Sarfaraz Ahmed's clueless on-field captaincy led to NRR debacle

[Savak]

I won't blame the batsmen for not scoring runs at a faster rate, in the NZ game Satner was getting quick fast spin with bounce and the batsmen had to be careful during that spell.

Similarly Afghanistan has world class spinners and the slow spinning conditions were perfect for them, there was no way our batsmen could have batted faster on those wickets.

Pakistani batsmen scored 300 runs against South Africa and Bangladesh so they punched above their weight there. Quick scoring has not been easy on these wickets.

Too me we lost this world cup because of Sarfaraz penchant for letting the opposition of the hook in the middle overs with his defensive bowling changes and field placings . We allowed SA to recover from 136/4 to 259 all out, we allowed NZ to recover from 83/5 to 238/6. We allowed Afghanistan to recover from 125/5 to 227 runs all out.

Sarfaraz has done this too many times. He is just incapable of assessing game situations and making the right decisions at the right time. Someone who has not learnt anything in 13 years of captaincy is unlikely to learn anything further.

PCB need to move on from him as he doesn't lead by example and doesn't merit a place in the team anymore either

 

[Hasan123]

But but he's "street smart" .

 

[Mamoon]

That is the problem. He is “street smart” only, and completely incapable (in any shape or form) to captain the national team.

Thoroughly average cricketer with no personality, no communication skills and poor fitness levels.

 

[Hasan123]

I won't blame the batsmen for not scoring runs at a faster rate, in the NZ game Satner was getting quick fast spin with bounce and the batsmen had to be careful during that spell.

Similarly Afghanistan has world class spinners and the slow spinning conditions were perfect for them, there was no way our batsmen could have batted faster on those wickets.

Pakistani batsmen scored 300 runs against South Africa and Bangladesh so they punched above their weight there. Quick scoring has not been easy on these wickets.

Too me we lost this world cup because of Sarfaraz penchant for letting the opposition of the hook in the middle overs with his defensive bowling changes and field placings . We allowed SA to recover from 136/4 to 259 all out, we allowed NZ to recover from 83/5 to 238/6. We allowed Afghanistan to recover from 125/5 to 227 runs all out.

Sarfaraz has done this too many times. He is just incapable of assessing game situations and making the right decisions at the right time. Someone who has not learnt anything in 13 years of captaincy is unlikely to learn anything further.

PCB need to move on from him as he doesn't lead by example and doesn't merit a place in the team anymore either

We had Bangladesh 10-3 in the Asia Cup and we lost the match comfortably. There have been many other games where his captaincy has let us down from winning positions and his fans have the nerve to say he is a tactical genius.

 

[Pakistanian]

That is the problem. He is “street smart” only, and completely incapable (in any shape or form) to captain the national team.

Thoroughly average cricketer with no personality, no communication skills and poor fitness levels.

I agree he has to be the most unimpressive player to have captained Pakistan however personality and being a great speaker don't matter in sports, yes it great for your brand but just being a great leader and game-winning player is what's most important as was recently demonstrated by Kawhi Leonard who was always mocked for having no personality and not speaking and being awkward.

 

[Artaxerxes]

He is too defensive.Pakistan could have taken many wicket if he had slip fielders esp when new batsmen to to bat.Quite a few edges were missed because there were no slip fielders.

 

[from_da_lost_dim3nsion]

I agree he has to be the most unimpressive player to have captained Pakistan however personality and being a great speaker don't matter in sports, yes it great for your brand but just being a great leader and game-winning player is what's most important as was recently demonstrated by Kawhi Leonard who was always mocked for having no personality and not speaking and being awkward.

GOAT player. Next MJ in my books .

 

[DeadBall]

We allowed SA to recover from 136/4 to 259 all out, we allowed NZ to recover from 83/5 to 238/6. We allowed Afghanistan to recover from 125/5 to 227 runs all out.

Did the same in the CT final when Shadab was getting phainty. Good thing we had 330 odd on the board, could've gone really bad, really fast

 

[ritzy_123]

I think Sarfaraz has the potential to be a good captain but first he needs to concentrate on his batting.

He just needs to captain the LOI side.

IMO he'll become a good captain he is learning but to control the things he needs to perform as well.

His fitness, his keeping and batting all of them should be up to the mark then he'll be in a good position.

 

[khan_aa]

yeah yeah yeah keep blaming sarfraz...he is responsible by himself...not other 10 players, mickey arthur, selection committee interference... or so called 'seniors'.

all blame 120% is sarfraz's fault. my car getting a scratch or stocks falling is also sarfraz's fault.

im so sick and tired of every little nincompoop with 2 bits of watching cricket on TV blaming one person.

 

[khan_aa]

I won't blame the batsmen for not scoring runs at a faster rate, in the NZ game Satner was getting quick fast spin with bounce and the batsmen had to be careful during that spell.

Similarly Afghanistan has world class spinners and the slow spinning conditions were perfect for them, there was no way our batsmen could have batted faster on those wickets.

Pakistani batsmen scored 300 runs against South Africa and Bangladesh so they punched above their weight there. Quick scoring has not been easy on these wickets.

Too me we lost this world cup because of Sarfaraz penchant for letting the opposition of the hook in the middle overs with his defensive bowling changes and field placings . We allowed SA to recover from 136/4 to 259 all out, we allowed NZ to recover from 83/5 to 238/6. We allowed Afghanistan to recover from 125/5 to 227 runs all out.

Sarfaraz has done this too many times. He is just incapable of assessing game situations and making the right decisions at the right time. Someone who has not learnt anything in 13 years of captaincy is unlikely to learn anything further.

