Name your starting ODI XI for Pakistan in the 2023 World Cup

[mominsaigol]

Saud Shakeel is a must in this fragile batting line up.
Those who are saying Babar and Imam play too slow and we need batters who can get us to 300, Pak was cruising when Imam and Babar were in the middle chasing 300. Problem started after Babar got out because rest don’t know how to take advantage of favorable fielding conditions.
Solidity is gonna be key in the WC games

Finally, people are starting to see I'm right.

 

[Rana]

Here’s my top 4:

1. Fakhar
2. Imam
3. Babar
4. NOT RIZWAN

 

[TeamPak95]

Here’s my top 4:

1. Fakhar
2. Imam
3. Babar
4. NOT RIZWAN

Lol I mean, is he at 5 at least?

 

[Rana]

Lol I mean, is he at 5 at least?

Not before 6

3/4/5

Proper batsmen. Guys who average 40+ in FC red ball cricket.

 

[Ahmed216]

Fakhar
Imam
Babar
Saud
Rizwan
Agha/Iftikhar
Shadab
Usama/Nawaz
Shah
Shah
Haris

 

[TeamPak95]

Not before 6

3/4/5

Proper batsmen. Guys who average 40+ in FC red ball cricket.

He averages 43.27 in FC

 

[Rana]

He averages 43.27 in FC

I fail to understand how.

 

[TeamPak95]

I fail to understand how.

What do you mean? Like how is he capable of averaging 43.27?

 

[Firebat]

Fakhar
Imam
Babar
Shafique
Iftikhar / M Haris
Rizwan
Shadab
Usama / Nawaz
Shaheen
Naseem
Rauf

I trust Usama to deliver 10 overs better than Nawaz, so if you play Usama then I'd prefer to bring in M Haris as a pinch hitter over Iftikhar (as we'd have no need for his bowling).

 

[Rana]

What do you mean? Like how is he capable of averaging 43.27?

Yeah it’s astonishing

I can’t believe it

 

[Sports_Psychologist]

01 - Fakhar Zaman
02 - Imam Ul Haq
03 - Babar Azam
04 - Abdullah Shafique
05 - M. Rizwan
06 - Salman Ali Agha
07 - Shadab Khan
08 - M. Nawaz
09 - Shaheen Shah Afiridi
10 - Naseem Shah
11 - Haris Rauf

 

[mominsaigol]

He averages 43.27 in FC

Fc, domestic I don't care much about. Even shan masood averages over 55 In domestic.

It's about performing on the big stage. Rizwan sadly doesn't seem to be good at any position besides t20 opening. Opening him in odi will be a disaster.

 

[mominsaigol]

I'm amazed truly. Pakistan has 2 middle order batsmen in tayyab and saud, and 1 middle order batsmen who can also function as a makeshift Opener in Abdullah shafique, and has the option of bringing on genuine Lower order hitters In the form of imad waseem and Muhammad Haris,

But instead we have them play as water boys, and have bits an pieces cricketers play in the fragile middle order.

Like what's the point of playing rizwan at no 4, when he clearly showed he was brilliant at no 5 and no 5 suited him more?

What's the point of playing agha if he's not being used to bowl? Agha as a batsmen is a walking wicket to afghan spin.

And why do we still play chacha who's 45 and put of his prime.

We need saud at no 4, and tayyab needs to replace chacha. I would advocate on agha being replaced by abdullah if agha is not bowling, abdullah is a better bat. Either have agha bowl and function as an all-rounder, or remove him.

And for God sakes get rid of Faheem and actually bring in someone like zaman Khan for death bowling, or abrar for mystery spin, if you want an all-rounder to replace an all-rounder then bring in imad waseem. We don't need this Pseudo all-rounder in our squad.

 

[mominsaigol]

Here’s my top 4:

1. Fakhar
2. Imam
3. Babar
4. NOT RIZWAN

Pakistan already has 3 solid middle order batsmen averaging over 40, but their all playing as water boys.

Rizwan in odi always seems to get run out, because he's a fan of striking directly to the fielder and then taking a suicidal run.

 

[daytrader]

Pakistan already has 3 solid middle order batsmen averaging over 40, but their all playing as water boys.

Rizwan in odi always seems to get run out, because he's a fan of striking directly to the fielder and then taking a suicidal run.

He gets run out because he's faster than the others and can take those quick runs. Others are not as confident and tend to hesitate. Today he was on the non strikers end and Imam hesitated.
The reason why his and Babar's partnerships are successful is because both read each other well and keep rotating the strike. That's exactly what we need in the middleorder, not unknowns.

 

[mominsaigol]

He gets run out because he's faster than the others and can take those quick runs. Others are not as confident and tend to hesitate. Today he was on the non strikers end and Imam hesitated.
The reason why his and Babar's partnerships are successful is because both read each other well and keep rotating the strike. That's exactly what we need in the middleorder, not unknowns.

Their was never a run their, even if their was no hesitation, and rizwan made the call, even though it was not his call to make. Rizwan was miles away.

Have rizwan play just like any other sensible batsmen, find actual gaps and if he's faster then others then those singles in gaps will turn into doubles.

No batsmen in the world should take a single when they've played it directly to a fielder, that'd Common sense.

What we need at no 4 is a good player of spin who can rotate the strike, and saud and Abdullah aren't Unknown, they've clearly shown they can take the mantle for it.

Rizwan's position is no 5, where he scored 2 back to back 50's against NZ, the moment they promoted him to 4, he's failed in 5 straight hanes now, 3 against NZ and 2 against Afghanistan, 4 if you're not counting this match due to run out.

 

[TeamPak95]

Fc, domestic I don't care much about. Even shan masood averages over 55 In domestic.

It's about performing on the big stage. Rizwan sadly doesn't seem to be good at any position besides t20 opening. Opening him in odi will be a disaster.

In general, you ideally should pick players who perform in FC and Domestic to play for your national team. Does that mean every player who performs in FC/Domestic will automatically perform at international level when picked? Of course not. There's always a gap between FC/Domestic cricket and international cricket. Some will make the leap, some will not (Shan Masood being a good example of this and not making the leap by and large).

Rana is of the opinion that the top 5 players in the ODI side should be averaging 40+ in FC cricket and Rizwan shouldn't be batting above 6. I simply responded with Rizwan's FC average, which is above 40+. I'm of the opinion that Rizwan should bat at 5 and that for a batter like him, batting above 5 is too high for him.

 

[mominsaigol]

In general, you ideally should pick players who perform in FC and Domestic to play for your national team. Does that mean every player who performs in FC/Domestic will automatically perform at international level when picked? Of course not. There's always a gap between FC/Domestic cricket and international cricket. Some will make the leap, some will not (Shan Masood being a good example of this and not making the leap by and large).

