"Sarfaraz Ahmed is a great captain and cricketers like him are not born everyday" : Sourav Ganguly

[willegg]

Sourav Ganguly Defends Sarfraz

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed is facing severe criticism as the green shirts lost to India twice in five days in the Asia Cup in Dubai. Sarfraz scored a slow 66-ball 44 with only two boundaries as Pakistan faced India on Sunday.

Amid the criticism, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has spoken in support of the Pakistan captain. Speaking on a Pakistan channel, Ganguly said: “Sarfraz is a courageous player and the way he captained the team during the champions trophy last year was impeccable. He is a great captain and cricketers like him are not born everyday.”

Ganguly further said that he, himself, had served as captain and knew how it impacts them when the team does or does not perform well. He also advised the Pakistan Cricket Board and former cricketers to support and encourage Sarfraz. “His decisions have played a key role in Pakistan’s recent matches.”

The former Indian batsman also said he was surprised that two to four new players were included in Pakistan’s squad for each series. Regarding the Indian team, Ganguly said after defeat in the Test series against England, the Asia Cup is crucial for Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and Shikhar Dhawan’s future.

https://dailytimes.com.pk/302361/cricketers-like-sarfraz-ahmed-arent-born-everyday-ganguly/

 

[Hawkeye]

Ganguly is going by the CT fluke, obviously does not know about Sarfraz enough.

 

[happydavy]

Has anyone actut heard him saying all that? Ganguly is a very balanced person, never seen him using such language "cricketers like him are not born everyday."

 

[jnaveen1980]

Ganguly also went after players on the ground lol May be he found some similarity?

 

[jnaveen1980]

Has anyone actut heard him saying all that? Ganguly is a very balanced person, never seen him using such language "cricketers like him are not born everyday."

yea. Fishy.

 

[Abdullah719]

Generous praise.

 

[moghul]

Indians like Sarfraz a lot and want him to continue to lead whenever we play against India, wonder why

 

[Third Man]

Dada is completely out of touch these days. Probably doesn’t watch much cricket either.

 

[PerfectionPersonified]

He means where will you find such a captain whose own place is not justified

 

[Faiz_Ahmad]

Fully agree with him

 

[KevinFern]

Strategic move Dada

 

[todfod 11]

Yeah I wonder, why these praises dont come when pakistan team actually wins

 

[KyoOne]

Captain is not the problem, timid batsmen is. Sarfraz is the only option for a wicket-keeping batsman and for captaincy we have.

Minnow bashers and snail-paced batsmen like Imam and Babar need to be shown the door, alongside wild slogger in Asif (even Anwar Ali was a better slogger than him). We need guys who can rotate strike from the word go and dispatch the poor balls with equal efficacy. Fawad is the best strike-rotater in the country, though nowhere near the team, while Haris Sohail finds himself on bench more often than not. Whereas Sahibzada is tipped as a T20 player despite impressive showings in List A cricket where he looked a rare modern day batsman.

Batting allrounders like Hammad Azam and Amir Yamin are more than decent lower-order batsmen who consolidate innings after a collapse as well as can hit them big. Asif Ali was a poor choice after one decent PSL.

A few personnel changes are needed.

 

[BaankeJi]

Yeah I wonder, why these praises dont come when pakistan team actually wins

Because then nobody asks.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Finally someone has seen the light

Only a great captain like Ganguly can understand what captaincy is especially for a team like Pakistan.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

[MENTION=137726]todfod 11[/MENTION]
Indians (Laxman, Manjeraker, Bhogle etc) were full of praises for Sarfraz during ans after CT while Pakistanis like Amir Sohail and the likes were busy in conspiracy theories how ICC handed us the cup.

I have heard high praises for Sarfraz from English and Aussies too.

It is his batting which deserves criticism not captaincy.

 

[todfod 11]

[MENTION=137726]todfod 11[/MENTION]
Indians (Laxman, Manjeraker, Bhogle etc) were full of praises for Sarfraz during ans after CT while Pakistanis like Amir Sohail and the likes were busy in conspiracy theories how ICC handed us the cup.

I have heard high praises for Sarfraz from English and Aussies too.

It is his batting which deserves criticism not captaincy.

Its great to hear good things about Sarfi? But does he deserve appreciation as a captain?

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Finally someone has seen the light

Only a great captain like Ganguly can understand what captaincy is especially for a team like Pakistan.

Cant believe you would appreciate his captaincy after seeing a 5-0 loss in NZ (which could have been excused) and then his performances as captain in Asia Cup.

Which great captaincy did you see ?

Mind explaining?

 

[Mamoon]

Post Champions Trophy, Sarfraz has had a 100% losing record against teams ranked above 8th - 7 played, 7 lost.

Azhar was sacked as captain after playing 14 ODIs against England and Australia in just over a year, and he lost 12 out of those 14 games, and much like Sarfraz, he too managed to win cheap matches against Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and West Indies.

Give Sarfraz the same number of matches against England and Australia and he will also be holding on to his captaincy by a string.

He is a rubbish player and a mediocre captain. When things are going your way, anyone can look like a good tactician, but Sarfraz has no composure and is hapless when the team is under the pump, which is reflected by his attitude towards his own players.

Also as a result of his pathetic individual skills, he cannot make up for his captaincy when the chips are down with his personal performance.

Yes he did win a trophy, but it is not a stamp for great captaincy. At the end of the day, they were just four games where everything went in Pakistan’s favor - no balls, dropped catches, rain, other teams having off days etc.

He is not the first mediocre captain to win a trophy and he won’t be the last.

The moral of the story is not to assert that Sarfraz is not a relatively better captain than Azhar; the moral of the story is that success as captain is often circumstantial, and Sarfraz found himself at the right place at the right time.

He has been an awful player throughout his career for Pakistan, but he hit a purple patch in 2014-2015 when Pakistan were looking for Misbah’s successor and the other competitors for captaincy had completely lost the plot, which meant that the captaincy fell in his lap.

