Pakistan Test Cricket: The way forward

[deep82]

So, how will Misbah & co. take it from here?

The World test championship is over for Pakistan. So should they focus on 21-23 WTC cycle now and start building team right away or as per true Misbah style- keep it safe and work on series by series basis.

There are 5 test matches to go for Pakistan in this current WTC- 1 against BAN and two each against NZ and SA.

Ideally, the preparation should start immediately and that mean end of the 35 year old brigade like Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Abid Ali, Yasir Shah, Sohail Khan, Imran Khan, & Wahab Riaz.

You can't expect to compete for final of '23 championship with these players. Instead the focus should be on unearthing some new talent in these next 5 matches. Someone like Crawley(Eng) or Jamieson(NZ).

With proper planning, Pakistan might surprise everybody in 21-23 cycle since the core is there with Shan, Imam, Sami Aslam, Babar, Rizwan, , Shadab, Shaheen, Naseem. All they need to do is find 2-3 new talent which can compliment these players.

If Pakistan wastes these next 5 matches then I am afraid the second WTC will be over for them before it even starts!

 

[Xoib]

We need couple of mid 20 Pacers. Ehsan Adil and Hasan Ali should be brought in Naseem should be part of 16 man squad but he is not ready for test cricket yet.

 

[Abdullah]

Pakistan has never been one for long term planning ( Mickey aside)
Thankfully Azhar was saying the right things in the post match about playing Rizwan at 6 and shadab at 7. That should happen straight away.
We know who our best 5 bats are.
Need to find a spinner

 

[Varun]

Pakistan should just aim to ruthlessly win every game which they play.

They're never one to look at the long term so go the complete other extreme and fight your opponent with whatever you've got to the finish game after game and see what happens.

 

[Abdullah]

And we need to organise more test matches.

 

[deep82]

Pakistan has never been one for long term planning ( Mickey aside)
Thankfully Azhar was saying the right things in the post match about playing Rizwan at 6 and shadab at 7. That should happen straight away.
We know who our best 5 bats are.
Need to find a spinner

Shan, Abid, Azhar, Babar, Asad

Are you sure 4 of these 5 batsman will be doing duties for Pakistan in next WTC?

 

[Nikhil_cric]

A whitewash would have been better for Pakistan!

What is increasingly clear is that Misbah has been utterly incompetent and has no clue what he is doing. He actually thinks that the lack of a genuine allrounder is why Pakistan has barely competed in this series. Waqar too does not seem to have helped Naseem with his action as has been pointed by a few knowledgeable posters. A 3-0 thrashing would have helped get rid of them as quickly as possible. As it stands. It looks like the status quo will remain for quite some time and this does not bode well for Pakistan's NZ tour later this year. Thoughts?

 

[MenInG]

Pakistan should select squads that will win the game NOW as opposed to worry about the future

I know sounds stupid but then for the "lets get a squad that will do well in the future" thing doesnt seem to work all the time for us

 

[Ahmed216]

drop naseem let him develop in domestic and bring in a
to bowl with more experienced young bowler, someone like ehsan Adil.
Yasir Shah must learn to bowl with better field placements with tighter line and lengths. cant afford to give easy singles specially early on. A left arm accurate spinner gives more control. Pak shouldn't waste zafar gohar like abdur rehman.
Drop Asad shafig.
Shan Abid azhar fawad are not long term prospects so next series should be used to induct couple of younger batsmen like saud shakeel and imran butt.

 

[shady]

The outline of a really competitive team is there we just need a couple guys to really emerge in order to seriously contend. The biggest hole is finding people to fill spots 5 and 6 in the lineup. We desperately need a middle order bat to replace Shafiq and an all rounder who can take some pressure off the main bowlers. After Haris theres no one with test experience in the middle order who can replace Asad, so we need to identify and introduce a couple middle order bats in these next few tests. Playing Shadab at 7 and Rizwan at 6 is probably the best solution to the all-rounder problem although ideally you'd want a seam bowling all rounder. If Shadab can develop into a proper number 6 though, it would be a game changer.

 

[angrypathan]

Anything that would have accelerated Misbah's departure would have been better, so I can't say I disagree, painful as it would have been to watch.

 

[Shazzam]

Rain saved us or else it would have happen. Would have made me proud of England.