Rana is of the opinion that the top 5 players in the ODI side should be averaging 40+ in FC cricket and Rizwan shouldn't be batting above 6. I simply responded with Rizwan's FC average, which is above 40+. I'm of the opinion that Rizwan should bat at 5 and that for a batter like him, batting above 5 is too high for him.

I agree with rizwan batting at no 5 as well.

However unlike England, Pakistan tends to either give 50 + matches to tried and tested failures or doesn't bother to give them chances at all and drops them after only 2 or 3 matches.

Yes FC, List A and Psl record matters and that's how you should pick players, but a team of selectors should realise who the talent to invest in and who not to.

I feel like our selectors just look at scorecards and don't bother watching the match. If they bothered watching then one look at shan or Azam Khan let's you know their not international level.

For example imam is a very good player and if I just looked at scorecards I'd assume he's a million dollars, but watching the match live, I can tell his weakness is short ball early on the innings as well as lack of Lofted and natural stroke play.

These things a selector should look at, one look at shan and you know he was never going to be international level due to not having any shots against spin and not having any shots against fast bowling besides the occasional jabs and premeditated pull shots and drives.

 

[VForVendetta]

Fakhar
Imam
Babar
Iftekhar
Rizwan
Harris
Imad
Shadab
Shaheen
Naseem
Rauf
Realistically this is the best possible XI Pak can assemble at the moment with Wasim, Nawaz, Shafique & Ihshanullah/Zaman as the rest of the squad. I think the above eleven is the most balanced unit which covers almost all the bases in Indian conditions. Sadly it won't happen probably due to nepotism & petty politics.
However Pak fans need to identify the passengers & jobbers of this unit.Faheem Ashraf merits no place in a top tier modern white ball outfit. Only one of Agha & Ifti can be afforded, since Ifti is the "power hitter" & more likely Babar's preference as bowling option then Agha needs to go. I hope everyone has already understood how overhyped Osama Mir has been & how much value Shadab brings to this unit. Nawaz is also in terrible form but he has atleast experiences in major icc events & also better batsman than Mir. I am not saying Mir should be completely dumped, he is not as hopeless as Zahid or Qadir. He will get his due,but now is not the time.On his current form he will be ruthlessly murdered by English & Australian boys. Someone like Pandya or Iyer will also hunt him down. Finally regarding Saud Shakeel, I agree he should be given a chance in the next game. However he doesn't have what it takes to be a proper middle order batter in white ball cricket. You already have Babar,Imam,Riz, you want another accumulator in India? Where most likely average scores will be 320? Pak in past made these mistakes by accommodating batters on white ball formats based on their red ball excellence. They will commit the same mistake if they go with Shakeel. The only way he gets an entry is if one of Rizwan or Imam gets replaced by a more aggressive batter.

 

[Rana]

He gets run out because he's faster than the others and can take those quick runs. Others are not as confident and tend to hesitate. Today he was on the non strikers end and Imam hesitated.
The reason why his and Babar's partnerships are successful is because both read each other well and keep rotating the strike. That's exactly what we need in the middleorder, not unknowns.

Imam didn’t hesitate

Rizwan did. Rizwan has been getting lucky many times with run outs and chop ons. Players dropping his catches too and umpires calls favouring him

A good player would never need as much luck as he does

 

[daytrader]

Imam didn’t hesitate

Rizwan did. Rizwan has been getting lucky many times with run outs and chop ons. Players dropping his catches too and umpires calls favouring him

A good player would never need as much luck as he does

Luck favours the brave.

Imam came forward for the shot and then took steps until he decided to stop mid pitch when Rizwan was already next to him. Rizwan was running to the danger end and would have made it easily if Imam didn't hesitate

 

[daytrader]

Their was never a run their, even if their was no hesitation, and rizwan made the call, even though it was not his call to make. Rizwan was miles away.

Have rizwan play just like any other sensible batsmen, find actual gaps and if he's faster then others then those singles in gaps will turn into doubles.

No batsmen in the world should take a single when they've played it directly to a fielder, that'd Common sense.

What we need at no 4 is a good player of spin who can rotate the strike, and saud and Abdullah aren't Unknown, they've clearly shown they can take the mantle for it.

Rizwan's position is no 5, where he scored 2 back to back 50's against NZ, the moment they promoted him to 4, he's failed in 5 straight hanes now, 3 against NZ and 2 against Afghanistan, 4 if you're not counting this match due to run out.

Rizwan has scored 2 hundreds at 4 against Australia.

In ODIs, his performance has been better at 4 than any other position.

He's simply not getting dropped so let's utilize him the best we can. If 4 is where he performs best then that's where he should bat.

 

[Rana]

Rizwan has scored 2 hundreds at 4 against Australia.

In ODIs, his performance has been better at 4 than any other position.

He's simply not getting dropped so let's utilize him the best we can. If 4 is where he performs best then that's where he should bat.

Once again

Stat padding. What has he done at 4 since 2019 March? If that is his best position

 

[mominsaigol]

Rizwan has scored 2 hundreds at 4 against Australia.

In ODIs, his performance has been better at 4 than any other position.

He's simply not getting dropped so let's utilize him the best we can. If 4 is where he performs best then that's where he should bat.

He's not getting dropped, because our pak management never tries new players until its too late.

Rizwan scored those 2 hundreds against a 2nd string australian side in 2019, on a batting paradise pitch, the same pitch where imam and Babar also scored.

I don't have anything against rizwan but he was badly exposed in tests which is why sarfraz replaced him.

Rizwan is not suited for the long haul, he can't play beyond 15 to 20 overs. Watch his games and you'll realise he can't take singles as freely as babar and Imam, because he doesn't know how to find gaps like they can, it's why he gets run out because he's the only idiot in the world who tries to take a run when hitting a ball straight to the fielder in the inner circle. He's not talented enough to find gaps,

Against spin his only scoring shot is the sweep, and against fast he can't play anything other then jabs, rizwan will get exposed 10 out of 10 times against quality bowling because spinners won't pitch it in full everything for him to play the sweep, nor will fast bowlers allow him to play his jab shots on the onside. The reason he gets run out isn't due to bad communication, no player in the world will take singles when they hit the ball directly to the fielder, that's insane.

 

[mominsaigol]

Luck favours the brave.

Imam came forward for the shot and then took steps until he decided to stop mid pitch when Rizwan was already next to him. Rizwan was running to the danger end and would have made it easily if Imam didn't hesitate

Oh bhai, Theirs a difference between luck and stupidity. Gully cricket players even know to not take single if you've played the ball directly to a fielder in the inner circle.

An international cricketer shouldn't have trouble understanding this. And Imam didn't hesitate.

Rizwan first made the call, then decided to not take a run and then decided to take a run and was out.

Luck is like what happened to fakhar against India in champions trophy and against nz in the 2nd odi this year, but he capitalised and scored a match winning century in champions trophy and a match winning 180.

