Finally for the first time in a long time we are seeing a potential world class opener in fakhar zaman, he has shown time and time again he is built for the big stage and is a clutch performer. First pakistani to a double century, and although its arguably not his best knock, its an incredible achievement. Now aside from fakhar, who arguably has already shown he is world class, and has the work ethic to get even better, the pakistani team has trouble finding his opening partner. Fakhar isnt the dasher everyone makes him out to be, he is a player that plays at a kohli esque pace,in other words a 90+ sr. He needs some time to get set and has been showing more restraint in regards to swinging at every ball. This selective aggression is making him truely elite. With respect to the way fakhar plays, he needs a person with him who scores at at least a run a ball rate, isnt afraid to take singles and rotate, and can take scoring pressure off of fakhar. My best example of this, is azhar ali in CT final, for the record i am not saying open azhar, instead i am saying that azhars performance in that one game took pressure off of fakhar and allowed him to settle before taking off. Now to quickly run through current options and players who have been tried and who are available:
Imam- the current opener with fakhar, young with lots of potential. The guy has shown talent and even against a zimbabwe team scoring so many centuries isnt easy, but his approach to the game i feel is outdated. He is not good at strike rotation, his stroke play is questionable at times, and he lacks power, in my opinion, as of right now, he is the type of batsman pakistan is trying to evolve from as an example I will use list A stats, in 36 innings he had a 36.08 avg at a 74 SR, those numbers seem to be in line with some of the TTF like hafeez and azhar. Yes, List A is not necessarily indicative of ODI performance and Imam will improve as long as he works hard, but the foundation for me is a bit weak, and his slow scoring may not be something he grows out of like some others ie ahmed shahzad
Sami aslam- many of the PPers ive seen are not fans of sami because hes too slow or not good enough. *see above* Sami has been compared to saeed anwar with his classy stroke play and ability in the crease, you know who else is too slow? Hashim amla, who is arguably one of the best multi format players in the game, has shown his worth in ODI, been a threat in tests, and in a season in IPl tore the cover off the ball with his more aggressive batting. Sami is more or less the same if given the chance to develop. Sami captained the u-21 side in which he was the opening partner to imam, and arguably is the superior talent, more aggressive, better stroke player, and very willing to take singles. Lets use his List A stats as an example, in 70 innings he averages 48.86 at an sr of 86.18. He will not bash sixes often, but hes capable of a few, and he is great at picking gaps and getting boundaries along the ground, with exceptional stroke play. His stats are obviously superior to imam on the List A level. Now before people start hating on him and saying hes been given a chance, 4 innings is not enough, especially when those chances are spread out, in his debut, sami hit 45 at around a 100 sr in a losing effort. Sami is a limited over batsman that is struggling due to the pressure of being a test only batsman. Babar as a comparison has struggled also in Test, if he was brought on as test only bastman would he be in the odi side today? Babars list A stats are in 104 innings he averages 51.72 at 83 which is almost exactly in line with his international one day career so far. Again, i must emphasize that 4 innings for a young player with loads of potential is not enough. Imam in ODI has played 8 innings, 4 of which have been against a minnow zimbabwe whose best players are refusing to play, while also having a world class opening partner. Sami aslam on the other hand was opening with who? Azhar ali, who we know for the most part pressures his opening partner to be aggressive and run while also piling on dot ball pressure. Statistically sami aslam deserves a chance, and on this tour should have been in the side to play at least 2 or 3 games splitting with imam.
Sahibzada farhan- has been successful in domestic one days, and for balochistan put up some big partnerships opening with fakhar. Young and has a lot of potential, aggressive batsman but takes some unadvised risks. For IU he had a good knock or two and can be a very useful player for us, I see him more suited to a middle order role rather than opening.
Babar- obviously our arguably best all around batsman, should keep him at 3 but he has experience opening and maybe opening will give him more of a chance to abuse the power play so he doesnt have pressure to hit sixes and get his sr up. Situational batsman and can go at a run a ball, but has the same time of play as root and the lot, definitely has the potential to be a kohli esque player for pakistan who can serve as a rock at the 3 spot, but could also use his chemistry with fakhar as a way to open and build longer innings and have more time at the crease.
