Pakistan's unhealthy obsession with playing their players in out of order positions

[mominsaigol]

Surprisingly no one has made a thread on this, but this is an issue that should be discussed.

Since I've been watching cricket pakistan has continued to play up and coming cricketers out of order. It was more evident in the misbah era but it still exists in the babar azam era.

Example 1: Umar Akmal

While I agree umar akmal destroyed his career, unlike Ahmed shehzad, he's not 100% to blame. Umar akmal was a solid no 3, who had good technique and an excellent 5th gear, but misbah relegated him to a no 6 or 7 pinch hitter. Umar was never the type of player to finish the innings yet undeserving players like asad shafique got the no 3.

Similarly other cricketers during that era like sohaib maqsood who scored multiple half centuries at no 3 and 4, were relegated to no 6 due to misbah obsession of playing medicore test players at the top order.

Example 2: Our current t20 team

Why do we have saim ayub and Fakhar in the t20 team as middle order batsmen? While I don't mind babar or rizwan opening, only one of them should open, we have middle order batsmen playing as openers and openers playing as middle order batsmen.

Even in our current team if saud plays he gets shoved to no 5 rather then no 4 which would be his natural position, we also have solid middle order batsmen in the squad but we're choosing not to play them for Pseudo all rounders.

The best atg of Pakistan have always played in their natural positions, never have I encountered a pakistani atg that has been successful at playing out of position.

Simply put, let middle order batsmen be middle order batsmen, let openers be openers, and let finishers be finishers. You think babar would be succesful if they shoved him to no 6? Or no 7? Like they did with umar akmal?

Simply put every team should have openers, your 2 best batsmen at 3 and 4, and your strikers at no 5,6 and 7. You don't shove a no 3 at no 7 and put a no 7 at no 3. That experiment backfired with KL Rahul, it backfired with Muhammad hafeez when he was shoved from no 6 to opening, I can go on and on.

 

[SamNJ]

I think in one days and T20s 4-5-6 are the trickiest positions. Opening and no. 3 are relatively easy tasks. Opening slot gives you the most chance to score big against average bowling or on patta wickets and then you have some cushion of failures.
It is reverse in Tests.

 

[mominsaigol]

I think in one days and T20s 4-5-6 are the trickiest positions. Opening and no. 3 are relatively easy tasks. Opening slot gives you the most chance to score big against average bowling or on patta wickets and then you have some cushion of failures.
It is reverse in Tests.

Their different skill sets all together.

Opener and no 3 need to normally see of the new ball and get good starts and one of them need to anchor and stay till the the end.

4 and 5 normally play spin and medium pace in the middle overs the most and they need to quickly develop a 4th gear to strike freely while the openers continue to accumulate and anchor

Amd 6 and 7 need to finish the innings with solid striking.

We have players who are natural at positions but pakistan doesn't play them at their natural positions that's the issue.

Like haris is a perfect no 7 but he gets shifted sometimes to opening in t20, in the past umar akmal was a solid no 3 but got put at no 6.

 

[TheSultan]

Good thread. I don’t know who will answer this.

I will always go by my assumptions which im pretty sure are true.

1. The ones in power of this team are Rizwan and Babar
2. In T20s if you want to regularly bat, rack up stats and play at the easiest position to make runs it’s opening. Sometimes no3 and especially 4,5 onwards don’t get a look in. Unfortunately the ones in power only want the opening position for themselves.
3. In ODIs no3 and 4 get a decent look in and the bulk scoring opportunity is at those positions after the openers have countered some of the early opening spells. This is exactly why Rizwan was throwing his toys out of his pram for someone having the temerity of batting him at 5.

 

[mominsaigol]

Good thread. I don’t know who will answer this.

I will always go by my assumptions which im pretty sure are true.

1. The ones in power of this team are Rizwan and Babar
2. In T20s if you want to regularly bat, rack up stats and play at the easiest position to make runs it’s opening. Sometimes no3 and especially 4,5 onwards don’t get a look in. Unfortunately the ones in power only want the opening position for themselves.
3. In ODIs no3 and 4 get a decent look in and the bulk scoring opportunity is at those positions after the openers have countered some of the early opening spells. This is exactly why Rizwan was throwing his toys out of his pram for someone having the temerity of batting him at 5.

Here's the thing about rizwan though, even before his promotion, rizwan would always open in t20 and bat at no 3 or open in list A and domestic. That ironically was his natural position but he was slotted at no 6 early In his career. Same with babar, Babar use to be rotated at 4 to 6 when typically he use to open or bat at no 3 in list A.

Their are genuine players who love to open, bat in middle order and be finishers. But pakistan just plays them out of position.

Abdul razzaq in the past enjoyed batting as a finisher. Similarly haris enjoys batting at no 7 and chacha enjoys batting at 6 and being a finisher.

Saud and tayyab also enjoy batting In the middle order as well.

Pakistan just doesn't do that however,

During the misbah era whenever someone talented came along like sohaib maqsood who scored multiple half centuries at 3 and 4, or sami aslam who on debut scored 45 of 50, or Unar amin who at the time was hyped to be the next yuvraj Singh and was onsong,

Misbah just shoved them down at no 6 and no 7 for literally zero reason or just dropped them. Yes sami aslam, umar are to blame for their failures but not completely to blame. Pressure to perform and being dropped also ruined their careers, not just attitude. Sami was amazing on debut, but was insta dropped for Ahmed shehzad and then sami regressed soon after and wasn't the same.

Same happened with umar amin, Umar akmal.

It's even evident in the current era, Fakhar was could improve wasn't a bad t20 Opener, but now playing his out of position he's horrible at t20, much much worse then when he was opening.

Their players who enjoy being finishers, players who enjoy the middle order and players who are openers and top order. Just play them according to their positions in domestic, why keep shifting? When has shifting ever worked for pakistan?

Even England doesn't shift that much, they can bat at any position but bairstow and Hales still open, and Butler still comes at the back end.

 

[mominsaigol]

Good thread. I don’t know who will answer this.

I will always go by my assumptions which im pretty sure are true.

1. The ones in power of this team are Rizwan and Babar
2. In T20s if you want to regularly bat, rack up stats and play at the easiest position to make runs it’s opening. Sometimes no3 and especially 4,5 onwards don’t get a look in. Unfortunately the ones in power only want the opening position for themselves.
3. In ODIs no3 and 4 get a decent look in and the bulk scoring opportunity is at those positions after the openers have countered some of the early opening spells. This is exactly why Rizwan was throwing his toys out of his pram for someone having the temerity of batting him at 5.

