'Practice karte ho toh apply kyun nahi karte?': Akram bluntly asks M. Yousuf on Pakistan's batting

[MenInG]

In a chat with Pakistan batting coach Mohammad Yousuf on TV, Wasim Akram questioned the versatility of Pakistan batters, saying one should forget about playing 360 degrees, but they should at least try playing 180 degrees.

"Ben Duckett doesn't let the bowlers, especially the spinners settle when they come on to bowl. He plays shots everywhere. If I were playing against Pakistan, I would know where the batters would hit their shots. They are not versatile. No one even tries to do something out of the ordinary"

"360 is a bit too much to ask for, just play 180 degrees. This is the practice you do, and if you do then why don't you apply in the match"

Yousuf tried his best to answer Akram's query and he said: "I'm making a conscious effort. I talk to (spin bowling coach) Saqlain bhai about this. When they play spinners, I stand behind and suggest our batsmen a number of different shots, play this shot at this ball, this at this."

"The first stage is to practice in the nets, the second is to implement those in practice games, but we don't get too many of those. We keep telling that if there is an intent, there is no problem in getting out. The intent, in the modern game, is to hit a boundary every ball, if it's a difficult ball, take a single. That's the demand of modern-day cricket. The players know that and they are trying"

==

“Ben Duckett bowler ko, especially spinners ko set hone deta hi nahi. Vo har jagah shots maarta hai. Agar main Pakistan ke against khelu, toh mujhe pata hoga inhone kidhar shots maarni hain. Vo versatile nahi hain. Koi koshish bhi nahi karta. 360 is too much to ask, 180 hi kar lein. Ye practice karte ho aap, aur agar karte ho toh apply kyun nahi karte? (Ben Duckett doesn't let the spinners settle. He hits everywhere. If I play against Pakistan, I would know which batsman would target which area. They aren't as versatile. They don't even try. I'm not asking them to be a 360-degree player, at least try 180. Do you practice such shots? And if you do, why aren't they applying?)”

 

[Anis Shivani]

Good question.
Not a single improvisational, exciting batsman.
It was ABD's 2015 innings which brought me back to cricket.
That's what I want to see. But I sure ain't ever gonna see it with Pakistan.
If somebody has it, it gets stamped out of them.

 

[Mamoon]

You can practice all you want, if you don’t have the ability you will not be able to execute it. We just don’t have the talent.

 

[Rana]

You can practice all you want, if you don’t have the ability you will not be able to execute it. We just don’t have the talent.

We have the fitness though

 

[Zeshan547]

You can practice all you want, if you don’t have the ability you will not be able to execute it. We just don’t have the talent.

Forget About 360 they can't even play most basic attacking shots with full confidence and proper technique, i think if they have solid basic skills you don't even need much improvisation, it's luxury not necessity, for reference see batsman like Rohit and Kohli, specially Kohli who is Goat T20 batsman,. with almost zero flashy and unorthodox shots.

 

[Bewal Express]

So W Akram doesn't understand the basic thing about batting- if a guy tells you he is going to bowl bouncers in the nets you can be ready for them. Even I could duck or evade if I know its coming. But in matches the bowlers aren't so helpful and don't telegraph the bouncers unless they are bad bowlers or it is a setup for a quicker and better bouncer later. As a batsman your natural setup is what determines how well you play the bouncer and it can't be improved in a short time and most cases it can't be improved at all. That doesn't mean you don't make small adjustments but it's much more complicated than what Akram is making it out to be.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Forget About 360 they can't even play most basic attacking shots with full confidence and proper technique, i think if they have solid basic skills you don't even need much improvisation, it's luxury not necessity, for reference see batsman like Rohit and Kohli, specially Kohli who is Goat T20 batsman,. with almost zero flashy and unorthodox shots.

The match that made a name for Kohli. Chubby Kohli here takes 24 runs off of Malinga without any fancy shots. Back then he was not this muscle guy.

 

[MenInG]

Mohammad Yousuf has not been able to make much difference to Pakistan batters skills!

 

[Saj]

There are some very bad habits and flaws amongst the Pakistani batters.

Can any coach get rid of those bad habits in a short period of time? I highly doubt it.

 

[Kroll]

Mohammad Yousuf has not been able to make much difference to Pakistan batters skills!

Yousaf is old school, I think you need employ someone from the T20 age that understands modern day batting.

 

[hitthestump]

Yousuf was never going to be a good t20 coach. How can he teach the shots Duckett can play when his era was completely different? This is surely one reason why our middle order struggles so much - they are easy to figure out.

Pakistan should retain Yousuf but a innovative power hitting coach needs to join the fray too. Any ideas who this could be?

