"The coach and captain had trust in me that I could do the job" : Fahim Ashraf

[MenInG]

Fahim Ashraf speaking to the media after the Bangladesh v Pakistan warm-up game

"The Coach and Captain had trust in me that I could do the job"

"Once I went in, I assessed the situation and saw that one boundary was very short my belief was strengthened that we could do it"

"I hope I can play against India. The Match against India is a big one but there isn't much pressure as we will play the game like any other game"

"I see myself as a bowling all-rounder"

"I have played a few innings like these in First-Class cricket but this was the first time I have played that in a One-Day game"

"We were aiming for the shorter boundary but they were bowling away from there so we had no choice but to play straighter as we had belief in ourselves"

"The pressure of playing towards a long boundary was not an issue"

"It is my hope and belief that I can repeat such a performance again"

"I may not have played in PSL but played in domestic and Pakistan A and I have belief in the Almighty that He would help me go forward in my career"

"Lot of people had negative things to say about me but after this performance all that will stop"

"There is no pressure but happiness that I will be making a debut against India and I will try my best to perform like that against India as well"

"We were concerned about the size of the boundary but once we went into the field, the captain and Shoaib Malik gave us confidence in our abilities and it really did not feel as if the boundary from one side of the ground was short"

"Their bowlers got pressure once they were hit for a few and that is why we were able to win"

 

[Major]

I remember ahmed Shezad 2010 century on that short boundary in NZ, and we know what happened after in the world cup.

40 meters boundary, sorry to say i can't take his performance serious.

A good judgement on him will come when he is playing an actual match, or if another warm up is played with proper boundary lengths

 

[Junaids]

Bowling all-rounder?

All he needs to go is grow six inches taller and learn how to bowl...

 

[Square Drive]

Really hope this lad gets a game against India.

 

[MenInG]

Really hope this lad gets a game against India.

Well the way he spoke about it in the press conf, seems that its a given

 

[fazleefridi]

Well the way he spoke about it in the press conf, seems that its a given

It would be

7.Imad
8.Fahim
9.Hasan
10.Amir
11.Junaid

Hafeez is a sure starter, so he would be the 6th bowler and a second spinner.

Imad would be preferred over Shadab, as Mickey rates him highly and his batting is proven in England.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Bowling all-rounder?

All he needs to go is grow six inches taller and learn how to bowl...

Didn't you say Hasan Ali is too short and won't succeed at the international level?

 

[Square Drive]

Well the way he spoke about it in the press conf, seems that its a given

That's great. Looking forward to it even more now!

 

[Syed1]

"There is no pressure but happiness that I will be making a debut against India and I will try my best to perform like that against India as well"

What

Does he already know he is going to debut??

 

[ahsan_888]

Shadab must play he performed well today taking 2 crucial wickets when the bengalis were taking the match away.
if the short boundaries would have caused a problem a bigger score would have been posted by both teams

 

[khan-92]

I remember ahmed Shezad 2010 century on that short boundary in NZ, and we know what happened after in the world cup.

40 meters boundary, sorry to say i can't take his performance serious.

A good judgement on him will come when he is playing an actual match, or if another warm up is played with proper boundary lengths

Apprenterly all his sixes we're hit on the longest side of the boundary not the short one.
Insha'Allah will be great player for Pakistan if he plays like this against India.

 

[asfandyar]

"There is no pressure but happiness that I will be making a debut against India and I will try my best to perform like that against India as well"

What

Does he already know he is going to debut??

(Probable scenario)

Interviewer: Will you feel any pressure if you make a debut against the arch-rivals India?
Fahim: There is no pressure but happiness that I will be making a debut against India and I will try my best to perform like that against India as well

 

[DRsohail]

Bowling all-rounder?

All he needs to go is grow six inches taller and learn how to bowl...

when will u come out of six inche ..5 icnhes etc....let him play,,he can be a good odi bowler...

 

[Hasan123]

He should start vs India. After today it seems we may have some power down the order.

Credit to inzi for selecting him. I didn't think he would get a game but after today he should definitely play.

 

[Hamza78]

Well done young man

 

[Faran96]

I remember ahmed Shezad 2010 century on that short boundary in NZ, and we know what happened after in the world cup.

40 meters boundary, sorry to say i can't take his performance serious.

A good judgement on him will come when he is playing an actual match, or if another warm up is played with proper boundary lengths

I agree that we can't fully judge him yet, but the sixes he hit were massive and would have cleared any boundary.

