Pakistan openers are not doing their job - how can we fix this for the 2nd Test vs New Zealand?

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This match could already have been a draw if Pakistan's openers had managed a better 2nd innings effort than:<br><br>0 (2)<br>0 (8)<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NZvPAK?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NZvPAK</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1344149454253907968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Above says it all.

Should Azhar Ali now open and let Shan be dropped or move him to number 3?

 

[James Steven]

Simple. Play Imran Butt. What is Azhar Ali going to do? He is old and probably on his last legs now.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Bring Imran Butt in, open with Azhar as well.

Babar comes back into the middle order with either him or Haris sohail at 3.

 

[ChTab]

Azhar is probably the best opener we had in test cricket after i guess Saeed Anwar, he should definitely get a last chance as opener maybe in next test or series vs SA. Kick Shan & abid out of team & give imam a proper run in tests starting from home series vs SA.

 

[Energy]

Can't do much at this stage. Need planning before the tours, which we suck at.

 

[ShoaibM]

Yeah agree with Energy need to go in with what we have for now. Long term Imam will probably need to replace Abid and Shan will have to pick his game up. But for now have to live with this.

 

[wakkkLDN]

The best opener in the QeA trophy currently is Sharjeel Khan. We need him to open. I know he isnt in the squad but he should have been.

 

[cricketjoshila]

Simply not good enough.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Azhar is probably the best opener we had in test cricket after i guess Saeed Anwar, he should definitely get a last chance as opener maybe in next test or series vs SA. Kick Shan & abid out of team & give imam a proper run in tests starting from home series vs SA.

100% agree with you.. Azhar was at his best as an opener making sure no early collapses, which was the master stroke from Mickey..

With Azhar opening Mickey was very assured that he even brought Sharjeel to open alongside him in tests which is the only test sharjeel played though before he was banned...

Azhar should open and will make Imam take no.3 spot which should be the way forward... This will turn out into success, not saying that they will score 200 and 300 from the word go, but will surely yield results 8 out of 10 tests...

Imam and Babar are the future batting mainstays for Pakistan and must be persisted at a permanent batting position and will play for another 10-13 years.. I wont move Babar from the current batting positions he is in, which is what well set for him across all formats... Imam should be the one given the role of Hashim Amla (open in ODIs and no.3 in tests) after many years of international cricket and if he has developed the power game , then can be drafted in for the T20s...

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

They are not going to drop Shan or Abid or shuffle top order. Usually what I have seen of Misbah is to fix what is not broken. So he may shuffle middle order, bring Sohail Khan in etc.

This thread is pointless on the context of the past.

 

[Majid Khan]

Pakistani openers have been failing to do their job properly for the best part of 20 years since the opening pair of Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail.

I would recommend selecting a couple of specialist middle order batsmen instead and telling them you are batting at position 3 and 4 , but just assume every day the openers are both out for ducks and you have to go and bat in first over and rescue.

 

[JibranAnsari]

shan is extremely limited. He was never going to last and i think abid ali doesnt have the temperament to succeed at top level.

Problem is that I havent seen many good openers in our domestic season this year , the best we have at home is sharjeel khan. May be imran butt and him at home in the next series.

 

[Dark_Horse]

100% agree with you.. Azhar was at his best as an opener making sure no early collapses, which was the master stroke from Mickey..

With Azhar opening Mickey was very assured that he even brought Sharjeel to open alongside him in tests which is the only test sharjeel played though before he was banned...

Azhar should open and will make Imam take no.3 spot which should be the way forward... This will turn out into success, not saying that they will score 200 and 300 from the word go, but will surely yield results 8 out of 10 tests...

Imam and Babar are the future batting mainstays for Pakistan and must be persisted at a permanent batting position and will play for another 10-13 years.. I wont move Babar from the current batting positions he is in, which is what well set for him across all formats... Imam should be the one given the role of Hashim Amla (open in ODIs and no.3 in tests) after many years of international cricket and if he has developed the power game , then can be drafted in for the T20s...

The ground reality today is quite different Azhar Ali is unassured about his off stump in early part of his innings around 30-40 balls. Azhar Ali has aged plus the recent injuries have unfortunately seriously regressed his hand eye coordination due to which he has become prime LBW candidate to the incoming delivery with the new ball. Unfortunately we are only left with the option to dump altogether our top 5 batsman and give the domestic performers such as saud, kamran ghulam, Saad Ali alongside babar a long ride. However doing this we could lose some home tests and we must insure at least 3 seasons have been played by these players. Similarly we need to opt hard decisions in bowling department by sending back Naseem to national performance centre and replacing abbas with Hassan Ali. Despite doing this, all could be in vain if the Misbah’s approach of defensiveness prevails. Either the young blood should be inducted alongside new management or we better off playing the same players under the same regime. If the new players are not played under new management they will become as timid as old one and feel insecure about their selection in the next series.

 

[Ayubhbaloch]

Bring In Experience

1 Azhar Ali
2 Imran Butt
3 Haris Sohail
4 Babar Azam
5 Fawad Alam
6 Mohammad Rizwan
7 Fahim Ashraf
8 Yasir Shah
9 Sohail Khan
10 Shaheen Afridi
11 Naseem Shah

 

[shamaan]

Bring In Experience

1 Azhar Ali
2 Imran Butt
3 Haris Sohail
4 Babar Azam
5 Fawad Alam
6 Mohammad Rizwan
7 Fahim Ashraf
8 Yasir Shah
9 Sohail Khan
10 Shaheen Afridi
11 Naseem Shah

Whats yasir shah in the team for ?

 

[MenInG]

Seems we wont see any changes to the openers - Imam not there so no choice unless Azhar steps up to the plate.

