"Pakistan captaincy in Australia has been appalling for quite some time" : Ian Chappell

[MenInG]

They've just inherited an unwanted world record for most consecutive Test losses in one country, but Pakistan's fortunes in Australia won't turn until they sort their captaincy out.

That's the view of former Australian skipper Ian Chappell, who says Azhar Ali's leadership was a key factor in Australia's thumping 2-0 series win.

The home side won both matches by an innings, to extend Pakistan's losing streak in this country to 14 matches, eclipsing Bangladesh's 13 straight losses at home between 2001-2004. Australia's win in Adelaide came for the loss of just three wickets, the fewest ever lost by an Australian team in a Test victory.

The series victory was so comfortable it came without any serious contribution from Australia's middle order of Steve Smith, Matthew Wade and Travis Head, who either came in with Australia in an already commanding position, or in the unfortunate case of Head in Adelaide, weren't required at all.

Pakistan has now won just four of the 37 Tests they've played in Australia, and only one of 25 since 1983.

"It's an appalling record really," Chappell told Wide World of Sports.

"There were a few people in Pakistan who jumped up and down when I said after the last tour that Australia should stop inviting them, if that's what it takes to get them to wake up to themselves.

"Talent wise they're better than 14 straight losses. They were abysmal this time. This is probably the worst of the lot."

Chappell took particular aim at captain Azhar Ali and coach Misbah-ul-Haq, who skippered the team during their previous tour in 2016-17.

"They've got no idea how to captain in Australia," Chappell said.

"Misbah was horrible last time he came here, now he's the coach and from talking to some people they think he was orchestrating things off the field on this tour.

"Well, he didn't do any better this time around."

According to Chappell, captaincy in Australian conditions requires the same adjustment as batting or bowling.

"There's a total lack of understanding about Australian conditions, and it's not just Pakistan. Alastair Cook was abysmal for England, and I'm not sure Joe Root is much better.

"Everyone jumps up and down and says batting in Australia is difficult for teams from the subcontinent, and the bounce makes it tricky, but if a good batsman gets a start, he can be bloody hard to get out, as we saw with David Warner in Adelaide.

"Captaining in Australia is different to anywhere else in the world, and when overseas teams come here they prepare by practicing on bouncy pitches, but how much thought do they give to captaining in Australia?

"Certainly on the evidence it seems like they don't give any thought to it."

Pakistan have enjoyed more success in recent times against Australian in the UAE, where they won 1-0 in 2018 and 2-0 in 2014. But even in favourable conditions, Chappell says Pakistan often lacks a backup plan.


David Warner celebrates his 300 in Adelaide (AAP)
"In the UAE, where Pakistan has been successful against Australia, you've got fieldsman around the bat a lot of the time against the spinners, but once that doesn't work, they haven't got a clue what to do.

"You feel a bit sorry for them because they haven't been able to play at home, but I'd be suggesting they try and do something to improve the leadership, because Pakistan captaincy in Australia has been appalling for quite some time.

"They need to be prepared to bowl really well for an hour, and against good players even that mightn't get you a wicket, so you've got to bowl really well for the next hour.

"In Brisbane in particular, they'd bowl rubbish with crap field placings, and then suddenly they'd bowl a really good ball out of the blue and beat the bat.

"That's what tends to happen when there's no consistency to the good bowling."

https://wwos.nine.com.au/cricket/ex...chappell/21cce429-fbd5-4bc8-9fda-70d34024f866

 

[Junaids]

I agree with every word.

Even next time, the formula is already obvious.

3 quick bowlers a minimum of 6’4 in height. Bowling a very full length, on off-stump.
1 quick bowling all-rounder
Shadab Khan at 7.
Mohammad Rizwan at 6.

It’s not rocket science, but it’s too hard for Misbah to grasp:

 

[minamino]

I agree with every word.

Even next time, the formula is already obvious.

3 quick bowlers a minimum of 6’4 in height. Bowling a very full length, on off-stump.
1 quick bowling all-rounder
Shadab Khan at 7.
Mohammad Rizwan at 6.

It’s not rocket science, but it’s too hard for Misbah to grasp:

I don't know why height matters that much? You can have one tall bowler but 3 tall bowlers is an overkill.

 

[The cricket enthusiast]

this should be framed and hang on every corner of PCB

 

[Kroll]

Brutal. Sometimes it does take an outside view to drum home the reality.

 

[emranabbas]

Agree with every single world he's 100% correct

 

[Fahdi]

Brutally honest criticism. No sugarcoating from Chapel.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

Make him head coach.

