Pakistan are playing three batsmen out of position - Change it now or pay the price

[mak36]

Despite the victory, yesterday's match only served to confirm the idea that Pakistan are currently playing three batsmen out of position.

Haris is best suited to batting at four, particularly given his preference for pace. Along with Babar, he needs to face the majority of deliveries. The two of them have a good understanding and Haris takes the pressure off Babar (vice versa). They need to form the bedrock of the middle order.

Sarfaraz has the lowest dot ball %, in other words he rotates the strike well. As such he should bat at five so he can make the most of those middle overs, especially when spinners are operating. As the best player of spin in the side, it makes sense.

Playing Hafeez at six means Pakistan will have someone with the ability to accelerate when the time comes, i.e. once a platform has been set. By playing Hafeez at four (i) you are not getting the best out of him, (ii) Pakistan's innings in the middle overs stagnates and (iii) it forces Sarfaraz to bat at six where he does not belong.

So please, for the sake of Pakistan, Hafeez swallow your pride and bat at six. You know it makes sense...

 

[Golden arm]

totally agreed
makes sense

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Spot on

 

[Markhor]

Exactly but the ego of one senior is preventing this.

 

[mastersaan10]

have been saying this from the start. the only reason sarfraz makes no sense at 7 is because he cannot hit. the only reason hafeez cannot bat at 4 is because he plays with a lot of risk. the only issue with hafeez was that when we has the opener, he didn't utilize the powerplays. too many dot balls. hafeez should be used as a rr bumper, bring him on when you want to take the opposition on, especially after 30 overs. he doesn't bat long anyway so why waste players batting them out of the wrong position????? this is the worst thing about pakistan cricket. players take precedence over team. if rahul dravid can keep or open or go down, why can't hafeez bat at 6.

 

[Pete Rose]

Yes hafeez’s Position should be 12th man or dressing room

 

[akbtimepass]

hafeez has the ability to hit boundaries you are absolutely right perfect situation for him is to come around 40 overs with a green light to go all out

 

[cricketfan11]

Sarfraz needs to come at 4 ahead of Haris.
Haris can also get bogged down a little if there is pressure. Sarfraz's natural game is to nudge the ball for singles and doubles.
He will keep scorecard ticking regardless of what happens at the other end. He is the captain. He has to take responsibility.
This is especially relevant given top 3 (Imam, Fakhar, Babar) struggle to rotate strike.

 

[khan_aa]

afghanistan match, sarfraz should have opened actually. he is our best player against spin simply because he is a wicket keeper and sees the ball from hand and can take singles.
cricket is about matchups and playing your best players for a specific situation.

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

Yes hafeez’s Position should be 12th man or dressing room

Yep, but they don’t have the courage to make that obvious decision

So the brainless Professor batting at 6 is our best bet, won’t happen either though

 

[ARK Rafay]

I've been saying this before the WC play Hafeez at no. 6.

1. Imam
2. Fakhar
3. Babar
4. Haris
5. Sarfraz
6. Hafeez

 

[batfirst]

The openers have not been performing in this world cup. Can anyone
put Imam's and Fakhar scores and averages for this tournament.

 

[Greenstorm]

It is common sense, but Sarfaraz is too phattu to demote Hafeez at 6 and the management is clueless.

 

[saabir]

But but Pak management is too dumb to put this right.

 

[indianpanacea]

It must be
Fakhar
Babar
Imam
Sarfaraz
Haris
Hafeez
Imad

 

[indianpanacea]

or alternately
Fakhar
Babar
Haris
Sarfaraz
Hafeez
Asif
Imad

 

[nads_rocks]

The right line up that should have been for the remaining 4 games

Babar
Imam
Haris
Safraz
Imad
Hafeez/Asif
Shadab
Wahab
Amir
Shaheen
Hasnain

 

[Captain caveman]

Op is correct, we all know this, but does safi and mickey know this?!!

 

[gazza619]

Agreed but Sarfraz does not have confidence to bat himself at 5.

 

[Hasan123]

Haris at 4. Hafeez and Sarfraz can be rotated dependent on the position. Don't care about Sarfraz dot ball percentage. If we needed to accelerate I would rather have Hafeez.

 

[fight_club]

What is clear apparant is surpringly invisible to so called Pakistan thinktank

Sarfarz at 4 sohail at 5 and hafeez at 6 will make a huge difference in this batting lineup

Selection might have already cost pakistan a place in semi and wrong batting order will cost then even if they get their

 

[Gladiators]

Yup. Been saying this for weeks.

