Titan24
Senior Test Player
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2016
- Runs
- 25,094
- Post of the Week
- 6
Thing is when captain and coach are both involved in selection and they continue to do blunders its time for them to go.
Its great that they are involved in everything but then they should also admit their mistakes by stepping down as the mistakes are being repeated again and again.
Some of the mistakes are just bcz of lack of common sense shown and anybody who follows cricket even a little bit would have avoided atleast some of these mistakes.
1) Playing 3 fast bowlers in UAE tests against Srl, when there are atleast 4-5 decent spinners in the ranks waiting and Srl played that series with 3 spinners in playing 11.
Someone ask Mickey or Sarfraz, when was the last time any team won test series in UAE with just 1 spinner and 3 fast blowers in last decade or so?
2) Going to Asia cup with just couple of spinners who were 19 and 23 years of age respectively. Atleast one experienced spinner should have been there from the likes of Kashif Bhatti and number of other experienced and talented spinners playing in first class , or even Zafar Gohar for that matter (Has more wickets than Shadab and Nawaz in FC) considering that Asia cup was in UAE and all the teams playing were from Asia who play spinners well. Having just two spinners in the squad and while none of them was a finished product.
3) Making a 38 years old guy in Mohammad Hafeez to come back and that too as an opener where you need the most reflexes while facing the new ball.
4) Selected Bilal Asif just bcz he was an off spinner and Aussies and NZ have a lot of left handers. This is a totally wrong approach, you need to select your best bowlers whether spinners or pacers according to the conditions and irrespective of the number of right handers or left handers opposition unless the contest is between two bowlers with almost similar caliber.
I wouldnt have had an issue if Bilal was close to the likes of Zafar Gohar, Mohammad Asghar, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Irfan jnr etc but there is a gulf of difference between him and rest of these guys and FC stats show that.
Yasir having no support and bowling so many overs bcz Bilal was ineffective most of the times resulted in extra pressure on every one.
5) When the management knew that Bilal and Hafeez were a mistake (Post the 1st test match against Aussies where they both performed in a draw) they still sticked with them till the last match of NZ series.
Yes if its a youngster like Imam I dont mind giving him a good run but giving so many opportunities to a 38 year old and 33 year old is just rigidness on part of the management.
6) Which other teams have their one of the most experienced player batting at no 5 i.e Asad Shfaiq. Asad has been a free rider for too long, he should be batting in top 3 Azhar should ideally open considering lack of options and Asad should be 1 down otherwise 1 down is fine for Azhar max 2 down for Asad.
If Asad Shafiq cant take the responsibility where senior players of other teams do then he should be shown the door.
After the first match against NZ management should have made the required changes but they remained rigid in trying to prove they were right. Same was the case in Srl series where they repeated the same mistake in the 2nd match as well.
We might as well have won the series if we would have won the first match but still the mistakes need someone to be answerable.
Some decent performances from individual players can cover the lack of performances from free riders but when those performers are not in form the team struggles big time. To me Bilal and Hafeez were free riders in this series against NZ and Malik is a potential free rider in LOIs. He is 38 and doesnt look like winning a match single handedly against any good team or in any important match. Yes was a very good utility player, but considering he doesnt ball anymore, he is 38 and world cup is in Eng where he averages in mid 20s. I dont mind having a youngster who performs as poorly or even worse knowing that there is a chance that he might learn and improve unlike a guy who is lacking reflexes and is on verge of saying good bye.
Yes its a sport where you lose some and win some but losing matches due to controllable factors i.e selection, strategy, common sense etc is an unpardonable offense.
No matter how good a coach Mickey is or how great Srafaraz is as a captain. When you make number of mistakes managing a national team its time to do some soul searching. Even if they somehow compete well in SA, still the mistakes already made are enough for both of them to take some tough decisions.
Yes a batsman can score ducks and bowler can go for runs, it happens but when you cant even make correct decisions outside the ground, before the series and in between the matches, you shouldn't be anywhere near any managerial position.
Even loosing every single match is acceptable if you are selecting the right 11, making the right strategies, tactics and getting the most out of each player. NZ showed that, with two debutant spinners in Ajaz Patel and Sommoerville and tactics from Williamson were spot on. Excellent field placement and bowling changes. He was getting the wickets out of collin de grandomme in UAE, shows how much of a difference a good captain can make as well as coach in tactics, strategies and defining role of each player.