 

[Fahdi]

I don't know why height matters that much? You can have one tall bowler but 3 tall bowlers is an overkill.

Well [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] seems a bit too obsessed with height but historical trends do back him up. Generally the most successful bowlers in Australia have been tall. Yes there have been successful bowlers who were relatively short, i.e. below 6ft, but the overwhelming trend has been in favor of height.

Our two most successful bowlers in Australia are Imran and Wasim and they were both tall.

All three of Australia's current pacers are pretty tall, I think 6'4" and above. Most of the best bowlers in Australia were very tall, most famously McGrath and Ambrose.

Also you have to keep in mind that most fast bowlers at the test level are generally tall. Even the ones who aren't well known for their height are usually 6ft tall. For example even James Anderson is 6'2", Woakes is 6'1" and even someone like M. Amir who doesn't look very tall is 6ft in height. If you were to compile the data of fast bowlers who had some measure of success at the test level you will find that most of them are 5'11"or taller.

 

[Hasan123]

Chappell rarely holds back. He is correct on Misbah .

 

[Bhaijaan]

Chappell just loves to flog the ones that are already down. Had he said this before the start of series it would have meant something. Now when it's done and dusted there is no point belittling these guys. I don't like this. These are the same people who had written if David Warner a month ago.

 

[Junaids]

I don't know why height matters that much? You can have one tall bowler but 3 tall bowlers is an overkill.

Australia’s shortest fast bowler - Pat Cummins - is 6’4. Even Mitchell Marsh is 6’5.

It’s all about pressure. The Kookaburra ball does not seam or swing, and from overs 20-80 it’s soft.

Shaheen Shah has an economy rate of 2.8 while the other quicks gave away an extra 2 runs per over. He was economical because he bowled a full length but got lift, and the batsmen didn’t know whether to play forwards or back.

Most series in Australia are won by attacks in which all the quicks are very tall. This is because even with the soft Kookaburra the tall quicks can stifle the scoring rate and make the batsmen take risks.

Having one tall quick did not help Pakistan because they were leaking runs at the other end. They should have had Shaheen plus Ehsan Adil plus Sameen Gul, so that extreme height was bowling at both ends all of the time.

 

[Rellu_Katta]

Aus has always been the boogiie team for pak ... even in the great days of pak cricket, 80z n 90z, we werent doing great in aus although we were killing it everywhere else....

need some very very very strong personalities ..... on he field and also in the team.....

I am not too much bothered abt this result... we know (the gutter man was probably the only 1 who DIDNt know) that Imran Khan Snr, Azhar, Asad Shafiq, yasir shah shld be dumped with Yasir only playing in sub continent.

Azhar needs to go big time along with Asad... Asad shafiq has been the most abysmal investment we have made .... the guy is such a waste of a space

Shaan, Harris Sohail, BABAR and Rizwan need to be persisted with, should form the block of 4 as the batting backbone

Bring in Sami Aslam or some1 who can perform and we have a decent batting .. Abid Ali maybe? to open?

 

[Shoaib88]

Aus has always been the boogiie team for pak ... even in the great days of pak cricket, 80z n 90z, we werent doing great in aus although we were killing it everywhere else....

need some very very very strong personalities ..... on he field and also in the team.....

I am not too much bothered abt this result... we know (the gutter man was probably the only 1 who DIDNt know) that Imran Khan Snr, Azhar, Asad Shafiq, yasir shah shld be dumped with Yasir only playing in sub continent.

Azhar needs to go big time along with Asad... Asad shafiq has been the most abysmal investment we have made .... the guy is such a waste of a space

Shaan, Harris Sohail, BABAR and Rizwan need to be persisted with, should form the block of 4 as the batting backbone

Bring in Sami Aslam or some1 who can perform and we have a decent batting .. Abid Ali maybe? to open?

Umm, why should have our second best batsman been dumped?

 

[Rellu_Katta]

Umm, why should have our second best batsman been dumped?

lol i know my bad lol

 

[topspin]

Thank you Ian Chappell for once again exposing Misbah's incompetence. It's about his loyalists come to terms with this and put Pakistan first.
[MENTION=43242]Dr_Bassim[/MENTION] - if I'm biased, then what do you have to say about Ian Chappell?

 

[topspin]

You seem to post the same thing every day, i think people got your point the 1st time... no need to repeat 2000 times.

Misbah needs this reminder though.

 

[Shazzam]

Even the neutrals are saying it. Lol

Misbah fans gone hiding.

