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Should Haris Sohail be in the starting XI for World Cup 2019, if fit?

HappyWarsFan

HappyWarsFan

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He seems like a good player, but I am not sure how well he would play in English conditions.

Also how would he fit the team with Hafeez/Malik there? We would have to drop one of them - an ideal top 6 would be:

1) Shan
2)Fakhar
3)Babar
4)Haris
5)Hafeez/Malik
6)Imad Wasim

It would require dropping one of those 2 seniors. This is the issue. Will Pakistan be willing to do it and would it be worth it for Haris?
 
Yeah I agree with you, but Hafeez/Malik would have to perform really poorly in the upcoming series to be dropped. Which is likely because they both aren't great in South African conditions.
 
Yep. He should be at No.4. He is probably Pakistan's best player of pace bowling and would be solid in England. Would have been solid against the Saffers had he been fit.
 
Needs to be in the squad if he's fit. His batting is required to outweigh the liabilities (Malik, Imam, Sarfraz and etc) against pace.
 
It is inevitable that he will breakdown at some point. He simply cannot be relied upon, so the answer is a resounding no.

All of this is with the convenient assumption that his belief in ghosts and black magic are mere figments of the media’s imagination.
 
Of course. He can easily replace one of the Sainted Seniors (Hafeez and Malik).
 
I am starting to lose patience with him.

His performances have not been good enough to compensate for his baggage. He is consistent, but he has shown no temperament and desire for scoring big especially in ODIs.

He is almost 30 and seems to have a lazy attitude towards the game, as his fitness shows.

His knees are dodgy and he cannot be relied upon, and all these stories of him getting spooked by ghosts etc. are not encouraging.

Imagine having a big match tomorrow and he is getting nightmares at 2 am because he saw a shadow in the hallway.

Considering the fact that we are down to the bare bones in terms of our batting resources, he cannot be discarded completely.

However, he should not be considered a permanent, indispensable member of the team either, simply because he is physically and mentally unreliable, and his performances have not been good enough to compensate for that.
 
Recent injury was an unfortunate event, didn’t he show ppl that he is from different class during the final odi against NZL where he was given the only chance in the series.

He is the best batsman pak have against pace, his injury should be well treated and managed
need to watch his fitness and diet. He was special in the last CWC and will also be special and perform well in the upcoming CWC without a shadow of doubt.

Fish never forgets how to swim, I believe Haris’ batting technique against pace is as such. Temperament and fitness are the concerns which needs to be managed professionally by PCB and team mgmt
 
Yes. He's a classy batsman and not a bad bowler either. I really hope he's fit
 
Obviously, one of our best middle order batsmen.

His fitness is an issue, but the decision to persist with him or not should be made AFTER the World Cup, not before it [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]
 
The guy is a liability. Comes across as being lazy. He is 30. Not much time on he’s side.
 
in_cutter said:
The guy is a liability. Comes across as being lazy. He is 30. Not much time on he’s side.
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30 is nothing. Can play for another half a decade if not more a la Misbah.

Picking 23 year olds and discarding 29 year olds because of a mere number is a recipe for a bad soup.
 
He was coming into his own.

Looked better currently than he did at the 2015 WC
 
Should be the second name after babar on the team sheet. Some of posters showing their agendas against him. He miles better then hafeez,Malik,sarfraz,imam. Please don't tell me he can't replace any of this trash.
 
My XI for WC would be something like this.

Fakhar
Masood
Babar
Harris
Malik
Sarfaraz
Shadab
Faheem
Amir
hassan
Afridi
 
Haris will be Imam's replacement. Had high hopes for Imam but he probably needs a bit of a break
 
Definite pick.

One of our better batsmen and more reliable than many.
 
reliable??? No He should be asked to sit home and eat popcorn.

Even if he gets picked he 'll come back mid tour with some mysterious injury... Enough of the Injury Saga... another one bites the dust for pakistan..
 