 

[Geil]

Whatever Pakistan has been doing in Test Cricket or even in cricket in general since the 2000"s era its not working, this can be said by the simple fact that Pakistan who had the legacy of Fast bowlers like Wasim,Waqar not so long ago till 90"s have failed to produce any such great Pacers after them

Forget great bowlers Pak pacers dont even come closer to modern day top bowlers like Anderson/broad,Steyn/Morkel,I Sharma/Z Khan, Boult/Southee, M Johnson/Starc , PAK bowlers are on same level as WI but not SL because they produced a great spinner like Herath

They did brought raw talents like Gul, Amir ,Sami, Junaid Khan,Hasan Ali at such young age into the international cricket but they didn't reach the great potential that they were promising in their early start to their careers, there have been names like these who came and showed promise and potential but they couldn't reach the great heights, now PAK is presenting the cricketing world with another raw promising talents like Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah, I wont be surprised to see them follow the same fate as others due to the simple fact that they are being controlled by the coach/selectors or the whole PAK think tank team which historically has been so backward and uneducated to catch up with the recent times of modern day cricket

The method and the culture with which the game is being played now is very different to what Pak has been playing since 2000"s, to me it looks like the major part of PAK team is always being controlled by some external elements which are sometimes coaches,selectors,spot fixing,lack of discipline, lack of education in terms of how to transform from the old outdated methods,tactics & strategies the coach/captains still follow

There looks no visible improvements till now, maybe its going to be a very long road for PAK to be a TOP THREE team that they once were, to achieve the greatness they have to produce world class bowlers who have the durability to carry the bowling attack over a long period of time, they have been at best lurking as Mid Carder or underdogs since 2000

They need a huge change in their methods, whatever they did haven't worked

 

[deep82]

What is increasingly clear is that Misbah has been utterly incompetent and has no clue what he is doing. He actually thinks that the lack of a genuine allrounder is why Pakistan has barely competed in this series. Waqar too does not seem to have helped Naseem with his action as has been pointed by a few knowledgeable posters. A 3-0 thrashing would have helped get rid of them as quickly as possible. As it stands. It looks like the status quo will remain for quite some time and this does not bode well for Pakistan's NZ tour later this year. Thoughts?

NZ will be a harsh reality for the ageing seniors.

Azhar Ali is supposedly proud of his team performance in this series which means more or less same team will be played for next 5 tests.

 

[MenInG]

NZ will be a harsh reality for the ageing seniors.

Azhar Ali is supposedly proud of his team performance in this series which means more or less same team will be played for next 5 tests.

I feel that they could benefit from the lessons learnt in England - they could surprise us

 

[Abdullah]

Shan, Abid, Azhar, Babar, Asad

Are you sure 4 of these 5 batsman will be doing duties for Pakistan in next WTC?

I wouldn't include Asad at all in that.
Babar
Shan
Azhar
Harris
Abid

Management need to decide whether Harris is still the player of 2017 -18 ( pre Aus tour) and whether the desire is still there.
Abid should be phased out as he fails for imam.
Haider should be inducted as the next in line.

Shan
Imam
Babar
Harris
Haider
Azhar ( only one I'm not sure can hold out until 2023) depends where we play

 

[deep82]

I started this topic right after Australia debacle and it holds true now as well.

When will Misbah & Co. wake up?

 

[MHN1293]

The main problem lies with our bowling lineup. In the upcomming sa series hasan ali needs to be ayed instead if naseem. Zafar should play 1 test and sajid khan the other just to see who does better.

 

[Mercurial]

It always was very simple; select players on the basis of domestic stats and enough domestic experience (at least 15 to 20 games in all formats). It is beyond me that how a mediocre batsman like Shan Masood got to play so much matches for us.

 

[IAJ]

I started this topic right after Australia debacle and it holds true now as well.

When will Misbah & Co. wake up?

Not much to be done to be honest. They can get in different players but in the end the result will probably be the same as the new players will visit SENA every 100th year and will never do well in those conditions.

You need hard working talented players, you need a board willing to send young players overseas so they can gain experience.

Just look at the Shaheens, they should have been 18-23 years old players mostly, but they are packing them with oldies. Just amazing!

