Should Pakistan play four pacers in the second Test against South Africa?

[barah_admi]

Why not? If abbas is fit we have all the variety available. Amir and shaheen with left arm pace and swing, the latter with good bounce. Hasan with good pace of his own and away swing with reverse later on and then the control of abbas.

The only issue is, if shadab is fit doe she play? And should faheem also be included?

 

[Junaids]

I think so.

Cape Town is the only ground where Yasir Shah might take wickets, but I can’t see any justification for preferring him to a Fourth quick.

The meltdown in Sarfraz’s batting costs Pakistan dear here. I’d prefer to see him “rested” with a line-up if:

6. Rizwan (wk)
7. Shadab
8. Faheem
9. Amir
10. Abbas
11. Shaheen

 

[Wristy_Shuffler]

I think SA playing 4 pacers says more about what they think about Pakistan's batting against pace rather than what they think the Cape Town pitch will be like.

Pakistan could play a spinner, maybe even 2 as Shadab and Yasir are both quality and I'm very skeptical of the current SA side's ability to play qualiy leg spin BUT.....for them to be effective, the Pakistani batting has to make sure the match actually goes in to day 4 and beyond at least. It's about as hot as it's gonna be in Cape Town during this tour so maybe with the grass drying, the pitch may crumble.

In the first innings even, I can see Shadab being able to control runs on one end to allow pacers to rest but maybe not Yasir.

But even then, if Hasan Ali plays instead and the pitch has some dryness, then I think he's the best exponent of reverse swing in this line-up so even playing 4 seamers won't be such a bad idea but it all hinges on the batting stepping up.

Mickey Arthur should be having a good look at the pitch and thinking hard about the role spin could play.

 

[Fahdi]

Depends on the pitch. Last time at Cape Town Saeed Ajmal took 10 wickets and at the end of the match people were saying that we should have played Abdul Rehman as well and gone with 2 spinners. So unless the pitch is very different from usual it may be a good idea to stick with Yasir. We can have a 4 pacer attack for the last test.

 

[topspin]

Need a spinner Cape Town but we can ill afford to play Yasir given that the tail starts at 7 in the batting order. If it isn't a typical Cape Town wicket but more supportive for pacers then play Faheem instead of Shadab.

Imam
Azhar Ali
Shan Masood
Haris Sohail
Babar
Fakhar
Shadab (or Faheem)
Sarfraz (isn't going to be replaced yet unfortunately)
Amir
Abbas
Shaheen

 

[Hasan123]

If the pitch won't favour Yasir , 4 pacers is the way to go.

 

[stevewittry]

Why not? If abbas is fit we have all the variety available. Amir and shaheen with left arm pace and swing, the latter with good bounce. Hasan with good pace of his own and away swing with reverse later on and then the control of abbas.

The only issue is, if shadab is fit doe she play? And should faheem also be included?

PTC should beware of packing your side with fast bowlers and leaving out spin bowling action. They can meet the same fate as their Indian counterparts in Perth. Pitches these days tend assist spin and if they have quality spinners in Yasir, Shahdab and Bilal, why not play one of them ? They can hold one end up and keep the fast bowlers fresh.

Picking 4 printed pace attack will make this attack one dimensional and if the pitch turns out to be flat as Perth, the fast bowlers would be rendered toothless.

 

[barah_admi]

I think SA playing 4 pacers says more about what they think about Pakistan's batting against pace rather than what they think the Cape Town pitch will be like.

Pakistan could play a spinner, maybe even 2 as Shadab and Yasir are both quality and I'm very skeptical of the current SA side's ability to play qualiy leg spin BUT.....for them to be effective, the Pakistani batting has to make sure the match actually goes in to day 4 and beyond at least. It's about as hot as it's gonna be in Cape Town during this tour so maybe with the grass drying, the pitch may crumble.

In the first innings even, I can see Shadab being able to control runs on one end to allow pacers to rest but maybe not Yasir.

But even then, if Hasan Ali plays instead and the pitch has some dryness, then I think he's the best exponent of reverse swing in this line-up so even playing 4 seamers won't be such a bad idea but it all hinges on the batting stepping up.

Mickey Arthur should be having a good look at the pitch and thinking hard about the role spin could play.

Depends on the pitch. Last time at Cape Town Saeed Ajmal took 10 wickets and at the end of the match people were saying that we should have played Abdul Rehman as well and gone with 2 spinners. So unless the pitch is very different from usual it may be a good idea to stick with Yasir. We can have a 4 pacer attack for the last test.

PTC should beware of packing your side with fast bowlers and leaving out spin bowling action. They can meet the same fate as their Indian counterparts in Perth. Pitches these days tend assist spin and if they have quality spinners in Yasir, Shahdab and Bilal, why not play one of them ? They can hold one end up and keep the fast bowlers fresh.

Picking 4 printed pace attack will make this attack one dimensional and if the pitch turns out to be flat as Perth, the fast bowlers would be rendered toothless.

I am all for playinthe spinner, maybe even two with Shadab knuckling down at 6 with the bat. The problem is, the batting from the recognised batsmen is so weak, I don't know how to set it all up...a risky but possibly effective set up would be:

Imam
Azhar c
Haris
Babar
Rizwan wk
Shadab
Faheem
Amir
Shah
Shaheen
Abbas

 

[mastersaan10]

How are people Dropping Shan, he looked the best batsman from the whole test last match .

 

[barah_admi]

How are people Dropping Shan, he looked the best batsman from the whole test last match .

Its only to make way for Haris, as Azhar is established and can still come good. Imam as an opener has done well in parts and deserves a place also.