1) That's not true, their genuine players who enjoy the middle order and lower order irrespective of the power they hold, otherwise sarfraz when he was captain would just want the opening slot, same with past captains like inzimam.

2) The ones in power don't want the opening for themselves, Babar wanted to open because Babar was an Opener in t20 and list A, Mickey decided to bat Babar at no 3 in all formats and babar adjusted due to no 3 in odi being a similar position to opening normally and because he had experience batting at no 3 in list A plenty of times , and test positions from 1 to 4 aren't important, everyone gets to bat and eventually you'll get the new ball taken. Same with rizwan who always wanted to open.

Problem is rizwan, Babar and fakhar all want to open because that's genuinely their position so fakhar compensated, my point is, why compensate? If you have decided on Babar and rizwan opening, then just drop fakhar from t20 and play a genuine no 3 in t20 from our List A pool of players.

3) Rizwan wasn't happy to bat at no 5, because in the past they use to bat him at no 6 where he was useless. Rizwan should not bat their. Why not try him at no 1? Where he prefers?

We literally have tayyab who is itching for the no 5 slot and it's his natural position and saud who is itching for the no 4 slot, yet we aren't playing them? Why?

We have tayyab, Saud and haris, a natural no 5, no4 and no 7 and yet we have them as water boys for bits and pieces cricketers like agha salman instead.

That average of 40 is fooling everyone, Agha salman is a bits and pieces cricketer like nawaz, occasionally will give you good performances, Heck nawaz won us a game against India with a 40 of 20, but normally will just perform here and their and otherwise he useless.

Agha performed in a few games on his debut and now everyone uses that 40 average as an excuse to play him when the guy is clearly not an international level all-rounder yet. Just play him in test for now.

 

[Asad T]

You make some great points @mominsaigol and I do agree with what you say. Just to play devil's advocate, there have been cases of some batsmen doing well in their unnatural positions. Funnily enough, the ones that come to mind are all Aussie.

- Shane Watson used to bat in the lower middle order for Australia and then became an opener
- Gilchrist used to be a lower-order batsman in ODI's and then transitioned to becoming an opener
- Steve Smith: Used to be a pure leg spinner and now bats in the top order

So some players, do eventually get the hang of it and thrive. But they are exceptions, not the rule. But overall, I agree with you. You don't need to force players to play their unnatural game in an unnatural position when you already have proper middle order batsmen in the squad.

And on Salman: I agree. Even when it comes to bowling, Babar prefers to use Chacha instead of Salman. So salman doesn't really fill much of a role

 

[TheSultan]

1) That's not true, their genuine players who enjoy the middle order and lower order irrespective of the power they hold, otherwise sarfraz when he was captain would just want the opening slot, same with past captains like inzimam.

2) The ones in power don't want the opening for themselves, Babar wanted to open because Babar was an Opener in t20 and list A, Mickey decided to bat Babar at no 3 in all formats and babar adjusted due to no 3 in odi being a similar position to opening normally and because he had experience batting at no 3 in list A plenty of times , and test positions from 1 to 4 aren't important, everyone gets to bat and eventually you'll get the new ball taken. Same with rizwan who always wanted to open.

Problem is rizwan, Babar and fakhar all want to open because that's genuinely their position so fakhar compensated, my point is, why compensate? If you have decided on Babar and rizwan opening, then just drop fakhar from t20 and play a genuine no 3 in t20 from our List A pool of players.

3) Rizwan wasn't happy to bat at no 5, because in the past they use to bat him at no 6 where he was useless. Rizwan should not bat their. Why not try him at no 1? Where he prefers?

We literally have tayyab who is itching for the no 5 slot and it's his natural position and saud who is itching for the no 4 slot, yet we aren't playing them? Why?

We have tayyab, Saud and haris, a natural no 5, no4 and no 7 and yet we have them as water boys for bits and pieces cricketers like agha salman instead.

That average of 40 is fooling everyone, Agha salman is a bits and pieces cricketer like nawaz, occasionally will give you good performances, Heck nawaz won us a game against India with a 40 of 20, but normally will just perform here and their and otherwise he useless.

Agha performed in a few games on his debut and now everyone uses that 40 average as an excuse to play him when the guy is clearly not an international level all-rounder yet. Just play him in test for now.

1. Babar and Rizwan do not have power in the team? Are you having a laugh?

2. Of course they want the opening for themselves in T20s. You forgot the distinction I made when I talked about t20s and ODIs. If these two supermen are such great and natural openers why don’t they open in ODIs too? You know why? Because opening in ODIs is a lot more difficult. Opening bowlers get a proper spell where they will get in to rhythm, have the ability to give the batsmen a real working over than the 1-2 overs they get in t20s. Opening in ODIs can be dangerous which is why these heroes don’t want to bat there. They prefer the comfort of 3 and 4 after the openers have done the hard work with the new ball. No5 is an unlikely position to make a century which is why rizwan doesn’t want to bat lower than 4. It’s selfish and self serving behaviour. Babar less so because he is a natural no3. If he played at 3 in t20s too I wouldn’t have a problem with him.

3. So rizwan wasn’t happy at 6, so he doesn’t want to bat at 5? How does that make sense? And who cares what’s good for Rizwan. It’s about what’s good for Pakistan. I want Pakistan to put a proper no4 in there. If it’s Saud or whoever. We want the person with the highest ceiling batting at no4, not what’s good for Rizwan. If rizwan is useless lower than 4, 5 or whatever then have the guts to drop him. He simply doesn’t want to bat there because it’s tough and that’s where you have to give the old school keepers like moin khan a lot of respect because they used to selflessly come in and make telling cameos. Rizwan’s ego doesn’t allow him to be “just a cameo”. It’s all about trying to be a hero.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

1. Babar and Rizwan do not have power in the team? Are you having a laugh?

2. Of course they want the opening for themselves in T20s. You forgot the distinction I made when I talked about t20s and ODIs. If these two supermen are such great and natural openers why don’t they open in ODIs too? You know why? Because opening in ODIs is a lot more difficult. Opening bowlers get a proper spell where they will get in to rhythm, have the ability to give the batsmen a real working over than the 1-2 overs they get in t20s. Opening in ODIs can be dangerous which is why these heroes don’t want to bat there. They prefer the comfort of 3 and 4 after the openers have done the hard work with the new ball. No5 is an unlikely position to make a century which is why rizwan doesn’t want to bat lower than 4. It’s selfish and self serving behaviour. Babar less so because he is a natural no3. If he played at 3 in t20s too I wouldn’t have a problem with him.

