Over-reliance on Misbah and Younis - Who should be our next go-to duo in Tests?

[Surf]

We are massively over reliant on Younis and Misbah. For instance today our openers failed and we needed Misbah and Younis for rescue. And like when we drew a series against South Africa in 2010 we needed the pair to do well. And again in the overseas test series which we won against NZ we relied heavily on the duo.

And the terrible series we played against Zimbabwe where almost lost the series and the duo again saved us from losing. And also the England series this past summer the duo got us draw a series in England which is a massive a thing. And many other countless test series that they have salvaged Pakistan, we really need reliable batsmen these two are already too old and will be retiring soon so need batsmen who consistently score runs to help the team out. Who should be the duo for the future who we can rely on because Azhar and Shafiq aren't as reliable/consistent to replace the Younis-Misbah pair.

Discuss

 

[j_kazmi]

Azhar and shafiq will have to step up once the duo or gone.

If not then haris sohail and Babar azam might become the dependable duo we need.

 

[Ab Fan]

Pakistan don't have enough backups post retirement of Misbah- Younis and they had to rely on Azhar and Shafiq to become the next big duo after Misbah-Yoni, Yoni-Yousuf and Inzy-Yousuf.

There will be a few failures when those two greats retire but most teams have to go through that phase where they look for stability.

 

[Pete Rose]

This is a strange logic. Does it mean that we were over-reliant on wasim and waqar when we had them?
Gun players are always over-relied on - I dont see the negative in this.

 

[Ab Fan]

Sarfaraz needs to show some responsibility too with bat. These 40s won't work always.

 

[Pete Rose]

Pakistan don't have enough backups post retirement of Misbah- Younis and they had to rely on Azhar and Shafiq to become the next big duo after Misbah-Yoni, Yoni-Yousuf and Inzy-Yousuf.

There will be a few failures when those two greats retire but most teams have to go through that phase where they look for stability.

There was no serious cricket expert who rated misbah or yk when they started their careers....there was plenty of "pakistan dont have decent back ups after inzi and yousuf"

 

[Seamer]

1. Azhar ali
2. Sami aslam
3. Asad shafiq
4. Babar azam
5. Imam ul Haq
6. Sarfaraz

 

[Ab Fan]

There was no serious cricket expert who rated misbah or yk when they started their careers....there was plenty of "pakistan dont have decent back ups after inzi and yousuf"

I am not too sure if Azhar and Asad can transform themselves into world class players but Inzy, Yousuf, Younis and Misbah(if you take his captaincy) are certainly world class test players. Any team will miss their " two world class players" when they retire.

 

[AlphaFighter]

It will be Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Umar Akmal e.t.c.

 

[AlphaFighter]

Sarfaraz needs to show some responsibility too with bat. These 40s won't work always.

That is how he plays his cricket, lives by the sword and dies by it. Force him to play against his natural instincts and he will become half the player. And don't agree that his 40's and 50's wont work. Sometime quick fire knocks can put the opposition of their game. So many times i have seen Pakistan bat defensively, in a shell only for Sarfaraz to come in and get some momentum going.

 

[Ab Fan]

That is how he plays his cricket, lives by the sword and dies by it. Force him to play against his natural instincts and he will become half the player. And don't agree that his 40's and 50's wont work. Sometime quick fire knocks can put the opposition of their game. So many times i have seen Pakistan bat defensively, in a shell only for Sarfaraz to come in and get some momentum going.

I said his 40s won't work always. Always is keyword here.After the retirement of the duo, he has to take the responsibility with the bat and just can't be happy with his usual attacking 40-45.

 

[Hasan123]

Babar Azam
Saud Shakeel
Jaahid Ali
Imam ul haq
Sami Aslam
Fawad Alam (UAE conditions)

There is enough batting when misbah and younis retire. Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq have played good innings and will do so in the future.

 

[The_KING]

I expect Azhar and Babar to be the next YK and Misbah. I'm not too confident about Shafiq and his ability to score on a consistent basis.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

It takes time to bring in the replacements. Every team whether its sri lanka, south africa, india or australia have suffered after their legends retired. Same will happen with pakistan too.

 

[Bilal7]

Which team isn't heavily reliant on their top two batsmen? After Younis and Misbah, it will be Azhar and Shafiq. After them, it will be Babar and Sami.

 

[sl-fan-of-pak]

Like when Sanga and Mahela left, a massive void will be created within the Pakistani team. In SL's case, Chandimal stepped up and he has been a near prolific scorer for SL ever since... Darren Bravo, Kohli, Umar Akmal and Chandimal all bloomed together, all prospered except for one. I don't think Umar has the patience or caliber now (although he used to have it) to be a test level batsman, he has become one of those masala players. So Babar Azam seems to be the only option, Haris Sohail is not going to happen.. .Babar and Shafiq, not Azhar. He's not gonna be someone who could fill in the shoes of Misbah or Younis.

 

[sl-fan-of-pak]

Sarfraz being the T20 captain, mainstay in the ODIs and then WK in Test team would mean he has one hellava workload. Let him play Matt Prior or Boucher like role, don't think you can expect anything more from him - practically.

