Six years of bad investment in Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali?

[Hawkeye]

Probably no one else in our history has been given such a nonstop consistent run in the Test side.

The entire team has been comfortably scoring in the UAE.

And our expectation was that with these 2, and their relatively quicker reflexes plus better technique, they'll be the ones to rescue the team from crisis whenever overseas.

They're spectacularly failing at the job they were prepared for.

Just can't handle any sort of swing or seam movement. What would you now do with your investment?

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Thank Misbah I guess.

 

[Nothing matters]

Tbh asad played well got unlucky today.

 

[Aman]

Tbh asad played well got unlucky today.

He was dropped then started to bat well before getting out

 

[Ab Fan]

Asad Shafiq is the Ian Bell of pakistan..

And I think people should stop expecting runs overseas from Azhar Ali anymore..

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Asad Shafiq is the Ian Bell of pakistan..

And I think people should stop expecting runs overseas from Azhar Ali anymore..

but he is the vice captain and captain of the ODI team. now stand-in captain for MISBAH.

his performance outside asia is not good after playing 18 tests
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...orderby=default;template=results;type=batting

 

[MenInG]

Congratulations, you just defined the phrase investment.

Thats how we build assets. You cannot invest in millions at the same time so you identify a few at a young age and continue building them up

 

[Ab Fan]

but he is the vice captain and captain of the ODI team. now stand-in captain for MISBAH.

his performance outside asia is not good after playing 18 tests
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...orderby=default;template=results;type=batting

I like Azhar. He has a solid temperament and can play long innings but he has been out so many times to some very low scores that you would question his consistency a lot. If he gets set he generally converts it into a big one but unfortunately he has thrown it at the start so many times.

Asad gets to 30s and 40s and throws away. He lacks patience and never gives the assurance to go and play a long inning. With Asad you never know when he will get out or throw away his wicket.

 

[Red Devil]

Hawkeye criticizing Misbah? Never thought I'd see this day.

Also, relax, the pitches are too green. They did alright in England.

 

[Slog]

The question is whether there is anyone else who would have done better? Unlikely

Anyways this just shows Misbah's poor long term planning.

 

[srh]

Azhar Ali should go back to his #3 position. He has failed mostly as an opener while he was mostly successful at #3.

Asad Shafiq should not lose focus. Today he got out because he lost focus.

 

[street cricketer]

Azhar Ali should go back to his #3 position. He has failed mostly as an opener while he was mostly successful at #3.

Asad Shafiq should not lose focus. Today he got out because he lost focus.

I thought you will say Asad Shafiq should be sacked..

 

[Aman]

Replace them with Shehzad and Umar and the results would be a whole lot worse.

Lets stop pretending that these two kept out some amazingly talented cricketers and face the reality that these two were the best you had.

 

[Barragan]

Well, at least the management will have learnt their lesson, regarding domestic performances and why you should select your best.

shafiq averaged 38 in FC, but since he had a "wonderful" technique, he was added to the Test squad and given a long 6 years, but still bats like a newbie and just started his career.

As for Azhar, he was averaging 36 or 37, but to be fair to him, he started to open and did well as an opener, so he can continue as an opener and do well.

Fawad and Haris>>shafiq

 

[MenInG]

All of above played an important role in our performance in England.

 

[ExpressPacer]

Replace them with Shehzad and Umar and the results would be a whole lot worse.

Lets stop pretending that these two kept out some amazingly talented cricketers and face the reality that these two were the best you had.

I would disagree. Their replacements are not Shehzad and Umar. We have much better players in our domestic cricket, too bad the selection committee has turned a blind eye towards them.

These two are far from the best we have. The ideal scenario would be where Fawad Alam replaces Shafiq and Azhar Ali is given one last chance due to his meaningless triple hundred.

 

[Xoib]

They were the best of the lot.Apart from Fawad Alam no obe deserved to be ahead of them.Harris is too injury prone while Amin proved too soft Umer never matured and Babar has just arrived se we had no choice but to stick with them.

 

[Hawkeye]

Hawkeye criticizing Misbah? Never thought I'd see this day.