3. So rizwan wasn’t happy at 6, so he doesn’t want to bat at 5? How does that make sense? And who cares what’s good for Rizwan. It’s about what’s good for Pakistan. I want Pakistan to put a proper no4 in there. If it’s Saud or whoever. We want the person with the highest ceiling batting at no4, not what’s good for Rizwan. If rizwan is useless lower than 4, 5 or whatever then have the guts to drop him. He simply doesn’t want to bat there because it’s tough and that’s where you have to give the old school keepers like moin khan a lot of respect because they used to selflessly come in and make telling cameos. Rizwan’s ego doesn’t allow him to be “just a cameo”. It’s all about trying to be a hero.

Rizwan is more suitable for 5th position, Saud can bat at number 4 with specialist middle order batsman.

Worldcup is in India and tracks out there would be spin friendly so why not add a batsman who can play spin well like saud.

Agha Salman's utility doent make sense at all.

 

[mominsaigol]

You make some great points @mominsaigol and I do agree with what you say. Just to play devil's advocate, there have been cases of some batsmen doing well in their unnatural positions. Funnily enough, the ones that come to mind are all Aussie.

- Shane Watson used to bat in the lower middle order for Australia and then became an opener
- Gilchrist used to be a lower-order batsman in ODI's and then transitioned to becoming an opener
- Steve Smith: Used to be a pure leg spinner and now bats in the top order

So some players, do eventually get the hang of it and thrive. But they are exceptions, not the rule. But overall, I agree with you. You don't need to force players to play their unnatural game in an unnatural position when you already have proper middle order batsmen in the squad.

And on Salman: I agree. Even when it comes to bowling, Babar prefers to use Chacha instead of Salman. So salman doesn't really fill much of a role

Exceptions will always exist I agree.

 

[mominsaigol]

1. Babar and Rizwan do not have power in the team? Are you having a laugh?

2. Of course they want the opening for themselves in T20s. You forgot the distinction I made when I talked about t20s and ODIs. If these two supermen are such great and natural openers why don’t they open in ODIs too? You know why? Because opening in ODIs is a lot more difficult. Opening bowlers get a proper spell where they will get in to rhythm, have the ability to give the batsmen a real working over than the 1-2 overs they get in t20s. Opening in ODIs can be dangerous which is why these heroes don’t want to bat there. They prefer the comfort of 3 and 4 after the openers have done the hard work with the new ball. No5 is an unlikely position to make a century which is why rizwan doesn’t want to bat lower than 4. It’s selfish and self serving behaviour. Babar less so because he is a natural no3. If he played at 3 in t20s too I wouldn’t have a problem with him.

3. So rizwan wasn’t happy at 6, so he doesn’t want to bat at 5? How does that make sense? And who cares what’s good for Rizwan. It’s about what’s good for Pakistan. I want Pakistan to put a proper no4 in there. If it’s Saud or whoever. We want the person with the highest ceiling batting at no4, not what’s good for Rizwan. If rizwan is useless lower than 4, 5 or whatever then have the guts to drop him. He simply doesn’t want to bat there because it’s tough and that’s where you have to give the old school keepers like moin khan a lot of respect because they used to selflessly come in and make telling cameos. Rizwan’s ego doesn’t allow him to be “just a cameo”. It’s all about trying to be a hero.

1) That's not what I'm saying, they do have power however rizwan in List A use to bat at no 3 or open and he always opened in t20 domestic. Same with babar who was always an opener or a no 3 during his List A days. Infact rizwan in odi is ironically playing out of position.

2) The thing is, Rizwan is itching to open in ODI, but he can't because pakistan does not want to ruin the fakhar and Imam 2 left handed Duo that they've had since 2018, rizwan would gladly take the position and ironically is eyeing the fakhar slot. And again babar in List A before his debut was either an opening batsmen or a no 3, mickey slotted him to no 3 because our best batsmen playing at no 3 is an age old cricket rule however it is his natural no.

3) That's what I'm saying, Rizwan at no 6, no 5, no 4 is nor his natural position, in List A it's always been the top order and saud is a natural at no 4. So why is pakistan not playing saud at no 4? And why not try rozwan at opening because rn with fakhar we can't afford to always be 1 down in the first 2 to 5 overs lol.

 

[mominsaigol]

Rizwan is more suitable for 5th position, Saud can bat at number 4 with specialist middle order batsman.

Worldcup is in India and tracks out there would be spin friendly so why not add a batsman who can play spin well like saud.

Agha Salman's utility doent make sense at all.

Rizwan isn't too suitable at no 5, he's more suitable in the top order with saud at no 4.

I want rizwan inplace of fakhar due to his form and place saud at no 4 with tayyab at no 5.

 

[mominsaigol]

You make some great points @mominsaigol and I do agree with what you say. Just to play devil's advocate, there have been cases of some batsmen doing well in their unnatural positions. Funnily enough, the ones that come to mind are all Aussie.

- Shane Watson used to bat in the lower middle order for Australia and then became an opener
- Gilchrist used to be a lower-order batsman in ODI's and then transitioned to becoming an opener
- Steve Smith: Used to be a pure leg spinner and now bats in the top order

So some players, do eventually get the hang of it and thrive. But they are exceptions, not the rule. But overall, I agree with you. You don't need to force players to play their unnatural game in an unnatural position when you already have proper middle order batsmen in the squad.

And on Salman: I agree. Even when it comes to bowling, Babar prefers to use Chacha instead of Salman. So salman doesn't really fill much of a role

Their are far more exceptions, England players can virtually bat anywhere and achieve similar results.

Dhoni while a finisher would sometimes come at no 4 and play long innings and play just fine.

Yuvuraj could be slotted anywhere.

Aussie players have a history of performing better in unnatural positions so I agree but what I'm saying is

1) Would Sachin have been a legend if he batted at no 7?

2) Would Dhoni be a cricketing great if he always opened? Dhoni in his early days was moved to finishing because he was horrible in the no 3 slot besides 1 good innings. In List A before his debut his position was no 5 or 6.

3) Would Babar be a great if he batted at no 5? And would razzaq be a great if he batted at 3?

Sure they would have some good performances here and their and may have been decent players, maybe they might have adjusted but mentality and mindset wise it's extraordinary difficult for a player to just adjust after playing one position for years. It takes heaps of time. Even for Steve Smith, he struggled at no 3 for ehile and people wanted him dropped before he eventually made no 3 and no 4 his own. The players you mentioned took a while.