 

[Ami]

Yousuf was never going to be a good t20 coach. How can he teach the shots Duckett can play when his era was completely different? This is surely one reason why our middle order struggles so much - they are easy to figure out.

Pakistan should retain Yousuf but a innovative power hitting coach needs to join the fray too. Any ideas who this could be?

Ben Duckett

 

[TeymurBlake]

A lot of these batsman are beyond help, no matter who you employ as a batting coach, some of these batters are beyond help.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Mohammad Yousuf has not been able to make much difference to Pakistan batters skills!

Yousaf is there to help with batters' defense and improving the shots they already have at their disposal.

Not sure if he's the right person to teach our batters how to switch hit, reverse flick, ramp and scoop.

Plus there needs to be some responsibility that batters themselves need to take upon themselves. They have to start practice playing new shots from the scratch and gradually bring it to international cricket. If there is no intent from the batters to start developing them, how can the coach help.

Guys like Haider and Khushdil are unable to properly play the basic shots they already have in their arsenal.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

If a horse isn't thirsty, is there any point bringing him to a fountain?

Players have to take responsibility upon themselves to innovate their games. Coaches are only there to assist.

 

[saeedhk]

Even if we have the best coach in the world, nothing would change because Pakistani batsman are afraid, lack situational awareness, are unable to play big shots nor find gaps and take singles. Pakistan batting and bowling to some extent are beyond recovery. We must admit that we are pretty much a minnow team who come good in every 2 matches out of 10.

 

[Bewal Express]

Mohammad Yousuf has not been able to make much difference to Pakistan batters skills!

Goes back to my point about coaches. Players will improve if they have the desire to improve, coaches make little or no difference.

 

[Bewal Express]

Yousaf is old school, I think you need employ someone from the T20 age that understands modern day batting.

Will they help the guys to pull and hook?

 

[PakEngFan]

Even if we have the best coach in the world, nothing would change because Pakistani batsman are afraid, lack situational awareness, are unable to play big shots nor find gaps and take singles. Pakistan batting and bowling to some extent are beyond recovery. We must admit that we are pretty much a minnow team who come good in every 2 matches out of 10.

We can’t be minnows we got you your team out for 38. We are not great but not as bad what we are made out to be.

 

[daytrader]

If anything, they gotta stop playing these sort ofshots. Most of our batters look like fools when attempting innovative shots. Stick to conventional shots and execute them well.

 

[daytrader]

Mohammad Wasim trying to ramp a fuller ball, only to get bowled. Yousaf needs too focus on teaching some of these guys how to play basic shots

 

[Sherlock]

Said it earlier in the match thread - Yousuf is dinosaur that knows nothing about the modern game and here he is being a batting coach of the national T20 side.

Then you have a cheerleader with life quotes as a head coach. Neither of the two should be anywhere near the coaching roles in LOIs.

But of course you gotta blame Raja with these appointmentments. So much for 'we want to play fearless cricket'. I mean if it wasn't for Rizwan and Babar this would've been a horrendous batting lineup.

The only good thing he did was hire Hayden and Philander, although temporarily. Other than that everything he's stated about modern day cricket has been either a lie, or he's simply not up to the job.

 

[Savak]

Yousaf is better suited to coaching youngsters as far as technique and playing 360 degrees cricket to the youngsters for the longer format.

Leave the limited and T20 coaching to someone who has played the modern T20 game.

 

[Zaz]

Atleast play the conventional shots properly They cant even do that

Its embarrassing watching these lot bat bar Babar and Rizwan

Pakistan look like a desperate team devoid of ideas, quality and leadership

 

[saeedhk]

We can’t be minnows we got you your team out for 38. We are not great but not as bad what we are made out to be.

I am from Pakistan. You remember India being out for 38 but forget their ATG feats in both limited and longer formats of the game.

 

[PakLFC]

Practicing does not mean they can perform under pressure. They are just not good enough lacking in technique and shot making. I find it so difficult to believe that in a Cricket mad country this is the best we have.

 

[Runner Up]

Just don't drop catches at crucial moments. Very basic practice they need.

 

[Energy]

Softie practice sessions leads to this. Nice guys in the coaching staff, life lessons, morale boosts, cake cuts all end up in the team looking like headless chickens.

 

[saeedhk]

A coach can only do so much. If the player’s ability isn’t there, then even Don Bradman can’t help him. Pakistan just doesn’t have the proper batsmen except Babar. We have players like Asif Ali, who has played more than 40 games just because of those 4 sixes against Hasan Ali.
What can you expect when Ifti, Khushdil and Asif are our middle order.

 

[SpiritOf1903]

They need to print a cheque for Hayden! Watch the

 

[shamaan]

Coaches don't have time to improve techniques in international level it should be done at grass roots and at young age groups

 

[Saj]

An interesting comment tonight from Gary Neville regarding modern day footballers - "they don't seem to have time to work on their technique, given how much they play".

