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Pakistan's over reliance on Fakhar Zaman is a cause for concern

Madplayer

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Fakhar Zamaan has emerged as the primary weapon that Pakistan's batting line up attacks its opponents with. With consistent performances at brilliant strike rates against his name, Fakhar zamaan has become the most crucial player in Pakistan line up.

One of the problems which is being overlooked because of the dream run that Fakhar has had is that he has not allowed the rest of the batting line up to get tested in a proper way. It has become a usual occurance that Fakhar scores well and propels the team's efforts to achieve a good score. However, it is not clear how the team would fare if Fakhar falls early.

The fact that Pakistani frontline batsmen, apart from Fakhar and Asif Ali, lack the firepower and ability to shift gears makes the worries all the more genuine. The likes of Babar Azam, Sarfaraz ahmad and Imam ul haq who are placed at key positions in top and middle order are known to bat at decent strike rates but haven't shown the ability to play both aggressively and defensively.

Teams around the world have invested in players who can play both styles of cricket as and when required. For instance, batsmen like Rohit Sharma, Quinton de kock, Johnny Bairstow, Jos bultler, Virat Kohli and other top batsmen of the world can score a 100 at a run a ball and also have the game to score a 25 ball 50 when the teams need it. Even the second tier batsmen like Rayudu, Manish pandey, David Malan etc. have the game to accelerate when required. Teams are looking to fill all the batting spots with such players.

Can Pakistani batsmen apart from Fakhar or Asif ali do it? It remains to be seen. However, the over reliance on Fakhar Zamaan needs to be looked into and Pakistan must invest in dynamic players who can play aggressively, defensively and moderately as the situation demands. The existing players such as Babar Azam have shown improvement in this regard but more work needs to be done. This is required to plug all loopholes and avoid any mishappening from taking place.
 
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Like india,if Pakistan top order fails then it is very difficult for pak to win matches...pak middle order looks like a hit and miss type...
 
Like india,if Pakistan top order fails then it is very difficult for pak to win matches...pak middle order looks like a hit and miss type...

I dont think Pakistan's middle order is a hit or miss type. They are reliable to some extent to keep the score board ticking but it seems to me that they lack the ability to shift gears when the situation demands it.

For instance, when an Imam or babar or sarfaraz score 50s or 100s, they cannot seem to get that final push. For Pakistan to have any chance of acceleration, these players have to get out so that big hitters like Asif or Faheem can come in who themselves arent experienced enough at the moment.
 
Zaman is a slogger. When it works is brilliant to watch for sure. We do not need a complete batting line up of his kind. In one day Cricket need a dasher up front that he is. We do need more stroke players not sloggers in the middle order.
 
Zaman is a slogger. When it works is brilliant to watch for sure. We do not need a complete batting line up of his kind. In one day Cricket need a dasher up front that he is. We do need more stroke players not sloggers in the middle order.

Zaman is a slogger??? :facepalm:
 
Zaman is a glorified slogged who's having a purple patch. But then again, I considered sehwag as slogger too but to my surprise, he lasted very long. Let's see what future holds for Zaman.
 
Zaman is a glorified slogged who's having a purple patch. But then again, I considered sehwag as slogger too but to my surprise, he lasted very long. Let's see what future holds for Zaman.

If this "glorified slogger" can have some of the strongest nerves of any player in world cricket and can take the world by storm, then so be it. Giving us reason to tease our parosis is a bonus imo :sm
 
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We need another aggressive opener at the top along with Fakhar. Farhan should open until Sharjeel returns.
 
If this "glorified slogger" can have some of the strongest nerves of any player in world cricket and can take the world by storm, then so be it. Giving us reason to tease our parosis is a bonus imo :sm

Another match-winning century against India in Asia Cup would be icing on the cake.
 
I agree. In LOI these days, you need someone who is capable of hitting 1-2 boundaries every over. I worry if he gets out early, especially in ODI's, who else can step up and get us a match winning score.
 
He's very key for us. He really sets the tone for us. Imam isn't like that and same goes for Babar. Babar needs time to set himself in a game. Whereas Imam takes his time but doesn't have the ability to accelerate his innings.
 
