Pakistan should simply be ashamed of their cricket approach

[Muhammad Saad]

We did try to hit out after the 11th over and there was clearly an intent for big total , but you can't set a big total with batters who clearly can't clear these big MCG boundaries

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

I would rather have Miandad than Hayden as a mentor. At least he will put some sense in their heads. Hayden is just goofing around.

He looks like a fat football supporter on tour. He should be sacked asap, he's not a coach, just a forner great batsman.

 

[greatest]

Exactly. Anyone who watched the T20 series vs ENG saw all these same issues - sluggish PP, failing to pick Rashid, and struggliny to accelerate on slow pitches. Instead of addressing these flaws, we rely on 1992 fairytales and philosophical quips to bail us out.

Agree!
Btw, in that 1992 WC our batting was vulnerable, Miandad played the anchor role in all the games despite suffering from back pain. Akram was struggling throughout the tournament with wides and finding the correct length. Even in the opening spell of the final he was all over the place. Fielding...we all know how good we have been. But despite all this we won and all was forgotten...and that's the mantra of Pakistan cricket for the last 30 years...when we win big, all is forgotten. So, we remain an unpredictable team, brilliant one day and mostly average/ordinary on others.

 

[Abdullah]

Bowlers needed to be applauded to the hilt. Remarkable effort. This game proves again why we should not play to get too far above par- cos on most occasions we will fall short.
We lost this game, not with powerplay batting, or anything to do with middle order not being able to hit, but through pure brainless in the last 4 overs, from Shan nawaz and shadab.

 

[kamz]

at first we all were moanign about intent and them not giving it their best.

I think the intent was there from Haris right from ball 1. he just couldnt connect and ate up a few deliveries.

The lower middle order, Ifti, Shadab, Nawaz couldnt connect.

One can blame the openers for a slow start, but it is a final, one has to be slightly cautious and play to their strength, expecting them to go gung ho from ball 1, would be pretty impossible.

From bowling again, Wasim showed signs of nerves and the biggest blow was loss of shaheen. Had he had his 2 overs bowled, who knows the match might have been stretched to the last delivery. If that had been the case and England winning in the last over then the analysis would be Pakistan were 10 to 15 runs short.

Which brings back to the point that lower middle order, just couldn't get even 6 an over, they were trying too hard to swing, a sign of nerves getting the better of them. Those dots built from swings and misses, had those been singles, coupled with Shaheen bowling his quota, pakistan would have had a very strong chance.

Nevertheless, this pakistan team deserved to be in the finals of how they played and this young bunch will only get better going forward.

 

[Afzal_K]

No man, we played well

 

[Energy]

From a timid approach when we go aggressive, it's mistaken for slogging. Two extremes. Always has been the case.

 

[Kroll]

Approached is linked to the personnel.

This should be the end of the likes of Rizwan, Shan, Iftikhar.

Honest triers but not good enough to win trophies.

 

[Adnan_Ilyas]

Brilliant fight by Pakistan in bowling and fielding. Well done boys

 

[UzmanBeast]

3 twos and 3 singles per over gives you 9 runs
That takes you to 180

Instead it's block or slog.

Poor shot selection and technical inadequacies as well.

I have long been screaming about strike rotation, and as much as people will differ, Shan Masood is the only nimble cricketer on our squad who looks like he understands what to do when he comes out to bat.

 

[Markhor]

A year later and a familiar story. Whether it's a belter or a slow track, if the opposition is ZIM or IND, the PAK batting pattern always remains the same.

No risks taken in PP --- keep wickets in hand --- let spinners dictate terms in middle overs --- soft dismissals due to self-imposed pressure.

IND's bowling was average for first 30 overs. They only looked like taking wickets through a batsman's error. Once we let them back in the game, they've been utterly ruthless and Rohit's captaincy spot on.

I'm afraid this team's cautious, conservative attitude will not change anytime because it's a reflection of:

A) Our lack of dynamic, skilful batsmen.

B) The mindset and cricketing philosophy of the most authoritative captain since Inzamam.

 

[MenInG]

A year later and a familiar story. Whether it's a belter or a slow track, if the opposition is ZIM or IND, the PAK batting pattern always remains the same.

