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"Sarfraz Ahmed is the best wicket-keeper batsman in the world" : Shane Warne

Yep - said that in the lunch break I think.

After Yasir, Warne has really started rating Sarf, in fact, every English commentator does as well. Atherton is a big fan.

And it's true - no Asian keeper has done so well in England. Or for that matter, no Non-Asian has done so well in Asia in recent times.

Of course, not talking about AB/Sanga. :srini
 
Bairstow is better in non-asian conditions but as a full package Its a tough competition b/w the two
 
He may or may not be, but Warne saying so means nothing.
 
sarfaraz has kept wickets brilliantly in the last 2 tests.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
It's going to be a bad day at the office for some. :kakmal
 
Warnie bhai likes to hype up Pakistani cricketers
 
ShahKhan007 said:
Warne has spoken.
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We all know that Shane Warne identifies with Sarfraz Ahmed.

Let me just remind you that in 1999-2000 Shane Warne objected to the selectors replacing Ian Healy with Adam Gilchrist. He was unhappy at the prospect of an inferior glovesman missing catches and stumpings.

In Gilly's second Test, at Hobart, Waqar Younis reduced Australia to 140-5, chasing 366 to win. Gilly came in and scored 149 not out to win the match.

It's just the same. Warnie has never forgiven the selectors for dumping the guy who was a better keeper.
 
I saw Sarfaraz's flick for 4 yesterday to Stuart Broad, interesting thing was he was just bowled a bouncer the previous ball to him, and Broad had been peppering him with bouncers, yet despite that he just came down the pitch the next delivery, took 3-4 strides down the pitch and then flicks a ball outside the offstump for 4 on the leg side... It was the shot of the day for me, he reads the length so early and adjusts accordingly..
 
Warne knows a good keeper when he sees one. He's had Ian Healy and Adam Gilchrist behind the stumps for his career.

Sarfraz just needs to convert these pretty 40s into big knocks, especially if he's to bat at 6.
 
Junaids said:
We all know that Shane Warne identifies with Sarfraz Ahmed.

Let me just remind you that in 1999-2000 Shane Warne objected to the selectors replacing Ian Healy with Adam Gilchrist. He was unhappy at the prospect of an inferior glovesman missing catches and stumpings.

In Gilly's second Test, at Hobart, Waqar Younis reduced Australia to 140-5, chasing 366 to win. Gilly came in and scored 149 not out to win the match.

It's just the same. Warnie has never forgiven the selectors for dumping the guy who was a better keeper.
Click to expand...

Sarfaraz is the better keeper and batsman as far as tests are concerned
 
Stats wise it may look like that but Bairstow is way better.
 
Definitely proving it.

One of our best bats and consistent contributor with the runs on this tour.

And the best WK in the world - the chance he just took was just amazing, unreal, of Moeen.
 
aliasad1998 said:
Only in Test cricket and that too tied with Bairstow
Click to expand...

Bairstow is more of a batsman and a makeshift keeper, there's no comparison in keeping.

This catch would've never been taken by Bairstow or Kami, for that matter.
 
Junaids said:
We all know that Shane Warne identifies with Sarfraz Ahmed.

Let me just remind you that in 1999-2000 Shane Warne objected to the selectors replacing Ian Healy with Adam Gilchrist. He was unhappy at the prospect of an inferior glovesman missing catches and stumpings.

In Gilly's second Test, at Hobart, Waqar Younis reduced Australia to 140-5, chasing 366 to win. Gilly came in and scored 149 not out to win the match.

It's just the same. Warnie has never forgiven the selectors for dumping the guy who was a better keeper.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I understand how the Healy Gilchrist scenario is at all relevant to Sarfraz Ahmed. Please explain further.
 
I dont like Bairstow as a person but he is providing tough competition to Sarf. Has won me over with his quality batting.
 
Sarfraz hasn't been performing as good as he can cos he's more than a 40s person, regardless of where. Should be scoring 80s and maybe even a 100. Having said that though, he's still by far the best in Pakistan and is more or less joint first with Bairstow(who's a tad ahead with bat but behind with gloves) in le world:afaq
 
Sarfraz is without a doubt best number 7 batter in the world which is often occupied by the wicket keepers, and yes he is the best wicket keeper batsman who has a real ability to take the game forward. Quality player.

Bairstow is a good batsman but will find it difficult in SC if you've struggled in UAE.

As for someone mentioning Watling? Don't make me laugh :rp

Chandimal is also a good player but when your batting lower middle order in the modern game you ideally want someone to come in at bat at a SR of 70-80 which is what Sarfraz gives you.

