Pakistan batsmen - Sitting ducks?

[Saj]

The short ball seems to be the gameplan of the New Zealand bowlers.

A few of the Pakistani batsmen look like sitting ducks to the bouncer don't they?

Can they combat this and what will happen in South Africa where the pitches are much quicker?

 

[Greenstorm]

Yes, Imam, Hafeez, Malik and Sarfaraz are very poor against short ball and will be exposed badly in SA.

 

[Plumb]

When did we played short ball better???

 

[Hasan123]

I'm glad we won today but honestly this batting line up is a worry long term. Not enough power and we have serious issues against pace. We are struggling on these awful pitches , imagine what could happen in South Africa and England.

 

[pakistani pride]

I'm glad we won today but honestly this batting line up is a worry long term. Not enough power and we have serious issues against pace. We are struggling on these awful pitches , imagine what could happen in South Africa and England.

Dont know about SA and dont really care TBH. Its all about the WC. In the UK they always find some magic.

BUT Malik and Hafeez in the middle order = NO!

 

[Zaz]

Dont know about SA and dont really care TBH. Its all about the WC. In the UK they always find some magic.

BUT Malik and Hafeez in the middle order = NO!

Yes One of them must go and it must be Malik

God he’s lousy against pace

 

[Chokli]

I'm glad we won today but honestly this batting line up is a worry long term. Not enough power and we have serious issues against pace. We are struggling on these awful pitches , imagine what could happen in South Africa and England.

England pitches are flat, Hafeez should open with Fakhar. Malik at 6, Sarfraz is a beast at 5 in England.

Babar and Haris at 3 and 4.

 

[Hasan123]

Dont know about SA and dont really care TBH. Its all about the WC. In the UK they always find some magic.

BUT Malik and Hafeez in the middle order = NO!

South Africa will mostly play pace bowlers so it's a good test for our batsmen . Hoping we select some fresh faces and don't stick with the same old but don't see Inzi making too many changes.

 

[Hasan123]

England pitches are flat, Hafeez should open with Fakhar. Malik at 6, Sarfraz is a beast at 5 in England.

Babar and Haris at 3 and 4.

WC will be in the early part of the summer. So there could be some movement for the seamers . Furthmore it's not as though our batsmen take advantage of flat pitches.

 

[Chokli]

WC will be in the early part of the summer. So there could be some movement for the seamers . Furthmore it's not as though our batsmen take advantage of flat pitches.

Yeah but I'd much rather have Hafeez open, leaving a spot for Haris Sohail in the middle.

Rather than opening with Imam and having Hafeez in the middle order and having no spot for Haris.

 

[Hasan123]

Yeah but I'd much rather have Hafeez open, leaving a spot for Haris Sohail in the middle.

Rather than opening with Imam and having Hafeez in the middle order and having no spot for Haris.

Haris should play . But Hafeez shouldn't. Always fails in England. Why will that change at the age of 38?

 

[Chokli]

Haris should play . But Hafeez shouldn't. Always fails in England. Why will that change at the age of 38?

Because his bowling is useful, provides good insights on the field and played a match winning knock in a final which was in England.

Looks good when he gets going and makes the opposition suffer.

Good way to call it a career.

We have 5 ODIs versus England so that should definitely help settle the side.

I would love to have Hussain Talat in the squad.

 

[Hasan123]

Because his bowling is useful, provides good insights on the field and played a match winning knock in a final which was in England.

Looks good when he gets going and makes the opposition suffer.

Good way to call it a career.

We have 5 ODIs versus England so that should definitely help settle the side.

I would love to have Hussain Talat in the squad.

His bowling won't be useful in England. He will be milked around and it will allow the opposition to rotate strike and take the pressure of them. He isn't a wicket taker with the ball.

It was a good knock in the CT but Pakistan would have won with 300 never mind 340.

Yes I would like to see Hussain Talat in the squad. I think he is more suited to ODIs and also offers a seam bowling opition.

 

[Nasty Naz]

It's not like this is new... pretty sure Mark Wood did the same thing in Tests as did Neil Wagner.

It's generally not a strategy used in ODI's however and even though Ferguson got wickets, he was still pretty expensive as was Boult. Fakhar's wicket wasn't really because of a short bouncer and Malik wicket was just lucky.

 

[Chokli]

It was a good knock in the CT but Pakistan would have won with 300 never mind 340.

Yes I would like to see Hussain Talat in the squad. I think he is more suited to ODIs and also offers a seam bowling opition.

We can't say that for certain.

But yes, In T20s he played a bit too slowly but he showed he'd be better off in an ODI setup than a T20.

Exactly, a batting all rounder is always useful.

 

[Saj]

Head turning away from the ball, not looking at the ball, gloves going towards the ball, footwork nowhere - looked pretty ordinary batting to me and technically woeful.

 

[Hasan123]

We can't say that for certain.

But yes, In T20s he played a bit too slowly but he showed he'd be better off in an ODI setup than a T20.

Exactly, a batting all rounder is always useful.

Hafeez has also failed in ICC tournaments other than CT final. You really want to bank on him for the WC?

 

[sully3]

Head turning away from the ball, not looking at the ball, gloves going towards the ball, footwork nowhere - looked pretty ordinary batting to me and technically woeful.

Having watched cricket in UAE for the last 10 years regularly ive never seen someone get as much Bounce and Pace as Ferguson did today in Abu Dhabi. Hes a special talent to be able to do this on this grave yard pitches, NZ should wrape him in cotton wool for the world cup.

