New Zealand v Pakistan | 3rd T20I | Napier | 22 December | Pre-match discussion

[MenInG]

2-0 down and just pride to play for (and a chance to avoid a whitewash) for Pakistan.

So what do they do now?

Experiment and risk a third loss or stick with same side (and lose again!)

 

[KingOfPakBreakfast]

Things I'd love to see:

Don't open with Rizwan
Open with Haider and Abdullah. Just ask Abdullah to bat and not worry hugely about strike rate
Play Talat
Drop Wahab and play Hasnain
Play Qadir and drop Faheem

Ideally would have liked to have seen Zeeshan play this game , but he's busy not playing for the Shaheens in the wrong format

 

[Gullycricket]

Shadab, Faheem, Rizzu out replaced by Talat, Ifti and Saifi.Gets rid of Fake allrounders and is the strongest team available from squad. Also would love to see Imad bat higher

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Sarfaraz Replaces Rizwan as an opener.

Ifthikar comes in for Khushdil Shah

Hussain Talat in for Abdullah Shafiq

Musa In for Shaheen

Husnain in for Wahab

Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk)
Haidar Ali
Hussain Talat
Mohammad Hafeez
Ifthikar Ahmed
Shadab Khan (c)
Faheem Ashraf
Imad Wasim
Musa Khan
Haris Rauf
Mohammad Husnain

Will Misbah be brave enough to pick Musa and Husnain? No. He knows when they get smashed out the park, people will start to question his decision on dropping Amir for them.

 

[gazza619]

I would actually hope we dont make any changes so that my love for Misbah and Waqar increases even more.

 

[El Generico]

If Riaz plays again then Misbah should not only be fired but also arrested.

 

[Omer2002]

Clearly Saffy needs a game so no rizwan...Talat and Ifti need to play for sure..Faheem although i dont like but in the first two games has done well if ..Shaheen needs to rest hasnain needs to play wahab needs to be sent home!!!

 

[ChTab]

Pak XI for 3rd T20:

1. Haider
2. Abdullah
3. Hussain Talat
4. Hafeez
5. Rohail (wk)
6. Shahdab (c)
7. Imad
8. Qadir
9. Shaheen
10. Haris
11. Husnain

 

[UzmanBeast]

If the management had an iota of common sense, they'd have identified the problem already.

Our youngsters are unable to rotate strike at all, resulting in the added pressure to strike the ball in the powerplay. I don't care if we hit only 36 runs in the powerplay, what matters is how many wickets we have lost. Haider should know that he is capable of clearing the boundary, and he doesn't have to take unnecessary risks early on.

Our openers are the bigger problem, both have been nothing but failures on this tour.

The only strategy left is experimentation. I'd go with this squad:

Sarfaraz Ahmed
Abdullah Shafique
Haider Ali
Mohammad Hafeez
Shadab Khan
Iftikhar Ahmed
Khushdil Shah
Imad Wasim
Faheem Ashraf
Haris Rauf
Shaheen Shah Afridi

Granted that Usman Qadir performed very well, but since Shadab is captain, it's impossible to drop him. If needed, we can drop Imad Wasim for Usman Qadir, but I don't think that would be wise since Imad is a capable batsman.

 

[gazza619]

If Riaz plays again then Misbah should not only be fired but also arrested.

Lol. He should already be arrested for picking him 2 games in a row.

 

[gazza619]

I would pick all the players in the T20 squad who havent had a chance in the first two games.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Reports that I’m hearing:

Abdullah Shafique out
Khushdil Shah out
Wahab Riaz out

Usman Qadir in
Iftikhar Ahmed in
Mohammad Hasnain in

Not sure if it’s true, but I would like Abdullah and Khushdil to get one more chance. I would much rather rest Hafeez since it’s a dead rubber, and bring Iftikhar in.

 

[SARJ_BD]

Jao Misbah jao

 

[MMHS]

Interesting... suddenly it looks like Iftekhar has become quite popular after youngsters have shown their talent....

