Should Saud Shakeel be made Pakistan's all format captain?

[mominsaigol]

Recently Saud Shakeel has been named the VC of test and is currently leading pakistan shaheens.

The question that we should be asking is if he's the right call? And if he is, Should he be made Pakistan's all format captain?

Let's look at the options so far

1) Babar Azam

While on Paper Babar Azam's performance in bilaterals looks good with Pakistan winning consequective odi and test series under him, most of these series were against C sides.

Babar has led Pakistan to 5 tournaments failures in a row with his latest tournament failure probably being the most notable one with USA knocking Pakistan out before they could even progress to Super 8's.

On top of which he has completely collapsed the t20 side to where pakistan has lost its no 1 ranking and it's freqent winning streak from 2018.

It's clear as day Babar is not the right fit as a captain and he peaked in 2021(in terms of captaincy) with good wins against NZ and India ending the moqa moqa campaign.

2) Shan Masood

On paper Shan seems fine, He's educated, Speaks and Conducts himself well on the media which brings respect and dignity towards the side and is a stark contrast from how Babar Azam usually conducts himself aka " We lost to Ireland because they attacked us"

Shan also captained pretty well against Australia. He made good fielding decisions especially against Travis Head, He doesn't burn reviews left and right and he manages to get a correct drs review on Marsh.

Usually pakistan burns reviews left and right but Shan didn't and correctly identified that Marsh had knicked it.

However the Issue with Shan is that he himself does not warrant a place in the squad, His batting is so poor that he leaves Pakistan to play with 10 players. Ontop of which his captaincy record with Karachi Kings and losing 3-0 to Australia isn't stellar by any metric.

The question is, How long should Shan be given a stint for? He should not be removed after just one stint but how long can pakistan afford to play with his 10 players?

3) Shadab Khan

Only putting him here because he won PSL. Basically if you want a captain whos even worse then Shan with the bat and is also a run machine with the ball, he's your man.

4) Shaheen Shah Afridi

Again captaincy was wrongfully taken from him. I am not a Shaheen Shah Afridi fan by any metric, I personally believe his own form atm is poor, He's injury prone and he's too immature to be a captain, But

When a captain is made, you don't drop them after one series Plain and simple. Plus he captained LQ extremly well so he has some experience.

5) Muhammad Rizwan

I'm actually shocked this hasn't happened yet as I was sure Rizwan would have been captain post 2023 wc. But regardless, Rizwan has experience captaining SNGPL and has captained MS to one PSL victory.

Would you guys like to see Rizwan captaining the international circuit?

Last but not least let's talk about Saud Shakeel himself?

Saud has made a name for himself ever since he scored that double hundred in the sri lankan test series and his free flow style has inpressed selectors enough to warrant the VC position. Personally I find him a much more suitable option then the rest to captain in all formats.

 

[sweep_shot]

Not a bad idea. Worth a try.

I think Fakhar or Saud should be the captain.

 

[mominsaigol]

Not a bad idea. Worth a try.

I think Fakhar or Saud should be the captain.

Not fakhar.

Pakistan keeps making the mistake of Assuming your best batsmen or your most marketable batter should become the next captain.

Fakhar when onsong may be the best opening batter Pakistan has had since Saeed Anwar, but he's a terrible captain. He ruined LQ completely. In terms of field settings, Making decisions under pressure, DRS reviews, picking and choosing which bowlers to bowl to which batsmen amd plucking from his 11, He's garbage at it.

He should just remain as Pakistan's priemere opener in all formats even Red ball and that would have been the case had Misbah not shoved himself into cricket.

It's the same with saeed Anwar, Saeed Anwar may have been Pakistan's greatest batsmen but you can tell from a mile away he'd make a crapola captain if ever selected for it.

As for Saud, Saud is a great choice for Test 100%. I'm just not sure on whiteball. He has captaincy experience but he's way way way too relaxed as a captain and as an individual which is an issue for white ball, it solves the multiple captaincy dilemma, Since saud can easily become an all format player

 

[AAli98]

Anything’s better than the 2 current pathetic captains.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Looks a bit early in his career

 

[RidiculousMan]

Looks a bit early in his career

But age wise it's alright. Better than making him a VC when he turns 30+. Also he has experience as a captain in domestic, unlike Babar.