 

[Major]

Apprenterly all his sixes we're hit on the longest side of the boundary not the short one.
Insha'Allah will be great player for Pakistan if he plays like this against India.

? he himself has said that one boundary was short so he targetted that place

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

? he himself has said that one boundary was short so he targetted that place

He said that one boundary was short so he backed himself to chase the target but then Bangladeshis bowled on the other side so he started hitting straight.

 

[cricketAXEpert]

I remember ahmed Shezad 2010 century on that short boundary in NZ, and we know what happened after in the world cup.

40 meters boundary, sorry to say i can't take his performance serious.

A good judgement on him will come when he is playing an actual match, or if another warm up is played with proper boundary lengths

His domestic batting stats are garbage. He was belted when bowling. Looks like a one hit wonder

 

[yasir]

It would be

7.Imad
8.Fahim
9.Hasan
10.Amir
11.Junaid

Hafeez is a sure starter, so he would be the 6th bowler and a second spinner.

Imad would be preferred over Shadab, as Mickey rates him highly and his batting is proven in England.

Immad over Shadab would be a mistake, Shadab is a wicket taker, Immad is darter, not going to work against India... Instead of Junaid we need Abbas(Junaid is too slow and ordinary, Abbas has much better control and swing at same pace)...Three new players (Shadab, Fahim, Abbas), would be unknown to India, that would work for us...

 

[fazleefridi]

Immad over Shadab would be a mistake, Shadab is a wicket taker, Immad is darter, not going to work against India... Instead of Junaid we need Abbas(Junaid is too slow and ordinary, Abbas has much better control and swing at same pace)...Three new players (Shadab, Fahim, Abbas), would be unknown to India, that would work for us...

Please be realistic.

Abbas is back in Pakistan.
Mickey rates Imad very highly, highly unlikely he would be dropped for Shadab.

 

[Junaids]

Didn't you say Hasan Ali is too short and won't succeed at the international level?

I still say that.

Hasan Ali has done okay against tailenders seeking to slog his yorkers.

But in both Test and ODI cricket he remains a very limited option. He just does not have a safe length that he can bowl to tie the batsman down, because he is about 8 to 9 inches too short to be a fast bowler.

He took 3 wickets on his Test debut, but at a strike rate of 74.0, which is horrendous.

He has 29 ODI wickets in 16 matches, but his economy rate is 5.87, which really highlights the problem with his height - even today respectable ODI bowlers maintain economy rates under 5.00.

I still maintain that Hasan Ali can only have an international career by becoming a Number 7 batsman who can bowl to his current standard.

 

[shariqnoor]

I still say that.

Hasan Ali has done okay against tailenders seeking to slog his yorkers.

But in both Test and ODI cricket he remains a very limited option. He just does not have a safe length that he can bowl to tie the batsman down, because he is about 8 to 9 inches too short to be a fast bowler.

He took 3 wickets on his Test debut, but at a strike rate of 74.0, which is horrendous.

He has 29 ODI wickets in 16 matches, but his economy rate is 5.87, which really highlights the problem with his height - even today respectable ODI bowlers maintain economy rates under 5.00.

I still maintain that Hasan Ali can only have an international career by becoming a Number 7 batsman who can bowl to his current standard.

So Hasan Ali's Economy rate in ODIs is down to his height???? LOL. Really? Ishant Sharma has an Economy Rate of 5.72 in ODIs. How do you explain that? Maybe he's too tall for a fast bowler??? Umesh Yadav (6' 2"") Economy is 6.01 in ODIs. Maybe he's too short for a fast bowler, eh?? LOL.

Have you ever considered the fact that a high economy rate can be directly proportional to the amount of garbage bowls you bowl? And the garbage bowling has little correlation to your height.

 

[shariqnoor]

Whatever Pakistan do, they must NOT pick a spinner against India (especially a leg spinner). Would be the biggest blunder ever. No Shadab please.

 

[Junaids]

So Hasan Ali's Economy rate in ODIs is down to his height???? LOL. Really? Ishant Sharma has an Economy Rate of 5.72 in ODIs. How do you explain that? Maybe he's too tall for a fast bowler??? Umesh Yadav (6' 2"") Economy is 6.01 in ODIs. Maybe he's too short for a fast bowler, eh?? LOL.

Have you ever considered the fact that a high economy rate can be directly proportional to the amount of garbage bowls you bowl? And the garbage bowling has little correlation to your height.

With respect, I am not sure that you understand the issue.

Ishant Sharma has virtually no bowling skills at all. His career is entirely because height alone took him this far.