No space.
This should be the team for world cup

Shan
Fakhar
Babar
Sarfaraz
Malik
Asif
Faheem
Shadab
Amir
Hasan
Shaheen/Abbas/Junaid
 
2 guys who can bat through in the top 3, sarfaraz and Malik to feast on spin in the middle and one of the top 5 to finish with Asif and faheem at the death.
That's the optimal team in terms of batting positions
 
His fitness/injuries issues have made me less excited about him honestly. He also seems to struggle accelerating/picking up singles which wasn't as big an issue before his comeback, and doesn't seem to be the ideal LOI mold. I think he'll still be good for us in both ODIs and Tests, but I remember at one point I thought he was going to be a Great, similar talent to Babar. The fact he's only played 4 ODIs since his comeback, is pretty sad, players need to be reliable.

I think if Shan and Imam both cement their place Haris won't play. You can't fit him in and I assume both seniors will play. Plus Shan and Imam, with Babar and Fakhar in the team, Haris is just forced to low down the order at 5 which I don't think they'll want. Hafeez shouldn't have come back to international cricket, and Malik's been pretty unremarkable in 2018 and probably warrants a drop soon.

However looking at things now, I think Shan will keep his spot, and Haris will probably replace Imam. Part of the reason why Haris played so few ODIs as Imam took his place.

When the world cup comes along I'd probably prefer a top 7 of

1. Manzoor
2. Shan
3. Fakhar
4. Babar
5. Haris
6. Rizwan
7. Sarfraz
 
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ads101 said:
His fitness/injuries issues have made me less excited about him honestly. He also seems to struggle accelerating/picking up singles which wasn't as big an issue before his comeback, and doesn't seem to be the ideal LOI mold. I think he'll still be good for us in both ODIs and Tests, but I remember at one point I thought he was going to be a Great, similar talent to Babar. The fact he's only played 4 ODIs since his comeback, is pretty sad, players need to be reliable.

I think if Shan and Imam both cement their place Haris won't play. You can't fit him in and I assume both seniors will play. Plus Shan and Imam, with Babar and Fakhar in the team, Haris is just forced to low down the order at 5 which I don't think they'll want. Hafeez shouldn't have come back to international cricket, and Malik's been pretty unremarkable in 2018 and probably warrants a drop soon.

However looking at things now, I think Shan will keep his spot, and Haris will probably replace Imam. Part of the reason why Haris played so few ODIs as Imam took his place.

When the world cup comes along I'd probably prefer a top 7 of

1. Manzoor
2. Shan
3. Fakhar
4. Babar
5. Haris
6. Rizwan
7. Sarfraz
Click to expand...

Who is manzoor? Khurram Manzoor?

Rizwan and Sarfraz in the same XI?

Only 4 bowlers? lol, Sarfraz is useless at 7, you're better off with Imad at 7
 
Chokli said:
Who is manzoor? Khurram Manzoor?

Rizwan and Sarfraz in the same XI?

Only 4 bowlers? lol, Sarfraz is useless at 7, you're better off with Imad at 7
Click to expand...

Forgot about Imad, yeah he should be at 7, Sarfraz 6. I guess one of Rizwan or Manzoor is left out.

I'd like to try Khurram Manzoor out as he has a fantastic domestic record, and played as the opening partner with Shan. If anything Manzoor was the more aggressive one. And it gives a right-left handed opening pair. We need a good opening partnership, I think it'd solve a lot of our problems. One of the reason we do well in T20s is that Fakhar and Babar make a pretty good opening pair. Fakhar and Imam together doesn't fill me with hope even though Fakhar was excellent until recently (and should keep his place).

I've sort of put Rizwan there as he has been doing great in domestic, and I'm hopeful he'll get a chance in the SA ODIs as he's in the squad.
 
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Sunny_majoka said:
IN which world you think sarfraz is our no 4 batsman
Click to expand...

he averages around 60 or so at number 5...

but he was a better batsman when he wasn't captain, the pressure of captaincy has had a huge effect on his batting

i agree though, he should be dropped
 
ads101 said:
Forgot about Imad, yeah he should be at 7, Sarfraz 6. I guess one of Rizwan or Manzoor is left out.

I'd like to try Khurram Manzoor out as he has a fantastic domestic record, and played as the opening partner with Shan. If anything Manzoor was the more aggressive one. And it gives a right-left handed opening pair. We need a good opening partnership, I think it'd solve a lot of our problems. One of the reason we do well in T20s is that Fakhar and Babar make a pretty good opening pair. Fakhar and Imam together doesn't fill me with hope even though Fakhar was excellent until recently (and should keep his place).

