Terrible captaincy from Sarfraz Ahmed

[Eagle_Eye]

1. Selecting wahab Riaz

2. Defensive approach in bowling with Imad under cloud cover. Needed to take wickets by bowling 2 seamers.

 

[reversehook]

Out of the box keh ke out of brain tactics use kar rahay hain.

 

[Hasan123]

The Sarfraz fan club will go into hiding. Has Azhar or Misbah captained like this today, they would be the 1st ones jumping on top of them with criticism. Instead they'll blame Mickey, Wahab, or something else.

 

[Ellipsism]

Bowling Imad for six overs on the trot was childish. Instead of making use of conditions he bowls Imad for the sake of thinking outside the box.

 

[Fast Bowler]

He has not been great today but thank goodness he didn't bowl Wahab or Hassan during the initial overs - Imad did a decent job

 

[MRSN]

Pathetic captaincy from the start to open with Imad. Looks like Sarfraz is going to follow Misbah's plan. Go for containing rather than taking wickets.

 

[rizrox]

Bad : opening with Imad
Worse : persisting with Imad for so long even after the rain spell .
Worst : selecting Riaz & hoping Shadab will bowl well against India !

 

[Shafi]

That's his new plans for this match

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Deceived by the looks. Sarfraz portrayed himself like the dhoni of pak but actually competing hard to be mushfiqur of pak

 

[Hawkeye]

But but but but they wanted to attack today.

You should know by now that DEFENSE is how PAK ATTACKS!

 

[Abdul]

The usual crybabies who always talked crap about Misbah & Azhar are in hiding now. I'm loving this. )

 

[Savak]

Deceived by the looks. Sarfraz portrayed himself like the dhoni of pak but actually competing hard to be mushfiqur of pak

Nah, regardless of the result of the match or the tournament, the guy needs time in the job.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

the obsession with brainless pace bowling and brainless six hitting has killed the game of cricket in pak completely. Fantastic.

 

[TahirFan]

Everyone knows that the new ball swings in cloudy conditions in England besides the Pakistani captain and coach.

What a dumb decision to open with Imad

 

[syed abbas]

Giving the new ball to Imad instead of Hassan was a pathetic decision.
Very very poor captaincy.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Nah, regardless of the result of the match or the tournament, the guy needs time in the job.

Let him have. Playing buddies ahead of performers at club level can be laid off. But if you do that for ur country then u don't deserve to represent the nation as a player.

 

[Savak]

The decision to play Shadab was not bad regardless of the result of the match or Shadab's performance. It is important to look at the larger picture. This is international cricket, you can't protect him, bowling to India and good players of spin is a reality, Shadab will be better of for the experience and he needs to learn how to bowl on pitches which are batting friendly and how to keep the runs in check while looking for wickets at the same time.

 

[Savak]

Let him have. Playing buddies ahead of performers at club level can be laid off. But if you do that for ur country then u don't deserve to represent the nation as a player.

Needs a year at-least. Even Dhoni has played buddies ahead of deserving performers and has lost plenty of series and tournaments as well. Sarfaraz as skipper needs time

 

[Shafi]

Now Sarfraz let Kohli to settle.

 

[Hasan123]

Imad to Kohli LOL. Attacking captaincy eh?

All the Sarfraz fan club who would critizce Misbah and Azhar are in hiding.

 

[Eagle_Eye]

Now sarfraz is playing kohli in by bowling spin at him.

Man is totally clueless

 

[rizrox]

This is getting worse from Sarfaraz now .. Y not get Amir or Hasan before Kohli settles in . Pathetic

 

[Hamza_]

Playing Shadab is a good decision.

Sarfraz captaincy is garbage.

 

[reversehook]

This is not a knock on sarfaraz to dump him as captain... but some mistakes he is making.

1. selecting wahab, irregardless of how he bowls, b4 match it didnt merit, plus so far its shown why
2. conditions were there for phast bowling, but using imad nerfed that, batsmen didnt have to go at him, and took it to stay at wkt and get comfy plus waste imads overs
3. Fahim ashraf had a sintilating warmup match, even if ppl wana say it was a fluke, should have gone with him, it disturbs the other side to know there is a guy who will likely hammer the **** out of us, especially when he is an unknown to them and only thing they have seen or avail of him is that innings
4. azhar and shehzad will not give u a swashbukling opening, not in a million years
5. tail is long with a not too strong upper order, it will have to be seen if he does anything out of box moves with the batting order

o well it is what it is, personally would have liked to see fahim and junaid in, wahab and azhar out... this game in my eyes is unfortunately out of our hands already, unless rain comes down heavy.

