Pakistan vs Zimbabwe | 4th ODI | Faisalabad | 30/01/08 |

[IMMY69]

Immy,

I agree 100% that on such a flat track he should have faired better however, Pakistan players tend to be under-developed when they come into the team. Players in pakistan sadly need to be coached and improved. Why discard a player after 1 match?

Wouldnt it be better to see if he could be coached to improve?

Or should we recall hafeez, Farhat again?

well this is the difficulty...ideal situation is to have players with the strokes of a hafeez or r farhat but the overall technique to play in all conditions...

problem with latif is that his faults have been with him since we last saw him in the under 19 competition...and frankly i dont think he can change with time...his temperament might make him semi succesful at test level..but even that on extremely flat tracks...

since our domestic system is crap (putting it mildly) then dropping latif after one game may even send the right signal to other up and coming youngsters...otherwise give him another chance but frankly i dont think he hasnt it in him...

imagine the scene - you have been given the opportunity of a lifetime..to bat for your country on a pancake of a wicket, against extremely mediocre opposition...you play a shot that nearly gets you out...and then you repeat the same shot which does eventually get you out...that to me tells me everything i need to know about this kid!

if this is what we have in pakistan..then give me a bat..i'll try my luck at the age of 35!

 

[Rudi hater]

I can predict, after watching him play and after listening to Sikandar's comments...that he does not want to learn at all; he is still at the same level he was in the U19 WC!

Just as I type this, even Zaheer Abbas says the same about his shot selection!

You can give him 100 chances, but if he has no shots except just hit everything to leg and defend everything on the off...he will fail big time under testing conditions and against stronger oppositions

Zaheer, Sikander and Waqar criticise any new comer. I mean in the first ODI they kept on going on Nasir's flair..that he plays too many shots and then in 2 ODI when Nasir was playing cautiously they were saying he should play positive and play some shots...You can't win can you??? bunch of clueless guys. Why change someone style if its paying off rather changing it and getting a nil result.

 

[IMMY69]

You are Mr W G Grace arn't you???

no..but if he was pakistany he'd be rolling in his grave as we speak!

 

[pullshot]

wats the score rite now?????

 

[Rudi hater]

no..but if he was pakistany he'd be rolling in his grave as we speak!

I am glad he wasn't then.

 

[Amjid Javed]

100 up for pakistan...

 

[P4K1 #1]

moyo and malik should get us home.. zimbo needs wikets!! lets hope boom boom gets a bat!

 

[P4K1 #1]

almost a run out!!

 

[Boi]

Shoaib Malik is plainly and utterly stupid why dont u send one of the young guns to number three like fawad alam and see if he can stand up and show what hes made of instead!!

When he is supposed to bat at n 3 he doesnt and when theres no point doing it he does!!!!!!!!!

 

[Amjid Javed]

End of over 27akistan 122-2 (Shoaib Malik 54*, 62 balls, Mohammad Yousuf 34*, 44 balls)

 

[Toony™®]

I feel the crowd are baying for a wicket.... not too much cheering for 4s!

They are here to watch the beast.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Pak 144/2 now

Fawad alam should be sent in next if a wicket falls...

 

[Amjid Javed]

150 up for pakistan

 

[Amjid Javed]

50 for moyo

 

[Ahmad]

Oh come on...! Malik should retire hurt and send in Fawad for some batting practice. He didn't allow any of the new guys their complete quota of overs, now he wants to hog the crease too. I'd like to see such a positive attitude from him against the Australians too. Rather than concealing himself down the order, go one down take them on.

 

[Amjid Javed]

End of over 33: (12 runs scored) Pakistan 165-2 (Shoaib Malik 72*, 78 balls, Mohammad Yousuf 58*, 64 balls)

 

[Gunner786]

hope both of these score 100's

but theres more chance of yousuf being stranded in 90's and malik gettin his 100

 

[Amjid Javed]

Pak 195/2 crusing to victory

 

[Toony™®]

Moyo goes above Saeed Anwar in the most runs scored in ODIS!

 

[Monsee]

Zaheer, Sikander and Waqar criticise any new comer. I mean in the first ODI they kept on going on Nasir's flair..that he plays too many shots and then in 2 ODI when Nasir was playing cautiously they were saying he should play positive and play some shots...You can't win can you??? bunch of clueless guys. Why change someone style if its paying off rather changing it and getting a nil result.

They might have been over critical about others but they were spot on about Latif's tendency to slog/stroke every ball pitching on Off/Middle to the Leg Side...when you are new at the crease, you are supposed to play as straight as possible and in the 'V'...

But, here is Latif, in his first ever ODI, on a flat and slow pitch against a weak opposition, with mediocre bowling resources against him at best...a half decent batsman would have scored at least a 50 after even given a reprieve or two; but what he do, play the same Ugly Hoicks to the Leg and went to the Pavilion to join the many 'Great' openers of our recent past!

