PCB announce 16-member Test squad for Ireland and England tours

[Brilliance]

They had to select Saad Ali. He came up with figures of 60+ at 70+ last season when everyone else failed. You cannot ignore that performance. They wasted Haris Sohail when he was at his peak form during 2012-13 season. Thankfully not this time.
Hope he gets a game.

 

[Mainul]

I wanted Fawad so much in this Pak squad......I want Pakistan to be whitewashed in this tour.

 

[Mainul]

Asad Shafiq,Imamul Huq,Babar Azam,Rahat Ali,MD Amir...this team looks ordinary to me.

 

[Ellipsism]

Of course. I do agree that he's a bit of a 'hit or miss' kind of bowler, however, he has experience of playing in England and while I would've much rather had someone like Usman Khan, Rahat is better than the likes of Riaz, Irfan, Gul, Sohail, Tanvir, Abbas and Mir Hamza.

Rahat has the height, the swing and now it seems as though he's gained some pace.



I disagree. I think he deserves a go solely on potential. We need a seam bowling all-rounder for a place like the UK and the likes of Hammad Azam/Anwar Ali/Bhatti are not even half as good.



I think he's the safest bet as of now. He needs to be nurtured and while I do agree that a Test tour to the UK is not the apt time to do so, the earlier, the better. Yasir Shah, as is evident, does not keep fit and will be done and dusted within the next 5 years. We need to make a replacement out of Shadab Khan because his attitude is the one of a champion.

Why do you think he will never be a Test class spinner? He's only 19 right now and has a lot of years ahead of him. Working with Mushy and Saqi will be key to his development.

Rahat was always able of bowling around 140 kph itÂ’s his lack of consistency and the trademark Pakistani lack of bowling sense that his hindered him making any semblance of progress. Bowling four pretty overs is not enough to conclude that heÂ’s managed to overcome those issues. Rahat along with Amir made sure Pakistan started their bowling innings on the back foot; in fact I cannot remember a single occurrence throughout that test series in which England did not have a RR of four by the end of the first ten.

I don’t think Abbas is anything special either but he’s going to play a significant role in this series. At this time of the year in England it’s those accurate seamers that put a decent amount behind the ball that generally have good success. If we are to tour places like Australia where seamers must put something on top of the ball to extractbounce, and need to be able to bowl at a decent click, by all means bench him.

My issue with Faheem is that he is yet to do anything at the LO level with the bat aside from hit a couple of boundaries. Is his batting currently good enough to warrant selection over a pure seamer? I donÂ’t think so.

Shadab is anything but a safe selection, with hardly any FC experience its what you call throwing someone into the deep end and pray that they learn to keep afloat against the odds. On the issue of whether he will ever be a test class spinner, to put it simply I don’t think he’s gifted enough with the ball; Shadab simply does not impart enough revs. While there are many facets that contribute to a successful spin bowler, imparting a high number of revolutions on the ball is critical and the main cause for both the ball’s drift in the air and deviation off the pitch. He can maximise the amount of revs imparted with a few technical adjustments but aside from that thereÂ’s no secret formula which the likes of Mushy are going to feed Shady and turn him into a test class spinner.

 

[Canistani Hero]

Azhar
Fakhar
Babar
Haris
Shafiq
Sarfraz
Fahim
Shadab
Amir
Abbas
Rahat

The extra batsman never got us anywhere.

 

[New Yorker]

There are only three specialist openers in the side, two if you consider that Fakhar is seen as a middle-order bat by the coach, which is definitely not "too much". Mir Hamza is a better swing bowler than Rahat? Perhaps, but that is debatable and not clear cut.

These are not failures because we don't have the results in front of us right now. These are your opinions and wishes.

The debate is not over who is the better bowler - this we can only know once Hamza has had a run in internationals. But there is no question who should be selected. Rahat has had 20 Tests to prove himself, and has only proven himself to be thoroughly mediocre, the odd jaffa notwithstanding. His average in England is 50 in three Tests. To keep selecting him is a travesty. We are holding back talents that are not getting any younger. Hamza, or Sadaf, would be excellent replacements for Rahat.

 

[Syed1]

The debate is not over who is the better bowler - this we can only know once Hamza has had a run in internationals. But there is no question who should be selected. Rahat has had 20 Tests to prove himself, and has only proven himself to be thoroughly mediocre, the odd jaffa notwithstanding. His average in England is 50 in three Tests. To keep selecting him is a travesty. We are holding back talents that are not getting any younger. Hamza, or Sadaf, would be excellent replacements for Rahat.

Apka ab Allah hi hafiz hai. The Rahat is coming for you.

 

[New Yorker]

Apka ab Allah hi hafiz hai. The Rahat is coming for you.

Nothing could be more reassuring.

 

[We Bleed Green]

We must pick Fawad Alam for the Australian teat series.

My heart bleeds when I see this injustice. The guy has now scored 11000 test runs and he cant make it into this team.

Shame on you Inzamam