Pakistan’s emerging Test talent is exceptional

[Junaids]

Pakistan’s tourists have just played against the much-vaunted next generation of Australian cricketers at Perth. And the lesson is clear: there is far more young talent in Pakistan than in Australia.

There are basically two relative youngsters in the full Australian team: 25 year old Travis Head and 26 year old Pat Cummins. Even the much-vaunted reserve wicketkeeper Alex Carey is actually 28 years old, and he isn’t in the Test team because he can’t actually catch.

You can see why Mickey Arthur didn’t want to leave Pakistan.

What other country has two teenage fast bowlers as exceptional as Naseem Shah (16) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (19)?

There are two other quality young bowlers too: Zafar Gohar (24) and Shadab Khan (just 21 and with three Test fifties already).

The batting also promises unfamiliar levels of talent. Babar Azam (25) is six years younger than Virat Kohli. Sami Aslam (23) has finally turned the corner and is scoring a mountain of runs. And Imam-ul-Haq (23) is developing nicely too.

Even the keeper, Mohammad Rizwan (27) is younger than Alex Carey.

That’s an incredible and youthful core for a Test team. Seven top quality players under the age of 24, plus a 27 year old keeper who can bat like a batsman.

Sprinkle in a few older players - Yasir Shah in Asia, Asad Shafiq in the Southern Hemisphere, Mohammad Abbas and possibly even Shan Masood - and you have a seriously strong Test squad, but it is the youngsters who take the breath away.

I don’t understand the doom and gloom around the Pakistan team. They look very, very promising to me.

 

[Titan24]

I agree and have no doubts that upcoming talent is really good but Pak needs to make sure of good development as well. Because historically even after producing excellent U19 players we couldnt groom them properly while Australia and other countries made much less impressive cricketers at that level into world class performers.

I hope that PCB has learned its lesson and more importance will be given to the grooming and development young players who can be world class performers.

 

[Slog]

[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] - the apparent non-Pakistani - who is always more excited by Pakistani youngsters than Pakistanis themselves

 

[Chrish]

You can safely add at least 2 years (may be more) into Pakistani players’ “official” age.

Pace bowling does have a lot of potential. They just don’t have the same resources as their neighbor for coaching/ training.

 

[aloo paratha]

In this WTC I expect us to win all of our home test series, granted we select a proper second spinner, which shouldn't be an issue under Misbah. I don't see doing amazingly in this cycle because we have tough away tours, however we should use this cycle to build a team for the next cycle where we genuinely have a good chance at getting to the final.

Our next cycle has WI, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka away, and Australia, New Zealand and England at home.

 

[King_Kohli]

Pakistan young cricketers are very promising at early stage than any other country youngsters .
But problem is they are not able to sustain in long term except very few, could be various reasons like stress,attitude,lack of guidance,bad administration,selection process, leadership issues,fitness etc etc.

 

[Bewal Express]

They should be enough talent to make a solid team but we know we will mess up. There will be some massive bust up between some idiots over captaincy or the coach will be an ego maniac, or the board will make some stupid decisions etc.

 

[MMHS]

The emerging team playing in BD now is quite good actually. There are two major issues I have noticed - first, age faking isn’t factored in scouting and often youngsters are brought too late - their peak time is wasted to convince selectors, then they are picked at wrong time and often discarded prematurely, which has clearly created a generation gap. After Babar, it’s quite evident that the best two LO batsmen are playing for two decades now.

We have to appreciate Misbah for trying out the young players for a tough tour in Australia and the Emerging team selection was quite good. Things should improve in future (honestly speaking, in a cricket world with so few teams, PAK’s current position is unacceptable, it can’t and shouldn’t go below), but I doubt to that extent OP is hyping. PAK’s target shouldn’t be to create grounds for its fan base trolling BD & AFG teams, rather the target should be set that Indians can’t do that either - I guess, the message is loud & clear here.

Also, I think comparison with Australia on those parameters is hilarious - we had gone through that route in recent past and it didn’t end well.

 

[Pete Rose]

Not sure about Rizwan.

 

[tyron_woodley]

Pakistan’s tourists have just played against the much-vaunted next generation of Australian cricketers at Perth. And the lesson is clear: there is far more young talent in Pakistan than in Australia.

There are basically two relative youngsters in the full Australian team: 25 year old Travis Head and 26 year old Pat Cummins. Even the much-vaunted reserve wicketkeeper Alex Carey is actually 28 years old, and he isn’t in the Test team because he can’t actually catch.