However, mediocrity always catches up with you - he was poor before his purple patch and he has been poor after his purple patch.

There is nothing worse than a captain who cannot perform individually, and we must learn a lesson from this.

Identify your best performing players, 3-4, and narrow it down to one. One player that will always be the first name on the team sheet, and give him the captaincy.

It is important to distinguish between a mediocre player in a purple patch (Sarfraz) and a someone who is genuinely your best player.

This best player does not have to be a world beater; he simply has to be the best player in your team. For Pakistan, it is hard to look beyond Babar, who is not an elite batsman but he is still our most consistent player and in the right age bracket, which rules out someone like Malik.

Now his body language does not inspire confidence, shouting at players and being animated on the field does not always translate into good captaincy. Kane Williamson is a very good tactician but you would hardly notice him in the field.

If your best player fails as captain, move on to the next best player, but never make someone captain whose place in the team is in doubt, or because he is only playing because the other players in his role are even worse than him.

Always, always pick your best team first. It is something that we have botched twice in succession, but we should not repeat the same mistake in the future. Your captain must be capable of performing as a player even if his captaincy is not working.

 

[BDwarriors]

There is a saying. Dont correct the mistake of enemy. Dada knows it, thus he is encouraging to keep doing this mistake.

 

[Stark]

Reminds me of how clueless Imran khan was a few months back.

 

[rizrox]

Completely agree ....nicely elaborated by [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] !

 

[Hasan123]

[MENTION=137726]todfod 11[/MENTION]
Indians (Laxman, Manjeraker, Bhogle etc) were full of praises for Sarfraz during ans after CT while Pakistanis like Amir Sohail and the likes were busy in conspiracy theories how ICC handed us the cup.

I have heard high praises for Sarfraz from English and Aussies too.

It is his batting which deserves criticism not captaincy.

Such great captaincy to not select a specialist spinner in UAE conditions and select 6 pacers in UAE.

Critizce Kohli for not doing anything when things are going against him , Sarfraz looked lost in the 2 games against India.

 

[Bleedgreen4ever]

Finally someone has seen the light

Only a great captain like Ganguly can understand what captaincy is especially for a team like Pakistan.

People fail to realise the importance of Sarfi

He has won more tournaments than any other pakistan captain in the last 20 years

U19WC
CT
TRI SERIES

Most of the hate is coming from Misbah fans who conveniently forget how bad we were during his days in odis.

 

[Minnowbasher]

Subhanallah

 

[Minnowbasher]

Post Champions Trophy, Sarfraz has had a 100% losing record against teams ranked above 8th - 7 played, 7 lost.

Azhar was sacked as captain after playing 14 ODIs against England and Australia in just over a year, and he lost 12 out of those 14 games, and much like Sarfraz, he too managed to win cheap matches against Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and West Indies.

Give Sarfraz the same number of matches against England and Australia and he will also be holding on to his captaincy by a string.

He is a rubbish player and a mediocre captain. When things are going your way, anyone can look like a good tactician, but Sarfraz has no composure and is hapless when the team is under the pump, which is reflected by his attitude towards his own players.

Also as a result of his pathetic individual skills, he cannot make up for his captaincy when the chips are down with his personal performance.

Yes he did win a trophy, but it is not a stamp for great captaincy. At the end of the day, they were just four games where everything went in Pakistan’s favor - no balls, dropped catches, rain, other teams having off days etc.

He is not the first mediocre captain to win a trophy and he won’t be the last.

The moral of the story is not to assert that Sarfraz is not a relatively better captain than Azhar; the moral of the story is that success as captain is often circumstantial, and Sarfraz found himself at the right place at the right time.

He has been an awful player throughout his career for Pakistan, but he hit a purple patch in 2014-2015 when Pakistan were looking for Misbah’s successor and the other competitors for captaincy had completely lost the plot, which meant that the captaincy fell in his lap.

However, mediocrity always catches up with you - he was poor before his purple patch and he has been poor after his purple patch.

There is nothing worse than a captain who cannot perform individually, and we must learn a lesson from this.

Identify your best performing players, 3-4, and narrow it down to one. One player that will always be the first name on the team sheet, and give him the captaincy.

It is important to distinguish between a mediocre player in a purple patch (Sarfraz) and a someone who is genuinely your best player.

This best player does not have to be a world beater; he simply has to be the best player in your team. For Pakistan, it is hard to look beyond Babar, who is not an elite batsman but he is still our most consistent player and in the right age bracket, which rules out someone like Malik.

Now his body language does not inspire confidence, shouting at players and being animated on the field does not always translate into good captaincy. Kane Williamson is a very good tactician but you would hardly notice him in the field.

If your best player fails as captain, move on to the next best player, but never make someone captain whose place in the team is in doubt, or because he is only playing because the other players in his role are even worse than him.

Always, always pick your best team first. It is something that we have botched twice in succession, but we should not repeat the same mistake in the future. Your captain must be capable of performing as a player even if his captaincy is not working.

So make Babar Azam captain?

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

People fail to realise the importance of Sarfi

He has won more tournaments than any other pakistan captain in the last 20 years

U19WC
CT
TRI SERIES

Most of the hate is coming from Misbah fans who conveniently forget how bad we were during his days in odis.

Koi baat nahi..

Ganguly samjhdaar hai, samajh gya hai.

I can bet you 90% of those who bash sarfraz never provide any solution and if Sarfraz is kicked out from captaincy they will find keeray in the next ones and the cycle will continue on and on.. Phlai Imad Wasim ko captain banao, phir Amir, phir Umar Amin, phir Fakhar phir phir phir etc etc etc.. aisay teams bnti hain?

Having high and idealistic standards and all that is fine but realistic bhi hona chaheye.. koi aur hai Pak mai jiski captaincy Sarfraz sai behtar hai?? last 10 years k domestic tournament he dekh lo.. or we want to go back to Azhar who lost 3-0 to BD or Malik who left captaincy in middle of PSL? Chalo wicket-keeper batsman he bata do koi? Adnan Akmal, Mohammad Salman, Kamran Akmal, Saifullah Bangash? But nahi hamne fantasy world mai rhna hai aur Umair Masood ko lana hai jisay apni regional team mai jaga nai mil rahi..

