Rahat Ali's 35* at number eleven vs Zimbabwe

[Gotham Cronie]

Rahat Ali's 35* is the 5th highest score ever by a Pakistani number 11 in Test cricket.

Wasim Bari's 60* in 1977 is the highest #ZIMvPAK

 

[hadi123]

hit 3 sixes

 

[PakistanKnight]

No mug with the bat. Rahman isn't a very good number 8,I think.He misses straight deliveries.

 

[On_the_up]

Time to go one better tomorrow.

Time to make amends for that drop in the WC last year.

Time to make history.

 

[Syed1]

A 35* would be handy tomorrow.

Provided Yasir also adds 30 odd runs, that leaves around 40-45 for Shafiq.

 

[Sherlock]

vs Z.I.M.B.A.B.W.E

 

[GLORY OF '92]

vs Z.I.M.B.A.B.W.E

Hahaha. They still beat us in the next Test though.

 

[Slog]

vs Z.I.M.B.A.B.W.E

Honesty I think for batsmen of Rahat Alis skill level the opposition is irrelevant

you and I could bowl to him and he'll most likely struggle

But two or three times over their career players like him have a day where suddenly they end up doing something memorable with the bat and at that point the quality of opposition bowling doesn't matter

We have to hope that tomorrow is that day for him. And Asad and Yasir do well

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Aussies will fear the most. The only guy who stands between them and victory. He stopped the rain yesterday to practice batting. Ominous signs for Australia

 

[Pete Rose]

His runs are not that important. his grit doesnt come through often, but the partnership between him and sohail khan at edgbaston (?) was about 15 overs long if i recall.

 

[itsme]

He can get out chasing a test's wide delivery or ducking a yorker.

 

[Hawkeye]

Need a ton from the master blaster.

 

[msb314]

A 35* would be handy tomorrow.

Provided Yasir also adds 30 odd runs, that leaves around 40-45 for Shafiq.

Bhai - you know things are bad when we are hoping for several players to make career best scores to chase down this target!

 

[Syed1]

Bhai - you know things are bad when we are hoping for several players to make career best scores to chase down this target!

A legendary target requires a legendary effort

 

[Pete Rose]

He can get out chasing a test's wide delivery or ducking a yorker.

more likely to be run out while wandering out of the pitch. could happen at either end.

 

[Pete Rose]

Bhai - you know things are bad when we are hoping for several players to make career best scores to chase down this target!

everything to happen so far is unreal...tomorrow can just be an extension of that.

 

[Big Mac]

Honesty I think for batsmen of Rahat Alis skill level the opposition is irrelevant

you and I could bowl to him and he'll most likely struggle

But two or three times over their career players like him have a day where suddenly they end up doing something memorable with the bat and at that point the quality of opposition bowling doesn't matter

We have to hope that tomorrow is that day for him. And Asad and Yasir do well

That's because legends like Rahat find no joy in playing against mere mortals such as us. He needs the lure of the impossible in order to get his competitive juices flowing, the Aussies ought to be quaking in their boots because Rahat is coming to set the record books ablaze

 

[msb314]

everything to happen so far is unreal...tomorrow can just be an extension of that.

I hope so - we need a miracle but we still have a glimmer of hope as long as Shafiq is still at the crease. He will probably have to shield Rahat but Yasir will have to accommodate Shafiq as long as he can. A 30 for Yasir will be worth his weight in gold.

 

[darksher]

Yasir is the last hope for Pakistan to have a sniff at the victory provided that he doesn't succumb to the pressure of the role required of him at the other end. If he nicks one to the keeper ('cause he's vulnerable to deliveries outside off stump and can't help but poke at them) then that'll be curtains for Pakistan 'cause I have no trust whatsoever in Rahat to hold one end.

My lack of faith in Rahat's batting expertise is predominantly driven by the fact that the protagonist can't hold the bat properly to save his life let alone defend a couple of deliveries at the end of over to give the strike back to Shafiq. Yes flukes happen as mentioned in the OP, anyone can have an odd day with the bat even the most incompetent ones but it shouldn't be made into something to judge a player's ability or expect them to pull off the unthinkable. Most likely he'll perish in pursuit of defending final two deliveries or run himself out before rotating the strike.

On the contrary, even if he had once in a blue moon outing with the bat and somehow contributes to taking Pakistan close to the victory, most likely he or his partner will throw it away due to the pressure of the historic occasion. The more closer they get to the target, the more nerves will start to kick in disrupting their natural flow making them prone to commit mistakes.

Either way it should be an interesting first session tomorrow, not that it matters but I'd love to see the margin of defeat less than 50 runs, if these two can take the game forward to that point, it'll be job well done and it'll also help salvage some of the pride besmirched due to our embarrassing batting in first innings. Fingers crossed!

 

[hur rizvi]

Rahat should be ready to take few on the body tomorrow. I want our guys to make aussies work extremely hard for wickets

 

[hur rizvi]

His runs are not that important. his grit doesnt come through often, but the partnership between him and sohail khan at edgbaston (?) was about 15 overs long if i recall.

This. Want to see the grit tomorrow

 

[Ami]

I'd say Asad keeps the strike most of the time and every one just have a go...slog, edges, drops, anything.

Just keep whacking...only way to win.

 

[aukhan]

Rahat to score the winning runs tomorrow

 

[Justcrazy]

He is not good with bat , it was just a fluke.

Under pressure scoring runs is not easy. There are more chances of making mistake.

 

[Ellipsism]

Rahat will channel his inner air blender and send Starc back to the Baulkham Hills.

 

[Bilal7]

A 35* would be handy tomorrow.

Provided Yasir also adds 30 odd runs, that leaves around 40-45 for Shafiq.

It would be cruel if Shafiq gets out early tomorrow morning and all of our hopes and dreams are shattered just like that.

It's okay though, we will win the next game.

 

[Archer]

His runs are not that important. his grit doesnt come through often, but the partnership between him and sohail khan at edgbaston (?) was about 15 overs long if i recall.

Yup, scored 15* off 35 balls in Edgabaston. But his batting of late has been horrendous

 

[blackanhyellow]

I dont understand why they didnt pick sohail khan. Was he unfit?

He would have gotten the same number of wickets (if not more) but would be of way more use in this type of situation with the bat.

 

[Big Mac]

Cometh the hour, cometh the man, the myth, the legend. Time to make history.

 

[Big Mac]

Once again Rahat was let down by the rest of the batting lineup

 

[Bilal7]

Ran out of partners. Played a superb flick into the leg-side for one and was looking in good nick.

 

[chacha kashmiri]

Starc showed Rahat what he could have been had he been born with the Aussie spirit and the will to win