Luck comes once or twice. You're suppose to capitalise on Luck, rizwan doesn't capitalise on Luck, if he manages to take a risky single, he will keep taking risky singles again and again until he is run out.

 

[Third Man]

We need a proper batsman at 4, and a proper hitter of the ball at 5/6 one of whom can bowl. Given the current resources, this is how our XI should look like:

1. Imam
2. Fakhar
3. Babar
4. Abdullah
5. Haris / Iftikhar / Imad Wasim
6. Haris / Imad Wasim / Iftikhar
7. Shadab
8. Nawaz / Imad Wasim (If we play Ifti at 5/6)
9. Shaheen
10. Naseem
11. Rauf

I think Imad Wasim's batting is good enough to replace Ifti or Salman. None of them are inspiring any confidence at the moment. That also gives us a proper 6th bowling option. Ifti can still be considered since he has good control with the ball.

Abdullah is a better choice than Saud, IMO because he understands modern batting and has all the shots. Saud is too slow.

Haris is a risky choice but none of the alternatives are making a good case for themselves. Rizwan is also going nowhere. He was never a good enough middle order batsman and I don't think he can become one now.

 

[shamaan]

Fakhar
Imam
Babar
Shafique
Iftikhar / M Haris
Rizwan
Shadab
Usama / Nawaz
Shaheen
Naseem
Rauf

I trust Usama to deliver 10 overs better than Nawaz, so if you play Usama then I'd prefer to bring in M Haris as a pinch hitter over Iftikhar (as we'd have no need for his bowling).

Depends what you mean better in terms of wickets or keeping hold of the run rate.

 

[shamaan]

He gets run out because he's faster than the others and can take those quick runs. Others are not as confident and tend to hesitate. Today he was on the non strikers end and Imam hesitated.
The reason why his and Babar's partnerships are successful is because both read each other well and keep rotating the strike. That's exactly what we need in the middleorder, not unknowns.

If Rizwan ran straight away he still would have been out.

 

[CerebralPatriot]

Look, I know pakistan will select their current xi that they have playing in the afghanistan series. However, i think some alterations would be very beneficial and the following xi would yield the best version of the team:
1. Imam ul Haq
2. Saim Ayub/Sharjeel
3. Saud Shakeel
4. Babar Azam
5. Sarfaraz Ahmed (c & wk)
6. Azam Khan
7. Imad Wasim
8. Shaddy
9. Shaheen
10. Naseem
11. Rauf
12th man: Mo Hasnain/ Mo Amir

 

[mominsaigol]

Ik this won't happen due to Pakistan teams lousy WINNING 11 think tank but ideally in the 3rd odi we should play our bench and rest players. I'd play

1) Abdullah Shafique
2) Imam ul Haq
3) Babar Azam
4) Saud Shakeel
5) Tayyab Tahir
6) Muhammad Haris
7) Muhammad Nawaz
8) Shadab Khan
9) Muhammad Waseem ( we need to rest naseem, he looked tired yesterday, he's key and we can't risk injury or we'd have a repeat of shaheen Shah afridi in the t20 wc final)
10) Haris Rauf
11) Shaheen Shah Afridi

Shaheen needs to bat at 11.

And faheem ashraf has the most important job of all, giving our players water and making sure their hydrated to perform, shabash faheem beta, khidmat karo harmarei players ki.

But yh, Rest Naseem cause he was tired, rest rizwan because rizwan is being an idiot, rest fakhar for being out of touch and have the team focus on net practise for him cause we need his impact and him to score those winning 150's, don't play him and have him get out on a low score and dappen his confidence further.

Rest chacha, he shpuld retire honestly. And rest usama mir because he's just not performing, Nawaz is better with the bat anyway.

But ik Pakistan will never play this team, Rizwan and chacha are too important for our management.

 

[daytrader]

Oh bhai, Theirs a difference between luck and stupidity. Gully cricket players even know to not take single if you've played the ball directly to a fielder in the inner circle.

An international cricketer shouldn't have trouble understanding this. And Imam didn't hesitate.

Rizwan first made the call, then decided to not take a run and then decided to take a run and was out.

Luck is like what happened to fakhar against India in champions trophy and against nz in the 2nd odi this year, but he capitalised and scored a match winning century in champions trophy and a match winning 180.

Luck comes once or twice. You're suppose to capitalise on Luck, rizwan doesn't capitalise on Luck, if he manages to take a risky single, he will keep taking risky singles again and again until he is run out.

I think you should watch the replay. Imam came forward and played the ball with intent to run. The fielder wasn't that close as he ran into get the ball and throw it. Imam wasn't even at the danger end but hesitated. Just watch the replay and see who stops.

Rizwan could've easily turned around to go back too and he would've been safe. Instead he sacrificed his wicket for the more set batter. Kudos to Rizwan's game awareness as any batter's first instinct is to turn around and save their wicket. He curbed that instinct for the team.

 

[Ahmed216]

I think you should watch the replay. Imam came forward and played the ball with intent to run. The fielder wasn't that close as he ran into get the ball and throw it. Imam wasn't even at the danger end but hesitated. Just watch the replay and see who stops.

Rizwan could've easily turned around to go back too and he would've been safe. Instead he sacrificed his wicket for the more set batter. Kudos to Rizwan's game awareness as any batter's first instinct is to turn around and save their wicket. He curbed that instinct for the team.

Yes Rizwan deserves a lot of appreciation

 

[FreakCricket]

1) Fakhar
2) Imam
3) Babar
4) Rizwan
5) Saud
6) Iftimania
7) Shadab
8) Imad
9) Shaheen
10) Naseem
11) Haris

 

[TeamPak95]

I agree with rizwan batting at no 5 as well.

However unlike England, Pakistan tends to either give 50 + matches to tried and tested failures or doesn't bother to give them chances at all and drops them after only 2 or 3 matches.

Yes FC, List A and Psl record matters and that's how you should pick players, but a team of selectors should realise who the talent to invest in and who not to.

I feel like our selectors just look at scorecards and don't bother watching the match. If they bothered watching then one look at shan or Azam Khan let's you know their not international level.

For example imam is a very good player and if I just looked at scorecards I'd assume he's a million dollars, but watching the match live, I can tell his weakness is short ball early on the innings as well as lack of Lofted and natural stroke play.

These things a selector should look at, one look at shan and you know he was never going to be international level due to not having any shots against spin and not having any shots against fast bowling besides the occasional jabs and premeditated pull shots and drives.

I mean there is truth to this but it still ultimately comes down to giving the players a proper chance and ultimately seeing what happens, particularly in the long run, to come to conclusions of their game/performances. It also has to be players on merit. Shan Masood, whether people like it or not, did deserve his callup(s) due to quality FC/Domestic performances. Otherwise, what is the point of FC/Domestic? The 'eye test' as they say exists as a factor in selection but it can't be the only factor. Performance also has to count as a factor (the biggest factor), regardless if the player is new and trying to make the national team for the first time or trying to make a comeback (or multiple comebacks as is the case with Shan over the years).

