Pakistan's batting order for the Champions Trophy

[samiakh]

The only ODI we won against England last year was when we chased down 302 at Cardiff. Yes it was a dead rubber but I was still an excellent chase. The main architects of that chase were Malik at 4 and Sarfaraz at 5. If we are to have any chance in the CT. Sarfaraz has to be in the top 5. Malik can probably still contribute at 6 but Sarfaraz's main value is in keeping the scoreboard moving in the middle overs, when there are still wickets in hand. Ideally he should open but I doubt he will be that aggressive in his first tournament as captain. But if he comes any lower than 5 he would be doing himself and his team a disservice.

First choice line-up would be: Azhar, Fakhar, Babar, Sarfaraz, Malik, Hafeez, Imad, Shadab/Fahim.

 

[cricketerB94]

Shehzad, Hafeez, Babar, Malik, Sarfraz, Fakhar, Imad, Shadab, Fahim, Hasan, Amir.

 

[waleed88]

Azhar, Shehzad, Azam, Hafeez, Malik, Sarf, Imad, Shadab, Amir, Junaid, Hassan...

Great bowling options... steady batting strength that can get you a score of 250 on average... old fashioned approach to the game most likely will win us 1/3 games...

Don't see Pakistan qualifying for the next round

 

[captain crook]

Azhar
Ahmed
Azam
Malik
Sarfi (c) (wk)
Hafeez
Imad
Shadab
Amir
Hasan
Junaid

 

[captain crook]

Azhar, Shehzad, Azam, Hafeez, Malik, Sarf, Imad, Shadab, Amir, Junaid, Hassan...

Great bowling options... steady batting strength that can get you a score of 250 on average... old fashioned approach to the game most likely will win us 1/3 games...

Don't see Pakistan qualifying for the next round

We will qualify along with one of India/South Africa. Mark this post.

 

[waleed88]

We will qualify along with one of India/South Africa. Mark this post.

Highly doubt it, we have experience in English conditions, but I still doubt our ability to chase down something big, or score something big while batting first, and with Sharjeel gone we have no decent hitter in the whole batting lineup

 

[waleed88]

Sharjeel was the only genuine match winner in our batting side... and now that he is gone, don't feel Babar or Malik have the strike rate to match that of Sharjeel

 

[JibranAnsari]

shezzy
azzy
azmy
feezy
sheby
sarfi
emmy
afeemi
amir
hassan
joni

 

[Arsalan Pro]

It should be:

Fakhar Zaman
Mohammed Hafeez
Babar Azam
Shoaib Malik
Sarfraz Ahmed
Umar Akmal
Imad Wasim
Shadab Khan
Mohammed Amir
Hasan Ali
Junaid Khan

But it will be:

Azhar Ali
Ahmed Shehzad
Babar Azam
Mohammed Hafeez
Shoaib Malik
Sarfraz Ahmed
Imad Wasim
Shadab Khan
Mohammed Amir
Hasan Ali
Junaid Khan

 

[Hasan123]

Fakhar
Shehzad
Babar
Malik
Sarfraz
Umar Akmal


That's what I would go for. No use in selecting Azhar with Shehzad, need a left/right hand combination at the top. Hafeez and Malik do the same thing so no use in having both in the middle order. Umar is one of our power hitters so may as well make use of him. In my line up I would rotate Malik and Umars position depending on the situation in the game. Sarfarz should stay at 5, he was doing well there so need to move him from there just to fit Hafeez in who has been rubbish away from Asia.

 

[Hamza_]

Hafeez
Azhar
Babar
Shoaib
Sarfraz
Imad
Shadab
Fahim
Amir
Hassan
Junaid

 

[Zeshan547]

Shehzad, hafeez, babar, sarfraz, malik, umar, immad, shadab, amir, wahab, hassan Ali. That's the only and best possible batting order from the given squad. And on a day when stars align this team can beat any side in CT.

 

[super hitter]

HAFEEZ will open up with 32 dots and shahzad too with 28 dots and that is where the match is gone!

Even if Hafeez doesn't open, this man manages to get into the top 4 and drags Malik and Sarfi down the order, maybe [MENTION=134608]Hawkeye[/MENTION] has a decent place/ post in the PCB

 

[fazleefridi]

1.Hafeez
2.Fakhar
3.Babar
4.Sarfraz
5.Malik
6.Imad
7.Akmal
8.Fahim
9.Amir
10.Hassan
11.Junaid

Hafeez, Malik and Fahim to bowl 10 overs.

