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Pakistan's Rotten Core – Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan & Naseem Shah: Is the team better without them?

Should Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf represent Pakistan in any format?


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usman.sandhu

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Should Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan, and Naseem Shah ever play for Pakistan again?

In my view, these players have consistently let us down on the global stage across the last four major ICC tournaments (ODI WC 2023, T20 WC 2024, Champions Trophy 2025, and the ongoing Test cycle). They’ve failed time and time again, and it's time to acknowledge that they no longer deserve to represent Pakistan.

The argument that there’s no one to replace them is simply not valid. Their repeated failures have shown that they can’t deliver on the big stage. We’ve been embarrassed multiple times, and it's clear that things need to change for the future of our cricket.
 
Naseem Shah and Shadab should be in the next squad. Naseem is still young and has a lot of potential.

Shaheen Shah can work on his fitness and if he gets his pace back up he will be a fantastic bowler again - but only in T20s.

Babar and Rizwan should be dropped indefinitely from T20 cricket and ODi cricket.

Haris Rauf is quite old now anyway. He is done in ODIs and its probably worth moving on in T20#.
 
Naseem Shah and Shadab should be in the next squad. Naseem is still young and has a lot of potential.

Shaheen Shah can work on his fitness and if he gets his pace back up he will be a fantastic bowler again - but only in T20s.

Babar and Rizwan should be dropped indefinitely from T20 cricket and ODi cricket.

Haris Rauf is quite old now anyway. He is done in ODIs and its probably worth moving on in T20#.
Interesting point on Shadab - he is a spinner that cannot spin and a very mediocre batsman at the international level, I do acknowledge that he is a good fielder - do you believe he has anything to offer with the bat or ball, especially in major tournaments when the pressure is on?
 
Interesting point on Shadab - he is a spinner that cannot spin and a very mediocre batsman at the international level, I do acknowledge that he is a good fielder - do you believe he has anything to offer with the bat or ball, especially in major tournaments when the pressure is on?
He has offered it in the past. We need to take a gamble that he can offer it again. I would take him in T20 format only for now.
 
Naseem Shah and Shadab should be in the next squad. Naseem is still young and has a lot of potential.

Shaheen Shah can work on his fitness and if he gets his pace back up he will be a fantastic bowler again - but only in T20s.

Babar and Rizwan should be dropped indefinitely from T20 cricket and ODi cricket.

Haris Rauf is quite old now anyway. He is done in ODIs and its probably worth moving on in T20#.
Naseem has superstar drama issues too,

He needs to be booted as well.
 
Naseem has superstar drama issues too,

He needs to be booted as well.
Let's see how he does without the rest of the superstars first before booting him.

I know it's not his primary suit but look how much heart he shows with the bat. He wants to perform for the team. Compare to Shaheen and his random reviews that cost the team and you can see the difference in thought process.

And with regards to his bowling yes he hasnt been great but honestly our bowlers would look a lot better if they had the cushion of 30 runs that other teams batsmen give them.

Let's give him a chance under players and Skipper who hopefully play with more intent.
 
Naseem, Agha and Saim are the only players who should be kept in the squad.

Rest should have been sacked.

Simple.
 
From what I observe, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan, and Naseem Shah all have the talent to perform in white ball cricket atleast. However, it seems they are more focused on competing with each other for captaincy roles, individual glory and stats, rather than working together as a team to take on their opponents.
 
Rizwan and Babar are dropped from T20s , that's good team needs to move on , what utility is Haris Rauf offering he has always flopped in important games
 
Rizwan and babar dont deserve a place in T20. No champion team will have such players in their team. Maybe ODI, they still deserve chances unless you have superior replacement options
 
Genuine Question is there any batsman in any international T20 team with SR in 70s.
 
Interesting point on Shadab - he is a spinner that cannot spin and a very mediocre batsman at the international level, I do acknowledge that he is a good fielder - do you believe he has anything to offer with the bat or ball, especially in major tournaments when the pressure is on?
Imad was a much better player than shadab.
 