PCB need to move on from him as he doesn't lead by example and doesn't merit a place in the team anymore either

so you're telling me that in those situations, when the teams recovered from losing wickets, the bowlers that sarfraz allowed were purposely feeding mango lassis to the batsmen and not trying to take wickets?

in a team you have 11 players, each with personal responsibility and the desire to win. its not the captain's job to hold their leash and tell them what to do. they are not 3 years old.

 

[Pakistanian]

I think Sarfaraz has the potential to be a good captain but first he needs to concentrate on his batting.

He just needs to captain the LOI side.

IMO he'll become a good captain he is learning but to control the things he needs to perform as well.

His fitness, his keeping and batting all of them should be up to the mark then he'll be in a good position.

He's 33 now, let him go. Pakistan needs a younger, dynamic captain that is also at least a top 3 player in the team right now (based off recent form).

 

[Slog]

What was that coaching staff headed By Mickey arthur doing then? Sampling different types of fish and chips?

 

[ManFan]

Just a guy in the right place at the right time.

Nothing else.

 

[emranabbas]

Your absolutely right before the world cup campaign
imam was striking at 150+
Babar was striking at 200+
Fakhar was the best player in the world at playing spin.
Shadab was getting a 5+ wicket every game
And our fielders were catching every chance and stopping every run

And then came along sarfaraz and ruined it all......

 

[iniqbal223]

Actually they did not even think about NRR untill after Afganistan game. In one of the interviews Azhar Mahmood described that their first target is to at least win games so that they reach 4th or 5th position from 9th in the points table. And that made sense, considering we had only 3 points after 5 games.

With due respect to SL, I think biggest loss for Pakistan was sharing one point with SL. That was a loss to them in a competitive tournament. They could have easily won that game. Although SL did upset against England, but in the entire tournament they were not able to do anything of significance.

 

[khan_aa]

^^
you forgot that shoaib malik had just scored a 200 not out in 76 balls.
Hafeez won the lux stylish award with his moustache also.

pakistan was all set to beat every team by 200 runs and chase 500 runs in 15 overs ...and then...


...sarfraz ruined it.

 

[iniqbal223]

Main disappointment for the WC was Asif Ali. Dude dropped catches against Australia, did not do much in batting. He is dealing with personal issue and should not have been in the squad..Same goes for Malik, he was also dealing with some issue, should not have been in squad/playing 11

 

[DeadBall]

Same goes for Malik, he was also dealing with some issue, should not have been in squad/playing 11

Yeah, issues of being mediocre (and old too now) combined with the fact that he was never ever good in English conditions anyway.

 

[blackanhyellow]

Dropping catches and poor chasing, not to mention the west indies match cost us NRR.

 

[Captain caveman]

I won't blame the batsmen for not scoring runs at a faster rate, in the NZ game Satner was getting quick fast spin with bounce and the batsmen had to be careful during that spell.

Similarly Afghanistan has world class spinners and the slow spinning conditions were perfect for them, there was no way our batsmen could have batted faster on those wickets.

Pakistani batsmen scored 300 runs against South Africa and Bangladesh so they punched above their weight there. Quick scoring has not been easy on these wickets.

Too me we lost this world cup because of Sarfaraz penchant for letting the opposition of the hook in the middle overs with his defensive bowling changes and field placings . We allowed SA to recover from 136/4 to 259 all out, we allowed NZ to recover from 83/5 to 238/6. We allowed Afghanistan to recover from 125/5 to 227 runs all out.

Sarfaraz has done this too many times. He is just incapable of assessing game situations and making the right decisions at the right time. Someone who has not learnt anything in 13 years of captaincy is unlikely to learn anything further.

PCB need to move on from him as he doesn't lead by example and doesn't merit a place in the team anymore either

Very good analysis!
The problem is ALL Pak captains do this except imran!
They can't adjust to the match situation, they have pre determined plan and will stick to it no matter what!
eg
2011 wc semi final
Shahid afridi as captain and sachin the last recognised batsman!
Ajmal had sachin in serious trouble every delivery, but sachin managed to survive. Instead of bowling ajmal another over, afridi kept to his plans and brought ajmal back in the death overs! Ajmal got sachin out within a few deliveries, but sachin during the gap between ajmals overs, scored 80 odd, runs, which won the game for india!

Pak captains can't adjust their plans, because they can't workout how to bowl the overs, unless pre determined!

 

[shariqnoor]

It's not just Sarfraz. Every Pakistani captain since 2000 has been guilty of looking to bowl out 50 overs rather than going for the jugular. And this philosophy of getting through the overs is fed right from school cricket. I distinctly remember my school cricket coach way back in 1998-1999 telling me that once you see that the main batsmen are out and you have the batting side in a spot of bother, get your lesser bowlers in and get through the overs. I was aghast then at this stupid logic and 20 years later I'm still aghast. This mentality is being fed since time immemorial in Pakistani cricketing circles.

 

[Captain caveman]

It's not just Sarfraz. Every Pakistani captain since 2000 has been guilty of looking to bowl out 50 overs rather than going for the jugular. And this philosophy of getting through the overs is fed right from school cricket. I distinctly remember my school cricket coach way back in 1998-1999 telling me that once you see that the main batsmen are out and you have the batting side in a spot of bother, get your lesser bowlers in and get through the overs. I was aghast then at this stupid logic and 20 years later I'm still aghast. This mentality is being fed since time immemorial in Pakistani cricketing circles.

Absolutely correct!