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Name one player from your country that you wished had played for the opposition instead

The Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle

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Every cricket team produce some gem of players who are able to turn the fortunes of their side. At the same time, some average and mediocre players also make it to one's national side. Such players not only let themselves down but also their teams.

So in your memory lane of cricket, what occurs first to your mind when you think of a player who was more of a liability than any utility. Also at the same time you wished that these players should have played for the opposition instead.
 
KL Rahul
Yuzvendra Chahal

Two names already mentioned above

So I am nominating Umran Malik, this guy hasn't bowled 1 match winning spell in the 18 international outings. Flopped in domestics, warms bench in the IPL, failed for India A but still gets hyped because he can bowl phasst
 
The Bald Eagle said:
Thought you guys would name Ashok Dinda
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Although he was bad, he did not cost us any important matches neither did he keep a spot for an extended period. So he did not have a detrimental effect on out cricket, unlike Rahul and Chahal.
 
KLRahul, prasidh Krishna, varun chakravorthy, umran malik (sunrisers need to get rid of this guy)
 
Mohammad Asghar and Usama Mir

Spinners are more valued in other countries compared to Pakistan, especially since the decision makers are mostly those that dont know how to identify spinners. Asghar was a very good left arm spinner but wasnt really developed. While Mir i thought has potential, and would do well in another set up.

In batting I would say Asif Ali

I was always curious how another country would had used Asif Ali, especially India. In Pakistan Asif was just a pitch hitter thats it, but had Asif developed into a batsman that could had rotated strike an than unleash at the end, he would had been a monster.

From fast bowling, Sadaf Hussain.

Before Abbas made his mark in international cricket and was able to impress English counties with his short stint with Pakistan, Sadaf Hussain was actually the guy making the numbers in domestic cricket. He got a call up for the West Indies an was in the Squad but only for Waqar Younis not play him in any game because Waqar was always a coach that preferred pace over everything. This is why someone like Musa Khan got a Test debut and Sadaf Hussain never did.

I think Sadaf Hussain was the biggest wasted talent, and because he had age on his side, he could had delivered similar numbers to Abbas and been our Asif. I think Sadaf was one career that got wasted only because he was from Pakistan

I was always curious who was the guy who discovered Asif and allowed him to play for Pakistan. Because this country is really cruel againt not pacy bowlers.
 
FearlessRoar said:
Khushdil Shah and :ifticool
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Iftikhar would never had a career in any other country as he is a late bloomer. At bes

The reason why he has a career in Pakistan because Ifti performed at a time in our domestic T20 set up when we were looking for atttack players in lower order. I think Sohaib Maqsood was the latest failiure after which they went for Ifti.

Ifti was a great batsman in domestic cricket. Its just that the coaches and babar had decided to use his as Asif Ali.

I remember i was in the stadium in Pindi when the Panthers beat the Wolves, where Ifti played some great pull shots and Misbah had no answer to him. Misbah was impressed and got him a SNGPL contract after a season.

But ifti's attitude and desperation is what I think failed him. His intent in the game was never an issue, but i think for Ifti it was the mental capability where belonging from poverty and thinking that the next game would be your last and you will have to go back to your miserable life is what effect Ifti.

So I agree that Ifti in some other country would had been more interesting. But that would had meant no age fudging and would had to perform really really good to make it to international cricket.

Ifti never had a problem against pace, so in SENA countries, who knows how good he could had been. No Pakistani batter has ever been as good in Australia as Ifti was, and that was only because Ifti could play a pull.
 
Major said:
Iftikhar would never had a career in any other country as he is a late bloomer. At bes

The reason why he has a career in Pakistan because Ifti performed at a time in our domestic T20 set up when we were looking for atttack players in lower order. I think Sohaib Maqsood was the latest failiure after which they went for Ifti.

Ifti was a great batsman in domestic cricket. Its just that the coaches and babar had decided to use his as Asif Ali.

I remember i was in the stadium in Pindi when the Panthers beat the Wolves, where Ifti played some great pull shots and Misbah had no answer to him. Misbah was impressed and got him a SNGPL contract after a season.