Also, relax, the pitches are too green. They did alright in England.

All of above played an important role in our performance in England.

I'm not sure if criticizing one person can do anything. Yes Misbah didn't see it coming, nor did anyone else. Everyone drools over Shafiq, from Yousuf to any coach you can imagine.

He is given the dream golden boy treatment still!

As for England, we all know the pitches didn't offer the traditional English conditions. There wasn't much swing nor seam, there wasn't a single green wicket either.

Digging our heads in sand won't really help. Let's not pretend that we were able to counter swing/seam in England, because we didn't.

Replace them with Shehzad and Umar and the results would be a whole lot worse.

Lets stop pretending that these two kept out some amazingly talented cricketers and face the reality that these two were the best you had.

Umar is an amazing talent and did extremely well even on his first few Test matches, that too abroad against the likes of Shane Bond.

Not sure why on earth would you include him with Shehzad! I'm sure we would have a much better player than Shafiq/Azhar if we had given such a nonstop run to Umar in Tests.

 

[Rayyman]

Azhar averages 45. One of the best openers in the world. Shafiq does need to improve though.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Were there better alternatives? Beggars can not be choosers.

We all know Fawad Alam's technical issues and how Umar Akmal didn't fit into Misbah or Mohsin's tuk tuk ideology.
It's now that we are getting Babar and Sami otherwise these two have been the best for us till 2015.

 

[Nothing matters]

He was dropped then started to bat well before getting out

He was batting well from the start.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

Umar is an amazing talent and did extremely well even on his first few Test matches, that too abroad against the likes of Shane Bond.

I am not trying to make a snide comment here but what exactly is talent when you speak of it ?? Is it the ability to play a certain kind of delivery ?? Ability to bat in a certain way ?? Is that what you mean by talent because if it is then aesthetically (as far as tests goes), there is no other, a more pleasing batsman, than Asad Shafiq and he has (Technically) all the shots in the book + proven stats (somewhat) which are better than anyone who we have tried earlier.

But at the moment he is failing so I guess that can't be talent right ?? We'll there is Umar Amin as well, who could be labeled as 'talented' but he's not being able to make any impact on QeA which is the criteria for selection however if selection is done on talent alone then why can't he be selected and why is there only a case of Umer Akmal ??

If we talk about numbers and how they are the indicators that define talent then Umar looses out on that as well... So my question is.... What is the barometer for talent ?? is it:

1) Aesthetics
2) Statistics
3) Something else

Would really love to know your answer on this one !!

I'm sure we would have a much better player than Shafiq/Azhar if we had given such a nonstop run to Umar in Tests.

Umar was given a huge non stop run in ODIs, which are a much easier platform to stamp your authority and make a name for yourself. If he couldn't do that representing Pakistan for nearly 5-6 years, how are you so confident that he would've made it at the highest form of the game ??

You do understand Test cricket requires great levels of concentration, application, batting ethics, patience, discipline and higher form of fitness all of which are probably lost on Umer Akmal for the last half a decade.....

 

[Hawkeye]

I would disagree. Their replacements are not Shehzad and Umar. We have much better players in our domestic cricket, too bad the selection committee has turned a blind eye towards them.

These two are far from the best we have. The ideal scenario would be where Fawad Alam replaces Shafiq and Azhar Ali is given one last chance due to his meaningless triple hundred.

I won't say Fawad is an ideal choice, but it's wrong to say we can't/don't have other better bats.

 

[Hawkeye]

[MENTION=136079]ahmedwaqas92[/MENTION] ,

When a newbie has shown great promise, more than anyone else in the last 10-15 years in a particular format, you stick to him.

What a player does in a different format has nothing to do with Tests. Shafiq is a huge failure in ODIs - does that mean you drop him from Tests? No.

Tests require far more application, technique, reflexes etc etc. So, someone doing well there should succeed in ODIs. Right? No. That logic is wrong. Can't extrapolate one format to the other.

 

[Junaids]

Completely the wrong way round.

