Should batsmen be picked based on ability or roles?

[gazza619]

There seems to be a very common trend where we see batsmen being picked based on roles.

For example 3 openers, 6 middle batsmen etc.

Isnt it high time that M Wasim and Co say good bye to that philosophy for a team like Pakistan.

So I say pick the best 8-9 batsmen in the circuit and then see who is the warrior who wants to face the music with the new ball.

 

[Zaz]

I agree its clear as day light the "openers" in fc cricket arent good enough and they havent been for years

Surely a good top order batter who bats at say 3 for his fc team should be pormoted to open

He cant do any worse than the current openers we have Its time for an alternate approach because the current one isnt working

 

[gazza619]

I agree its clear as day light the "openers" in fc cricket arent good enough and they havent been for years

Surely a good top order batter who bats at say 3 for his fc team should be pormoted to open

He cant do any worse than the current openers we have Its time for an alternate approach because the current one isnt working

Exactly and i sincerely hope the selectors see this thread. There are examples where make shift openers have done well. I know back in the day Simon Katich for Australia was picked and asked to open and he did a decent job.

If i remember Amir Sohail wasnt an opener either when he started his domestic career.

 

[Firebat]

We will inevitably become desperate enough to put in a makeshift opener, so better start thinking now of which "middle order" batsmen can succeed at opening the batting. If they good enough and hungry enough, they can do it

 

[Last Monetarist]

It should always be ability, however, that ability should be properly linked to the role. For example, Fawad Alam might have a lot of ability to bat in the middle order, it doesn't mean that that would translate readily to opening the batting. Selection in cricket isn't an exact science. You'll always have to apply a lot of subjective judgment to make any decision.

My view on the opening conundrum is that Mohammad Wasim will have to improvise and look closely at all domestic batsmen and identify who has the right mental and technical attributes to make the step up to opening at test cricket.

Advocating a simple decision of praying and hoping that either Imran Butt or Abid Ali will work out should be left to the unintelligent.

 

[MenInG]

There seems to be a very common trend where we see batsmen being picked based on roles.

For example 3 openers, 6 middle batsmen etc.

Isnt it high time that M Wasim and Co say good bye to that philosophy for a team like Pakistan.

So I say pick the best 8-9 batsmen in the circuit and then see who is the warrior who wants to face the music with the new ball.

For most batsmen, chance to play for the nation is good enough - they arent too bothered about which position they play in (guess opening is a specialist art)

 

[Titan24]

Interesting thread which raises a valid debate.

In my opinion it should be based upon ability and at the same time someone’s natural ability to adapt to a role. As an example Rohit Sharma was never an opener but, cricket experts could see his decent technique with straight bat and having enough time to play the ball late so India tried him as an opener in ODIs and there was no looking back. Now a days he opens in test cricket too.

Pak team generally has been rigid in trying to think out of the box and to analyze how natural ability of a certain player can be more useful for a role which he might not have done in his younger days.

Lets take Usman Salahuddin the middle order batsman who averages 47 in FC cricket. I am not sure how he will do in test cricket (If gets to play his 2nd match) but, he has a technique as solid as any in Pak team. He knows his off stump, he has showed that in difficult conditions as well as and when he had to come in early against a new ball so I think there is no reason he cant adapt to open the batting. I am pretty sure if asked he would happily take the opportunity. Not to forget he averages 10-11 more than the openers we have at disposal there is no reason he couldnt be tried in that role.

At the same as said some specialist positions might not be suitable for some batsmen solely based upon ability.

Pak management rarely goes towards unconventional approach to to find solutions. They make peace with whatever is available and accept it as it is like they are doing with the opening slot currently when there can definitely be some unconventional ways to find solutions but, that would require some analysis and ability to face criticism incase the thing doesnt work out as planned.