Pakistan announce team for the warm-up game against New Zealand XI (3rd January)

[MenInG]

1. Fakhar Zaman
2. Azhar Ali
3. Babar Azam
4.Mohammad Hafeez
5. Shoaib Malik
6. Sarfaraz Ahmed
7. Shadab Khan
8. Faheem Ashraf
9. Hasan Ali
10. Mohammad Amir
11. Rumman Raees

 

[zeikz123]

replace hafeez with aamer yamin and thats a solid side

 

[MenInG]

Looks good to go for Pak. We will miss JK here.

 

[Square Drive]

As expected, Hafeez and Azhar will start.

Disappointing.

 

[maanleo]

But why!! Harris is a better batsman and can bowl which Hafeez can't.

 

[MoJoJoJo]

barring hafeez, squad is good.. replace hafeez wd haris and we are good to go..

 

[MoJoJoJo]

1. Fakhar Zaman
2. Azhar Ali
3. Babar Azam
4.Mohammad Hafeez
5. Shoaib Malik
6. Sarfaraz Ahmed
7. Shadab Khan
8. Faheem Ashraf
9. Hasan Ali
10. Mohammad Amir
11. Rumman Raees

And that will be our playing 11 for all 5 odis so no chance of haris to play.. how can we keep such a classy cricketer away from our xi.. hafeez enjoying inzi's favouritism..

 

[Arsalan Pro]

It was expected, they are giving chance to players who will play the 1st ODI to get familiar to the conditions.

 

[Arsalan Pro]

Looks good to go for Pak. We will miss JK here.

Not really, Rumman Raees is a intelligent and equally capable bowler. Moreover, Rumman swings the new ball pretty effectively, which will be helpful on conditions present in New Zealand, unlike Junaid who relies on seam movement. Junaid was pretty good at the death and will be missed there but still then, we have Amir who bowls good yorkers and rarely gives away many runs at the death, add to that the variations of Hasan Ali and Fahim Ashraf, We have a complete and lethal bowling attack.

 

[Someone]

Wew no Harris..

 

[shah_1]

I hope Hafeez fails badly in this series, never liked him.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

Looking forward to Faheem Ashraf's performance in this series.

Mohammad Hafeez.... he ain't going anywhere.

 

[hadi123]

If Hafeez fails maybe Haris Sohail will get a chance in the actual series.

 

[KyoOne]

And that will be our playing 11 for all 5 odis so no chance of haris to play.. how can we keep such a classy cricketer away from our xi.. hafeez enjoying inzi's favouritism..

Apparently Mickey called for Hafeez as to be drafted in the team during Australian tour last year.

So, someone else also has his favourites cut out

 

[Shafi]

Hope Both Azhar and Hafeez fail so we may see 1 change

 

[LegbreakGoogly]

Thats right... Jk would've been exposed here

 

[Brilliance]

Would have liked to see Shinwari bowl on these pitches. Swing and pace , would've been amazing !

 

[Markhor]

As expected - though I'd replace Hafeez with Haris.

 

[todfod 11]

i hope hafeez fails and harris replaces him.. it looks like a strong team

 

[Amjid Javed]

Apart from Fakhar thats a once paced pedestrian batting line up which will be exposed once the series starts.

 

[MenInG]

Apart from Fakhar thats a once paced pedestrian batting line up which will be exposed once the series starts.

Can we quote you on that? I think the batting line-up will hold their own and give enough to the bowlers to win games.

 

[DRsohail]

Apart from Fakhar thats a once paced pedestrian batting line up which will be exposed once the series starts.

yesss..maqsood would have been good choice...even haris is better than all of them except babar.

 

[coy0607]

so Imam Ul Haq is coming off a 45* and a century in the previous series, but a proven ODI failure in Azhar Ali is preferred over him

seniority culture reigns supreme

 

[Abdullah]

Can we quote you on that? I think the batting line-up will hold their own and give enough to the bowlers to win games.

Totally agree with you!

Last ODI we played here 2 years ago, we were 210-3 after 30 overs. (despite being 20-2 after 5 overs!)

