+ tests.
4: was not able to find anything negative about Pak team after Eng tour, so waited for Aus tour.
5: pushed for pak home series to be played in NZ for no aparent reasons
6: now a days pushing for under 25 captain, 30 bowlers n 33 yr old players to be kicked out of teams.
7: after all these months, this guy's captain is Amir & bowling allrounder is Hammad Azam

 

[Syed1]

I thought misbah is an honorable man and will resign but seeing his statements it looks like he want to silence his haters by playing and winning in west indies which will serve no purpose for pak future

West Indies are not a walk in the park, specially in their own home. Heck they even beat Misbah XI in fortress UAE.

If Misbah is going to WI we will essentially be a batsman short since he is finished as a batsman and we all saw how his captaincy was down under.

 

[Shafi]

Very few Pakistani captains have resigned gracefully. Most had to be forcefully removed. Seems like Misbah and Azhar will be a continuation of that tradition.

But do you think SK has guts to do that? Sethi could do that for sure

 

[JibranAnsari]

He feels like he can play and he will try to find his place in the team , its not his fault that PCB is dysfunctional to the core with no vision of future whatsoever. We can not blame the players and especially misbah , if he is sacked he won't come on media crying like Younis khan or blame others for his failures like chota akmal. Let's face it , Pakistan has no chance of being the top 4 teams with or without misbah so let's drop the idea that we could play the test championship matches.

 

[Square Drive]

But TBH Misbah's average is more important and will ultimately benefit Pakistan more than winning a 2019 Test Championship.

 

[Junaids]

Same useless stuff with new title.
1: pushed for selection of Asif n Salman for months
2: pushed for unknown domestic players like they are world beaters.
3: pushed for Asad n Azhar to be sent with A teams even though they have played 40+ tests.
4: was not able to find anything negative about Pak team after Eng tour, so waited for Aus tour.
5: pushed for pak home series to be played in NZ for no aparent reasons
6: now a days pushing for under 25 captain, 30 bowlers n 33 yr old players to be kicked out of teams.
7: after all these months, this guy's captain is Amir & bowling allrounder is Hammad Azam

We really do live in a post-truth world, don't we.

I only wanted Asif and Butt for the three overseas tours, as they are too old to invest in from now on. And I was proved 100% correct: by the Third Test in Australia Sami Aslam had lost his place and Yasir Shah was opening the bowling. There is no longer even an argument that I was not right. I'm just too polite to humiliate those who disagreed except when they write the sort of post you just did.

As for wanting Azhar and Shafiq to acclimatise in A matches, why not? Did you see who played instead?

In terms of the England tour, I had plenty of complaints at the time. Wasting the toss. The wrong players. Misusing Yasir Shah on green pitches where he shouldn't even have been picked. Picking elderly batsmen who failed in 6/7 and 5/7 innings.

And what is wrong with using series against weak opposition as an opportunity to gain experience and improve results in non-Asian conditions? Or picking players at their peak rather than decades afterwards?

 

[Junaids]

Same useless stuff with new title.
1: pushed for selection of Asif n Salman for months
2: pushed for unknown domestic players like they are world beaters.
3: pushed for Asad n Azhar to be sent with A teams even though they have played 40+ tests.
4: was not able to find anything negative about Pak team after Eng tour, so waited for Aus tour.
5: pushed for pak home series to be played in NZ for no aparent reasons
6: now a days pushing for under 25 captain, 30 bowlers n 33 yr old players to be kicked out of teams.
7: after all these months, this guy's captain is Amir & bowling allrounder is Hammad Azam

Oh, and maybe you should familiarise yourself with the difference between a bowling all-rounder and a batting all-rounder, as you didn't bother to read my explanation and don't seem to understand the difference.

Shaun Pollock was a bowling all-rounder: a full-time bowler who can average a decent amount with the bat.

Corey Anderson and Jimmy Neesham and Hilton Cartwright are batting all-rounders: guys who bat along with the keeper in the Top Seven, score 60-70 runs per Test and bowl ten overs as a part-time bowler in every innings.

I specifically wrote that I have no place for Misbah (or anybody else) as a sixth specialist batsman because that place needs to be reserved for a BATTING all-rounder.

Yet you twisted that into a fictitious claim that Hammad Azam is my bowling all-rounder. Although how that robs Misbah of his position, I dread to think.

 

[Convict]

Why Lord's though, Kolkata (even Bangalore or Chennai) would be much more thrilling? What if England qualify, do they get to doctor the surface like Lord's in 2014 ?

Lord's is the only place where they believe a neutral crowd will turn up to a test match.

 

[Junaids]

Lord's is the only place where they believe a neutral crowd will turn up to a test match.

Exactly.

They would sell around 10,000 hospitality packages per day at upwards of $1000 per day, even for a Australia v India Final, which is probably the most likely one.

In other words, before any of the other 20,000 normal seats sell - and they will - there is ground revenue of $10 million per day for each of the first three days.

Nowhere else on earth can match that revenue. The SCG and MCG would struggle to sell $1 million a day in hospitality, and in the event of a South Africa v India Final would struggle catastrophically.