Ask useless Akmal, to slog in the final 10. No use sending him up the order.

Imad had a good tournament of England. He can hit, once set. So send him at 6

 

[arehaan]

One thing is for sure Pakistan has generally done well in England conditions during ICC tournaments.

The tournament being in June will mean that we will most likely encounter plenty of swinging conditions as wickets will be relatively fresh as well. Pak might actually do well in that case as flat tracks are not our biggest strength given the lack of power hitters.

My batting order will be as follows.
1. Azhar 2. Fakhar Z. 3. Babar A 4. M . Hafeez 5. Malik 6. Sarfraz 7. Shadab K 8. I Wasim 9. Amir 10. Hassan 11. Wahab / Junaid (Based on conditions)

 

[Rayyman]

Open with Hafeez and bring Akmal at #6.

 

[Faisalsq092]

One thing is for sure Pakistan has generally done well in England conditions during ICC tournaments.

The tournament being in June will mean that we will most likely encounter plenty of swinging conditions as wickets will be relatively fresh as well. Pak might actually do well in that case as flat tracks are not our biggest strength given the lack of power hitters.

My batting order will be as follows.
1. Azhar 2. Fakhar Z. 3. Babar A 4. M . Hafeez 5. Malik 6. Sarfraz 7. Shadab K 8. I Wasim 9. Amir 10. Hassan 11. Wahab / Junaid (Based on conditions)

There have been only 2 ICC tournaments in England since 2000. One was the ICC T20 WC which we won and other was the Champions Trophy in 2013 where we were in almost the same group as we are in this one (SAF, India and WI instead of SAF, Ind and SL). We failed abysmally losing all 3 games including to the Windies. So the notion that we generally do well in England is a bit off.

Secondly, I dont think so that we have our best chance in swinging conditions. Traditionally, we have won mostly on wickets which are flat and on the lower side. Our bowlers somehow find a way to survive but our batsmen are almost redundant if the conditions are swinging. We never score enough to give our bowlers a fighting chance

 

[arehaan]

There have been only 2 ICC tournaments in England since 2000. One was the ICC T20 WC which we won and other was the Champions Trophy in 2013 where we were in almost the same group as we are in this one (SAF, India and WI instead of SAF, Ind and SL). We failed abysmally losing all 3 games including to the Windies. So the notion that we generally do well in England is a bit off.

Secondly, I dont think so that we have our best chance in swinging conditions. Traditionally, we have won mostly on wickets which are flat and on the lower side. Our bowlers somehow find a way to survive but our batsmen are almost redundant if the conditions are swinging. We never score enough to give our bowlers a fighting chance

Traditionally we had hard hitters who could hammer the ball on flat and low tracks. Unfortunately we dont have that luxury anymore. Last time we played on a similar flat track in England we got hammered more than 400 runs. Our best chance to sneak a few games would be playing under seaming conditions as we cannot win a slog fest on a flat track. Lets hope we can go through to the semis this time around at least given Sri Lanka is also going through a re building phase and South Africa having the history of choking in major tournaments.

 

[NauV]

Umar Akmal
Azhar Ali / Ahmed Shehzad
Babar
Malik
Sarfaraz
Hafeez
Imad
Shadab

 

[troodon]

Azhar
Ahmed
Azam
Malik
Sarfi (c) (wk)
Hafeez
Imad
Shadab
Amir
Hasan
Junaid

Very poor batting side.

Who is the accelerator?

 

[silent ischemia]

Sarfraz at 4 is a must.

 

[Hamza_]

Very poor batting side.

Who is the accelerator?

Inzi with his prayers

 

[Hadi Rizvi]

Fakhar
Shehzad
Babar
Malik
Sarfraz
Umar Akmal


That's what I would go for. No use in selecting Azhar with Shehzad, need a left/right hand combination at the top. Hafeez and Malik do the same thing so no use in having both in the middle order. Umar is one of our power hitters so may as well make use of him. In my line up I would rotate Malik and Umars position depending on the situation in the game. Sarfarz should stay at 5, he was doing well there so need to move him from there just to fit Hafeez in who has been rubbish away from Asia.