You can see why Mickey Arthur didn’t want to leave Pakistan.

What other country has two teenage fast bowlers as exceptional as Naseem Shah (16) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (19)?

There are two other quality young bowlers too: Zafar Gohar (24) and Shadab Khan (just 21 and with three Test fifties already).

The batting also promises unfamiliar levels of talent. Babar Azam (25) is six years younger than Virat Kohli. Sami Aslam (23) has finally turned the corner and is scoring a mountain of runs. And Imam-ul-Haq (23) is developing nicely too.

Even the keeper, Mohammad Rizwan (27) is younger than Alex Carey.

That’s an incredible and youthful core for a Test team. Seven top quality players under the age of 24, plus a 27 year old keeper who can bat like a batsman.

Sprinkle in a few older players - Yasir Shah in Asia, Asad Shafiq in the Southern Hemisphere, Mohammad Abbas and possibly even Shan Masood - and you have a seriously strong Test squad, but it is the youngsters who take the breath away.

I don’t understand the doom and gloom around the Pakistan team. They look very, very promising to me.

imam babar are very talented.
bowling is class. Always talented. Pakistan are kings of producing bowling talents. Future is bright for the bowlers.

Batting Is in good hands at the moment but need more youngsters to step up.

age faking is an issue though. imam is definitely not 23 rofl. ifthikar looks 40.
shadab khan looks every bit of 25.

 

[Abdullah]

Been saying this since the sa tour. Shame haris has seemingly lost it

 

[kingusama92]

Pakistan always has "talent" coming through but they rarely sustain it.

If you go back 5-10 years, you'll see a long list of promising names that turned into nothing - Umar Akmal, Anwar Ali, Hammad Azam, Azeem Ghumman.

These are just a few.

From the current crop of talent, I can only see the likes of Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah (very early days) having a legitimate chance while Babar is already being a guaranteed star.

 

[ElRaja]

Pakistan always has "talent" coming through but they rarely sustain it.

If you go back 5-10 years, you'll see a long list of promising names that turned into nothing - Umar Akmal, Anwar Ali, Hammad Azam, Azeem Ghumman.

These are just a few.

From the current crop of talent, I can only see the likes of Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah (very early days) having a legitimate chance while Babar is already being a guaranteed star.

disagree on this, the period from 2010 to 2015 was terrible with the likes of akmal the third, tanvir ahmed, mohammad salman, nasir jamshed, aizaz cheema, ayub dogar, bilawal bhatti, zulfi babar debuting, there was a trend for selecting 25+ players.

no one would ever describe any of them as exciting, at least i wouldnt. it wasnt until the psl started pak started picking some youngsters again.

 

[Boi]

Saud Shakeel, Omair Yousaf and Zeeshan Malik are 3 other outstanding batting prospects who should be getting a chance soon.

 

[TeamPak95]

Player development and well thought out, proper selection. Tick those boxes, and you'll see Pakistan carrying a solid team (at least on paper). Talent, overall, has always been there.

 

[geraltofrivia]

results don't seem to justify that.

 

[JaDed]

results don't seem to justify that.

Lets wait for 3 series.. I think they are at a better place this time.

 

[MenInG]

Lets wait for 3 series.. I think they are at a better place this time.

The euphoria usually disappears after the 1st Day for Pakistan supporters!

 

[shah_1]

All hype

Zero result

We had so called strong team last time as well and got humliated by India and Bangladesh

 

[shane]

If only "emerging" talent won Test matches. Pakistan has been boasting talent for decades. Where is it?

 

[Nikhil_cric]

In terms of raw ability , Pakistani youngsters are second only to youngsters from the Caribbean. It's why these two teams have been the best T20 sides in history. In tests , however, the rankings of both teams shows that talent alone is not enough. India don't have players anywhere near the natural ability and we have been no. 1 for three years. So OP is wrong.

 

[cricketjoshila]

None of them has done anything exceptional in test.

Even Babbar Azam who has been Pakistans star, has lagged in tests

Its the batting that will be of concern againist Starc Cummins and co.

The bowling though did well, but problem is pakistan has not produced a fast bowler capable of taking 200 test wickets, since Waqar Younis and thats 30 years back. The last real world class test bowler was Akhtar.The bowling talent is going downhill, unless one Naseem and Shaheen turn it around in next 5 years.

 

[cricketjoshila]

In terms of raw ability , Pakistani youngsters are second only to youngsters from the Caribbean. It's why these two teams have been the best T20 sides in history. In tests , however, the rankings of both teams shows that talent alone is not enough. India don't have players anywhere near the natural ability and we have been no. 1 for three years. So OP is wrong.