EDIT: I realized you were talking about all format captain. Then I agree with you. It's a bit early in his career as a player.

 

[adil_909]

First and foremost, captain needs to be an automatic selection based on merit and their own performance. Can't have a captain who is out of form and dragging the team down. Very few players fit this basic qualification. I would be in favor of Rizwan. He is the best WK in Pakistan and bats well. Let him captain for a year or two and see what happens.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Let Shan captain in the longer formats for time being. He gets along with everyone. Is tactically the better amongst all options. His only problem is his lack of performance. If he can manufacture a purple patch for himself for a year or two, it would benefit Pak Cricket in helping identify and groom a new captain.
Saud may be a good option in future but he he's only had his first taste of test cricket outside Asia. Let him master batting first up then we can think about handing him the captaincy. In addition, Saud also does not merit a place in t20i team either yet. What is good about him is he yearns for challenges and is willing to improve.

As much as I like Rizwan and rate his batting and wicketkeeping prowess, handing him captaincy will mean one set of players getting more favor than the others.

 

[mon858]

if we were truly doing a major surgery (stuff like dropping seniors like Rizwan, Babar, Shaheen even from t20 for some time at least) and bringing in majority new folks from A team, etc., then maybe.

But otherwise, this would be a too risky, as he isn't a starting member in t20 to begin with, a bit early in his ODI career, and not yet proven to do good in tests in SENA.

Hence, I think what they are doing now is just fine, let him be groomed a bit more, giving him confidence, and if he can also get played in all formats, and perhaps VC in those, then he could be the future captain.

At the moment. No.

 

[ads101]

Let Shan captain in the longer formats for time being. He gets along with everyone. Is tactically the better amongst all options. His only problem is his lack of performance. If he can manufacture a purple patch for himself for a year or two, it would benefit Pak Cricket in helping identify and groom a new captain.
Saud may be a good option in future but he he's only had his first taste of test cricket outside Asia. Let him master batting first up then we can think about handing him the captaincy. In addition, Saud also does not merit a place in t20i team either yet. What is good about him is he yearns for challenges and is willing to improve.

As much as I like Rizwan and rate his batting and wicketkeeping prowess, handing him captaincy will mean one set of players getting more favor than the others.

I agree with this. I’d just make Shan captain. I like Rizwan but the fan base is just going to get divided over it. Shan did surprisingly well in Australia even as a batsman too.

I think he did a good job captaining against Australia, we were going to lose 3-0 regardless so I wouldn’t take the result too closely as a reflection on his captaincy. Karachi Kings he did pretty well too, their squad was by far the weakest and yet they nearly qualified in his first year and didn’t get finish last. I’ve seen Karachi kings absolutely stacked with international stars and yet finish bottom. So you can’t exactly blame him. It’ll be interesting to see if Karachi will improve over time if they are able to strengthen that squad.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

not a bad Idea!

He is the one who can play in all three formats right now and has the ability to lead the team confidently but let's see how things go for him during his captaincy of the Pakistan Shaheens.

 

[Justcrazy]

He can be tried but the main question is can he handle it and will his batting suffer?

 

[Cricket Warrior]

He can be tried but the main question is can he handle it and will his batting suffer?

its all about handling the pressure and i think he will handle effectively because he already has the experience of captaincy at the junior level.

 

[Justcrazy]

its all about handling the pressure and i think he will handle effectively because he already has the experience of captaincy at the junior level.

We will know once we put him in that situation.

 

[Rana]

Reports he is going to captain Quetta Gladiators in PSL 10.

Good decision. I want Aamer Jamal as captain of Peshawar Zalmi.

Time to move on with Rizwan too as captain of Multan.

 

[RidiculousMan]

Reports he is going to captain Quetta Gladiators in PSL 10.

Good decision. I want Aamer Jamal as captain of Peshawar Zalmi.

Time to move on with Rizwan too as captain of Multan.

I also hope that Mohammad Harris moves on from PZ if he is not going to open.

 

[Rana]

I also hope that Mohammad Harris moves on from PZ if he is not going to open.

