Missed opportunities: Players who didn't make the squad - Did Pakistan make a mistake?

Did Pakistan team make a big blunder in their squad selection?


  • Total voters
    8

mominsaigol

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Openers

1) Imam-ul-Haq: Although I’m not a fan of Imam, it's surprising that he didn't make the squad. He’s an intriguing case, having gone from being Pakistan's premier opener to not even being considered among the top 10 choices. With players like Abdullah, Hurraira, Babar, Rizwan, Saud, Shan, Fakhar, Saim, Usman Khan, and Haseebullah all more likely to be considered by Aqib, it's puzzling to see Imam left out.

2) Abdullah Shafique: This exclusion isn’t really surprising. His series of triple ducks against South Africa led to his drop, which was expected.

3) Hurraira: Similar to Abdullah, Hurraira was mainly just a test option and didn’t make much of an impact.

4) Shan Masood: It's strange that Shan, who is not only the Test captain but also an opener, wasn’t even considered as a second or third option for opening in ODIs, especially in the event of an injury.

Wicketkeepers

1) Haseebullah
: While I’m glad he was excluded, I’m surprised that Aqib Javed didn’t consider his List A average when making the decision.

Spinners

1) Sufiyan: This is perhaps the most surprising exclusion. It’s puzzling why the team didn’t opt for a second spinner in the UAE.

2) Sajid and Noman: While not a surprise, I wouldn’t mind seeing either of them included in the squad.

All-rounders

1) Shadab Khan: I’m including him here because he was featured in the Champions Trophy promotional material, yet somehow didn’t make the final cut.

2) Aamer Jamal: It’s unclear why Pakistan recalled Aamer Jamal from his league commitments only to exclude him from the squad.

Pacers

Abass
: There was significant hype surrounding Abass’s ODI debut, but unfortunately, it didn’t happen.

Conclusion
There were several surprising omissions from Pakistan’s squad, raising questions about the selection choices. Did Pakistan miss a trick by leaving out these players, or were these exclusions justified?
 
Openers

1) Imam-ul-Haq: Although I’m not a fan of Imam, it's surprising that he didn't make the squad. He’s an intriguing case, having gone from being Pakistan's premier opener to not even being considered among the top 10 choices. With players like Abdullah, Hurraira, Babar, Rizwan, Saud, Shan, Fakhar, Saim, Usman Khan, and Haseebullah all more likely to be considered by Aqib, it's puzzling to see Imam left out.

2) Abdullah Shafique: This exclusion isn’t really surprising. His series of triple ducks against South Africa led to his drop, which was expected.

3) Hurraira: Similar to Abdullah, Hurraira was mainly just a test option and didn’t make much of an impact.

4) Shan Masood: It's strange that Shan, who is not only the Test captain but also an opener, wasn’t even considered as a second or third option for opening in ODIs, especially in the event of an injury.

Wicketkeepers

1) Haseebullah
: While I’m glad he was excluded, I’m surprised that Aqib Javed didn’t consider his List A average when making the decision.

Spinners

1) Sufiyan: This is perhaps the most surprising exclusion. It’s puzzling why the team didn’t opt for a second spinner in the UAE.

2) Sajid and Noman: While not a surprise, I wouldn’t mind seeing either of them included in the squad.

All-rounders

1) Shadab Khan: I’m including him here because he was featured in the Champions Trophy promotional material, yet somehow didn’t make the final cut.

2) Aamer Jamal: It’s unclear why Pakistan recalled Aamer Jamal from his league commitments only to exclude him from the squad.

Pacers

Abass
: There was significant hype surrounding Abass’s ODI debut, but unfortunately, it didn’t happen.

Conclusion
There were several surprising omissions from Pakistan’s squad, raising questions about the selection choices. Did Pakistan miss a trick by leaving out these players, or were these exclusions justified?
I think bro seeing the balance of the team pak wouldn't be able to fit 2 spinners in lineup so their thinking was lets get 10 over of abrar others ten we can get from agha and khushdil if abrar has a good tournament pacers and khushdil agha will work really well.
 
You needed to pick one wild card and hope he sets the tournament alight with Saim out.

Pakistan missed the opportunity with Hassan Nawaz, Khwaja Nafay and Maaz Sadaqat to be that one player.
 
I think bro seeing the balance of the team pak wouldn't be able to fit 2 spinners in lineup so their thinking was lets get 10 over of abrar others ten we can get from agha and khushdil if abrar has a good tournament pacers and khushdil agha will work really well.
UAE is a spinning track, their pitches are well known and pakistan isn't Australia that can opt for one specialist spinner, besides Australia has maxwell and Travis both who can bowl 10 ans despite being avg spinners aus can utilise them properly.

You needed sufiyan and abrar in uae against India. But if you put sajid and noman their, they would have wrecked havoc on India.
 
You needed to pick one wild card and hope he sets the tournament alight with Saim out.

