Sohail Khan should have played instead of Naseem Shah!

[Slog]

1) in good form. Best bowler is practise matches with two 5 wicket hauls in 2 games
2) bowls welll in English conditions and has good record
3) good lower order batsman with average of 25. Naseem Shah is one of the three #11’s we have so would have been good to have someone down the order who can smack a few.
4) Naseem Shah is talented but isn’t experienced enough and not anywhere close to a finished product. The only reason he is hyped so much is because he is officially 17. He is not 17 but even if he was just being a teenager shouldn’t lead to other factors Bering ignored. This is international cricket with a 10 year record in the line not a practise match to goood youngsters.

 

[MenInG]

1) in good form. Best bowler is practise matches with two 5 wicket hauls in 2 games
2) bowls welll in English conditions and has good record
3) good lower order batsman with average of 25. Naseem Shah is one of the three #11’s we have so would have been good to have someone down the order who can smack a few.
4) Naseem Shah is talented but isn’t experienced enough and not anywhere close to a finished product. The only reason he is hyped so much is because he is officially 17. He is not 17 but even if he was just being a teenager shouldn’t lead to other factors Bering ignored. This is international cricket with a 10 year record in the line not a practise match to goood youngsters.

Think best to let go the age argument - has been discussed already and is getting boring now.

 

[SpiritOf1903]

The perfect 'heavy bowler' like Stokes who's had success in England.

Where's Vernon Azhar

 

[Slog]

Think best to let go the age argument - has been discussed already and is getting boring now.

I would let it go but his fans are not

You criticise Naseem Shah and their retort is 'but he is only 17." Just because he is only 17 doesn't mean standards for him should be lower than the rest. If they want standards for him to be lower due to being 17 then he should play Under 19 cricket.

As long as his fans use his 'official age' to shield him from criticism it will only lead to more criticism. Ana argument getting boring doesn't mean it shouldn't be used and the player in question should get a clean chit

 

[Savak]

Sohail Khan would have run out of gas by his third spell as his past record shows. He is unreliable

 

[Manunited18]

What exactly would sohail khan on a flat dry wicket do with his 82mph

 

[Slog]

Sohail Khan would have run out of gas by his third spell as his past record shows. He is unreliable

but may have taken a few wickets in the process which is enough

Naseem is average 52+ in england as of right now

 

[Barragan]

Horrible idea!

He struggles to even bowl 10 overs and there is no chance he would last one whole day.

If anything, you drop shafiq and play Sohail as an A/R, meaning he will only have to bowl a few overs, moreover he can hold the bat and will contribute with some good runs.

 

[Energy]

Wouldn't have made a difference. But yes Naseem should have been substituted like how England do with their bowlers.

 

[Savak]

but may have taken a few wickets in the process which is enough

Naseem is average 52+ in england as of right now

Its pointless if he is ineffective in his third spell onwards and the second innings, Pakistan will be playing with 3 bowlers. This has happened before and its cost us badly.

 

[Invincible Gujjar]

LOL that trundler Sohail khan who averages 42 in test cricket.He would have been smashed to oblivion here. Thanks but no thanks.

 

[MenInG]

I would let it go but his fans are not

You criticise Naseem Shah and their retort is 'but he is only 17." Just because he is only 17 doesn't mean standards for him should be lower than the rest. If they want standards for him to be lower due to being 17 then he should play Under 19 cricket.

As long as his fans use his 'official age' to shield him from criticism it will only lead to more criticism. Ana argument getting boring doesn't mean it shouldn't be used and the player in question should get a clean chit

He is a rare talent and bowls fast and he is young - exact age is not an issue - and he provides us with pace which we do not have

 

[Omer2002]

Yes definately would have got a 5ifer.........

 

[Kroll]

If SK gets a go, then Faheem Ashraf also deserves a shout. Realistically, both could be more threatening than the hyped to the moon pairing of Naseem and Shaheen.

 

[Kenpachi]

He is a rare talent and bowls fast and he is young - exact age is not an issue - and he provides us with pace which we do not have

Wickets > Pace

 

[Major]

I have been saying this also and I agree, Sohail Khan bowls well in England and we know what he did in practise games.

Naseem isn't that threatning, and he has played a few games now.

His pace is pointless if it doesnt help us win a game. We are playing 3 pacers, if one pacer is just bowling pace and doing nothing than realistically we only have 2 pacers playing.


If naseem is be made better than maybe he should play games with Pakistan A than.

Too much responsibility on Abbas and Shaheen.

 

[Mamoon]

Naseem has no skill apart from that rare delivery that jags off the seam.

Sohail can swing the new ball. I would have opened with him and Abbas with Shaheen bowling first change.