 

[Markhor]

Babar Azam
Saud Shakeel
Jaahid Ali
Imam ul haq
Sami Aslam
Fawad Alam (UAE conditions)

There is enough batting when misbah and younis retire. Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq have played good innings and will do so in the future.

Don't forget Saad Ali.

But yes to the OP, losing two senior campaigners will be a big blow. That's why we need to stagger the retirements so Misbah retires after Australia and Younis retires after West Indies tour of 2017.

 

[cricketInsight]

Once Misbah and Younis leave, we can't have our best two players Azhar and Shafiq bat in the top 3. We may need to spread them out - in theory we can lose them both in two balls in the first over and our innings is destroyed.

Unless - Babar becomes as reliable as one of Misbah & Younis. Looks like Younis will be around for a while after Misbah which may give Babar some time to settle in with Younis.

 

[Red Devil]

Wouldn't count Haris out if he can regain full fitness. He got picked in the PSL draft so that means his recovery is coming along nicely.

 

[abc_to_xyz]

Fawad Alam and Azhar Ali I guess. Golden boy Shafiq can't carry it consistently as he scores once or twice in a series.

 

[Hasan123]

Don't forget Saad Ali.

But yes to the OP, losing two senior campaigners will be a big blow. That's why we need to stagger the retirements so Misbah retires after Australia and Younis retires after West Indies tour of 2017.

Saad looks a good talent he might be next in line after the Australia tour.

I think Younis will still be playing for next UAE series, so we won't be losing both at once.

 

[Hawkeye]

It's a valid concern.

Both Azhar and Shafiq haven't shown the required consistency and the latter specially goes missing most of each series.

 

[Seamer]

I think Shafiq and Azhar can do it with babar there aswell. The team might look like this:

1. Sami Aslam
2. Jaahid Ali
3. Azhar Ali
4. Asad Shafiq
5. Babar Azam
6. Sarfaraz
7. Nawaz
8. Yasir Shah
9. Wahab Riaz
10. Amir
11. Rahat Ali

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

The natural successors are Azhar and Shafiq.

Although, Shafiq must learn art of scoring daddy 100s

 

[boomboom6]

Sarfaraz needs to show some responsibility too with bat. These 40s won't work always.

Very hard to score big while batting with the tail. It's true though he's being wasted at 7 a bit because he can be a really, really good batsman. Avg. of 40+ is amazing for a wicket keeper batsman especially for us considering our historically inept tail.

 

[boomboom6]

Well selecting Fawad for instance will alleviate some of the concerns. He scores daddy 100s in domestic, scored an impressive 168 on test debut while opening.

 

[aloo paratha]

Wanted it to be Haris Sohail and Babar Azam but Haris looks very doubtful so I'd take Fawad instead.

 

[salih]

Get a proper opener in for Azhar Ali. Azhar Ali should move back to 3, where he looks a lot more assured (despite his recent triple century). the problem with him opening is that the openers are more likely to receive a 'perfect ball'. And I would rather someone like Sami Aslam get out to that ball, than Azhar Ali. Azhar Ali should move to 3, and I would move Shafiq to 5 for a bit of depth (although him at 4 is also reasonable). Then you can rely on them two as we currently rely on Misbah-Younis. Pakistan need a gritty player in the middle order as well (in the Misbah/Azhar mould), in the event of a collapse. Perhaps Fawad Alam?

 

[Square Drive]

Azhar & Shafiq will take care of things.

 

[asfandyar]

Fawad and Haris inshaAllah. Considering the benchmarks Younis and Misbah have set, none of Babar, Shafiq, Azhar or Sarfraz have the capability (not ability) to come close because of failure to do so in a sandbox environment (First Class), Fawad and Haris both average 50+ in domestics and have every chance to come close to matching the two veterans.

 

[asfandyar]

What people don't realize about Shafiq and Azhar (as evident in this thread) is that they are not noobs/newbies any more. Their current form is their final form and it is too late for them to learn anything. They may have a purple patch here and there, but the law of averages will eventually take over. Statements like "Shafiq must learn how to score Daddy Hundreds" are outright ridiculous.

 

[Abdul]

Our next duo will be Azhar and Asad but Fawad should be kept away from the team in the future also. Embarrassing batsman to watch.

 

[Surf]

Bump

The duo everyone thinks will replace them just got a double duck. So who should be our next reliable duo?

 

[Ab Fan]

Bump

The duo everyone thinks will replace them just got a double duck. So who should be our next reliable duo?

It has to be Azhar and Asad only.

Those guys are experienced players now and will get better with the more they play.

1 game doesn't changes much although they aren't proven performers yet.

 

[Gotham Cronie]

Think it's easy to say that the future of the Test team relies on some big partnerships between Azhar and Shafiq.

 

[Pete Rose]

Think it's easy to say that the future of the Test team relies on some big partnerships between Azhar and Shafiq.

Azhar is doing his part (quite a few big innings over last year), Shafiq still not there.