 

[Zaz]

Its an issue weve been having for years Something is very wrong with the system if pakistan cant produce anyone who can avge 45 plus opening the batting

 

[lahoriyah1234]

shan is extremely limited. He was never going to last and i think abid ali doesnt have the temperament to succeed at top level.

Problem is that I havent seen many good openers in our domestic season this year , the best we have at home is sharjeel khan. May be imran butt and him at home in the next series.

Being harsh on Abid Ali, He only have 2 series so far in his career. Whereas failures like Asad and Shan been given consistent run despite on and off series here and there good performances. Abid deserves another 2 series before being dispatched. Imam and Abid Ali should be openers.

 

[Hasan123]

Pray that New Zealand bowlers don't turn up in the next game.

 

[UzmanBeast]

Its an issue weve been having for years Something is very wrong with the system if pakistan cant produce anyone who can avge 45 plus opening the batting

Exactly.

 

[avihash]

It is generally difficult to beat newzeland at home. They prepare pitches biased heavily in favor of home team and that's probably they reason they are poor tourists themselves.

No need to worry about this series as long as pakistan can remain competitive. That will be a decent outcome.

 

[hitthestump]

Abid deserves another 2 series before being dispatched.

He isn't entitled to anything. While i'm sure he can do better at home, his technique is weak for SENA pitches and this isn't going to change at this stage of his career even if you give him 20 series.

 

[lahoriyah1234]

He isn't entitled to anything. While i'm sure he can do better at home, his technique is weak for SENA pitches and this isn't going to change at this stage of his career even if you give him 20 series.

Did u see shan masood dismissal in the last inning only tail enders gets out like that. He was poking his nose on a leaving delivery, he should learn from kane williamson on how to leave deliveries.

 

[deems]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This match could already have been a draw if Pakistan's openers had managed a better 2nd innings effort than:<br><br>0 (2)<br>0 (8)<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NZvPAK?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NZvPAK</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1344149454253907968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
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==

Above says it all.

Should Azhar Ali now open and let Shan be dropped or move him to number 3?

Shan needs to be persisted with. He is a much better leaver than demonstrated in the 2nd innings. Could have left it on line and length. Just need to work on his leaving. Abid needs his feet moving, he plays circumspect. Half forward, neither here or there. And same again needs to learn to leave on length better.

 

[Osman]

If we are going to stick with either of them it has to be Shaan - at least he has some reasonable figures behind him this year and when u watch them both he is the better test batsman. Abid Ali is pathetic whichever angle u look at it from.

 

[shamaan]

Being harsh on Abid Ali, He only have 2 series so far in his career. Whereas failures like Asad and Shan been given consistent run despite on and off series here and there good performances. Abid deserves another 2 series before being dispatched. Imam and Abid Ali should be openers.

Abid deserves the plane back home.he will end up scoring loads of runs in pakistan but once a tour comes overseas he will be a sitting duck again.either just play him in asian condition or dont play him at all

 

[shamaan]

It is generally difficult to beat newzeland at home. They prepare pitches biased heavily in favor of home team and that's probably they reason they are poor tourists themselves.

No need to worry about this series as long as pakistan can remain competitive. That will be a decent outcome.

Whilst i agree its difficult to beat new zealand at home but i also think baring the first day the pitch was not a typical new zealand pitch thier was some swing but not as much as new zealand pitches are

 

[Artaxerxes]

Shan,Abid,Azhar and Sohail should be dropped.

 

[Shoaibbtt]

Although i don't wish to make a vast amount of changes i would perhaps drop Abid for Imran even though Abid faired better. The only reason I'm sticking with Shan is the left-right combo otherwise get rid of both for the next series.

 

[MMHS]

Open with Azhar and keep one of Shan or Abid (I’ll go for the lefti).

Imran Butt is officially 25 three days back but guy has been playing FC cricket from his boyhood (2012), and still averages 36, after a bonanza year of 2019-20 when PAK domestics turned to hyper batting - don’t think guy is that good to handle Kiwi attack at Hagley.

My kanspiracy theory is that Azhar was dropped down to 3 to create a gap in opening slot (guess what could be the reason), otherwise he was doing very well as opener and there was absolutely no reason to drop down to three. If he doesn’t want to open any more, then he should face the axe - No. 3 needs to be much more dynamic than Azhar Ali V. 2020.

 

[Mamoon]

Open with Azhar and keep one of Shan or Abid (I’ll go for the lefti).

Imran Butt is officially 25 three days back but guy has been playing FC cricket from his boyhood (2012), and still averages 36, after a bonanza year of 2019-20 when PAK domestics turned to hyper batting - don’t think guy is that good to handle Kiwi attack at Hagley.

My kanspiracy theory is that Azhar was dropped down to 3 to create a gap in opening slot (guess what could be the reason), otherwise he was doing very well as opener and there was absolutely no reason to drop down to three. If he doesn’t want to open any more, then he should face the axe - No. 3 needs to be much more dynamic than Azhar Ali V. 2020.

Azhar has never been viewed as an opener by the team management. They only opened with him briefly because they had run out of options.

With Younis and Misbah retiring, Azhar was always going to drop back to number 3.

 

[Suleiman]

Give Shan another couple months in England. I really do think Shan Masood 3.0 will deliver. I can sense it.

 

[MenInG]

And the pain continues.

Shan 0(8)

 

[b.lesner]

When Sami Aslam scored 850 odd runs with double tons in last year QAT why was he ignored when you kill merit this happens.


Upar walay ki lathi mai awaaz ni hoti

 

[Amjid Javed]

Failed to do there job in 1st inns of 2nd test aswell

 

[b.lesner]

Pakistan top order are passengers