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Sarfaraz Ahmed's decline as a batsman

Captain Sarfraz is lucky to be in the team as keeper as there is no good alternative available at the moment, let alone being a captain. Cant believe his luck
 
He doesn't seems to be in his own self. Look like completely out of sort no idea how and what to do in test cricket specially how to read condition, pitch opposition strength and weaknesses etc.
 
If this continues he should be sacked from Test captaincy. Being skipper has clearly affected his batting.
 
Not giving himself time at the crease. Counter-attack is fine, but sometimes you need to give yourself a chance when not in the greatest of form.
 
His shot selection has been quite poor recently and not taking full responsibility for his batting. I feel he maybe dropped depending on the outcome during the tests in UAE.
 
Hawkeye said:
Ugh.

Rizwan is even more of a tailender with the bat. Both Sarf and Rizwan are, but Rizwan is the worst.
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This. Some Pak fans dont know what they are talking about. Rizwan is way worst batsman than Sarfraz.
 
srh said:
This. Some Pak fans dont know what they are talking about. Rizwan is way worst batsman than Sarfraz.
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Yeah, sadly we have no alternatives at all who can be decent at both keeping and batting.

I think that's why Sarfraz is getting this free run. Even though he's really poor with the bat and not so good with keeping.

But we have no better alternatives.

He's also the captain lol.
 
Hawkeye said:
Yeah, sadly we have no alternatives at all who can be decent at both keeping and batting.

I think that's why Sarfraz is getting this free run. Even though he's really poor with the bat and not so good with keeping.

But we have no better alternatives.

He's also the captain lol.
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Try Kami as WK? May be he has improved his wicket keeping? His batting in tests is way better than Sarfraz. In that case try a newbie as captain like Shadab or Hasan.
 
He's a good wicket keeper and a ok captain, just bat him where he deserves to be at no 11 !
 
Personally I wasn't in favour of him becoming test captain. One-dayers is fine.
 
srh said:
Try Kami as WK?
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tenor.gif
 
Captaincy only reason why he is still in squad. Worrying thing is, we don’t have many wicketkeepers at domestic level who are good with the bat.
 
Billa86 said:
His shot selection has been quite poor recently and not taking full responsibility for his batting. I feel he maybe dropped depending on the outcome during the tests in UAE.
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Who is the VC anyway these days?
 
I can imagine [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] reading the posts here today with a smirk on his face :))
[MENTION=143023]SarfiBabarHaris[/MENTION] [MENTION=146990]El Generico[/MENTION]
 
Mr.Q said:
I can imagine [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] reading the posts here today with a smirk on his face :))

[MENTION=143023]SarfiBabarHaris[/MENTION] [MENTION=146990]El Generico[/MENTION]
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reading with a smirk is the same as reading without one, because the reading is done by the brain not by the mouth. No problem
 
If Mickey Arthur was fair and impartial, he would have whipped Sarfaraz into shape by now.
 
sadida97 said:
reading with a smirk is the same as reading without one, because the reading is done by the brain not by the mouth. No problem
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Why couldn’t you see the funny side of it? You guys always accuse Indians of being too serious :)). Btw, it’s not the same. Haven’t you heard, “the face is the mirror of the mind”.
 
Mr.Q said:
Why couldn’t you see the funny side of it? You guys always accuse Indians of being too serious :)). Btw, it’s not the same. Haven’t you heard, “the face is the mirror of the mind”.
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yes indeed, as one famous scholar once said: yes indeed yes.
 
Had a purple patch in 2014 tbh. Never was a great batsman. We only have to look at the 2009/10 series in Australia when people were critising him for being an awful bat and were willing to have akmal back as a keeper batsman than to have him.
 
He had a great peak but after that has been struggling big time, I will take 30s / 40s from him these days but he is beyond that as well. Has great leadership potential though and is doing a good job with the bat, hope management and coach can inspire him with the bat a bit more
 
Mr.Q said:
I can imagine [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] reading the posts here today with a smirk on his face :))

[MENTION=143023]SarfiBabarHaris[/MENTION] [MENTION=146990]El Generico[/MENTION]
Click to expand...

Karma ...............................
 
Khan12 said:
Who do you think we should try because he clearly isn't good anymore.
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Someone officially 23 or lower. It's going to be a tough route - no ready made options available and to keep Sarfraz comfortable, PCB stopped picking back-up WK on tours. With Rixon in support staff for 2 years, it was a golden opportunity to pick couple of young WKs and develop them, not necessarily they had to play.

