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Should Pakistan reshape their squad post Asia Cup 2025?

L

lazy cricketer

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Apr 15, 2023
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Saim (still back him- can bowl a few)
Farhan
Babar
rizwan(wk) if both openers get out early, you would have Rizbaber
fakhar( hitter to send after 10th over)
Hassan Nawaz ( hitter to send after 10th over)
m nawaz ( hitter to send after 10th over)
Rana Faheem (hitter to send after 10th over)
shaheen (C)
naseem
abrar

This is the best playing XI one can play.

it such a shame we selected Talhat who should be nowhere near PCT, Agha is a player who has nothing against top teams in limited overs and both Haris are rubbish players. One is the run-leaking machine, and the other is a slogger.

In all honesty, they need to tell M. Haris to go back to the domestic league and bat at number 6 as a finisher if he can make that his number, make him play after 2 or 3 good seasons in the domestic league.
 
Having double anchor in middle is far worse than opening with one. You have effectively replaced Agha-Talat anchor for RizBar.
 
Yaar 25 crore abaadi jisse bus eik hi game ati hai, don’t we even have two proper hitters?, asking for just 2.
 
Farhan
Fakhar
Saim
Babar
Hassan Nawaz
Rizwan
Mohammad Nawaz
Faheem
Naseem
Shaheen
Abrar

Give players the license to play their shots, if we are entering a collapse we have RizBar to hold their end
 
Moving forward I would work with these 1 8players


1 Fakhar Zaman (c)
2 Shabzadha Farhan (wk)
3 Babar Azam
4 Yasir Khan
5 Maaz Sadaqat
6 Hassan Nawaz
7 Irfan Khan Niazi
8 Mohammad Nawaz
9 Abrar Ahmed
10 Mubashir Khan
11 Salman Mirza
12 Shaheen Afridi
13 Naseem Shah
14 Akif Javed
15 Abbas Afridi
16 Sufiyan Muqeem
17 Omair Bin Yousuf
18 Qasim Akram
 
prash88 said:
Having double anchor in middle is far worse than opening with one. You have effectively replaced Agha-Talat anchor for RizBar.
Click to expand...
For many teams yes, but not for a team like Pakistan. We have been suffering batting collapses since the beginning of time, and require stability more than anything.

We tried to become a 200 run team, but we don't have the 200 run players. Looking in the mirror is the most important thing here and realizing we should be scoring targeting scores in the 170-180 range. Thats possible if you can get to 110/120 in 15 overs with wickets in hand.

The Agha-Talat anchor doesn't work because they don't even 1% of the skill of either Babar or Rizwan.
 
lazy cricketer said:
Saim (still back him- can bowl a few)
Farhan
Babar
rizwan(wk) if both openers get out early, you would have Rizbaber
fakhar( hitter to send after 10th over)
Hassan Nawaz ( hitter to send after 10th over)
m nawaz ( hitter to send after 10th over)
Rana Faheem (hitter to send after 10th over)
shaheen (C)
naseem
abrar

This is the best playing XI one can play.

it such a shame we selected Talhat who should be nowhere near PCT, Agha is a player who has nothing against top teams in limited overs and both Haris are rubbish players. One is the run-leaking machine, and the other is a slogger.

In all honesty, they need to tell M. Haris to go back to the domestic league and bat at number 6 as a finisher if he can make that his number, make him play after 2 or 3 good seasons in the domestic league.
Click to expand...
Wasim Jnr in. Faheem out.
 
Batters
Fakhar
Farhaan
Babar
Hassan Nawaz
Saim
Irfan Khan

Keepers
Haris
Usman Khan

All rounders
Nawaz
Shadab
Fahim

Bowlers
Shaheen
Akif
Naseem

Spinners
Abrar
Sufiyaaan Muqeem

Mubasir
Wasim Jnr
Maaz Sadaqat
 
Nabeel23 said:
Him and Abbas Afridi should be given a chance for the 3rd seamer spot. Both are good bowlers and can wack it a bit. One of them should at least be tried against South Africa next month.
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Abbas is a pretty solid batsman, and good bowler as well, def should be getting some matches moving forward
 
Saim is a better bowler than he is batsman. That's clear as day.

