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Sarfraz Ahmed's inability to finish an innings

marlonbrowndo

marlonbrowndo

Senior ODI Player
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May 29, 2015
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Sarfraz doesnt have the ability to hit big in LOIs especially against pace. Plus there are 5 fielders outside the circle now in the last 10 overs. Today his team was in an excellent position and he made 2 off 11 balls coming in in the last 10 overs. Even in the last game against Balochistan he couldnt finish the innings. We saw this in the New Zealand tour as well.

There is no point in playing him in ODIs and T20s if he will bat lower than 5. He can bat at 4 in T20s but our top 5 in ODIs is fixed and there are top order players scoring runs in domestic cricket plus players like Babar and Hafeez have done well in the top order and the captain who himself is an opener. This is why I think our keeper batsman will have to bat at 6 in ODIs and Rizwan is a better option than Sarfraz at number 6 because Sarfraz is just wasting a spot there. Rizwan has done really well for Punjab at number 6 in both the games and has played spin really wel too.

Also people who were blaming Waqar for playing him too low should now see that he is the captain and he himself is coming out to bat in the death overs where he is doing nothing.
 
I have not closed the book in him yet, but like I said, this talk of making him captain in all three formats is premature
 
gazza619 said:
Can you please advise who are the top 5 who are guaranteed a spot in our ODI batting line up. I cant think of any. May be Shoaib Malik because he can bowl.
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Out of everyone Maliks spot is fixed?. ok then. I meant there are much better players than Sarfraz who can be in the top 5. Babar and Hafeez did well against NZ. Azhar is captain. Those are 3 spots fixed. Then you have the likes of Sharjeel, Sami, Khurram who are knocking on the door of selectors for the opening position.
 
He has only himself to blame here. Even after captaining the side he isn't coming up the order. A good player is one who knows his limitations. He is a good captain in the field, but he needs to bat well also to retain his position in LOIs. He will never score at this poistion unless a fluke happens.
 
Very good captain but being a good LOI player is more important which Sarfraz just isnt
 
If he batted at number 4 or 5 he would help solve our problems of rotating strike, but there's no space for him there. I would prefer rizwan over sarfaraz in LOI but sarfaraz seems a good captain.
 
Dont know why OP is saying that Waqar didnt want Sarfraz in the lower order when he is the same guy who mocked his player openly in WC 2015 saying sarfraz is not an opener in a derogatory manner. Waqar is known for throwing his players under the bus but thats an issue for other threads. Sarfraz finishing ability isnt that bad as the OP is making it out to be.
 
ZaynM said:
Dont know why OP is saying that Waqar didnt want Sarfraz in the lower order when he is the same guy who mocked his player openly in WC 2015 saying sarfraz is not an opener in a derogatory manner. Waqar is known for throwing his players under the bus but thats an issue for other threads. Sarfraz finishing ability isnt that bad as the OP is making it out to be.
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I am saying people blamed Waqar for playing Sarfraz in the lower order while Sarfraz, despite being the captain is still coming to bat in the death overs at number 6.
 
ZaynM said:
Dont know why OP is saying that Waqar didnt want Sarfraz in the lower order when he is the same guy who mocked his player openly in WC 2015 saying sarfraz is not an opener in a derogatory manner. Waqar is known for throwing his players under the bus but thats an issue for other threads. Sarfraz finishing ability isnt that bad as the OP is making it out to be.
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You believe Waqar threw Afridi, Shehzad and Akmal under the bus?
 