 

[Line and Length]

There are only 3-4 players in the country right now that can actually put in a decent showing in SENA. None of the youngsters look like they have any serious potential. If they do, Misbah and Waqar will handle them so poorly that even exciting prospects like Naseem and Haider will be completely bereft of any confidence.
We can take the first step in the right direction by sacking Misbah, Waqar and this useless fielding coach. But that won’t even solve half of the problems. Mani and Wasim Khan need to be held accountable for this mess too.

 

[Pakpak]

We have been making such threads since 2003. Absolutely pathetic and disgusting showing yet again. The fraud coach has to go before anyone else.

 

[deep82]

To be honest, NZ would be the last place to bring in young talent. That should have happened vs SL and Ban at home.

But it would be absolute shame if the same 35 year brigade get yet another chance in the next home series since they will get some soft runs and wickets and everything will be fine again until next away tour.

The oldies must go including Azhar, Fawad, Yasir and Abbas. Investing in these four won't serve any purpose for the next test championship.

Over to M. Wasim & Misbah!

 

[Pakpak]

To be honest, NZ would be the last place to bring in young talent. That should have happened vs SL and Ban at home.

But it would be absolute shame if the same 35 year brigade get yet another chance in the next home series since they will get some soft runs and wickets and everything will be fine again until next away tour.

The oldies must go including Azhar, Fawad, Yasir and Abbas. Investing in these four won't serve any purpose for the next test championship.

Over to M. Wasim & Misbah!

If Misbah the fraud stays he will pack the squad with oldies so all his geriatric mates can pile on the runs against minnows and he can point and say look at all this experience!

 

[hitthestump]

The approach from Pakistan needs to change. Rather than plucking nobody's out of t20 and hope they swim on the international stage, there needs to be an emphasis on performing in domestics consistently before international selection.

The team needs to be freshened up too, starting with the obvious change in the backroom from the failures that have been Misbah and Waqar.

Thanks to a successful QeA there are options to tinker with before the SA series. For me, Salahuddin and Saud are ready to come in for Masood and Sohail. Hasan Ali for Naseem is a no brainer, while Sajid Khan plays as 2nd spinner at home on what should be very helpful pitches.

 

[jupiter2007]

The approach from Pakistan needs to change. Rather than plucking nobody's out of t20 and hope they swim on the international stage, there needs to be an emphasis on performing in domestics consistently before international selection.

The team needs to be freshened up too, starting with the obvious change in the backroom from the failures that have been Misbah and Waqar.

Thanks to a successful QeA there are options to tinker with before the SA series. For me, Salahuddin and Saud are ready to come in for Masood and Sohail. Hasan Ali for Naseem is a no brainer, while Sajid Khan plays as 2nd spinner at home on what should be very helpful pitches.

I agree Salahuddin and Saud should replace Masood and Sohail. I would also include another talented Youngster.

 

[deep82]

If Misbah the fraud stays he will pack the squad with oldies so all his geriatric mates can pile on the runs against minnows and he can point and say look at all this experience!

If M. Wasim sticks with Azhar and Fawad, then it should be on long term basis of two years. Give them assurance. Same with Yasir and Abbas. But if they keep getting dropped and coming back every alternate series then that would be travesty.

 

[Varun]

We have been making such threads since 2003. Absolutely pathetic and disgusting showing yet again. The fraud coach has to go before anyone else.

In the larger scheme of things it seems that Pakistan had a purple patch between 1985 and 2000 with little to show before and after.

Especially post 2003, the rest of the world upped the bar in terms of professionalism and technology while Pakistan has been left behind along with the likes of West Indies.

Even Sri Lanka are fighting hard in South Africa as we speak.

 

[Pakpak]

In the larger scheme of things it seems that Pakistan had a purple patch between 1985 and 2000 with little to show before and after.

Especially post 2003, the rest of the world upped the bar in terms of professionalism and technology while Pakistan has been left behind along with the likes of West Indies.

Even Sri Lanka are fighting hard in South Africa as we speak.

Problem is we had people like Inzi who are ATGs for us and then a brief period of Asif. So spikes of talent kept us above our level. Now all that has dried up. The only proper world class player is Babar and an exciting guy in Shaheen. The rest are tried and tested failures or geriatrics due to Misbah. I mean imagine going to sleep in 1999 and waking up to still seeing Malik about our squad till last year. Or Azhar who's a walking wicket for the last 3 years.