The first error was discarding a 21 year old Umar Akmal with a batting average of 36 entirely made outside Asia.

The second error was persisting far too long with two batsmen in their forties, when they had already failed in Australia (Misbah 09-10) and South Africa (Misbah and Younis 12-13) and clearly had no hope of success Down Under in 2015-16.

The third error was selecting Babar Azam two years too late.

 

[Slog]

[MENTION=136079]ahmedwaqas92[/MENTION] ,

When a newbie has shown great promise, more than anyone else in the last 10-15 years in a particular format, you stick to him.

What a player does in a different format has nothing to do with Tests. Shafiq is a huge failure in ODIs - does that mean you drop him from Tests? No.

Tests require far more application, technique, reflexes etc etc. So, someone doing well there should succeed in ODIs. Right? No. That logic is wrong. Can't extrapolate one format to the other.

This newbie Umar Akmal was consistently failing in tests and living off his debut century

The plug had to be pulled someone and it was rightly pulled then. His record shows that too

And it's been vindicated

Up Until this season he has one FC century in four years despite playing full seasons

 

[yasir_shah_fan]

Asad Shafiq is the Ian Bell of pakistan..

And I think people should stop expecting runs overseas from Azhar Ali anymore..

Averaged 42 in England.

As for the OP I agree with them on Shafiq hasn't lived upto all the ability he has can't score big hundreds and score tons consistently either and it's because he's a timid cricketer. If you look at the end of the England and WI series he averaged between 39-40.

This shows 2 things:

1) He is versatile to different conditions and all types of bowling
2) His capacity is to average 40 in a series and score 1 x 100

For a player of his talent this isn't good enough and has never looked like scoring a big hundred, which I define as a 150+ score which he has yet to achieve. He simply isn't a match winner.

As for Azhar Ali I have to disagree with OP, he has been in good touch and tried to play positively in the 1st innings of the last test but got out to a beauty which affected his mindset and made him go into shell in the subsequent innings.

Azhar Ali has an excellent conversion of 100s to 150+ scores and has played some important match winning innigns for Pakistan in the past including:

1. 300 in D/N test v WI - had he scored any less than 250 Pakistan would have lost, he was truly the difference between the 2 sides
2. 300 run chase in 60 overs when he scored at a SR of 80+ and held that innings together was a knock of a class batsman
3. 157 v England in UAE 2012
4. 68 v England in UAE 2012 - this gave Pakistan something to bowl at and presented the spinners the opportunity to bowl them out for 70-80 in that memorable series sealing win
5. Scored 2 x 100s in UAE vs Australian bowling line up of Johnson and Starc

Other innings of note in losing causes:

1. 91 vs WI in the last test in UAE
2. 137 in Edgbaston - Misbah's tactics were horrendous and the batting collapse in the 4th innings was equallu abysmal. Should have been a match winning hundred
3. 100 in 2nd test in SL 2015

Asad Shafiq has far more talent but his timidness, lack of fitness and guts means Azhar Ali with Steve Waugh-esque resilience outperforms him.

Shafiq out
Azhar Ali in

 

[The_Odd_One]

Azhar should be persisted because there really are not many choices for top order.

Asad should be shown the door if he fails in the first 2 tests in Australia.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

2 matches and the knives are out?

 

[The_Odd_One]

Can someone post their averages outside Asia?

I'm sure it must be less than Akmal's.

 

[Ab Fan]

Averaged 42 in England.

As for the OP I agree with them on Shafiq hasn't lived upto all the ability he has can't score big hundreds and score tons consistently either and it's because he's a timid cricketer. If you look at the end of the England and WI series he averaged between 39-40.

This shows 2 things:

1) He is versatile to different conditions and all types of bowling
2) His capacity is to average 40 in a series and score 1 x 100

For a player of his talent this isn't good enough and has never looked like scoring a big hundred, which I define as a 150+ score which he has yet to achieve. He simply isn't a match winner.

As for Azhar Ali I have to disagree with OP, he has been in good touch and tried to play positively in the 1st innings of the last test but got out to a beauty which affected his mindset and made him go into shell in the subsequent innings.