 

[hitthestump]

The post-game argument for Sohail looks pretty strong. I think by now we've established that Naseem was overhyped and he blocked a more worthy bowler (and batsman) from getting his spot in an important series.

That being said if Sohail Khan is the 3rd best pace bowler for Pakistan right now then we really need to be hitting the big panic button in our cricketing set up.

 

[Manunited18]

Naseem has no skill apart from that rare delivery that jags off the seam.

Sohail can swing the new ball. I would have opened with him and Abbas with Shaheen bowling first change.

That rare delivery that jags of the seam seems to square the England captain up

 

[Mamoon]

That rare delivery that jags of the seam seems to square the England captain up

It can square Don Bradman for all I care. The bottom-line is that he is averaging 55 with 3 wickets in 3 Tests so far.

 

[Manunited18]

The post-game argument for Sohail looks pretty strong. I think by now we've established that Naseem was overhyped and he blocked a more worthy bowler (and batsman) from getting his spot in an important series.

That being said if Sohail Khan is the 3rd best pace bowler for Pakistan right now then we really need to be hitting the big panic button in our cricketing set up.

True, because trundlers and scatter guns like sohail, wahab , junaid, hasan ali and to a lesser extent amir have never really nailed down the positions in the Pakistan attack compared to broad, Anderson, or to a lesser extent woakes

 

[Nervesofsteel]

Naseem is another one of those over hyped players in the Pakistani team. He is still way too raw for test cricket but most importantly...after watching him bowl in England...it's fairly obvious he lacks big time when it comes to intelligence. He has absolutely no idea how to set up a batsman nor he has any plan with his bowling. I remember M. Amir making his debut at a similar age and he not only had the talent, but was also very smart with his bowling.

 

[Manunited18]

It can square Don Bradman for all I care. The bottom-line is that he is averaging 55 with 3 wickets in 3 Tests so far.

Typically no constructive criticism but normal rubbish, a first tour to England can be challenging as you may know your hero kohli back in 2014 where he couldn't buy a run

 

[JaDed]

As [MENTION=132715]Varun[/MENTION] said the guy sitting outside the team always gets extra points in Pakistan.

 

[Manunited18]

As [MENTION=132715]Varun[/MENTION] said the guy sitting outside the team always gets extra points in Pakistan.

Yes and as you may know they are utter rubbish, Got to stick with the young guys and learn on the job

 

[Mamoon]

Typically no constructive criticism but normal rubbish, a first tour to England can be challenging as you may know your hero kohli back in 2014 where he couldn't buy a run

“My hero” Kohli was already a top class player by 2014 and people knew it was just a one-off bad series. He responded to that failure by scoring 4 hundreds in Australia only a few months later.

Naseem so far has done nothing in his career to warrant the ridiculous hype that he has received. That is the problem.

 

[HappyWarsFan]

“My hero” Kohli was already a top class player by 2014 and people knew it was just a one-off bad series. He responded to that failure by scoring 4 hundreds in Australia only a few months later.

Naseem so far has done nothing in his career to warrant the ridiculous hype that he has received. That is the problem.

Also, it's a ridiculous comparison because Kohli is a BATSMAN. England is a pace bowler's heaven, much much easier for a pacer like Naseem to succeed in a place like England.

 

[Slog]

Typically no constructive criticism but normal rubbish, a first tour to England can be challenging as you may know your hero kohli back in 2014 where he couldn't buy a run

What constructive criticism. It is a simple fact that his fake age is shielding him from legitimate criticism. The only problem is that age is not a valid excuse. He should be judged on output (mediocre at best) rather than age. If he wants age to be used as metric then go player under 19 cricket

 

[HappyWarsFan]

As [MENTION=132715]Varun[/MENTION] said the guy sitting outside the team always gets extra points in Pakistan.

Sohail is not ideal, but it's not good to throw in a 17 year old who has almost no FC experience.

 

[Manunited18]

“My hero” Kohli was already a top class player by 2014 and people knew it was just a one-off bad series. He responded to that failure by scoring 4 hundreds in Australia only a few months later.

Naseem so far has done nothing in his career to warrant the ridiculous hype that he has received. That is the problem.

What hype, with what pakistan has in reserves he probably justifies his selection and will have to learn on the job, as for your hero kohli scoring runs in Australia on flat roads where even Warner is championed to England is a vast difference as kohli found out then in 2014 and admitted to learning from that experience to better himself in 2018 where it made no difference lol

 

[cricketAXEpert]

Could have played Wahab Riaz. Got Pace, got experience, got swing & Reverse Swing and can also bat a little. Rest Naseem Shah. Could also played Imam Ul Haq at #3 and played Azhar in Asad Shafiq's spot.