Regarding Imam and his shortcomings as a batsman, and guys in general who have weaknesses to their game (e.g. Fakhar's not that strong offside game), it is incumbent upon the PCB to hire the necessary and right people to fine-tune these issues completely or to work around them as much as possible.

 

[mominsaigol]

I mean there is truth to this but it still ultimately comes down to giving the players a proper chance and ultimately seeing what happens, particularly in the long run, to come to conclusions of their game/performances. It also has to be players on merit. Shan Masood, whether people like it or not, did deserve his callup(s) due to quality FC/Domestic performances. Otherwise, what is the point of FC/Domestic? The 'eye test' as they say exists as a factor in selection but it can't be the only factor. Performance also has to count as a factor (the biggest factor), regardless if the player is new and trying to make the national team for the first time or trying to make a comeback (or multiple comebacks as is the case with Shan over the years).

Regarding Imam and his shortcomings as a batsman, and guys in general who have weaknesses to their game (e.g. Fakhar's not that strong offside game), it is incumbent upon the PCB to hire the necessary and right people to fine-tune these issues completely or to work around them as much as possible.

While I somewhat agree with what you're saying on management needing to fine tune someone's issues, and no player is perfect, when babar played his first odi his stance was similar to umar akmal, he was unsteady at the crease, lacked single taking abilities, but no he's one of the finest players in the world despite shortcomings against spin and has ironed out his issues.

Problem is, their are some players who you can instinctively tell will improve and won't. Fawad alam has a terrific FC record, but despite all the injustice claims made against him, you can tell he wasn't ever gonna be a worthy investment. His stance simply will not allow him to improve and he was always gonna be a bunny to quality bowling, for which he got exposed in Australia.

Players like Ahmed shezad in domestic always struggled in learning how to clear gaps and just went for the traditional block and hit if the bowler gives you a bad delivery rather then innovate. So he wasn't a worthy investment despite impressive fc stats.

Players like babar however have been improving nonstop even before international. He was completly raw during his under 19 days but improved massively in domestic, and then further improved in International.

I can highlight numerous players who will be key in the future despite them having medicore stats in international such as saim ayub, its because I can tell this lad is willing to learn and keep improving.

 

[TeamPak95]

Yeah it’s astonishing

I can’t believe it

I mean look Rizwan as a whole doesn't have a 360-type shot range nor does he look aesthetically fluent as a batsman but let's not act like the guy is an absolute pedestrian with the bat either. There's a reason he's been able to accumulate an overall FC average of 43.27: hard word/fitness, determination, consistency, and cashing in on his strengths.

Rizwan is the type of player who is not going to get going boundary-wise from ball one. However, he will be able to pinch those quick singles, twos and threes and, at the very least, get the odd boundary off. And the longer he stays, that would be his best opportunity to potentially get more boundaries off. Looking at it from an ODI lense that's why, for me at least, he should be batting at 5.

 

[mominsaigol]

I mean look Rizwan as a whole doesn't have a 360-type shot range nor does he look aesthetically fluent as a batsman but let's not act like the guy is an absolute pedestrian with the bat either. There's a reason he's been able to accumulate an overall FC average of 43.27: hard word/fitness, determination, consistency, and cashing in on his strengths.

Rizwan is the type of player who is not going to get going boundary-wise from ball one. However, he will be able to pinch those quick singles, twos and threes and, at the very least, get the odd boundary off. And the longer he stays, that would be his best opportunity to potentially get more boundaries off. Looking at it from an ODI lense that's why, for me at least, he should be batting at 5.

I agree with rizwan batting at no 5. Never said he shouldn't. I hate that he's batting at no 4.

 

[mominsaigol]

I think you should watch the replay. Imam came forward and played the ball with intent to run. The fielder wasn't that close as he ran into get the ball and throw it. Imam wasn't even at the danger end but hesitated. Just watch the replay and see who stops.

Rizwan could've easily turned around to go back too and he would've been safe. Instead he sacrificed his wicket for the more set batter. Kudos to Rizwan's game awareness as any batter's first instinct is to turn around and save their wicket. He curbed that instinct for the team.

I've seen the replay a dozen times. Coming forward taking 2 steps is normally what batsmen do when playing a shot and then they stop and turn back if they played it to the fielder, it's a natural instinct, that happens on almost every delivery.

Rizwan however spritinted when Imam was ball watching, Had rizwan been ball watching and told Imam to take the run it would make sense. But rizwan doesn't ball watch, he just runs like a mad man every time a shot it played to the fielder.

Again I have nothing against rizwan, but he's not a no 4, you don't need suicidal runs in an odi when you're expected to usually come in around the 24 to 25th over, that's normally when 2 wickets fall down,

You need solid accumulators who can score, take singles, find gaps, put the bad ball away and then finally accelerate and take risky singles by the final 5 overs.

Rizwans style of play is suited to t20, hence why he shpuld bat at no 5, a position which has earned him 2 back to back 50's and not outs.

This is the 5th consecutive time rizwan has failed at no 4 this year.

 

[mominsaigol]

Look, I know pakistan will select their current xi that they have playing in the afghanistan series. However, i think some alterations would be very beneficial and the following xi would yield the best version of the team:
1. Imam ul Haq
2. Saim Ayub/Sharjeel
3. Saud Shakeel
4. Babar Azam
5. Sarfaraz Ahmed (c & wk)
6. Azam Khan
7. Imad Wasim
8. Shaddy
9. Shaheen
10. Naseem
11. Rauf
12th man: Mo Hasnain/ Mo Amir

Azam Khan and Sharjeel are the worst possible selections you can make.

I've seen Azam Khan bat, Theirs a reason he got exposed in any international match given to him.

As for sharjeel, at this point sharjeel is so useless, you might as well compare him to nasir jamshed.

 

[mominsaigol]

Fakhar
Imam
Babar
Iftekhar
Rizwan
Harris
Imad
Shadab
Shaheen
Naseem
Rauf
Realistically this is the best possible XI Pak can assemble at the moment with Wasim, Nawaz, Shafique & Ihshanullah/Zaman as the rest of the squad. I think the above eleven is the most balanced unit which covers almost all the bases in Indian conditions. Sadly it won't happen probably due to nepotism & petty politics.
However Pak fans need to identify the passengers & jobbers of this unit.Faheem Ashraf merits no place in a top tier modern white ball outfit. Only one of Agha & Ifti can be afforded, since Ifti is the "power hitter" & more likely Babar's preference as bowling option then Agha needs to go. I hope everyone has already understood how overhyped Osama Mir has been & how much value Shadab brings to this unit. Nawaz is also in terrible form but he has atleast experiences in major icc events & also better batsman than Mir. I am not saying Mir should be completely dumped, he is not as hopeless as Zahid or Qadir. He will get his due,but now is not the time.On his current form he will be ruthlessly murdered by English & Australian boys. Someone like Pandya or Iyer will also hunt him down. Finally regarding Saud Shakeel, I agree he should be given a chance in the next game. However he doesn't have what it takes to be a proper middle order batter in white ball cricket. You already have Babar,Imam,Riz, you want another accumulator in India? Where most likely average scores will be 320? Pak in past made these mistakes by accommodating batters on white ball formats based on their red ball excellence. They will commit the same mistake if they go with Shakeel. The only way he gets an entry is if one of Rizwan or Imam gets replaced by a more aggressive batter.

