Positives and learnings for Pakistan from the Australian tour 2023

[Nikhil_cric]

I know it's been the inevitable 3-0 but to be fair, Pakistan did at least look competitive for certain periods of time in the series compared to the shellacking they got in 2019.

1. The bowling attack bowled with a lot of control, if not always the most penetration - even Hasan Ali kept the runs down for long periods. Only Faheem Ashraf got smashed at 5 RPO

2. Rizwan proving once again that he is the #1 WK/BAT available and no one is even close to his standards.

3. Emergence of Aamer Jamal - a hit the deck seamer who can also score useful runs

4. Saim Ayub's flurry showcasing his very high ceiling

5. The general bowling plans and fields set as a whole and for particular batsmen showed a level of game awareness which
Pakistani Test sides have lacked since Wasim Akram's captaincy

 

[MenInG]

Pakistan fielding has been a huge MINUS for this tour.

Lord knows what would have happened if we had held on to some basic schoolboy chances.

 

[Sher Khan]

Pakistan fielding has been a huge MINUS for this tour.

Lord knows what would have happened if we had held on to some basic schoolboy chances.

I agree. It's always been an age old problem for us, but this series has brutally exposed our fielding weakness.

Good Fielding skills should be made a pre requisite to get Into the team no matter how talented you are.

 

[Major]

2010 was a series where we exposed ourselves with all of our issues. It took years to bring in a fitness regime and to improve the catching of the players.

Than came the Babar and co era under Rameez and all these standards were dusted away, and now after 3 years you are seeing the result.
Brad Haddin was with Wasim Akram and he was laughing at the fielding practice of Pakistan, claiming it was soo 1980s.

When Rameez decided to remove coaches and bring in adhoc mentors, he destroyed the whole set up. After which people like Najem Sethi and Zaka Ashraf did nothing to fix it and further destroyed the PCB institution with there politics.

Right now we have a Chief Selector that is throwing players under the bus and has also selected Azam Khan to represent the Pakistani team.

Thing is, there is nothing positive coming from this. The standards are going down and will go down further.

You create an atmosphere, and bring in a proper setup. It takes years for that system to flourish. But it takes only a few months to destroy all that.

 

[Arzy8]

More so an observation than a learning I’ve made is that our physically fitter players (Rizwan, Jamal, Masood and Agha) were our better performers this series, whilst a large portion of our less fit / unfit players (Babar, Sarfaraz, Faheem etc) performed poorly. Forget physical and mental endurance- the average gym bro is in better shape than many of our highly paid cricketers. It’s a travesty. You can’t get away with substandard physical and mental fitness in test cricket- this is an area that must be addressed systematically.

 

[Markhor]

Pakistan's series bowling average on this tour of Australia was the best since 1995 (the last time we won a Test there).

The problem is Pakistan just cannot pull all facets of their game together. The batting was worse than 2016 and 2019 (albeit on tougher pitches) and the slip fielding was something out of a comedy sketch.

 

[big_gamer007]

Every series people find some positives but after couple more series all the positives fizzle out.

Currently it’s the Jamal guy but give him a couple of years and the same fans will be asking him to be thrown out of the team.

Pakistan cricket and Pakistan as a country go hand in hand and the people don’t understand that simple thing. To fix their cricket you need to fix the country first.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Pakistan fielding has been a huge MINUS for this tour.

Lord knows what would have happened if we had held on to some basic schoolboy chances.

Oh yes, this . Absolute terrible slip catching. Abdullah Shafique the "youngster" being the biggest culprit.

 

[zaidihusain]

More so an observation than a learning I’ve made is that our physically fitter players (Rizwan, Jamal, Masood and Agha) were our better performers this series, whilst a large portion of our less fit / unfit players (Babar, Sarfaraz, Faheem etc) performed poorly. Forget physical and mental endurance- the average gym bro is in better shape than many of our highly paid cricketers. It’s a travesty. You can’t get away with substandard physical and mental fitness in test cricket- this is an area that must be addressed systematically.

Good observation. Include Imam also in your unfit player list. The fit players you have named they all tried to fight hard based on their strength & skills and on the contrary the unfit players looked complacent as they never tried to own the game or prove their mettle

 

[shamaan]

Oh yes, this . Absolute terrible slip catching. Abdullah Shafique the "youngster" being the biggest culprit.

Do you think that them dropped catches put his confidence down when batting.

 

[shamaan]

Not sure how Saim Ayub is a positive

 

[Asad T]

Do you think that them dropped catches put his confidence down when batting.

For sure that would have played a part.

But that's where mental strength comes in. As a player, you just have to let go of the past and just focus on batting. If you think too much about the catches you drop, it will eat away at you. Generally, we are quite a mentally weak team (except a couple of players) and we just crumble under pressure.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Do you think that them dropped catches put his confidence down when batting.