Azhar Ali has an excellent conversion of 100s to 150+ scores and has played some important match winning innigns for Pakistan in the past including:

1. 300 in D/N test v WI - had he scored any less than 250 Pakistan would have lost, he was truly the difference between the 2 sides
2. 300 run chase in 60 overs when he scored at a SR of 80+ and held that innings together was a knock of a class batsman
3. 157 v England in UAE 2012
4. 68 v England in UAE 2012 - this gave Pakistan something to bowl at and presented the spinners the opportunity to bowl them out for 70-80 in that memorable series sealing win
5. Scored 2 x 100s in UAE vs Australian bowling line up of Johnson and Starc

Other innings of note in losing causes:

1. 91 vs WI in the last test in UAE
2. 137 in Edgbaston - Misbah's tactics were horrendous and the batting collapse in the 4th innings was equallu abysmal. Should have been a match winning hundred
3. 100 in 2nd test in SL 2015

Asad Shafiq has far more talent but his timidness, lack of fitness and guts means Azhar Ali with Steve Waugh-esque resilience outperforms him.

Shafiq out
Azhar Ali in

Azhar avgs 32 in England. I think you wrote it 42 wrongly. He has got a century recently in Edgabaston which was a good knock and has 90 odd in past but clearly the consistency was lacking as his avg suggest. He has failed as of yet in NZ and in SA in past.His outside Asia avg record is below 30 and that is very poor for someone who is expected to lead the team in just a matter of two years after retirement of Misbah/Younis.

Asad is even worse and the lesser said about him is better.Simply a waste of talent and is turning out to be Ian Bell of Pakistan.

 

[Boi]

Azhar is fine as opener imo. He's the best we've got for that position right now so need to keep him there.

Shafiq has been quite disappointing recently, really is failing to kick on with his career. If he doesn't perform in Australia, he might be shown the door too.

 

[goran]

Tbh, it's harsh to single out Shafiq and Azhar for these collapses. The conditions are really tough and NZ have got a pretty good bowling line-up, I am sure other top teams would have struggled as well. These two have done really well in the last 6 years and are top-class batsmen. We should also not forget that most of the teams are performing poorly overseas and Pakistan is no exception, though we still did pretty well in ENG due to sporting pitches.

 

[Barragan]

Can someone post their averages outside Asia?

I'm sure it must be less than Akmal's.

Here are the stats outside Asia, since Nov 2009:

You are pretty much spot on.

 

[ShoonyaSifar]

Such fickle fans. Just two months back, after hitting a 300, Azhar Ali was called better than Kohli and on his way to becoming a Pakistani great. Suddenly all his runs are worthless!

Azhar and Asad are no different from other very good Asian batsmen many of whom averaged 30-35 in Eng, SA, NZ and Aus.

 

[Jan Sher]

I have always maintained this. PCB should have invested in players who averaged 50 or near in FC cricket.

 

[srh]

I thought you will say Asad Shafiq should be sacked..

Asad Shafiq did not play meek today and I will support him whenever he shows bravery. I am his well wisher.

 

[Mainul]

Agree.

But i have doubt that Pakistan had better options to invest on.

Overall there is scarcity of skillful batsmen in Pakistan domestics.

Hard to find an Injamam, an Anwar or Yousuf.

 

[Markhor]

After every good series we say they were a worthwhile investment then after a bad series they are crucified and we say Fawad and U Akmal should've been preferred.

Both have underperformed outside Asia which is worrying given both will form the lynchpins of our Test batting post-Younis/Misbah.

Disappointing series so far for them.

 

[Hawkeye]

2 matches and the knives are out?

We don't play a lot on proper 'overseas' pitches. Even England offered us flat tracks, Anderson struggled to move the ball.

No greentops either. This is the only true test after SA 2013.

Yet again a failure, even after all this heavy investment and golden boy treatment.

After every good series we say they were a worthwhile investment then after a bad series they are crucified and we say Fawad and U Akmal should've been preferred.