Btw his captaincy was not at fault in any of the series we lost but his batting is a big worry.. It has declined at an alarming rate where he cant even score on simple full tosses.

 

[MRSN]

Post Champions Trophy, Sarfraz has had a 100% losing record against teams ranked above 8th - 7 played, 7 lost.

Azhar was sacked as captain after playing 14 ODIs against England and Australia in just over a year, and he lost 12 out of those 14 games, and much like Sarfraz, he too managed to win cheap matches against Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and West Indies.

Give Sarfraz the same number of matches against England and Australia and he will also be holding on to his captaincy by a string.

He is a rubbish player and a mediocre captain. When things are going your way, anyone can look like a good tactician, but Sarfraz has no composure and is hapless when the team is under the pump, which is reflected by his attitude towards his own players.

Also as a result of his pathetic individual skills, he cannot make up for his captaincy when the chips are down with his personal performance.

Yes he did win a trophy, but it is not a stamp for great captaincy. At the end of the day, they were just four games where everything went in Pakistan’s favor - no balls, dropped catches, rain, other teams having off days etc.

He is not the first mediocre captain to win a trophy and he won’t be the last.

The moral of the story is not to assert that Sarfraz is not a relatively better captain than Azhar; the moral of the story is that success as captain is often circumstantial, and Sarfraz found himself at the right place at the right time.

He has been an awful player throughout his career for Pakistan, but he hit a purple patch in 2014-2015 when Pakistan were looking for Misbah’s successor and the other competitors for captaincy had completely lost the plot, which meant that the captaincy fell in his lap.

However, mediocrity always catches up with you - he was poor before his purple patch and he has been poor after his purple patch.

There is nothing worse than a captain who cannot perform individually, and we must learn a lesson from this.

Identify your best performing players, 3-4, and narrow it down to one. One player that will always be the first name on the team sheet, and give him the captaincy.

It is important to distinguish between a mediocre player in a purple patch (Sarfraz) and a someone who is genuinely your best player.

This best player does not have to be a world beater; he simply has to be the best player in your team. For Pakistan, it is hard to look beyond Babar, who is not an elite batsman but he is still our most consistent player and in the right age bracket, which rules out someone like Malik.

Now his body language does not inspire confidence, shouting at players and being animated on the field does not always translate into good captaincy. Kane Williamson is a very good tactician but you would hardly notice him in the field.

If your best player fails as captain, move on to the next best player, but never make someone captain whose place in the team is in doubt, or because he is only playing because the other players in his role are even worse than him.

Always, always pick your best team first. It is something that we have botched twice in succession, but we should not repeat the same mistake in the future. Your captain must be capable of performing as a player even if his captaincy is not working.

At least Azhar looked like a leader with his fitness level and scoring runs opening the batting. He did not hide himself behind the top five when facing top teams very unlike Sarfraz who always avoids challengess. Such a meek character I have never seen lead Pakistan before. Even Misbah was class above this over hyped average player.

 

[MRSN]

I can't believe I have to say this but Sarfraz has really made me miss Misbah as a captain. Sarfraz shows how easy it is to be leader of Pakistan team these days with below average fitness levels and mediocre skills and zero leadersip. This is so sad to bear for passionate fans like me.

 

[MRSN]

Koi baat nahi..

Ganguly samjhdaar hai, samajh gya hai.

I can bet you 90% of those who bash sarfraz never provide any solution and if Sarfraz is kicked out from captaincy they will find keeray in the next ones and the cycle will continue on and on.. Phlai Imad Wasim ko captain banao, phir Amir, phir Umar Amin, phir Fakhar phir phir phir etc etc etc.. aisay teams bnti hain?

Having high and idealistic standards and all that is fine but realistic bhi hona chaheye.. koi aur hai Pak mai jiski captaincy Sarfraz sai behtar hai?? last 10 years k domestic tournament he dekh lo.. or we want to go back to Azhar who lost 3-0 to BD or Malik who left captaincy in middle of PSL? Chalo wicket-keeper batsman he bata do koi? Adnan Akmal, Mohammad Salman, Kamran Akmal, Saifullah Bangash? But nahi hamne fantasy world mai rhna hai aur Umair Masood ko lana hai jisay apni regional team mai jaga nai mil rahi..

Btw his captaincy was not at fault in any of the series we lost but his batting is a big worry.. It has declined at an alarming rate where he cant even score on simple full tosses.

Lmao anyone who has seen his miscalculated tactics like playing with one spinner in his first three games on these pitches, and his lost captaincy in the last gane where he looked more like playing for a draw and it looked like we are playing a test match and its day 5. Two catches went in the slips inside first ten overs and he had no slips. That's quite rubbish captaincy and you are saying there was nothing wrong with his caltaincy. Also I haven't even mention his shouting and abusing at his players.

 

[Usman Chadda]

At least Azhar looked like a leader with his fitness level and scoring runs opening the batting. He did not hide himself behind the top five when facing top teams very unlike Sarfraz who always avoids challengess. Such a meek character I have never seen lead Pakistan before. Even Misbah was class above this over hyped average player.

Irony. Sarfraz deserves criticism, but not the kind of rubbish that’s said on here. I will rather Wasim Akram comes out of retirement to captain this team than have cancers like Misbah and Azhar captain this team again. These two and Afridi destroyed our ODI cricket to the level where Sarfraz and Mickey are now too busy picking up the pieces.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Lmao anyone who has seen his miscalculated tactics like playing with one spinner in his first three games on these pitches, and his lost captaincy in the last gane where he looked more like playing for a draw and it looked like we are playing a test match and its day 5. Two catches went in the slips inside first ten overs and he had no slips. That's quite rubbish captaincy and you are saying there was nothing wrong with his caltaincy. Also I haven't even mention his shouting and abusing at his players.