Think back to when you last batted. The question is always "forward on to the front foot, or back?"

Very tall bowlers like McGrath, Hazlewood, Broad, Ambrose or Garner cause problems by getting bounce from a full length. They draw the batsman forward, only for the ball to bounce too high to be driven.

You need to be at least 6'4 for this to apply. At that height, you only need to be accurate enough to bowl the ball on to an area the size of a 15 inch laptop to tie down the batsman.

If you are between 6 foot and 6 foot 3, you can achieve the same result, but the "safe zone" for landing the ball is much smaller - about the size of an iPhone 7 Plus laid sideways on the pitch. So a "short" fast bowler in the 6' to 6'3 range needs to be faster and more skilled than a taller bowler.

Which is why the quicker Waqar had an inferior career to the taller Wasim. In the West Indies in 92-93, Pakistan lost the World Test Championship because even though Waqar kept taking wickets, Desmond Haynes and Brian Lara scored so quickly off him that he singlehandedly lost the series. Waqar just couldn't find a safe length, and in a low-scoring series his Economy Rate lost the series.

Below 6 foot, a fast bowler basically cannot find a length to confuse the batsman. At 5'10, Ryan Harris used to complain that he had to be able to land every delivery on an area the size of a pencil laid sideways on a full length. Too full and he'd be driven, too short and he'd be cut.

But Hasan Ali is three inches shorter than that. Even a matchstick is probably too large to represent where he must pitch the ball.

Ultimately, Ishant Sharma has had his mediocre career because he could reliably hit an area the size of a 15 inch laptop.

Umesh Yadav's career won't really be up for assessment until he gets his fingernails clipped.

And Hasan Ali will be driven and driven and driven for the next decade. He could be a useful fourth seamer, but only if he can hold down a place as a batsman.

 

[Major]

Whatever Pakistan do, they must NOT pick a spinner against India (especially a leg spinner). Would be the biggest blunder ever. No Shadab please.

This is not how you pick teams or go into a match.

Every selection is based upon conditions.

Remember the pakistan vs india t20 match in 2016? Paoistannlost because of afridis poor captaincy. Not a single actual spinner was selected on a wicket which had massive break.

1 week before that match india lost to new zealand due to spin

Thus any selection made should be based upon spin

 

[Hamza_]

With respect, I am not sure that you understand the issue.

Ishant Sharma has virtually no bowling skills at all. His career is entirely because height alone took him this far.

Think back to when you last batted. The question is always "forward on to the front foot, or back?"

Very tall bowlers like McGrath, Hazlewood, Broad, Ambrose or Garner cause problems by getting bounce from a full length. They draw the batsman forward, only for the ball to bounce too high to be driven.

You need to be at least 6'4 for this to apply. At that height, you only need to be accurate enough to bowl the ball on to an area the size of a 15 inch laptop to tie down the batsman.

If you are between 6 foot and 6 foot 3, you can achieve the same result, but the "safe zone" for landing the ball is much smaller - about the size of an iPhone 7 Plus laid sideways on the pitch. So a "short" fast bowler in the 6' to 6'3 range needs to be faster and more skilled than a taller bowler.

Which is why the quicker Waqar had an inferior career to the taller Wasim. In the West Indies in 92-93, Pakistan lost the World Test Championship because even though Waqar kept taking wickets, Desmond Haynes and Brian Lara scored so quickly off him that he singlehandedly lost the series. Waqar just couldn't find a safe length, and in a low-scoring series his Economy Rate lost the series.

Below 6 foot, a fast bowler basically cannot find a length to confuse the batsman. At 5'10, Ryan Harris used to complain that he had to be able to land every delivery on an area the size of a pencil laid sideways on a full length. Too full and he'd be driven, too short and he'd be cut.

But Hasan Ali is three inches shorter than that. Even a matchstick is probably too large to represent where he must pitch the ball.

Ultimately, Ishant Sharma has had his mediocre career because he could reliably hit an area the size of a 15 inch laptop.

Umesh Yadav's career won't really be up for assessment until he gets his fingernails clipped.

And Hasan Ali will be driven and driven and driven for the next decade. He could be a useful fourth seamer, but only if he can hold down a place as a batsman.

[MENTION=291] [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] I can understand your logic and point, It seems valid.

But Hasan is a skilled and intelligent bowler, His determination is very strong and in my opinion he is due to be successful.

Regarding Fahim, he is a guy who can bowl 4-5 overs and then hit bi, His skills as a bowler are very limited.

 

[CricketAnalyst]

I still say that.

