What's new

Only one of Mohammed Hafeez or Shoaib Malik should play the ICC World Cup 2019

Too many all rounders in our squad

We need proper batsmen someone like Saud or Rizwan who can stabilise the MO in case we get an earpy collapse.

This is the tour that might actually tell us.
 
Rana said:
I’m dead certain it should be Hafeez at 6
Click to expand...

this,

1.Imam Ul Haq
2.Fakhar Zaman
3.Babar Azam
4.Haris Sohail
5.Shan Masood
6.Mohammad Hafeez
7.Sarfraz Ahmed (wk)
8.Shadab Khan
9.Hasan Ali
10.Mohammad Amir
11.Shaheen Afridi

Amir
Afridi
Hasan
Shadab
Haris
Hafeez
Masood

decent bowling too
 
I wouldn't play either if I had to choose, specially since Hussain Talat is on the bench.
 
Chokli said:
this,

1.Imam Ul Haq
2.Fakhar Zaman
3.Babar Azam
4.Haris Sohail
5.Shan Masood
6.Mohammad Hafeez
7.Sarfraz Ahmed (wk)
8.Shadab Khan
9.Hasan Ali
10.Mohammad Amir
11.Shaheen Afridi

Amir
Afridi
Hasan
Shadab
Haris
Hafeez
Masood

decent bowling too
Click to expand...

Sarfaraz useless at 6/7, he need to come in the middle and use his sweep to put off the spinners. Imam and Babar will not do anything against the spinners, just looking for the straight single to long on/off
 
TeymurBlake said:
I wouldn't play either if I had to choose, specially since Hussain Talat is on the bench.
Click to expand...

What are you smoking? Did you see today’s game ? We need the experience and stability that Hafeez brings. He’ The only hope we have for World Cup and has he not been there for ct2017, we would have lost.
 
Pakistani team is built around the idea of including as many all rounders as possible in the Mickey/Inzi era. So, i see both Shobby and Hafeez retaining their place. Haris is a better bat, however, most of the time hes injured anyway.
 
Abdullah said:
Sarfaraz useless at 6/7, he need to come in the middle and use his sweep to put off the spinners. Imam and Babar will not do anything against the spinners, just looking for the straight single to long on/off
Click to expand...

he's not even impactful against the spinners anymore.

preferably i'd have rizwan and hafeez or someone as captain
 
I would disagree. Malik and Hafeez are the 2 cleanest hitters available in Pakistan - better than Asif Ali, Faheem, Imad... anyone really

They are very inconsistent, but needed at the moment.
 
What I have been saying about Hafeez and Malik for so long...

Hafeez does well in more bouncier conditions of the western half of the cricketing circle... South Africa, Australia and Newzealand..

Malik does well in Asian conditions mostly...

They are ying and yang, but both of them are needed. Our team looks ordinary without even one of them.

Absence of Hafeez made us look so ordinary and light in Asia Cup 2018, whereas he has come in in ODIs and won us a big match against South Africa...

Malik on was the top scorer and the only good performer in 2018 in the Asia Cup... but he will mostly struggle in these conditions... but still absolutely vital because there is no one else as good as him.
 
Hafeez's ability to accelerate against pace and spin makes him really vital for WC. Malik struggles in these kind of conditions. But he may have a use as more teams are fielding two spinners. He can be useful in middle overs. May be worth trying somebody else for Malik though. Hopefully Talat will get an opportunity.
 
Imam
Fakhar
Babar
Shan
Malik(If Harris is fit, he can play)
Hafeez
Sarfaraz(wkt)
Shadab
Amir
Hasan
Shaheen
 
M Hafeez is a must with his bowling available, Shoaib Malik is also a good finisher and the only one we have apart from M Hafeez. Both should play till the World Cup finishes.
 
We need faheem and Imad and shadab to face the situations we faced today before the world cup
 
Hafeez Sobers will play a big role in us winning the 2019 world cup, just wait and watch. Malik meh he should become mentor of the team or something. Just kidding Malik will do good inshallah and end his 20 year long One Day Career off with a bang hopefully.
 
Malik is a one trick poney; his strength is hitting spinners and if the other team don't bowl them when he bats he struggles. So out of the 2, Hafeez plays
 
We just keep going through this cycle. First Malik does something, everyone praises Malik says Hafeez should go. Now Hafeez has done something, and Malik's been poor lately and people want Hafeez in Malik out. They're just going to be inconsistent down to their age. I think they have better skills than most of the others perhaps down to experience, they're good at accelerating even if they start off slow, and know how to milk the weaker bowlers in the opposition. But their reflexes are down, and they just aren't consistent anymore.