Usama mir is overhyped I agree, it's because usama doesn't have any variation or any other delivery besides standard leg spin, he's predictable.

But you're wrong about saud shakeel, Odi is not bazzball, Pakistan changed 349 against Australia and we've been chasing 300+ scores not because we bazzball like England but because our accumulators get 100's.

Saud is significantly better then rizwan, He can play spin, find gaps, dispatch the occasional bad ball and strikes at an 80 strike rate.

Accumulators win you matches, not shahid afridi like power hitters. Only team that can consistently bat at 100+ Strike rates and bat with pure consistency is England atm. No other team can do so, although Australia has significantly better power hitters and their accumulators play at a strike rate of 90 whereas ours are stuck at 80.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Usama mir is overhyped I agree, it's because usama doesn't have any variation or any other delivery besides standard leg spin, he's predictable.

But you're wrong about saud shakeel, Odi is not bazzball, Pakistan changed 349 against Australia and we've been chasing 300+ scores not because we bazzball like England but because our accumulators get 100's.

Saud is significantly better then rizwan, He can play spin, find gaps, dispatch the occasional bad ball and strikes at an 80 strike rate.

Accumulators win you matches, not shahid afridi like power hitters. Only team that can consistently bat at 100+ Strike rates and bat with pure consistency is England atm. No other team can do so, although Australia has significantly better power hitters and their accumulators play at a strike rate of 90 whereas ours are stuck at 80.

Certainly, while Saud Shakeel has demonstrated a strong aptitude for playing spin bowling, drawing a direct comparison between him and Rizwan wouldn't be meaningful.

 

[mominsaigol]

Certainly, while Saud Shakeel has demonstrated a strong aptitude for playing spin bowling, drawing a direct comparison between him and Rizwan wouldn't be meaningful.

I should have rephrased better my bad. I meant to say saud is better at no 4 then rizwan and rizwan is more suited to no 5, reason is due to saud ability to anchor and play spin.

Rizwan looks to take risky singles and tries to play jabs and get on with the game. Rizwan's batting is only suited to t20 style of play, its why rizwan is needed around over 30 to 32.

Before that he shouldn't play. Promote rizwan is imam and Babar and fakhar proceed to anchor the entire innings until over 40.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

I should have rephrased better my bad. I meant to say saud is better at no 4 then rizwan and rizwan is more suited to no 5, reason is due to saud ability to anchor and play spin.

Rizwan looks to take risky singles and tries to play jabs and get on with the game. Rizwan's batting is only suited to t20 style of play, its why rizwan is needed around over 30 to 32.

Before that he shouldn't play. Promote rizwan is imam and Babar and fakhar proceed to anchor the entire innings until over 40.

I totally agree with you. Rizwan should bat at 5th position and bring a solid middle order batsman like Saud Shakeel to number 4 who can play spin well and can consolidate the inning.

 

[VForVendetta]

Usama mir is overhyped I agree, it's because usama doesn't have any variation or any other delivery besides standard leg spin, he's predictable.

But you're wrong about saud shakeel, Odi is not bazzball, Pakistan changed 349 against Australia and we've been chasing 300+ scores not because we bazzball like England but because our accumulators get 100's.

Saud is significantly better then rizwan, He can play spin, find gaps, dispatch the occasional bad ball and strikes at an 80 strike rate.

Accumulators win you matches, not shahid afridi like power hitters. Only team that can consistently bat at 100+ Strike rates and bat with pure consistency is England atm. No other team can do so, although Australia has significantly better power hitters and their accumulators play at a strike rate of 90 whereas ours are stuck at 80.

ODI is not bazzball,but it's also not the good old 90's/00's anymore, right? You have one less fielder from 11-40 overs,so actually it's easier to score runs on that portion than the last 10 overs. You need guys who if not power hitters than atleast street smart who can run quick between the wickets & find the odd boundaries. You can't just always leave everything for last 10 overs where you don't have Pandya, Maxwell, Livingstone type of guys at your disposal.
You have chased down 350+ against Australia? Well congratulations for getting the job done against an attack which had none of Starc,Cummins & Hazelwood! You made a couple of 300+ against a kiwi attack which didn't bring Southee,Boult, Ferguson & Santner. What was the last time Pak made or chased down 300 against a top tier attack? I am not making fun of their achievements by the way,just stating that your team had it easy going, so don't take these performances on face value. Real test stars now.
Accumulators win you matches, really? Was it Imran & Miandad with their 50/60 strike rates who won the semi & finals or was it Inzy,Akram & Moin? Wasn't it Pak's lower middle power hitting in 99 which took them to final? How much did Younus & Misbah benefit you in 11 & 15 with their wonderful accumulation? Would you have won the 17 CT if Fakhar & Hafiz would've accumulated instead of going hard? Since 96 WC, not a single team has won a 50 over ICC trophy by playing safe & depending on accumulation.
Why are you even mentioning Afridi? No one needs to bat like him or copy him. You had other great players in last 30 years who could score quickly without slogging blindly. A guy like Saud might come handy against spin heavy teams like Afg/Sri, but when the top teams with genuine fast bowlers will come hard at him,will he be able to counter attack? Based on what I have seen I don't think he can.

 

[Stewie]

In no particular batting order

1. Imam
2. Fakhar
3. Babar
4. Rizwan
5. Salman
6. Iftikhar
7. Shadab
8. Imad Wasim/Wasim/Shoaib Malik
9. Shaheen
10. Naseem
11. Rauf

 

[mominsaigol]

ODI is not bazzball,but it's also not the good old 90's/00's anymore, right? You have one less fielder from 11-40 overs,so actually it's easier to score runs on that portion than the last 10 overs. You need guys who if not power hitters than atleast street smart who can run quick between the wickets & find the odd boundaries. You can't just always leave everything for last 10 overs where you don't have Pandya, Maxwell, Livingstone type of guys at your disposal.
You have chased down 350+ against Australia? Well congratulations for getting the job done against an attack which had none of Starc,Cummins & Hazelwood! You made a couple of 300+ against a kiwi attack which didn't bring Southee,Boult, Ferguson & Santner. What was the last time Pak made or chased down 300 against a top tier attack? I am not making fun of their achievements by the way,just stating that your team had it easy going, so don't take these performances on face value. Real test stars now.
Accumulators win you matches, really? Was it Imran & Miandad with their 50/60 strike rates who won the semi & finals or was it Inzy,Akram & Moin? Wasn't it Pak's lower middle power hitting in 99 which took them to final? How much did Younus & Misbah benefit you in 11 & 15 with their wonderful accumulation? Would you have won the 17 CT if Fakhar & Hafiz would've accumulated instead of going hard? Since 96 WC, not a single team has won a 50 over ICC trophy by playing safe & depending on accumulation.
Why are you even mentioning Afridi? No one needs to bat like him or copy him. You had other great players in last 30 years who could score quickly without slogging blindly. A guy like Saud might come handy against spin heavy teams like Afg/Sri, but when the top teams with genuine fast bowlers will come hard at him,will he be able to counter attack? Based on what I have seen I don't think he can.