Pakistan missed the opportunity with Hassan Nawaz, Khwaja Nafay and Maaz Sadaqat to be that one player.
According to reports( these were reports, so I'm not 100% sure, don't wanna be a savak lol), an uncapped player in Maaz was going to make the squad but they decided against it last minute.

Honestly the selection process was a huge mess. Since the likes of shadab Khan and others were being considered.

Basically rizwan wasn't happy with what was selected and both aqib and rizwan just couldn't agree. Hence the final squad that we see now is a compromise aka some of aqib's selections and some of Rizzu's.
 
Tbh I voted Yes,

Not because I care why Pakistan picked Usman or Faheem….especially considering the main players are Rizwan and Babar lol. Who cares? They are all equally rubbish and guys like Usman and Faheem are more likely to be match winners in comparison to the ones who play for themselves


I voted yes because I was hoping for the PCB to show it is ready to be brave now and back a young, unknown commodity in the hope that he will take the world by storm. A bit like Amir impressing in the 2009 T20 World Cup, and Fakhar in the CT17. They had a valuable opportunity of launching a potential superstar but they have fluffed it again.
 
Tbh I voted Yes,

Not because I care why Pakistan picked Usman or Faheem….especially considering the main players are Rizwan and Babar lol. Who cares? They are all equally rubbish and guys like Usman and Faheem are more likely to be match winners in comparison to the ones who play for themselves


I voted yes because I was hoping for the PCB to show it is ready to be brave now and back a young, unknown commodity in the hope that he will take the world by storm. A bit like Amir impressing in the 2009 T20 World Cup, and Fakhar in the CT17. They had a valuable opportunity of launching a potential superstar but they have fluffed it again.
Australia did it with sam konstas in BGT.

Tbh now that Marsh is injured, it's between konstas, Fraser, Beau( highly unlikely tbh), and Warner since Warner has said all CA needs to do is ask.

I think CA should let go of its ego and bring in Warner for CT.

Anyway what you're suggesting was never going to happen. Nepotism will be ever present in any pakistan squad. Even ct 2017 had Ahmed shehzad, it's just the captain was smart enough to put his foot down and tell shehzad to get lost.

Furthermore pakistan takes safe options 24/7, not realising that anytime they've taken risk (Fakhar 2017 + Amir 2009) they've won.

Rizwan’s team wouldn't ever feature such and such.
 
Australia did it with sam konstas in BGT.

Tbh now that Marsh is injured, it's between konstas, Fraser, Beau( highly unlikely tbh), and Warner since Warner has said all CA needs to do is ask.

I think CA should let go of its ego and bring in Warner for CT.

Anyway what you're suggesting was never going to happen. Nepotism will be ever present in any pakistan squad. Even ct 2017 had Ahmed shehzad, it's just the captain was smart enough to put his foot down and tell shehzad to get lost.

Furthermore pakistan takes safe options 24/7, not realising that anytime they've taken risk (Fakhar 2017 + Amir 2009) they've won.

Rizwan’s team wouldn't ever feature such and such.
The moment a guy is forced in to Rizwan’s team, be sure of it his fans will lap up the credit if the guy comes off.

The Konstas decision paid off massively, his impact was perfect in the MCG Test with Bumrah too hot to handle for the Australians.
 
I pray for the day when a young gun from Pakistan is genuinely given the confidence to go out there and just smash a bowler like Bumrah with no fear!

Instead they want someone like Abdullah Technique to play a nice cover drive so it can become a highlight reel. Even though the guy is striking at 70 in the powerplay!
 
The moment a guy is forced in to Rizwan’s team, be sure of it his fans will lap up the credit if the guy comes off.

The Konstas decision paid off massively, his impact was perfect in the MCG Test with Bumrah too hot to handle for the Australians.
Tbf, Aus was already leading the series 2-1 lol. They won because Travis head went carnage mode in the 2nd and 3rd test, and Steve smith came back to form at the right time.

It's just konstas stunned India with that 60. He was the perfect counter for siraj and kohli's attitude and honestly the perfect counter to stun bumrah in terms of playstyle.
 
Imam could have been considered. Others not. Sajid and nauman dont know where to hide when they are being attacked.
Nafay failed to score runs after initial burst in psl and looked way undercooked but i havent followed him since then.

There really isnt a place for new batter in odi team
Only saim injury made one space and they bad saud shan and imam in contention and they went with saud and i am okay with that and even if they chose the other two it would ve been okay still

Pakistan doesnt and cant play 2 specialist spinners against india because rauf naseem and shaheen are locked almost for all important matches and if u add two more bowlers that makes ur tail way too long.
 
Well when team was doing well and winning odis then it was all aqibs kamal and now even before tournament guns are pointing at rizwan as if all good is due to aqib and all bad is due to rizwan. But i think we ll perform well in this tournament and the playing xi is justified because of how they all have played in recent times. You cant argue that this person didnt deserve to be in xi.
 