It is a one man batting line up. Not convinced by Faheem's hitting abilities at all. Asif Ali has shown his potential but has yet to be tested against any of the top 6 ODI sides. Prior to the final ODI Babar Azam was unconvincing as evident from his SR and hasn't convinced me with his performances in Aus, Eng and NZ. He's been playing LOIs for 3 years now but isn't really showing much progress. So genuine concerns indeed from OP.
 
Just because one guy scored a double hundred doesn't mean that we're a one man team. It's just that he doesn't lose his wicket very often and takes the bowling head on; he's brilliant against spin as well. We've got other batsmen in form like Imam, Babar, Malik and Sarfraz who are capable of scoring 100's and we've got Asif Ali who isn't a world beater but can push our totals higher with an excellent SR. The lower order batting is pretty good as well. That doesn't mean our batting is one of the best in the world though, we're still behind the likes of Aus, Eng, Ind, NZ and SA, but comfortably ahead of Bangladesh, Afghanistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka and the rest.
 
Most of the Pakistani batsmen have only one gear. I believe an opener who can hit big once set and has a power game should be inducted in the team, Umar Amin is the guy that comes into my mind.
If Fakhar gets out early, there is a great chance that we will end up with something like 250-260 which is considered a below par score nowadays.
 
Zaman is a glorified slogged who's having a purple patch. But then again, I considered sehwag as slogger too but to my surprise, he lasted very long. Let's see what future holds for Zaman.

How would you describe Gayle?
 
Fakhar has no technique. This can be a good thing for an opening batsman in one day Cricket. Just ride your luck then see what happens:sendoff
 
I feel if Shoaib Malik can improve his power hitting against pacers, then Fakhar failing in an innings won't be too detrimental. You'd have Malik, a potentially improved hitter, Babar on song can find the boundary, as well as Asif and Faheem to strike it big. Asia Cup will be key as it will show us whether Imam is perfectly suitable to up the ante in his innings if Fakhar is out early.
 
Over-reliance in what sense?

When Babar scores runs we are "over-reliant" on him. Now Fakhar scores runs we are "over-reliant" on him.

The honest truth is there is a solid core to the batting. Yes, there are a few chinks that need ironing out but things are developing nicely.
 
Other than Fakhar, Asif Ali and Malik are also clear hitters.
Then Babar and Sarfraz also score at a high clip. And that's saying nothing of the very strong lower order of Shadab and Faheem.

This Pakistani battling is the strongest we have seen in 15 years- since the heyday of Inzi, Yousuf, Younis
 
Over-reliance in what sense?

When Babar scores runs we are "over-reliant" on him. Now Fakhar scores runs we are "over-reliant" on him.

The honest truth is there is a solid core to the batting. Yes, there are a few chinks that need ironing out but things are developing nicely.

Over reliance in terms of getting quick runs.

See my question is, how confident would you feel of scoring 320 on a good batting pitch if Fakhar gets out on zero?

To be honest, personally i wont be much confident. Having said this, i guess we will find out soon enough.
 
Over reliance in terms of getting quick runs.

See my question is, how confident would you feel of scoring 320 on a good batting pitch if Fakhar gets out on zero?

To be honest, personally i wont be much confident. Having said this, i guess we will find out soon enough.

With Asif Ali in the XI as well, I'd be very confident tbh. Malik has turned a new leaf since 2015 and Babar is very solid which makes the entire team bat around him so there is no collapse coming even if Fakhar misses out on a few games as well.

Plus Faheem and Shadab give us the stability in the lower middle order that even if there is a horror up front we would at least walk away with a semi decent score.
 
Are we a one man army as well in LOIs?

I was thinking today that if India gets Fakhar out cheaply in the Asia cup, our team might struggle to post a big target. Players like Babar, Imam are capable of runs however they dont fill the heart with confidence with regards to their ability to save an innings. Sarfraz is a hit and miss and Malik cannot alone save an innings. Asif is a top prospect as well but we havent seen much of him.

On the other hand, one thing that plays massively in our favour is our long tail. Except Shinwari, Junaid our rest of the line up can bat and can bat really well and that is what differentiates us against teams like India who rely wholly on their top 3.