 

[Mamoon]

What hype, with what pakistan has in reserves he probably justifies his selection and will have to learn on the job, as for your hero kohli scoring runs in Australia on flat roads where even Warner is championed to England is a vast difference as kohli found out then in 2014 and admitted to learning from that experience to better himself in 2018 where it made no difference lol

What is this word salad?

How many Asian batsmen in the world can score 4 hundreds in Australia on one tour? Kohli is one of the greatest batsmen of all time and we are comparing him to Naseem now. Wow.

And learning on the job? That is nonsense. You learn in domestic cricket and perform in Test cricket.

If Naseem is not ready then he needs to bowl long spells in FC cricket instead talking about seeing fear in batsmen’s eyes and then take 3 wickets in 3 Tests.

And Naseem has been hyped to ridiculous level. This guy has been forced down our throats like no tomorrow. You would think he is some bowling version of Tendulkar who is Test class at 16.

 

[Manunited18]

What is this word salad?

How many Asian batsmen in the world can score 4 hundreds in Australia on one tour? Kohli is one of the greatest batsmen of all time and we are comparing him to Naseem now. Wow.

And learning on the job? That is nonsense. You learn in domestic cricket and perform in Test cricket.

If Naseem is not ready then he needs to bowl long spells in FC cricket instead talking about seeing fear in batsmen’s eyes and then take 3 wickets in 3 Tests.

And Naseem has been hyped to ridiculous level. This guy has been forced down our throats like no tomorrow. You would think he is some bowling version of Tendulkar who is Test class at 16.

It's obvious naseem has been identified as a talent who will learn on the job by playing test cricket, it's like jimmy when he first came in the England set up he bairly played first class cricket but he obviously was fast tracked in to the set up . Jimmy Anderson has played more cricket for England than he has for lancashire and has honed his skills by playing test cricket

 

[Mamoon]

It's obvious naseem has been identified as a talent who will learn on the job by playing test cricket, it's like jimmy when he first came in the England set up he bairly played first class cricket but he obviously was fast tracked in to the set up . Jimmy Anderson has played more cricket for England than he has for lancashire and has honed his skills by playing test cricket

Anderson was also dropped early in his career and didn’t become proper first choice until 2006-2007.

Naseem deserves to be dropped because his returns are awful. His fans can sing songs over his talent but he needs to perform in FC cricket.

If you are not performing in international cricket you have to make way. The only exceptions are already established and proven players who are going through a lean patch. Naseem is neither.

 

[Abdullah719]

Sohail Khan is officially 36 years old and has a Test bowling average of 42.

I don’t see any upside of playing him.

He is also completely a new-ball bowler and Abbas and Shaheen are the first choices for that at the moment.

 

[Firebat]

Sohail Khan is officially 36 years old and has a Test bowling average of 42.

I don’t see any upside of playing him.

He is also completely a new-ball bowler and Abbas and Shaheen are the first choices for that at the moment.

Same people furious that they would play 34 year old Fawad over young, upcoming Shadab, but would rather pick 36 year old proven failure Sohail Khan over a young raw highly rated 17 year old.

 

[Abdullah719]

Anderson was also dropped early in his career and didn’t become proper first choice until 2006-2007.

Naseem deserves to be dropped because his returns are awful. His fans can sing songs over his talent but he needs to perform in FC cricket.

If you are not performing in international cricket you have to make way. The only exceptions are already established and proven players who are going through a lean patch. Naseem is neither.

His returns have been poor in two matches.

On the bench, we have Sohail Khan, Imran Khan, and Usman Khan Shinwari.

And he already outperformed all of them in the most recent domestic season.

Ironically, you are guilty here of overrating Pakistan’s bowling stocks by suggesting he isn’t good enough to be in the squad.

 

[Manunited18]

Anderson was also dropped early in his career and didn’t become proper first choice until 2006-2007.

Naseem deserves to be dropped because his returns are awful. His fans can sing songs over his talent but he needs to perform in FC cricket.

If you are not performing in international cricket you have to make way. The only exceptions are already established and proven players who are going through a lean patch. Naseem is neither.

Anderson was left out for bowlers of the calibre of hoggard harmisson Freddie Graham onions, now you tell me where in the Pakistan reserves you see bowlers of that calib

 

[topspin]

His returns have been poor in two matches.

On the bench, we have Sohail Khan, Imran Khan, and Usman Khan Shinwari.

And he already outperformed all of them in the most recent domestic season.

Ironically, you are guilty here of overrating Pakistan’s bowling stocks by suggesting he isn’t good enough to be in the squad.