Starc bowled like a OAP on these pitches compared to what Ferguson us doing

 

[Saj]

Having watched cricket in UAE for the last 10 years regularly ive never seen someone get as much Bounce and Pace as Ferguson did today in Abu Dhabi. Hes a special talent to be able to do this on this grave yard pitches, NZ should wrape him in cotton wool for the world cup.

Starc bowled like a OAP on these pitches compared to what Ferguson us doing

He is quick but the approach from the Pakistan batsmen was curious and worrying. They seemed all at sea and confused, as if they'd not faced short stuff before.

 

[leg-side-flick]

Head turning away from the ball, not looking at the ball, gloves going towards the ball, footwork nowhere - looked pretty ordinary batting to me and technically woeful.

To be honest most batsmen in World cricket have this issue....

 

[Ahmed216]

They have never been good against the short ball.
All they can do is practice more.
play on 16-18 yards concrete surfaces before away tours

 

[shaaik]

Haris should play . But Hafeez shouldn't. Always fails in England. Why will that change at the age of 38?

unfortunately! Haris also is susceptible to short pitch bowling regardless I would still have him in the playing 11..

 

[IMMY69]

I didn’t watch the game yesterday but i’ve always held the view that a short delivery from an express bowler is harder to play on a slower, less bouncier wicket then on a faster track.

 

[the_outsider]

To be honest most batsmen in World cricket have this issue....

Weaker times like BD & SL perhaps. But have you seen the English, Aussie, Saffers and Indian batsmen play and bounce? They are head and shoulders (excuse the pun) above.

 

[Suleiman]

I didn’t watch the game yesterday but i’ve always held the view that a short delivery from an express bowler is harder to play on a slower, less bouncier wicket then on a faster track.

Depends on the batsman and what he’s used to. Hafeez is a classic example. Will pull the short ball for a six more often than not on these dead tracks. Give it to him on a classic English or SAF wicket and he will mistime it or not get the placement right because he can’t react fast enough and get caught.

He’s a clown overseas whether the ball is short or moving away from him.

And yet we have to carry this handicap to England next year most likely despite his oncein a tournament showing last year and being dismissed like a schoolboy in CT13 as well.

 

[the_outsider]

I didn’t watch the game yesterday but i’ve always held the view that a short delivery from an express bowler is harder to play on a slower, less bouncier wicket then on a faster track.

For strokemaking, perhaps. But its not like they were not able to time their pulls/hooks for lack of pace/bounce.

They were being beaten for pace. If a batsman is beaten for pace on UAE wickets imagine what the situation will be on faster wickets.

 

[Kroll]

Hafeez has also failed in ICC tournaments other than CT final. You really want to bank on him for the WC?

And that too only after the platform was already laid out by the openers and Babar.

 

[leg-side-flick]

Weaker times like BD & SL perhaps. But have you seen the English, Aussie, Saffers and Indian batsmen play and bounce? They are head and shoulders (excuse the pun) above.

Any recent examples of Indian batsman being head n shoulder above.... I think Dhawan, Raina, Rayudu, etc all struggle against this.... Kohli n Sharma are better at it though

 

[the_outsider]

Any recent examples of Indian batsman being head n shoulder above.... I think Dhawan, Raina, Rayudu, etc all struggle against this.... Kohli n Sharma are better at it though

Dhawan used to struggle against short pitch bowling. Now, in the last 2 years he's developed into an excellent player of the short ball.

And I haven't seen anything to suggest that Rayadu struggles against bounce. He isn't as good as Kohli or Rohit obviously. But I didn't see any weakness as such. Even other youngsters like Manish, Iyer and Pant have looked good against the short ball. Raina is obviously infamous for his weakness against the short ball but he's the last of his kind, it seems. The only other current Indian batsman I have seen struggling against bouncers is Pujara.

 

[Hasan123]

unfortunately! Haris also is susceptible to short pitch bowling regardless I would still have him in the playing 11..

Haris isn't perfect but he isn't as vulnerable as Hafeez is.

 

[sully3]

He is quick but the approach from the Pakistan batsmen was curious and worrying. They seemed all at sea and confused, as if they'd not faced short stuff before.

yeah i agree they looked like rabbits caught in the light and techincally so flawed

Imam getting hit the way he did, hopefully he can come back from this.

ive seen many batsman career ruined after being hit once by a cricket ball, i think last time NZ toured UAE Ahmed Shezad ended up getting a bad blow on the head. many have said hes never been the same player after that

 

[austerlitz]

Its not so much in UAE,but other teams are watching.

Australia with starc,cummins,hazlewood you can expect chin music in the wc.
Wood might try the same for england.
West indies will definitely target their ribcage.
SA ngidi,rabada,steyn definitely will.
NZ will.

So in 4-5 matches for sure in wc expect this tactic to be used.So pakistan batsmen need to improve before the wc,because it'll be much easier to bounce them out in england than in slow pitches of UAE,even on flat tracks.

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

tbvfh this was the best display against short bowling that we have had in ages.

The reason why Kiwis have dominated us over the last few years is this short-ball tactic. They failed at it four years ago in Sharjah when we scored 350+ runs against them but then after that it has taken us 12 games to break the tactic.

People forget that Lokie Ferguson is a bonafide quick bowler and the ball skids in the second half of the day anyway. India despite all their quality have been troubled by Oshane T. and that too on indian pitches and Lokie has consistently been faster than him.

Yes Imam got hit but how Babar nullified the attack and then Fakhar joined in was a treat to watch.

 

[Stewie]

Its not a bog deal. Ramiz was saying how they practiced hard before the 88 tour of windies by playing on concrete with wet tennis balls and got great at facing short pitched stuff. I really sont see qhy the current lot cant do it. Just have to put in the time.