Is that the issue with some of the Pakistani players I wonder?

 

[offstump]

If Yousuf’s job is to teach international cricketers how to bat then we’re in big, big trouble. The fact that these guys have limited shots in their arsenal is a failure of the system. You could make ABD coach and he wouldn’t be able to do anything with these guys.

 

[cricketAXEpert]

There are some very bad habits and flaws amongst the Pakistani batters.

Can any coach get rid of those bad habits in a short period of time? I highly doubt it.

Well, Shaun Tait has made a big difference in Haris Rauf's bowling and also Naseem Shah made improvement under him. Why not get a proper Batting coach as well. Uncles like Moyo are not coaching material. They were good players, coaching is a different ball game. Mickey was doing fine, until Misbah fired and then took over his job.

 

[Oneking]

A coach can not teach players how to bat they can helpl players with their weaknesses like how to play short ball or how to time the ball or on which conditions they should play on front foot vs back foot.
But the biggest job coaches have is to identify talent and say “that guy can play or invest in x player”

 

[KamranDestiny]

An interesting comment tonight from Gary Neville regarding modern day footballers - "they don't seem to have time to work on their technique, given how much they play".

Is that the issue with some of the Pakistani players I wonder?

The question is, if our players had more time would they actually find the willpower to commit to training hard enough in the long run ?
How many players do we see in our country with that burning rage and fire in them to work as hard as possible to improve their skills and get at top of their game ?
Why is that Cristiano Ronaldo level mentality, to train like you're not just getting ready for a match but going to an effin' war, so so rare among cricketers, especially in Pakistan?

 

[MenInG]

More from Wasim speaking on a YouTube channel


“Agar aap chase kar rahe ho, 2 wickets gir gayi hai (If you are chasing and 2 wickets have fallen) - lose in 10 overs. Nobody will care. They will support you. The crowd will support you, the people of Pakistan will support you. But playing like this. Nobody is going to support you. Winning and losing are part of it. We all understand. I agree, but haaro to daleri se to haaro (At least lose with some bravery),

“Kya fayda apka ki apki 2 wickets giri hai 2 overs mein - uske baad 10 overs mein apke 56 runs hai ya 60 hai (What’s the point if you scored 56 runs or 60 in 10 overs after losing 2 wickets). Aur 210 chase karney ja rhe hai (And you are chasing a 210-run target)"

“So what's the point of this game? This mindset. (Agar main Babar hota, to mein andar message bhijwata, coach ko kehta ki send a message (If I were Babar Azam, I would have sent a message through the coach) - get out in 12 overs, I want you to try and win the game but that didn't happen, that's the problem,” the former Pakistan skipper concluded.

 

[Jazx]

If Yousuf’s job is to teach international cricketers how to bat then we’re in big, big trouble. The fact that these guys have limited shots in their arsenal is a failure of the system. You could make ABD coach and he wouldn’t be able to do anything with these guys.

Very true, as yousuf said that he teaches batsmans how to play so and so shots on certain deliveries. A batsman playing at international level should not be requiring tips and trainings like these. Focus should be on changing their mindset and strategies while playing at international level. Coaching them about how to bat and play their shots should be done at junior cricket level.

 

[Zaz]

Lets be honest Growing up and batting what training do they do? Its either conventional shots or afridi style blind slogging down the ground

The mentality to play 360 train hard Improve your shot range , play ramp scoops, reverse sweeps etc just isnt their in most domestic pakistani cricketers who to be fair are lazy

 

[Energy]

Asif Ali is slogging and getting out to the same shots since the last 5 years. That's the amount of effort he's put on his batting. Less said about Haider, Iftikhar and Khushdil, the better.

They're all admiring to be fine wine but have become a cola without gas.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

Lets be honest Growing up and batting what training do they do? Its either conventional shots or afridi style blind slogging down the ground

The mentality to play 360 train hard Improve your shot range , play ramp scoops, reverse sweeps etc just isnt their in most domestic pakistani cricketers who to be fair are lazy

The biggest giveaway is when they return from a long break and look overweight and sluggish.

Apart from Babar, Rizwan and the bowlers.

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Excellent win boys, and the plans worked in our favor. Congrats <a href="https://twitter.com/babarazam258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@babarazam258</a> and kudos to <a href="https://twitter.com/76Shadabkhan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@76Shadabkhan</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/HarisRauf14?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HarisRauf14</a>. Today I saw the brand of fearless cricket much more than past. Well done <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRealPCB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheRealPCB</a> and team</p>— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) <a href="https://twitter.com/SAfridiOfficial/status/1578687220256759808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>