Pakistani cricket think tank is clueless

[zaid65]

I found the Pakistani cricket think tank totally clueless ( especially Waqar Younis who has major say in the selection of the players).

It is mind boggling to see Sami and Shoaib Malik been selected again and again despite being pathetic time to time. Yes Malik scored runs but we are playing against Zimbabwe on dead home wicket. This kind of performance is toxic and lethal for the team for the long run. ( Now we have to wait for another year before selectors would realize he is not cut for international cricket). I don't want to waste time writing about Sami except I have already mentioned in above line.


Asad Shafiq: A complete mediocre and over rated player, clone of Fawad Alam, except he is right hander. How many chances does he need before selectors would realize he is waste in the line up? Another clueless decision for the genius selectors.

What is this obsession with Hammad Azam and majority of the fans and selectors? Are we expecting Ian Botham or kapil Dev out of him or Waqar has installed some seeds which requires some time before we would see world class all rounder?

There was a time when we used to have Inzi, Yousuf and Younis in the line up, wicket keeper used to come up at number 8, now we have no dependable class batsman in the whole batsman and we have shrunk the batting to number 5? Do we have all top Kholid and Dhawans in the line up which does not require deep batting or we are living in deep denial? Talking about wicket keeper, lets not disturb Sarfraz Ahamed, he is the best option at the moment, so keep him at number 7 ( add extra bat in the line up). I think the whole team selection in the playing eleven against Zimbabwe was flawed, which showed again our think tank is cluless.

Bright spots of Pakistan cricket:

Azhar Ali: I always liked him as a player and he is maturing faster than any cricketer I have seen in recent cricket history. Some of the shots he started to play reminds me of mixture of Inzi ( coming out of the crease) and Younis Khan ( his off side strokes). He is a quick learner and have smart cricket brain but when you have bowling line up with Sami, Anwar Ali and below medicare batting line, what do you expect from the captain?

Haris Sohail: Top class performer with style and elegance but need to show more power in his shots, when he hit the ball, he does not hit so hard, play lot of air shots, good teams would exploit and trap him, so he need to work on his shots.

Babar Azam:I consider him better batsman than Haris, what I have seem in his only inning, he is more mature and solid batsman than Haris. Majority of his shots were along the ground, which is sign of complete batsman. He need to be groomed and assigned a fix batting spot ( number 3 is perfect with this classy and complete batsman). Haris should be number 4.

Nauman Anwar: I just saw few shots of his inning, he seems like very gifted and unique talent. He should have been drafted in the one day line up, using in T20 would destroy his cricket cricket.

Anwar Ali: He seems like a decent all rounder ( better batsman than bowler, but bowling on dead wickets in heat is not easy). I would invest on Anwar as all rounder spot and give him long run.

Ahmed Shahzad: Despite issues with the behavior, he need to be bring it back in all forms of cricket. He is not Kohli but he is very decent from Pakistani standards. I hope he must have learn his lesson and need to be included in the lineup instead of wasting all the previous investments.

My line up:


Azhar Ali
Ahmad Shazad
Babar Azam ( part time bowler)
Hafeez ( part time bowler)
Haris Sohail
Shoaib Malik ( part time bowler)
Sarfraz Ahmad
Anwar Ali
Wahab Riaz
Yasir Shah
Junaid

Take care

 

[Laal]

Now, hold on a minute. You railed against Shoaib Malik and then included him in your line-up?

 

[leatherface58]

[MENTION=23380]zaid65[/MENTION] Dude nice to see you back! Missing your posts on

 

[Ahson8]

Oh wow, I thought you had totally disappeared...

 

[Statsman]

Not much difference between your proposed squad and that of the clueless think tank.

 

[emranabbas]

You said it's mind blogging to see malik being selected again and again.

And then you add him in your line up looool

 

[Statsman]

He just removed Shafiq and brought in Ahmad Shahzad. Rest looks same. Even Ahmad Shahzad has been under the selector's radar so don't know what the long rant was all about.

 

[The_KING]

You initially berated Malik and then had him in your line up.

 

[Swing]

And by doing so you have ensured that no one takes you seriously!

 

[Statsman]

Also no mention of

I doubt this is zaid65, his account might be hacked.

 

[Bullet Drive]

Why would you select Malik when you have a problem?

Nice to see u back anyways.