Pakistan has a habit of playing opening batsmen like saim, Fakhar as middle order batsmen and that's why the t20 middle order is hilariously bad.

 

[TheSultan]

1) That's not what I'm saying, they do have power however rizwan in List A use to bat at no 3 or open and he always opened in t20 domestic. Same with babar who was always an opener or a no 3 during his List A days. Infact rizwan in odi is ironically playing out of position.

2) The thing is, Rizwan is itching to open in ODI, but he can't because pakistan does not want to ruin the fakhar and Imam 2 left handed Duo that they've had since 2018, rizwan would gladly take the position and ironically is eyeing the fakhar slot. And again babar in List A before his debut was either an opening batsmen or a no 3, mickey slotted him to no 3 because our best batsmen playing at no 3 is an age old cricket rule however it is his natural no.

3) That's what I'm saying, Rizwan at no 6, no 5, no 4 is nor his natural position, in List A it's always been the top order and saud is a natural at no 4. So why is pakistan not playing saud at no 4? And why not try rozwan at opening because rn with fakhar we can't afford to always be 1 down in the first 2 to 5 overs lol.

I agree that Fakhar’s days may be numbered. I personally have a feeling at the back of my mind that in a really important game he will come good and play a matchwinning innings. However, we can’t go by feelings.

If we are replacing Fakhar with an opener, I would rather we bring in Abdullah Shafique. Whatever Rizwan’s historic position has been in list A, at international level his technique and one swipe on the leg side is not going to cut it against the best opening bowlers in the world who have a swinging ball in their hand and can extract pace and bounce for 5-6 over spells with a new ball.

Everyone thinks I’m mad but I seriously do think there is no option but to drop Rizwan. We can’t hold the no4 position hostage because we want to slot Riz in somewhere at all costs. We need a keeper to play at the keeper’s position at 6 or 7 in ODIs. I really think Haris could do that job.

Successful keeper / batsmen are usually the unorthodox types who can come in in the late middle order, disrupt the bowling and make telling cameos.

Yes of course we’ve had Gilly, Sangakarra, De Villiers, Buttler who have batted at proper positions, but we are talking serious cream of the crop here. Rizwan does not belong in that company and we should stop trying to force it.

 

[BouncerGuy]

I agree that Fakhar’s days may be numbered. I personally have a feeling at the back of my mind that in a really important game he will come good and play a matchwinning innings. However, we can’t go by feelings.

If we are replacing Fakhar with an opener, I would rather we bring in Abdullah Shafique. Whatever Rizwan’s historic position has been in list A, at international level his technique and one swipe on the leg side is not going to cut it against the best opening bowlers in the world who have a swinging ball in their hand and can extract pace and bounce for 5-6 over spells with a new ball.

Everyone thinks I’m mad but I seriously do think there is no option but to drop Rizwan. We can’t hold the no4 position hostage because we want to slot Riz in somewhere at all costs. We need a keeper to play at the keeper’s position at 6 or 7 in ODIs. I really think Haris could do that job.

Successful keeper / batsmen are usually the unorthodox types who can come in in the late middle order, disrupt the bowling and make telling cameos.

Yes of course we’ve had Gilly, Sangakarra, De Villiers, Buttler who have batted at proper positions, but we are talking serious cream of the crop here. Rizwan does not belong in that company and we should stop trying to force it.

Your perspective on the role of a wicketkeeper-batsman in the cricket team is certainly valid and reflects a keen understanding of the sport. If Haris has the skills to excel as a wicketkeeper-batsman and contribute effectively with the bat, it's worth exploring him as an option in that role.

 

[mominsaigol]

I agree that Fakhar’s days may be numbered. I personally have a feeling at the back of my mind that in a really important game he will come good and play a matchwinning innings. However, we can’t go by feelings.

If we are replacing Fakhar with an opener, I would rather we bring in Abdullah Shafique. Whatever Rizwan’s historic position has been in list A, at international level his technique and one swipe on the leg side is not going to cut it against the best opening bowlers in the world who have a swinging ball in their hand and can extract pace and bounce for 5-6 over spells with a new ball.

Everyone thinks I’m mad but I seriously do think there is no option but to drop Rizwan. We can’t hold the no4 position hostage because we want to slot Riz in somewhere at all costs. We need a keeper to play at the keeper’s position at 6 or 7 in ODIs. I really think Haris could do that job.

Successful keeper / batsmen are usually the unorthodox types who can come in in the late middle order, disrupt the bowling and make telling cameos.

Yes of course we’ve had Gilly, Sangakarra, De Villiers, Buttler who have batted at proper positions, but we are talking serious cream of the crop here. Rizwan does not belong in that company and we should stop trying to force it.

Rizwan has handled bumrah and top quality bowlers for a while now. Being limited doesn't mean you can't be good. Rizwan has been making it work, you dont get to chase 200+ totals 3 times, end the moqa moqa nonsense, and have an average of 50+ in a t20 format game by being a medicore player who's easy to expose.

I've seen haris bat, he's Average, no 7 is his natural position and while he does make for a solid no 7, we don't need him, we need an all rounder in that position instead.

As for Abdullah Shafiq, I hope we try him but rizwan is the safer bet due to his record.

 

[Third Man]

I agree that Fakhar’s days may be numbered. I personally have a feeling at the back of my mind that in a really important game he will come good and play a matchwinning innings. However, we can’t go by feelings.

If we are replacing Fakhar with an opener, I would rather we bring in Abdullah Shafique. Whatever Rizwan’s historic position has been in list A, at international level his technique and one swipe on the leg side is not going to cut it against the best opening bowlers in the world who have a swinging ball in their hand and can extract pace and bounce for 5-6 over spells with a new ball.

Everyone thinks I’m mad but I seriously do think there is no option but to drop Rizwan. We can’t hold the no4 position hostage because we want to slot Riz in somewhere at all costs. We need a keeper to play at the keeper’s position at 6 or 7 in ODIs. I really think Haris could do that job.

Successful keeper / batsmen are usually the unorthodox types who can come in in the late middle order, disrupt the bowling and make telling cameos.

Yes of course we’ve had Gilly, Sangakarra, De Villiers, Buttler who have batted at proper positions, but we are talking serious cream of the crop here. Rizwan does not belong in that company and we should stop trying to force it.

Totally agree with this. Rizwan is getting seriously annoying and grating right now. He was always a limited and ungainly batsman but became tolerable to me for a while because of his purple patch against some depleted/weak sides on flat pitches. Whenever there's an actual challenge on hand, he goes missing or scores at a snails pace. Not to mention his antics on and off the pitch.