I think both will inevitably play but both should really be pushed down as far down as possible, let them focus on bashing the spinners and accelerating the rate at the end. We should move on from both of them really, they feel the same. Hafeez is a bit better against pace, Malik a bit better against spin. But they're essentially the same, with the same problems.
 
Both are going to play in the World Cup so we just need to hope for the best now.
 
If we can't have both then I would vote for Hafiz. Between him & Shoaib, he handles pace & bounce a tad bit better
 
I think, it's safe to say that both will play in WC, and Sarfraz will lead as well. We can only hope that all 3 performs and justifies their selection.
 
Both of them when play big they more often than not win us Matches, play more impactful innings than everyone's favourite Babar.

Our fans are as inept as our managmnt and selectors really. They keep supporting babar despite his selfish, useless knocks. He looks shaky against the spinners, dot ball issue never going to go away. But according to the fans problems are Hafeez and Malik. Ridiculous when u consider both are good bowling options, better fielders than Babar even at 38. But fans, just like management goes blind when it comes to their favourites role in the side.


Not saying Hafeez and Malik don't have issues but they are still better than our 'talented' young gunz. Opposition would be more afraid of Hafeez ' economical bowling spells n his ability to accelerate with the bat than Babars meek 50s or 80s. Just like Amla' s 100 didn't trouble us Babar's runs/meek 50s only help the opposition. Pitches in ODIs are totally flat nowadays meek and dull innings are futile , everyone can score runs on modern day batting pitches, it's all about impact ful or quick innings
 
When we have got batters until number 9 and 2 solid players in the top 3 who more often than not will bat most the overs (Babar and Shan by world cup) it makes me more horrified why we didn't give Asif more of a go.
We have no one in the team that can bury a game by scoring 65-70 in the last 5 and putting a game out if reach.
On point, hafeez was more vulnerable so looks like he will stay now and stay at 4, when really sarfaraz should be 4 and hafeez 6
 
ads101 said:
We just keep going through this cycle. First Malik does something, everyone praises Malik says Hafeez should go. Now Hafeez has done something, and Malik's been poor lately and people want Hafeez in Malik out. They're just going to be inconsistent down to their age. I think they have better skills than most of the others perhaps down to experience, they're good at accelerating even if they start off slow, and know how to milk the weaker bowlers in the opposition. But their reflexes are down, and they just aren't consistent anymore.

I think both will inevitably play but both should really be pushed down as far down as possible, let them focus on bashing the spinners and accelerating the rate at the end. We should move on from both of them really, they feel the same. Hafeez is a bit better against pace, Malik a bit better against spin. But they're essentially the same, with the same problems.
Click to expand...

Whoever bats at 4/5 should be asked to properly get after the spinners and not let them settle at all. (Babar is not really capable and should be the one to bat through regardless)
We have batting until number 9 and we need to start getting the guys at the bottom some batting time, with hafeez Malik and sarfaraz going for broke and maximising what they get against opposition spinners. That also means that frontline bowlers have to come back early and that throws the oppositions plans for the back end where Imad /faheem can face lesser bowlers
 
Last edited:
This idea of 'one batsman has to bat through with whatever strike rate' is getting out dated in ODI crickt but still seems popular in Pakistan. Top ODI teams usually give every batter a free license to go out and bat freely as pitches are so flat 80-90% of times that asking them to hold one end is pointless. Even if someone holds one end in top teams on flat pitches he bats with a SR of around 90 and accelerate at the end to finish run a ball. It's only in Pakistan that innings of 80 on 100 deliveries, 100 on 115 balls are appreciated. That's y we are still lying 6th in ODIs despite all of our top 3 avging 50+ but only one is good enough to play modern day cricket and has 95+ strike rate.
 
Come in guys..barring injury both will be selected for the World Cup.

Their wish is to play the world cup and their wish will be granted.

We're a 'big hearted' gulliable nation/PCB and we dont like to upset anyone.
 
Ami said:
Come in guys..barring injury both will be selected for the World Cup.

Their wish is to play the world cup and their wish will be granted.

We're a 'big hearted' gulliable nation/PCB and we dont like to upset anyone.
Click to expand...