Disagree. Ability is measured by performance and in tests pakistan has done nothing to say that their youngsters have more ability.

Pakistan is forced to play players at young age because players who came before at not sustaining their performance after a few seasons.

 

[cricketjoshila]

The euphoria usually disappears after the 1st Day for Pakistan supporters!

Bowling will do well. Batting, we have to see.

 

[Hyperion66]

In terms of raw ability , Pakistani youngsters are second only to youngsters from the Caribbean. It's why these two teams have been the best T20 sides in history. In tests , however, the rankings of both teams shows that talent alone is not enough. India don't have players anywhere near the natural ability and we have been no. 1 for three years. So OP is wrong.

You gotta be kidding right? Kahe ka raw ability bhai? How do you even measure that?

 

[tyron_woodley]

rubbish theory about natural ability rofl. Only athletic ability can be some what achieved naturally. Talent is not quantifiable.
Modern indian players are far more athletic than Pakistani, Aussies and west Indians. Fitness is key.

Some people just achieve elite level fitness at a quicker rate. Some don't reach that level even when they put in a lot of effort. That is the main difference

 

[Varun]

Yep, clearly a Golden Generation (TM) in the making.

 

[WengerOut]

You gotta be kidding right? Kahe ka raw ability bhai? How do you even measure that?

Basically when you have nothing tangible to show as a player, but still want to praise him, that is raw talent.

 

[Swashbuckler]

Nothing has harmed Pakistan cricket more than the word 'TALENT'. Goal should be to develop players so that they become best versions of themselves, not sing ballads about something that is so hard to measure. Never heard Aussies harp on about talent or raw ability in the 90s and 2000s.

 

[Varun]

Nothing has harmed Pakistan cricket more than the word 'TALENT'. Goal should be to develop players so that they become best versions of themselves, not sing ballads about something that is so hard to measure. Never heard Aussies harp on about talent or raw ability in the 90s and 2000s.

Pakistan always comes out trumps in these intangible metrics like Raw Talent, X-Factor etc.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Talent, passion and hardwork is there but NCA and coaching at junior levels is a total failure. NCA is the biggest scam i guess.

 

[RainStopsPlay]

Been hearing about this emerging talent thing since decades now. Gone are Hasan Alis and Faheems, and now the young boy Naseem Shah is the flavour of the season. Let him at least play a couple of international matches before overhyping to the moon. The only emerging talent that proved his mettle in Pakistan in the last decade is Babar Azam. The others have only been passing clouds.

 

[Saj]

The batting still looks a bit weak or untested.

I'm looking at the likes of Rohail, Saud and Haider to step up.

 

[Hasan123]

The problem is they start off well and fade away. You talked about Shadab in the OP but he hasn't improved in the last year or so.

 

[BreadPakoda]

Totally agree. Last time I was this excited about Pakistan's talent was when Nasir Jamshed destroyed Ozzies and before that when Umar Akmal went on rampage against Shane Bond. Good times ahead.

 

[Markhor]

There's no cure for delusion it seems. Bar Babar Azam, these names are mostly paper tigers at the moment - let's see what they actually deliver in results.

Talent is the most abused word in Pakistan's cricketing lexicon. If natural talent alone was sufficient to succeed in international cricket, then Pakistan and West Indies would be dominating world cricket. True we've produced many promising youngsters over the years but many have failed to live up to the initial hype as either they were horribly managed by our system which has no clue how to improve a player's weaknesses, or because these same players lack the work ethic and cricketing intelligence which comes from a lack of education.

Then there's of course handling pressure - don't let the "mercurial" tag fool you. We are one of the mentally softest teams in the world. How many times have we choked in a routine chase ? How many times have we choked vs India on the big stage ? I've little confidence these youngsters are any better - look at the recent U19 WC and junior Asia Cup competitions.

 

[Markhor]

Nothing has harmed Pakistan cricket more than the word 'TALENT'. Goal should be to develop players so that they become best versions of themselves, not sing ballads about something that is so hard to measure. Never heard Aussies harp on about talent or raw ability in the 90s and 2000s.

It's embarrassing. We ought to take a page out of New Zealand who continually defy expectations despite not being as well resourced as the big three boards, or even ours.