Should Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan, and Naseem Shah ever play for Pakistan again?

In my view, these players have consistently let us down on the global stage across the last four major ICC tournaments (ODI WC 2023, T20 WC 2024, Champions Trophy 2025, and the ongoing Test cycle). They’ve failed time and time again, and it's time to acknowledge that they no longer deserve to represent Pakistan.

The argument that there’s no one to replace them is simply not valid. Their repeated failures have shown that they can’t deliver on the big stage. We’ve been embarrassed multiple times, and it's clear that things need to change for the future of our cricket.
These 6 must be dropped forever, I don't care if there are replacements or not but they have done irreparable damage. The thing which I dislike most about these 6 is they have strong ego and fake attitude. They haven't learned at all despite playing so much cricket and they never answers genuine questions in a straightforward manner
 
At this point I think they should be dropped. If they want to come back, go to domestic cricket and perform. Enough is enough. But it's not going to happen...they have too much star power for this to happen.
 
From what I observe, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan, and Naseem Shah all have the talent to perform in white ball cricket atleast. However, it seems they are more focused on competing with each other for captaincy roles, individual glory and stats, rather than working together as a team to take on their opponents.
Liked by Fraud Rana as expected
 
War of the pen.

Why don’t you respond with pro RizBar threads?

But you won’t, you will respond with Aaaaasiiiiff Aliiiii and Sharjeiseiel KhaaAanan
Exactly, defend them if you feel they are so good that they are irreplaceable.
 
War of the pen.

Why don’t you respond with pro RizBar threads?

But you won’t, you will respond with Aaaaasiiiiff Aliiiii and Sharjeiseiel KhaaAanan
I don’t need to create a thread. RizBar is reality.
 
By all means keep going.
Whether I keep going or not, it doesnt matter. Whether you stick to your agenda or not, doesn’t matter either. Nothing can change the fact that RizBar are here to stay.
 
Yes, Pakistani T20 Captain :)
He knows and all of Pakistan’s true cricket fans know these numbers are not good enough.

What matters now is the will to improve and fulfil the promise of playing that brand of cricket we are desperate to see from Pakistan in T20.

Let me remind you, Pakistan’s previous Captain Rizwan believed a strike rate of 100 is acceptable for his role as a T20 opener in the powerplay. He prides himself on being an anchor that is specifically picked for this role apparently.
 
These players had peaked a long time ago and have now stagnated. They have no more upside to offer. Time to back new young players.
 
It's the overall culture that sucks.

During Sarfi era, Even medicore players like imam, Babar, Hafeez punch > their weight and performed well.

It's because they all have a clear role and game plan and no one was competing for a spot against each other.

The plan was clear, aka fakhar provides the starts, Hafeez and haris sohail finish well.

If this strategy fails, Babar, Imam, Malik and sarfaraz rebuild.

Even players like hasan Ali were performing at peak.

Sarfi kept these guys in line. Didn't allow celebrations, consistently scolded everyone if they got out of line, Wasn't nice and friendly to the opposition. His racism remark was too far I agree but atleast he wasn't buddy buddy with the opposition. He knew cricket was war.

The new gang has no gameplan nor a good leader. It seems the new strategy is to hope that a talent emerges who isn't threatening the roti gang and just happens to ignore team culture and play aggressively.
 
We are not discussing religions here. Stay on topic now

As far as the topic is concerned, people will get the idea pretty soon if the team can do anything good without them... We got a new team, they should be backed now. No choice
 
Naseem, Agha and Saim are the only players who should be kept in the squad.

Rest should have been sacked.

Simple.
What are Naseem's numbers again? At least Afridi and Rauf have some match defining spells, what exactly does Naseem have?

Average of 35 in tests and 35 in T20s are worse than assoc level bowlers and among the worst in the world. In ODI his decent numbers are because of his first 10 matches, since 2004 he averages 39 in ODIs

Any team will pick afridi over him in a jiffy.
 