 

[Mamoon]

People wanted him to emulate Dhoni, but he is turning into Mushfiq.

 

[Adil_94]

yep bowling Imad first up and just looking to contain runs has backfired. They have allowed India to set a platform and launch an assault in the last 20 overs. Could see India get 350 here unless we pick up wickets.

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

When Shikar got out Sarfraz should have immediately brought back Mohammad Amir or even Amir & Hasan both.

 

[the SHA]

I agree. This is fear filled captaincy. Very disappointing. Another Misbah era beckons.

 

[IMMY69]

Extremely poor captaincy so far.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Needs a year at-least. Even Dhoni has played buddies ahead of deserving performers and has lost plenty of series and tournaments as well. Sarfaraz as skipper needs time

dhoni has played his card more smartly and diligently, even if he plays his buddies, and he is not buddies with non-performing duds and also he knew how to use them effectively... he is not even a comparison what sarfraz is...

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

Atleast bring Amir now.

Kohli is on strike.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Poor captaincy from Sarfraz so far

 

[ExpressPacer]

Sarfraz Ahmed has not done his homework and this unprofessional attitude makes me want to stop supporting or watching Pakistan cricket. VK is an absolute beast vs spin but to add to that, a nothing cricket vs seam bowling in England. This was the perfect time to bowl Hasan Ali. Absolutely disgusting. I'm at a loss for words here. Atrocious.

 

[ahmedzee]

Poor captaincy. Mistakes so far:

1) selecting Wahab instead of Junaid
2) Should've played Fahim Ashraf
3) persisting with Imad when conditions were good for fast bowling
4) allowing Imad to bowl right after Dhawan got out, allowing kohli to settle. I would've brought back Amir.


Having a slip all the time doesn't make it aggressive. Hope he learns or we are seeing a short captaincy stint.

 

[Coconut]

Yup, rubbish captaincy

 

[Cuts_and_cuts_hard]

Not bringing Amir on immediatey to Kohli was silly. Awful captaincy to allow Kohli to settle.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

I agree. This is fear filled captaincy. Very disappointing. Another Misbah era beckons.

not a 350-400 pitch... cant read the pitch from behind and letting away the indians to score easily and make sure they reach 350+...... have never seen a captain or a team bowling a spinner with the new bowl in overcast conditions in england..

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

Sarfraz has woken up 15 minutes late.

 

[Oxfordchamp]

Sarfaraz is highly over estimated...very poor captain today...

 

[Hamza_]

He is taking captaincy for granted. He is not playing T20 tamasha league. It's international cricket

 

[reversehook]

Sarfraz has woken up 15 minutes late.

us ki live match streaming 15-20 minute lag pe hai... its not his fault...

 

[Rinnegan Sasuke]

Horrendous.

 

[dhump]

Unfair to blame this on Sarfraz is this his tactic only ?? what about the whole experience coaching staff what are they doing ??

 

[Runner Up]

He is probably following game plan given by coach and management. Lets wait for Pak batting before blaming him.

 

[ethan hunt]

Horrible from micky and sarfraz .
Absolutely no game awareness .
The bowling attack bar wahab isnt even that bad . Just a terribly defensive use of resources

 

[TahirFan]

Unfair to blame this on Sarfraz is this his tactic only ?? what about the whole experience coaching staff what are they doing ??

Yes coach and captain has to take the blame

 

[Runner Up]

By the way why did not they try Hafeez with ball?

 

[Pete Rose]

I dont mind that he is poor, he has time to improve.
the only thing i will remind is that his supporters were that the difference post azhar will like chalk and cheese

 

[Billy1999]

I don't think it was thinking out of the box it was pretty stupid overcast conditions sharma looked agitated at the start but Imad cooled his nerves down hope it's a good match India will make 330+ Pakistan should hope to chase it or anouther option is rain and Pakistan save themselves

 

[rizrox]

Only smart tactic so far bowling Amir & Hasan for 5 overs in tandem knowing that rain was looming ... Overs may get reduced & we may have had a scenario where both of these bowlers were left unused !