New Zealand have overachieved in recent years despite having arguably only two world-class players in Williamson and Boult. Why ? Firstly, they are an incredibly resourceful team that knows how to adapt to conditions. You saw in the World Cup semi-final and final how quickly they realised what a good total would be on those slow pitches and what was defendable (a rulebook quirk and a one in a million freak of fortune cost them the final). In the UAE last winter, they were often on the backfoot but capitalised whenever we made mistakes at key moments. and nicked the series.

Secondly, they do the basics well. Their fielding is exceptional and helps their bowlers squeeze the opposition - it's impossible to get easy runs through misfields.

Thirdly, their administration has done a fantastic job of running the game in a country where cricket is not the undisputed national sport like Pakistan.

Some humility on our part wouldn't hurt after 25 years of underachievement.

 

[Titan24]

Totally agree. Last time I was this excited about Pakistan's talent was when Nasir Jamshed destroyed Ozzies and before that when Umar Akmal went on rampage against Shane Bond. Good times ahead.

What everybody missed was that even in their so called peak risk and reward measurement along with shot selection of both Umer Akmal and Nasir Jamshed(Along with his basic technique) was pretty weak. When such batsmen are in flow and touch they look good but to become great you should be good enough to stay and perform even when you arent in best of touches which Babar has shown.

 

[Titan24]

It's embarrassing. We ought to take a page out of New Zealand who continually defy expectations despite not being as well resourced as the big three boards, or even ours.

New Zealand have overachieved in recent years despite having arguably only two world-class players in Williamson and Boult. Why ? Firstly, they are an incredibly resourceful team that knows how to adapt to conditions. You saw in the World Cup semi-final and final how quickly they realised what a good total would be on those slow pitches and what was defendable (a rulebook quirk and a one in a million freak of fortune cost them the final). In the UAE last winter, they were often on the backfoot but capitalised whenever we made mistakes at key moments. and nicked the series.

Secondly, they do the basics well. Their fielding is exceptional and helps their bowlers squeeze the opposition - it's impossible to get easy runs through misfields.

Thirdly, their administration has done a fantastic job of running the game in a country where cricket is not the undisputed national sport like Pakistan.

Some humility on our part wouldn't hurt after 25 years of underachievement.

Totally agreed but understand the excitement around as well considering after a long time we have few decent young players at our hand. I am not sure how but if somehow Pak team can become as methodical and adaptable as NZ then that could do a world of good.

 

[Junaids]

I think many of you over-estimate how many world class players a Test team needs.

Apart from Root, Stokes and Archer, no England player is guaranteed selection v Pakistan in nine months.

Australia has Smith, Warner, Cummins and Hazlewood, but many of the other positions are occupied by mediocre stopgaps like Burns, Head and Wade.

The problem for Pakistan is that the batting is eternally weak, but Imam, Sami, Babar and Rizwan should fill 4 of the Top 6 slots for the next 5 years.

 

[Chrish]

Reckon Pakistan will get Smith out dirt cheap couple of times but fail to capitalize on that. Have a feeling this will be Warner redemption series.

From batting point of view, Shafiq has already exhausted one magic knock per tour in FC game. So, all will depend on Babar now.

 

[Justcrazy]

Management and selection of right players in right formats is the key issue here.
There were many players who were spend , after promising starts at lower level. Pakistan has to look at retaining the talent .

 

[Dr_Bassim]

You don't fly into "talent" and produce results.

If you work harder than the rest, maybe at some point, you might become a star.

A baby takes its time becoming an adult.

 

[gazza619]

Lets see if our positivity last after day 3 of the first test against Australia (chances are that the game would be finished by then).

 

[Cric1234]

I think many of you over-estimate how many world class players a Test team needs.

Apart from Root, Stokes and Archer, no England player is guaranteed selection v Pakistan in nine months.

Australia has Smith, Warner, Cummins and Hazlewood, but many of the other positions are occupied by mediocre stopgaps like Burns, Head and Wade.

The problem for Pakistan is that the batting is eternally weak, but Imam, Sami, Babar and Rizwan should fill 4 of the Top 6 slots for the next 5 years.

Babar has some improvement in him but the others aren’t good enough to average anywhere near 50 Imam and Sami will struggle to breach the 40 mark Rizwan doesn’t look good enough to be a top batsman.
Azhar and Shafiq are struggling to average 40 Haris has some technical issues which teams will focus on.
Umar Akmal is possibly the best test batsman but isn’t near selection the future doesn’t look too bright batting will continue to be a problem.

 

[Relic]

Lets see if our positivity last after day 3 of the first test against Australia (chances are that the game would be finished by then).