*gullible
 
Fakhar
Sharjeel
Saud
Hafeez
Sarfraz
Malik
Shadab

Or
Fakhar
Sharjeel
Saud
Sarfraz
Hafeez
Shadab
Asif

These are the best ODI batting combinations Pakistan can come up with. Wish we call Sharjeel back before the worldcup and give Saud a go at 3.
Batting will suddenly start looking threatening and strong
 
Drop malik. He can’t play pace and would be dead weight in England. Our Malik in Umar Akmal.

Imam
Fakhar
Babar
Haris
Hafeez
Akmal
Sarfraz
Shadab
Faheem
Amir
Hassan

Bench

Afridi
Rumaan
Junaid
Usman
Malik
 
For me I don’t mind both, but with a change to the batting order
Put Hafeez at 6 and Sarfraz at 4, both can be best utilised in these positions

But ideally after the World Cup, both retire from ODIs
 
Pakistan can play both and solve the problem I've been worried about: How to balance out the team in the absence of a proper all-rounder:

1) Imam
2) Fakhar/Masood/Haris
3) Babar
4) Hafeez/Haris
5) Malik
6) Talat
7) Sarfaraz (c) (wk)
8) Shadab
9) Amir
10) Hasan/Shaheen
11) Junaid/Shaheen

With Hafeez, Malik and potentially, Haris in the team, there should be enough bowling options available for Sarfaraz to utilize during the 20th to 40th over.
 
Bilal7 said:
Pakistan can play both and solve the problem I've been worried about: How to balance out the team in the absence of a proper all-rounder:

1) Imam
2) Fakhar/Masood/Haris
3) Babar
4) Hafeez/Haris
5) Malik
6) Talat
7) Sarfaraz (c) (wk)
8) Shadab
9) Amir
10) Hasan/Shaheen
11) Junaid/Shaheen

With Hafeez, Malik and potentially, Haris in the team, there should be enough bowling options available for Sarfaraz to utilize during the 20th to 40th over.
Click to expand...

So Fakhar is finding it hard to make ur 11? . Wah
The only proper match winning batsman in the squad.

Where's Hussain talat come from? He's not done anything remarkable to get wc spot
 
Farhan93 said:
So Fakhar is finding it hard to make ur 11? . Wah
The only proper match winning batsman in the squad.

Where's Hussain talat come from? He's not done anything remarkable to get wc spot
Click to expand...

Fakhar on current form, yes. He needs to up his game.
 
Bilal7 said:
Fakhar on current form, yes. He needs to up his game.
Click to expand...

What's his current form? Still playing cameos which are of great help. Without him batting looks bland and very uninspiring.
Imam has become permanent fixture after one 85? Keeping in my his ODI strike rate before the 1st ODI was 72 excluding the Zimbabwe series?
Imam > Fakhar for u? Really amazing to see
 
When 1 fails and the other does well we call for the 1 struggling to be dropped. Neither should go to the WC. Both will be exposed in English conditions.
 
The Asia Cup reality check was not enough for some people.

Even the previous ODI would have been a defeat without Hafeez.

Pakistani fans need to make peace with reality - Hafeez and Malik are not top players, but they are comfortably good enough for this mediocre team and will both play in the World Cup and rightly so.
 
Mamoon said:
The Asia Cup reality check was not enough for some people.

Even the previous ODI would have been a defeat without Hafeez.

Pakistani fans need to make peace with reality - Hafeez and Malik are not top players, but they are comfortably good enough for this mediocre team and will both play in the World Cup and rightly so.
Click to expand...

People forget that and the CT, asian fans are notorious for showing alzhemier like symptoms
 
Abdullah said:
Whoever bats at 4/5 should be asked to properly get after the spinners and not let them settle at all. (Babar is not really capable and should be the one to bat through regardless)
We have batting until number 9 and we need to start getting the guys at the bottom some batting time, with hafeez Malik and sarfaraz going for broke and maximising what they get against opposition spinners. That also means that frontline bowlers have to come back early and that throws the oppositions plans for the back end where Imad /faheem can face lesser bowlers
Click to expand...

Feel like even 4 is too high for players who prefer to play the spinners. Bad top order start and 4th batsman is in, only takes 2 wickets lost which can often happen in first 10 overs. Really 5th and below which is kind of the issue when you have Sarfraz, Malik and Hafeez all taking spots in middle order.

Hafeez came in late and performed, already 140 runs on the board, I do wonder whether he would have done well if he'd come in earlier. In the same thinking, I've always thought Malik has been protected a bit lower down, I think he'd have struggled more even at 4.