No risks taken in PP --- keep wickets in hand --- let spinners dictate terms in middle overs --- soft dismissals due to self-imposed pressure.

IND's bowling was average for first 30 overs. They only looked like taking wickets through a batsman's error. Once we let them back in the game, they've been utterly ruthless and Rohit's captaincy spot on.

I'm afraid this team's cautious, conservative attitude will not change anytime because it's a reflection of:

A) Our lack of dynamic, skilful batsmen.

B) The mindset and cricketing philosophy of the most authoritative captain since Inzamam.

The other batters who came after Babar and Rizwan - who was holding a gun on their head to not score or atleast play out the 50 overs?

 

[Rana]

The other batters who came after Babar and Rizwan - who was holding a gun on their head to not score or atleast play out the 50 overs?

You play players outside of their positions for Rizwan

That’s where you lose the plot

 

[Markhor]

The other batters who came after Babar and Rizwan - who was holding a gun on their head to not score or atleast play out the 50 overs?

Miggy the point is we're always waiting for this magical late acceleration that rarely comes.

ODI or T20, we put all our eggs in one basket with this safety-first approach for the first 30 overs and then pray somehow we can smash our way to a par score.

In comparison - IND, AUS, ENG, NZL and SAF bat almost at a T20 pace for the first 20 overs, maximising the PP overs. Then they can afford to steadily accumulate from there.

Obviously we lack their skilled, dynamic batsmen but we've lost so often to IND at a WC, what's the harm in trying a different approach ?

 

[Markhor]

What's even worse from our part - did our guys really think the world's best death bowler Jasprit Bumrah would just let us explode in the last 10 overs ?

 

[batandballbattle]

What's even worse from our part - did our guys really think the world's best death bowler Jasprit Bumrah would just let us explode in the last 10 overs ?

So true
Was saying at the telly to impose yourself before bumrah comes back
Collapse triggered, he comes back early and lo and behold the innings dies

 

[aukhan]

Same old issue. Lets accept that we will never be a consistent or top quality side. We may win some big fluke games here and there.

We produce low intellect gawar cricketers as majority of them are from humble lower class backgrounds. They will never dominate or become world beaters.
We need to back the middleclass or encourage them to play the
sport.

 

[SpiritOf1903]

What's happened here??!!

 

[JAV12341]

This is an average team who will refuse to select players for benefit of Pakistan select their mates eg shadab and hasan Ali

 

[Energy]

The big players go missing.

Since Afridi in WT20I 2009 we've not seen any big player stand up, and instead regularly chicken out.

Babar, Shaheen, Shadab, Imam, Haris have all been absolutely poor. And collectively poor. And yet again the team relies on Abdullah's and Saud's with the bat and Hassan is leading with the ball in hand. Shambolic an all fronts.

 

[hassan918]

The big players go missing.

Since Afridi in WT20I 2009 we've not seen any big player stand up, and instead regularly chicken out.

Babar, Shaheen, Shadab, Imam, Haris have all been absolutely poor. And collectively poor. And yet again the team relies on Abdullah's and Saud's with the bat and Hassan is leading with the ball in hand. Shambolic an all fronts.

Abdullah and Saud are quality batters so it shouldn't be a surprise if we rely on them.

 

[hass]

They can only “impose themselves” against a juggernaut team like that, on their own patch, if they have the quality to do so. They do not.

They could only target loose deliveries. Of which there were few.

The biggest failure of the batting was not rotating the strike and getting out to some shocking dismissals. Babar’s was the killer blow.

 

[MenInG]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1715701866514763981

 

[Bhaijaan]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1715701866514763981

Great analysis.
Sab bhai should actually be sitting in shows like The Pavillion to bring the narrative of a non cricket playing expert.

 

[Kroll]

I'm going to go against the grain and the popular consensus, whilst the batting hasn't taken the place by storm, I feel bigger issues lies with the overhyped bowling.

We chased 345 against SL, a WC record, got off to a good start against Ind but completely collapsed after the platform was laid. Another decent batting performance against Oz but it was a tall order to chase such a big target after the bowling yet again was so profligate.