Both have underperformed outside Asia which is worrying given both will form the lynchpins of our Test batting post-Younis/Misbah.

Disappointing series so far for them.

I'm not sure who the people are who claim they're truly 'worthwhile' investments. Maybe they're decent for flat decks, nothing apart from that.

England tour did well to hide our deficiencies against proper away conditions.

 

[Hawkeye]

Tbh, it's harsh to single out Shafiq and Azhar for these collapses. The conditions are really tough and NZ have got a pretty good bowling line-up, I am sure other top teams would have struggled as well. These two have done really well in the last 6 years and are top-class batsmen. We should also not forget that most of the teams are performing poorly overseas and Pakistan is no exception, though we still did pretty well in ENG due to sporting pitches.

Us performing poor in true 'away' conditions has no excuses.

We're the top 2 ranked side, if we can't do even decently in swing/seam conditions, we don't deserve to be called a top Test team.

And no, I'm not comparing by the standard of today's cricket teams. I have higher benchmarks.

 

[Kakar]

I have nothing against the two, they have done a good job mostly but I also believe that Fawad Alam would have done better if he was given the same amount of time. Would have been averaging 50 in 40-50 tests.

 

[Square Drive]

What?

Both played important roles in England.

Though yes, Asad needs to up his game but tbf, he needs to be given a settled position. Last 3 games he's batted at different positions.

As for those saying Azhar is not a good opened and should go down to #3, what exactly is the difference? We've tried so many openers and they all manage to get out within the first 10 overs (on a good day), so Azhar's virtually an opener anyway.

Dropping Umar was stupid, but it will be even more stupid if we drop Azhar/Asad now.

Azhar should remain an opener whereas Asad should compete with Babar for a spot at the moment and an all-rounder should be added. After the tour of AUS when Misbah inevitably retires, Asad should be our #4, with Younis moving down to #5 until his retirement.

XI for the WI tour should be:

Azhar Ali
Sami Aslam
Babar Azam
Asad Shafiq
Younis Khan (unless he has a horrid tour to AUS, and retires afterwards)
Sarfraz Ahmed* (WK)
Mohammad Nawaz (keeping conditions in mind)
Mohammad Amir
Sohail Khan
Yasir Shah
Wahab Riaz

Bench: Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail/Usman Salahuddin, Aamer Yamin, Zafar Gohar, Imran Khan, Rahat Ali

No need to be so fickle. Stick with these openers, stick with Asad. Not too long ago, Asad was touted to be the next captain by some, and now what?

 

[aloo paratha]

Knee jerk...

 

[Slog]

I have nothing against the two, they have done a good job mostly but I also believe that Fawad Alam would have done better if he was given the same amount of time. Would have been averaging 50 in 40-50 tests.

Honestly there's not enough evidence to say that with certainty as you seem to here

Ofcourse cricket is a strange game and it's def not impossible but every thing about fawad Alams technique suggests that he will struggle big time in seaming conditions where there is bounce

Though it is possible that he may have matched or put slightly better numbers than these two but there's no evidence to suggest he would be averaging 50. Such batsmen find their way into the team regardless.

(Ps: I agree that he was treated unfairly and not given chances and long ropes which these two and Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad got )

 

[Abdul]

Both won't be going anywhere and your dream of seeing Umar Akmal in the Test side will forever remain a dream only

Anyway, Shafiq needs to be more serious about his game NOW

 

[Slog]

Both won't be going anywhere and your dream of seeing Umar Akmal in the Test side will forever remain a dream only

Anyway, Shafiq needs to be more serious about his game NOW

Id give him all four Aus tests and if he fails there then he should be dropped and made to work for a return

In UAE he is great but I think we can figure out how to survive there without him. It's overseas where he need his contribution. We know he can contribute with centuries in South Africa and England but we just can't afford this level of inconsistency. So if it's more poor performances abroad then he needs to get the sack.

The problem here is: Azhar and Shafiq both know YK and Misbah are packing their bags and leaving soon. So they are almost guaranteed that they aren't getting dropped come what may

 

[QalandarFan]

I have always maintained this. PCB should have invested in players who averaged 50 or near in FC cricket.