 

[Savak]

Ian Chappell calls a spade a spade, he doesn't buy the emotional subcontinental **. He took Misbah to the cleaners in 2016-17 and even called out the PCB Statement that they were leaving Misbah's retirement to him the most riddiculous thing he has ever seen. When told that Misbah led Pakistan with a lot of pride, honor, dignity during his tenure, he responded by saying i dont really care about that stuff, i care about what i see on the field and what he say was the most clueless bit of captaincy he has ever seen on Australian shores.

 

[Bleedgreen4ever]

I agree with every word.

Even next time, the formula is already obvious.

3 quick bowlers a minimum of 6’4 in height. Bowling a very full length, on off-stump.
1 quick bowling all-rounder
Shadab Khan at 7.
Mohammad Rizwan at 6.

It’s not rocket science, but it’s too hard for Misbah to grasp:

Best post

This is the formula that won against ENG at Lords

I still can't believe how stupid our planning is.

 

[Bleedgreen4ever]

Inzamam in 2005
Yousuf in 2010
Misbah in 2016
Azhar in 2019

Compare these with the captains we had before 1999

1.Mushtaq
2.Imran
3.Wasim
4.Saleem Malik?
5.Wasim(unlucky because of the Hobart Test)

No wonder we haven't won a test in AUS look at the standard of our captains every time we toured there after 1999

You need aggression to win here. Timid people like Misbah won't get you anywhere which is why India was so poor in the 90s in AUS under Azhar and Sachin and did better in the 2000s under Ganguly

 

[Bhaijaan]

Inzamam in 2005
Yousuf in 2010
Misbah in 2016
Azhar in 2019

Compare these with the captains we had before 1999

1.Mushtaq
2.Imran
3.Wasim
4.Saleem Malik?
5.Wasim(unlucky because of the Hobart Test)

No wonder we haven't won a test in AUS look at the standard of our captains every time we toured there after 1999

You need aggression to win here. Timid people like Misbah won't get you anywhere which is why India was so poor in the 90s in AUS under Azhar and Sachin and did better in the 2000s under Ganguly

Azhar and Sachin didn't have the team to win in Australia.

Btw Sachin was always the invisible captain and leader of the dressing room. No captain that played in his era would have been successful without his support. Tendulkar wasnt happy with Greig Chappell and those two years under Dravid were the most forgettable years of Indian cricket.

 

[Savak]

Inzamam in 2005
Yousuf in 2010
Misbah in 2016
Azhar in 2019

Compare these with the captains we had before 1999

1.Mushtaq
2.Imran
3.Wasim
4.Saleem Malik?
5.Wasim(unlucky because of the Hobart Test)

No wonder we haven't won a test in AUS look at the standard of our captains every time we toured there after 1999

You need aggression to win here. Timid people like Misbah won't get you anywhere which is why India was so poor in the 90s in AUS under Azhar and Sachin and did better in the 2000s under Ganguly

Wasim in 1999 was unlucky because that was the best Australian side in history and even then we came extremely close to winning that Hobart Test match

 

[Saj]

The truth hurts.

Frankly Pakistan were embarrassing in Australia and it's no wonder that fans weren't too keen to come and watch the tourists.

Wasim Khan wants 3 Test series in Australia, the way Pakistan is playing they'll be lucky to even get a Test series there.

 

[SensiblePakFan]

The truth hurts.

Frankly Pakistan were embarrassing in Australia and it's no wonder that fans weren't too keen to come and watch the tourists.

Wasim Khan wants 3 Test series in Australia, the way Pakistan is playing they'll be lucky to even get a Test series there.

On the contrary, theyll be willing to play a 5 test series with all those championship points in play.

 

[KingT]

On the contrary, theyll be willing to play a 5 test series with all those championship points in play.

No they wouldn't.
Why would they want to play 5 matches if they can get 60 points per match for playing only 2?

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Misbah is appalling.

 

[Kroll]

The truth hurts.

Frankly Pakistan were embarrassing in Australia and it's no wonder that fans weren't too keen to come and watch the tourists.

Wasim Khan wants 3 Test series in Australia, the way Pakistan is playing they'll be lucky to even get a Test series there.

Who's to blame? What was the main cause of this debacle?

 

[sshakir411]

Our bowling really sucks at test level. Even with Amir and Wahab we’d have the same 2-0 loss. Bowlers can’t build pressure or bowl 3 deliveries at the same spot. A test win in Australia isn’t happening for a while

 

[jnaveen1980]

Well @<a href="http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/member.php?u=132916" target="_blank">Junaids</a> seems a bit too obsessed with height but historical trends do back him up. Generally the most successful bowlers in Australia have been tall. Yes there have been successful bowlers who were relatively short, i.e. below 6ft, but the overwhelming trend has been in favor of height.

