Talents wasted by Pakistan from 2020 onwards?

[mominsaigol]

Wanted to make this fun thread for a while.

Typically when we think about the talents that Pakistan has ruined we usually point fingers at Ahmed shehzad, Umar akmal, Sami aslam, Hammad Azam etc.

But hardly anyone ever talks about the current era.

Here are some of the talents that I believe Pakistan has ruined either through politics, pcb selector incompetence or mismanagement by the selectors.

1) Ihsanullah : While raw, he was a 150kph pacer and he really could have become a lethal asset for pakistan had poor mismangment and diagnosis not ruined his career.

2) Fakhar Zaman: Techincally a player who made his debut in 2017, so I am cheating a bit, however it was only post 2020 where he was removed from opening in t20's. Furthermore the management has frequently dropped him for either harsh tweets, or just because their is no trust in him, Replacing him for Abdullah Shafique in wc 2023 was unforgivable. Furthermore pcb never trusted him in tests. The guy has a double century in fc. Pakistan could have used a Travis head or sehwag esc player in test cricket, one who can play relatively quickly.

3) Sajid Khan: He's only 31 and still young, a solid batter and a solid spinner. Criminal to see the likes of abrar or Sufiyan replacing him. While he does have a poor List A record with the ball, dropping him from the same test squad is something that might come back to haunt pcb, as Linde has shown, maybe sa isn't as pace friendly as we thought it to be.

 

[Muhammad Saad]

We didn’t get much talent after 2018 except for Saim Ayub all other players were mediocre

 

[hafizexpress]

Since 2020 onwards, the talent pool has been relatively dry. I'm actually struggling to think about who was wasted and not just mediocre.

The thing with this era is that it's just been criminally painful to witness. A clique of players has hogged the squad spots, and we haven't had too many talents who have been able to come in, establish themselves, or be given the opportunities that they deserve.

This question could have been a lot more relevant if we tested out deserving talents against the likes of Zimbabwe, Ireland, B/C string teams etc., instead of playing the same Babar, Rizwan, Shaheen, Shadab, Ifti, all the time. I feel like a majority of people who could have come on to the international scene were overlooked or underutilized. There's a reason why when Naseem was injured before the WC last year, we had no-one to fall back to and all of a sudden had to call up washed up Hassan Ali.

Overall, this era has been the worst in Pakistan's history of developing talents and backups. This is where the rest of the world has left Pak far behind and we are playing catchup right now. Our poor rankings reflect that

 

[hafizexpress]

One player, however, that I fear being wasted is Aamer Jamal. For years Pakistan looked for a fast bowling all rounder and I really think he fits the bill. Aggressive, fit, best physique out of all Pak players, works hard, decent pace, and was the standout performer vs Australia. Yes, he hasn't set the cricket world alight but I also don't think he's been given the respect and opportunities that he could have been thus far. Pakistan shouldn't let this man go. He REALLY showed up vs Australia in Austrlaia in red ball cricket when the rest of the bozos failed to deliver

 

[Muhammad Saad]

One player, however, that I fear being wasted is Aamer Jamal. For years Pakistan looked for a fast bowling all rounder and I really think he fits the bill. Aggressive, fit, best physique out of all Pak players, works hard, decent pace, and was the standout performer vs Australia. Yes, he hasn't set the cricket world alight but I also don't think he's been given the respect and opportunities that he could have been thus far. Pakistan shouldn't let this man go. He REALLY showed up vs Australia in Austrlaia in red ball cricket when the rest of the bozos failed to deliver

Amir Jamal was a nothing player before 2022 and now he lost his pace due to his age which is way over his official age , he just had a purple patch in 2022/23 season where his pace was up and was getting good bounce hence he looked good and perform as well. Bowled up to 149k in domestic game.

 

[sweep_shot]

Haider Ali.
Asif Ali.
Mohammad Haris.

They should've been handled better.

 

[hafizexpress]

Haider Ali.
Asif Ali.
Mohammad Haris.

They should've been handled better.

Oh I didn't think of Haris. He has definitely been handled terribly. There's been clear bias against him. At least he's still young. Hopefully he works on himself and is handled better going forward. He's probably at the top of my list then. After that T20WC'22 he should have been groomed properly.

As for Haider Ali, he was given a fairly long run and failed to capitalize. Imo he got in the team on merit, and also out the team on merit. But he has talent, just needs to learn to apply it better.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Haider Ali.
Asif Ali.
Mohammad Haris.

They should've been handled better.

All three of them can easily replace our current T20 batters in the team.... they could be match winners for Pakistan if management trust them again.

 

[Ijaz Ahmed07]

Usman Khan Shinwari ..

Poorly managed left arm pacer ..

34 wickets in 17 odi games @18.61 than just discarded like trash without support ..

 

[mominsaigol]

Usman Khan Shinwari ..

Poorly managed left arm pacer ..

34 wickets in 17 odi games @18.61 than just discarded like trash without support ..

Oh yeah I forgot about him. Why was he even discarded? Was a phenomenol odi bowler?