Yeah he should either be skipper at Karachi Kings or Multan Sultans

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Yeah he should either be skipper at Karachi Kings or Multan Sultans

as a karachiiet i would love to see him playing for Karachi

 

[Bewal Express]

Yes for Tests. Shaan is a stop gap unless he has an Indian summer, i dont see much cone from it. Saud has become very good on PK tracks and also in slow turners in SL. His stance caused problems in Australia but as we don't go to Australia very often, that is irrelevant at this stage.

 

[MSHKing]

Why don't we make Abdullah Shafiq captain in ODI

 

[Bewal Express]

Why don't we make Abdullah Shafiq captain in ODI

Not good enough as a batsman.

 

[mominsaigol]

Why don't we make Abdullah Shafiq captain in ODI

A few reasons.

1) He's a part of the Bobby friends group, Granted he's the most talented member of the group and isn't a bad player however as captain he'll more or less be the same or even worse then bobby. He'll adopt the same fundamentals and just like bobby, Dude has 0 captaincy experience.

2) He's immature by default

 

[Rana]

Why don't we make Abdullah Shafiq captain in ODI

He will be another Babar Azam. They shouldn’t repeat the mistake

 

[mominsaigol]

He will be another Babar Azam. They shouldn’t repeat the mistake

People forget that Abdullah shafiq despite playing only 7 list A games was fast tracked as Pakistan's priemere opener in world cups over Fakhar Zaman lol.

Mainly because he's a SNGPL opener and rizzu introduced him to Bobby.

Although tbf I still back Abdullah shafiq as a test and odi batter. He should stay away from t20 though.

 

[RidiculousMan]

He will be another Babar Azam. They shouldn’t repeat the mistake

He already has a match winning double hundred in Test Cricket at Galle in a chase. Something Babar can only dream of.

Abdullah's temperament has proven better. Although if he remains under the company of Babar then he'll surely get effected.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

I prefer separate test and LOI captain for now. Especially with two different coaches.

Keep Shan as test captain for now. LOI captaincy could go to Saud yea

 

[mominsaigol]

He already has a match winning double hundred in Test Cricket at Galle in a chase. Something Babar can only dream of.

Abdullah's temperament has proven better. Although if he remains under the company of Babar then he'll surely get effected.

Saud's double 100 was superior.

No one denies Abdullah as a batter. I back Abdullah for Test and odi, This is about captaincy though. His temperament while batting is useless in terms of captaincy when he has very few List A and FC games to begin qith before being fast tracked thanks to SNGPL connections.

Saud has actual captaincy experience.

Your best batters don't always make good captains. It's why saeed Anwar was never given captaincy, he'd be a terrible captain considering he never showed up even for basic fitness meetings. In the same way fakhar despite being our greatest odi batter, He'd make a garbo captain.

Abdullah is also gonna make a garbo captain lol for obvious reasons because

A) He'll select his favourites

B) Due to lack of experience He'll be clueless on the field and ask advice from Babar lol.

C) He'll burn DRS reviews left and right similar to how he and Imam burn them while their batting

 

[BouncerGuy]

If PCB is serious about grooming this guy, then he will be test captain for sure but ODI and t20s are not yet anywhere near him.

His place is Odi team is very dodgy that is why. Otherwise he can be a good captain. Lets see how he performs against Bangladesh A as a captain

 

[mominsaigol]

If PCB is serious about grooming this guy, then he will be test captain for sure but ODI and t20s are not yet anywhere near him.

His place is Odi team is very dodgy that is why. Otherwise he can be a good captain. Lets see how he performs against Bangladesh A as a captain

His place isn't dodgy in ODI. PCB didn't give this guy any games and decided out of the blue to replace agha with him because rizwan ensured that both saud and Agha can't play side by side.

You sent a new guy to get slaughtered at no 5, because Pakistan didn't give him any backing, They expected him to play quickfire 30's while babar and rizwan eat up overs.

Either that or he's expected to come in collapsed positions. The England, Australia and specifically India and Afghanistan game are the biggest guilty party games of how Babar and rizwan played. Fakhar zaman exposed these 2 frauds really badly.