So we shouldn't invest in Babar Azam then because his FC average is 40. But wait he's looked like the only one who can handle a bat in this innings.

 

[Slog]

We don't play a lot on proper 'overseas' pitches. Even England offered us flat tracks, Anderson struggled to move the ball.

No greentops either. This is the only true test after SA 2013.

Yet again a failure, even after all this heavy investment and golden boy treatment.



I'm not sure who the people are who claim they're truly 'worthwhile' investments. Maybe they're decent for flat decks, nothing apart from that.

England tour did well to hide our deficiencies against proper away conditions.

So by your logic even Misbah is a failure in tough conditions.... In fact much bigger failure than Shafiq who has a century in South Africa atleast

Lol keep your positions consistent for once

 

[Ahson8]

Knee jerk...

Not just knee jerk, this is a massive knee jerk thread.

 

[Slog]

Not just knee jerk, this is a massive knee jerk thread.

Knowing the history of the poster he probably had this typed up from the England tour

His love for Shafiq is something else though. There's a thread after every under 50 score lol

 

[90MPH]

This is a typical childish knee jerk reaction.

Yes they have both failed in this mini series on conditions that are difficult for batting but let me ask you this question how many NZ batsmen went past 50 ?? only 1 player and that too because he got 2 lives.

Yes the flaws are evident and the planning for the tour should have been better with a few tour matches before the Tests (you cant do anything about the weather) but lets not be start pointing fingers just because of a few failures because there is no guarantee the replacement players would have been any better.

I do hope the players in question look reflect on their mistakes because on these conditions you have to be much tighter in defence and shot making - both of whom Azhar and Asad were clearly not.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Here are the stats outside Asia, since Nov 2009:

You are pretty much spot on.

Thank you.

Should be an eye opener for blind Azhar and Asad fans. They average less than Akmal in tougher conditions despite batting in their peak years. Akmal's scores came when he was very young.

 

[Hawkeye]

So by your logic even Misbah is a failure in tough conditions.... In fact much bigger failure than Shafiq who has a century in South Africa atleast

Lol keep your positions consistent for once

Nobody expects Misbah to score under appreciable swing and seam. It's just not the age for him. Ironically he turned out to be our best bat in the first match and got out to a poor shot.

These 2 are expected to score. Not all bats score in true alien conditions. Only your best technical bats. Shafiq After all the golden boy treatment and technique stuff is expected the most to score.

Turn down your bias.

 

[Slog]

Nobody expects Misbah to score under appreciable swing and seam. It's just not the age for him. Ironically he turned out to be our best bat in the first match and got out to a poor shot.

These 2 are expected to score. Not all bats score in true alien conditions. Only your best technical bats. Shafiq After all the golden boy treatment and technique stuff is expected the most to score.

Turn down your bias.

Listen to your advice for a change

You have like 4 threads going on about shafiq from your recent threads...

Also if noone expects Misbah to score under swing and seam conditions and its not his age then he should go to a retirement home.

This is insane logic which many PPers use so not just exclusive to you. Somehow its better for players to never perform that much at all and hence have no expectation and therefore no criticism...

 

[Saj]

I think both have done well.

But like many Pakistani batsmen before them they struggle in seaming conditions and on bouncy tracks.

I'm not sure who could have done better than them.

 

[aloo paratha]

Thank you.

Should be an eye opener for blind Azhar and Asad fans. They average less than Akmal in tougher conditions despite batting in their peak years. Akmal's scores came when he was very young.

Azhar had a horrid tour of SA in 2013, take that out an lets see.

So you want to boot out Shafiq for Umar Akmal??

 

[Speedster777]

Atleast Asad Shafiq tried to score, Azhar Ali had like 1 in 14 balls he just can't score. He should stick to Tests only but captaincy should not be given to him as he's too defensive like Misbah.

 

[Jan Sher]

So we shouldn't invest in Babar Azam then because his FC average is 40. But wait he's looked like the only one who can handle a bat in this innings.