Was pretty poor in t20 though but that's fine. We need specialists. No more of these fake pretenders like shaheen who are good t20 bowlers but tucker out after bowling 5 overs in odi and just get injured in tests 24/7 due to lack of fitness

 

[Mohraheem]

full blame on Misbah! He ruined Pakistan by becoming a coach!

 

[moghul]

Amir Jamal was a nothing player before 2022 and now he lost his pace due to his age which is way over his official age , he just had a purple patch in 2022/23 season where his pace was up and was getting good bounce hence he looked good and perform as well. Bowled up to 149k in domestic game.

I agree, Amir Jamal had enough chances but he had regressed quickly and I also have the same feeling , he is much older than his stated age, looks and now has lost his pace, hence he is now and ordinary, domestic level player.

 

[Marooned]

Oh yeah I forgot about him. Why was he even discarded? Was a phenomenol odi bowler?

Was pretty poor in t20 though but that's fine. We need specialists. No more of these fake pretenders like shaheen who are good t20 bowlers but tucker out after bowling 5 overs in odi and just get injured in tests 24/7 due to lack of fitness

You are terribly uninformed. Short term memory fans like you are the biggest problem in pak cricket.

Shaheen was literally worked into the ground. He bowled the most overs by a fast bowler for a period of like 2.5 years while his international peers were getting looked after just as they deserved to. He was not unfit. Just overworked into breakdown (and rushed back twice when he hadn't recovered which is whole different level of insanity)

As for Sajid Khan just stop ️

You want him in Odis? What part of 34 wickets in 38 games at avg of 38 makes you want it?? Don't say you aren't speaking of white ball cuz you are saying Abrar replacing him is criminal lol.

As for tests. This is South Africa. Have you never seen a test match in SA?

He's just a dust bowl bowler nothing else. Even on normal wickets he can't do anything. He comes to life on proper turners. Anything less than that, he is useless.

 

[mominsaigol]

Here's mine

1) Zafar Gohar

2) Sajid Khan

3) Noman Ali( Techincally not a 2020 boy, but he came so late, should have been around since 2010)

4) Fakhar Zaman (Missed opportunity for an allformat opener)

5) Ihsanullah

6) Haris sohail (Incompetent surgeons and incompetent fitness trainers couldn't fix him)

7) Imad Wasim (Had Nawaz + Babar drama bazi not happened, he'd still be fit and ready to play, However yes 2024 smoking lung problems and poor fitness are on him, some accountability needs to be taken)

8) Haider Ali (This one is kinda on him, but God good he's only 24? Even if he's aged fudged? He's max 29?, come on what are sports psychologists + coaches even for? What sort of coach are you if you can't motivate your players? Haider alinis the pinnacle of good talent but zero confidence and mental midget mentality)

9) Asif Ali (Nothing special but I'd have liked him to remain as a no 7 t20 specialist. Pakistan doesn't have a no 7 and this guy got you 2 icc wins from lost positions, him at no 7 in t20 wouldn't be bad)

10) Muhammad Haris (Same, this guy should play t20 only, but he isn't a bad option for t20, Pakistan needs a hack and slash t20 player)

11) Saud Shakeel (Their wasting him by not playing him in odi, he's 100x superior to Rizwan as a no 4 odi batter lol. A good test player with a 50 avg can turn around his poor odi career, which is what aus plans to do with cooper connelly. A poor odi and t20 player cough rizzu cough, will only become a medicore test player.

Yes their a few exceptions like Laxman, Root, Steve smith, however they weren't ever Rizwan level, rizwan makes these guys look like the Bradman of odi in comparison.

12) Kamran Ghulam (Reason I'm putting thos out is cause this guy shpuld have made his debut 4 years ago, secondly what's the point of playing him in odi at no 5? That's ruining him 100%. He isn't the no 5 sort of player. And Babar coming back in tests?

So between saim, Abdullah, Shan, Babar, saud, Rizwan and Agha, where will Ghulam bat? Or is he doing water boy work after scoring a debut century?

13) Mubashir Khan (Another good spin talent and a much better batter then Abrar. Actually can I ask why abrar is even here?

I once backed abrar, and honestly none offence to the kid, unfair to judge him on road pitches, but since the champions cup and some other domestic games + county, their dozens of spinners better then he is?

Infact i think he's one of the worst of the lot lol)

Last but not least. Not a player from 2020 but I would like to add Yasir Shah. Godly test spin talent. Misbah ran him into the ground in tests cricket and shoved him into odi when he clearly wasn't suited to whiteball.

Also not gonna talk about his you know what. Don't wish to get into politics.

 

[moghul]

Haider Ali.
Asif Ali.
Mohammad Haris.

They should've been handled better.

Mohammad Haris yes , he deserves more chances and is truly a very talented cricketer .A big no for Haider and Asif. Haider has been given more chances than he deserved , he wasted him self and can't blame anyone . Asif also a useless player , had played more cricket than he deserved, only because of couple of sixes he hit in some crucial matches, other than that a big failure.

 

[gazza619]

Haider Ali.
Asif Ali.
Mohammad Haris.

They should've been handled better.