You're missing the point, In all my previous comments I straight up highlighted that our team has weaknesses and what weaknesses all our players and why they struggle against quality attacks.

Never did I claim we beat Australia full strength, however we use to be a team that would normally be 80 for 5 and then just barely make it to 200 and would bowl out of our skins to win, second string attacks would trouble us for a 250

Recently however we are chasing 300+ scores even if they are against second string attacks. The reason is simple, our accumulators are able to keep pace and score 100's.

First off, we aren't playing 90 brand cricket, we aren't blocking and playing slow and waiting to smash once we reach over 40, our accumulators find gaps, take runs and hit the odd boundary and keep pace at 6 runs per over usually and then accelerate towards the end. Only imam is incapable of accelerating.

But simply put, none of our players are capable of playing at a 100 strike rate lower down the order and achieving consistency, literally zero. Because we don't have maxwell or Ben stokes etc.

chacha at 4 will hamper the ininnings cause genuinely no 4 is the one who ends up playing most spin, something chacha is a novice at. Chacha plays misbah style cricket lol.

I agree with haris and imad at 6 and 7 though. That's a 100% must. But I'd rather have saud give us consistent 50's rather then chacha taking 25 balls to get to 16 and then playing a few strokes and getting out which he usually does minus the 5th odi against NZ.

pak top 5 need to be consistent 80+ strike rate batsmen who Average 40+. Not chacha

 

[Rana]

In no particular batting order

1. Imam
2. Fakhar
3. Babar
4. Rizwan
5. Salman
6. Iftikhar
7. Shadab
8. Imad Wasim/Wasim/Shoaib Malik
9. Shaheen
10. Naseem
11. Rauf

In no particular batting order and then puts the team in the previous match batting order

Be brave and say you want Rizwan at 4

 

[Nikhil_cric]

In the exact order, it should be

1. Fakhar
2. Bobby
3. Imam
4. Tayyab
5. Rizwan
6. Agha
7. Nawaz
8. Shadab
9. Shaheen
10. Naseem
11. Rauf

Since 2022, Imam is slow against pace(SR 81) but quick against spin( SR 94). Fakhar and Babar have been faster against pace(92 and 86) but slow against spin(84 and 86). So, you want to maximise the PP score and you have a left-right combination as well.

Tayyab has better white ball numbers both against spin and in general than either of the other pretenders - Abdullah and Saud in recent times.

Rizwan has better numbers at 5 in the recent NZ series. Today, he scored rapidly after the 30 over mark. That's more a number 5 bat than a number 6.

Rest of the lineup mostly selects itself.

 

[pratiktc]

Pak needs the middle order guys to step up in WC.
All other aspects of team are doing fine. If 5-6-7 can pull their weight with bat the team is locked in for semis

 

[Rizie]

Fakhar

Imam

Babar

Ifti

Shadab

Rizwan

Harris

Nawaz

Naseem

Shaheen

Rauf

 

[hitthestump]

I have settled on the XI i want for the first game of the WC.

Imam
Fakhar
Babar (c)
Rizwan (wk)
Agha
Mohammad Haris
Shadab
Nawaz
Shaheen
Naseem
Rauf

The strategy is for the top 4 to bat 35-40 overs then the rest to finish off. The bowlers will be backed to defend anything that is par or better.

I think this team will be right up there as a solid contender for the WC.

 

[mominsaigol]

Our squad should be

1) Babar
2) Fakhar
3) zaman Khan
4) abrar
5) Imad Waseem
6) Muhammad rizwan
7) Muhammad haris
8) Imam ul haq
9) Abdullah Shafique
10) Saud Shakeel
11) Tayyab Tahir
12) Haris Rauf
13) Shaheen Shah afridi
14) Naseem Shah
15) Shadab Khan.

^^ This is our winning wc squad, but Inzimam will never select this team, even though it has 2 excellent lower order hitters, 4 World class accumulators with one impact player in fakhar.

3 excellent spinners and 4 of pakistans best fast bowlers.

 

[Firebat]

Nawaz has earned his spot back in the side over Usama for now. Currently I'd go:

Fakhar
Imam
Babar
Shakeel / Shafique
Rizwan
Agha
Shadab
Nawaz
Shaheen
Naseem
Rauf

I'd really want an Ifti or M Haris in there for power hitting, but there's no one to take out. It's essential to have another serious batter in that top order, not just another all-rounder / slogger, and Agha Salman has made himself undroppable with his batting performances so far in his ODI career.

 

[msb314]

1. Fakhar
2. Imam
3. Babar
4. Saud
5. Rizwan
6. Salman
7. Nawaz
8. Shadab
9. Shaheen
10. Naseem
11. Haris

 

[mominsaigol]

Nawaz has earned his spot back in the side over Usama for now. Currently I'd go:

Fakhar
Imam
Babar
Shakeel / Shafique
Rizwan
Agha
Shadab
Nawaz
Shaheen
Naseem
Rauf

I'd really want an Ifti or M Haris in there for power hitting, but there's no one to take out. It's essential to have another serious batter in that top order, not just another all-rounder / slogger, and Agha Salman has made himself undroppable with his batting performances so far in his ODI career.

The best 11 would be

1) Fakhar Zaman/ Abdullah( Depending on fakhar's form)
2) Imam ul Haq
3) Babar Azam
4) Saud Shakeel
5) Muhammad rizwan/ Tayyab Tahir
6) Muhammad Haris/ Agha Salman( If extra bowler is needed)
7) Imad Waseem
8) Shadab Khan
9) Naseem Shan ( Important must have player)
10) Haris Rauf/ Zaman Khan ( Haris first pick, but Zaman 2nd if haris can't play)
11) Shaheen Shah afridi/ Abrar ( Shaheen 1st pick, but pick abrar if the pitch is spinning and 3 spinners need to be played, shaheen tends to Overpitch the delivery at times and can be expensive when it's not his day)

^^ This 11 will win you the WC, inzimam won't let this squad happen, but this squad is best, Imad is better then chacha in every corner, and nawaz as well. Don't look at bowling averages, Imad hasn't been used properly in odi, he shpuld be bowling from overs 30 onwards. Him and zaman Khan would be lethal from 30 to 50.