It doesn't take a genuis to figure out that Saud is a better batsmen then Rizwan and is an actual successor to Haris sohail who was our 2nd best batsmen(after fakhar) before his knee injury

 

[BouncerGuy]

They expected him to play quickfire 30's while babar and rizwan eat up overs.

Babar, rizwan, and Saud all have the same strike rate in ODIs so NO, Saud was not playing any quickfire 30s innings. Maybe you are talking about PSL but I am talking about ODI and Test captaincy and said place in the Test is 100% justified but in ODI (15 odis, 28 average, and 89 strike rate for him till now), he is still new so we should wait.

 

[mominsaigol]

Babar, rizwan, and Saud all have the same strike rate in ODIs so NO, Saud was not playing any quickfire 30s innings. Maybe you are talking about PSL but I am talking about ODI and Test captaincy and said place in the Test is 100% justified but in ODI (15 odis, 28 average, and 89 strike rate for him till now), he is still new so we should wait.

That is not true at all, Sr's are interlinked to averages.

Babar and rizwan have a very high average but lower SR meaning they've been consistently playing at a lower end.

Saud has an average of 28 and a sr of 90, His sr is low because the games he failed impacted his sr causing it to drop.

He was 100% asked to make quick fire 30's and 40's because 90% of the time he'd get sent in the 35th.

On occasion they sent chacha and Shadab ahead of him while he batted at 6 In the tournament lol.

In the warmup games deapite facing crapola bowling he had the highest SR ampung any batter which included Babar and rizwan despite the 2 of them performing and padding even in a warmup game.

Babar and Rizwan averaging 40+ and 89 in odi isn't bad by any metric but their SR's plummet in tournaments because their facing high quality opposition, Whereas Saud has a sr of 90 while only facing high quality opposition since majority of his games are from the wc and that too it's slightly lower due to him failing against said quality opposition.

This whole Avg and SR is such a scam since Babar and Rizwan in actuality average 30-35 and have sr around 75 to 80 range lol

 

[CerebralPatriot]

Absolutely.

In terms of mentality, tactics and overall understanding of the game, Saud is easily ahead of the rest of the pack.

I think it is important to remember that most of Saud's upbringing in domestic cricket was under the tutelage of Sarfraz and as such he will follow a similar approach to Saifi. Even if he is only 50% the leader that Sarfaraz was, that easily makes him a better option than Babar Azam by ten fold and Mohammad Rizwan by one hundred fold.

I do like Shan however the critiques of him are valid and if he does not step up with the bat than he must go and be replaced by someone like Saim or Shajreel.

The other advantage of Saud is he has experience captaining the Sindh domestic team so he would be familiar with the best players from that region and as such the best players that can represent Pakistan. Hopefully him as captain and Sarfraz as coach (never say never) can take Pakistan forward .

 

[mominsaigol]

Absolutely.

In terms of mentality, tactics and overall understanding of the game, Saud is easily ahead of the rest of the pack.

I think it is important to remember that most of Saud's upbringing in domestic cricket was under the tutelage of Sarfraz and as such he will follow a similar approach to Saifi. Even if he is only 50% the leader that Sarfaraz was, that easily makes him a better option than Babar Azam by ten fold and Mohammad Rizwan by one hundred fold.

I do like Shan however the critiques of him are valid and if he does not step up with the bat than he must go and be replaced by someone like Saim or Shajreel.

The other advantage of Saud is he has experience captaining the Sindh domestic team so he would be familiar with the best players from that region and as such the best players that can represent Pakistan. Hopefully him as captain and Sarfraz as coach (never say never) can take Pakistan forward .

Saud would be a better test captain then sarfi.

Sarfi is still a better white ball captain. Saud is a bit too relaxed for whiteball.

However I'd rather have a sane individual who can conduct himself well, play all formats for pakistan and has no allegiance to any trash SNGPL members and hence won't bias their crapola selections.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Not an all-format captain but yeah surely in Tests and 50-50 in ODIs. Not gonna say that he is anywhere near t20s atm.

 

[mominsaigol]

Not an all-format captain but yeah surely in Tests and 50-50 in ODIs. Not gonna say that he is anywhere near t20s atm.