IMO, Malik is miles ahead in batting and fielding department. He can come in last 10-15 overs and hit 30-odd ball 50 and can also stabillize the team if top order collapses in first 10 overs.

I'd also take Azhar in overcast/seamer-friendly conditions.

Flat deck XI:

Hafeez
Fakhar
Babar
Malik
Sarfraz
Umar
Fahim/Shadab(against South Africa only)
Imad
Amir
Hasan
Wahab

Seaming conditions XI:

Azhar
Shehzad
Babar
Malik
Sarfraz
Umar
Fahim/Shadab
Imad
Amir
Hasan
Junaid

 

[Hasan123]

IMO, Malik is miles ahead in batting and fielding department. He can come in last 10-15 overs and hit 30-odd ball 50 and can also stabillize the team if top order collapses in first 10 overs.

I'd also take Azhar in overcast/seamer-friendly conditions.

Flat deck XI:

Hafeez
Fakhar
Babar
Malik
Sarfraz
Umar
Fahim/Shadab(against South Africa only)
Imad
Amir
Hasan
Wahab

Seaming conditions XI:

Azhar
Shehzad
Babar
Malik
Sarfraz
Umar
Fahim/Shadab
Imad
Amir
Hasan
Junaid

I'll play Shadab in all games. I would prefer Fakhar to be given a chance then watch Azhar/Shehzad tuk tuk in the PP overs.

 

[Hadi Rizvi]

I'll play Shadab in all games. I would prefer Fakhar to be given a chance then watch Azhar/Shehzad tuk tuk in the PP overs.

Why play Shadab against IND and SL??

Both teams play spin really well.

And I wouldn't risk Fakhar on seaming wickets. Azhar is a much better deal on those wickets.

 

[Hadi Rizvi]

I'll play Shadab in all games. I would prefer Fakhar to be given a chance then watch Azhar/Shehzad tuk tuk in the PP overs.

Against IND, Shadab will get the same treatment Yasir got in CWC 15.

 

[Hasan123]

Against IND, Shadab will get the same treatment Yasir got in CWC 15.

Yasir doesn't have the variations. I'll play a leggie ahead of a darter.

 

[captain crook]

Very poor batting side.

Who is the accelerator?

Malik, as always, and Sarfi will looove Indian trundles. Don't worry about us

 

[Hasan123]

Why play Shadab against IND and SL??

Both teams play spin really well.

And I wouldn't risk Fakhar on seaming wickets. Azhar is a much better deal on those wickets.

Fakhar might be rubbish vs seam but if he gets going he could do more damage the Azhar. Azhar will play I think anyway.

 

[last_knight]

Shouldn't bat first.

 

[Faisalsq092]

Traditionally we had hard hitters who could hammer the ball on flat and low tracks. Unfortunately we dont have that luxury anymore. Last time we played on a similar flat track in England we got hammered more than 400 runs. Our best chance to sneak a few games would be playing under seaming conditions as we cannot win a slog fest on a flat track. Lets hope we can go through to the semis this time around at least given Sri Lanka is also going through a re building phase and South Africa having the history of choking in major tournaments.

Flat belters- Pakistan will mostly lose to good batting units.
Swinging Conditions- Our batting will fold for very less, just like we did against India in last year's Asia cup and numerous other times, can't think of an ODI where we won on a green wicket. Heck we even lost to Ireland when the conditions wern't ideal to bat.

Our best chance is on a generally flat wicket, where the ball doesnt bounce much and our batsmen then can build a innings and post 270+. Then we can expect our spinners to put a stranglehold on the oppositon. Quite unlikely we are getting such wickets in England, but I do remember the CT final in 2013 was very dry and had lots of turn on offer.

 

[Justcrazy]

Pakistan need to have depth in batting , and make sure change the team according to opposition.

Shadab should not be played against India.

 

[Hamza_]

Against IND, Shadab will get the same treatment Yasir got in CWC 15.

Both are different bowlers.

 

[Abdullah]

Sarfaraz at 4 is the key to this whole thing. He will ensure we are going at 5.5-5.75 rpo at any given time through the innings. That sets us up for 320 score
All in his scores have come at 5 in last year to 18 months but now we lost sharjeel. so let's see what happens