What do you think? Is Pakistani team bust without Fakhar or we can rely on our long batting line up to save us in case of a collapse? :danish
 
Your best player is Amir and not Fakhar. Amir is all class and as an opposition someone I would worry the most.
 
As you are an Indian fan i can understand why would you say that.

Pretty much. I understand Amir didnt perform that well against others but he brings his A game against us. Also, he has a massive fan following in India. I remember Star sports was going all Gaga after his spell in Asia cup.

I know Fakhar scored a century against us in CT finals but I still believe without Amir's spell India wins that game.
 
Don't think Pakistan is a one man army. Babar is a dependable batsman in my opinion. And I have high hopes from Fakhar.

I would still like to see another season of Fakhar before making judgement but I have really liked what I have seen so far.
 
This is still a very young team. Majority of our players haven't even played 50 ODIs so far (IIRC).

Fielding and fitness is a good sign.

Batting is improving steadily. Sarfaraz' form is a genuine cause of concern tho.

Bowling is the best in world. Both Amir and Hassan are match-winners. Others ain't world class yet but have potential to get there.

As Azhar Mahmood stated in an CT interview: "Bowlers win tournaments" so fingers crossed and Jeetega bhai Jeetega... Pakistan Jeetega :amir
 
Fakhar sets the tempo. If he goes early we often struggle to get big scores. That's why we want to see more of Faheem with the bat as he has potential to be a power hitter.
 
That batting line up is a one man army which I have mentioned a few times recently.

Pakistan's bowling line up is solid but just needs to establish who should bowl open alongside with Amir with the new ball.

For me it should be Shaheen because he has all the ingredients to be a champion in all conditions but needs overs under his belt in time for the WC. I have huge hopes for him not so much for the mediocre trundlers and accumulators in the squad .

Front line spinners should be Shadab and Imad/Nawaz.
 
Not a fan of imam although hes not done so bad. But we really desprately need sharjeel back. And anybody who says he fixed is clueless. He never fixed although he was approached but didn't fix same happened with irfan, nawaz and couple other guys but were cleared. The evidence against him is weak hopefully we can get him back which should solidify our weak batting.
 
[MENTION=146948]Slim[/MENTION] - Dont know much about young Pak players. What will be the expected playing XI in Asia cup?
 
Fakhar sets the tempo. If he goes early we often struggle to get big scores. That's why we want to see more of Faheem with the bat as he has potential to be a power hitter.

Shadab is a better bat than Faheem who i personally think is over rated.
 
http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...liance-on-Fakhar-Zaman-is-a-cause-for-concern This thread also discusses a similar topic.

I personally believe we are very reliant on Fakhar Zaman, when he is there, he plays his shots and scores at a quick strike rate so it takes the pressure of the batsman at the other end. One recent example, is the Tri-Series final, we were chasing a big total, Malik wasn't playing particularly quickly but it didn't matter too much as Zaman was going berserk so Malik was allowed to play himself in!
 
[MENTION=146948]Slim[/MENTION] - Dont know much about young Pak players. What will be the expected playing XI in Asia cup?

1) Fakhar
2) Imam
3) Babar
4) Malik
5) Asif
6) Sarfraz
7) Shadab
8) Faheem
9) Hassan Ali
10) Amir
11) Junaid/Shinwari

Solid solid lineup alhumdulillah. Batting till number 10.
 
That batting line up is a one man army which I have mentioned a few times recently.

Pakistan's bowling line up is solid but just needs to establish who should bowl open alongside with Amir with the new ball.

For me it should be Shaheen because he has all the ingredients to be a champion in all conditions but needs overs under his belt in time for the WC. I have huge hopes for him not so much for the mediocre trundlers and accumulators in the squad .

Front line spinners should be Shadab and Imad/Nawaz.

The counter claim to your first claim is that we have a deep batting line up.

Shaheen is a top prospect. Best bowling prospect in the world i dare say after that South African bowler. He is going to go a long way.

Nawaz is a club level player.
 
1) Fakhar
2) Imam
3) Babar
4) Malik
5) Asif
6) Sarfraz
7) Shadab
8) Faheem
9) Hassan Ali
10) Amir
11) Junaid/Shinwari

Solid solid lineup alhumdulillah. Batting till number 10.