Hafeez Babar and Malik were on fire, small grounds, ball coming on and flat pitches.

We collapsed thereafter but our Number 7,8,9 that day were Rizwan,Wahab,Amir with Irfan and Rahat 10 and 11.

Now it will read Fahim,Shadab, Hasan which is much more suited to the finishing an innings role, and we have Fakhar instead of Shezzy.

So I am expecting the batting to be real good!

 

[IMMY69]

so Imam Ul Haq is coming off a 45* and a century in the previous series, but a proven ODI failure in Azhar Ali is preferred over him

seniority culture reigns supreme

Azhar Ali's last two innings were 50's in the semi final and final of the Champions Trophy so you can understand why they have picked him.

 

[pkckt]

Will be interesting to see how Fakhar does when the ball swings things look dire for him considering his balance and that insane back lift...

 

[TeymurBlake]

No surprise in the team selection. We will heavily rely on Babar to get us runs with some runs from our lower order. Undroppable Hafeez and slow & steady Azhar will prove to be a disastrous selections. It would be ideal for Pakistan to get off a quick start with the small grounds and good batting pitches.

 

[hailian]

I never liked Hafeez since his debut and one of his strong opponents, but i don't mind his inclusion on this tour as i remember he played very well in his last few visits in NZ.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

People hating on Hafeez despite being given a new role at No 4 where he did not do too badly in the CT. Fair enough it hurts the balance a bit with him not able to bowl but if he fails then it makes sense that they get Haris in.

 

[hailian]

I guess Azhar Ali should retire from ODIs as he will be under scanner for the rest of his life. Our nation has tagged him a tuk tuk player and not willing to accept that his strike rate is 80+ in last 3 years and with an average of almost 40. His every 60 balls 50 will be criticized by the ones who loved Afridi/Nazir 6 balls 17 run innings.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

so Imam Ul Haq is coming off a 45* and a century in the previous series, but a proven ODI failure in Azhar Ali is preferred over him

seniority culture reigns supreme

Yes,proven failure Azhar Ali made 3 fifties in the Champions Trophy including the semi-final and final and finished with the second most runs for Pakistan.

But I agree,it’s harsh on Imam.I would definitely have started him in the practice match.Would also have chosen Haris over Hafeez.

 

[shaikhanasm]

Does anyone know if this game will be broadcasted or not? If so, which channel will be showing it?

 

[MMHS]

It’s sickening to see the treatment Haris is given, being a lefti and a decent SLAO spinner. He is like 30 now with a dodge knee, we can safely say goodbye to his long term ODI career. He isn’t going to make it before 2019 and by 2023 there’ll be other youngsters challenging MoHa for a spot in XI. By 2027, even if MoHa retires, Haris also will be close to 40.....

 

[last_knight]

Can we quote you on that? I think the batting line-up will hold their own and give enough to the bowlers to win games.

If Babar-Hafeez partnership stretches beyond 15 overs, his post will become true actually.

 

[last_knight]

It’s sickening to see the treatment Haris is given, being a lefti and a decent SLAO spinner. He is like 30 now with a dodge knee, we can safely say goodbye to his long term ODI career. He isn’t going to make it before 2019 and by 2023 there’ll be other youngsters challenging MoHa for a spot in XI. By 2027, even if MoHa retires, Haris also will be close to 40.....

This Warm up match and by the end of 1st ODI, we can always expect a hamstring or spasm. Deja Vu Modus Operandi.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Totally didn't see this coming.

 

[dauntless]

Best possible team from the squad but would have loved Haris instead of azhar.Don't have much hopes from batting department.

 

[MMHS]

This Warm up match and by the end of 1st ODI, we can always expect a hamstring or spasm. Deja Vu Modus Operandi.

That doesn’t help any new comer if he is given a feelings that he is there as a make shift. This makes incumbents selfish. I see practice matches opposite what PAK sees - I would have played all of Hari, Yamin & Imam (no option, he is chosen in squad) in both practice matches and rest MoHa, Malik. After almost a quarter century of cricket, I don’t think it makes any difference to play a match where probably 15 plays and 11 fields for those guys.