But ifti's attitude and desperation is what I think failed him. His intent in the game was never an issue, but i think for Ifti it was the mental capability where belonging from poverty and thinking that the next game would be your last and you will have to go back to your miserable life is what effect Ifti.

So I agree that Ifti in some other country would had been more interesting. But that would had meant no age fudging and would had to perform really really good to make it to international cricket.

Ifti never had a problem against pace, so in SENA countries, who knows how good he could had been. No Pakistani batter has ever been as good in Australia as Ifti was, and that was only because Ifti could play a pull.
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Ooo yaaar busss kr! Haaadh hoti hai…
 
Few Players who IMHO played one too many international games under an Indian jersey (would have happily seen them in our opposition lineups) - Sameer Dighe, Venu Gopal Rao, MSK Prasad, Prasidh Krishna, Devang Gandhi, Vikram Rathore (there could be more, these are the ones that comes top of mind).
 
No competition. Mental midget klrahul. The amount of chances he got despite being below average substandard & a mental midget is just mindboggling.
 
Sujit Somasundar, Noel David, Venugopal Rao, Atul Bedade.. the list can go long. :)
 
deltexas said:
No competition. Mental midget klrahul. The amount of chances he got despite being below average substandard & a mental midget is just mindboggling.
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kl rahul

And yes I agree
 
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Major said:
Iftikhar would never had a career in any other country as he is a late bloomer. At bes

The reason why he has a career in Pakistan because Ifti performed at a time in our domestic T20 set up when we were looking for atttack players in lower order. I think Sohaib Maqsood was the latest failiure after which they went for Ifti.

Ifti was a great batsman in domestic cricket. Its just that the coaches and babar had decided to use his as Asif Ali.

I remember i was in the stadium in Pindi when the Panthers beat the Wolves, where Ifti played some great pull shots and Misbah had no answer to him. Misbah was impressed and got him a SNGPL contract after a season.

But ifti's attitude and desperation is what I think failed him. His intent in the game was never an issue, but i think for Ifti it was the mental capability where belonging from poverty and thinking that the next game would be your last and you will have to go back to your miserable life is what effect Ifti.

So I agree that Ifti in some other country would had been more interesting. But that would had meant no age fudging and would had to perform really really good to make it to international cricket.

Ifti never had a problem against pace, so in SENA countries, who knows how good he could had been. No Pakistani batter has ever been as good in Australia as Ifti was, and that was only because Ifti could play a pull.
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No pakistani batter has ever been as good in Australia as ifti was? Did you start watching cricket only in 2022?
 
Mohraheem said:
Yup 🤣
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Any Tom dick and Harry is superior to chacha in Australia. It's just past pakistan of the 1990's had to face classic Australia in their own den while Chacha played a tournament with other sides.

Azhar Ali has a test double century on Australia something chacha can't ever do and azhar Ali isn't even close to top 10 best batters of pakistan.

The true king of playing in aussie conditons was Ijaz Ahmed. Ijaz loved Australia. I have watched that 1995 Sydney Test series. Not a single batter scored more then 40 because the bowling attack was Warne, Mcgrath, McDermott etc, Ijaz scored 137.

you need a strong closed off bottom heavy handed technique + a good backfoot and ideally some backlift play to be a good batter in aussie conditons.

All the current crop lacks these, something even Azhar Ali use to possess hence his test double century.

Having a good pull shot is not the main requirement. You need a good pull shot in cricket to survive on any pitch. That's a very elementary ability that every batter should possess along with the ability to drive the ball.

Just because Players like shan masood and shadab khan lack these abilities doesn't mean that actual good players don't.
 
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As of now.. Mohd Siraj. His line and length has never been consistent, but unfortunately we are stuck with him till Shami comes back. On the other hand very impressed by Akashdeep, guy has a good head on his shoulders.
 
Umar Akmal for Ind.

When he was in the top 10 ODI batsman ranking and one of the best batsmen in the world - what they would have done with him.

Stick with him at 6 or given a promotion?

I think Ind would have definitely developed him much better and especially a batsman who played with so much flair.
 
Barragan said:
Umar Akmal for Ind.

When he was in the top 10 ODI batsman ranking and one of the best batsmen in the world - what they would have done with him.