Hasan Ali has done okay against tailenders seeking to slog his yorkers.

But in both Test and ODI cricket he remains a very limited option. He just does not have a safe length that he can bowl to tie the batsman down, because he is about 8 to 9 inches too short to be a fast bowler.

He took 3 wickets on his Test debut, but at a strike rate of 74.0, which is horrendous.

He has 29 ODI wickets in 16 matches, but his economy rate is 5.87, which really highlights the problem with his height - even today respectable ODI bowlers maintain economy rates under 5.00.

I still maintain that Hasan Ali can only have an international career by becoming a Number 7 batsman who can bowl to his current standard.

Name a few bowlers who have economy lower than 5.00 in games played after 2013?

 

[New Yorker]

His domestic batting stats are garbage. He was belted when bowling. Looks like a one hit wonder

Just inventing stuff aren't you.

Belted when bowling? He averages 24 in LOI cricket. That's on level with Amir and Junaid and Hasan, better than Wahab. He a took a 5 fer in the his last domestic LOI final.

He's been played a lot of quick 30's cameos recently in LOI games, so he literally cannot be a 'one-hit' wonder. And No. Ave 32 in FC, 2 100s 4 5s in 31 games is not quite garbage.

 

[saeedhk]

He can't be taken seriously. He needs to perform in real matches.

 

[shariqnoor]

With respect, I am not sure that you understand the issue.

Ishant Sharma has virtually no bowling skills at all. His career is entirely because height alone took him this far.

Think back to when you last batted. The question is always "forward on to the front foot, or back?"

Very tall bowlers like McGrath, Hazlewood, Broad, Ambrose or Garner cause problems by getting bounce from a full length. They draw the batsman forward, only for the ball to bounce too high to be driven.

You need to be at least 6'4 for this to apply. At that height, you only need to be accurate enough to bowl the ball on to an area the size of a 15 inch laptop to tie down the batsman.

If you are between 6 foot and 6 foot 3, you can achieve the same result, but the "safe zone" for landing the ball is much smaller - about the size of an iPhone 7 Plus laid sideways on the pitch. So a "short" fast bowler in the 6' to 6'3 range needs to be faster and more skilled than a taller bowler.

Which is why the quicker Waqar had an inferior career to the taller Wasim. In the West Indies in 92-93, Pakistan lost the World Test Championship because even though Waqar kept taking wickets, Desmond Haynes and Brian Lara scored so quickly off him that he singlehandedly lost the series. Waqar just couldn't find a safe length, and in a low-scoring series his Economy Rate lost the series.

Below 6 foot, a fast bowler basically cannot find a length to confuse the batsman. At 5'10, Ryan Harris used to complain that he had to be able to land every delivery on an area the size of a pencil laid sideways on a full length. Too full and he'd be driven, too short and he'd be cut.

But Hasan Ali is three inches shorter than that. Even a matchstick is probably too large to represent where he must pitch the ball.

Ultimately, Ishant Sharma has had his mediocre career because he could reliably hit an area the size of a 15 inch laptop.

Umesh Yadav's career won't really be up for assessment until he gets his fingernails clipped.

And Hasan Ali will be driven and driven and driven for the next decade. He could be a useful fourth seamer, but only if he can hold down a place as a batsman.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the same height as Hasan Ali and has an economy rate of less than 5 RPO.

Dale Steyn is 5' 10" and he is one of the greatest bowlers the world has seen.

Please stop with all this reasoning that a fast bowler can only become a good fast bowler if he's more than 6 feet tall. Rubbish. Cricket is littered with fast bowlers who are garbage even if they are tall and excellent even if they're less than 6 feet tall. No correlation. Get out of this mindset please.

 

[Junaids]

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the same height as Hasan Ali and has an economy rate of less than 5 RPO.

Dale Steyn is 5' 10" and he is one of the greatest bowlers the world has seen.

Please stop with all this reasoning that a fast bowler can only become a good fast bowler if he's more than 6 feet tall. Rubbish. Cricket is littered with fast bowlers who are garbage even if they are tall and excellent even if they're less than 6 feet tall. No correlation. Get out of this mindset please.

Again, you are quite wrong.

Four fast bowlers shorter than 6 foot tall have had good careers in the last eighty years:

Harold Larwood
Malcolm Marshall
Dale Steyn
Ryan Harris

In other words, one comes along every twenty years.

 

[shariqnoor]

This is not how you pick teams or go into a match.

Every selection is based upon conditions.

