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Local Club Star
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2017
- Runs
- 2,033
- Post of the Week
- 8
We have won the tri-series in New Zealand but the conviction has been lacking that you will find from a champion team. Similarly we won some games against England and lost some too however the conviction in the games won by England vs those won by Pakistan were as different as day and night. The game New Zealand won against us was also a proper thrashing as compared to us wriggling to a win. At the end of the day win is a win and we should not look into the manner of win. However when you ought to be a champion team then the manner of your performance does indeed come to light.
At the start I would like to make this very clear that the core of the team that comprises of Babar, Rizwan, Shadab and Shaheen are at the peak of their careers and these have been one of the very few players that globally are appraised for their work. Hence when we have the core of our team at our peak that presents the best opportunity to win a tournament. We might not have this luxury in future tournaments. This is the precise reason I was gutted for that semi-final lose against Aussies.
Now coming back to the thread. Its evident given the manner of our wins that we need to further strengthen our T20 team. The problem we have at the moment is that we are a bowler short and if we play 6 batsmen we are a batsmen short. Given the progression shown by Shadab and Nawaz over the year with their batting ability for either of them to bat at 8 is a position wasted in T20 and unfortunately this is what happens in our current line-up.
To resolve this issue the management and selectors would have to bite a bullet and call up someone who they genuinely don't like i.e. Imad Wasim.
How Imad will fit in this line-up
Babar has this strategy to use his seamers in the first 6 by giving 2 overs to each seamer. Babar not being the smartest of the captains out there does not change this strategy and game in and out does this. What Imad offers here is 2 overs in powerplay together with Naseem and Shaheen. Imad likes bowling in PP and recent CPL is a good example of that. Now that Babar has used 2 overs from Imad (sixth bowler) he can then use Nawaz and Shadab for a little longer in the middle if spin is working if not he has 2 extra overs from seam to use in the rest of the game. This is where 6th bowler becomes increasingly handful.
Further Imad is no dud with the bat like Wasim or Haris hence having Imad at 8 will fit his batting role perfectly and have someone who can bat slightly better than rest.
Problems of having Imad in the team
The biggest problem is the culture his selection would promote. He would promote a culture of bad boy and argumentative behaviour within wider team. Given this is international sports we cannot base our decisions off someone's behaviour hence if he is good then regardless should be selected.
Imad is a total liability in the field with very bad fitness. This is something the management would have to sort if they would like to go with his selection.
How the team would look with Imad's inclusion
1. Babar
2. Rizwan
3. Fakhar
4. Nawaz / Shadab
5. Haider
6. Shadab / Nawaz
7. Iftikhar
8. Imad Wasim
9. Shaheen Shah
10. Haris Rauf
11. Naseem Shah
Needless to mention that I have replaced Shan with Fakhar. This is simply because Fakhar is our big player and is needed in this team for all major tournaments.
With inclusion of Imad the team still looks like they are batting deep and they also have the a 6th bowling option to use. Tomorrow will be the deadline for selection finalisation I don't expect any bold changes to be made but I hope the management remembers how a similar selection changed our fortunes in 2009 T20 WC. When Razzaq replaced Arafat our team changed significantly for the better. I hope the management is aware that we can still make this team better and I hope they are bold decision makers in here.
At the start I would like to make this very clear that the core of the team that comprises of Babar, Rizwan, Shadab and Shaheen are at the peak of their careers and these have been one of the very few players that globally are appraised for their work. Hence when we have the core of our team at our peak that presents the best opportunity to win a tournament. We might not have this luxury in future tournaments. This is the precise reason I was gutted for that semi-final lose against Aussies.
Now coming back to the thread. Its evident given the manner of our wins that we need to further strengthen our T20 team. The problem we have at the moment is that we are a bowler short and if we play 6 batsmen we are a batsmen short. Given the progression shown by Shadab and Nawaz over the year with their batting ability for either of them to bat at 8 is a position wasted in T20 and unfortunately this is what happens in our current line-up.
To resolve this issue the management and selectors would have to bite a bullet and call up someone who they genuinely don't like i.e. Imad Wasim.
How Imad will fit in this line-up
Babar has this strategy to use his seamers in the first 6 by giving 2 overs to each seamer. Babar not being the smartest of the captains out there does not change this strategy and game in and out does this. What Imad offers here is 2 overs in powerplay together with Naseem and Shaheen. Imad likes bowling in PP and recent CPL is a good example of that. Now that Babar has used 2 overs from Imad (sixth bowler) he can then use Nawaz and Shadab for a little longer in the middle if spin is working if not he has 2 extra overs from seam to use in the rest of the game. This is where 6th bowler becomes increasingly handful.
Further Imad is no dud with the bat like Wasim or Haris hence having Imad at 8 will fit his batting role perfectly and have someone who can bat slightly better than rest.
Problems of having Imad in the team
The biggest problem is the culture his selection would promote. He would promote a culture of bad boy and argumentative behaviour within wider team. Given this is international sports we cannot base our decisions off someone's behaviour hence if he is good then regardless should be selected.
Imad is a total liability in the field with very bad fitness. This is something the management would have to sort if they would like to go with his selection.
How the team would look with Imad's inclusion
1. Babar
2. Rizwan
3. Fakhar
4. Nawaz / Shadab
5. Haider
6. Shadab / Nawaz
7. Iftikhar
8. Imad Wasim
9. Shaheen Shah
10. Haris Rauf
11. Naseem Shah
Needless to mention that I have replaced Shan with Fakhar. This is simply because Fakhar is our big player and is needed in this team for all major tournaments.
With inclusion of Imad the team still looks like they are batting deep and they also have the a 6th bowling option to use. Tomorrow will be the deadline for selection finalisation I don't expect any bold changes to be made but I hope the management remembers how a similar selection changed our fortunes in 2009 T20 WC. When Razzaq replaced Arafat our team changed significantly for the better. I hope the management is aware that we can still make this team better and I hope they are bold decision makers in here.