It is patently obvious that we need a proper batsman like Saud at 4 and if Rizwan can't bat at 5/6, he should simply be booted out. I'd much rather play proper stroke makers at 4, 5 and give Haris the time to make #6 his own. He has twice the heart and natural talent of Rizwan.

 

[Rana]

1) That's not what I'm saying, they do have power however rizwan in List A use to bat at no 3 or open and he always opened in t20 domestic. Same with babar who was always an opener or a no 3 during his List A days. Infact rizwan in odi is ironically playing out of position.

2) The thing is, Rizwan is itching to open in ODI, but he can't because pakistan does not want to ruin the fakhar and Imam 2 left handed Duo that they've had since 2018, rizwan would gladly take the position and ironically is eyeing the fakhar slot. And again babar in List A before his debut was either an opening batsmen or a no 3, mickey slotted him to no 3 because our best batsmen playing at no 3 is an age old cricket rule however it is his natural no.

3) That's what I'm saying, Rizwan at no 6, no 5, no 4 is nor his natural position, in List A it's always been the top order and saud is a natural at no 4. So why is pakistan not playing saud at no 4? And why not try rozwan at opening because rn with fakhar we can't afford to always be 1 down in the first 2 to 5 overs lol.

If Rizwan “always Opened” as you say, why is he still a below par T20 opener and why is he still considered ahead of proper openers with the right intent in this format?

Sorry, the powerplay isn’t there for an opener to waste 7-8 delivers to find his feet and then hit one six and a 4, and then go his merry way to 50. That’s just not how you open the innings in 20 overs

Why can’t Pakistan as a nation understand this??

 

[Cricket Warrior]

If Rizwan “always Opened” as you say, why is he still a below par T20 opener and why is he still considered ahead of proper openers with the right intent in this format?

Sorry, the powerplay isn’t there for an opener to waste 7-8 delivers to find his feet and then hit one six and a 4, and then go his merry way to 50. That’s just not how you open the innings in 20 overs

Why can’t Pakistan as a nation understand this??

just because of the ego, senior players doesnt want to leave his place and just dont want to come out from their comfort zone. Whole momentum any team gains from the powerplay and we usually spoil that chance.

 

[Rana]

Rizwan has handled bumrah and top quality bowlers for a while now. Being limited doesn't mean you can't be good. Rizwan has been making it work, you dont get to chase 200+ totals 3 times, end the moqa moqa nonsense, and have an average of 50+ in a t20 format game by being a medicore player who's easy to expose.

I've seen haris bat, he's Average, no 7 is his natural position and while he does make for a solid no 7, we don't need him, we need an all rounder in that position instead.

As for Abdullah Shafiq, I hope we try him but rizwan is the safer bet due to his record.

As far as I know, Rizwan has only faced Bumrah once and that was in the 2021 World Cup. He has never faced him apart from that.

Which top quality bowler has Rizwan handled? Mitchell Starc would bowl him out with his eyes closed. He can only put bat to ball against those who bowl 130-140kmh. He’s ok against Boult tbf. Apart from that, he loves bowlers like Willey or any 3rd/4th trundling option to play his one shot, the lapatu to deep midwicket

 

[mominsaigol]

If Rizwan “always Opened” as you say, why is he still a below par T20 opener and why is he still considered ahead of proper openers with the right intent in this format?

Sorry, the powerplay isn’t there for an opener to waste 7-8 delivers to find his feet and then hit one six and a 4, and then go his merry way to 50. That’s just not how you open the innings in 20 overs

Why can’t Pakistan as a nation understand this??

Brother I have already changed my mind about rizwan. Theirs a reason I made the part ways post about him, Imam and fakhar. As I said I keep changing my mind. I now agree with you.

 

[mominsaigol]

As far as I know, Rizwan has only faced Bumrah once and that was in the 2021 World Cup. He has never faced him apart from that.

Which top quality bowler has Rizwan handled? Mitchell Starc would bowl him out with his eyes closed. He can only put bat to ball against those who bowl 130-140kmh. He’s ok against Boult tbf. Apart from that, he loves bowlers like Willey or any 3rd/4th trundling option to play his one shot, the lapatu to deep midwicket

Again, already made a post detailing my issues with imam, Fakhar and rizwan.

 

[mominsaigol]

For those people critising my argument for eizwan opening, understand that I already made a post about parting ways with fakhar, rizwan and Imam and through arguments as to why.

I have already changed my mind on it.

 

[mominsaigol]

If Rizwan “always Opened” as you say, why is he still a below par T20 opener and why is he still considered ahead of proper openers with the right intent in this format?

Sorry, the powerplay isn’t there for an opener to waste 7-8 delivers to find his feet and then hit one six and a 4, and then go his merry way to 50. That’s just not how you open the innings in 20 overs

Why can’t Pakistan as a nation understand this??

I agree he's a Below par t20 Opener, I also agree with the things you mentioned.

I spent time analysing fakhar, Imam, Babar and rizwan technique.

Fakhar's stance means that just bowl away from him or Angel something into him at good length and your golden, and teams have figured that out now. Even with his 180 and 192 and 200 performance, if you revisit it, he'd dead bat any tine he faced those deliveries, now even Nepal has figured this part out so fakhar is done.

Imam is limited but he is a master at playing the few shots he has such as the drive, the backfoot nudge of spin an fast to milk singles and the pull shot, but he's always a liability once over 40 is hit and he needs hand holding, he only deserves to be in test, give saim ayub or Abdullah 2 technically xompact players the same run Imam has had against 2nd string sides and their > Imam, Abdullah already consistently embarrasses Imam in test frequently.

Babar is good and the only accumulator I want in the team due him being the only one I have seen improve over the years unlike the others as he has ironed out single taking and six hitting issues, but atm he has zero backfoot play against spinners, lack of foot movement to come forward or play unorthodox means he's always gonna be rashid, mujeeb, kudleep bunny and will struggle against swing while opening. Regardless he's a solid bat and the only one who keeps improving over the years, Falhar and Imam debuted with their ceilings already hit.

Rizwan's technique is the worst of all, he's literally a dancer at the crease amd one of the most unsteady players I have ever seen, ontop of being one of the worst runners between wickets I have ever seen. He just like babar has the same struggles against spin, unlike saud who judges the ball, rizwan premeditates a sweep meaning its all luck if that sweep hits or not. Against fast he needs something coming straight to him for him to jab it. Starrk, Hazelwood, bunrah, kuldeep, etc are eating rizwan alive.