Should Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan, and Naseem Shah ever play for Pakistan again?

In my view, these players have consistently let us down on the global stage across the last four major ICC tournaments (ODI WC 2023, T20 WC 2024, Champions Trophy 2025, and the ongoing Test cycle). They’ve failed time and time again, and it's time to acknowledge that they no longer deserve to represent Pakistan.

The argument that there’s no one to replace them is simply not valid. Their repeated failures have shown that they can’t deliver on the big stage. We’ve been embarrassed multiple times, and it's clear that things need to change for the future of our cricket.
You should have written the whole post in the thread title !
 
These are the same fans who will want the next crop out after a few months. They don't understand that you need continuity and all successful teams of the past had a mixture of experience and youth. No team of just youngsters has won a World Cup.

Anyway these are also the same people that wanted Inzi, Yousuf and Yk to be dropped for youngsters like Imran Farhat and Faisal Iqbal
 
These are the same fans who will want the next crop out after a few months. They don't understand that you need continuity and all successful teams of the past had a mixture of experience and youth. No team of just youngsters has won a World Cup.

Anyway these are also the same people that wanted Inzi, Yousuf and Yk to be dropped for youngsters like Imran Farhat and Faisal Iqbal
Can you please specify who “these are the same fans”?
 
Can you please specify who “these are the same fans”?
I'm generalizing but there is a brigade that always wants players out after a few games wanting some superstar in waiting to replace them. They will then berate that "superstar" after a few games.

Never ending circle for a lot of Pakistani cricket fans.
 
How many overs Shaheen has bowled? This guy doesn't play all test matches and still he is complaining about rest. The biggest issue with Pakistani fast bowlers is their poor fitness, this may be because of age fudging or poor diet

Shaheen must learn from Australian or Indian fast bowlers, he should play all test matches against big teams and all major ICC events. In any case Pakistan plays least amount of test cricket, Shaheen shouldn't complain about workload in fact he should leave T20s to improve his game
 
We are not discussing religions here. Stay on topic now

As far as the topic is concerned, people will get the idea pretty soon if the team can do anything good without them... We got a new team, they should be backed now. No choice
Agreed but They should be backed for as long the previous set up was backed. A few world cups and big tournaments. Not just 1-2 matches.
 
Should Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan, and Naseem Shah ever play for Pakistan again?

In my view, these players have consistently let us down on the global stage across the last four major ICC tournaments (ODI WC 2023, T20 WC 2024, Champions Trophy 2025, and the ongoing Test cycle). They’ve failed time and time again, and it's time to acknowledge that they no longer deserve to represent Pakistan.

The argument that there’s no one to replace them is simply not valid. Their repeated failures have shown that they can’t deliver on the big stage. We’ve been embarrassed multiple times, and it's clear that things need to change for the future of our cricket.
What rotten core? RizBar, Shaheen, Naseem are 4 of the best players in the world. Rauf is a tapeball bowler and should never play international cricket again. He lost Pak all those games and repeatedly bowls rubbish.
 
What rotten core? RizBar, Shaheen, Naseem are 4 of the best players in the world. Rauf is a tapeball bowler and should never play international cricket again. He lost Pak all those games and repeatedly bowls rubbish.

If you believe that Rizwan, Babar, Shaheen and Naseem are 4 of the best players in the world, why have they embarrassed us in WC 2023, T20 WC 2024, ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and the current test cycle?

We need to stop being delusional and accept that they are tried and tested failures... and do not deserve to play for Pakistan unless they improve their fitness, attitudes and approach to the game...
 
If you believe that Rizwan, Babar, Shaheen and Naseem are 4 of the best players in the world, why have they embarrassed us in WC 2023, T20 WC 2024, ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and the current test cycle?

We need to stop being delusional and accept that they are tried and tested failures... and do not deserve to play for Pakistan unless they improve their fitness, attitudes and approach to the game...
How is it only on them? are the other 7 players selling nihari on the streets?
 