A committee of nursery students sitting around a table doodling with crayons would be a better summit than what our selectors and coaching team get upto.

Sports has moved on. Even in football talent means nothing unless teams play with a proper system, have s proper recruitment process in place. The days of finding diamonds in the rough are long gone. And even those top class players were only found by Imran Khan. Once that generation left it was upto our coaching and selection staff. Who are still stuck in the ,70s. I mean we just got rid of Intikhab Alam not long ago.

Then you have our questionable fanbase with a memory of a sloth. They cannot see beyond one performance. Literally months ago entire PP had Shan as their captain in those imaginary lineups some posters baffling put out every post (does anyone even read those beyond a cursory look). To have a captain you have to first of all deserve your place in the team UNQUESTIONABLY. Shan doesn't even deserve a place in the A team never mind the main team.

Then we have the dinosaur coaching staff. Waqar's fifth time. He's halfway beating the cat-has-nine-lives theory. Led by disaster of a coach in Misbah. People call him defensive. Even that's an insult. The guy can't even defend properly with his tactics. Defensive cricket would be going slow and cautious. We can't even do that without losing half the lineup before 80.

I'm a match going Arsenal fan for two decades. A Pakistan cricket fan and by massive misfortune from Lahore so a Lahore Qalandar fan. That's some bad misfortune. No team gives me any relief when it comes to happiness.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

I'm a match going Arsenal fan for two decades. A Pakistan cricket fan and by massive misfortune from Lahore so a Lahore Qalandar fan. That's some bad misfortune. No team gives me any relief when it comes to happiness.

Ah I’m sorry...

 

[deep82]

I created this thread after Pakistan was eliminated from WTC mid way in 19-21 cycle.

(un)Surprisingly the same concerns still remains valid!

- Oldies are still clinging on places
- Almost out of this cycle as well ( with tough assignment coming up)
- No clarity of roles to players and no planning keeping future in mind

As in my original post , the next two home series can be used to try out new players and set a preparation launch for 23-25 cycle. If not, I am sure I will be back bumping this thread again after another elimination in next cycle as well.

 

[Kroll]

I created this thread after Pakistan was eliminated from WTC mid way in 19-21 cycle.

(un)Surprisingly the same concerns still remains valid!

- Oldies are still clinging on places
- Almost out of this cycle as well ( with tough assignment coming up)
- No clarity of roles to players and no planning keeping future in mind

As in my original post , the next two home series can be used to try out new players and set a preparation launch for 23-25 cycle. If not, I am sure I will be back bumping this thread again after another elimination in next cycle as well.

Complete overhaul in playing staff needed. I guess management thinking as the main step will be to recall Azhar.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Even if PCB suddenly grow a pair of balls and drop Fawad and Azhar completely. Come the next series one will be the coach and the other chairmen of selectors, this is how morons run pakistani cricket.

 

[Sarwar89]

I think people are not understanding one thing. Pakistan long stopped producing pure Test talent.

Post 2010 era has not produced any world class talent at all, notable exceptions are Babar, Shaheen & Yasir shah of (2014-2018).

Others came & faded away quickly in tests like
Mohammad Abbas, sarfaraz, Fawad alam, Azhar, Imam ul haq, shan masood, shadab, hasan ali, asad shafiq, aamir, faheem and many more. They came, played 2/3 brilliant tests and gradually faded away.
Abdullah shafique is going to join them
Soon in a 2/3 years.

 

[Sarwar89]

I think people are not understanding one thing. Pakistan long stopped producing pure Test talent.

Post 2010 era has not produced any world class talent at all, notable exceptions are Babar, Shaheen & Yasir shah of (2014-2018).

Others came & faded away quickly in tests like
Mohammad Abbas, sarfaraz, Fawad alam, Azhar, Imam ul haq, shan masood, shadab, hasan ali, asad shafiq, aamir, faheem and many more. They came, played 2/3 brilliant tests and gradually faded away.
Abdullah shafique is going to join them
Soon in a 2/3 years.

Look at Yasir shah, he took 200 test wickets from 2014-2018. From 2018-2022 he has only taken 40-45 test wickets. This just sums up pak cricket.

 

[deep82]

Even if PCB suddenly grow a pair of balls and drop Fawad and Azhar completely. Come the next series one will be the coach and the other chairmen of selectors, this is how morons run pakistani cricket.