 

[Bewal Express]

Pakistan's series bowling average on this tour of Australia was the best since 1995 (the last time we won a Test there).

The problem is Pakistan just cannot pull all facets of their game together. The batting was worse than 2016 and 2019 (albeit on tougher pitches) and the slip fielding was something out of a comedy sketch.

More to do with one guy rather as a collective.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Positives :

Emergence of Jamaal
Hamza showing he is a solid bowler.
Shans captaincy

Negatives :
Batting overall but particularly Babar, Abdullah and Saud.
Fielding
Lack of spin options again exposed.

 

[Concerned]

Positives :
Emergence of Jamal.
End of Fahim.
Dropping of Imam

Negative : Shaheen speed

 

[hitthestump]

Positives :
Emergence of Jamal.
End of Fahim.
Dropping of Imam

Negative : Shaheen speed

Not sure dropping Imam is really a positive. We haven’t replaced him with anyone better yet.

Hate to think we would risk Saim’s entire career at this stage and make him the default test opener.

Hopefully we find a middle order player and send Shan up to open…but who?

 

[Savak]

2010 was a series where we exposed ourselves with all of our issues. It took years to bring in a fitness regime and to improve the catching of the players.

Than came the Babar and co era under Rameez and all these standards were dusted away, and now after 3 years you are seeing the result.
Brad Haddin was with Wasim Akram and he was laughing at the fielding practice of Pakistan, claiming it was soo 1980s.

When Rameez decided to remove coaches and bring in adhoc mentors, he destroyed the whole set up. After which people like Najem Sethi and Zaka Ashraf did nothing to fix it and further destroyed the PCB institution with there politics.

Right now we have a Chief Selector that is throwing players under the bus and has also selected Azam Khan to represent the Pakistani team.

Thing is, there is nothing positive coming from this. The standards are going down and will go down further.

You create an atmosphere, and bring in a proper setup. It takes years for that system to flourish. But it takes only a few months to destroy all that.

One thing is very clear. Pakistani players need a strict school master approach, they cannot be trusted to their own devices ie looking after their fitness, diets and training routine on and off the field.

Steve Rixon was very ruthless in his approach as fielding coach, he kept tabs on every fielder and player, he would have players have it whenever he sensed someone was slacking or had misfielded in a match. It is no wonder our ground fielding, catching record under his tenure was the best.

We need someone to replicate his methods. Pakistani players should not be allowed to dictate the fitness, diet, training, practice, fielding routines, they should come from the team trainer, coaches and any player who refuses to fall in line, get out of his comfort zone should be shown the door and made an example off.

 

[Rana]

Pakistan bowling was a real positive. Was great to see sessions of bowling where we just stuck to basics and didn’t go for 5+ runs per over for once

 

[Major]

One thing is very clear. Pakistani players need a strict school master approach, they cannot be trusted to their own devices ie looking after their fitness, diets and training routine on and off the field.

Steve Rixon was very ruthless in his approach as fielding coach, he kept tabs on every fielder and player, he would have players have it whenever he sensed someone was slacking or had misfielded in a match. It is no wonder our ground fielding, catching record under his tenure was the best.

We need someone to replicate his methods. Pakistani players should not be allowed to dictate the fitness, diet, training, practice, fielding routines, they should come from the team trainer, coaches and any player who refuses to fall in line, get out of his comfort zone should be shown the door and made an example off.

Yes but the issue the whole system gets drstroyed when after two years someone like rameez raja gets appointed who believes that these things dont work.

 

[topspin]

Positives:

• Shan Masood's captaincy and a couple of nice half centuries
• Aamer Jamal's bowling and batting at number 8 - Pakistan's best player in the series and the second best after Cummins
• Rizwan is a scumbag for his role in the Saya Corps scandal and for all the fake theatrics but batted very well
• Agha's Salman's bowling
• Mir Hamza - averaged 21 with the ball
• Saim Ayub - impressive shots during his second innings. One for the future

Negatives/learning:

• Imam - awfuk
• Babar Azam - poor batting and poor fitness. His focus has shifted from batting to enjoying his food after having received an increase in his Daily Biryani Allowance (DBA)
• Saud Shakeel - needs to improve his game against the short ball and leaving balls outside the off-stump. Looked uncomfortable in bouncy conditions
• Abdullah Shafique - should never field in the slips ever again. I believe his drops affected his batting confidence
• Shaheen Afridi - didn't play the whole series and averaged 40 with the ball
• Sajid Khan - Australian batsmen slapped him around
• Hasan Ali - as expected, too short to be bowling in Australia

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Aamer Jamal's performance and Agha Salman's improvement with the ball were two main positives. Rizwan's batting as well. He is getting lethargic in keeping somewhat.