And no 6 and no 7 position you need power hitters. Agha isn't a power hitters but he shpuld be first pick instead of Haris due to him providing the 6th bowling option.

 

[Stewie]

In no particular batting order and then puts the team in the previous match batting order

Be brave and say you want Rizwan at 4

Don’t care, bat him wherever. I also forgot to include nawaz.. I may have to alter my line up

 

[Mercurial]

Fakhar
Imam
Babar *
Rizwan +
Iftikhar
Khushdil
Nawaz
Shadab
Rauf
Shaheen
Naseem

In an ideal scenario, I'd prefer Imad over Nawaz and a pace-bowling all-rounder like Yamin instead of Rauf.

 

[hitthestump]

Nawaz has earned his spot back in the side over Usama for now. Currently I'd go:

Fakhar
Imam
Babar
Shakeel / Shafique
Rizwan
Agha
Shadab
Nawaz
Shaheen
Naseem
Rauf

I'd really want an Ifti or M Haris in there for power hitting, but there's no one to take out. It's essential to have another serious batter in that top order, not just another all-rounder / slogger, and Agha Salman has made himself undroppable with his batting performances so far in his ODI career.

This would be my 2nd preferred line up.

I just think with Imam and Babar shoring up the top order i am prepared to gamble with an aggressive batsman in place of a 'proper' batsman in Saud.

I also don't rate Saud that much in white ball cricket. He can't hit sixes which is a crucial limitation at international level.

 

[gazza619]

I know Chacha is in the bad books of the fans these days, but I still very strongly believe in Iftimania. When chacha despatches Axar Patel for 3 sixes in an over then you guys will understand.

1. Fakhar Zaman
2. Imam-ul-Haq
3. Babar Azam
4. Iftikhar Ahmed
5. M Rizwan
6. Salman Ali Agha
7. M Haris
8. Shadab Khan
9. Shaheen Afridi
10. Naseem Shah
11. Haris Rauf

 

[mominsaigol]

I know Chacha is in the bad books of the fans these days, but I still very strongly believe in Iftimania. When chacha despatches Axar Patel for 3 sixes in an over then you guys will understand.

1. Fakhar Zaman
2. Imam-ul-Haq
3. Babar Azam
4. Iftikhar Ahmed
5. M Rizwan
6. Salman Ali Agha
7. M Haris
8. Shadab Khan
9. Shaheen Afridi
10. Naseem Shah
11. Haris Rauf

The only dispatching chacha will be doing is himself.

Here's the thing about chacha at no 4, chacha plays in a misbah style era format, an era that never produced us a single quality batsmen and if it wasn't for saeed and hafeez chucking, we'd have been a minnow team, which we became at we reached the no 9th position under misbah and his spiritual Successor azhar.

No 4 batsmen usually come in by over 20 tob24 statically, middle overs which are dominated by spin. You need a spin specialist like saud, a guy who averages 133 against spin to play at that position.

Chacha can't read wrist spin, he blocks like misbah era batsmen, waits for the bowler to overpitch or full toss or bowl it short on the onside which no quality spinner will do consistently, so he can smack it to the boundary, His only single scoring ability against quality spin is if the ball is over pitched to the leg side, so he can play it straight.

Having a player like that at no 4, will increase the run rate if batting 2nd or slow down the innings if batting first. And then he'll likely play a rash shot to increase tempo and get out. 2 good games against NZ 2nd string attack ain't making chacha a good player.

Imam is right about chacha, shouldn't be in the team, we don't need him, Haris and imad are better to have in the squad.

 

[mominsaigol]

Fakhar
Imam
Babar *
Rizwan +
Iftikhar
Khushdil
Nawaz
Shadab
Rauf
Shaheen
Naseem

In an ideal scenario, I'd prefer Imad over Nawaz and a pace-bowling all-rounder like Yamin instead of Rauf.

Sir, on what basis is Iftikhar and Kushdil batting at no 5 and no 6.

This middle order that you've selected will allow us to be bowled out for less then 100 if our top order fails or simply ruin any platform set by the top order. Or 300+ platforms will become 240's.

 

[Farabi]

The only dispatching chacha will be doing is himself.

Here's the thing about chacha at no 4, chacha plays in a misbah style era format, an era that never produced us a single quality batsmen and if it wasn't for saeed and hafeez chucking, we'd have been a minnow team, which we became at we reached the no 9th position under misbah and his spiritual Successor azhar.

No 4 batsmen usually come in by over 20 tob24 statically, middle overs which are dominated by spin. You need a spin specialist like saud, a guy who averages 133 against spin to play at that position.

Chacha can't read wrist spin, he blocks like misbah era batsmen, waits for the bowler to overpitch or full toss or bowl it short on the onside which no quality spinner will do consistently, so he can smack it to the boundary, His only single scoring ability against quality spin is if the ball is over pitched to the leg side, so he can play it straight.

Having a player like that at no 4, will increase the run rate if batting 2nd or slow down the innings if batting first. And then he'll likely play a rash shot to increase tempo and get out. 2 good games against NZ 2nd string attack ain't making chacha a good player.

Imam is right about chacha, shouldn't be in the team, we don't need him, Haris and imad are better to have in the squad.

See, you’re doing a technical analysis, but folks don’t really care.
They are trying to optimize for 350 by saying we need “Powerhitters” but the reality is that Pak is struggling to play 50 overs against a no9 ranked team. So, I mean Saud should totally be a no-brainer, given this fragile batting line-up, which is due to collapse on big games against India, Aus.
Although I do think Ifti can compete for that no6 slot against Agha, but Agha is ahead right now. Haris is too raw for ODIs and he doesn’t make it on his batting alone in top 6.

 

[mominsaigol]

See, you’re doing a technical analysis, but folks don’t really care.
They are trying to optimize for 350 by saying we need “Powerhitters” but the reality is that Pak is struggling to play 50 overs against a no9 ranked team. So, I mean Saud should totally be a no-brainer, given this fragile batting line-up, which is due to collapse on big games against India, Aus.
Although I do think Ifti can compete for that no6 slot against Agha, but Agha is ahead right now. Haris is too raw for ODIs and he doesn’t make it on his batting alone in top 6.

Ik, it's frustrating because most members of this form want a team that looks something like this

1) Sharjeel Khan
2) Fakhar Zaman
3) Babar Azam
4) Iftikhar Ahmed
5) Azam Khan
6) Asif Ali
7) Khusdil Shah
8) Shadab Khan
9) Naseem
10) Haris Rauf
11) Shaheen

^^ I am not kidding, our awaam deadass wants this team because they think we have England level 100+ Strike rate and 40+ average batsmen just waiting to play.