He would be a great 6/7 lower order hitter and all rounder. Much like Hafeez 2.0/Afridi (on the rare occasion) or Shoaib Malik.

Farhan
Babar
Fakhar / Replacement
Agha
Hassan Nawaz
Rizwan (wk)
Saim
Mohd Nawaz
Faheem
Shaheen
Abrar

Yes - id have Babar and Rizwan back.

Rizwan > Haris. As a batter and keeper.

I don't follow PSL have no idea who the next generation are.
 
We definitely not have even a single batter in whole domestic cricket who has a high success % as a power hitter, we have to pick up some very young guys and train them to be successful power hitters.
 
We can’t develop a power hitter unless we stop playing 4 day cricket on underprepared pitches as it just takes away all the confidence from the batters and make them anxious and timid and even when they play on better pitches their confidence is just not there.
 
Farhan is pakistan's best batsman in this Asia cup by some distance. hit 9 sixes. But turns out he has one of the worst strike rate as well 116 due to his dot ball percentage. Nobody is a proper T20 batsman in any sense.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
Farhan is pakistan's best batsman in this Asia cup by some distance. hit 9 sixes. But turns out he has one of the worst strike rate as well 116 due to his dot ball percentage. Nobody is a proper T20 batsman in any sense.
Click to expand...
He scored at 150 strike rate today....even in 2nd match match against India he scored fifty at 140 strike rate...
 
lucky_fish said:
Saim is a better bowler than he is batsman. That's clear as day.

He would be a great 6/7 lower order hitter and all rounder. Much like Hafeez 2.0/Afridi (on the rare occasion) or Shoaib Malik.

Farhan
Babar
Fakhar / Replacement
Agha
Hassan Nawaz
Rizwan (wk)
Saim
Mohd Nawaz
Faheem
Shaheen
Abrar

Yes - id have Babar and Rizwan back.

Rizwan > Haris. As a batter and keeper.

I don't follow PSL have no idea who the next generation are.
Click to expand...
Saim is only feel good bowler in these uae pitches....he will travel in SENA conditions.....plus he only sticks to odi and test cricket...I would rather have babar instead of him at no 3 to be honest and asks him to play his natural game...
 
Katwalindian said:
Saim is only feel good bowler in these uae pitches....he will travel in SENA conditions.....plus he only sticks to odi and test cricket...I would rather have babar instead of him at no 3 to be honest and asks him to play his natural game...
Click to expand...
Saim needs to seriously work on his batting … and forget about his no look thing … most of his dismals just like sky came early on no look shot … batting is all about looking at the ball till the time of connection and then you can keep your head down but he got
Little arrogant on that
 
BlackstoneRock said:
Saim needs to seriously work on his batting … and forget about his no look thing … most of his dismals just like sky came early on no look shot … batting is all about looking at the ball till the time of connection and then you can keep your head down but he got
Little arrogant on that
Click to expand...
Saim will come good in 2027 world cup...no hope from him in t20 world cup on srilanka pitches
 
BlackstoneRock said:
Saim needs to seriously work on his batting … and forget about his no look thing … most of his dismals just like sky came early on no look shot … batting is all about looking at the ball till the time of connection and then you can keep your head down but he got
Little arrogant on that
Click to expand...
Sky look like finished...but he is still young....
 
Katwalindian said:
Sky look like finished...but he is still young....
Click to expand...
Yea hence he needs to keep working hard … this is the most hardest part for pak batters they start and have some amazing things early on but then stop working hard and improving their game … this is individual responsibility and not system or management as most of the legends talk about in tv fooling people … while true that issue persists at lower level but once you have made your name at highest level then it’s on you to take responsibility and build yourself
 
Yes. I think these players should be replaced from their T20 side ---> Agha, Khushdil, Haris, and Rauf.