One major negative was Abdullah Shafique being worked out by Australian pace trio. Babar's lack of form is also worrying. Saud Shakeel didn't show any steel either.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Do you think that them dropped catches put his confidence down when batting.

Don't think so. He's a very nervous starter who only gets some confidence after he has batted long enough. We saw that in the World Cup as well.

Him and Shakeel had not really been tested against good pace bowlers on wickets with bounce and movement and they got flattened.

Babar's performance was the real shocker. Hazlewood and Cummins were particularly ruthless against him.

When he played tight to the pads, they relentlessly bowled in the channel to nick him off and when he tried to consistently reach for the ball, they attacked his pads with inswing/seamers.

 

[Savak]

Don't think so. He's a very nervous starter who only gets some confidence after he has batted long enough. We saw that in the World Cup as well.

Him and Shakeel had not really been tested against good pace bowlers on wickets with bounce and movement and they got flattened.

Babar's performance was the real shocker. Hazlewood and Cummins were particularly ruthless against him.

When he played tight to the pads, they relentlessly bowled in the channel to nick him off and when he tried to consistently reach for the ball, they attacked his pads with inswing/seamers.

Australian bowlers have tried all sorts of tactics against Kohli. Only difference is that Kohli has the answers for everything that is thrown at him. Babar in comparison is easy work as Floyd Mayweather will say.

 

[moghul]

I know it's been the inevitable 3-0 but to be fair, Pakistan did at least look competitive for certain periods of time in the series compared to the shellacking they got in 2019.

1. The bowling attack bowled with a lot of control, if not always the most penetration - even Hasan Ali kept the runs down for long periods. Only Faheem Ashraf got smashed at 5 RPO

2. Rizwan proving once again that he is the #1 WK/BAT available and no one is even close to his standards.

3. Emergence of Aamer Jamal - a hit the deck seamer who can also score useful runs

4. Saim Ayub's flurry showcasing his very high ceiling

5. The general bowling plans and fields set as a whole and for particular batsmen showed a level of game awareness which
Pakistani Test sides have lacked since Wasim Akram's captaincy

Hasan Ali in current form was the worst ever bowler to play test match for Pakistan.

 

[hitthestump]

Positives:

• Shan Masood's captaincy and a couple of nice half centuries
• Aamer Jamal's bowling and batting at number 8 - Pakistan's best player in the series and the second best after Cummins
• Rizwan is a scumbag for his role in the Saya Corps scandal and for all the fake theatrics but batted very well
• Agha's Salman's bowling
• Mir Hamza - averaged 21 with the ball
• Saim Ayub - impressive shots during his second innings. One for the future

Negatives/learning:

• Imam - awfuk
• Babar Azam - poor batting and poor fitness. His focus has shifted from batting to enjoying his food after having received an increase in his Daily Biryani Allowance (DBA)
• Saud Shakeel - needs to improve his game against the short ball and leaving balls outside the off-stump. Looked uncomfortable in bouncy conditions
• Abdullah Shafique - should never field in the slips ever again. I believe his drops affected his batting confidence
• Shaheen Afridi - didn't play the whole series and averaged 40 with the ball
• Sajid Khan - Australian batsmen slapped him around
• Hasan Ali - as expected, too short to be bowling in Australia

Spot on analysis as usual. It’s time to admit you were wrong about Rizwan. You have been following the wrong path this entire time. Once you accept you made an error in judgement I guarantee you will see the light.

Everything else is spot on though. You clearly have a good cricketing brain.

 

[FastBowlingAllrounder]

Get the entire team to play u14 in Sydney where they will learn to hold onto catches, not concede half the opposition's score in extras, and not go fishing outside 6th stump.

 

[hass]

We put ourselves in a position to take positives out of this tour and even potentially win games but as always we threw all of that in the dustbin right when it matters most. Now we are leaving with zero positives.

Why? I’m no passion merchant but the complete absence of desire, aggression and professionalism when fighting to win a game both with the second innings and defending was utterly criminal. The constant charity we have done for David Warner for all these years is genuinely laughable. What is the point when we turn into such weak minded minnows the moment anything is at stake? Why do we always collapse or bottle a golden opportunity?

I’m sorry but given the manner of our second innings and the effort with the ball, and the fielding and captaincy not even trying to defend or apply pressure? We can take ZERO positives out of this tour.

 

[topspin]

Spot on analysis as usual. It’s time to admit you were wrong about Rizwan. You have been following the wrong path this entire time. Once you accept you made an error in judgement I guarantee you will see the light.

Everything else is spot on though. You clearly have a good cricketing brain.