 

[GLORY OF '92]

I'm going to go against the grain and the popular consensus, whilst the batting hasn't taken the place by storm, I feel bigger issues lies with the overhyped bowling.

We chased 345 against SL, a WC record, got off to a good start against Ind but completely collapsed after the platform was laid. Another decent batting performance against Oz but it was a tall order to chase such a big target after the bowling yet again was so profligate.

The bowling is mediocre but you can't drop Warner he is amazing against us.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Pakistan captain Babar Azam speaking in post-series presser:

About not being able to reach 200 runs in the whole series:

“The average score in Lahore was 190. In Rawalpindi, you could say that the average score was over 200, as we saw in the PSL. However, the situation and pitch can change from time to time. You can’t always go out and score runs. You try, but after five or six overs, you realize what the best score could be on that pitch. So, we plan accordingly. When the wicket was good, we also scored 200 and also chased it sometimes. But I believe that in all three matches, throughout the series, we scored fewer runs in batting. I don’t deny this, but we will work on it. We do have power hitters like Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman and Iftikhar Ahmed. We really missed Azam Khan in the series. He brings a lot of power in the middle order and he has the ability to change the game.”

About scoring runs in different phases of the match:

“If you score more than 50 in the power play, I think that’s good. However, we are struggling from the seventh over to the tenth. It’s not that we are struggling in the power play; we are making 30-35 runs from the seventh to the tenth over. You could also say that we are short by five to ten runs. After that, if you are at 100 in ten overs, then in the next ten overs, you try to make 90 to 100 runs when the wicket is in hand. We are making more than 50 runs in the power play, but we are also losing wickets. We have even scored more than 60, but we have also lost wickets. We are also struggling due to consecutive wickets falling. We will try to address this. In the end, we try to execute our power-hitting plan in the last five overs.”

 

[Energy]

Pakistan captain Babar Azam speaking in post-series presser:

About not being able to reach 200 runs in the whole series:

“The average score in Lahore was 190. In Rawalpindi, you could say that the average score was over 200, as we saw in the PSL. However, the situation and pitch can change from time to time. You can’t always go out and score runs. You try, but after five or six overs, you realize what the best score could be on that pitch. So, we plan accordingly. When the wicket was good, we also scored 200 and also chased it sometimes. But I believe that in all three matches, throughout the series, we scored fewer runs in batting. I don’t deny this, but we will work on it. We do have power hitters like Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman and Iftikhar Ahmed. We really missed Azam Khan in the series. He brings a lot of power in the middle order and he has the ability to change the game.”

About scoring runs in different phases of the match:

“If you score more than 50 in the power play, I think that’s good. However, we are struggling from the seventh over to the tenth. It’s not that we are struggling in the power play; we are making 30-35 runs from the seventh to the tenth over. You could also say that we are short by five to ten runs. After that, if you are at 100 in ten overs, then in the next ten overs, you try to make 90 to 100 runs when the wicket is in hand. We are making more than 50 runs in the power play, but we are also losing wickets. We have even scored more than 60, but we have also lost wickets. We are also struggling due to consecutive wickets falling. We will try to address this. In the end, we try to execute our power-hitting plan in the last five overs.”

Trying too hard on the Math source Bobby.

If you get 50 in the powerplay, how can you reach 100 in the first 10? What is the logic behind going at 12rpo from overs 7-10 but go at 8.5rpo in the powerplay?

It's genius and cute.

 

[Markhor]

Pakistan captain Babar Azam speaking in post-series presser:

About not being able to reach 200 runs in the whole series:

“The average score in Lahore was 190. In Rawalpindi, you could say that the average score was over 200, as we saw in the PSL. However, the situation and pitch can change from time to time. You can’t always go out and score runs. You try, but after five or six overs, you realize what the best score could be on that pitch. So, we plan accordingly. When the wicket was good, we also scored 200 and also chased it sometimes. But I believe that in all three matches, throughout the series, we scored fewer runs in batting. I don’t deny this, but we will work on it. We do have power hitters like Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman and Iftikhar Ahmed. We really missed Azam Khan in the series. He brings a lot of power in the middle order and he has the ability to change the game.”

The caterers also missed Azam Khan in this series.

What's this pining over a player with an average of 4 at 90 SR after 7 T20I innings ?