Well when team was doing well and winning odis then it was all aqibs kamal and now even before tournament guns are pointing at rizwan as if all good is due to aqib and all bad is due to rizwan. But i think we ll perform well in this tournament and the playing xi is justified because of how they all have played in recent times. You cant argue that this person didnt deserve to be in xi.
I agree. There seems to be a strange bias for Aqib for some people, when he's called a lot of poor shots. People went gaga over him introducing spin pitches vs England even though that was the most obvious thing to do for years, and then wore tinted glasses for everything else.
 
You needed to pick one wild card and hope he sets the tournament alight with Saim out.

Pakistan missed the opportunity with Hassan Nawaz, Khwaja Nafay and Maaz Sadaqat to be that one player.
I 100% agree, and I think they did intend to pick a wild card.. the wild card being Faheem 💀 I mean doesn't make sense otherwise.
 
I believe Haider Ali, as a lower-order batsman, should be on that list. Still very young and yet he has extensive experience in both international and domestic cricket, along with excellent hitting ability. We know he has the talent and skill set, but his shot selection has been his downfall. He seems to be following the same path as Sohaib Maqsood—another great talent wasted in favor of players like Imam, Malik, Shadab, and Nawaz, etc
 
Supposedly Imam got dropped for leaking dressing room stuff to the media.

If true, he's never coming back into the team under Rizwan.

One specialist opener + one specialist spinner should have been included. Maybe Shan + Sufiyan? To be fair, anyone who fit these roles should have been selected instead of backing themselves into a corner like they have now.
 
What’s that supposed to mean?

The players complained about constant leaks from the dressing room. It makes sense for the leadership group (including Rizwan) to want that player gone.
 
The players complained about constant leaks from the dressing room. It makes sense for the leadership group (including Rizwan) to want that player gone.
You made it sound as if Imam will be back once Rizwan is gone, as if Rizwan is someone who keeps things in check but others won’t?
 
You made it sound as if Imam will be back once Rizwan is gone, as if Rizwan is someone who keeps things in check but others won’t?

Oh no, I meant it more as in Rizwan is the captain of the ODI team, so he won't want stuff getting leaked as a leader.

I don't think Imam will be back anyway.

The only way is if a new chairman/chief selector is close to him.
 
I’m expecting the team to be
1. fakhar
2. Babar
3. Saud
4. Rizwan
5. Kamran
6. Agha
7. Tayab
8. Rauf
9. Naseem
10. Shaheen
11. Abrar

So none of the debatable selections will end up playing unless things go wrong and you have to make a change. Because it’s a tournament and we have an inexperienced spinner, I would have selected both Shadab. Shadab has experience and can play as a spin allrounder or spinner, if things go wrong, you can slot in him without worry. He’s just good cover for the squad. I’d quite like Sufiyan in too, but as I said before I’d rather play Shadab than resorting to Khushdil as an allrounder.

Imam has the same argument. I wouldn’t pick him, but having a previous international regular in the squad just in case doesn’t feel like a bad idea given it’s a tournament. We are likely to make Saud or Babar open who haven’t done it in internationals regularly and fakhar is just back from injury (or whatever the reason was to keep him out). But I do think the fakhar and imam partnership never worked. Individually they did bat well, but most of their partnerships came better from batting with others like Babar. I think it’s why our opening partnership in Odis has never felt strong despite high averages, they almost never did well as an opening partnerships (except against weaker teams like Zimbabwe).

I don’t know about fast bowling allrounder and I think if the situation demands we play a fast bowler we’re kind of screwed anyway. I’d probably just go with a fast bowler instead. Faheem does have international experience but when you’ve mostly failed at internationals it doesn’t really count unlike imam and Shadab.

But yes whether we do well or not is likely to be down to those players I’ve listed in the xi and unlikely the debatable squad players. I am far more worried about the current form of our batsmen that actually make the xi, makeshift openers, naseem’s bowling and Abrar’s bowling. And if these guys fail I don’t think there’s probably time for replacements to come in and rescue the situation in ct, nor do I really think they would be able to.

Last time in ct 2017 we had a player in fakhar in the squad who could come in and make an impact. Having said that he clearly should have started in the first place over Shehzad. But this time I don’t see players you could include, in great domestic form you could put in to do that. It’s more like damage control, you bring in guys like imam, Shadab etc. from the past.
 
I think Imam is the guy who missed out the most because Pakistan lost an opener due to injury but selectors chose Saud instead.

Then I would say Abbas, Jahandad and Wasim Jr were more credible than Faheem.

Our spin department is quite weal so Sufiyan of Sajid could have been there..
 
Pakistan has been missing quality spinners in all formats. They want to play extra batting , but that makes toothless bowling in middle overs. Unless you have quality specialist spinners , you will not do well in Asian conditions in any format.

Part timers should be treated as part time.
 
I think Imam is the guy who missed out the most because Pakistan lost an opener due to injury but selectors chose Saud instead.

Then I would say Abbas, Jahandad and Wasim Jr were more credible than Faheem.

Our spin department is quite weal so Sufiyan of Sajid could have been there..
Saud can open better then Imam tbf
 
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