Hes terrible in Limited overs. Pakistani fans better realize this quickly. Fails in this tournament yet again. The fact that 5 fielders will be outside in the last 10 means he will rarely get boundaries. He has done nothing in the shorter formats and he is now our Vice captain unfortunately. Rizwan is a much better prospect
 
Mamoon said:
Absolutely rubbish Limited Overs batsman.
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Wasting a spot in our ODI team. Rizwan needs to replace this guy. Inzimam is sensible enough to know this but there is a lot of media, political and blind fan pressure to make Sarfraz captain in ODIs. Unfortunately he is already the T20 captain. Number 6 batsman is very important in chases but he will always lose us the game against a decent pace attack if rrr is above 6
 
aliasad1998 said:
Wasting a spot in our ODI team. Rizwan needs to replace this guy. Inzimam is sensible enough to know this but there is a lot of media, political and blind fan pressure to make Sarfraz captain in ODIs. Unfortunately he is already the T20 captain. Number 6 batsman is very important in chases but he will always lose us the game against a decent pace attack if rrr is above 6
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He has no business in the shorter formats, but for the reasons you cited, he will captain the ODI and T20I teams for 3-4 years before people will realize that he never was and never will be suitable for Limited Overs.

The blind fans support and all this 'street smart' crap has to end.
 
Mamoon said:
He has no business in the shorter formats, but for the reasons you cited, he will captain the ODI and T20I teams for 3-4 years before people will realize that he never was and never will be suitable for Limited Overs.

The blind fans support and all this 'street smart' crap has to end.
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Even him being a good player of spin myth has been busted.

His fans cry that he doesnt get to play at the top of the order, however in this tournament he was captain and didn't trust himself to bat in the top order.

He realizes he's not good enough but his fans don't.
 
Suleiman said:
Even him being a good player of spin myth has been busted.

His fans cry that he doesnt get to play at the top of the order, however in this tournament he was captain and didn't trust himself to bat in the top order.

He realizes he's not good enough but his fans don't.
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It is very funny to see the usual suspects who were crying about his batting position have gone quiet now, since Sarfraz is now batting down the order even though he's the captain.
 
Im not exagerrating, I would rather have Sohail khan at the death. Brilliant test player though and a real game changer in that format
 
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His performance in this tourney has created doubts over his ability as an LOI player even in my mind :facepalm:
 
Sarfraz was never good in limited overs of cricket. Always said he was being overrated. Only time proves such things because some fans can become blind very quickly.
 
Zain Zaidi said:
Rizwan isnot a good wicket keeper..... Might play as a batsman
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Based on what? His keeping against spin is a bit suspect but Sarfraz improved and Rizwan is much more athletic and hard working so he will too. Much younger, fitter and stronger. Way better Limited Overs prospect than Sarfraz.
 
aliasad1998 said:
Based on what? His keeping against spin is a bit suspect but Sarfraz improved and Rizwan is much more athletic and hard working so he will too. Much younger, fitter and stronger. Way better Limited Overs prospect than Sarfraz.
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I think you shouldn't judge him of one match he personally himself said his batting position isn't fixed and he will try to absorb the most pressure.
I like him as captain.
Rizwan, has a hardworking attitude but he wasnot impressive in pak cup as well. And i personally hate those keepers who keep with inside pads
So that's just me
 
I think Pakistan named the t20 captain abit too early. Sarfaraz seems to be struggling in ODI, don't know what he will do in t20s where are games are must faster .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
AFG_Brit said:
I think Pakistan named the t20 captain abit too early. Sarfaraz seems to be struggling in ODI, don't know what he will do in t20s where are games are must faster .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Media pressure plus pressure from blind deluded fans thinking he is some Gilchrist. We still have time to amend this if Inzamam takes the right steps
 
The only real way he can savour his LOI career is by opening. He done decent in the WC 2015 opening, and it'll not expose him to the gargantuan hitting we need at the back end of the innings.

The hype has been a concern as he's done very well in Tests so many people, including myself, thought he could transfer these set of skills in LOIs. It hasn't happened, and I just hope it doesn't affect his performances against the red cherry since there's so much expectation for him now.