Probably Saim too if he doesn't get his batting form back.
 
BlackstoneRock said:
Yea hence he needs to keep working hard … this is the most hardest part for pak batters they start and have some amazing things early on but then stop working hard and improving their game … this is individual responsibility and not system or management as most of the legends talk about in tv fooling people … while true that issue persists at lower level but once you have made your name at highest level then it’s on you to take responsibility and build yourself
Click to expand...
Sky… I think he is coming off from some operation I am not sure on this …he is a guy who will work to sort out things … he looks undercooked but lets see what he does next and how he prepares to develop himself … for sure he can’t just do the leg side hoic all the time and get away with it .. bowlers are aware of him what he does .. so he will have to play conventional and then mix it with his trademark shots
 
Katwalindian said:
I said in second match ge completed his fifty in 35 balls until he becomes slow when wickets starts falling....
Click to expand...
what about other matches against trundlers who did better than pacers. Hence his strike rate is 116. For someone who plays half the innings cannot have such a strike rate.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Next T-20 WC is going to be played in Sri Lanka, India. Will Mike Hesson's see ball hit ball, puljhari approach work in those conditions and against world class spinners, players? Can the present Pakistani batsmen develop their technique, abilities against spin i.e. proper defensive technique, ability to rotate strike in the middle overs against Spin? Should we decide to do away with the hacks and bring in proper technically correct batters instead?
 
1. Farhan - has finally proved that he belongs
2. Fakhar - is becoming scratchier with each passing game but in the absence of a better option he should play
3. Saim - he has what it takes just needs more confidence in his abilities. hopefully more game time will solve it
4. Babar - the stabilizer in the innings, should be called back on the team's terms and not his terms. he can act as the failsafe on days when the top three implode
5. Rizwan - simply because there is no better keeper batsman in the country at the moment.
6. Hasan Nawaz - the best power hitter we have in our ranks
7. Nawaz - he goes missing in crunch situations but still currently our best allrounder
8. Faheem - as much as i criticize him, he did well in this tournament and deserves to be selected for now
9. Abbas - brings variety, wicket taking ability and lower order depth
10. Shaheen - our best bowler
11. Abrar - should retain his place for now

12. Shafiq - might not appear suited for T20s but has the potential to surprise if he can overcome his confidence issues
13. Samad - backup for Hasan Nawaz
14. Maaz - an upgrade on Khushdil
15. Minhas - I may be wrong but I have always felt the guy has what it takes to excel at the international level
16. Haris - don't think there is any other suitable backup wicketkeeper for T20s
17. Wasim Jnr. - deserves more chances, backup for Abbas
18. Salman Mirza - done nothing wrong, should get more chances, backup for Shaheen
19. Khurram Shehzad - extremely underrated bowler who deserves more chances, backup for Abbas/Shaheen
20. Faisal - has the potential to be the frontline spinner for Pakistan
21. Sufyan - again someone who has done well and deserves more chances

Others like Shadab and Naseem should be considered if they prove their form and fitness.
The only issue I have with this team is that despite a number of senior players there is no good leader. Salman, despite his weaknesses and what he did yesterday is still a better option than both Shaheen and Babar but unfortunately is not fit to play the format. Rizwan imo is a better captain but he has other issues which don't make him a good choice. Guess we will have to settle with the least worse option in Shaheen.
 
Fakhar is outdated and agha g is not a T20 player.
Talat was always not a good selection in T20
Rauf is again not dependable at all
Remaining players are fine i guess. Just keep working on power hitting and performances.
 
You don’t need specialist anchors

Your hitters should be able to assess when is the right time to anchor if need be so.

You don’t need to specifically pick cowards like Rizwan who just need the excuse to statpad.
 
Love that everyone has the 35 averaging Naseem and the 100+ matches played fakhar who has been having strike rate of 120 recently, in the team.

Always one step forward and two steps backwards for Pakistan.
 
Pakistan need to change nothing

With the players you have, you must improve especially your game against spin.