Well Fawad Alam should have been ahead of him. Babar Azam is decent, can be a decent opener for the time being.

 

[Kakar]

Honestly there's not enough evidence to say that with certainty as you seem to here

Ofcourse cricket is a strange game and it's def not impossible but every thing about fawad Alams technique suggests that he will struggle big time in seaming conditions where there is bounce

Though it is possible that he may have matched or put slightly better numbers than these two but there's no evidence to suggest he would be averaging 50. Such batsmen find their way into the team regardless.

(Ps: I agree that he was treated unfairly and not given chances and long ropes which these two and Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad got )

Obviously can't say with certainty but there's enough evidence to suggest that. Fawad's technique is looked down upon because it is ugly and unorthodox. His technique is good enough for survival though. Throughout his career, he has been put into matches and situations where he has been required to bat at a certain pace. His game is not cut out for that. But it is good enough to survive and keep out the good deliveries. In Pakistan's domestic circuit, where everything is bowling friendly and batsmen averaging even in 40s are a rarity, him and Haris are the only outliers. He has outperformed Shafiq and Azhar in domestic cricket by some margin. Both Azhar and Shafiq started off from mid-high 30s batting average and worked their way up to where it is now. Fawad started off better. He scored 168 on debut out of a team total of 320 batting in an unfamiliar position. So yeah there is good deal of evidence to suggest that he would have done better than the two. What's done is done though. I just hope he is the first man on teamsheet when Misbah or Younis go out and not Rizwan, Sharjeel or anyone else.

 

[Barragan]

Thank you.

Should be an eye opener for blind Azhar and Asad fans. They average less than Akmal in tougher conditions despite batting in their peak years. Akmal's scores came when he was very young.

You know when it's really bad?

When Farhat has more runs and higher average, with less innings.

 

[speed]

I have never seen these two guys dominate an opponent.

 

[Speedster777]

^ yes both lack confidence.

 

[coy0607]

I think both have done well.

But like many Pakistani batsmen before them they struggle in seaming conditions and on bouncy tracks.

I'm not sure who could have done better than them.

I think this is it- both of them are flawed and simply not world class batsmen but they're still capable and I don't believe we have guys who are better

and they're disciplined cricketers- clearly that counts for something with the current administration

 

[Hasan123]

Investing in them was the right choice, one of the better ones PCB have made in recent years. Hawkeye just wants his favourite players in the team.

 

[asifp]

Bottom line is this. If we invested in people that averaged 45 plus in domestic we be in a better place now.

Fawad Alam I truely believe could be averaging over 50 in test cricket.

These two are the luckiest guys I know in my 30 years of watching cricket. They have gotten some serious backing. Fawad was dropped two matches after scoring 150 plus while these two remain in the side no matter what.

 

[RagingJ]

Can't say I've rated these guys at all.

They at best are steady, but they are not batsmen who can make a standout performance, perform well when the team is, when they are not you rarely see these two provide the goods.

There was a couple of years were these two good a free ride and didn't get dropped, which I find rather unfair on Fawad Alam and Umar Akmal who have done quite well in tests.

Considering these guys have been in the team for over 5+ years, they don't seem confident that they are the Senior batsmen and rely upon Younis Khan and Misbah ul Haq.

I have seen more from Sarfraz.

 

[Speedster777]

^ Well put. Fawad Alam is far more confident player and can play under pressure.

 

[coy0607]

aside from limited ability, I think they're both selfish cricketers- especially Azhar Ali

despite failing, and constant national pressure to play more aggressive cricket they always play the same style of cricket- always put themselves over the team

perfect example is Azhar Ali playing that terrible innings in the 1st test, pretty much everyone agreed that was an awful innings, and he comes out in the 2nd test and starts with a 1 off 18

 

[The_Odd_One]

Azhar had a horrid tour of SA in 2013, take that out an lets see.

So you want to boot out Shafiq for Umar Akmal??

If he fails to score a century in the next 2 tests then yes.