I've sort of put Rizwan there as he has been doing great in domestic, and I'm hopeful he'll get a chance in the SA ODIs as he's in the squad.
Click to expand...

sarfraz's batting in odis ever since he became captain has been shii!t.

i'd rather have rizwan in the side and somebody else as captain.

the shii!ty thing is no one, i mean no one at all is captaincy material

i would have agreed with you on Manzoor 10 years ago but his time has passed..

will never understand why he was discarded, if only we invested in him instead of ahmed shehzad
 
Chokli said:
sarfraz's batting in odis ever since he became captain has been shii!t.

i'd rather have rizwan in the side and somebody else as captain.

the shii!ty thing is no one, i mean no one at all is captaincy material

i would have agreed with you on Manzoor 10 years ago but his time has passed..

will never understand why he was discarded, if only we invested in him instead of ahmed shehzad
Click to expand...

Not that I think Sarfaraz is the answer but did you happen to catch Rizwan’s batting in Australia when we were there last
 
Pete Rose said:
Not that I think Sarfaraz is the answer but did you happen to catch Rizwan’s batting in Australia when we were there last
Click to expand...

that was 2 years ago, he put up some great performances for pakistan a... in the same conditions pakistan was struglling
 
Chokli said:
he averages around 60 or so at number 5...

but he was a better batsman when he wasn't captain, the pressure of captaincy has had a huge effect on his batting

i agree though, he should be dropped
Click to expand...

i was his biggest supporter but apart from 2014,15, he had very mediocre record against every team
 
If hit haris has to play...one of malik or hafeez should make the way for him...
Shan
Fakhar/imam
Babar
Malik/hafeez
Rizwan
Sarfaraz
Faheem
Shadab
Aamir
Hassan
Shinwari
 
He is our most consistent batsman in the last year. Ten times better than Imam, Fakhar and Sarfraz.
 
He has poor fitness and is injury prone so would be a wasted space in the squad. There's no chance he could stay available for a full tournament. Would break down half way through the tournament and leave his replacement with no match practice.
 
Hopefully he can regain fitness. He has an important role to play if he could just stay fit. He played very well against NZ.
 
Rayyman said:
Yeah I agree with you, but Hafeez/Malik would have to perform really poorly in the upcoming series to be dropped. Which is likely because they both aren't great in South African conditions.
Click to expand...

Okay, now Malik has had a below-par series. On merit, he deserves to be dropped and replaced by Haris who has a stellar ODI record.
 
He should be in, but only after he finds a form in domestic. Can't have him in squad for finding form in world cup
 
Mamoon said:
No. He is finished.
Click to expand...

I would have one leg Harris than Malik. He should play the world cup ahead of Malik. Even If he isn't picked than pick Shan ahead of Malik.


MALIK SHOULDN'T PLAY . He is done and dusted in this format.
 
shah_1 said:
I would have one leg Harris than Malik. He should play the world cup ahead of Malik. Even If he isn't picked than pick Shan ahead of Malik.


MALIK SHOULDN'T PLAY . He is done and dusted in this format.
Click to expand...

No point in carrying a player who will inevitably break down at some point. He is simply not reliable enough because of his fitness issues.

Regardless of what people think, Malik is not going anywhere till the World Cup is over.
 
Of course he should be in. He will strengthen the bench. I dont see any better middle over batsman competing Malik and Hafeez.
P.S. Shan Masood and Abid Ali are NOT middle over batsman.
 
Mamoon said:
No point in carrying a player who will inevitably break down at some point. He is simply not reliable enough because of his fitness issues.

Regardless of what people think, Malik is not going anywhere till the World Cup is over.
Click to expand...

Its sad Malik isn't going but I'm sure we have better option than Malk. He averaged under 30 last year, doesn't look like he will improve.
 
Haris Sohail is our best batsman after Babar Azam, he is a must if we want to win the World Cup.
 
If he get’s fully fit before WC he should give 110% and then retire because I doubt he will be around for 2023(?) WC. He is one of our best batsmen and really need him in the team. He can bowl also.
 
Syed1 said:
You call this batting?
Click to expand...
The pitch does look on the slower side to be honest.