If we'd have to play all of them, I'd go Hafeez at 5, Malik at 6, Sarfraz at 7, I wouldn't have an allrounder in the side as we'd have so many part timers. A few months/a year ago, I'd have probably had Sarfraz at 5, Hafeez at 6, and Malik at 7, but Sarfraz has been so bad, rather just stick him at 7 now.
 
ads101 said:
Feel like even 4 is too high for players who prefer to play the spinners. Bad top order start and 4th batsman is in, only takes 2 wickets lost which can often happen in first 10 overs. Really 5th and below which is kind of the issue when you have Sarfraz, Malik and Hafeez all taking spots in middle order.

Hafeez came in late and performed, already 140 runs on the board, I do wonder whether he would have done well if he'd come in earlier. In the same thinking, I've always thought Malik has been protected a bit lower down, I think he'd have struggled more even at 4.

If we'd have to play all of them, I'd go Hafeez at 5, Malik at 6, Sarfraz at 7, I wouldn't have an allrounder in the side as we'd have so many part timers. A few months/a year ago, I'd have probably had Sarfraz at 5, Hafeez at 6, and Malik at 7, but Sarfraz has been so bad, rather just stick him at 7 now.
Click to expand...

If we lose 2 early ( with Shan and Babar this will happen less than it used to) id happy for sarfaraz to move to 5 and get hafeez or Malik in ahead of him. If we get a good start he should definitely come in at 4
 
Here are Mickey Arthur's views on this topic:

Hafeez, Malik at the World Cup?

"The senior players will play a massive role at the World Cup. In big tournaments, you need guys who have been there and done it. I hope Hafeez and Malik have exceptional World Cups, because if they do, we'll be getting enough runs to put pressure on the opposition. I'm still of the opinion that our bowling attack won us the Champions Trophy and we have to get that up to the mark again. Our batters will complement the bowling attack"

http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...like-losing-We-hate-losing-quot-Mickey-Arthur
 
Hafeez needs to chuck a last time, but should do it quietly, our only hope in WC.
 
ads101 said:
Feel like even 4 is too high for players who prefer to play the spinners. Bad top order start and 4th batsman is in, only takes 2 wickets lost which can often happen in first 10 overs. Really 5th and below which is kind of the issue when you have Sarfraz, Malik and Hafeez all taking spots in middle order.

Hafeez came in late and performed, already 140 runs on the board, I do wonder whether he would have done well if he'd come in earlier. In the same thinking, I've always thought Malik has been protected a bit lower down, I think he'd have struggled more even at 4.

If we'd have to play all of them, I'd go Hafeez at 5, Malik at 6, Sarfraz at 7, I wouldn't have an allrounder in the side as we'd have so many part timers. A few months/a year ago, I'd have probably had Sarfraz at 5, Hafeez at 6, and Malik at 7, but Sarfraz has been so bad, rather just stick him at 7 now.
Click to expand...

Hafeez is great to watch when he has a platform to launch from.

Mallik I don't even know, same with Sarfraz.

I'd have Hafeez anywhere from 4-6 depending on the match situation.
 
I don’t get the obsession with SR - 80 with a good average will be enough for the World Cup given that 300+ runs were only scored 7 times out of 30 CT17 innings.

We need a batting line up capable of batting 50 overs and I personally feel we are a proper batsmen light of consistently doing this. If Imam and Babar both fail early who else can bat the distance? The only person who can do a job and on the fringes is Shan. I’m not saying he is the answer but i’d like to see the change tested.

Shan, Imam and Babar to lay the foundations with the rest of the line up based on match situation. If we are 2 down early then next bat should be Sarfraz, Shadab, Hafeez and Fakhar but if top 3 bat long then the we can change to Hafeez, Fakhar, Imad and Shadab.

I reckon a winning score will be somewhere around 270 especially with a decent bowling attack. For us to win the WC we need to aim to get a batting line up that can get us to these runs in atleast 9 innings.
 
I still thin you can only afford one of them. I would take Hafeez. Malik is useful in the subcontinent but he won't offer much in England. Since Safaraz is in the lineup also, you can't afford to have good players of spin but weak players of pace.
 
The title of the thread should of been “Out of Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik, Only Hafeez should be selected for the WC” But we all know that Malik ain’t getting benched for the WC.
 
rhony said:
Lol...that should seriously be a plan if Pak reaches final. Unleash Hafeez against lefties one last time
Click to expand...