You can’t bring in players like Shafique, Babar, Saud, Kamran Ghulam and Rizwan to deal with the issue. Nor are guys like Abdul Samad or Irfan Niazi capable players of quality spin.

It’s this lot. These players who need to step up.

You’ve got a foundation, you’ve worked hard to get where you are from where you came from. Keep it going!
 
If Abrar, Nawaz and Saim are going to be the main spinners then they must be shielded from Shadab and others who will try to politically pave their way in.

For batting, if Babar and Rizwan are going to come into contention, they must be 'told' to play in a certain manner at certain positions according to the team requirements.

PCB can be clear with Agha and respectfully drop him from the T20I squad to focus on other formats.
 
Energy said:
If Abrar, Nawaz and Saim are going to be the main spinners then they must be shielded from Shadab and others who will try to politically pave their way in.

For batting, if Babar and Rizwan are going to come into contention, they must be 'told' to play in a certain manner at certain positions according to the team requirements.

PCB can be clear with Agha and respectfully drop him from the T20I squad to focus on other formats.
Click to expand...
Exactly. If Babar and Rizwan are to come back they should come back on the team's terms and for certain roles and their performance should be judged accordingly and not in terms of absolute numbers.
 
Energy said:
If Abrar, Nawaz and Saim are going to be the main spinners then they must be shielded from Shadab and others who will try to politically pave their way in.

For batting, if Babar and Rizwan are going to come into contention, they must be 'told' to play in a certain manner at certain positions according to the team requirements.

PCB can be clear with Agha and respectfully drop him from the T20I squad to focus on other formats.
Click to expand...
Shadab will probably replace Agha, as I doubt having a specialist captain is the way to go at the moment when top sides have such strength.

We desperately need a middle order batter who can play according to the situation, we will get nowhere if we have Agha and Talat in the same line-up moving forward.

Hassan Nawaz gets all games at four starting from the South Africa series.
 
If haris is my keeper than rizwan is ghilchrist.
Rizwan was snubbed for playingslowly but I have never seen haris ever perform and add to that his keeeping is worse than Kamran Akmal.
 
Two things will happen Babar will return, and Agha will be replaced as captain by Shaheen. Mohammed Haris should be dropped as a keeper for very poor show as we were predicting before the tournament, but it is unlikely to happen as there is no ready replacement for him from new recruit sources, and allegedly Naqvi has problem with Rizwan due to some religious issue.
 
Usman Chadda said:
Shadab will probably replace Agha, as I doubt having a specialist captain is the way to go at the moment when top sides have such strength.

We desperately need a middle order batter who can play according to the situation, we will get nowhere if we have Agha and Talat in the same line-up moving forward.

Hassan Nawaz gets all games at four starting from the South Africa series.
Click to expand...
The Shadab angle is very concerning as he is often out of sorts with both bat and ball. You're right though- the PCB can just pick his name out of the hat and kick Abrar or Nawaz out.
 
Pakistan is showing signs of reaching Associate level who generally have zero bench strength. Almost most fans say this "We have no options". That is an indication Pakistan is devoid of talent. They have to persist with low strike rate players who can hit a six here and there. I don't think this team can match any of the world class batting unit. THey will have to rely on their bowling bailing them out for considerable period of time. If only Bangladesh and SL had loaded their with batsmen instead of bowlers they could have very well beaten Pakistan.
 
Former Pakistan players expressed disappointment on team's performance in Asia Cup's final yesterday:

"Disappointment is there, but I knew about the status of my own team and I knew about India's team as well." — Shahid Afridi

"These are the moments where you enter into introspection, and you must, to figure out what to do next... to see where the mistakes are happening, and they keep happening." — Ramiz Raja

"Pakistan's middle order is not good, and on top of that, if Pakistan's openers don't perform, the middle order completely collapses. A greater absent-mindedness than this cannot be seen. They have some psychological issues. They panic like this, their hands and feet swell up so much that they don't understand." — Shoaib Akhtar
 
heddie19 said:
He is the only good death bowler we have.
Click to expand...
He doesn't make the t20 team as a bowler on merit. Nor does naseem shah.
Both aren't great for t20s. Difference is Waseem doesn't really have a claim in any format. Never done enough domestically.