 

[srh]

Asad Shafiq should be ashamed by Babar Azam's batting. Babar Azam is playing so much better than Asad Shafiq in only his 3rd test and at a position far more challenging than Asad Shafiq's.

 

[Junaids]

In my opinion it was always going to be impossible for batsmen as old as Hafeez - let alone Younis or Misbah - to cope Down Under this year

They should have been phased out and replaced by Salman Butt, Babar Azam and Umar Akmal some time ago, leaving a batting order of:

1. Salman Butt
2. Sami Aslam
3. Azhar Ali
4. Babar Azam
5. Umar Akmal
6. Asad Shafiq

At least they are all young enough to have the reflexes to survive a Starc 150K barrage.

 

[MRSN]

In my opinion it was always going to be impossible for batsmen as old as Hafeez - let alone Younis or Misbah - to cope Down Under this year

They should have been phased out and replaced by Salman Butt, Babar Azam and Umar Akmal some time ago, leaving a batting order of:

1. Salman Butt
2. Sami Aslam
3. Azhar Ali
4. Babar Azam
5. Umar Akmal
6. Asad Shafiq

At least they are all young enough to have the reflexes to survive a Starc 150K barrage.

it also about the mindset. The players in the current set up has been having no problems whatsoever playing at snails pace for so many years. It's something they have built in themselves..the fear. The approach Misbah and co. has been feeding these players of batting with fear and extra cautious than it actually need to be is showing it's effects. I always criticized Misbah as a wrong model being set for juniors and I never enjoyed such man to have so much influential. People may not have enjoyed my comments but it did show the reality once he was gone in ODIs it might show once he is stripped off test captaincy too.

There is hope..

 

[MRSN]

Bottom line is this. If we invested in people that averaged 45 plus in domestic we be in a better place now.

Fawad Alam I truely believe could be averaging over 50 in test cricket.

These two are the luckiest guys I know in my 30 years of watching cricket. They have gotten some serious backing. Fawad was dropped two matches after scoring 150 plus while these two remain in the side no matter what.

When did Shafiq was ever consistent?Even on flat roads he was not as consistent as he should have been but he is a golden boy who has been living on false reputation. You cannot become a great player if you perform once in 5 inningss.

 

[MRSN]

People might consider it a joke to compare Umar Akmal vs Asad Shafiq but hey he was the best Pakistani batsman on our last NZ-Aus tours..

 

[Junaids]

People might consider it a joke to compare Umar Akmal vs Asad Shafiq but hey he was the best Pakistani batsman on our last NZ-Aus tours..

Absolutely.

Any batsman with a good technique can score in the UAE until he is fifty years old.

But Umar Akmal's performances against Shane Bond and Mitch Johnson prove that he can cope Down Under and it is both pathetic and suicidal that he will be sitting at home watching Starc terrorise Younis and Misbah.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

I have never seen these two guys dominate an opponent.

And they never will. They're plodders who will grind a hundred per series exhausting all their mental strength in that one knock and will fail in the rest.

 

[shariqnoor]

We are such a short-term minded nation, seriously. Azhar and Asad are the best we have right now after Younis and Misbah. Can't really understand the logic behind people saying Umar was the best of our batsmen on our last Aus/NZ tours and hence the implication being that he should be on the tour this time as well. Test cricket will not end on these two tours. We will have to play beyond the Australian series as well. Umar Akmal does not have the patience to score in Test matches. I've hardly seen a good Umar Akmal knock under pressure. Azhar and Shafiq have played greater innings under pressure in their careers.

 

[Slog]

Absolutely.

Any batsman with a good technique can score in the UAE until he is fifty years old.

But Umar Akmal's performances against Shane Bond and Mitch Johnson prove that he can cope Down Under and it is both pathetic and suicidal that he will be sitting at home watching Starc terrorise Younis and Misbah.

Umar Akmal averages 33 in Aus in tests. In odis its a worse story.

And the funny thing is he put these test stats in his golden period

 

[Slog]

If he fails to score a century in the next 2 tests then yes.

on what basis umar akmal though?

just cuz you like his green lipstick?

certainly no cricketing reason for a recall