Problem is the t20 situation is so bad, Pakistan doesn't have many options left.

The people who are aggressive excluding fakhar and maybe Shabzada farhan(who should be given a go), the rest are all blind bloggers who can't last for more then 3 to 4 deliveries.

Better to just wing it and try tayyab tahir, Abdullah shafiq, Saud shakeel in this format and ask them to improve SR.

I'm sure no one would have any issues with bobby and rizzu if they god damn actually tried to improve their SR.

 

[CerebralPatriot]

Saud would be a better test captain then sarfi.

Sarfi is still a better white ball captain. Saud is a bit too relaxed for whiteball.

However I'd rather have a sane individual who can conduct himself well, play all formats for pakistan and has no allegiance to any trash SNGPL members and hence won't bias their crapola selections.

I don't think he will be a better captain based off his tactics but in terms of results he definitely can be

I think Shan will continue to be captain for at 1.5-2 years. I know you don't like him as a player but if he can do a good job in rebuilding the team and destroying the Babar-Misbah-KP nexus than Saud can potentially inherit a top class team. Such a team will make life much easier for Saud compared to Saifi who was stuck with inheriting a team destroyed by the influence of Misbah

Hopefully this is the team he inherits:
1. Saim
2. Nafay
3. Omair Bin Yusuf
4. Saud
5. Mubasir Khan
6. Saad Khan
7. Saad Baig
8. Aamir Jamal/Danish Aziz
9. Mir Hamza
10. Naseem Shah
11. Abrar Ahmed

 

[mominsaigol]

I don't think he will be a better captain based off his tactics but in terms of results he definitely can be

I think Shan will continue to be captain for at 1.5-2 years. I know you don't like him as a player but if he can do a good job in rebuilding the team and destroying the Babar-Misbah-KP nexus than Saud can potentially inherit a top class team. Such a team will make life much easier for Saud compared to Saifi who was stuck with inheriting a team destroyed by the influence of Misbah

Hopefully this is the team he inherits:
1. Saim
2. Nafay
3. Omair Bin Yusuf
4. Saud
5. Mubasir Khan
6. Saad Khan
7. Saad Baig
8. Aamir Jamal/Danish Aziz
9. Mir Hamza
10. Naseem Shah
11. Abrar Ahmed

Shan is not going to rebuild the team in any capacity.

What people don't understand is that Good captaincy isn't just about making onfield decisions and taking drs reviews.

Misbah was a great onfield captain but he's hated as a leader.

Shan may be better in terms of onfield captaincy, utilising his resources that he has on hand and taking drs, For example he quickly picked up the fact that the batsmen had knicked it and decided to review it while bobby and rizzu would have just randomly taken reviews anytime the bowler shouts like a maniac.

To be a good captain you also need to be a good leader and build an actual team. Shan can't do that and simply won't.

Sarfraz and YK could actually build teams, they gelled ego's together. Under sarfraz Haris sohail improved as a batsmen whereas Under Misbah haris sohail was medicore and that's because Sarfraz Marketed Haris sohail as Pakistan's priemere MO batsmen which is why he gained confidence.

Similarly he was able to put away Hafeez's ego aside and let go of opening something Misbah couldn't do, infact Misbah endorsed Hafeez opening or batting at 3 even though hafeez can't read early swing and seam.

He was also able to establish a seniority culture where people actually respected their seniors like malik and their wasn't any social media drama nor was anyone fighting for their positions as everyone had a clear role.

Shan can't do any of what Sarfi, YK or Imran Khan could do.

Being a good captain =/= being a good leader/team leader.

 

[CerebralPatriot]

Shan is not going to rebuild the team in any capacity.

What people don't understand is that Good captaincy isn't just about making onfield decisions and taking drs reviews.

Misbah was a great onfield captain but he's hated as a leader.

Shan may be better in terms of onfield captaincy, utilising his resources that he has on hand and taking drs, For example he quickly picked up the fact that the batsmen had knicked it and decided to review it while bobby and rizzu would have just randomly taken reviews anytime the bowler shouts like a maniac.