This is already the plan lol

That is why he isn’t bowling that much atm - he’ll definately be bowling his full quota come the World Cup
 
I agree and I have mentioned this before as well. Personally, I think the ideal team at the moment is:

Imam
Fakhar
Babar
Haris
Hafeez
Sarfraz
Imad
Shadab
Hasan
Amir
Shaheen

Hafeez has the ability to play longer innings and I think people are underrating Malik's ability to score fast when set but we've Hafeez do it too when he's forced to be in a position to slog. He is also the better bowler which fits.

I think Hafeez/Malik should probably depend on the conditions and the opposition. If it's a team you're facing that has a lot of lefties, it makes sense to have Hafeez in the lineup but if the opposition are playing a lot of spinners, it makes sense to use Malik who is the best at playing them.

Using Malik/Hafeez at 5-6 could be interesting combo as well if you're confident enough to get 10 overs out of Hafeez/Malik/Fakhar/Haris in some combination but it really weakens the bowling and frankly, if Pakistan is to win or go far in WC, it will be only happen if the bowling is great.
 
Malik is an absolute disgrace against top teams. When he has last made a matchwinning contribution against any of the current top 7 teams ?
 
Markhor said:
Malik is an absolute disgrace against top teams. When he has last made a matchwinning contribution against any of the current top 7 teams ?
Click to expand...

We don't have anyone else unfortunately. Who else will play? Haris Sohail? We have seen his strike rate. They are no different to watch Shan, Imam, Babar has to offer.
Asif ali is a hack only good for t20s
 
Markhor said:
Malik is an absolute disgrace against top teams. When he has last made a matchwinning contribution against any of the current top 7 teams ?
Click to expand...

I think him being in the team (and hafeez to an extent as well) actually harms Pakistan cricket. No young or upcoming cricketer will look at these guys and say, ‘I want to be like these guys ‘
 
Malik has been having a horrible 2019, absolute disaster with the bat. Hes been showing colors of his performance under Misbah.

Would take hafeez over him easily.
 
I find it unbelievable how people think we can win the WC with both of these 2 in the line up.
 
Hasan123 said:
Because bowlers like Cummins, Starc, Boult, Bumrah, and Shami will throughly expose Hafeez.
Click to expand...

Hafeez scored against Bumrah in the final

Hafeez scored 22 runs in an over versus Trent Boult.

And those bowlers would expose 90% of the worlds batsmen.

So I don't see your point.
 
Chokli said:
Hafeez scored against Bumrah in the final

Hafeez scored 22 runs in an over versus Trent Boult.

And those bowlers would expose 90% of the worlds batsmen.

So I don't see your point.
Click to expand...

These are 1 off instances. He chokes when it matters and has been exposed throughout his career against good pace bowlers.

You’ll see at the World Cup.
 
Hasan123 said:
These are 1 off instances. He chokes when it matters and has been exposed throughout his career against good pace bowlers.

You’ll see at the World Cup.
Click to expand...

and the world cup itself is a one off instance versus all the teams of the world.

that choke in the final of the CT 17 was awesome.

yes just like I saw when he was batting in the UAE in those T20s or how he batted in the South African series
 
Chokli said:
and the world cup itself is a one off instance versus all the teams of the world.

that choke in the final of the CT 17 was awesome.

yes just like I saw when he was batting in the UAE in those T20s or how he batted in the South African series
Click to expand...

Just wait and see.
 
I would take Hafeez 1000 times before I take garbage Shoaib Malik. And I for one don't think Hafeez is anything special.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Z
Scotland can’t afford to host Pakistan before the Women’s World Cup 2026– Should the ICC or bigger boards step in?
Replies
4
Views
562
Kianig89
Kianig89
Ball Blazer
Karachi to host IMC Over 40s Cricket World Cup 2025, players like Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik to partake
Replies
0
Views
283
Ball Blazer
Ball Blazer
BouncerGuy
[VIDEO] “How much responsibility and authority has been given to five mentors working for Pakistan?”: Mohammad Hafeez asks Shoaib Malik
Replies
7
Views
410
charlie007
C
BouncerGuy
"Whether it's a youngster or a senior player, the best option available should play for Pakistan right now": Aaqib Javed
Replies
2
Views
414
mominsaigol
mominsaigol
Cricket Warrior
"Mohammad Haris was Player of the Series at number 3 against Bangladesh now pushed to 6/7 — yet no one notices": Salman Ali Agha
2
Replies
80
Views
2K
zahid01
Z
Back
Top