Its great that they are involved in everything but then they should also admit their mistakes by stepping down as the mistakes are being repeated again and again.
Some of the mistakes are just bcz of lack of common sense shown and anybody who follows cricket even a little bit would have avoided atleast some of these mistakes.
1) Playing 3 fast bowlers in UAE tests against Srl, when there are atleast 4-5 decent spinners in the ranks waiting and Srl played that series with 3 spinners in playing 11.
Someone ask Mickey or Sarfraz, when was the last time any team won test series in UAE with just 1 spinner and 3 fast blowers in last decade or so?
2) Going to Asia cup with just couple of spinners who were 19 and 23 years of age respectively. Atleast one experienced spinner should have been there from the likes of Kashif Bhatti and number of other experienced and talented spinners playing in first class , or even Zafar Gohar for that matter (Has more wickets than Shadab and Nawaz in FC) considering that Asia cup was in UAE and all the teams playing were from Asia who play spinners well. Having just two spinners in the squad and while none of them was a finished product.
3) Making a 38 years old guy in Mohammad Hafeez to come back and that too as an opener where you need the most reflexes while facing the new ball.
4) Selected Bilal Asif just bcz he was an off spinner and Aussies and NZ have a lot of left handers. This is a totally wrong approach, you need to select your best bowlers whether spinners or pacers according to the conditions and irrespective of the number of right handers or left handers opposition unless the contest is between two bowlers with almost similar caliber.
I wouldnt have had an issue if Bilal was close to the likes of Zafar Gohar, Mohammad Asghar, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Irfan jnr etc but there is a gulf of difference between him and rest of these guys and FC stats show that.
Yasir having no support and bowling so many overs bcz Bilal was ineffective most of the times resulted in extra pressure on every one.
5) When the management knew that Bilal and Hafeez were a mistake (Post the 1st test match against Aussies where they both performed in a draw) they still sticked with them till the last match of NZ series.
Yes if its a youngster like Imam I dont mind giving him a good run but giving so many opportunities to a 38 year old and 33 year old is just rigidness on part of the management.
6) Which other teams have their one of the most experienced player batting at no 5 i.e Asad Shfaiq. Asad has been a free rider for too long, he should be batting in top 3 Azhar should ideally open considering lack of options and Asad should be 1 down otherwise 1 down is fine for Azhar max 2 down for Asad.
If Asad Shafiq cant take the responsibility where senior players of other teams do then he should be shown the door.
After the first match against NZ management should have made the required changes but they remained rigid in trying to prove they were right. Same was the case in Srl series where they repeated the same mistake in the 2nd match as well.
We might as well have won the series if we would have won the first match but still the mistakes need someone to be answerable.
Some decent performances from individual players can cover the lack of performances from free riders but when those performers are not in form the team struggles big time. To me Bilal and Hafeez were free riders in this series against NZ and Malik is a potential free rider in LOIs. He is 38 and doesnt look like winning a match single handedly against any good team or in any important match. Yes was a very good utility player, but considering he doesnt ball anymore, he is 38 and world cup is in Eng where he averages in mid 20s. I dont mind having a youngster who performs as poorly or even worse knowing that there is a chance that he might learn and improve unlike a guy who is lacking reflexes and is on verge of saying good bye.
Yes its a sport where you lose some and win some but losing matches due to controllable factors i.e selection, strategy, common sense etc is an unpardonable offense.
No matter how good a coach Mickey is or how great Srafaraz is as a captain. When you make number of mistakes managing a national team its time to do some soul searching. Even if they somehow compete well in SA, still the mistakes already made are enough for both of them to take some tough decisions.
Yes a batsman can score ducks and bowler can go for runs, it happens but when you cant even make correct decisions outside the ground, before the series and in between the matches, you shouldn't be anywhere near any managerial position.
Even loosing every single match is acceptable if you are selecting the right 11, making the right strategies, tactics and getting the most out of each player. NZ showed that, with two debutant spinners in Ajaz Patel and Sommoerville and tactics from Williamson were spot on. Excellent field placement and bowling changes. He was getting the wickets out of collin de grandomme in UAE, shows how much of a difference a good captain can make as well as coach in tactics, strategies and defining role of each player.
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