Our two most successful bowlers in Australia are Imran and Wasim and they were both tall.

All three of Australia's current pacers are pretty tall, I think 6'4" and above. Most of the best bowlers in Australia were very tall, most famously McGrath and Ambrose.

Also you have to keep in mind that most fast bowlers at the test level are generally tall. Even the ones who aren't well known for their height are usually 6ft tall. For example even James Anderson is 6'2", Woakes is 6'1" and even someone like M. Amir who doesn't look very tall is 6ft in height. If you were to compile the data of fast bowlers who had some measure of success at the test level you will find that most of them are 5'11"or taller.

Most of the decent bowlers are tall by nature. Don't read too much into it. Tall bowlers will have an advantage anywhere not just Australia. Akram is a tall bowler too. He has got 36 dismissals. 15 of them either bowler or lbw. Where is his tallness helping him? Many are caught behind most likely full balls. Generally Pakistan bowlers are full bowlers height or no height. Late swinging yorkers is the well known weapon of Pak bowlers. Not short stuffs or rising deliveries. Agarkar 5'7" took a sixfer at the adelaide oval
Baring one bouncer everything was either good length or full ball

.

 

[Junaids]

Most of the decent bowlers are tall by nature. Don't read too much into it. Tall bowlers will have an advantage anywhere not just Australia. Akram is a tall bowler too. He has got 36 dismissals. 15 of them either bowler or lbw. Where is his tallness helping him? Many are caught behind most likely full balls. Generally Pakistan bowlers are full bowlers height or no height. Late swinging yorkers is the well known weapon of Pak bowlers. Not short stuffs or rising deliveries. Agarkar 5'7" took a sixfer at the adelaide oval
Baring one bouncer everything was either good length or full ball

.

There will always be exceptions, but the last stats I saw were that in the last 20 years there had been seventy something victories in Test matches in Australia.

Over 60% were by teams with 3 or more fast bowlers taller than 6'2.

Over 90% were by teams with 3 or more fast bowlers of at least 6'0 in height.

The most startling thing was the reverse statistic. The team with the taller fast bowlers loses fewer than 5% of Test matches in Australia.

Everybody thinks that the secret of the great West Indians success was pace like fire.

It wasn't: it was great height. (Except for Malcolm Marshall).

The same is true of Australia from 1995-2005. Yes they had Warne and McGrath.

But more to the point, between McGrath and Gillespie they had one bowler at least 6'5 in height sealing up one end of the attack non-stop throughout the opposition innings.

Which is why when McGrath retired, he was replaced first by Stuart Clark and then by Josh Hazlewood - both of whom are 6'5 tall.

Nobody in their right mind thinks that Hazlewood and Starc are more skilled Test match bowlers than James Pattinson. Pattinson is clearly more skillful.

But at 6'1, Pattinson doesn't provide Australia the control that 6'5 and 6'6 bowlers do, and that's why he is the back-up bowler and has to watch inferior bowlers in action.

 

[Bhaijaan]

On the contrary, theyll be willing to play a 5 test series with all those championship points in play.

Every series has 120 points to win only even if it's 2 tests ir 5 years.

Ideally it's better to play a lot of 2 test series against weaker teams

 

[jnaveen1980]

There will always be exceptions, but the last stats I saw were that in the last 20 years there had been seventy something victories in Test matches in Australia.

Over 60% were by teams with 3 or more fast bowlers taller than 6'2.

Over 90% were by teams with 3 or more fast bowlers of at least 6'0 in height.

The most startling thing was the reverse statistic. The team with the taller fast bowlers loses fewer than 5% of Test matches in Australia.

Everybody thinks that the secret of the great West Indians success was pace like fire.

It wasn't: it was great height. (Except for Malcolm Marshall).

The same is true of Australia from 1995-2005. Yes they had Warne and McGrath.

But more to the point, between McGrath and Gillespie they had one bowler at least 6'5 in height sealing up one end of the attack non-stop throughout the opposition innings.

Which is why when McGrath retired, he was replaced first by Stuart Clark and then by Josh Hazlewood - both of whom are 6'5 tall.

Nobody in their right mind thinks that Hazlewood and Starc are more skilled Test match bowlers than James Pattinson. Pattinson is clearly more skillful.

But at 6'1, Pattinson doesn't provide Australia the control that 6'5 and 6'6 bowlers do, and that's why he is the back-up bowler and has to watch inferior bowlers in action.