Stick with him at 6 or given a promotion?

I think Ind would have definitely developed him much better and especially a batsman who played with so much flair.
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You can't develop a player who was as dumb as Umar.
 
Barragan said:
Umar Akmal for Ind.

When he was in the top 10 ODI batsman ranking and one of the best batsmen in the world - what they would have done with him.

Stick with him at 6 or given a promotion?

I think Ind would have definitely developed him much better and especially a batsman who played with so much flair.
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Naa. The best example is of Suresh Raina.

When India decided to stop playing Raina, who was better than Umar, than there is no way Umar would had played more in India. Only in Pakistan could Umar make multiple comebacks
 
Rizwan for India. Please good God just get rid of this guy and have him be India's problem.

No one from Australia, Australia doesn't produce bad cricketers.
 
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Hellion said:
Marcus Stoinis the ODI cricketer
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Stoinis isn't that bad. Him being the worst odi thing Australia had ever produced speaks volumes lol.

I still would not give an aggressive allrounder to any team especially a minnow side especially considering he had 146 not out which was a brutal decimation.

Give him to any team and then have a current pakistani attack bowl to him and see what happens lol
 
Keeping it Pak centric- From the current Pak team- Naseem Shah. Imagine BCCI handling his potential. Sky will be the limit.

The 2nd closest is Rizwan but unfortunately we have a young keeper-batsmen factory so he will not fit in due to age.
 
Major said:
Naa. The best example is of Suresh Raina.

When India decided to stop playing Raina, who was better than Umar, than there is no way Umar would had played more in India. Only in Pakistan could Umar make multiple comebacks
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He was ranked higher than Raina and was the better batsman at the time.

So Raina comparison isn't correct.
 
Local.Dada said:
Keeping it Pak centric- From the current Pak team- Naseem Shah. Imagine BCCI handling his potential. Sky will be the limit.

The 2nd closest is Rizwan but unfortunately we have a young keeper-batsmen factory so he will not fit in due to age.
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Ihsanullah would be a better player to say.

The guy was bowling 145+ clicks consistently, tall and troubling batsman regularly.

Under the care of bcci, he would have been the Ambrose of this era.
 
Barragan said:
He was ranked higher than Raina and was the better batsman at the time.

So Raina comparison isn't correct.
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Might have been technically a better batsman, but Raina was a real clutch. I would anyday back Raina over Akmal to win you matches.
 
Barragan said:
Umar Akmal for Ind.

When he was in the top 10 ODI batsman ranking and one of the best batsmen in the world - what they would have done with him.

Stick with him at 6 or given a promotion?

I think Ind would have definitely developed him much better and especially a batsman who played with so much flair.
Click to expand...
Umar Akmal could have never fit in the Indian team with his lazy, egoistic attitude. No chance he would have been entertained under Dhoni or Kohli & would have been a pariah like Prithvi Shaw.
 
Barragan said:
He was ranked higher than Raina and was the better batsman at the time.

So Raina comparison isn't correct.
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Raina and him were same and was suppose to be the next Kohli.

Umar Akmal is mentally immature, the fact that he played this many games, i dont think he would had manage this many with any other team.
 
Local.Dada said:
Keeping it Pak centric- From the current Pak team- Naseem Shah. Imagine BCCI handling his potential. Sky will be the limit.

The 2nd closest is Rizwan but unfortunately we have a young keeper-batsmen factory so he will not fit in due to age.
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umm not really.

Naseem belongs from the KPK side of Pakistan. Over there, they eat alot of meat.

How would Naseem do any better in a country that forces ban on dietary needs based on faith?

At one side you want to enforece a beef ban, and than at the same time dream for a Naseem Shah lol
 
Major said:
umm not really.

Naseem belongs from the KPK side of Pakistan. Over there, they eat alot of meat.

How would Naseem do any better in a country that forces ban on dietary needs based on faith?

At one side you want to enforece a beef ban, and than at the same time dream for a Naseem Shah lol
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Well all the cows Pakistan team is eating isn’t really helping them. Is it? So maybe they will give him a better alternative. Most products are halal certified too if it makes you feel better.

Also hypothetical scenario.
 