Everyone keeps hating on saud, Babar, Imam even though these folks actually chase down 300 scores due to consistent accumulation and 80+ strike rates, but they start comparing asif to Butler, Faheem to gleen mcgrath and start calling chacha iftimania as if he's a Dhoni Level finisher simply based of the fact that these guys performed in one match but failed in the previous 50 matches.

 

[mominsaigol]

See, you’re doing a technical analysis, but folks don’t really care.
They are trying to optimize for 350 by saying we need “Powerhitters” but the reality is that Pak is struggling to play 50 overs against a no9 ranked team. So, I mean Saud should totally be a no-brainer, given this fragile batting line-up, which is due to collapse on big games against India, Aus.
Although I do think Ifti can compete for that no6 slot against Agha, but Agha is ahead right now. Haris is too raw for ODIs and he doesn’t make it on his batting alone in top 6.

Haris and ifti shpuld have never been experimented with. Nor do I wanna play agha but we don't have a choice cause he's the 6th bowling option that we do need. Playing with 5 bowlers is risky, flexibility is required.

People hate on Imam thinking he's basically another Crybaby umar on twitter even though imam has always been right about his claims.

Imam silenced his critics who complained about him and called him another Ahmed shezad, Imam was absolutely right to bash and complain on twitter about nepotism especially if management is lying by saying that he's injured when he was fully fit, just to replace him with daddy's boy shan masood.

And Imam was right about not risking experimenting with haris and iftikhar. Did Imam say anything about tayyab, saud or Abdullah? No because anyone with a brain knows haris is too raw and ifti shouldn't be in the squad.

Haris should go as a back wk option, but I won't be suprised if he ends up not playing a single game in Asia cup and WC.

 

[shamaan]

Fakhar
Imaam
Babar
Tayyab/ Saud
Rizwan
Agha
Shadab
Nawaz
Shaheen
Naseem
Rauf

 

[Marooned]

Fakhar
Imam
Babar
Ifti/Saud/Tahir
Agha
Rizwan
Imad Wasim (why is he out again?)
Shadab
Shaheen
Naseem
Rauf.

 

[Unbiased-Fan]

Top Order:-
1. Imam Ul Haq
2. Fakhar Zaman
3. Babar Azam

Middle Order:-
4. Saud Shakeel (great player of spin bowling)
5. Mohammed Rizwan (wicketkeeper)
6. Agha Salman (off spinner)

All Rounders and spinners:-
7. Shadab Khan (leg spin)
8. Mohammad Nawaz (Orthodox left arm spin)

Pacers :-
9. Shaheen Afridi (Left arm fast)
10. Naseem Shah
11. Haris Rauf


* Bowling Unit :-
- Shaheen
- Naseem
- Rauf
- Nawaz
- Shadab
- Salman

 

[mominsaigol]

Top Order:-
1. Imam Ul Haq
2. Fakhar Zaman
3. Babar Azam

Middle Order:-
4. Saud Shakeel (great player of spin bowling)
5. Mohammed Rizwan (wicketkeeper)
6. Agha Salman (off spinner)

All Rounders and spinners:-
7. Shadab Khan (leg spin)
8. Mohammad Nawaz (Orthodox left arm spin)

Pacers :-
9. Shaheen Afridi (Left arm fast)
10. Naseem Shah
11. Haris Rauf


* Bowling Unit :-
- Shaheen
- Naseem
- Rauf
- Nawaz
- Shadab
- Salman

Good selection.

 

[Saj]

I think there might be one or two changes in the World Cup squad from the Asia Cup squad.

 

[WicketLord]

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) faces a deadline of September 5 to finalize their 15-member squad for the World Cup and send the names to the International Cricket Council (ICC)

 

[mominsaigol]

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) faces a deadline of September 5 to finalize their 15-member squad for the World Cup and send the names to the International Cricket Council (ICC)

That's literally in less then 35 hours.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Abdullah
Imam
Babar
Saud
Rizwan
Iftikhar
Shadab
Faheem
Shaheen
Naseem
Harris

 

[CricLegend]

Fakhar
Imam
Babar
Saud
Rizwan
Ifti
Shadab
Amir
Shaheen
Naseem
Harris

M Harris
Imad
Wasim Jr
Agha

I hope Amir can get a call up. He is bowling quite well in the CPL, pace and skill levels are still there. If he play, then our pace quartet will be the best in the league.

It will also allow Babar flexibility by bringing in Naseem and Shaheen in the middle overs, with Amir and Harris to finish of at the end.

 

[mominsaigol]

Abdullah
Imam
Babar
Saud
Rizwan
Iftikhar
Shadab
Faheem
Shaheen
Naseem
Harris

Replace faheem with waseem or replace faheem with zaman/ ihansnullah if you're looking at players from outside.

The rest of the squad is really good. I ak worried about fakhar.

 

[mominsaigol]

Fakhar
Imam
Babar
Saud
Rizwan
Ifti
Shadab
Amir
Shaheen
Naseem
Harris

M Harris
Imad
Wasim Jr
Agha

I hope Amir can get a call up. He is bowling quite well in the CPL, pace and skill levels are still there. If he play, then our pace quartet will be the best in the league.

It will also allow Babar flexibility by bringing in Naseem and Shaheen in the middle overs, with Amir and Harris to finish of at the end.

Amir is gone from international cricket though, he's retired.

 

[sam_ahm]

Pakistan should look to include Saud Shakeel in the playing XI , at least try him out, Agha and Ifti at 5 and 6 make the middle order a little vulnerable. They are good players but ODIs require some players who can play out a lot of overs if needed, like if Pakistan find themselves at 30/3 in the WC, will they be comfortable with Agha coming in or Shakeel coming in... Obviously it has to be Shakeel.

 

[Firebat]

That one India game seems to have convinced everyone that we should be playing 4 pacers. That could work if all the pitches we play on in the next couple months are the same as Saturday's, but I was under the impression there would be turning pitches in the WC.

 

[sam_ahm]

This would have been my line up and Squad.

Fakhar
Imam
Babar
Rizwan
Shakeel
Shadab
Iftikhar
Shaheen
Naseem
Rauf
Abrar
--------------------
Agha
Nawaz
M Wasim
Sarfaraz

 

[MenInG]

Time running out - should be announced very soon.

 

[hitthestump]

That one India game seems to have convinced everyone that we should be playing 4 pacers. That could work if all the pitches we play on in the next couple months are the same as Saturday's, but I was under the impression there would be turning pitches in the WC.

The complete lack of penetration during the middle overs against India was a real worry. Pakistan should probably have the option to use a 4th pacer.

Therefore i am in favour of having Mohammad Wasim as the number 8 unless it is a real dustbowl. In which case i'd play both Usama and Shadab in tandem with Salman Agha to provide some control.