PCB should realize that their WTC final dream is 99% over so no point sticking to the oldies.

The next two series are at home and against good opposition. They must try out new players in the hope of finding right players for the next cycle. Yes, it can go horribly wrong and the team can lose both series. But thats the price for the preparation for 23-25 cycle.

Just for an example
- Saud Shakeel hitting couple of hundred against Eng and NZ. That will give him immense confidence for the next cycle.

 

[Energy]

Way forward is to bring Abbas for Hassan, Iftikhar for Fawad and Zahid Mahmood for Nauman.

 

[muqarrab]

I created this thread after Pakistan was eliminated from WTC mid way in 19-21 cycle.

(un)Surprisingly the same concerns still remains valid!

- Oldies are still clinging on places
- Almost out of this cycle as well ( with tough assignment coming up)
- No clarity of roles to players and no planning keeping future in mind

As in my original post , the next two home series can be used to try out new players and set a preparation launch for 23-25 cycle. If not, I am sure I will be back bumping this thread again after another elimination in next cycle as well.

We still don't have a way to get 20 wickets.

 

[sweep_shot]

Pakistan need to find 2 good spinners.

Also, replace Fawad and Azhar.

I would also replace Naseem.

 

[MenInG]

First job is to accept that we have a problem and such stuff from Babar does not help:

"Day by day we are improving as a team and is performing well and when you do well under different conditions then it increases your confidence; The conditions here were not that easy and we have learnt well although we also made some mistakes which we will discuss; So these are positives for us"

 

[shamaan]

Way forward is to bring Abbas for Hassan, Iftikhar for Fawad and Zahid Mahmood for Nauman.

Why not try other young bowlers instead of going back to same players.

 

[shamaan]

Pakistan need to find 2 good spinners.

Also, replace Fawad and Azhar.

I would also replace Naseem.

Replace naseem on what basis.

 

[deep82]

Its end of the road for Pakistan in WTC 21-23 midway just like last time and this thread still hold true even though Pakistan did discard few oldies like Fawad, Azhar Ali, Yasir and Abbas in this cycle. But the problem is that they selected bunch of other oldies and bits & pieces cricketer instead.

There are 3 dead matches still to go in this cycle and Babar must decide which direction they want to go in. They did find three good cricketer in this cycle though- Abdhullah Shafique, Saud Shakeel and Abrar.

The preparation for WTC 23-25 cycle must start from next test! New Young Players, please!

 

[ElRaja]

its not coincidental the best test teams play a lot of test cricket. playing a 3 match series every 4 or 5 months, with no first class cricket in between does nothing to develop a test team.

the gaps also mean test specialists don't retain form, and the rest of the players go into limited-overs mode and need at least a test or two to get back into the swing of long form cricket.

need to ensure that these guys play some of the QaE every year, esp the fast bowlers, its been years and pak are still struggling massively to produce test seamers.

it will require a mentality change at PCB to put focus on long-form cricket, i dont think it'll happen, and pak will continue to get bulldozed by the better sides, home and away.

only positive is that domestic system seems to be producing something, abrar and saud both look like they can play at this level, which bodes well for someone like hurraira who should be selected for the NZ series. and if pak want a salman type all rounder, might as well call up mubasir.

 

[deep82]

its not coincidental the best test teams play a lot of test cricket. playing a 3 match series every 4 or 5 months, with no first class cricket in between does nothing to develop a test team.

the gaps also mean test specialists don't retain form, and the rest of the players go into limited-overs mode and need at least a test or two to get back into the swing of long form cricket.

need to ensure that these guys play some of the QaE every year, esp the fast bowlers, its been years and pak are still struggling massively to produce test seamers.

it will require a mentality change at PCB to put focus on long-form cricket, i dont think it'll happen, and pak will continue to get bulldozed by the better sides, home and away.

only positive is that domestic system seems to be producing something, abrar and saud both look like they can play at this level, which bodes well for someone like hurraira who should be selected for the NZ series. and if pak want a salman type all rounder, might as well call up mubasir.

Its a valid point that Pakistan don't play as much test cricket as The Big 3. But Newzealand and South Africa also play similar amount of test cricket but they have not regressed as badly at home.

I believe Pakistan has a 'small' pool of players and once that pool is tested because of lack of form or injury, they simply have no one and become minnow level.