Can we for once in our life blame the players for poorly managing themselves.

The three you have listed have ruined their own careers due to making use of less brain cells.

 

[Marooned]

You've bashed Shaheen there more than anything without knowing anything. Hence my reply.

You also wrote a eulogy about Sajid Khan and that's why I also replied.

 

[mominsaigol]

Since 2020 onwards, the talent pool has been relatively dry. I'm actually struggling to think about who was wasted and not just mediocre.

The thing with this era is that it's just been criminally painful to witness. A clique of players has hogged the squad spots, and we haven't had too many talents who have been able to come in, establish themselves, or be given the opportunities that they deserve.

This question could have been a lot more relevant if we tested out deserving talents against the likes of Zimbabwe, Ireland, B/C string teams etc., instead of playing the same Babar, Rizwan, Shaheen, Shadab, Ifti, all the time. I feel like a majority of people who could have come on to the international scene were overlooked or underutilized. There's a reason why when Naseem was injured before the WC last year, we had no-one to fall back to and all of a sudden had to call up washed up Hassan Ali.

Overall, this era has been the worst in Pakistan's history of developing talents and backups. This is where the rest of the world has left Pak far behind and we are playing catchup right now. Our poor rankings reflect that

We aren't really playing catchup tbh.

The only player I've seen play unorthodox strokes such as Reverse sweeps, or come down the wicket, or paddle scoops or anything that modern t20 batters do are fakhar Zaman, saim ayub and Saud Shakeel.

However saud only does it against pace as a survival mechanism cause he just isn't good against chest high deliveries, he isn't doing it freely like Butler does.

Similarly fakhar is good at slog sweeps but the paddle scoop shot against pacers he only plays on occasion and many times has gotten out on that shot.

Saim ayub is the only one who plays that stylish flick, beyond that he's stopped playing his no look shot.

In this modern era, Lots of batters have developed Unorthodox methods of batting in t20 cricket like sky and sanju. In odi cricket at the very least the lower order has developed it.

Pakistan hasn't. The only player who plays traditionally but is a quality t20 batter is Travis head, However that's mainly due to the fact that he has quick reactions and has insane muscle power so even mistimes go for a 6. Very Chris gayle like.

Even pieterson and Warner had unorthodox strokes that they would use to get cheeky boundaries. And their batters from 2010 when t20 wasn't flourished yet.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Mohammad Asghar of PZ never got the chance and Umer Khan the KK spinner

 

[mominsaigol]

Read your own comment before replying. Or do you just spew and forget? You've bashed Shaheen there more than anything without knowing anything. Hence my reply.

You also wrote a eulogy about Sajid Khan and that's why I also replied. Ignorance irritates me.

I didn't state anything about Sajid Khan, in said comment.

As for shaheen, all I said was that while he's good in t20 bowling, it's dead set clear to any cricket fan that he's useless in odi and test beyond opening spells. He doesn't have the stamina to finish.

2019-2021 is irrelevant now. It doesn't matter what/when/how shaheen ran himself into the ground.

point is, in the present he's cooked in odi and test cricket. He may turn it around but so far it hasn't happened yet.

 

[Marooned]

I didn't state anything about Sajid Khan, in said comment.

As for shaheen, all I said was that while he's good in t20 bowling, it's dead set clear to any cricket fan that he's useless in odi and test beyond opening spells. He doesn't have the stamina to finish.

2019-2021 is irrelevant now. It doesn't matter what/when/how shaheen ran himself into the ground.

point is, in the present he's cooked in odi and test cricket. He may turn it around but so far it hasn't happened yet.

And not that I expect any signs of intelligence from you. The very point of your sorry thread is "wasted talents"

You say Ihsanullah is wasted talent because of mismanagement but are too dense to realize that worse happened to Shaheen.

 

[sindhiboy]

Mohammad Asghar of PZ never got the chance and Umer Khan the KK spinner

Surprised Asghar never got a test debut, especially considering the spinner crisis.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Guys please strictly refrain from personal remarks

 

[mominsaigol]

And not that I expect any signs of intelligence from you. The very point of your sorry thread is "wasted talents"

You say Ihsanullah is wasted talent because of mismanagement but are too dense to realize that worse happened to Shaheen.

You say Ihsanullah is wasted talent because of mismanagement but are too dense to realize that worse happened to Shaheen.

Yes clearly Shaheen is the one with the broken arm, Misdiagnosed by a rubbish surgeon and has to spend time in the NCA and face the fact that his criciet career is over because of a misdiagnosis and he'll never ever get his speed back.

i completly forgot that shaheen was in a car crash, got a plane thrown on him, got slammed by brock lesnar ar wrestlemania and got thrown into a wood chipper.

Bechara Shaheen he has it so much worse then Ihsanullah

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Surprised Asghar never got a test debut, especially considering the spinner crisis.

That Umer Khan was also a good spinner and intelligent youngster too

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Lord Azam Khan

 

[mominsaigol]

Lord Azam Khan

Bro the Title of this thread is about talented players who pcb wasted, not players who McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut and dunkin donuts wasted.