Ok thanks. Never seen Imam, Asif and this Shinwari guy and know Faheem mostly from PP. Will be interesting game on 19th to see these guys in action.
 
Shadab is a better bat than Faheem who i personally think is over rated.

Shadab is a better batsmen but Faheem has the ability to clear the boundary at will , the problem is he isn't getting enough time in the middle to improve as a batsmen.
 
Pretty much. I understand Amir didnt perform that well against others but he brings his A game against us. Also, he has a massive fan following in India. I remember Star sports was going all Gaga after his spell in Asia cup.

I know Fakhar scored a century against us in CT finals but I still believe without Amir's spell India wins that game.



This is still a very young team. Majority of our players haven't even played 50 ODIs so far (IIRC).

Fielding and fitness is a good sign.

Batting is improving steadily. Sarfaraz' form is a genuine cause of concern tho.

Bowling is the best in world. Both Amir and Hassan are match-winners. Others ain't world class yet but have potential to get there.

As Azhar Mahmood stated in an CT interview: "Bowlers win tournaments" so fingers crossed and Jeetega bhai Jeetega... Pakistan Jeetega :amir

I was purely talking from a batting perspective. I know that our bowling is really good and capable of winning matches on their own. My thread however pretains solely to batting.


Not a fan of imam although hes not done so bad. But we really desprately need sharjeel back. And anybody who says he fixed is clueless. He never fixed although he was approached but didn't fix same happened with irfan, nawaz and couple other guys but were cleared. The evidence against him is weak hopefully we can get him back which should solidify our weak batting.

I personally dont think Imam is a top bat myself but we dont have choices sadly. I hope we have an attacking upcoming batsman show up in the next PSL.
 
Ok thanks. Never seen Imam, Asif and this Shinwari guy and know Faheem mostly from PP. Will be interesting game on 19th to see these guys in action.

Asif is going to be the surprise factor (hopefully) for Pakistan. He smashes the ball like no tomorrow and plays at a very high strike rate. I suggest you look up his stats if you want to know more.

India Pakistan matches are always interesting no matter what is the make up of the team. Gurranted block buster.
 
Pakistan have babar, Malik and sarfraz who when in form are very reliable. Our lower order looks a bit weak with asif ali at 6 but then again we do have shadab and faheem at 7 and 8.
 
When i see our batting line up i see massive weak links in Sarfaraz and Malik
 
Shadab is a better batsmen but Faheem has the ability to clear the boundary at will , the problem is he isn't getting enough time in the middle to improve as a batsmen.
We are just lucky to have found some decent lower order in Faheem and Shadab. I know Faheem is yet to prove himself with the bat but i wont hold my breath as he is a no. 8 afterall. Remember we used to have guys like Sohail Tanveer and Wahab Riaz as our no. 8 so this is still an upgrade.
 
1) Fakhar
2) Imam
3) Babar
4) Malik
5) Asif
6) Sarfraz
7) Shadab
8) Faheem
9) Hassan Ali
10) Amir
11) Junaid/Shinwari

Solid solid lineup alhumdulillah. Batting till number 10.

I dunno yaar, to me it looks like we have batting until no.3
 
With Asif Ali in the XI as well, I'd be very confident tbh. Malik has turned a new leaf since 2015 and Babar is very solid which makes the entire team bat around him so there is no collapse coming even if Fakhar misses out on a few games as well.

Plus Faheem and Shadab give us the stability in the lower middle order that even if there is a horror up front we would at least walk away with a semi decent score.



Well to be honest, nowadays it's not a big deal to score 300+ even if you don't have a clean hitter.
 
Since his debut in CT,Pakistan's reliance on Fakhar Zaman have been far more than India's reliance on Kohli in LOIs.

2017 was the year of soft runs for almost all Indian batsmen-especially those who failed in Test series vs Australia.It also didn't help that they played a lot against mediocre sides on easy batting conditions.Kohli and Rohit Sharma in particular scored lots of soft,redundant runs across all formats and hardly missed any opportunity to boost their average .Most memorable knock of Kohli across all formats in 2017 was his 100 against England chasing 350 where he was easily India's 2nd best batsmen of that match.Over the hill Dhoni in ODIs wasn't far behind in boosting his stats as well.