As soon as Shaheen Afridi got injured, there was no one to lead the pace attack.
As soon as Yasir Shah was not picked, there was no one to lead the spin attack ( until an accidental Abrar magic)
As soon as Azhar Ali and Fawad were dropped, there were virtually no one to replace them and bits & pieces cricketers & T20 specialists were picked instead.

But, still feel Pakistan has a batting core that can serve them well in next cycle. Not sure about bowling but atleast Abrar emergence has settled the spin department and he will get next 10 tests as lead spinner. Shaheen will come back and situation will be much better. But again there are no backups in sight.

Pakistan can work with these 10 players in the next cycle and try to build backup of other players.

Batting Core:
Imam
Ab Shafique
Babar
Saud Shakeel
Rizwan

Spin Core:
Abrar

All Rounder Core:
Nawaz
Faheem

Fast Bowling Core:
Shaheen
Naseem

 

[ads101]

I’d forget about trying Shaheen, Rauf or naseem for tests. Leave them for LOI. You will just injure them and they is not worth sharing their attention with tests. Find some fast bowlers who will be test specialists, who won’t break down on these pitches. Like Abbas.

Forget about allrounders, none are good enough. I don’t think Faheem will do well in the long run. Play specialist batsmen instead.

Imam and abdullah need to be backed regardless of failures. They are fairly young with international success. That puts them ahead of others. There is no point trying out different people over them. I wouldn’t chop and change much in general, there is limited talent. Best to just stick with the best performers in domestic and hope they will perform without the fear of being dropped. It’s really just three middle order batsmen we should try out, saud, usman and ghulam, we could afford to play all three now.

 

[ElRaja]

Its a valid point that Pakistan don't play as much test cricket as The Big 3. But Newzealand and South Africa also play similar amount of test cricket but they have not regressed as badly at home.

I believe Pakistan has a 'small' pool of players and once that pool is tested because of lack of form or injury, they simply have no one and become minnow level.

As soon as Shaheen Afridi got injured, there was no one to lead the pace attack.
As soon as Yasir Shah was not picked, there was no one to lead the spin attack ( until an accidental Abrar magic)
As soon as Azhar Ali and Fawad were dropped, there were virtually no one to replace them and bits & pieces cricketers & T20 specialists were picked instead.

But, still feel Pakistan has a batting core that can serve them well in next cycle. Not sure about bowling but atleast Abrar emergence has settled the spin department and he will get next 10 tests as lead spinner. Shaheen will come back and situation will be much better. But again there are no backups in sight.

Pakistan can work with these 10 players in the next cycle and try to build backup of other players.

Batting Core:
Imam
Ab Shafique
Babar
Saud Shakeel
Rizwan

Spin Core:
Abrar

All Rounder Core:
Nawaz
Faheem

Fast Bowling Core:
Shaheen
Naseem

south Africa are decent but have declined considerably over the last few years, new Zealand too are at the far end of a golden generation of test players, kane, ross, trent, tim, bj watling, etc. also both teams are run far more professionally than Pakistan.

there arent any fast bowlers to replace shaheen and naseem, but things are made worse by poor management and planning, no one is there to help them strategies on how to bowl to a test team.

as far as batting goes, there is talent, like saud has flourished, there are others who have scored at domestic level and have capabilities, but were not brought in cos selectors dont have a long term plan.

 

[deep82]

I’d forget about trying Shaheen, Rauf or naseem for tests. Leave them for LOI. You will just injure them and they is not worth sharing their attention with tests. Find some fast bowlers who will be test specialists, who won’t break down on these pitches. Like Abbas.

Forget about allrounders, none are good enough. I don’t think Faheem will do well in the long run. Play specialist batsmen instead.

Imam and abdullah need to be backed regardless of failures. They are fairly young with international success. That puts them ahead of others. There is no point trying out different people over them. I wouldn’t chop and change much in general, there is limited talent. Best to just stick with the best performers in domestic and hope they will perform without the fear of being dropped. It’s really just three middle order batsmen we should try out, saud, usman and ghulam, we could afford to play all three now.

This can be way forward too. If the allrounders are not good enough then specialists should be considered. A team like below is defensive but should avoid loss in home series.