In olden days, they used to play proper match as practice, means stats were counted in FC or LIst A career, and often there was some price money to win, hence local sides used to put good XI and players also gave whole hearted effort because one such good performance against international tourists meant something worthy - those days there were some meaning of practice matches, these days it’s joke, better not to risk injury to Amir & Hasan. Only 3 pacers means they are likely to play every game.

 

[shah_1]

Hafeez averaged 27 in SL series and has failed in recent domestic tournament . I don't see him succeeding at all with him getting older. That 50 against India was a fluke.


Pakistan players are one of the most shameless cricketers alive, they never want to retire and keep on playing forever despite not deserving the spot. We could learn a lot from Australia.

 

[Da_Future_Knick]

Televised?

 

[DRsohail]

People hating on Hafeez despite being given a new role at No 4 where he did not do too badly in the CT. Fair enough it hurts the balance a bit with him not able to bowl but if he fails then it makes sense that they get Haris in.

he did badly in CT....please go and see.....i am sure u know.

 

[DRsohail]

is this being televised??

 

[Deewana Mastana]

he did badly in CT....please go and see.....i am sure u know.

The below performances is what I was mostly referring to so I will give you more detail. This is why I said that IMO, he did not do too badly in the CT.

33 off 43 first game v Ind (Won't say that was too bad considering how they all played)
31* off 21 v Eng (Semi Final where he came in and blasted the team to victory)
57* off 37 v Ind( Final where he set up a winning score towards the last 10 overs of the game).

 

[Adnan_Ilyas]

Who won the toss?

 

[DRsohail]

The below performances is what I was mostly referring to so I will give you more detail. This is why I said that IMO, he did not do too badly in the CT.

33 off 43 first game v Ind (Won't say that was too bad considering how they all played)
31* off 21 v Eng (Semi Final where he came in and blasted the team to victory)
57* off 37 v Ind( Final where he set up a winning score towards the last 10 overs of the game).

in 33 off 43 he was worst,played selfishly and cowardly while he was the most senior player ...againt england he won us an already won match so better not to mention,in final he was good but again there was less pressure as we were 250/3,
againt srilnaka he failed when mattered.against South africa he failed miserably.
ao just one decent performance overall.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

in 33 off 43 he was worst,played selfishly and cowardly while he was the most senior player ...againt england he won us an already won match so better not to mention,in final he was good but again there was less pressure as we were 250/3,
againt srilnaka he failed when mattered.against South africa he failed miserably.
ao just one decent performance overall.

In both of my posts where did I say he did very well or was excellent?

All I've said he didn't do too badly. The 3 scores I've mentioned are all pretty reasonable which isn't doing too badly.

His job is to score runs and that's what he did in the number 4 position he was sent at. Be it pressure or not that's another thing and something I've not even talked about but if hatred is too much for you then it's no point to make you see any reason.

 

[DRsohail]

In both of my posts where did I say he did very well or was excellent?

All I've said he didn't do too badly. The 3 scores I've mentioned are all pretty reasonable which isn't doing too badly.

His job is to score runs and that's what he did in the number 4 position he was sent at. Be it pressure or not that's another thing and something I've not even talked about but if hatred is too much for you then it's no point to make you see any reason.

i said he did too badly and just wanted to make u understand and i think udo understand..of course he did not get 4 ducks but if u have watched all matches then i am sure u know how he did .
I hate him and rightly so because he is a leech on our team otherwise how can i hate him for something which is not personal to me.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Can we quote you on that? I think the batting line-up will hold their own and give enough to the bowlers to win games.

Sorry whats just happened in 1st ODI? Chasing a big total and azhar, babar, malik and hafeez found wanting. CT Win or not this batting line up is a pretty mediocre one which includes numerous Tried and tested failures and in conditions like new zealand were always go to be exposed. Its not me being negative/pessamistic its called reality. So feel free to quote on my comments which were proven right.