 

[Macho Mann]

even cricinfo website article states micky arthus as saying that decision was taken jointly by him and sarfraz which leads me to think that micky has been the boss and sarfraz unwillingly agreeing to micky to keep calm in the camp.

when it comes to bowling, again, pakistan doesnt have any good bowlers, just half decent ones like amir, hasan.

amir was good in first over, but he became decent in the rest

sunil gavasker did say that it was a good strategy to bring imad at the beginning, many pakistani so called experts too have argued that imad should have been brought at the beginning when he was brought in the middle and even pakpassion fans argued about the same so dunno why making a rukus when he was finally brought earlier

pakistan has only two pacers to play and rest are spinners so i think sarfraz has played well to mix things up to keep runs under control

neither amir nor hasan are taking any wickets or proving too threatening for wickets honestly.

 

[Pete Rose]

even cricinfo website article states micky arthus as saying that decision was taken jointly by him and sarfraz which leads me to think that micky has been the boss and sarfraz unwillingly agreeing to micky to keep calm in the camp.

when it comes to bowling, again, pakistan doesnt have any good bowlers, just half decent ones like amir, hasan.

amir was good in first over, but he became decent in the rest

sunil gavasker did say that it was a good strategy to bring imad at the beginning, many pakistani so called experts too have argued that imad should have been brought at the beginning when he was brought in the middle and even pakpassion fans argued about the same so dunno why making a rukus when he was finally brought earlier

pakistan has only two pacers to play and rest are spinners so i think sarfraz has played well to mix things up to keep runs under control

neither amir nor hasan are taking any wickets or proving too threatening for wickets honestly.

Sure dude whatever works for you. Captain has all power. But obviously all obectivity disappears if he is the captain you want or hate

 

[Syed1]

Pretty lame captaincy today. Selection of Wahab was the worst decision of the lot

 

[Macho Mann]

for coach captain relation mickey said that the captain coach should be on the same page here is the quotation from

Link: http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-champions-trophy-2017/content/story/1100994.html

"The captain-coach relationship is almost like a marriage," Arthur said. "You've got to be on the same page all the time. And if you're on the same page, you get correct decisions and you give clarity to your team. And that's certainly where Saf and myself find ourselves; very much on the same page. I'm really going to enjoy working with him."

rest is all mickey commenting on selection seems like it was mickey who is making all selection decisions

for shadaab khan Mickey said

"If you're good enough, you're old enough," Arthur said. "That's what I always say. And I think Shadab Khan is certainly good enough. He's ready. If he gets the opportunity, I'm particularly confident in his ability to produce for us. And he's a match-winner. He really is. It's so exciting. It's another young Pakistan cricketer on the big stage and that's really great. It's really good for the country and it's really good for cricket."

Mickey said something about spinners as 'wicket takers' and 'attacking'

"You've got to be able to take wickets. We always pick an attack to take wickets. Every one of our attack is going to be able to do something different. We have a left-arm swinger, we could have left-arm pace, we have the swing and hustle of Hassan, we've a left-arm spinner, an off-spinner and we could have a leg-spinner. We've got everything at our disposal tomorrow to allow Saf to pull the strings to make sure we can try to bowl India out, because that's got to be priority number one. We can't just sit back and let them score. We've got to attack them and we've got to look to bowl them out."

cricinfo does make very good analysis on team selection of pakistan

For all the talk of being "extremely well-prepared and ready to go" (as Arthur put it), for all the talk of "players having role clarity" and "everybody knowing where they fit in," there are some pretty obvious holes in Pakistan's preparations. If a team is really well-prepared, won't it have ensured its players have gained experience at this level before going into a global event against an arch rival? And if a team is really well-prepared, won't it have ensured its players know what to expect from full-house crowds, media attention and this level of competition?

That is patently not the case with this Pakistan side. Shahdab Khan, the 18-year-old leg-spinner, has played only three ODIs, while Faheem Ashraf, the seam-bowling all-rounder who made a wonderful impression in the warm-up victory over Bangladesh, could make his international debut. Whatever their inherent class, this will represent a huge step up in quality. Plunging such players into one of the most high-profile games in the sport is hugely demanding and not especially reflective of good planning.