Imam
Shafique
Shan
Babar
Saud Shakeel
Kamran Ghulam
Rizwan
Abrar
Hasan Ali
Shaheen
Naseem

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

The only way forward is for PCB to arrange more test matches of national team and more A team and Under 19 four day tours. Let these players gain experience of four day cricket by providing them with platform and opportunity. A PJL or PSL (while they are good for name recognition of our upcoming players) are not enough on their own for our cricket’s growth.

Another issue is identifying right players for the right format. I would like a player like Hurreira to play some red ball county/club cricket in UK over white ball domestic cricket. Send him to UK in summers and Australia in winters. Provide him with as much exposure as possible so that he is not caught off guard if and when he is provided an opportunity to represent Pakistan on these tours. This policy will provide a pathway for upcoming cricketers to utilise their skills more effectively.

 

[Savak]

First job is to accept that we have a problem and such stuff from Babar does not help:

"Day by day we are improving as a team and is performing well and when you do well under different conditions then it increases your confidence; The conditions here were not that easy and we have learnt well although we also made some mistakes which we will discuss; So these are positives for us"

Babar is the golden boy at the PCB. He can do nothing wrong and it looks like he will enjoy absolute powers as long as Ramiz is in charge. Maybe changing Ramiz is the only way to bring in a chairman who will put some heat on Babar and hold him accountable.

 

[shamaan]

Its end of the road for Pakistan in WTC 21-23 midway just like last time and this thread still hold true even though Pakistan did discard few oldies like Fawad, Azhar Ali, Yasir and Abbas in this cycle. But the problem is that they selected bunch of other oldies and bits & pieces cricketer instead.

There are 3 dead matches still to go in this cycle and Babar must decide which direction they want to go in. They did find three good cricketer in this cycle though- Abdhullah Shafique, Saud Shakeel and Abrar.

The preparation for WTC 23-25 cycle must start from next test! New Young Players, please!

Hopefully they will use the next test series to bring in Kamran Ghulam,Hurraira,Mubasir and they get off Azhar,Agha,Zahid,Ali

 

[deep82]

Again a bump after completion of WTC 23-25!

This cycle was worse than the previous two cycle as Pakistan finished rock bottom 9th out of 9. Can't get more humiliating than this for a proud test playing nation. The previous two WTC cycles ( 6th and 7th position) were still understandable since Pakistan was trying out to phase underperforming seniors and building a core. But this cycle deserves no excuses.

The talent has all dried up. The priorities are on white ball cricket and there are no long term sustainable plans to fix it. On top of that, unceremonial exits by high profile foreign coaches and lack of local cricket intellectuals will further push Pakistan test cricket in oblivion.

The next cycle is 8 month away and there is no one to guide it on the right path.

 

[Kianig89]

The way forward get your best players on field for Test cricket regardless of pitch , that should be only point agenda. Make a group of 15/16 players and stick with them. Since Shan is not going anywhere so we have to deal with it.

Shan
Saim
Babar
Saud
Rizwan
Fakhar
Agha
Jamal
SSA
Noman
Sajid
----------
Naseem Shafiq Abrar WK

 

[deep82]

For WTC 25-27 ( total 13 tests)

Drop Shan first thing. His time us up!
No upcoming batsman is knocking door. Hurrira seems technically inept.
Spinners are fine.
Shaheen, Naseem and Khurram must preserve pakistan fast bowler legacy. Two of these three must play every match.
Abbas and Hasan Ali can assist them vs Eng based on their county experience.
Say permanent NO to mediocre bowlers like Mo Ali, Mir Hamza and Kashif Ali. They have no future anymore.
Maybe, just maybe blood Ali Raza as next fast bowing star vs Eng 2026.

For 3 home series plus two away series vs BD, WI [ Total 5 series, 10 tests ]

Openers: Shafique, Saim, Imam
Middle: Babar, Rizwan, Saud, Kamran, Agha
Spinners: Sajid, Noman, Abrar
Pacers: Shaheen, Naseem, Khurram

For away series vs Eng ( 3 tests)

Openers: Shafique, Saim, Imam
Middle: Babar, Rizwan, Saud, Kamran, Agha
Spinner: Sajid
Pacers: Shaheen, Naseem, Khurram, Abbas, Hasan Ali, Ali Raza

 

[The Bald Eagle]

The tale of downfall
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