Remember the pakistan vs india t20 match in 2016? Paoistannlost because of afridis poor captaincy. Not a single actual spinner was selected on a wicket which had massive break.

1 week before that match india lost to new zealand due to spin

Thus any selection made should be based upon spin

Those were Asian conditions. And despite massive break, Indian spinners didn't really threaten that much. In 8 overs they went for 42 runs. Our batsmen got out to straight deliveries. English conditions will hardly suit a spinner. Adil Rashid goes for aplenty despite being brought up in those conditions all his life. Indians play leg spin so well, its ridiculous. The novelty aspect is the only saving grace for Shadab but I don't think he would be effective in English flat pancake conditions that too against India. Remember what they did to Yasir Shah in the world cup?

 

[shariqnoor]

Again, you are quite wrong.

Four fast bowlers shorter than 6 foot tall have had good careers in the last eighty years:

Harold Larwood
Malcolm Marshall
Dale Steyn
Ryan Harris

In other words, one comes along every twenty years.

So Hasan Ali is automatically ruled out because Steyn has fulfilled this 20 year's quota???

 

[shariqnoor]

Malinga
Vaas
Darren Gough
Makhaya Ntini
currently Bumrah
Trent Boult
Danny Morrison


just to name a few. And i haven't even pushed my mind to earlier players.

 

[Markhor]

Yes Fahim Ashraf did benefit from the short boundary on one side BUT it was present for every other batsman too.

What does it say about our senior batsmens' failures when a guy averaging 15 in LA cricket comes in at #9 and blows every one of their SRs out of the water, playing a matchwinning knock ?

 

[ExplicitAI]

I think we found our very own Hardik Pandya, someone who can give us wickets with useful overs and can start hitting from ball 1 in the lower order. Still haven't heard anything about his fielding, is it even good?

 

[Major]

Those were Asian conditions. And despite massive break, Indian spinners didn't really threaten that much. In 8 overs they went for 42 runs. Our batsmen got out to straight deliveries. English conditions will hardly suit a spinner. Adil Rashid goes for aplenty despite being brought up in those conditions all his life. Indians play leg spin so well, its ridiculous. The novelty aspect is the only saving grace for Shadab but I don't think he would be effective in English flat pancake conditions that too against India. Remember what they did to Yasir Shah in the world cup?

indian spinners were the reason why we lost the match. they had massive break and no one knew how to play them. After a while DHoni removed Ashwin which was ridiculous.

India lost to NZ due to satner and other spinners.

 

[Syed1]

Yes Fahim Ashraf did benefit from the short boundary on one side BUT it was present for every other batsman too.

What does it say about our senior batsmens' failures when a guy averaging 15 in LA cricket comes in at #9 and blows every one of their SRs out of the water, playing a matchwinning knock ?

Also a thing that people fail to realize is the if ONE boundary is short then other boundary is MASSIVE, probably larger than Australian boundaries, and as per cricinfo all of his sixes came at the LONG boundary.

Some people are just innately "glass half-empty" types and cannot appreciate a good effort without nitpicking at it.

 

[cricketAXEpert]

Just inventing stuff aren't you.

Belted when bowling? He averages 24 in LOI cricket. That's on level with Amir and Junaid and Hasan, better than Wahab. He a took a 5 fer in the his last domestic LOI final.

He's been played a lot of quick 30's cameos recently in LOI games, so he literally cannot be a 'one-hit' wonder. And No. Ave 32 in FC, 2 100s 4 5s in 31 games is not quite garbage.

List A average of 15.52. FC is long format cricket but 32 is still not good enough. was talking about his batting stats. Bowling he didn't do anything spectacular. Plus he is medium pace. ... cameo of 30s are not going to win many matches. Hasan Ali played a cameo of 27 and is a much better bowler. Too soon to say anything about Fahim. This was only warm up that to against Bangladesh.

 

[New Yorker]

List A average of 15.52. FC is long format cricket but 32 is still not good enough. was talking about his batting stats. Bowling he didn't do anything spectacular. Plus he is medium pace. ... cameo of 30s are not going to win many matches. Hasan Ali played a cameo of 27 and is a much better bowler. Too soon to say anything about Fahim. This was only warm up that to against Bangladesh.

I think you are being petulant. He was the second highest wicket taker in Pakistan Cup tourney with one less game played and a 5 fer in the final; he was the highest wicket taker in the Departamental One Day Cup. Comparatively speaking he literally could not have done any better. There is no specialist bowler more qualified to take his spot in the domestics, and he would be playing as an allrounder. But clearly we should be playing Wahab again. Who needs medium pace.