His Technique is:
- Hick/Flick everything to leg which pitches on Off/Middle stump

- Anything that pitches outside off or close to off stump, even if delivered at a 'Mind Boggling Pcae' of 120 KMH or lower...just tap it to the short mid off guy!

Apart from the two shots above, he does not seem to have any other options for run scoring...to me, at the moment, he is barely an average FC batsman, barely!

 

[Gunner786]

ope to see khurram manzoor in the next match

looks like nasir jamshed is here to stay though

 

[qadoos]

They might have been over critical about others but they were spot on about Latif's tendency to slog/stroke every ball pitching on Off/Middle to the Leg Side...when you are new at the crease, you are supposed to play as straight as possible and in the 'V'...

But, here is Latif, in his first ever ODI, on a flat and slow pitch against a weak opposition, with mediocre bowling resources against him at best...a half decent batsman would have scored at least a 50 after even given a reprieve or two; but what he do, play the same Ugly Hoicks to the Leg and went to the Pavilion to join the many 'Great' openers of our recent past!

His Technique is:
- Hick/Flick everything to leg which pitches on Off/Middle stump

- Anything that pitches outside off or close to off stump, even if delivered at a 'Mind Boggling Pcae' of 120 KMH or lower...just tap it to the short mid off guy!

Apart from the two shots above, he does not seem to have any other options for run scoring...to me, at the moment, he is barely an average FC batsman, barely!

Agree with you monsee I cannot understand why he is so popular with selectors the guy is only Averaging 30. with Bat in first class cricket, prior to current season his average was 28, because he improved his average by 2 runs, and he is not even in top 50 in this years Quaid e Azam Batting averages, Mr sallu played him against Zimbabwe? mind bungling

 

[iZeeshan]

Nice win but upset at Fawad only getting to bat 17 balls. Hopefully he can play much longer in the last ODI. Pathetic that a player that has been in the squad for 1 year only plays 2 ODIs while a newcomer plays all 4 so far.

 

[gibster82]

I believe that Shoaib Malik is a selfish captain who only performs and places him self in the limelight against teams like Zimbabwe. This just serves to justify his selection in the team. Against better teams he does not stand a chance with his batting let alone his bowling. Dont get me wrong he is talented player but his consistent ignorance of Afridi and Gul is atrocious and what was the need to promote himself to no. 3 against Zimbabwe, show guts and do it against Aus. I believe Yonis Khan is a better batsman at no. 3. The only place Shoaib should have in the Pakistani team is that of an opener and he not an automatic selection to play in every match (he is a joke as a Test batsman).

Afridi should be captain if for nothing, the sheer fear he instills in the opposition. Shoaib Malik constantly feels threatened by Afridi which is why he is not as aggressive as he should be as a captain. Further, it annoys me that he keeps backing players like Kamram Akmal and Rao (apparently the three are bum buddies...lol...atleast it appears that way) and marginalizing Afridi and Gul. Afridi does not need to develop kinship in the team to command respect; people flock from miles afar to get a glimpse of this 'beast' (albeit sometimes it is only one ball). Imagine what kind of impact that has on an opposition bowler or fielder (lets not forget the opposition captain). Afridi opens up the game for Pakistan, forces the opposition to change their gameplan and if his batting partner has a good cricketing brain (ala Misbah), its easy to see that in pressurizing Afridi the opposition forgets about the other batsman. Add to that the herculean divinity he becomes every 5 or 10 games, effectly deciding the match with a few thunderbolts that look like they decended from the peak of Mt. Olympus. Son of Zeus perhaps?

Malik, the IPL awaits you; go for it form an IPL Islamic XI, and dont forget to thank all your muslim supporters around the world.

 

[Monsee]

gibster82, recomending Afridi as a skipper of a team that is already shaky...is just bonkers to say the least!

On top of that, you have managed to bring the religion in to this...shame on you!

Yes, I agree Malik is not doing the things we all want as a skipper but what was the point of bringing the reference to religion in this thread?

P.S. Malik can send Fawad and Sarfraz ahead of him and even Kamran in the next game and still a few will have some reason to complain...like 'Oh he is hiding behind all the newbees' etc.

I guess, one cannot make everyone happy all the time

 

[gibster82]

That was not about religion - it was a crack at how malik does not know how to present himself in public. Eloquence is definitely a lost art when it comes to him.

Pakistan should only have one all rounder of the likes of Malik or Afridi - tanvir & co. can make up the rest. Afridi vs. Malik - I and the entire cricketing world would pick Afridi in a team.

Honestly it boils down to the fact that I dont consider Malik a good international cricket player. In the past test series against India. Malik played the first match - we lost; didnt play the last two there were drawn.

 

[Plasma]

Seems like Sohail lived up to the hype. From what i read, it looks like he reached about 87 mph. The speed guns seemed faulty and it was a dead slow wicket, so it might be fair to say that he is a 90+ mph bowler!

Pity that i missed his first performance...