 

[Abdullah719]

My line up:


Azhar Ali
Ahmad Shazad
Babar Azam ( part time bowler)
Hafeez ( part time bowler)
Haris Sohail
Shoaib Malik ( part time bowler)
Sarfraz Ahmad
Anwar Ali
Wahab Riaz
Yasir Shah
Junaid

Take care

Wouldn't have any of those 4 bolded names in the first choice ODI team, and Haris should definitely bat higher than 5. Hindsight.....

 

[Abdullah]

As it is we have half a line up that may actually be half decent in a little while in ODIs

The core of Azhar Haris Babar Sarfaraz Wahab Amir could be more than decent

 

[IAJ]

Not much difference between your proposed squad and that of the clueless think tank.

Lols tumh ney uski sari mehnat pey eik second mein hi mitti daal di.

 

[Jabo]

With corruption in the selection area
To an awful coach

Of course we are going to be an awful side

If there is any format we may do some good in, it's the ODI format but then the main problem is the selectors who think the likes of - Shafiq/Anwar Ali/Shehzad/Sami should be in the side, then we have a stubborn player who doesn't want to bat at 5/6 and thinks he is elite despite when facing a solid bowling unit, he literally cowers in fear.. that person is Hafeez

 

[Neferpitou]

Pak future 11

Nauman
Azhar
Babar
Haris
Malik/Maqsood/Umar
Sarfaraz/Rizwan
Anwar/Hammad
Gohar/Usama/Asghar
Amir
Wahab
Irfan/Sohail/Rahat/Taj/Zia

 

[Markhor]

We're playing too many all rounders right now, four is excessive so it means we're a specialist batsman short. We need someone at No 5 who can hold the innings together, rotate strike during middle overs and convert starts to big innings.

On our shopping list should be:

- Middle order batsman
- New ball pairing
- Frontline spinner

We need to fill these positions now over the next few months.

 

[Watsupdoc]

So basically all that long 'rant' was for nothing, as you essentially have the same players that the selectors selected.

And it's funny that you bash Malik and yet you select him

 

[in_cutter]

So basically all that long 'rant' was for nothing, as you essentially have the same players that the selectors selected.

And it's funny that you bash Malik and yet you select him

Lol I was thinking the same

 

[TheNightWatchman]

My XI
1-Azhar
2-Nauman Anwar/Shezad
3-Haris Sohail
4-Babar Azam
5-Maqsood/Umar Akmal
6-Sarfraz/Rizwan
7-Hammad Azam
8-Zafar Gohar
9-Wahab
10-Junaid---should be replaced by Amir
11-Zia

I have a problem with the last two spots since Pak don't have good bowlers these days. BUT guys like Malik and Sami should remain away from the team as much as possible

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Lala :Afridi is gone and Zaid65 is back. Ye kaisa connection?

 

[Major]

Nauman anwar hasnt done crap in domestic.

 

[Laal]

My XI
1-Azhar
2-Nauman Anwar/Shezad
3-Haris Sohail
4-Babar Azam
5-Maqsood/Umar Akmal
6-Sarfraz/Rizwan
7-Hammad Azam
8-Zafar Gohar
9-Wahab
10-Junaid---should be replaced by Amir
11-Zia

I have a problem with the last two spots since Pak don't have good bowlers these days. BUT guys like Malik and Sami should remain away from the team as much as possible

Ziaul Haq? Seriously? The guy averages above 30 in List A with an economy rate of > 5.00. He will get his lights knocked out at the international level.

 

[zaid65]

If anybody think Malik can be dropped after scoring a century for less than a year, please tell how it is possible.

I made the lineup based on realistic choices not based on some fantasies or dreams, which is a normal trend in this forum.

 

[sjahmed23]

The fact they decided to rest every other player except for their fastest pacer, wahab, who has played in every single match since the world cup is enough to make me believe that the think tank is indeed clueless. Waiting for Wahab to pick up a serious career threatening like Irfan and Gul I guess...

 

[kingusama92]

Mohammad Amir
Sohail Khan
Mohammad Irfan
Rahat Ali


Umar Akmal
Sohaib Maqsood
Ahmed Shahzad


All of these players are sitting out at the moment for one reason or another (mostly injuries). The talent is there, but the selectors need to find balance.

 

[Pace90]

Agree, this obsession about Hammad , I never understood. He is NOT your next Imran Khan , not even Manzoor Ilahi
Shehzad is not popular her at PP, for non-cricketing reasons, as an opner , he is the best in Pakistan.
Again, don;t know waht the selcters bringing out of poor Sami, what they could not for last 14 years.
Malik was out of the team in the past for non-cricketing reasons and with form he is in, even on dead wicktets, deserves another go. Not my favorite cricketer but I admire his professionalism, particularly physical fitness, which lacks in many other, even younger players.