I fear that if we beat first the positively might not even last a day

 

[Saj]

The problem is they start off well and fade away. You talked about Shadab in the OP but he hasn't improved in the last year or so.

This is a valid concern.

Fitness levels drop, attitude becomes worse, professionalism levels decrease.

 

[Savak]

Have seen too many promising talented Pakistani players get too comfortable, stop working hard and decline. Potential means nothing if you don't make the most of it.

 

[Junaids]

The problem is they start off well and fade away. You talked about Shadab in the OP but he hasn't improved in the last year or so.

This is a valid concern.

Fitness levels drop, attitude becomes worse, professionalism levels decrease.

It depends upon whom you listen too.

The cabal of senior players basically dislike Shadab because he is a threat to their mate Yasir Shah’s place and he is not deferential to failing seniors. They imply that Shadab has an attitude problem, but they claim that he is lazy when what they mean is that he doesn’t buy into all this bhai nonsense.

Ironically his accusers are the same senior players whose own poor fitness and training ethics means that they failed to step up when Misbah and Younis retired. I could name three players who need to lose 10 kg and a fourth who needs to stop batting with hard hands.

And yet Mickey Arthur says the opposite of what the fat seniors say. He tells anyone who will listen that Shadab trains harder than anyone else in the team and that his lack of respect for lazy, coasting seniors is a good thing, not a bad thing. Mickey has actually said that Shadab should probably already be the captain of the team.

I think part of the problem is a lack nor recognition that Shadab’s game is never going to be as a top rank spinner but rather as a spinning all-rounder.

You hope that a Yasir Shah will average 4 wickets per Test at an average of 32 but you harbour few hopes of his batting.

It’s the job of a Shadab to average 2.5 wickets per Test at an average of 38, but to average 35 with the bat from Number 7.

In Asia you need to pair Shadab with a specialist offie and a specialist slow left-armer who bat below him.

Outside Asia when your team bats first he needs to be good enough to take several wickets on a crumbling Day 5 track, but otherwise if you bowl first he needs to bat almost to the quality of a seventh specialist batsman.

He’s never going to bowl like a Yasir or an Ashwin. His role is more like Jadeja.

 

[Hasan123]

[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] . You have way too much faith in Shadab. He may have all this fire and passion but he not improved in batting and bowling despite playing all formats for 2 years.

Mickey Arthur is of course going to say positive things about Shadab when he is the one who backed him for 2 years. He wont slate him when it looks like this faith was incorrect. Also we know Mickey loves spinning all rounders . The way to go is with specialist spinners not spin bowling all rounders lol. Ashwin and Jadeja make the team on bowling merit alone
Shadab isn't good enough to play as a frontline spinner and not good enough to bat in the top 6. Jadeja has been doing well with the ball long before his improvements with the bat in tests. It's an insult to compare Shadab with Jadeja right now lol.
[MENTION=9]Saj[/MENTION] has said Shadab is more concerned about off field stuff than on field improvements.

No offense to you or Mickey Arthur but I will believe Saj more than you and Mickey. Because what I have seen on the pitch is a cricketer who has not improved despite being backed to the hill.

Mickey Arthur is the same guy who was backing Hafeez and Malik selection at the WC . I know how much you love talking about not selecting players over 34 yet Mickey wanted them selected LOL.

Shadab Khan has a lot to do if he wants to play test match cricket . A couple of performances against South Africa which had no impact on the game anyway are not enough for him to be selected.

You have blind faith in Shadab .

 

[Hasan123]

This is a valid concern.

Fitness levels drop, attitude becomes worse, professionalism levels decrease.

That's why we should not elevate these guys to the moon until they perform consistently and show desire to improve over a prolonged period.

 

[Markhor]

Mickey has actually said that Shadab should probably already be the captain of the team.

Mickey said Shadab had the potential to be a future captain, not that he should already be captain.

 

[Bewal Express]

The Youngsters need 3 things from the board: playing opportunities in FC games against good opposition, good pitches and good weather. From themselves they need a desire and a passion to improve, cricketing intelligence and sustained fitness levels . And the variable no one talks about- luck.

 

[chacha kashmiri]

Younis Khan, misbah up haq, abdur rehman, azhar ali all lacked skill and talent but had the training and fight to get Pakistan to number one

I thought we got rid of the word potential and unpredictable talent when Arthur went

 

[barah_admi]

There is a lot of talent but they need to be sustained and helped along with a strong framework which doesn't make them suspicious of when they'll be dropped next.