Fakhar
Imam
Babar
Haris
Sarfaraz
Hafeez
Imad
Shadab
Wahab
Amir
Shaheen

 

[sshakir411]

I say bench imam and open with Hafeez. Asif plays at 6 and Sarf at 4 ahead of Harris

 

[Attiq_Lone]

I say bench imam and open with Hafeez. Asif plays at 6 and Sarf at 4 ahead of Harris

Hafeez is miserable with the new ball, and has a high dot ball percentage early on which, does not make him a suitable opener. I don’t understand this hate towards Imam, both the opener have not scored big, imam was the better opener compared to fakhar but still people show hate towards Imam, but not fakhar. My opinion is stick with both, they are your best openers and they need backing up.

 

[aukhan]

Fakhar is getting free rides for a while now. Imam has done better than him.

Hafeez's ego is hurting the side. He should not be batting at 4 at all.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Sarfraz is neither responsible nor consistent enough to bat at no.5. Plays way too risky cricket and is likely to throw away his wicket any time.

 

[AdamM97]

Playing Sarfraz in no. 6 was never a good idea. Too bad he is kind of afraid of failing so he hides behind tailenders like Hassan Ali.

 

[FreePalestine]

Agree with this. While we had momentum on our side it was fine, but after Afghan loss and thrown game by India, momentum has shifted, so think they can afford to let go of their superstitions and change the batting order.

I think your order makes the most sense. Hafeez needs to swallow his ego but I don’t know if it will ever happen. He would’ve been a gun player for us for a decade if he had always batted at 6 or 7. At the very least he should come in at 5 and allow Haris to bat at 4 which is a must...

 

[sshakir411]

Hafeez is miserable with the new ball, and has a high dot ball percentage early on which, does not make him a suitable opener. I don’t understand this hate towards Imam, both the opener have not scored big, imam was the better opener compared to fakhar but still people show hate towards Imam, but not fakhar. My opinion is stick with both, they are your best openers and they need backing up.

Look. I get your point of asking why Imam gets hate and obviously you’re not going to check every posters history before posting, but I’ve always been an Imam supporter. I also believe he would’ve still made it to the team had his uncle not been who he is.

But in this WC he’s taken too long to score soft runs and always throws his wicket after playing a good amount of balls. Hafeez in the middle order demands to play at 4 or 5 which should be for Sarfraz and Harris. It’s the only option for a balanced 11. Whether Hafeez does nothing in the middle order or does nothing at the top...it’s still the same. Might as well fit Asif in who could’ve provided extra fire power but it’s too late now.

 

[Plumb]

lol funny... To OP just an fyi
We have been paying the price for a very long time... Hafeez the best opener in the world caused all the issues for our batting...

The guy is perfect for #6, he could have won many many games batting at that position and bowling his overs but his ego is too big and we made him "the opener" so in short we have been paying price and we will in future also because unless we play people on merit this will keep happening.

 

[jeetu]

The openers have not been performing in this world cup. Can anyone
put Imam's and Fakhar scores and averages for this tournament.

[table=width: 600, class: grid, align: center]
[tr][td]Player [/td][td]Mat [/td][td]Runs [/td][td]HS [/td][td]Bat Av [/td][td]100 [/td][td]Wkts [/td][td]Bowl Av [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Babar Azam [/td][td]7 [/td][td]378 [/td][td]101* [/td][td]63 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]- [/td][td]- [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mohammad Hafeez [/td][td]7 [/td][td]226 [/td][td]84 [/td][td]32.28 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]78.5 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Imam-ul-Haq [/td][td]7 [/td][td]205 [/td][td]53 [/td][td]29.28 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]- [/td][td]- [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Haris Sohail [/td][td]4 [/td][td]192 [/td][td]89 [/td][td]48 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]- [/td][td]- [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Fakhar Zaman [/td][td]7 [/td][td]173 [/td][td]62 [/td][td]24.71 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]- [/td][td]- [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Sarfaraz Ahmed [/td][td]7 [/td][td]140 [/td][td]55 [/td][td]28 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]- [/td][td]- [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Imad Wasim [/td][td]5 [/td][td]119 [/td][td]49* [/td][td]59.5 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]81 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Wahab Riaz [/td][td]7 [/td][td]86 [/td][td]45 [/td][td]21.5 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]10 [/td][td]36.7 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Hasan Ali [/td][td]4 [/td][td]43 [/td][td]32 [/td][td]21.5 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]128 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shadab Khan [/td][td]6 [/td][td]42 [/td][td]20* [/td][td]21 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]7 [/td][td]37.28 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Asif Ali [/td][td]2 [/td][td]19 [/td][td]14 [/td][td]9.5 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]- [/td][td]- [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shoaib Malik [/td][td]3 [/td][td]8 [/td][td]8 [/td][td]2.66 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]47 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mohammad Amir [/td][td]7 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]3* [/td][td]3 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]16 [/td][td]20.43 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shaheen Shah Afridi [/td][td]4 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]1* [/td][td]- [/td][td]0 [/td][td]10 [/td][td]19.9 [/td][/tr]
[/table]