Abbas Afridi is the guy who should be a lock in t20s.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
No he did not. HIs strike rate was 128 in the second match. In the three matches he played against INdia his strike is 122.
Click to expand...
He did strike at 150 in final.

SR isn't an issue with Farhan (relatively speaking) because over a large sample size he has the best sr for any Pakistan batsman who averages 30 or more.
 
Marooned said:
He did strike at 150 in final.

SR isn't an issue with Farhan (relatively speaking) because over a large sample size he has the best sr for any Pakistan batsman who averages 30 or more.
Click to expand...
Farhan has faced 187 balls in this Asia cup 88 dot balls . That 47% dots. More than anyone else. Hence strike rate of 116. You cannot pick part of one innings and hype it. Even in the final he had a lot of dot balls against Dube.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
Farhan has faced 187 balls in this Asia cup 88 dot balls . That 47% dots. More than anyone else. Hence strike rate of 116. You cannot pick part of one innings and hype it. Even in the final he had a lot of dot balls against Dube.
Click to expand...
I'm talking career sr here. You are analyzing a tournament. No one with higher sr in Pakistan who average 30 or more.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
Farhan has faced 187 balls in this Asia cup 88 dot balls . That 47% dots. More than anyone else. Hence strike rate of 116. You cannot pick part of one innings and hype it. Even in the final he had a lot of dot balls against Dube.
Click to expand...
And wdym "one part" of innings? His final innings sr was 150. 57(38) ie. 150.
 
Farhan and Fakhar did well as an opening pair. No need to break that combo just yet.
 
AZulfi said:
Farhan and Fakhar did well as an opening pair. No need to break that combo just yet.
Click to expand...
Fakhar should rest now and let a few younger players get tried till December at least. Pakistan have a lot of T20Is coming up, so let's see if we can find one or two good players.

Conditions in Sri Lanka will be more difficult compared to the UAE.
 
Usman Chadda said:
Fakhar should rest now and let a few younger players get tried till December at least. Pakistan have a lot of T20Is coming up, so let's see if we can find one or two good players.

Conditions in Sri Lanka will be more difficult compared to the UAE.
Click to expand...

Fakhar gets a lot of leeway just because he can hit a few sixes. The reality is that he has lived off his performances from 2017 to 2019 for a long time. For someone who has played for a good 10 years for Pakistan, he is a highly inconsistent and unreliable player and you don't know which Fakhar will turn up.

Based on my observation of him, his best days are behind him, he can't rotate strike and relies on the big hits to bail him out, that will work against subpar opposition but not against quality teams. His record on slow sluggish wickets is terrible. Pakistan needs to plan to phase him out.
 
Rana said:
You don’t need specialist anchors

Your hitters should be able to assess when is the right time to anchor if need be so.

You don’t need to specifically pick cowards like Rizwan who just need the excuse to statpad.
Click to expand...
Babar is fine if he can take his ego aside and play at 3 or no 4

pakistan would be better off if it had better hitters but currently no such dynamic players in pak circuit so better to play babar for stability
rizwan is no no
 
Savak said:
Fakhar gets a lot of leeway just because he can hit a few sixes. The reality is that he has lived off his performances from 2017 to 2019 for a long time. For someone who has played for a good 10 years for Pakistan, he is a highly inconsistent and unreliable player and you don't know which Fakhar will turn up.

Based on my observation of him, his best days are behind him, he can't rotate strike and relies on the big hits to bail him out, that will work against subpar opposition but not against quality teams. His record on slow sluggish wickets is terrible. Pakistan needs to plan to phase him out.
Click to expand...
Yes, which is why we should try a lot of options going forward into December-January.

We need replacements and playing the same guys in meaningless bilateral T20Is will be foolish.
 