Anyway, we all say we need to give players 'time' since this may be a bad run of form (well, how long must the bad form be to be considered a liability/dropable?). We have to reassess after Eng series probably.
 
he is NOT finisher that was quite clear from his first few ODIs
he is not a big hitter, he is kind of player who batting first , will try to play full quota of overs with tail.
he is not a player who ll be able chase 8 runs / over. his game is not like that
why we wanna see him as finisher ? when his game is totally different ?
there is NO ONE in Pakistan at moment who can be called a good finisher
 
Hasan123 said:
Seam bowlers will have him worked out in no time in LOI he should bat at 4 but he can't because it's barbar position your avatar should be his replacement.
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Rather have him open then at #6 or #7. If it works it works, if it doesn't, well it's not like we have a lot of other options.
 
Square Drive said:
Rather have him open then at #6 or #7. If it works it works, if it doesn't, well it's not like we have a lot of other options.
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I would prefer him in middle order than at the top of the order, think manzoor, fakhar , and shezahd are ahead of sarfaraz for opening position bhai.
 
He is a test batter. Has become quite lazy with his fitness too. Should not have been given captaincy, far too soon.
 
Kami is the way forward. Have said this a million times.

I trust Inzi to make this crucial decision.
 
Hasan123 said:
I would prefer him in middle order than at the top of the order, think manzoor, fakhar , and shezahd are ahead of sarfaraz for opening position bhai.
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Same, but I don't see any room for him in the middle-order, like you said.

Shehzad is a TTF.

Manzoor/Sami/Fakhar should be given a go if Sarfraz fails at the top, IMO.
 
Square Drive said:
Same, but I don't see any room for him in the middle-order, like you said.

Shehzad is a TTF.

Manzoor/Sami/Fakhar should be given a go if Sarfraz fails at the top, IMO.
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Please no Manzoor. He does not have any technique and will surely fail against a higher quality of bowlers. Sami Aslam and Fakhar Zaman both need to have better strike rates if they need to partner Azhar Ali.. We need a basher sort of an opener to partner Azhar and Sarfaraz definitely does not fit that bill..
 
Syed1 said:
Please no Manzoor. He does not have any technique and will surely fail against a higher quality of bowlers. Sami Aslam and Fakhar Zaman both need to have better strike rates if they need to partner Azhar Ali.. We need a basher sort of an opener to partner Azhar and Sarfaraz definitely does not fit that bill..
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Yes, but wouldn't you rather Sarfraz open than bat at #6 or #7?

Hasan123 said:
Out of the 3 who would u go for?
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Hmm, it's a toughie really. Although I wouldn't mind either one of them, I'm more inclined towards Fakhar. He has been a consistent performer for a while now and can bowl as well. His knock vs England A was phenomenal.

Sami Aslam - I rate him very highly but as much as it sucks, flopping against Bangladesh in Tests on a dead wicket pushes him back in the line.

As far as Khurram goes, I think he deserves it a bit more than Sami due to his crazy SR of late but not ahead of Fakhar, since he is just coming off a national failure.

So for me right now, it's Fakhar > Khurram > Sami in terms of preference. Although I'm not a huge fan of Khurram, he has been performing in List A for a while now and therefore will make it on merit if he does at all. However, national failures of both Manzoor and Aslam put them behind Fakhar in the pecking order for me.
 
Syed1 said:
Please no Manzoor. He does not have any technique and will surely fail against a higher quality of bowlers. Sami Aslam and Fakhar Zaman both need to have better strike rates if they need to partner Azhar Ali.. We need a basher sort of an opener to partner Azhar and Sarfaraz definitely does not fit that bill..
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Are you suggesting Sharjeel?
 
Square Drive said:
Yes, but wouldn't you rather Sarfraz open than bat at #6 or #7?



Hmm, it's a toughie really. Although I wouldn't mind either one of them, I'm more inclined towards Fakhar. He has been a consistent performer for a while now and can bowl as well. His knock vs England A was phenomenal.

Sami Aslam - I rate him very highly but as much as it sucks, flopping against Bangladesh in Tests on a dead wicket pushes him back in the line.

As far as Khurram goes, I think he deserves it a bit more than Sami due to his crazy SR of late but not ahead of Fakhar, since he is just coming off a national failure.