Thats why I said remove fakhar, Imam(Play him in test), and rizwan.

We need technically compact players like saud, Abdullah and saim, give these lads runs and you're in for making atg's of the game

 

[PakLFC]

The think tank reckons they'll come good somewhere. As I said the real problem is not finding the correct position for them rather playing five specialist batsmen, a keeper, genuine all rounder and four specialist bowlers. We need to develop spinners like India and Lanka have. Perhaps we do have them already but they don't have a parchi to support them?

 

[mominsaigol]

The think tank reckons they'll come good somewhere. As I said the real problem is not finding the correct position for them rather playing five specialist batsmen, a keeper, genuine all rounder and four specialist bowlers. We need to develop spinners like India and Lanka have. Perhaps we do have them already but they don't have a parchi to support them?

Fakhar, agha, Rizwan, shadab, Chacha

^^ These boys are tailenders this world cup, their clueless against 1st string bowling lol and are technically inept.

Only Babar and imam can score against 2st string sides but they can only accumulate, not dominate like they do against 1st string. Beyond reaching their personal milestones they ain't troubling anyone. Also doubt it'll happen, kuldeep, rashid, adil rasheed, bumrah, stark, hazelwood, These boys are eating Babar and imam alive.

This is what happens when you play technically limited accumulators at the top, and bits and pieces at the bottom, but playing against 2nd string sides has convinced everyone that these boys are goated players.

Babar and imam are decent players, not top 10 or atg like people make them out to be.

The rest are all tailenders against quality bowling.

 

[Mamoon]

I think there is also a case for Pakistani fans using the position/role excuse to justify failures of their favorite players.

If one of their favorites fail, the first excuse is that he is being played out of position of utilized incorrectly etc.

 

[mominsaigol]

I think there is also a case for Pakistani fans using the position/role excuse to justify failures of their favorite players.

If one of their favorites fail, the first excuse is that he is being played out of position of utilized incorrectly etc.

I 100% agree with that. My problem isn't the whole playing out of position.

My problem is that when a player performs well at a certain no, their shoved out of it either due to 1 bad performance or just randomly even if their looking like a million dollars.

Sohaib maqsood I never rated even when he debuted, but at the top order the guy hit 2 50's and an unbeaten 89 extremely early on in his career. And then for no reason he got shoved aside for asad shafiq who hogged the no 3 spot like a failure lol.

Same with shan masood, management forced Babar to lie to the media about injury to shove imam who while I have problems with, is still a decent accumulator and opener, but he got shoved aside in multiple games for shan. And if shan managed to perform, I guarantee you they'd have gone with shan as a front line opener and shan would have eventually failed. Its just, it's a good think shan is beyond incompetent, just like asad shafiq and Ahmed shezad were beyond competent.

Pakistan has a habit of shoving players from a position to accommodate parchi players. Unless players like umar akmal, sohaib maqsood, or even our current crop of players like Abdullah, Saud and saim ayub are given an extremely extended run without the fear of being dropped at their correct positions, you can't make a judgment about them.

I can safely say Ahmed shezad is a parchi, a failure, whatever. I can't say the same for umar akmal or sami aslam though, irrespective if their talented, or overrated parchi losers, if they were given an extended run at their correct positions, only then we can decide.

A cap should be determined, like let a player consistently play at their position for 20 games and then drop them for good for not working or continue if they performed. We don't do that. For us it's, one appearance, and if the performance worked or didn't it's now back to no 6 and no 7.

 

[RyanRyan10]

Their are far more exceptions, England players can virtually bat anywhere and achieve similar results.

Dhoni while a finisher would sometimes come at no 4 and play long innings and play just fine.

Yuvuraj could be slotted anywhere.

Aussie players have a history of performing better in unnatural positions so I agree but what I'm saying is

1) Would Sachin have been a legend if he batted at no 7?

2) Would Dhoni be a cricketing great if he always opened? Dhoni in his early days was moved to finishing because he was horrible in the no 3 slot besides 1 good innings. In List A before his debut his position was no 5 or 6.

3) Would Babar be a great if he batted at no 5? And would razzaq be a great if he batted at 3?

Sure they would have some good performances here and their and may have been decent players, maybe they might have adjusted but mentality and mindset wise it's extraordinary difficult for a player to just adjust after playing one position for years. It takes heaps of time. Even for Steve Smith, he struggled at no 3 for ehile and people wanted him dropped before he eventually made no 3 and no 4 his own. The players you mentioned took a while.

Pakistan has a habit of playing opening batsmen like saim, Fakhar as middle order batsmen and that's why the t20 middle order is hilariously bad.

Dhoni at no.3 in ODIs:


Innings: 16
Runs: 993
Average: 82.75
S/R: 99.69
100s/50s: 2/6


Both his average and strike rate are exceptional for his era.

 

[mominsaigol]

Dhoni at no.3 in ODIs:


Innings: 16
Runs: 993
Average: 82.75
S/R: 99.69
100s/50s: 2/6


Both his average and strike rate are exceptional for his era.

Yh I retract what I said about Dhoni.

Ig the thread is more about unfairly shoving a player out of position despite performing just to accompany the likes of asad shafiq lol

 

[CerebralPatriot]

The whole trend began with Rizwan being shoved as an opener destroying multiple careers (Fakhar, Sharjeel, Danish Aziz, Sarfraz).

Now to accommodate his friend's, Babar has taken inspiration from the Misbah play book and the results are clear to see

 

[Falcon'sParwaz]

Surprisingly no one has made a thread on this, but this is an issue that should be discussed.

Since I've been watching cricket pakistan has continued to play up and coming cricketers out of order. It was more evident in the misbah era but it still exists in the babar azam era.

Example 1: Umar Akmal

While I agree umar akmal destroyed his career, unlike Ahmed shehzad, he's not 100% to blame. Umar akmal was a solid no 3, who had good technique and an excellent 5th gear, but misbah relegated him to a no 6 or 7 pinch hitter. Umar was never the type of player to finish the innings yet undeserving players like asad shafique got the no 3.

Similarly other cricketers during that era like sohaib maqsood who scored multiple half centuries at no 3 and 4, were relegated to no 6 due to misbah obsession of playing medicore test players at the top order.

Example 2: Our current t20 team

Why do we have saim ayub and Fakhar in the t20 team as middle order batsmen? While I don't mind babar or rizwan opening, only one of them should open, we have middle order batsmen playing as openers and openers playing as middle order batsmen.