Haris does need to prove his metal here though. I think he gets rated far too highly for my liking, and I am yet to him doing anything special on the world stage.
 
Batting well so far. Slow pitch, rotating the strike is key and he has done that well.
 
Massive reservations whether his body can make it through such a long world cup competition, His batting hasnt take off at all in any format yet and is NOT an autopick for side even with loser like malik/hafeez ahead of Him.
 
Good batting today.

But this kind of strike rate will only hurt us at the world cup.

I can excuse him if the pitch was really slow.

Imam and Shaan are other two accumulators at the top, not acceptable if they cannot play at a high strike rate in ENG.
 
Amjid Javed said:
Massive reservations whether his body can make it through such a long world cup competition, His batting hasnt take off at all in any format yet and is NOT an autopick for side even with loser like malik/hafeez ahead of Him.
Click to expand...

Averages in the 40s in both ODIs and Tests. Much better than even our captain Malik in that regard. Only thing that has held him back are injuries so I find your comment puzzling.
 
Wonderful stuff by Haris Sohail! Love his consistency on every type of wicket. Give him a minefield and he will grind it out for his team. That's how he won us the Dubai test as well against AUS.

This was wasn't an easy wicket to bat on and you could see that even the in form Imam + Shan struggled. The difference between Haris and them is that he puts a price on his wicket allowing others to bat around him and build a platform for the team.

Hopefully he keeps performing and gets that nr 4 slot in the world cup. On better wickets his strike rate will be a lot better as well as this guy plays some beautiful shots.

Alongside Babar our top bat.
 
He's a touch and finesse player lacks the power game to be a great batsman he did quite well on a slower wicket but game awareness was lacking towards the end acceleration should've come sooner instead he was looking for his hundred.
 
It was good inning but could have been brilliant have he batted with bit more urgency. All the effort and we are still short atleast 20 runs
 
In response to the thread, yes but not for his batting. Bats far too slow for my liking - he's a 80-85 SR type of a batsman. His bowling overs will come handy as there is a serious dearth in Pakistan's spin talent pool.

If we can get 15 overs with the ball from him and Imad, we can add a little more batting depth. Shadab at 8 is not a solution but a mere extension of the tail with an obvious weak link in the bowling, which teams have exploited to their full advantage.
 
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I don't know why people are pointing out Haris' strike rate of 87 when he scored a century and there are bigger culprits who played slower innings.

Imam scored 17 at a strike rate of 63 and Shan scored 40 at a strike rate of 65. These are our openers and their job is to get the team to a good start! Instead, they batted at snail pace. Let's see how we get on in the remaining games but at the moment, our openers are not worthy of team selection...
 
Yes, he should be. My WC top eight (subject to change, of course):

1) Imam ul Haq
2) Fakhar Zaman
3) Babar Azam
4) Haris Sohail
5) Mohammad Hafeez/Shoaib Malik
6) Umar Akmal/Imad Wasim
7) Sarfaraz Ahmed
8) Shadab Khan

I don't think Professor/Malik will bat below six and even if he agreed to, I don't see the point in trying to make Akmal play anything other than his T20 game when his selection is based on his PSL performances. Although he did have a good List 'A' tournament too, to be fair.

If Akmal doesn't have a good outing in the remaining matches, I'd play Imad at #6 instead who has consistently shown that he can finish games off and has a solid power-game. With Sarfaraz and Shadab to follow, it is a good if unspectacular top eight, with a lot depending on one of the top four getting a hundred.

Pakistan's strength, as always, will be the bowling.
 
Brilliant innings, Haris Sohail scoring big in his comeback matches is a normal thing now.
 
ar2020 said:
Averages in the 40s in both ODIs and Tests. Much better than even our captain Malik in that regard. Only thing that has held him back are injuries so I find your comment puzzling.
Click to expand...

How are my comments puzzling? You have mentioned Injuries? So did i. Thus my reservations on his fitness.

Also if hes injured all time then clearly hes not established himself despite his nice averages.

So what exactly is baffling?

He probably would be an established star if his fitness and injuries hadnt occured but his career has been stop start.

Only stating the obvious.
 
Well done. Haters will never be happy. They think Pakistan is a batting powerhouse lol. Just be greatful for once.
 
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