He's been unlucky to average 32 this series thus far, at times he's run out of partners batting with that tail and he's had some good deliveries but has looked impressive.

Fair enough if you don't rate Warne's judgement, but everyone in the Sky commentary box rates him especially Bumble, Athers, Holding and Nasser.
 
PAK should keep Rixon for long term, which'll benefit Sarfu. His keeping has improved in this series & he actually makes the team on on batting merit.
 
The key for Sarfraz is to keep his weight under control, I always felt that Kami lost his way because he was too fat for a WK.
 
Not the best yet. He needs to improve his keeping a bit more. His batting has been okayish lately.
 
Extremely disappointed with his batting for a year now. He has lost the plot in Tests after improving greatly in Limited Overs.

The frustrating thing is that he always looks good at the crease but somehow finds a way to get out before registering a substantial score.
 
Quinton De Cok is the best in all formats of the game at present.He has fantastic record.He scores centuries even at no 7.
 
Mamoon said:
Extremely disappointed with his batting for a year now. He has lost the plot in Tests after improving greatly in Limited Overs.

The frustrating thing is that he always looks good at the crease but somehow finds a way to get out before registering a substantial score.
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Exactly,he gets runs then gets out after doing all the hard work,his keeping has not been upto the mark either.
 
Arham_PakFan said:
Exactly,he gets runs then gets out after doing all the hard work,his keeping has not been upto the mark either.
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He's an average keeper, that's a fact. However, I am both surprised and disappointed at his decline as a batsman.
 
Mamoon said:
He's an average keeper, that's a fact. However, I am both surprised and disappointed at his decline as a batsman.
Click to expand...

His batting is tailored made for Asian pitches, pretty much whole team is build around UAE, including Misbah's Captaincy...Azhar is the only one, who has step up his game to meet the challenges of western conditions...
 
His fitness level is a definite concern. In this test he took some good catches but was described as lazy when he missed an easy stumping. Also was more than once described by the commentators as laboring to complete a second run. Some of these comments were if I recall correctly made by Warne himself so can't see him describing Sarfraz as the best of anything right now.
 
yasir said:
His batting is tailored made for Asian pitches, pretty much whole team is build around UAE, including Misbah's Captaincy...Azhar is the only one, who has step up his game to meet the challenges of western conditions...
Click to expand...

That's true, but he has lost his spark in Asia as well. Got a fifty in Sri Lanka and a fifty vs the West Indies with little else to show for. He hasn't come close to replicating his 2014-15 form.

The worst part is that he has almost never looked out of touch. He plays fluently, looks good but then finds a way to get out.
 
He has been rubbish with the gloves and with the bat for a while now in Test cricket. He has been taking his place for granted, needs to be dropped for a few games so he is put back in his place.
 
Mamoon said:
That's true, but he has lost his spark in Asia as well. Got a fifty in Sri Lanka and a fifty vs the West Indies with little else to show for. He hasn't come close to replicating his 2014-15 form.

The worst part is that he has almost never looked out of touch. He plays fluently, looks good but then finds a way to get out.
Click to expand...

That was some patch, which is hard to replicate, even in Asia, when you are playing at no 7. We were playing in ideal conditions, this year players have to constantly change their technique, not enough time in the middle. What worked for Azhar is opening slot, where he could spend lot of time in the middle, without score board pressure... I bet Azhar would not have played that well, if he was playing at no 3, no 3 has to take the game forward a bit more than what Azhar does...

Sarfraz game cannot grow at that position, although he could bat higher and better in Asia, because he is still very good player of spin and can play fast... His game is somewhat stall at that position, as you bat higher you have more opportunity to play big innings, big innings mean more confidence and increase in range of your shots, same is true for Shafiq, they both cannot cash in as much as Azhar and Younis can, simply because they get less opportunities to do so... Sometimes they are looking very good like in first innings in GABBA, Sarfraz was looking good but ran out of partners... It is what it is, he is not going to bat higher than that, unless tail keeps on improving like they did in this series, his performance will be patchy...

For those reason, Pakistan should have pushed Shafiq at no 4 long before the English tour. and pushed M&Y down at 5 & 6. You want your young players to have more opportunities and time in the middle, plus Shafiq has more shots than either M or Y against pace, he would have moved game lot more forward in these western tours...It was selfish on M&Y to sit on honey pot for so long, they were insecure of Azhar and Shafiq displacing them
 
His low stance hinders his ability to play full balls that are bowled in excess of 145 kph.

Struggled against Gabriel and now Starc.
 
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