ahmadharis1
Local Club Star
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2016
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For the longest time, Sarfraz Ahmed has been floating around the batting order with no real purpose, often coming in too late and promoting bowlers above him at times.
I honestly believe that Sarfraz Ahmed should be opening, and could create a lethal opening duo with Fakhar Zaman.
1. Experience opening the innings
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...rt;template=results;type=batting;view=innings
In 9 ODI innings in which he has opened the innings, Sarfraz averages 43 with a strike rate of 83. He's also scored his maiden 100 at the position against Ireland at the 2015 World Cup.
He's had success at the position before, and I think he can find it again.
2. Opening would play to his strenghts
Sarfraz's game isn't in power hitting. He often struggles to find the rope and has trouble clearing the boundary for 6 (only 12 sixes in his ODI career!)
I collected the numbers over the past 5 years of Pakistani batsmen who have batted in the Top-6 (min 20 innings)
Only 35% of Sarfraz Ahmed's runs come in boundaries, compared to 56.7% for Fakhar Zaman and 38.8% for Babar Azam
When you look at the list, you'll see that Sarfraz Ahmed is dead last! Even behind the likes of Azhar Ali and Ahmed Shehzad!
(Source:http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...al1=span;team=7;template=results;type=batting)
Clearly the numbers paint Sarfraz as someone who doesn't score many runs in boundaries. Despite all that, Sarfraz still has a healthy career strike rate of 88.74.
Sarfraz Ahmed's strength is in his ability to find the gap between fielders and collect 1s and 2s, and minimizing the dot balls he plays. This talent is wasted when he comes in at 5 or below, when boundaries are needed.
Sarfraz would be ideal in an opening situation, where he will be able to find the singles and doubles in the opening power play as well as minimizing dots, something Imam ul-Haq still struggles with.
3. He would complement well with Fakhar Zaman
Fakhar has been a revelation for Pakistan since his debut in 2017, being one of the few players in the country who can play the modern game well. As shown above, he scores the majority of his runs in boundaries.
With Sarfraz Ahmed as his opening partner, I believe that Fakhar Zaman can be even better and play with more freedom.
As we saw in the WC match vs. England, Imam ul-Haq's dot ball frequency put the onus on Fakhar to score, and the pressure built until he got out.
The Fakhar/Imam duo has another fallback: both are lefties. This allows bowlers to keep their line and lengths, falling into rhythm more easily. Insert the right-handed Sarfraz into the equation and suddenly you have the fields changing much more frequently, bowlers taking more time to get it, and having to change plans a lot more.
With Fakhar playing his natural game in finding boundaries and being aggressive, as well as Sarfraz keeping things ticking and relieving pressure, we could see greater things from Pakistan's opening partnerships.
In both World Cup matches so far, Sarfraz Ahmed has come at 5, and I think it would be worth a try to have him open.
This is my first post on this site so thanks for reading, I would love to hear your guys' thoughts on this idea.
I honestly believe that Sarfraz Ahmed should be opening, and could create a lethal opening duo with Fakhar Zaman.
1. Experience opening the innings
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...rt;template=results;type=batting;view=innings
In 9 ODI innings in which he has opened the innings, Sarfraz averages 43 with a strike rate of 83. He's also scored his maiden 100 at the position against Ireland at the 2015 World Cup.
He's had success at the position before, and I think he can find it again.
2. Opening would play to his strenghts
Sarfraz's game isn't in power hitting. He often struggles to find the rope and has trouble clearing the boundary for 6 (only 12 sixes in his ODI career!)
I collected the numbers over the past 5 years of Pakistani batsmen who have batted in the Top-6 (min 20 innings)
Only 35% of Sarfraz Ahmed's runs come in boundaries, compared to 56.7% for Fakhar Zaman and 38.8% for Babar Azam
When you look at the list, you'll see that Sarfraz Ahmed is dead last! Even behind the likes of Azhar Ali and Ahmed Shehzad!
(Source:http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...al1=span;team=7;template=results;type=batting)
Clearly the numbers paint Sarfraz as someone who doesn't score many runs in boundaries. Despite all that, Sarfraz still has a healthy career strike rate of 88.74.
Sarfraz Ahmed's strength is in his ability to find the gap between fielders and collect 1s and 2s, and minimizing the dot balls he plays. This talent is wasted when he comes in at 5 or below, when boundaries are needed.
Sarfraz would be ideal in an opening situation, where he will be able to find the singles and doubles in the opening power play as well as minimizing dots, something Imam ul-Haq still struggles with.
3. He would complement well with Fakhar Zaman
Fakhar has been a revelation for Pakistan since his debut in 2017, being one of the few players in the country who can play the modern game well. As shown above, he scores the majority of his runs in boundaries.
With Sarfraz Ahmed as his opening partner, I believe that Fakhar Zaman can be even better and play with more freedom.
As we saw in the WC match vs. England, Imam ul-Haq's dot ball frequency put the onus on Fakhar to score, and the pressure built until he got out.
The Fakhar/Imam duo has another fallback: both are lefties. This allows bowlers to keep their line and lengths, falling into rhythm more easily. Insert the right-handed Sarfraz into the equation and suddenly you have the fields changing much more frequently, bowlers taking more time to get it, and having to change plans a lot more.
With Fakhar playing his natural game in finding boundaries and being aggressive, as well as Sarfraz keeping things ticking and relieving pressure, we could see greater things from Pakistan's opening partnerships.
In both World Cup matches so far, Sarfraz Ahmed has come at 5, and I think it would be worth a try to have him open.
This is my first post on this site so thanks for reading, I would love to hear your guys' thoughts on this idea.