How is it only on them? are the other 7 players selling nihari on the streets?
They have been playing for Pakistan for a long time and have disappointed on numerous occasions, they've had their chance and need to be sent back to domestic cricket..

You bringing the 'other Seven" is deflection of the main issue - step 1 is getting rid of our rotten core..
 
Naseem needs to learn the art of Bowling. Not his fault he was thrown in the deep end, but he definitely needs to spend a period in domestic to bolster His Bowling spell after spell with consistency.
 
I think Pakistan should start from scratch like they did after 2003 WC.

They might need to do that regardless of whether there are better players waiting in the wings. I don't believe there are personally, but this current bunch carries the stench of prolonged failure. Better not to infect a new batch with it.

If failure was the best these superstars could produce, Pakistan can do that with a new and younger model.
 
They might need to do that regardless of whether there are better players waiting in the wings. I don't believe there are personally, but this current bunch carries the stench of prolonged failure. Better not to infect a new batch with it.

If failure was the best these superstars could produce, Pakistan can do that with a new and younger model.

Yup.

Current bunch seems deflated. There is a negative vibe all around.

Maybe they can try some of the U-19 guys. Players who are hungry to play.
 
I'm generalizing but there is a brigade that always wants players out after a few games wanting some superstar in waiting to replace them. They will then berate that "superstar" after a few games.

Never ending circle for a lot of Pakistani cricket fans.
This doesn’t mean you stick with rubbish too.

We’ve had these simplistic arguments just to stick with perpetual failures under the excuse they have “experience”.
 
The former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal said during a recent interview:

"In ODIs, you have to play a little more positively since it is longer than the T20s. Saim Ayub was our opener and his absence was a big blow. I don’t know what they did with Imam-ul-Haq. He’s a good player, who maintained a consistent average of 45 as an opener, so how can you keep him out as an opener? That’s not all. First, you drop him and then you again call him back, that’s not fair on the player because his confidence takes a beating. He constantly fears that he may be thrown out again, so that was a major problem."

"Then, we forced Babar Azam to become an opener. So, there are problems, and if you want to build a team for the future, you can’t make 50 changes in a year. You have to minimise your changes and create a bench. You have to give time to the players, irrespective of their form. Look at the way India backed Virat Kohli. His bad patch continued for long, but no one forced him to quit and not many wanted him to leave, while Babar, who is undoubtedly one of the biggest stars of Pakistan cricket, is going through a lull, everyone is busy pulling him down. Aapke paas ek hi toh star hai (You have only one star), if you degrade him also, then how will your cricket run? These are the big issues. Our former cricketers should keep their mouths shut."

"As a cricketer, one must realise that bad patches are part of a player’s career. You can’t play cricket the same way all your life. Even if you were Sachin Tendulkar, you couldn’t score 100 runs in every match. He has also been out for duck. He is a world-class player, but he has also gone through bad patches. So, you have to show some patience. Cricketers give it their all to the sport and when chips are down, they need that support. When he’s World No.1, he does not need support, but he needs it at a time when there’s a rough patch."

"As a coach, one needs to understand this. If I am coaching someone like AB de Villiers, I wouldn’t tell him how to play, rather I would tell him how to make the most of the conditions. Similarly, when under pressure, our players deserve this backing."

"Mark my words, they will again get them back into the T20I team. If you want to send a clear message to Babar and Rizwan stating that they won’t be considered going forward, that’s one thing. But you have dropped them from T20Is, but they are still part of ODIs. So, what do you do if they score runs in ODIs against New Zealand? You bring them back again to the T20I squad?"

"Look, the way you’ve removed them is wrong. It’s not like they are the only ones who haven’t scored, while others have. That’s not the case. Ideally, the selectors should sit down with Babar, and discuss about rest so that he can come back stronger."