I reckon Sameen Gul would have been a better selection than Naseem. He could have been the old ball specialist that we needed here. I like how he hits the pitch hard with the way he fully utilises his height with a high arm action. He has better FC stats than Naseem and has a little bit more experience than him as well.

I have vouched for him since last year and prior to the Australia tour, I was really hoping we would have gone for Ehsan Adil and Sameen Gul instead of Musa and Naseem.

However the shameless duo of Misbah and Waqar have once again proven to be the worst chefs in Pakistan's set up as they opted for undercooked (Musa and Naseem) and overcooked (Sohail Khan, Imran Khan and etc) options instead.

 

[The Viper]

Sohail Khan can barely last one innings and people think he should have played!

If we had better options, then maybe Naseem should have been replaced.

However, there is no use, considering the tripe we have on the bench.

 

[TeamPak95]

Unpopular opinion, but I feel Faheem should have played solely to give the front-line bowlers a rest. Anything he would contribute, especially with the bat, other than holding one end with the ball would be a bonus.

 

[Rana]

I think Pakistan have decent, low profile bowlers who could have been decent for this tour. I feel they could use Akif Javed a bit more and develop his skill. We are too fascinated with pace as a nation. Naseem surprisingly isn’t as quick as most of us imagined he would be. He isn’t a regular 92-93 MPH bowler who we have been yearning for ages since Shoaib Akhtar retired.

I believe it is right for him to focus on domestic cricket but maybe look to play a County season next year to learn the art of bowling. County coaches would do him so much good instead of our useless coaches in Pakistan

 

[Buffet]

A player with offical age of 17 getting replaced by another player with an official age of 36?

 

[angrypathan]

Sohail Khan would have broken down by now.

 

[BreadPakoda]

Tbh if Sohail Khan played and failed (most likely case) everyone one would have been doing rona dhona.
E.g.
If you had to end up losing why didn’t you play a youngster instead? What will happen to Naseem’s confidence? SSA didn’t get the support, etc.

 

[Kingpin786]

I think Pakistan have decent, low profile bowlers who could have been decent for this tour. I feel they could use Akif Javed a bit more and develop his skill. We are too fascinated with pace as a nation. Naseem surprisingly isn’t as quick as most of us imagined he would be. He isn’t a regular 92-93 MPH bowler who we have been yearning for ages since Shoaib Akhtar retired.

I believe it is right for him to focus on domestic cricket but maybe look to play a County season next year to learn the art of bowling. County coaches would do him so much good instead of our useless coaches in Pakistan

Well Naseem is one of the quickest bowlers these days averaging 140kph+ in test matches is not easy

 

[Dr_Bassim]

You know bowling stocks are bleak when a 36 year old past his prime bowler is being touted as a potential replacement for a 19 year old.

I blame Amir for this.

If he hadnt become a mercenary and retired from tests, we would have some semblance of an attack.

 

[Ab Fan]

What is the point of going back to Sohail Khan?

Abbas and Shaheen are excellent new bowl bowler. Pakistan's weakness is that their pacers aren't able to do anything with the old bowl.

I was very much in PP throughout the COVID phase-1 and I got to know that Pakistan have got great bench strength with plenty of exciting young fast bowlers coming up.

Then what is the point of going back to mediocrity? Don't Pakistan have any good pacer in the age range of 20-30? Why is it that all Pakistan bowlers are great before they are 20 years old but become mediocre in their peak phases?

 

[Slog]

Considering Naseem didn’t pull any trees with ball, might as well have played Sohail Khan.

Would’ve at worst done same as Naseem with the ball in this test and would have contributed with the bat. Averages 25 and scored decent runs away. His batting really came on

 

[BreadPakoda]

Sohail Khan in place of Naseem in the third game would have also been a good change as the former wouldn’t have done any worse.

 

[Slog]

Any other bowler instead of the fraud Naseem Shah

 

[Mamoon]

He is just a big mouth with no skill. So far he has more big statements than wickets.

Another tour with 70+ bowling average beckons.

The only fear I see is in the eyes of his fans who look at his numbers in England, Australia and soon New Zealand.

Sohail Khan should have been picked instead of in England and new New Zealand. He has a good out-swinger with the new ball.

 

[Xoib]

He is just a big mouth with no skill. So far he has more big statements than wickets.

Another tour with 70+ bowling average beckons.

The only fear I see is in the eyes of his fans who look at his numbers in England, Australia and soon New Zealand.

Sohail Khan should have been picked instead of in England and new New Zealand. He has a good out-swinger with the new ball.

Has had 2 regulation dropped catches but overall could have bowled better.
Possible still too raw should go back to fc cricket for couple of seasons