So for me right now, it's Fakhar > Khurram > Sami in terms of preference. Although I'm not a huge fan of Khurram, he has been performing in List A for a while now and therefore will make it on merit if he does at all. However, national failures of both Manzoor and Aslam put them behind Fakhar in the pecking order for me.
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Manzoor will get selected I think.
 
While Haris is out id go with this middle order

3. Babar
4. Sarfraz
5. Malik
6. Rizwan
7. Yamin



He should have kicked on but today showed yet again that sarfraz isnt a lower order bat. What's frustrating is that as captain he should have gone up the order, especially as he states thats where he wants to bat.
 
Nothing player. His only strength is playing spin and these days hes getting out to them. We have way better batsmen so our keeper has to bat at 6 and Sarfraz wastes a spot there.
 
Did alright today because he came in earlier. Needs to bat at 4 or 5 if he has to play. He is not a lower order bat or a finisher.
 
Good finishers are rare in international cricket.
 
pakistanigoneaussie said:
While Haris is out id go with this middle order

3. Babar
4. Sarfraz
5. Malik
6. Rizwan
7. Yamin



He should have kicked on but today showed yet again that sarfraz isnt a lower order bat. What's frustrating is that as captain he should have gone up the order, especially as he states thats where he wants to bat.
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6 and 7 have to develop their game for that position. looks a bit short of firepower which i can accept, provided we think these guys have the potential to learn on the job.
 
the other thing i would say is that very rarely is a batsman a natural good finisher: its a skill that takes time to develop because there is always scoreboard pressure and one is more likely to fail than succeed initially.
i cant be bothered as to who we slot there, provided we are patient with him.
 
Pete Rose said:
the other thing i would say is that very rarely is a batsman a natural good finisher: its a skill that takes time to develop because there is always scoreboard pressure and one is more likely to fail than succeed initially.
i cant be bothered as to who we slot there, provided we are patient with him.
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Patience is something reserved specially for The Forever 16 year old, Selfie, and Cry Baby Khan.
 
I don't understand a lot of the guys complaining about him. He averages 29 in T20, Sr 120. That is very good, better than most (if not all) in our team. He averages 29 in ODIs. Which is not great, but he's been better over the last three years averaging 35. Better than most our batsmen. And he's done that while not having a constant position, he's been shuffled around all over the place, sometimes even coming in as low as 8. In order to accommodate the other pure batsmen.

The big thing people forget is he is not a specialist bat. He is a keeper. What are our alternatives? People went on about Kamran's batting ability? I said give Sarfraz just a few games and he'll already beat Kamran. And look what's happened? Average of 29 might not be great, but he's already surpassed Kamran. And in T20s, no contest. Sarfraz is a keeper and should be compared to keepers. I see no keeper close to competing with him atm, he bats and keeps better than Kamran and has done fantastically in the test arena. Rizwan isn't even suited as a keeper and he hasn't impressed too much yet.

One thing to not in addition, when playing from 1-4 in ODIs, he averages over 40. When given greater responsibility to bat he has stepped up. Same with T20s, up the order or middle order hasn't done half bad. His average though respectable has been brought down when he batted at 8. We accommodated Kamran for a decade, allowing him to open as it 'brings the best out of him'. He still averaged 26 in ODIs.

He might struggle to hit big at the end of the game but he's not a terrible LOI player. Need to be realistic, he is an improvement with gloves and bat over our last keeper.
 
ads101 said:
I don't understand a lot of the guys complaining about him. He averages 29 in T20, Sr 120. That is very good, better than most (if not all) in our team. He averages 29 in ODIs. Which is not great, but he's been better over the last three years averaging 35. Better than most our batsmen. And he's done that while not having a constant position, he's been shuffled around all over the place, sometimes even coming in as low as 8. In order to accommodate the other pure batsmen.