Bas kr dai bhai jhoot bolna..

Both catches were 2nd slip catches aur dosra to thappa bhi phlai khaaya tha..

you make it sound like we lost because of those 2 edges that went to second slip..

People like you only know 1 thing and that is criticism. Poori zindagi Misbah ko criticize kia and now missing Misbah.. Phir ho ga missing Sarfraz, phir koi aur.. bas kr dai bhai!

 

[Ned Flanders]

Bas kr dai bhai jhoot bolna..

Both catches were 2nd slip catches aur dosra to thappa bhi phlai khaaya tha..

you make it sound like we lost because of those 2 edges that went to second slip..

People like you only know 1 thing and that is criticism. Poori zindagi Misbah ko criticize kia and now missing Misbah.. Phir ho ga missing Sarfraz, phir koi aur.. bas kr dai bhai!

He should focus on Bangladesh more.

 

[Hasan123]

You want a captain who leads from the front with there primary role. Someone who is an example to the players. And finally someone who makes the team on merit. This is the most important thing especially for Pakistan. Our last 3 captains in LO didn't make the team on merit. So they are having to work extra hard to prove they are good enough to play LO cricket and have to prove themselves as a captain.

Our next captain should be someone who makes the team on merit and is a consistent performer. Unfortunately we are stick with Sarfraz till the 2019 WC.

 

[Ned Flanders]

Our next captain should be a bowler.

 

[Mamoon]

So make Babar Azam captain?

That seems like the only viable solution to me in Limited Overs. He is the only player in this team who will still be a permanent fixture in 5 years time. I cannot say that about any other player with confidence.

 

[MRSN]

Bas kr dai bhai jhoot bolna..

Both catches were 2nd slip catches aur dosra to thappa bhi phlai khaaya tha..

you make it sound like we lost because of those 2 edges that went to second slip..

People like you only know 1 thing and that is criticism. Poori zindagi Misbah ko criticize kia and now missing Misbah.. Phir ho ga missing Sarfraz, phir koi aur.. bas kr dai bhai!

Sarfraz is hyped like he is some great captain. Even if he was half good the hype he gets he would have always had slips at least for PP overs because you can't win on flat pitches like this without attacking and picking up wickets. He also had a spread field whole time until Ind only needed 30 odd runs which allowed easy rotation of strike. Even KP was yelling why Pakistani captain is not making them play harder shots and allowing these easy runs when India don't need to take risk. He has been exposed as a captain.

It's not the first time we have witnessed blunders from him. He made huge blunders against SL in test series as well. And also in the first games of Asia cup as well by playing 4 pacers and only 1 spinner on pitches where Ind has been successful with three.

There is no doubt in my mind that he is as average captain as his batting.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Dunno what's so special about Sarfraz. Doesn't even look like a captain to me.

Maybe his tactics at times were decent (I dunno - haven't watched him closely) but his body language and approach towards his own players is atrocious.

Dada is a good analyst (usually spot on) but there are moments when he is so wrong.

He also said India is a better team than Pakistan after the latter drew 2-2 in England. How? Why? No explanations given. This is after Pakistan had a no loss record in UAE and went on to draw in England (and might have WON the series had they not thrown away the Birmingham match on the last day....they were dominant in 2 test wins and had the upper hand in one other test while they got pounded in one).

How was India better than that team AT THAT TIME when we hadn't toured outside?

Results later showed India doing well while Pakistan stumbling (in Aus and NZ) which led to many hailing "look at Dada, he called it right, that's why he is such a great captain".

Nope, he didn't call it right. He probably hadn't followed Pak cricket much and just made that comment without full data. Results just made him APPEAR right.

Now India toured England in late summer 2018, with a team that most fans would agree was better. Yet we still lost 1-4 (close series but hey it's 1-4 which means we were horrible in moments that mattered). We were dominant in only one test. Couple of tests were even stevens while two were utter humiliation.

How did that happen?

Dada was wrong then and he is wrong now (unless you really believe Sarfraz is a great captain).

But all this doesn't make him a poor analyst. He is awesome and far better than most of the idiots that sit in the commentary box spouting nonsense. He has the ability to actually identify the real problems and talk about it honestly unlike others.

It's just that we don't need to put anyone on a pedestal.

Just sharing my thoughts.

[MENTION=142162]Napa[/MENTION] [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]

 

[ezhil]

Beware Pak .dada wants safraz captain so India can win comfortably.too much praise which he is not yet till now

 

[the Great Khan]

Lets drop sarfaraz and replace him with erm..oh how about Malik? err nope becasue we tried that and that didnt end well. Plus he'll be retiring soon..oh I know how about Hafeez, no wait tried that too..oh oh I know lets give it to Babar Azam because well what the hell? but if he fails then Rumman raees can have it..and if he fails we can ask afridi to do it..and if he fails..well you see the point..

 

[BaankeJi]

Lets drop sarfaraz and replace him with erm..oh how about Malik? err nope becasue we tried that and that didnt end well. Plus he'll be retiring soon..oh I know how about Hafeez, no wait tried that too..oh oh I know lets give it to Babar Azam because well what the hell? but if he fails then Rumman raees can have it..and if he fails we can ask afridi to do it..and if he fails..well you see the point..

How about Umar Akmal? He can also do a good job.

 

[Saj]

And after saying this Ganguly started laughing.

 

[Vetrigsamy]

Can Someone tell me, why Sarfraz wouldnot have slips ? I still have not got the answer any where

 

[nam]

Ganguly is going by the CT fluke, obviously does not know about Sarfraz enough.

and obviously you know more cricket than him

 

[sl-fan-of-pak]

Post Champions Trophy, Sarfraz has had a 100% losing record against teams ranked above 8th - 7 played, 7 lost.

Azhar was sacked as captain after playing 14 ODIs against England and Australia in just over a year, and he lost 12 out of those 14 games, and much like Sarfraz, he too managed to win cheap matches against Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and West Indies.

Give Sarfraz the same number of matches against England and Australia and he will also be holding on to his captaincy by a string.