 

[Inswinging Yorker]

Pathetic defensive tactics, lacks imagination and instinct. Should have kept 2 slips for Amir earlier, Sharma would have been a goner. easy singles given away,..another big total looms for pakistan followed by a one sided loss.

 

[Bewal Express]

If Hafeez is in the team( he shouldn't be) he should be captain. Imad is a one trick money and against decent players, he offers little. Last year i thought Hasan Ali was going to be short lived experiment but he has become a very good bowler and no doubt should have opened the bowling.

 

[Hawkeye]

The Sarfraz fan club will go into hiding. Has Azhar or Misbah captained like this today, they would be the 1st ones jumping on top of them with criticism. Instead they'll blame Mickey, Wahab, or something else.

[MENTION=138254]Syed1[/MENTION] hasn't been seen in a single related thread to this. Last I saw him, he was abusing Mickey Arthur for this blunder, without even a single mention of Sarfraz. ) ) edit: oh, now I see him with a subtle comment.

Apart from that, he's been posting in every thread claiming how Junaid is a world beater.

 

[Syed1]

[MENTION=138254]Syed1[/MENTION] hasn't been seen in a single related thread to this. Last I saw him, he was abusing Mickey Arthur for this blunder, without even a single mention of Sarfraz. ) ) edit: oh, now I see him with a subtle comment.

Apart from that, he's been posting in every thread claiming how Junaid is a world beater.

Dude I posted on this thread quite a while ago. You are just trying to save face because of the phainti you are receiving for backing Wahab's selection.

 

[ethan hunt]

The bigger issue wasnt the strategy .
It was his horrible game awareness . When you saw the first over from imad and the way he was being milked he should have reacted and made the change .
Hasan is a very good bowler , should have given him a chance against the unsettled opener . Also no 2nd slip for aamer was another case of poor awareness when you have seen him beat sharma repeatedly with the angle.

 

[Rafay Shafiq]

Yes. Poor. Your thought [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION]

 

[MMHS]

Yes. Poor. Your thought [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION]

Haven't seen today - neither decision was his alone. Imad one can be out of box thought, also may be forced upon for the 2nd one (Wahab). Wahab's selection is expected actually - I called it couple of days back.

 

[Runner Up]

The captain saved his best bowlers for slog overs

 

[Runner Up]

What about terrible fielding? Sarfraz to blame ?

 

[Runner Up]

Two drop catches which cost the match

 

[saadsahabjee]

Captain cant do anything when you have selectors like inzimam who always selects parchee players.

 

[Runner Up]

Run rate was under 6 before they drop Youvraj and Kohli. When you give them chances, you have to pay. But no Sarfraz will be blamed if Pak loses.

 

[coy0607]

Sarfraz has been disappointing like everyone else.. but I really don't know how we can put this on him

Wahab, Amir both played half injured, Hafeez just isn't good enough to play as a pure batsmen and now we have Azhar and Shehzad to look forward too. Inzamam is the real culprit here- a total crook

 

[coy0607]

Sarfraz has been disappointing like everyone else.. but I really don't know how we can put this on him

Wahab, Amir both played half injured, Hafeez just isn't good enough to play as a pure batsmen and now we have Azhar and Shehzad to look forward too. Inzamam is the real culprit here- a total crook

 

[Macho Mann]

'sohail khan cannot be selected because he is too old'

- inzemam is more pathetic selector than he was player in his final years

 

[SARJ_BD]

Mistake# 1 Not selecting Junaid who could put pressure like Amir did from the other end
Mistake# 2 Playing 3 seamers only vs India.
Mistake# 3 Giving Imad the new bowl
Mistake# 4 Persisting with Imad for 6 overs with the new ball

However Sarfraz is a new captain and he should be backed. He should NOT be criticized rather his mistakes should be pointed out

 

[hussain123]

Disappointing captainship indeed.however fielding was the biggest fallacy for pakistan.

 

[Mamoon]

It is baffling why he didn't use Hafeez. Even with a new action, he is one of the most economical bowlers around, and would have trouble the left-handers more.