Saim has to go and I’d rather he recover form and come back as opener instead to tolerating him failing in middle overs. Fakhar not convinced by, but keep for now, Farhan has less pressure with a partner at least scoring runs.

I’d take Babar back at 3. We need some guys with experience and scoring runs now. This line up is just to brittle. If anything youngsters have more chance performing around a settled line up than a weak one as they have to absorb the pressure themselves.

Would keep Rauf. One bad match doesn’t just change that he usually performs. His overall stats speak for themselves. He even performed better against India before the final. That was a bad day. On the other side I’d drop Faheem (or have him rotate with Nawaz depending on conditions), as one good match doesn’t change things much overall. I’d get in Abbas Afridi instead who makes the bowling attack stronger.

Haris’s keeping was horrible and he’s not a great bat. I think he should have been left lower order, trying to promote him just ruined our order. I have been ok playing him as a keeper who slog down the order. He doesn’t need to carry the line up with his batting. But keeping is bad. He needs to improve. I don’t mind playing him at 6/7 down the order, or getting someone new who plays there too. But if his keeping continues to be bad he’s got to be replaced with someone new, maybe nafay or someone. And most importantly we’ve got to stop promoting him when we are trying to develop better batsmen than him.


1. Farhan
2. Fakhar
3. Babar
4. Hasan Nawaz
5. Irfan niazi wasn’t too bad, bit surprised he was dropped. If not I guess talat could be given a few more chances.
6. Haris
7. Nawaz
8. Shaheen (c)
9. Rauf
10. Abrar
11. Abbas Afridi
 
ads101 said:
Saim has to go and I’d rather he recover form and come back as opener instead to tolerating him failing in middle overs. Fakhar not convinced by, but keep for now, Farhan has less pressure with a partner at least scoring runs.

I’d take Babar back at 3. We need some guys with experience and scoring runs now. This line up is just to brittle. If anything youngsters have more chance performing around a settled line up than a weak one as they have to absorb the pressure themselves.

Would keep Rauf. One bad match doesn’t just change that he usually performs. His overall stats speak for themselves. He even performed better against India before the final. That was a bad day. On the other side I’d drop Faheem (or have him rotate with Nawaz depending on conditions), as one good match doesn’t change things much overall. I’d get in Abbas Afridi instead who makes the bowling attack stronger.

Haris’s keeping was horrible and he’s not a great bat. I think he should have been left lower order, trying to promote him just ruined our order. I have been ok playing him as a keeper who slog down the order. He doesn’t need to carry the line up with his batting. But keeping is bad. He needs to improve. I don’t mind playing him at 6/7 down the order, or getting someone new who plays there too. But if his keeping continues to be bad he’s got to be replaced with someone new, maybe nafay or someone. And most importantly we’ve got to stop promoting him when we are trying to develop better batsmen than him.


1. Farhan
2. Fakhar
3. Babar
4. Hasan Nawaz
5. Irfan niazi wasn’t too bad, bit surprised he was dropped. If not I guess talat could be given a few more chances.
6. Haris
7. Nawaz
8. Shaheen (c)
9. Rauf
10. Abrar
11. Abbas Afridi
Click to expand...

Rauf has lost 4 high profile T-20 games.

1) Australia 2021 T20 WC SF
2) India Asia Cup 2021 T20 games
3) India 2022 T20 WC game
4) USA 2024 T20 WC game
5) India Asia Cup 2025 T20 Final

He was Pakistan's most expensive bowler in the ODI WC in India in 2023 and was the biggest factor behind our failed campaign with his spray gun expensive bowling.

How many chances are we going to keep giving him? Is this fair to the other bowlers in our domestic system?
 
Pakistan is not winning 2026 world T20 with this squad. THey better pray they get some spining tracks to compete with big teams. If it is batting track this unit will be knocked senseless by other big teams. So they have to prepare for 2028 world cup now.Pakistan mad too many changes at the same time and they are in no return stage. Ideally they should have picked the squad and captain not the other way around
 
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