Since CT,Our batting lineup have consistently been exposed whenever our bowling lineup have failed to restrict opposition to below par total.Luckily,our bowlers have rarely failed (thanks mainly to our spinners and bumrah),that's why we've won a lot and many Indian batsmen have boosted their average.
 
Is this proving to be a bigger problem than expected?
 
Fakhar Zaman on a mission to prove OP wrong :))

But the OP is actually talking about a scenario where Fakhar fails and the subsequent response of the team. So far rhe team has not coped well without Fakhar's contributions.
 
But the OP is actually talking about a scenario where Fakhar fails and the subsequent response of the team. So far rhe team has not coped well without Fakhar's contributions.
Well Fakhar is doing his part in proving OP wrong ain’t he? Never imagined him getting out for two ducks in a row.
 
But the OP is actually talking about a scenario where Fakhar fails and the subsequent response of the team. So far rhe team has not coped well without Fakhar's contributions.

If you are talking about the Asia Cup, then it is a mixed picture. He failed against India and we saw what happened, but he also failed against Afghanistan and the team responded well.
 
I think this is where match awareness comes into play for Pakistan. If Fakhar goes early, and there is a somewhat steady partnership between Imam-Babar, Imam-Malik or Babar-Malik, then assuming that there are still overs left in the tank and if one of them gets out, you could bring in Asif Ali or Faheem Ashraf to up the ante. So, assuming if Pakistan have good match awareness, it shouldn't be all doom and gloom if Fakhar gets out early.
 
Zaman is a slogger. When it works is brilliant to watch for sure. We do not need a complete batting line up of his kind. In one day Cricket need a dasher up front that he is. We do need more stroke players not sloggers in the middle order.

Thanks brother. Most of my Indian friends know that FZ is slogger without much technique. But when they mention it, fellow Pak fans bring his knock of CT final in discussion.
 
Thanks brother. Most of my Indian friends know that FZ is slogger without much technique. But when they mention it, fellow Pak fans bring his knock of CT final in discussion.

His technique is laughable. It has more holes in it then the Titantic!!:)):)) Like Afridi he gets frustrated so very easily that leads to him losing his wicket. Great when it pays off otherwise the team is immediately on the back foot. His innings in the CT final was also a slog:babar
 
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This thread was made for the fear of what happened during Asia cup. And it proved 100% right when Fakhar failed.

Anyhoo , good to see Fakhar back in form.
 
Pakistan is definitely over reliant in ODIs on Fakhar coming off as both Imam and Babar can be contained by good bowling attacks and the dot bowl pressure just build up. Its not good because fakhar will not come off consistently against good teams as we saw in Asia cup, they will do well to fix that and find another player similar to fakhar so they have two players in the top 3 who can take the bowling on.

In tests I dont think they are over reliant on fakhar at all.
 
ofcourse it is, Pakistan is a minnow who has one big player and other supporting cast. we need sharjeel to come back as there are no other hitter batsman apparently in Pk. such a shame as I thought Imran Nazir would have had some influence on these people but most are not even half of misbah. atleast he could tuk tuk 6 but most just tuk tuk tuk and out.
 
lol to see people compare fakhar to Afridi, like are you guys blind????? did you ever play a game of hardball cricket in your life???? fakhar is 10 times the batsman Afridi is. fakhar is not a slogger, he has weird shots but his temperament and ability to play under pressure ( he is the only batsman in a team where they are not guaranteed to chase anything >200). I play for a team like this and it is so much pressure but he is doing it on the national league. pathetic fans don't deserve anyone like fakhar.
 
Good to see Fakhar batting with a smile again.

He is a CLASS act so was just a matter of time. Him and Imam should be the way forward with Haris 1 down.

Still dont understand why FZ didnt take his time during Asia cup as he normally does. Very weird tournament it was from PAK pov.
 
I have a doubt through out the past 5 years or so, why pakistan keeps on introducing fast bowlers after fast bowlers that kind of selection is not happening for the batsman, when compared with fast bowlers the induction of batsman in pakistan cricket is low, its my doubt nothing other than that.
 
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