I read next fielding coach could be WK Chris Read (Or James Foster) - may be now PCB should groom both U19 WKs (from last 2 WCs) for future. At this rate future can be very next Test against Kiwis.
 
Should retire from internationals after 2019 world cup or face the axe if he continues to go like this.
 
MMHS said:
Someone officially 23 or lower. It's going to be a tough route - no ready made options available and to keep Sarfraz comfortable, PCB stopped picking back-up WK on tours. With Rixon in support staff for 2 years, it was a golden opportunity to pick couple of young WKs and develop them, not necessarily they had to play.

I read next fielding coach could be WK Chris Read (Or James Foster) - may be now PCB should groom both U19 WKs (from last 2 WCs) for future. At this rate future can be very next Test against Kiwis.
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Umair maqsood is the best option then. Don't have much hopes from rizwan so umair is the best one. Technically pretty decent too. But, I think 6 is too high for someone like him ( most likely position due to shadab an fahim). What do you think. Plus rohail isn't too bad too.
 
The_Odd_One said:
At least Sarfraz doesn't drop regulation catches. Just watched some of Kamran's drops on YouTube this week and was horrified to relive those moments. Even Umar Akmal was a safer keeper.
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Sarfaraz has kept quite well in this series, compared to his usual standards where he's usually prone to some mistakes here and there.

However, Kamran Akmal is on a completely different level and should not be compared to mere mortals.
 
I'd take a skilled keeper who averages around 35, Sarfraz keeping has improved as of late and hopefully he can show more consistency; as for his batting is concerned, he isn't the most technically gifted but has done ok overall for me. He is going through a really bad patch right now and will need to show a lot of grit and determination to overcome his deficiencies especially under the burden of captaincy and increased work load.

I think he should give up the T20 arm band right now and the ODI one after the 2019 WC, during this time if a keeper emerges then there could also be a discussion regarding him giving up the gloves.

Wouldn't personally write him off at the moment, he has a fair amount on his plate. But lets not forget what he has done for Pak, one of the best keeper / batsman we've ever had and his leadership skills are pretty decent to.
 
People need to remember we don't have a combo of Imran Khan and Adam Gilchrist waiting in the wings, ya"ll have taken Sarfraz for granted.
 
shaz619 said:
People need to remember we don't have a combo of Imran Khan and Adam Gilchrist waiting in the wings, ya"ll have taken Sarfraz for granted.
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Cricket might not see another individual Imran Khan or Adam Gilchrist ever; and cricket might not even imagine of a combo of Imchrist ..

BUT, how do you know that there is no young WK, who can bat (and bat good enough for 7) and keep well? For that, one has to give them chances, at least has to bring in front - PCB has stopped picking even Rizwan as back to keep their Captain relaxed.

People bash Misbah from every corner, for protecting particular players - here same thing is happening, in a different way. I am sure, if Shadab wasn't given chance, PAK would have been still stuck with Afridi as the premier spin all-rounder, because of lack of talent. Same can be said for Tanvir/Fahim; Shehzad/Fakhar, Wahab/Hasan ..... No one can explain, why despite Sarfraz's work load & fitness level, yet PAK has stopped to pick back-up WK for away tours.
 
MMHS said:
Cricket might not see another individual Imran Khan or Adam Gilchrist ever; and cricket might not even imagine of a combo of Imchrist ..

BUT, how do you know that there is no young WK, who can bat (and bat good enough for 7) and keep well? For that, one has to give them chances, at least has to bring in front - PCB has stopped picking even Rizwan as back to keep their Captain relaxed.

People bash Misbah from every corner, for protecting particular players - here same thing is happening, in a different way. I am sure, if Shadab wasn't given chance, PAK would have been still stuck with Afridi as the premier spin all-rounder, because of lack of talent. Same can be said for Tanvir/Fahim; Shehzad/Fakhar, Wahab/Hasan ..... No one can explain, why despite Sarfraz's work load & fitness level, yet PAK has stopped to pick back-up WK for away tours.
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Like I said in the post before the one you quoted we should definetly consider emerging keepers and discuss possibility of Sarfraz giving up the gloves moving forward
 
MMHS said:
Cricket might not see another individual Imran Khan or Adam Gilchrist ever; and cricket might not even imagine of a combo of Imchrist ..