Even in our current team if saud plays he gets shoved to no 5 rather then no 4 which would be his natural position, we also have solid middle order batsmen in the squad but we're choosing not to play them for Pseudo all rounders.

The best atg of Pakistan have always played in their natural positions, never have I encountered a pakistani atg that has been successful at playing out of position.

Simply put, let middle order batsmen be middle order batsmen, let openers be openers, and let finishers be finishers. You think babar would be succesful if they shoved him to no 6? Or no 7? Like they did with umar akmal?

Simply put every team should have openers, your 2 best batsmen at 3 and 4, and your strikers at no 5,6 and 7. You don't shove a no 3 at no 7 and put a no 7 at no 3. That experiment backfired with KL Rahul, it backfired with Muhammad hafeez when he was shoved from no 6 to opening, I can go on and on.

I think there is a similarity in the way both Umar Akmal & Haider Ali have been handled by incompetent TM.

Umar Akmal was not the only young talented batter who was wasted by TM by playing him down the order. Seeing his six hitting potential, Misbah demoted him down the order as an insurance so that Misbah himself, Azhar, Imran Farhat, Hafeez & Asad Shafiq etc can tuk-tuk in Top order.

I remember Haider Ali opening the innings in U-19 WC. He also opened for his domestic FC side in last 2 editions & averaged over 50 there. He hit some sixes in PSL & suddenly TM thought we found a finisher ! & Babar made him bat as finisher in intl matches. Poor kid lost his technique in trying to hit six on each ball. Adding salt to the wound, his domestic side is playing him in MO in this QeA trophy.
I think Jaiswal was from same U-19 batch. He also hit sixes and fours in this years' IPL playing as an opener. Pandya rightly opened with him in WI. Had he been in Pak, he would have been made to bat as finisher & would have been lost by now.

 

[mominsaigol]

I think there is a similarity in the way both Umar Akmal & Haider Ali have been handled by incompetent TM.

Umar Akmal was not the only young talented batter who was wasted by TM by playing him down the order. Seeing his six hitting potential, Misbah demoted him down the order as an insurance so that Misbah himself, Azhar, Imran Farhat, Hafeez & Asad Shafiq etc can tuk-tuk in Top order.

I remember Haider Ali opening the innings in U-19 WC. He also opened for his domestic FC side in last 2 editions & averaged over 50 there. He hit some sixes in PSL & suddenly TM thought we found a finisher ! & Babar made him bat as finisher in intl matches. Poor kid lost his technique in trying to hit six on each ball. Adding salt to the wound, his domestic side is playing him in MO in this QeA trophy.
I think Jaiswal was from same U-19 batch. He also hit sixes and fours in this years' IPL playing as an opener. Pandya rightly opened with him in WI. Had he been in Pak, he would have been made to bat as finisher & would have been lost by now.

Pakistan has an obsession with playing players who can strike the ball at no 6 or no 7 while stat padders and selfish players hog the Top spots.

Imagine if India did that. Their got strikers at the top and middle.

 

[Falcon'sParwaz]

Pakistan has an obsession with playing players who can strike the ball at no 6 or no 7 while stat padders and selfish players hog the Top spots.

Imagine if India did that. Their got strikers at the top and middle.

Dhoni played young Rohit Sharma in MO, not because he has 6 hitting ability, but because selfish Tendulkar was not open to leave his opening spot. Rohit averaged around 30 there even after playing around 60+ matches.
Once SRT retired, Dhoni has the presence of mind to promote Rohit to open. Since then, Rohit has become an ATG odi player. He has 2 or 3 double hundreds too as an opener.

We should have promoted Umar Akmal to open after departure of Nasir Jamshed / Farhat etc but alas.
It's sad to see we didn't learn from history. (Umar's & Haider Ali's cases are similar)

 

[mominsaigol]

Dhoni played young Rohit Sharma in MO, not because he has 6 hitting ability, but because selfish Tendulkar was not open to leave his opening spot. Rohit averaged around 30 there even after playing around 60+ matches.
Once SRT retired, Dhoni has the presence of mind to promote Rohit to open. Since then, Rohit has become an ATG odi player. He has 2 or 3 double hundreds too as an opener.

We should have promoted Umar Akmal to open after departure of Nasir Jamshed / Farhat etc but alas.
It's sad to see we didn't learn from history. (Umar's & Haider Ali's cases are similar)

Thing is promoting umar akmal at that stage would have never done anything because his mindset was permanently relegated to being nothing more then a pinch hitter.

The solution was to never have him shifted down in the first place. Pakistan management is too nepotistic.

Atleast with Rohit Sharma, in his case it makes sense, yes it was unfair but Sachin is an ATG lol, so rohit understandably had to wait.

What sense does it make for umar akmal to be replaced by asad shafiq, Nasir jamshed, and Ahmed shezad of all people? Are they ATG's like Sachin? .

 

[RyanRyan10]

Yh I retract what I said about Dhoni.

Ig the thread is more about unfairly shoving a player out of position despite performing just to accompany the likes of asad shafiq lol

AB de Villiers can be a better example.

He has an average record as an opener or a no.3 batter but extraordinary record at no.4/no.5

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Babar needs to prove himself as a great if he shows courage and comes to open the inning with Abdullah.

He really needs to come out of his comfort zone.

 

[mominsaigol]

Babar needs to prove himself as a great if he shows courage and comes to open the inning with Abdullah.

He really needs to come out of his comfort zone.

No lol, That's what caused the disaster in t20. The whole point of this thread is how playing people out of positions like we are doing with saim at no 4 has caused downfall for cricket.

Mickey Arthur said babar was born to bat at 3 in all formats. Babar since becoming captain has betrayed that philosophy and look what happened at t20.

If babar opens then saim ayub and many many upcoming talent can't develop.

And yes that includes this world cup as well. Let someone new open, like idk, someone perform a batista bomb on imam and try haris as an opener, cause he can't do worse then imam atm, haris maybe a hack but I'd take him anyday at this stage. No more wasted powerplays with this parchi at the crease.

 

[TheSultan]

On this topic, for once the team management replaced an opener with an opener - look at the result.

Take note.

With regards to T20 and ODIs now, after this tournament. Please, please pick two young openers like Saim Ayub and Haris and give them a long rope.

Babar and Rizwan have had two t20 world cups now, it briefly looked ok for a few matches in 2021 and was a total shambles in 2022. They’ve had their shot, now plan for the future.