Sami Aslam should be brought back, there needs to be experienced bowlers playing alongside the teenagers and the batsmen need rejuvenating. There is a lot work, which is always more important than ideas of talent.

 

[Asif321]

In India and Pakistan the actual age is 2 years more to the age claimed

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Youth leading the way in the Quaid-E-Azam Trophy this year:<br><br>Best wicket-keeper Rohail Nazir Age 20<br>Best Batter Muhammad Huraira Age 19<br>Player of the tournament Mubasir Khan Age 19<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/QeA21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#QeA21</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1476273658901549068?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 29, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[silentkiller187]

Good to see young batsmen and wk lead the way for a change rather than the usual bowlers, hopefully can transfer to the international stage

 

[ElRaja]

first time... in a long time, ive felt optimistic about the players coming out of the domestic system. one can only hope the pcb finally realisses that there needs to be a step between domestic and international and starts organsiing A cricket, first class more regularly.

 

[Markhor]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Youth leading the way in the Quaid-E-Azam Trophy this year:<br><br>Best wicket-keeper Rohail Nazir Age 20<br>Best Batter Muhammad Huraira Age 19<br>Player of the tournament Mubasir Khan Age 19<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/QeA21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#QeA21</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1476273658901549068?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 29, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Three seasons of regional cricket has already been more productive than the last 20 years of the departmental-regional hotchpotch system.

It was criminal how we hung onto that old system for so long. We had pot bellied uncles bowling 75mph on damp underprepared wickets topping the bowling charts; FC matches ending in four sessions; and teams regularly shot out for sub-100 totals.

Departments encouraged complacency with no incentive for players to improve knowing they held a secure job with perks and benefits regardless of performance.

The quality of FC cricket has improved immeasurably and I actually enjoy watching QEA Trophy more than some Test matches these days.

My only concern is the 2nd XI competition looks very weak. Hopefully with club and city cricket being revived that'll improve the standard there.

 

[Major]

could someone share stats of of top runs and top wickets etc

 

[wrongun]

Three seasons of regional cricket has already been more productive than the last 20 years of the departmental-regional hotchpotch system.

It was criminal how we hung onto that old system for so long. We had pot bellied uncles bowling 75mph on damp underprepared wickets topping the bowling charts; FC matches ending in four sessions; and teams regularly shot out for sub-100 totals.

Departments encouraged complacency with no incentive for players to improve knowing they held a secure job with perks and benefits regardless of performance.

The quality of FC cricket has improved immeasurably and I actually enjoy watching QEA Trophy more than some Test matches these days.

My only concern is the 2nd XI competition looks very weak. Hopefully with club and city cricket being revived that'll improve the standard there.

IK's suggested changes to FC cricket in Pakistan always made sense to me, from the outside looking in.

I think you are right that it might take 5 years for 2nd XI to improve as club cricket strengthens- it's essentially moving to the Australian system where good performances in club cricket directly get you up into FC consideration.

The key will be how accessible these clubs are. Can the good players afford to join? Are the clubs active in scouting & nurturing talent?

 

[mahmed]

Most runs Player Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 0 4s 6s
Mohammad Huraira 11 18 1 986 311 58.00 1438 68.56 3 5 2 129 8
(Northern (Pakistan))
Sahibzada Farhan 11 20 2 935 163 51.94 1795 52.08 3 5 2 121 11
(Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)
Faizan Riaz 11 16 3 829 213 63.76 1567 52.90 3 2 1 84 2
(Northern (Pakistan))
Umar Amin 11 17 1 811 158 50.68 1499 54.10 2 6 2 96 6
(Northern (Pakistan))
Tayyab Tahir 10 18 1 811 221 47.70 1509 53.74 1 6 1 99 8
(Southern Punjab (Pakistan))
Abid Ali 6 10 1 778 164 86.44 1498 51.93 3 3 0 96 3
(Central Punjab (Pakistan))
Saad Khan 9 13 1 769 129 64.08 1253 61.37 2 6 0 90 5

 

[Bewal Express]

Three seasons of regional cricket has already been more productive than the last 20 years of the departmental-regional hotchpotch system.

It was criminal how we hung onto that old system for so long. We had pot bellied uncles bowling 75mph on damp underprepared wickets topping the bowling charts; FC matches ending in four sessions; and teams regularly shot out for sub-100 totals.

Departments encouraged complacency with no incentive for players to improve knowing they held a secure job with perks and benefits regardless of performance.

The quality of FC cricket has improved immeasurably and I actually enjoy watching QEA Trophy more than some Test matches these days.