Major said:
Raina and him were same and was suppose to be the next Kohli.

Umar Akmal is mentally immature, the fact that he played this many games, i dont think he would had manage this many with any other team.
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Honestly speaking, I would much rather an immature batsman than a mature batsman who couldn't score a single hundred like Misbah or who could never break the top 10 rankings as with Younis and Hafeez.
 
Barragan said:
Honestly speaking, I would much rather an immature batsman than a mature batsman who couldn't score a single hundred like Misbah or who could never break the top 10 rankings as with Younis and Hafeez.
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and the results are there for everyone to see.

Faking an injury for a brothers career. Fighting with Punjab police after every few months. Making claims that water makes me fat, and at the end, not bothering to report a spot fixing approach and getting banned for it.
 
Barragan said:
Ihsanullah would be a better player to say.

The guy was bowling 145+ clicks consistently, tall and troubling batsman regularly.

Under the care of bcci, he would have been the Ambrose of this era.
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I have never seen him bowl in red ball cricket or odi cricket. However you are right. He looked talented from some T20 games I saw. However Naseem Shah seems the only all format bower in Pak side. Naseem is good in all phases of the game and can bat and field.
 
The Bald Eagle said:
Every cricket team produce some gem of players who are able to turn the fortunes of their side. At the same time, some average and mediocre players also make it to one's national side. Such players not only let themselves down but also their teams.

So in your memory lane of cricket, what occurs first to your mind when you think of a player who was more of a liability than any utility. Also at the same time you wished that these players should have played for the opposition instead.
Click to expand...
I would like to say Shan Masood but no serious cricket playing country would let him play with an average of 28 and fail so many times with the bat. In fact no other test playing nation will have him in their squad.

So player has to be good enough to get selected and have a career. So my choice will be Asad Shafiq.

Asad Shafiq played 77 Test matches and didn't win a single test match for Pakistan. He scored runs when the team was in a strong position or the match was going for draw. He would also score runs when the match was already lost (will do enough to save his place in the side but won't win the match). When team would be under pressure Asad's body language would be that of a terrified batter, who would soon go back to pavilion. I would love to have a player like that in the opposition because I know he won't stop my side from winning.
 
Would've been interesting to see what Australian selectors would've done with a big talent like Azam Khan, especially since they're not prone to be influenced by ex-legends.
 
shortbread said:
Would've been interesting to see what Australian selectors would've done with a big talent like Azam Khan, especially since they're not prone to be influenced by ex-legends.
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they would have been used him as a bean bag lol
 
Stuart Binny for BD...then he wouldn't have reserved his place in cricketing folklore.
 
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Wahab Riaz did gave me that feeling in white ball Cricket most of the times. Where I wouldn't have cared if he played for the opposition and Pakistan played with only 10 men.

I suspect there will be a lot of bowlers among the list in this thread.
 
Shahnawaz Dahani for Australia... just Imagine him sharing the new ball with starc... disaster! lol
 
Wish Mukesh Kumar played for Pakistan. He's surplus to our requirements .

But he would be a definitive improvement over the likes of Shaheen, Naseem type weak bowlers.
 
From Ind - it would be KLRahul.. no competition whatsoever. An absolute mental midget.

I can guarantee you , even the US does not want him.:D
 
Major said:
umm not really.

Naseem belongs from the KPK side of Pakistan. Over there, they eat alot of meat.

How would Naseem do any better in a country that forces ban on dietary needs based on faith?

At one side you want to enforece a beef ban, and than at the same time dream for a Naseem Shah lol
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LOL, nobody is “dreaming” of a Naseem Shah, you should stop feeling important - this was an opportunity for you to trade off an overrated bowler who performs once in a dozen matches.
 
Misbah. Ideally for India.

It would've been taken a herculean task to destroy there batting culture but I would've loved to see it!

He gave us a glimpse of that in 2011 WC SF!
 
FearlessRoar said:
Why? he has given tough time to Virat Kohli multiple times
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He cost BD quite a lot of games. Nidahas Trophy final was lost because of him (gave away 20+ runs to DK). Another tri-series final was lost due to him (Murali took him to cleaners with the bat).

He did well in patches but was very expensive overall.
 
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