He is a rubbish player and a mediocre captain. When things are going your way, anyone can look like a good tactician, but Sarfraz has no composure and is hapless when the team is under the pump, which is reflected by his attitude towards his own players.

Also as a result of his pathetic individual skills, he cannot make up for his captaincy when the chips are down with his personal performance.

Yes he did win a trophy, but it is not a stamp for great captaincy. At the end of the day, they were just four games where everything went in Pakistan’s favor - no balls, dropped catches, rain, other teams having off days etc.

He is not the first mediocre captain to win a trophy and he won’t be the last.

The moral of the story is not to assert that Sarfraz is not a relatively better captain than Azhar; the moral of the story is that success as captain is often circumstantial, and Sarfraz found himself at the right place at the right time.

He has been an awful player throughout his career for Pakistan, but he hit a purple patch in 2014-2015 when Pakistan were looking for Misbah’s successor and the other competitors for captaincy had completely lost the plot, which meant that the captaincy fell in his lap.

However, mediocrity always catches up with you - he was poor before his purple patch and he has been poor after his purple patch.

There is nothing worse than a captain who cannot perform individually, and we must learn a lesson from this.

Identify your best performing players, 3-4, and narrow it down to one. One player that will always be the first name on the team sheet, and give him the captaincy.

It is important to distinguish between a mediocre player in a purple patch (Sarfraz) and a someone who is genuinely your best player.

This best player does not have to be a world beater; he simply has to be the best player in your team. For Pakistan, it is hard to look beyond Babar, who is not an elite batsman but he is still our most consistent player and in the right age bracket, which rules out someone like Malik.

Now his body language does not inspire confidence, shouting at players and being animated on the field does not always translate into good captaincy. Kane Williamson is a very good tactician but you would hardly notice him in the field.

If your best player fails as captain, move on to the next best player, but never make someone captain whose place in the team is in doubt, or because he is only playing because the other players in his role are even worse than him.

Always, always pick your best team first. It is something that we have botched twice in succession, but we should not repeat the same mistake in the future. Your captain must be capable of performing as a player even if his captaincy is not working.

Perfect.

 

[alized]

Ganguly is an Indian who is too nice to Pakistan, a bit too nice. I guarantee that’s hes only saying it out of pity.

Ask a guy like Ghutam Gambhir the same question. The answer will be starkly different. Plus it won’t be allowed on this forum according to the rules.

 

[sachin-10dulkar]

Shoaib malik should be the captain of your team. Experience, best batsman of the lot, amazing fielder etc. Sarfaraz is a decent player of spin but cannot handle any movement.

 

[navin]

I think he is right as many people here regard him being a "specialist captain" though I don't really understand what does that mean.

 

[KP From India]

Sarfaraz looks like a born captain.

 

[Abdullah719]

Pakistan, Sri Lanka's poor show is matter of concern: Sourav Ganguly

NEW DELHI: Looking ahead to the Asia Cup final between India and Bangladesh, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly hoped that it would turn out to be great game.

In his column for the Times of India, Ganguly wrote, "India played Bangladesh in a final in Colombo a few months ago, in the Nidahas Trophy tri-series. It was a fantastic game of cricket. Bangladesh lost by four wickets but ended the night with their heads held high. On Friday, the two sides meet again in the final of the Asia Cup, and this time too, India will be led by Rohit Sharma."

Ganguly feels that the poor performance of Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup is not good for the game as both the countries have produced legends in the past.

"As much as Bangladesh's resurgence and Afghanistan's emergence is good news for the game, the quality of cricket displayed by Pakistan and Sri Lanka - the giants of Asia - has left a massive dent in world cricket. It should be a matter of concern the way teams like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and the West Indies have stayed below par over such a long period of time and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel for them in the near future. They have given us stalwarts in the game in the past and it's important that good heads come together to assess the issues plaguing them," Ganguly added.

Ganguly added that India look the favourites in the final against Bangladesh and they have improved after every match.

"India have looked unbeatable in this competition. After a shaky start against Hong Kong, they have just got stronger and stronger and will not be easy to beat in the final. Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan have batted exceptionally well and the break they got from not playing in the game against Afghanistan would have done them a world of good in these testing conditions. For Bangladesh to remain in the contest, it will be important to control these two batsmen first before they look at others. Their exceptional form upfront means that the Indian middle-order has not come under much pressure, other than in the game against Afghanistan," Ganguly opined.

Ganguly singled out Indian pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar as big threats to Bangladesh.

"The Indian side will remain unchanged from that which played Pakistan and Bangladesh earlier, and the threat of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will loom over the Bangladeshi batsmen. Both have been exceptional with the ball, especially Bumrah who has been a standout in all formats for India," Ganguly concluded.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...rav-ganguly/articleshow/65990650.cms?from=mdr

 

[topspin]

He's right a captain who only plays one specialist spinner in a UAE test series and no specialist finger spinners in an ODI tournament also played in UAE are not born everyday. They're one of a kind.

 

[ShahidDar08]

Dear Sorav Ganguly please take him to India.

 

[Napa]

Dunno what's so special about Sarfraz. Doesn't even look like a captain to me.

Maybe his tactics at times were decent (I dunno - haven't watched him closely) but his body language and approach towards his own players is atrocious.

Sarfaraz is really not captaincy material. There are two characteristics needed to be a good captain: personality and intelligence.

A captain should have the personality of a good leader. His team members should respect him and also feel that he expects them to make their best effort. Captains like Imran and Ganguly were able to raise the level of performance of the players. Sarfaraz's constant yapping is similar to how the ladies back in Delhi used to treat their domestic servants, always complaining that they did not clean as well as they should have. Obviously this approach does not work for international level players. Also when players respect a captain, he becomes a source of strength. Constant carping is not the way to increase the confidence of your players.

As for intelligence, a good captain can make the right choices (player selection, bowling, field selection etc) which gets the maximum out of his players. Sarfaraz hasn't shown much ability in this respect either.