 

[Statsman]

Lols tumh ney uski sari mehnat pey eik second mein hi mitti daal di.

Haha

 

[sunnykhan]

Nauman should play domestic to earn a call in ODIs. Ahmed is a lost cause. Got so much backing but still unable stable himself. Failed miserably in the WC too.He should be selected for tests only.

 

[ads101]

Very good post. Welcome back.

I'd like an order of:

1. Azhar
2. Babar
3. Hafeez
4. Haris Sohail
5. Umar Akmal
6. Malik
7. Sarfraz
8. Riaz
9. Amir will take this spot soon won't he, but atm dunno who's good enough to play here.
10. Yasir Shah
11. Junaid

There's a lot of questions at the moment. Azhar and Haris are performing to an acceptable standard and are certainties. The rest are questionable. I would like to try umar up the order, he just wasn't developing at six. It's strange, Umar Akmal isn't a bad batsman at all, just he's not got better since 2009, he's actually worse.

Malik, I dunno if it's not just one good innings against a poor side where the pitch was good and the pressure was off coming in at 170/1. We've been giving him chances for 6 years, and now he's finally performed. He was always mediocre 5/6 and I'm worried we'll see more of the same. I'm confused why he's performed as opening, three and four, as he's a batsman better against spin and is generally seems a middle order bat. He even batted himself middle order when captaining. Hope he starts performing better than ever at 5/6 because even years ago, he wasn't fantastic at his regular positions, Umar Akmal for all his faults was miles better.

Hafeez's batting (In ODIs) isn't too great last two years or so, and I have concerns his bowling may not be as good anymore. I'm still not sure we're ready to do away with him yet due to his bowling though, we still need 10 overs. If Malik can bowl 10 overs instead, we can look to drop Hafeez, but dunno if Malik can provide us 10 solid overs. These are flat pitches and he went at just over 5 an over which wasn't terrible, but not amazing, we need to see if he can still provide that containing option. It's also rather frustrating that playing both Malik and Hafeez we might be keeping out middle order talents (like U Akmal) atm. But of course not sure you can drop either Malik or Hafeez who had a good series. Looks like we'll have to wait till one of them fails, or if both of them succeed and succeed on a regular basis that we won't have a problem playing both.

Sarfraz hasn't been that good with bat and gloves lately, but I fear he might still be the best we have. I'm baffled why the guy performed up the order, and not down it, considering he does it in tests, his game should suit down the order and displays rather poor technique at the top against the pacers getting himself in trouble at the top where some sort of top order technique is often needed. Tempted to give umar akmal the gloves, but think it's not worth it, the fact Kamran and Adnan are his brothers is always going to be an issue, puts him in a difficult position. Sarfraz has more skill at wicketkeeping, it's evident despite some poor wicketkeeping at times by Sarfraz. Maybe best to let him focus on keeping and keep playing at 7.

 

[Cricket_Fan93]

My line up:


Azhar Ali
Ahmad Shazad
Babar Azam ( part time bowler)
Hafeez ( part time bowler)
Haris Sohail
Shoaib Malik ( part time bowler)
Sarfraz Ahmad
Anwar Ali
Wahab Riaz
Yasir Shah
Junaid

Barring Shehzad, isn't this exactly the same lineup that played this series?

 

[Watsupdoc]

If anybody think Malik can be dropped after scoring a century for less than a year, please tell how it is possible.

I made the lineup based on realistic choices not based on some fantasies or dreams, which is a normal trend in this forum.

Then what was the point of this whole thread? Why would you need to bash the selectors and then essentially go with the same people that they went with?

 

[angrypathan]

Stopped taking you seriously once Anwar Ali and Shehzad were mentioned as decent prospects.

 

[zaid65]

Then what was the point of this whole thread? Why would you need to bash the selectors and then essentially go with the same people that they went with?

I bashed the selectors for giving him chance in the first place, once you give chance to tried and tested failures, they performs against minnows on flat surface, you stuck for another year.

As a rule, once these tried and tested failures dropped after giving multiple chances, they should never recalled.

Malik never had issue performance on flat surfaces and against minnows , he always struggled on the lateral movements or on bouncy wickets.

Despite severe critic of Afridi, I rate Afridi million times better over all player package than Malik. ( I have mentioned this several times).

 

[Chokli]

bump,

been nearly 4 years