 

[mominsaigol]

On this topic, for once the team management replaced an opener with an opener - look at the result.

Take note.

With regards to T20 and ODIs now, after this tournament. Please, please pick two young openers like Saim Ayub and Haris and give them a long rope.

Babar and Rizwan have had two t20 world cups now, it briefly looked ok for a few matches in 2021 and was a total shambles in 2022. They’ve had their shot, now plan for the future.

Pakistan plays middle order batsmen as openers, Opening batsmen as middle order, Lower order batsmen as tailenders(Chacha sometimes being sent after hasan Ali, or usama or Shadab lol) and tail enders as lower order batsmen (Sheddy at 7 )

 

[SamNJ]

Anyone else feels Saud is more suited at no. 4 ?

 

[shamaan]

Anyone else feels Saud is more suited at no. 4 ?

Definitely but Rizwan has done well at 4 aswell.

 

[mominsaigol]

Definitely but Rizwan has done well at 4 aswell.

People got too confident against Sri Lanka despite it being a bang Average bowling attack.

Rizzu is good but he has a habit of vanishing in big moments or playing losing innings in pressure moments, not as much as babar though

Asia cup final and this gane against India speaks volume. Only game he played well in a pressure situation was the NZ semi final in t20 2022.

He plays well but he really needs to learn to play under pressure.

 

[hassan918]

Unfortunately, all of our senior players like to play at the top order. At the moment, Rizwan and Babar are perfect examples. In t20i cricket they only want to play as openers and in ODI cricket, they only want to play at number 3 and number 4. It has happened in the past as well and I am not sure this thing will get better in the near future as well. When this thing happen, a new player has to play at some other position whether he is a specialist opener or not.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Haseebullah Khan to feature for Pakistan in the forthcoming T20 series against New Zealand. The bad news is that CS Wahab Riaz has inducted him into the squad as a middle order batsman rather than an opener for team Pakistan. For those who don't know Haseebullah plays as a regular opener for his domestic side. So Wahab's decision may prove out to be a tricky one for the young lad.

 

[ads101]

Unfortunately, all of our senior players like to play at the top order. At the moment, Rizwan and Babar are perfect examples. In t20i cricket they only want to play as openers and in ODI cricket, they only want to play at number 3 and number 4. It has happened in the past as well and I am not sure this thing will get better in the near future as well. When this thing happen, a new player has to play at some other position whether he is a specialist opener or not.

Rizwan and maybe even Babar would rather play opener in ODIs too. The reason they aren’t is because other openers are and for the good of the team. Middle order is harder in LOI. Which is why even in ODIs seeing how Rizwan is even performing middle order, I’m sure he would do even better opening in ODIs too.

Best players should be playing in their preferred positions. If the openers coming in can outperform Babar and Rizwan (or imam and Fakhar) they deserve to take their place. If not they can’t complain. I’m a little partial to putting Babar down to 3 not because I think the new opener will outperform him, but he’s the only one I think will perform at 3. But I still understand if he wants to open.

We have PSL a measure to gauge how other openers do in comparison to current ones. Outperform Babar and Rizwan there, and you push your case. Perform in t20s and you’ll push for ODIs. There is a legitimate way for players to push and compete for the opening slots. It is possible. Fakhar has done that, it’s only his past poor record in t20s (including opening) that goes against him. I am hopeful that fakhar will be given an opening chance and Babar down to 3.

But that’s the thing. If you can’t outperform these two in PSL, have a poor international record, average/poor domestic record, can you really claim it as your right to take away positions from Babar and Rizwan? You can’t really, it doesn’t matter if you are traditionally an opener if those two do it better.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

No wonder this NZ series will also be one of those where we have at least 7 potential openers and still we don't know who will play at which position.

Chaos at its best!

 

[Rana]

Gotta hand it to Wahab and co.

They can’t directly remove Babar+Rizwan so they picked 7 openers to give the management headaches

Lovely

 

[FearlessRoar]

He has raised a very good point. I think Pakistan has been consistent in giving debuts to youngsters in T20Is.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1746159394155528524

 

[Rana]

No wonder this NZ series will also be one of those where we have at least 7 potential openers and still we don't know who will play at which position.

Chaos at its best!

Systematic chaos

The current management is dealing with serious problems that have been allowed to fester because of player+ agency power in the previous regime.

Picking 7 openers is a clear ploy at breaking the monopoly of Babar and Rizwan on this side. No wonder you saw Rizwan swing hard from the very beginning of his innings.

 

[Rana]

Had the selection committee directly charged in and forcefully rested players that are holding this team back and not allowing it to be flexible, they would have had the issue of:

-Agenda driven journalists (probably on the pay rolls of certain agencies) creating chaos on Twitter through hit agendas to bring down players selected, as if they had committed the worst crime in history by being selected

-the players forced to rest creating unrest within the camp and team, indirectly telling these agents that they are in no mood to rest or don’t need rest blah blah blah

Very well done to Wahab and co for picking 7 openers. These selfish besharams deserve this!

 

[hitthestump]

No wonder this NZ series will also be one of those where we have at least 7 potential openers and still we don't know who will play at which position.

Chaos at its best!

The reality is that Pakistan have not produced any good middle order t20 players in their history.

The best we have had are probably Hafeez 2.0, Malik and Umar Akmal. That should say it all.

We tried picking Danish Aziz, Haider Ali, Asif Ali and Khushdil. They embarrassed the whole nation with their performances.

Every year we see PSL and the National t20 consistently fail to throw up even a single player who can play the middle overs effectively.

So what is the result? We are left selecting from 45 year old Chacha, Azam Khan or a host of openers as those are all we seem to produce.

 

[Kianig89]

Pakistan and playing players out of position is a long story, Azhar Mehmood at one down, legspinner Azhar Ali into Test opener, Shahid Afridi a tailender turned opener, Rizwan the man with zero offside game is a T20 opener, no wonder Pakistan cricket operates on madness than method

 

[MenInG]

Would Farhan had succeeded in his normal position?

 

[FearlessRoar]

Obviously, he is a natural opening batter. Playing in the middle order is not his game.

 

[PakEngFan]

The whole trend began with Rizwan being shoved as an opener destroying multiple careers (Fakhar, Sharjeel, Danish Aziz, Sarfraz).

Now to accommodate his friend's, Babar has taken inspiration from the Misbah play book and the results are clear to see

Alhumdulliah that he destroyed careers of players like sharjeel,sarfraz,danish and Sarfraz. Hopefully he destroys more careers of players of of these sort of calibre.