The big thing people forget is he is not a specialist bat. He is a keeper. What are our alternatives? People went on about Kamran's batting ability? I said give Sarfraz just a few games and he'll already beat Kamran. And look what's happened? Average of 29 might not be great, but he's already surpassed Kamran. And in T20s, no contest. Sarfraz is a keeper and should be compared to keepers. I see no keeper close to competing with him atm, he bats and keeps better than Kamran and has done fantastically in the test arena. Rizwan isn't even suited as a keeper and he hasn't impressed too much yet.

One thing to not in addition, when playing from 1-4 in ODIs, he averages over 40. When given greater responsibility to bat he has stepped up. Same with T20s, up the order or middle order hasn't done half bad. His average though respectable has been brought down when he batted at 8. We accommodated Kamran for a decade, allowing him to open as it 'brings the best out of him'. He still averaged 26 in ODIs.

He might struggle to hit big at the end of the game but he's not a terrible LOI player. Need to be realistic, he is an improvement with gloves and bat over our last keeper.
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Try convincing [MENTION=136729]Suleiman[/MENTION]
 
Pete Rose said:
6 and 7 have to develop their game for that position. looks a bit short of firepower which i can accept, provided we think these guys have the potential to learn on the job.
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True but I think these are the best of the current lot

Don't think umar should be picked for a while


Maqsood just seems lost
 
His fans will keep making these position excuses and bring up stats not to mention the innings against South Africa of 49 which is the greatest innings by a wk batsman in a world cup (better than Gillys knock against SL in the final) but unfortunately they dont realize what a limited player he really is
 
His batting style suits the top order much more. Not sure why he insists on coming as a finisher.
 
This is why I say he should open (ideally bat in the middle-order but that doesn't seem to be possible at the moment).
 
aliasad1998 said:
His fans will keep making these position excuses and bring up stats not to mention the innings against South Africa of 49 which is the greatest innings by a wk batsman in a world cup (better than Gillys knock against SL in the final) but unfortunately they dont realize what a limited player he really is
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U are desperate for sarfaraz to get replaced it seems :uakmal. I don't think he will be dropped if I'm being honest he's been made capatin of T20 and is vc in Odis.
 
aliasad1998 said:
His fans will keep making these position excuses and bring up stats not to mention the innings against South Africa of 49 which is the greatest innings by a wk batsman in a world cup (better than Gillys knock against SL in the final) but unfortunately they dont realize what a limited player he really is
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Agreed. They want him as opener now because "he didn't get a fair shot". Well then... he is captain of Sindh, why doesn't he promote himself? It's because he himself is not confident.

And btw, if they want to promote someone limited like Sarfraz to opener, why not do it with Umar instead, who is either #6 slogger or briskstart opener.

Never have I seen any other country hype such a mediocre player to such levels.
 
Suleiman said:
Agreed. They want him as opener now because "he didn't get a fair shot". Well then... he is captain of Sindh, why doesn't he promote himself? It's because he himself is not confident.

And btw, if they want to promote someone limited like Sarfraz to opener, why not do it with Umar instead, who is either #6 slogger or briskstart opener.

Never have I seen any other country hype such a mediocre player to such levels.
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Coming from the guy who is hyping kamran akmal and Ahmed shezad
 
Hasan123 said:
Coming from the guy who is hyping kamran akmal and Ahmed shezad
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Sami aslam and khurum were playing well in the the opening position i think sarfaraz could've promoted himself im place of sami aslam IF the two openers had collapsed on the first two games fortunately they did not and sarfaraz retained his position.
(i watched his many interviews he said he will try to give youngsters more chances and his batting position isnot permanent and will try to bat where his team needs him the most)
 
Zain Zaidi said:
Sami aslam and khurum were playing well in the the opening position i think sarfaraz could've promoted himself im place of sami aslam IF the two openers had collapsed on the first two games fortunately they did not and sarfaraz retained his position.
(i watched his many interviews he said he will try to give youngsters more chances and his batting position isnot permanent and will try to bat where his team needs him the most)
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Best position for sarfaraz is in middle order but there is no space for him in that position in current LOI side.
 
Back to back 50's. Thought he wasn't a LOI batsman :)

He needs to be ODI captain.
 
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