For the Pakistani team I think Ali or Malik would be better choices as captains.

I should add that I don't think Kohli is a good captain either. However he has far superior resources to deploy on the field, so gets much better results than Sarfaraz. Someone like Rahane or even Pujara have personalities more suited for captaincy.

Dada is a good analyst (usually spot on) but there are moments when he is so wrong.

He also said India is a better team than Pakistan after the latter drew 2-2 in England. How? Why? No explanations given. This is after Pakistan had a no loss record in UAE and went on to draw in England (and might have WON the series had they not thrown away the Birmingham match on the last day....they were dominant in 2 test wins and had the upper hand in one other test while they got pounded in one).

How was India better than that team AT THAT TIME when we hadn't toured outside?

Results later showed India doing well while Pakistan stumbling (in Aus and NZ) which led to many hailing "look at Dada, he called it right, that's why he is such a great captain".

Nope, he didn't call it right. He probably hadn't followed Pak cricket much and just made that comment without full data. Results just made him APPEAR right.

Now India toured England in late summer 2018, with a team that most fans would agree was better. Yet we still lost 1-4 (close series but hey it's 1-4 which means we were horrible in moments that mattered). We were dominant in only one test. Couple of tests were even stevens while two were utter humiliation.

How did that happen?

Dada was wrong then and he is wrong now (unless you really believe Sarfraz is a great captain).

But all this doesn't make him a poor analyst. He is awesome and far better than most of the idiots that sit in the commentary box spouting nonsense. He has the ability to actually identify the real problems and talk about it honestly unlike others.

It's just that we don't need to put anyone on a pedestal.

Just sharing my thoughts.

[MENTION=142162]Napa[/MENTION] [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]

Obviously Pakistan has had much better results in England compared to India. However, when Ganguly made his comment, he was talking about performance across the board. Objectively, the fact that India would have been #1 (if the last Test in WI had not been washed out) before Aus, NZ and Eng toured India while Pakistan became #1 before they toured Aus and NZ (where they were whitewashed) points to India being the superior team.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Obviously Pakistan has had much better results in England compared to India. However, when Ganguly made his comment, he was talking about performance across the board. Objectively, the fact that India would have been #1 (if the last Test in WI had not been washed out) before Aus, NZ and Eng toured India while Pakistan became #1 before they toured Aus and NZ (where they were whitewashed) points to India being the superior team.

Yes it's true that Pakistan got to number 1 only because rain washed out the last test of India vs WI.

The thing is that ICC rankings are based on algorithms.

Algorithms can never be biased.

However they can only perform based on the rules you set for them.

Let's look at what really happened:

India lost 1-3 to England in England.
Then travelled to Aus and lost 0-2.

This led to them losing a LOT of points.

Then they got to play against Bangladesh in Bangladesh, SL in SL which they won and gained some points.

Now here's where the big shift happened:

SA toured India.

They were the number 1 team.

And we thrashed them on turners. Yes, it was a well deserved win. No doubt about it.

Problem 1 - Since ICC algorithm doesn't take home or away fixtures into account, we got a MASSIVE boost.

Now ask yourself:

Would Pakistan (Misbah & Younis era) not have thrashed that SA on those turners?
Would SL not have thrashed them?

Well, data tells us that they would. SL destroyed SA which had Steyn, in zone Rabada and most importantly Maharaj. The SA that toured us lost Steyn and Philander quickly, no Maharaj and Rabada was not the same bowler as he became later on.

If SL could destroy a much stronger SA, then they could have destroyed that SA of 2015 in their home.

And here come another problem:

Problem 2 - With ICC algorithms, your FIXTURE can help you or hurt you.

If the SA of 2015 played Pak or SL next in Asia, they would NOT have got the same boost as we did.

Why?

Cos we played SA when it was number 1 and got the maximum juice.

SL or Pak would have gotten a boost but not as much as India.

So fixture matters too.

---

After the SA series, we went and did well in WI and eventually got the number 1 rank.

Eventually within 6-12 months, it was clear WE were the number 1.

No question about that.

However, when you look at data around the mid 2016 point:

We had lost overseas, destroyed teams in Asia and WI in WI.

Around the same time, Pakistan had been undefeated in UAE (destroyed Eng and Aus) and when they went to Eng, they actually held the upper hand for most of the games (first test, third test and 4th test). One bad collapse in the 3rd test led to series draw or else it was theirs for the taking.

At THAT point, if you were to judge who was the better team .....one would have to say Pakistan but with a disclaimer that things could change based on their other tour performances. Till that time, they just did crazy good in an away tour where we floundered (Eng) and stayed undefeated at home. It's as good as it gets.

Later on, they got destroyed in NZ and Aus and rankings took care of itself and opinions shaped up accordingly.

--

This is what happened.

Now I wouldn't have minded Ganguly's view had it been backed up by some explanation. But I didn't see any which was disappointing.

Surprisingly (or shockingly), the same Ganguly is now batting for Rohit Sharma in tests.

Everyone is prone to make mistakes. Some ideas click. Some ideas don't.

--

With all being said, rankings are a great way to judge progress. No question about it. Sometimes in certain instances, we need to look beyond them. That's all.

 

[Napa]

Yes it's true that Pakistan got to number 1 only because rain washed out the last test of India vs WI.

The thing is that ICC rankings are based on algorithms.

Algorithms can never be biased.

However they can only perform based on the rules you set for them.

Yes, that is something I also think is important to remember, algorithms are not biased. Also ICC's algorithms are not "noisy", they go by match results which seems like a good set of rules.

Let's look at what really happened:

India lost 1-3 to England in England.

Then travelled to Aus and lost 0-2.

This led to them losing a LOT of points.

The point is India did lose 0-2, but they did draw 2 Tests for which the algorithms give them credit. If they were whitewashed like Pakistan was in its last Aus tour, or SA was in its last India tour, then India would not have reached #1 briefly prior to the last Test in WI.

The algorithms do give credit for draws over losses, which seems eminently reasonable to me.