 

[TalhaSyed]

As many posters on here know - I'm usually very optimistic and back the team in tough times

HOWEVER, let's run trough this abysmal list of captaincy decision and general performances on the pitch from the 1st innings:

1) Bowling a left arm part time spinner for SIX overs upfront even though nothing was happening allowing the openers to settle in

2) Bringing the same part time spin bowler back into the attack when their best batsmen walks to the crease allowing him to get his eye in

3) Dropping Yuvraj Singh

4) Dropping Virat Kohli

5) Playing Wahab ahead of Junaid and even having Wahab in the squad ahead of Abbas and Sohail Khan

6) Amir not being fit enough to bowl 10 overs

7) Wahab not being fit enough to bowl 10 overs

8) Constant fumbles in the field

9) Begging the umpire to go off for rain with 2 balls left in the innings

No sensebile planning, no fitness, no ability to catch the ball, giving the opposition chances to score easy runs and simply no pride - the whole team should be absolutely ashamed of this performance in the first half of the game.

If the boys put in 100% and get poor results - I can live with that. But not taking easy catches, not keeping your fitness up, not selecting your best players, not having the flexibility of swaying away from your plans of having a part timer opening your bowling, not backing up throws thus giving away overthrows, not getting your body behind the ball in the field, allowing their openers & best batsmen to get settled in before attacking - these are all school boy errors and their is absolutely no excuse for them! Absolutely shocking and abysmal performance in the first half of this match.

Absolutely worst of all was seeing Hafeez and Sarfaraz asking the umpires to take them off for rain, with two balls left in the innings! Absolutely no pride shown

Their is still the second half to go & sure anything can happen - however - their is absolutely no excuse for the above and there is so so so much that Sarfaraz and the team have to start doing right if they want to be taken seriously.

 

[Macho Mann]

Mistake# 1 Not selecting Junaid who could put pressure like Amir did from the other end
Mistake# 2 Playing 3 seamers only vs India.
Mistake# 3 Giving Imad the new bowl
Mistake# 4 Persisting with Imad for 6 overs with the new ball

However Sarfraz is a new captain and he should be backed. He should NOT be criticized rather his mistakes should be pointed out

selection is done jointly by both captain and the coach so captain is not only to be blamed here

rest didnt prove any bad strategy, it did contain india its run rate with a mediocre bowling from pakistan sarfraz actually did good here

but it was poor death bowling by inexperienced bowlers and bad fielding which messed up a low total

dropping sohail khan was the key issue here

 

[Macho Mann]

Mistake# 1 Not selecting Junaid who could put pressure like Amir did from the other end
Mistake# 2 Playing 3 seamers only vs India.
Mistake# 3 Giving Imad the new bowl
Mistake# 4 Persisting with Imad for 6 overs with the new ball

However Sarfraz is a new captain and he should be backed. He should NOT be criticized rather his mistakes should be pointed out

selection is done jointly by both captain and the coach so captain is not only to be blamed here

rest didnt prove any bad strategy, it did contain india its run rate with a mediocre bowling from pakistan sarfraz actually did good here

but it was poor death bowling by inexperienced bowlers and bad fielding which messed up a low total

dropping sohail khan was the key issue here

 

[moghul]

Misbah's legacy carries on, in Sarfaraz.

 

[msb314]

Lets judge after the game has completed.

It is a flat wicket with nothing for the bowlers - however the selection of Wahab was baffling...

 

[sjahmed23]

Really shocking tactics by Sarfraz and lack of bowling depth. I think this team needs more fresh faces and needs to get rid of old faces like shehzad, hafeez and wahab for good. Enough of half commitments from selection committee and coaches we badly change badly.

 

[Shafi]

Sarfraz captaincy turned out to be worse when playing with a professional team. Poor team selection, bad field placing, bad bowling changes, minnow mentality, poor planning (reveal 12 players for opposition figure it out) and what not!!!!!

 

[WC-Passion]

We can fix all these issues but one with some player and tactical changes. Our fielding cannot be improved just like that, and it cost us so many runs and 2-3 wickets IIRC today. Junaid in, Fahim in, Fakhar in, Haris in and Imad out, Wahab out, Shehzad out, Azhar, out.