To be a good captain you also need to be a good leader and build an actual team. Shan can't do that and simply won't.

Sarfraz and YK could actually build teams, they gelled ego's together. Under sarfraz Haris sohail improved as a batsmen whereas Under Misbah haris sohail was medicore and that's because Sarfraz Marketed Haris sohail as Pakistan's priemere MO batsmen which is why he gained confidence.

Similarly he was able to put away Hafeez's ego aside and let go of opening something Misbah couldn't do, infact Misbah endorsed Hafeez opening or batting at 3 even though hafeez can't read early swing and seam.

He was also able to establish a seniority culture where people actually respected their seniors like malik and their wasn't any social media drama nor was anyone fighting for their positions as everyone had a clear role.

Shan can't do any of what Sarfi, YK or Imran Khan could do.

Being a good captain =/= being a good leader/team leader.

Disagree

Shan as captain was able to ensure we were competitive in Australia despite the fact that we had a very inexperienced bowling line up led by Shaheen who doesn't even deserve to be in the test team



We were able to bowl out Australia in both Melbourne and Sydney, something which we hadn't done since 2010 and that is with a line up consisting of Shaheen, Hassan Ali (both are useless), Aamir Jamal (his first test series) and Mir Hamza (the only good one from the lot).

We could have probably one that series if it wasn't for Abdullah's butter fingers and Rizwan's inability to play under pressure

Now moving onto the Bangladesh series and already he has axed both Imam and Hassan Ali, something no other captain had done for the last 4 years. Furthermore he kept Saifi in the team despite the fact that most commenters wanted him out so that obviously shows a semblance of loyalty as well as an understanding that he is still required in the team - a correct assessment imo

Finally the appointment of Saud as VC again shows that Shan understands who are the right players for the right job

 

[mominsaigol]

Disagree

Shan as captain was able to ensure we were competitive in Australia despite the fact that we had a very inexperienced bowling line up led by Shaheen who doesn't even deserve to be in the test team



We were able to bowl out Australia in both Melbourne and Sydney, something which we hadn't done since 2010 and that is with a line up consisting of Shaheen, Hassan Ali (both are useless), Aamir Jamal (his first test series) and Mir Hamza (the only good one from the lot).

We could have probably one that series if it wasn't for Abdullah's butter fingers and Rizwan's inability to play under pressure

Now moving onto the Bangladesh series and already he has axed both Imam and Hassan Ali, something no other captain had done for the last 4 years. Furthermore he kept Saifi in the team despite the fact that most commenters wanted him out so that obviously shows a semblance of loyalty as well as an understanding that he is still required in the team - a correct assessment imo

Finally the appointment of Saud as VC again shows that Shan understands who are the right players for the right job

That's fair.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Well someone rightly pointed out here that he still may be in the nascent stage of his career but age wise he is mature one to be a captain
So nothing bad in giving such talented lads a try.

 

[mominsaigol]

The reason why I advocate for Saud is a for a few reasons.

1) He is willing to play at any no for his team, He doesn't care about specific no's. Before he was told to bat at no 5/no 6 for pakistan he had only hit one six in his international career and he barely hit any in domestic.

But to adjust to his new role, He massively massively improved his six hitting ability, In just a few weeks he already was better at six hitting then both Babar and rizwan in the world cup and in psl.

2) He wasnt made opener in PSL because he cried about it, He was made an opener because the captain, Riley Roussoue wanted it.

Saud during his MOM moment in psl, didn't do a bhrangra, infact he spoke about how dissapointed he was, because even though he batted till the end, he was not able to finish the game and forced a newbie batsmen to hit 4 of the last ball. QG got lucky however Saud vowed that he would not let it happen again and would take it to the end.

^^ Unlike babar and rizwan, Saud has never blamed his team, nor has he boasted about himself, he doesn't even complain or whine about positions and looks to improve accordingly.

Infact that only time I saw saud celebrating immensely was when he hit a 200 in test and that was a well earned celebration.

This guy is mature, Plays for the crest on his chest and doesn't play the blame game.

Meanwhile Rizzu on social media is playing blame games towards his team 24/7 and babar just doesn't give a kahoot about his team, only himself and his favourite positions.