Coming to Rizwan, he definitely batted better than I expected and was our best batsman in the series but my comments had nothing do with me “being made to look silly” but yes I am angry because of his involvement in the Saya Corps scandal. He generally played the short ball well. He found it tough against Cummins but there’s no shame in that because he’s the best pace bowler in the world. His sixes against Hazlewood were impressive. If he can improve his offside game, he will score more hundreds.

As a batsman, I have far more respect for him than Babar because he has shown at times that he’s willing to bat selflessly for the greater good of the team. But his showing in the 2021 WT20 final, 2022 Asia Cup final and 2022 WT20 tournament as a whole still leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Not just because he failed but because he was being selfish. As a white ball player, he still needs to do more in tournaments before I can embrace him the way you do.

As an individual, I’m not sure if I can approve of him. Other than his involvement in the Saya Corps scandal, I’ve had enough of all the theatrics and other stunts he pulls out, such as the way he was pretending to be injured during the World Cup game against Sri Lanka. The guy will do anything to bolster his image even if it means manipulating the public.

 

[Vikram1989]

I

Thanks for the kind words.

Can you elaborate how I was being childish?

Coming to Rizwan, he definitely batted better than I expected and was our best batsman in the series but my comments had nothing do with me “being made to look silly” but yes I am angry because of his involvement in the Saya Corps scandal. He generally played the short ball well. He found it tough against Cummins but there’s no shame in that because he’s the best pace bowler in the world. His sixes against Hazlewood were impressive. If he can improve his offside game, he will score more hundreds.

As a batsman, I have far more respect for him than Babar because he has shown at times that he’s willing to bat selflessly for the greater good of the team. But his showing in the 2021 WT20 final, 2022 Asia Cup final and 2022 WT20 tournament as a whole still leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Not just because he failed but because he was being selfish. As a white ball player, he still needs to do more in tournaments before I can embrace him the way you do.

As an individual, I’m not sure if I can approve of him. Other than his involvement in the Saya Corps scandal, I’ve had enough of all the theatrics and other stunts he pulls out, such as the way he was pretending to be injured during the World Cup game against Sri Lanka. The guy will do anything to bolster his image even if it means manipulating the public.

Earlier today, I’ve been told by a long standing poster of PP that he won’t shake hands with a woman but he’ll fly out to Nepal to promote Sandeep Lamichanne, who’s been accused of rape. This isn’t the first time I’m hearing this, so I hope you understand why I don’t get good vibes from him.

I was there in the crowd on the first day.Everyone in the ground was thinking that cummins was hitting the rizwan's bat twice.It was a double clunky noise all the times.Every one was shouting for Starc to join at the other end and finish it.I am not sure how ugly it appeared on TV and was there any clunky noise at all.

 

[sam_ahm]

It's been ages since Pakistan are just looking for positives without any results, series after series, match after match. It's always about preparing for the future, a 'future' that never comes.

It is high time, Pakistan start showing results on the field, rather than just looking for 'positives'. There is no end to improvement, it has to happen along with results on field.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Hasan Ali in current form was the worst ever bowler to play test match for Pakistan.

Isn't even the worst Test bowler to play for Pakistan in Australia.

Imran Khan Jr., Musa Khan , Faheem Ashraf at Perth , Abdur Rauf , Mohammad Khalil, Sami, Rana Naved - these blokes were much worse. They bled runs at over 4 RPO and took impactless wickets after top order has scored heavily or of tailenders.

 

[BouncerGuy]

The only positive that I can think of is Aamer Jamal. He has been the guy in this series who was looking like a hard-working individual. Not letting it go easily was one of his qualities that attracted many.

 

[Suleiman]

Positives:
Aamer Jamal
Mir Hamza
Agha bowling

Negatives:
Everything else

 

[jnaveen1980]

Only two collapses in the series. That is a positive.

 

[moghul]

Isn't even the worst Test bowler to play for Pakistan in Australia.

Imran Khan Jr., Musa Khan , Faheem Ashraf at Perth , Abdur Rauf , Mohammad Khalil, Sami, Rana Naved - these blokes were much worse. They bled runs at over 4 RPO and took impactless wickets after top order has scored heavily or of tailenders.

No , I would pick anyone of them ahead of Hasan ALi of today.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Positive is Shan's captaincy which was quite impressive and learning do not depend only on Babar Azam

 

[sweep_shot]

Positives:

Aamer Jamal
Khurram
Saim (showed good signs during 2nd innings of 3rd Test)

Negatives:

Babar's form
Lack of big innings from anyone.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Learnings:
Slip-catching needs to improve
Batter needed to show more responsibility and courage

Positives:
Aamer Jamal
Khurram
Shan's captaincy (7/10) and his own approach towards batting