My only concern is the 2nd XI competition looks very weak. Hopefully with club and city cricket being revived that'll improve the standard there.

I ended up watching Hurraira innings today ahead of the SA -Ind test. It was the same in the 1st innings when Hurraira and HA were batting

 

[Bewal Express]

Three seasons of regional cricket has already been more productive than the last 20 years of the departmental-regional hotchpotch system.

It was criminal how we hung onto that old system for so long. We had pot bellied uncles bowling 75mph on damp underprepared wickets topping the bowling charts; FC matches ending in four sessions; and teams regularly shot out for sub-100 totals.

Departments encouraged complacency with no incentive for players to improve knowing they held a secure job with perks and benefits regardless of performance.

The quality of FC cricket has improved immeasurably and I actually enjoy watching QEA Trophy more than some Test matches these days.

My only concern is the 2nd XI competition looks very weak. Hopefully with club and city cricket being revived that'll improve the standard there.

The 2nd X1 games need the YouTube coverage that QA trophy gets. Nothing motivates players more than performing to an audience.

 

[KingOfPakBreakfast]

The 2nd X1 games need the YouTube coverage that QA trophy gets. Nothing motivates players more than performing to an audience.

I think there's an argument of doing the 2nd XI tournament after the QEA trophy is completed, and after the Pakistan Cup is finisher, with minimal dropdowns of first XI squad members in the second XI teams. You should then televise that product separately. Without having enough knowledge of Pakistan climate and playing conditions, I feel that 1st and 2nd XI cricket should not be played at the same time, because you're artificially saturating your domestic product.

To get back on topic, the new domestic system truly is a breath of fresh air. I'm really pleased to see Hurraira perform well after catching the eye at National u19 level. However, the greatest meritocratic success of this system has been Mubasir. I've followed his career on here from the U19s all the way through to 2nd XI and then first XI cricket. The lad has performed at every level he's been so far, and that shows someone who is coachable and can be developed. Shout out to both Mo Wasim and Ijaz Ahmed Jr for persisting with him. So whilst these lads aren't oven ready yet for Pakistan, they may well be playing tests in 2023.

I'm hoping that Sindh's Saad Khan keeps getting opportunities in the Pakistan Cup. Whilst Hurraira will get the headlines (and he deserves them), it's Saad Khan whose had the much more impressive numbers. I'm very excited to see him in the future

 

[gazza619]

It seems like our system is getting better. It is only a matter of time before we find a one or two gems.

 

[realitygaf]

I feel like Abdullah Shafique and Mohammad Hurraira will be the Inzamam and Moyo of the future. Immense batting talent. Just imagine this batting lineup

Abdullah Shafique
Mohammad Hurraira
Babar Azam
Haider Ali
Rizwan Ahmad

 

[arif_2021]

iftikhar ahmed, saud shakeel and muhammad huraira need to be expedited fast into the test team

iftikhar ahmed - not sure why he receives so much hate. he has done everything that needs to be done in domestic and done well in internationals also...lets not make another fawad alam out of him

 

[Unbiased-Fan]

I saw highlights of Hurraira's triple century.
What a class player he is !
He is surely going to make a successful career in all formats for Pakistan.

 

[Kaddy]

Upcoming batting talent is definitely much better than the previous batch.

But the problem would be bowling. Do we have some young upcoming Pacers who can take 20 wickets in test matches against good sides.

India's recent success has once again proved that you need very good bowling lineup if you want to win test matches.

 

[Manunited18]

Pakistan attack in the tests:

Shaheen Afridi
Hasan ali
Sajid khan
Dhani
Ashraf Allrounder.

This is a excellent attack in the making.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Pakistan attack in the tests:

Shaheen Afridi
Hasan ali
Sajid khan
Dhani
Ashraf Allrounder.

This is a excellent attack in the making.

I won't go so far to call it excellent. Much of it is unproven.

But definitely more equipped than what Pakistan has had to deal with in the recent past.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

Hopefully Haider Ali and Huraira continue to develop and we should have a stable world class unit for 10 years.

 

[Extra_Cover]

I have said this in another thread previously that I'm super excited for the next 5 years for Pakistan in test circuit. The likes of Shafique and Kamran Ghulam would be a very welcome addition to our test teams. After a long time we seem to have a well functioning test batting unit which are great signs.