You say Hazlewood is picked because of his height. But in theory Pattinson has better record in Australia than Hazlewood. But in England hazlewood's record is better than Pattinson. All the Australian pitches are flat wickets these days. Just see off 25 overs you can score at will against any bowler as Yasir shaw showed. You can bring in 10 feet bowler people would still face them comfortably once the ball is older. The guys you suggest will be good only if they are skillful not because they are taller.

 

[Fahdi]

Most of the decent bowlers are tall by nature. Don't read too much into it. Tall bowlers will have an advantage anywhere not just Australia. Akram is a tall bowler too. He has got 36 dismissals. 15 of them either bowler or lbw. Where is his tallness helping him? Many are caught behind most likely full balls. Generally Pakistan bowlers are full bowlers height or no height. Late swinging yorkers is the well known weapon of Pak bowlers. Not short stuffs or rising deliveries. Agarkar 5'7" took a sixfer at the adelaide oval
Baring one bouncer everything was either good length or full ball

.

I said in my post these have been shorter bowlers who did find success but the larger trend is in favor of the taller bowlers.

Also you mentioned that height doesn't help in lbws and bowled which is simply not true. The fuller length from tall fast bowlers is very difficult to face because judging whether to go forward or back becomes difficult as even a slight change in length will make a big difference in where the batsman ends up playing the ball. Even in the recent series the Australian fast bowlers targeted the stumps a lot, forcing batsmen to play at it. Targeting the stumps is key, especially when you are tall.

Look height is a big advantage for a quick especially on the bouncier wickets of SA and Australia. Now I don't believe that we should go out of our way to only select guys who are 6'4" and above because a skillful 6ft bowler will be better than 6'8" dud. But height is definitely something to keep in mind when thinking about future prospects and selecting teams for games in Australia and SA.

 

[Majid Khan]

Imran Khan (the former cricket captain and PM, not the new Imran Khan Sr. ) once mentioned in an interview and I think in his autobiography as well that during his playing days he always admired Ian Chappell as a captain and later as an analyst. Imran used to consul Chappel for advice on his own game and also used to read newspaper articles by Ian Chappel while ignoring other journalists, because he said Chappel knew what he was talking about and gave constructive feedback.

Here we are 40 odd years later - hoping Imran Khan the PM reads this article from Ian Chappel and takes necessary action based on his constructive feedback for the betterment of Pakistan cricket — let’s face it, Chappel is right , it all starts with having a captain who can not motivate and inspire others, yes Sarfraz was not worth his place in the team in the end and had to go as captain, but which genius came up with the idea of appointing a past his peak 37 year old Azhar Ali as test captain? Clearly it wasn’t because of his ability to inspire the team as a batsman by damaging the morale of the opposition bowlers , so did someone think he had great leadership skills and could turn a bunch of losers/no-hopers into fighters on the cricket field ?

 

[topspin]

Most of the decent bowlers are tall by nature. Don't read too much into it. Tall bowlers will have an advantage anywhere not just Australia. Akram is a tall bowler too. He has got 36 dismissals. 15 of them either bowler or lbw. Where is his tallness helping him? Many are caught behind most likely full balls. Generally Pakistan bowlers are full bowlers height or no height. Late swinging yorkers is the well known weapon of Pak bowlers. Not short stuffs or rising deliveries. Agarkar 5'7" took a sixfer at the adelaide oval
Baring one bouncer everything was either good length or full ball

.

Pitches in the 2000s were also quicker. For e.g. According to a BBL commentator (don't remember who it was but it was from a match only a few years ago), he claimed the WACA had lost 20% of its pace since 2000. I don't think it would be any different on other Australian grounds.

Even I can visibly see how these wickets are slower than what I was used to seeing in the 2000s. Perhaps the introduction of drop in wickets in recent years might have something to do with it?

I'm sure as an a regular attendee of Australian matches, [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] can elaborate on this as well.

 

[MenInG]

Wonder if Shan will buck the trend?

 

[Savak]

Shan Masood and the Pakistani bowlers need to talk to Ravi Shastri and Bharat Arun on how to defeat Australia in Australia

 

[Justcrazy]

Shan Masood and the Pakistani bowlers need to talk to Ravi Shastri and Bharat Arun on how to defeat Australia in Australia

Pakistan will not be able to draw , let alone win. How many match fit fast bowlers are available who can bowl long spells in Test for Pakistan?

You have to have at least one good fast bowling all rounder , to support three main fast bowlers. How many spinners they have who can bowl consistent lengths ?

As far as catching and fielding is concerned I do not think I even need to say.