Then they got to play against Bangladesh in Bangladesh, SL in SL which they won and gained some points.

The match in Bangladesh was a draw, with India's score 462/6d (103.3 Overs, RR: 4.46). India was dominant, with rain saving Bangladesh. So if Ganguly was not strictly following the algorithm (for which a draw is a draw, rain or no rain), then his assessment of India would be higher than the algorithm's assessment of India.

Similarly I believe India's series victory in SL should have been 3-0 rather than 2-1 if you took out umpiring errors, something again Ganguly may have factored into his assessment.

Now here's where the big shift happened:

SA toured India.

They were the number 1 team.

And we thrashed them on turners. Yes, it was a well deserved win. No doubt about it.

Problem 1 - Since ICC algorithm doesn't take home or away fixtures into account, we got a MASSIVE boost.

Nor unlike the massive loss of points we suffered when we lost in Aus and Eng.

Now ask yourself:

Would Pakistan (Misbah & Younis era) not have thrashed that SA on those turners?
Would SL not have thrashed them?

Well, data tells us that they would. SL destroyed SA which had Steyn, in zone Rabada and most importantly Maharaj. The SA that toured us lost Steyn and Philander quickly, no Maharaj and Rabada was not the same bowler as he became later on.

If SL could destroy a much stronger SA, then they could have destroyed that SA of 2015 in their home.

And here come another problem:

Problem 2 - With ICC algorithms, your FIXTURE can help you or hurt you.

If the SA of 2015 played Pak or SL next in Asia, they would NOT have got the same boost as we did.

Why?

Cos we played SA when it was number 1 and got the maximum juice.

SL or Pak would have gotten a boost but not as much as India.

So fixture matters too.[/quote]

This is an interesting point and also true. If a country loads up on points with home victories, then when it loses abroad the first opponent gets the maximum boost. The question is how much? We can rework the standings by assuming the series were played in different order but had the same results, and see how much difference it makes to the points. I doubt either of us has enough time to do that

---

After the SA series, we went and did well in WI and eventually got the number 1 rank.

Eventually within 6-12 months, it was clear WE were the number 1.

No question about that.

However, when you look at data around the mid 2016 point:

We had lost overseas, destroyed teams in Asia and WI in WI.

Around the same time, Pakistan had been undefeated in UAE (destroyed Eng and Aus) and when they went to Eng, they actually held the upper hand for most of the games (first test, third test and 4th test). One bad collapse in the 3rd test led to series draw or else it was theirs for the taking.

At THAT point, if you were to judge who was the better team .....one would have to say Pakistan but with a disclaimer that things could change based on their other tour performances. Till that time, they just did crazy good in an away tour where we floundered (Eng) and stayed undefeated at home. It's as good as it gets.

Again, the algorithms are unbiased. There is a reason they had India ahead of Pakistan prior to the last Test in WI. Besides the fact that getting whitewashed is different from losing while managing a few draws, you miss the following about Pakistan circa 2016 (2013 onwards, the algorithms consider 4 years of data).:

1) Couldn't beat lowly ranked Zim in Zim.
2) Couldn't beat SA at home (UAE), a team which India thoroughly demolished in India.
3) Couldn't beat SL at home (UAE).
4) Got whitewashed in SL (2014), while India defeated SL in SL (2015).

The above awful record must have been on Ganguly's mind when he made his comment.

Later on, they got destroyed in NZ and Aus and rankings took care of itself and opinions shaped up accordingly.

--

This is what happened.

Now I wouldn't have minded Ganguly's view had it been backed up by some explanation. But I didn't see any which was disappointing.

Surprisingly (or shockingly), the same Ganguly is now batting for Rohit Sharma in tests.

Everyone is prone to make mistakes. Some ideas click. Some ideas don't.

--

With all being said, rankings are a great way to judge progress. No question about it. Sometimes in certain instances, we need to look beyond them. That's all.

Thanks for a nice discussion

 

[Napa]

1) Couldn't beat lowly ranked Zim in Zim.
2) Couldn't beat SA at home (UAE), a team which India thoroughly demolished in India.
3) Couldn't beat SL at home (UAE).
4) Got whitewashed in SL (2014), while India defeated SL in SL (2015).

The above awful record must have been on Ganguly's mind when he made his comment.

Thanks for a nice discussion

Also should mention that if you include 2 series prior to the 4 above series starting from 2012, you have :

1) Lost to SL in SL in 2012.
2) Whitewashed in SA.
3) Couldn't beat lowly ranked Zim in Zim.
4) Couldn't beat SA at home (UAE), a team which India thoroughly demolished in India.
5) Couldn't beat SL at home (UAE).
6) Got whitewashed in SL (2014), while India defeated SL in SL (2015).

Essentially Pakistan went 6 series without a victory against opponents which included weaker teams like SL and Zim, before finally having a home victory against Australia.

While Pakistan's performance in England was better than India's, almost everywhere else it was significantly worse. The algorithms don't have a bias in favor of England, and probably neither does Ganguly.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

[MENTION=142162]Napa[/MENTION]

Yes a nice discussion indeed.

I think you missed an important series of Pak.

1. Pakistan lost to SL in SL 0-2 in 2014. But in 2015, they toured again and won 2-1. Later India toured SL and won 2-1.

2. The SA that Pak drew a series with in 2014 had Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Steyn, Philander all in full flow. The SA India toured had none of them (not that Philander would have made much difference). Also remember, SA had to resort to ball tampering in the 2nd test. Faf zip gate.

3. Yes, algorithms have both helped and hurt us at diff points (Bangladesh test example as you pointed out, as well as WI draw). However the positive benefits of getting a ripe number 1 rank SA in 2015 helped us gain a ton of points. Same like how England got an over the hill India in 2011.

4. Going back to as far as 2012 serves little purpose. Or else, we can also bring in 0-8 2011 whitewash of India which would be pointless for a comparison in 2016.