When it comes to bowling Shaheen would hold the fort and be the leader in the pack with Hasan a very useful bowler in Asian conditions. Whilst I believe the likes of Nauman Ali is a very useful player to have in SENA conditions and I believe Sajid Khan is a very attacking bowler for Asian conditions to have. What we do need is emergence of bowlers for SENA conditions in order for us to bag 20 wickets. Apart from Shaheen no one else is a massive threat in SENA conditions and we would ideally need one if not two more attacking threats.

 

[Cric1234]

I have said this in another thread previously that I'm super excited for the next 5 years for Pakistan in test circuit. The likes of Shafique and Kamran Ghulam would be a very welcome addition to our test teams. After a long time we seem to have a well functioning test batting unit which are great signs.

When it comes to bowling Shaheen would hold the fort and be the leader in the pack with Hasan a very useful bowler in Asian conditions. Whilst I believe the likes of Nauman Ali is a very useful player to have in SENA conditions and I believe Sajid Khan is a very attacking bowler for Asian conditions to have. What we do need is emergence of bowlers for SENA conditions in order for us to bag 20 wickets. Apart from Shaheen no one else is a massive threat in SENA conditions and we would ideally need one if not two more attacking threats.

I’d say we are a long way off being a number 1 test team currently capable of winning matches at home but losing most away after the next round of SENA fixtures 6-7 in the rankings is the likely result that’s around 2025 maybe no chance with current batting lineup.

In the future beyond that it’s tough to gauge the batting line up new batsmen will come in with a few most likely averaging over 40.

I don’t think Abdullah will be a great opener Hurraira will be tested by better fast bowling away again will need technical improvements to succeed outside Asia to call them Moyo and Inzi is hyberbole opening is a tough job outside Asia.

Haider is a decent strokemaker but could be given the Umar Akmal treatment in tests and not be given chances in easier conditions in Asia young players will need time as it is to succeed.

Towards the end of the decade is the only hope for away test series wins in SENA if the young players match up well to the other teams.

 

[Nasty Naz]

Pakistan attack in the tests:

Shaheen Afridi
Hasan ali
Sajid khan
Dhani
Ashraf Allrounder.

This is a excellent attack in the making.

It's an ok attack but it depends on how good Dhani becomes. It needs a world class bowler and ideally a spinner IMO.

For Pakistan to become a good/dominant Test side, particularly overseas, they need to have multiple elite batsmen & bowlers. It's exciting they have plenty of young batsmen coming up and hopefully they live up to it but still a long way to go. At the moment, we're hoping Babar & Abdullah become elite Test batsmen but they're not there yet.

 

[Junaids]

Pakistan has already failed to win in the West Indies in the 2021-23 World Test Championship cycle, so it's time to retire the guys who will be too old for the 2023-25 cycle (Abid Ali, Azhar Alid Fawad Alam) and replace them with youngsters who can use the rest of this cycle to acquire experience for the next one.

OPENERS
Abdullah Shafique
Mohammad Huraira
Usman Salahuddin

MIDDLE-ORDER
Babar Azam
Mohammad Rizwan
Saud Shakeel
Mohammad Nawaz

ALL-ROUNDERS
Mubasir Khan
Shadab Khan
Faheem Ashraf

WICKETKEEPER
Rohail Nazir

SPECIALIST SPINNERS FOR ASIA ONLY
Sajid Khan
Zafar Gohar

QUICK BOWLERS
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Hasan Ali
Sameen Gul
Haris Rauf
Naseem Shah
Mohammad Wasim

 

[Maliq_Mudasir]

Pakistan has already failed to win in the West Indies in the 2021-23 World Test Championship cycle, so it's time to retire the guys who will be too old for the 2023-25 cycle (Abid Ali, Azhar Alid Fawad Alam) and replace them with youngsters who can use the rest of this cycle to acquire experience for the next one.

OPENERS
Abdullah Shafique
Mohammad Huraira
Usman Salahuddin

MIDDLE-ORDER
Babar Azam
Mohammad Rizwan
Saud Shakeel
Mohammad Nawaz

ALL-ROUNDERS
Mubasir Khan
Shadab Khan
Faheem Ashraf

WICKETKEEPER
Rohail Nazir

SPECIALIST SPINNERS FOR ASIA ONLY
Sajid Khan
Zafar Gohar

QUICK BOWLERS
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Hasan Ali
Sameen Gul
Haris Rauf
Naseem Shah
Mohammad Wasim

Add Kamran Ghulam in middle order.

 

[umarf76]

Add Kamran Ghulam in middle order.

Maybe M Shehzad from U19 is someone to lookout for. Same goes with Zeeshan.

Not convinced about Sameen Gul.