BUT, how do you know that there is no young WK, who can bat (and bat good enough for 7) and keep well? For that, one has to give them chances, at least has to bring in front - PCB has stopped picking even Rizwan as back to keep their Captain relaxed.

People bash Misbah from every corner, for protecting particular players - here same thing is happening, in a different way. I am sure, if Shadab wasn't given chance, PAK would have been still stuck with Afridi as the premier spin all-rounder, because of lack of talent. Same can be said for Tanvir/Fahim; Shehzad/Fakhar, Wahab/Hasan ..... No one can explain, why despite Sarfraz's work load & fitness level, yet PAK has stopped to pick back-up WK for away tours.
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POTW for me very well put
 
Time to make bold decisions.

Drop the iron brothers : Sarfraz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq.

Ruining Pakistan by only showing up in the UAE, sometimes.
 
How can he shout at any player when he is performing rubbish with the bat and an average keeper at best? Also has awful fitness .
 
Before dropping him straight away, I would try relieving him of captaincy in test cricket.

See if that pressure off his shoulders improves his form.

If it still doesnt, needs to be replaced with a younger keeper.
 
Yeah, he's been very very poor. He tries to get going by being attacking but ends up forgetting the basics of batting.
 
Sarfaraz Ahmed's stats in the last 2 years! Has he got worse?

There's a lot of people questioning his performance, saying he doesn't deserve to be in the team. So thought I'd delve into his performances in the last 2 years.

Test average: 30.34 Career Average 37.78

ODI average: 43.46 SR 88.22 Career Average 33.90 SR 86.92

T20 average: 31.50 SR 136.46 Career Average 30.40 SR 128.90



As we can see a decline in tests over the last 2 years, but an increase in the other two formats (in both average and SR)

ODIs which personally I feel he seems to get most flack for, he's experienced an increase of 10 point average in that time. One recent bad NZ series hasn't changed that?


So yeah I think his so called decline in LOI at least is very much exaggerated. So why do people want him out?
 
Last edited:
I may also add if you exclude the so called "minnow teams" his averages go up by a run or two in both tests and ODIs in the last two years. And down in T20s, yet still staying at a respectable 27.
 
The ODI stats are skewed by the ODI series in England in 2016, but his decline as an ODI batsman started after that tour.

I would like to see his numbers in ODIs from October 2016 onwards - he has been a passenger in the format for 1.5 years or so.

People talk about his stats, but you just don’t see it on the pitch. He has not done anything of note with the bat in Tests since the Sri Lankan series in 2015, and apart from that lucky innings against Sri Lanka in the Champions Trophy, he has not played a vital innings in ODIs post the England series in 2016.

As far as T20s are concerned, we have played a lot of weak teams since the WT20 2016, and hence his T20 stats are inflated just like every other Pakistani player.

These numbers in the OP, especially the ODI ones, don’t tell us much because they are taking into account his last good series before going completely off the boil.
 
Mamoon said:
I would like to see his numbers in ODIs from October 2016 onwards - he has been a passenger in the format for 1.5 years or so.
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He still averages just over 39 from Oct 2016. Which again isn't bad. Passenger is a strong word. And those stats given no batsmen in our line up are standouts except Babar and to some extent Fakhar.
 
I mainly think his fitness needs work. Ever since the CT he's become unfit. He was a decent batter before his weight gain.
 
ads101 said:
There's a lot of people questioning his performance, saying he doesn't deserve to be in the team. So thought I'd delve into his performances in the last 2 years.

Test average: 30.34 Career Average 37.78

ODI average: 43.46 SR 88.22 Career Average 33.90 SR 86.92

T20 average: 31.50 SR 136.46 Career Average 30.40 SR 128.90



As we can see a decline in tests over the last 2 years, but an increase in the other two formats (in both average and SR)

ODIs which personally I feel he seems to get most flack for, he's experienced an increase of 10 point average in that time. One recent bad NZ series hasn't changed that?


So yeah I think his so called decline in LOI at least is very much exaggerated. So why do people want him out?
Click to expand...

Nice skew, he has declined at a rate of knots since he became captain in ODIs starting from March/April 2017 if I am not wrong.

Test form was shambles in the Australia and NZ tour save for a couple of 40s and a useless 70 in the last innings which had defeat written all over it. It served nothing more than a personal milestone
 
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