"Babar and Rizwan are great players. Their stats are as good as anyone, but the only difference is - they don’t bat aggressively, but they still score runs. Our guys have suddenly realised that in international cricket, everyone plays aggressively. Come on, what aggression are we talking about? If they are your proven matchwinners, you don’t need aggression. Even legends like Virat often pace their innings slowly before attacking, that’s his style. We need to allow our players to play their natural game, and ensure that they are mentally in the right space."
 
The former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal said during a recent interview:

"In ODIs, you have to play a little more positively since it is longer than the T20s. Saim Ayub was our opener and his absence was a big blow. I don’t know what they did with Imam-ul-Haq. He’s a good player, who maintained a consistent average of 45 as an opener, so how can you keep him out as an opener? That’s not all. First, you drop him and then you again call him back, that’s not fair on the player because his confidence takes a beating. He constantly fears that he may be thrown out again, so that was a major problem."

"Then, we forced Babar Azam to become an opener. So, there are problems, and if you want to build a team for the future, you can’t make 50 changes in a year. You have to minimise your changes and create a bench. You have to give time to the players, irrespective of their form. Look at the way India backed Virat Kohli. His bad patch continued for long, but no one forced him to quit and not many wanted him to leave, while Babar, who is undoubtedly one of the biggest stars of Pakistan cricket, is going through a lull, everyone is busy pulling him down. Aapke paas ek hi toh star hai (You have only one star), if you degrade him also, then how will your cricket run? These are the big issues. Our former cricketers should keep their mouths shut."

"As a cricketer, one must realise that bad patches are part of a player’s career. You can’t play cricket the same way all your life. Even if you were Sachin Tendulkar, you couldn’t score 100 runs in every match. He has also been out for duck. He is a world-class player, but he has also gone through bad patches. So, you have to show some patience. Cricketers give it their all to the sport and when chips are down, they need that support. When he’s World No.1, he does not need support, but he needs it at a time when there’s a rough patch."

"As a coach, one needs to understand this. If I am coaching someone like AB de Villiers, I wouldn’t tell him how to play, rather I would tell him how to make the most of the conditions. Similarly, when under pressure, our players deserve this backing."

"Mark my words, they will again get them back into the T20I team. If you want to send a clear message to Babar and Rizwan stating that they won’t be considered going forward, that’s one thing. But you have dropped them from T20Is, but they are still part of ODIs. So, what do you do if they score runs in ODIs against New Zealand? You bring them back again to the T20I squad?"

"Look, the way you’ve removed them is wrong. It’s not like they are the only ones who haven’t scored, while others have. That’s not the case. Ideally, the selectors should sit down with Babar, and discuss about rest so that he can come back stronger."

"Babar and Rizwan are great players. Their stats are as good as anyone, but the only difference is - they don’t bat aggressively, but they still score runs. Our guys have suddenly realised that in international cricket, everyone plays aggressively. Come on, what aggression are we talking about? If they are your proven matchwinners, you don’t need aggression. Even legends like Virat often pace their innings slowly before attacking, that’s his style. We need to allow our players to play their natural game, and ensure that they are mentally in the right space."
Kohli has done more harm to pakistan off-field than on-field lol
 
Read the article. he is comparing with Kohli and saying PCB should apply the same logic in backing Babar. Kohli is a massive brand. He is there for his brand value.
Enough backing Babar, we should seriously consider sacking Babar...

He's had more than enough chances in the past 2-3 years, and has failed to deliver every single time...
 
No one with even 1% cricket knowledge will compare Babar with Kohli.

Babar is very limited.
ALmost all the babar backers use Kohli's form as his defense. By now even they understand , well washed up Kohli is way ahead of supposedly peak Babar. PCB is finally treating him like just another player. Good start. Will they maintain this ? or will there be knee jerk reaction after a series loss?
 
ALmost all the babar backers use Kohli's form as his defense. By now even they understand , well washed up Kohli is way ahead of supposedly peak Babar. PCB is finally treating him like just another player. Good start. Will they maintain this ? or will there be knee jerk reaction after a series loss?
Babar so called peak is over.
 
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