I’ll stick to the same XI bar two - Rizwan & Wahab. There has to be a consistency- if you go for youth, you must stick to that. In any case, PAK was never expected to even compete here, let alone win it. Therefore after two losses, if they revert back to Iftekhar (& eventually that’ll end in Malik), then it’s the perfect example of going by circles.

I even am not for Sarfraz to replace Rizwan - it’s just a sidewise, if not backward shift. They should try Keeping with Khusdil or Talat or any specialist batsman if Ruhail is not available. Only Hasnain replaces Wahab and may be Usman replacing Faheem/Imad (just for the sake of giving him a game).

 

[Rayyman]

Haider Ali, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed+, Khushdil Shah, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan*, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain

Rest Rizwan and Shaheen.

Do not drop youngsters off just a couple of matches. Drop the underperforming senior- Wahab.

 

[Markhor]

The fact there's not many replies to this shows you where we are under Misbah.

Watching Pakistan cricket has become a chore. Staving off an embarrassing whitewash doesn't inspire much enthusiasm does it.

Just don't open with Rizwan again, and even though I'm not Chacha's biggest fan I'll take him over "I'm Khushdil only if it's pitched on middle and leg" Shah.

 

[hitthestump]

Is there any point playing Abdullah? This is not his level yet. Just let him go to Shaheen's quietly without any further humiliation or dent to his confidence.

Please lets stick with Khushdil over Ifti Chacha.

Rest Shaheen and bring in Hasnain. Give Wahab one more game which might prove to be his last for Pakistan if he gets whacked again.

 

[hitthestump]

I would much rather rest Hafeez since it’s a dead rubber, and bring Iftikhar in.

Don't think we can afford to. Already no Babar. We might end up on 35 all out if Hafeez isn't there too.

 

[Shoaibbtt]

I think Pakistan have lacked a good spinner to choke those middle overs. Resting Shaheen

1. Haider Ali
2. Abdullah Shafique
3. Hussain Talat
4. Muhammad Hafeez
5. Shadab Khan
6. Iftikhar Ahmed/Khushdil Shah
7. Sarfraz Ahmed (wk)
8. Usman Qadir
9. Muhammad Hasnain
10. Wahab Riaz
11. Haris Rauf

 

[Anis10]

Abdullah
Haider
Talat
Hafeez
Sarfraz
Chacha
Shadab
Imad
Wahab
Hasnain
Rauf

No point playing shaheen in a dead rubber, especially when the first test is around the corner. Give sarfraz a chance can’t be worse then rizwan

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Not giving Talat a game till now has been criminal. And he's going to be go back to Pakistan after tomorrow's match.

 

[Bilal Ahmad15]

Wahab has to be out of any Pakistan squad forever.

They should use this match to try more of their bench players

Here is my lineup:

1. Abdullah Shafique
2. Haider Ali
3. Hussain Talat
4. Mohammad Hafeez
5. Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk)
6. Khushdil Shah
7. Shadab Khan (c)
8. Imad Wasim/ Faheem Ashraf
9. Usman Qadir
10. Haris Rauf/ Muhammad Musa Khan
11. Mohammad Hasnain

 

[Rana]

Faheem batted well in the first game and bowled well in the second. He should actually play.

Wahab easy drop, try Hasnain
Rizwan swap with Sarfaraz
Khushdil swap with Chacha


Keep the rest pretty much the same.

 

[nextover666666]

I doubt management will make changes or if they do they might make 1

I rather we lose but they make 3 changes to give others a chance

 

[angrypathan]

Bring back my mans Ifti

 

[angrypathan]

Reports that I’m hearing:

Abdullah Shafique out
Khushdil Shah out
Wahab Riaz out

Usman Qadir in
Iftikhar Ahmed in
Mohammad Hasnain in

Not sure if it’s true, but I would like Abdullah and Khushdil to get one more chance. I would much rather rest Hafeez since it’s a dead rubber, and bring Iftikhar in.

Why are we going in with even less batsmen?