5. Simple question: Who is a better test spinner RIGHT now: Ashwin or Lyon?

Right now, most would say Lyon. Why? Cos he has done things of note outside Asia as well as in Asia. Ashwin on the other hand, hasn't done things of note outside Asia (not as much as Lyon has done in Asia).

Had this question been asked 3 months back, it would be more in favour of Ashwin.

When people judge who is better here, they don't necessarily use rankings or stats always (where Ashwin would destroy Lyon) but recent turn of events (unless someone has achieved extraordinary things in the past - no one will use recent events for Steyn).

If Ashwin outbowls Lyon in Aus by this Dec, view will shift back. If not, then Lyon being better will only solidify more.

These things are fluid.

Same way in 2016, many used recent turn of events.

If a team hasn't lost a series at home and draws a high profile 4 match series in Eng (something which none of the teams except SA had done in England since 2012 - 2 match series you can manage but not 4-5 matches) compared to a team that has lost outside and won mainly in Asia...at that point, it would be fair to call the former better than latter.

And just like in Ashwin-Lyon case, future performance of both the teams would change perceptions.

6. If you were to check some of my posts during Eng-Pak series, I did mention about the weaknesses of Pak which could be exploited by other teams. So it's not like I didn't take them into account. But I had to concede they had performed much better around mid 2016. Their results were better. I would have liked Ganguly to have given an explanation as opposed to just making a statement. It didn't happen but it's ok.

I can see we have divergent views regarding this topic. That's fine. India were more consistent (actually brutal) but didn't do well overseas while Pakistan were scratchy at times but undefeated at home but managed to do great in Eng. Depends on how one views it.

I am a huge fan of Ganguly the kaptan but just find it a bit hard to give him credit for this.

Interesting discussion nonetheless.

 

[the_outsider]

A captain is only as good as his team.

I know a lot of people have criticized Sarfraz for his captaincy in the Asia Cup, especially in the match against BD. A lot of questions were asked about why he brought spinners on when Pak had BD 3 down for 12

Well here's the thing: If IND has a team 12/3 and then the captain brought the spinners on, Kuldeep and Chahal would be on them like a rash. The stage was set for Nawaz and Shadab to step up. But they failed.

BD have a very good lower order and holding back Junaid was important, as was proved later on when Junaid came back and stopped the run flow at the death. When 8 out of 11 of your players are failing more often than not, no captain will look good.

Sarfraz's own batting is a cause for concern. But I don't think his captaincy is what people should be worried about. It's the quality of cricketers in Pakistan right now that people should be worried about.

 

[Napa]

[MENTION=142162]Napa[/MENTION]

Yes a nice discussion indeed.

I think you missed an important series of Pak.

1. Pakistan lost to SL in SL 0-2 in 2014. But in 2015, they toured again and won 2-1. Later India toured SL and won 2-1.

That is true, but I was pointing to the 6 consecutive winless series for Pakistan from 2012 to 2014.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/team/series_results.html?class=1;id=7;type=team

2. The SA that Pak drew a series with in 2014 had Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Steyn, Philander all in full flow. The SA India toured had none of them (not that Philander would have made much difference). Also remember, SA had to resort to ball tampering in the 2nd test. Faf zip gate.

3. Yes, algorithms have both helped and hurt us at diff points (Bangladesh test example as you pointed out, as well as WI draw). However the positive benefits of getting a ripe number 1 rank SA in 2015 helped us gain a ton of points. Same like how England got an over the hill India in 2011.

4. Going back to as far as 2012 serves little purpose. Or else, we can also bring in 0-8 2011 whitewash of India which would be pointless for a comparison in 2016.

The algorithms look back only till 4 years earlier, which is why 2011 wasn't relevant to India's Sep 2016 ranking. Of course, a human can exercise more discretion, and Ganguly may have considered 2011 or maybe not considered 2012.

5. Simple question: Who is a better test spinner RIGHT now: Ashwin or Lyon?

Right now, most would say Lyon. Why? Cos he has done things of note outside Asia as well as in Asia. Ashwin on the other hand, hasn't done things of note outside Asia (not as much as Lyon has done in Asia).

Had this question been asked 3 months back, it would be more in favour of Ashwin.

When people judge who is better here, they don't necessarily use rankings or stats always (where Ashwin would destroy Lyon) but recent turn of events (unless someone has achieved extraordinary things in the past - no one will use recent events for Steyn).

If Ashwin outbowls Lyon in Aus by this Dec, view will shift back. If not, then Lyon being better will only solidify more.

These things are fluid.

Same way in 2016, many used recent turn of events.

If a team hasn't lost a series at home and draws a high profile 4 match series in Eng (something which none of the teams except SA had done in England since 2012 - 2 match series you can manage but not 4-5 matches) compared to a team that has lost outside and won mainly in Asia...at that point, it would be fair to call the former better than latter.

And just like in Ashwin-Lyon case, future performance of both the teams would change perceptions.

6. If you were to check some of my posts during Eng-Pak series, I did mention about the weaknesses of Pak which could be exploited by other teams. So it's not like I didn't take them into account. But I had to concede they had performed much better around mid 2016. Their results were better. I would have liked Ganguly to have given an explanation as opposed to just making a statement. It didn't happen but it's ok.

I can see we have divergent views regarding this topic. That's fine. India were more consistent (actually brutal) but didn't do well overseas while Pakistan were scratchy at times but undefeated at home but managed to do great in Eng. Depends on how one views it.

I am a huge fan of Ganguly the kaptan but just find it a bit hard to give him credit for this.

Interesting discussion nonetheless.

Ashwin has been a bit of a disappointment lately, expect more from the #1 all-rounder.

I mostly agree with you, but we can agree to disagree that in Sep 2016 India was significantly better than Pakistan. For me, at least the results of the following year lent credence to that view.

 

[Indiafan]

There is a saying. Dont correct the mistake of enemy. Dada knows it, thus he is encouraging to keep doing this mistake.

Dude i know for bangla fans cricket is war but for other countries its just a game

 

[Ned Flanders]

Needs to keep batting in top 5