Asif ali- Asif is more suited to the top or middle order than finisher imo, great hand eye coordination and reminds me of the fakhar that first came into the CT trophy, movement in the crease was shoddy, but against zimbabwe he has shown that he isnt a stagnant stand and deliver player, and can actually move to the ptich of the ball and set himself up in the crease in good positions to attack. Sometimes too aggressive but like fakhar can definitely address that. Hes a clean hitter of the ball and his overall domestic stats arent the best, but recent performances show us hes worth a shot to develop as an explosive middle order bat or an opener to pair with fakhar so fakhar can play his natural game and doesnt have the sole pressure of scoring fast. He can probably abuse the powerplay and play some shots in the empty field to gain confidence and get set.
Pakistan has seemed to have an opener problem for ages now, for what can be traced back a long way before even the 2015 World cup humiliation where our bowling carried us. Now finally one spot seems to have been filled, after the failures of jamshed and shahzad, the ban of sharjeel and the slow tuk tuk and inability to handle pressure of azhar ali. fakhar has been an answer to our biggest need, hes a hardworking individual who has a good head on his shoulders, and has now become the pride of pakistan after his clutch performances and record breaking efforts. The second spot though still poses an issue, and with the world cup a year away, fakhar needs a solid partner to help get us all the way. Imam in my humble opinion is too slow for the modern game and although i think he should be in the squad so he can be developed, he is getting an extended look due to his lineage and the fact that blood ties matter. Imam is built for the test game and could very well be a great piece for tests, whereas test may not be the best place for sami. Even though starting XI is up to mickey and sarf, carrying the name and lineage of a legend plays a role. Sami, although he also has his flaws, is the superior talent to imam and has leadership experience as well,hes more willing to run, and shows better stroke play and ability to get boundaries, he is also better on pull shots and cut shots than imam and has shown some big innings with big shots such as his 169 off 126 in the pakistan one day cup last year and was also among the top scorers in the t20 cup he played in. Asif might be more important to top or middle order than as a finisher since we already have shoaib who is better suited to the finisher role due to his big shot ability when pressure is low. And Sahibzada has shown promise but recently he has shown a cavalier attitude which raises some questions about whether hes worth it after the attitudes of the akmal brothers and shahzad. My pick would be to bring back sami and give him more chances to develop and give him some easy innings like the zimbabwe ones to get bis confidence back, and to use asif earlier at 4 instead of 5 or 6 so he can offer big scoring ability in the middle order and get more chances alongside fakhar and babar and if given the chance, sami. So what are your thoughts? Should we persist w imam? Bring back sami? Try babar or asif in the opening slot? Bring in sahibzada? Or maybe even give haris a shot to open
My top lineups for WC 2019 are in order
1.
Fakhar
Sami
Babar
Asif
Sarfi
Shoaib
Faheem
Shadab
Hassan
Usman
Amir
Or
2.
Fakhar
Asif
Babar
Sarf
Sahibzada
Shoaib
Faheem
Shadab
Hassan
usman
Amir
Or
3.
Fakhar
Babar
Asif
Sarf
Sahibzada
Shoaib
faheem
Shadab
hasan
Usman
Amir
Imam- the current opener with fakhar, young with lots of potential. The guy has shown talent and even against a zimbabwe team scoring so many centuries isnt easy, but his approach to the game i feel is outdated. He is not good at strike rotation, his stroke play is questionable at times, and he lacks power, in my opinion, as of right now, he is the type of batsman pakistan is trying to evolve from as an example I will use list A stats, in 36 innings he had a 36.08 avg at a 74 SR, those numbers seem to be in line with some of the TTF like hafeez and azhar. Yes, List A is not necessarily indicative of ODI performance and Imam will improve as long as he works hard, but the foundation for me is a bit weak, and his slow scoring may not be something he grows out of like some others ie ahmed shahzad
Sami aslam- many of the PPers ive seen are not fans of sami because hes too slow or not good enough. *see above* Sami has been compared to saeed anwar with his classy stroke play and ability in the crease, you know who else is too slow? Hashim amla, who is arguably one of the best multi format players in the game, has shown his worth in ODI, been a threat in tests, and in a season in IPl tore the cover off the ball with his more aggressive batting. Sami is more or less the same if given the chance to develop. Sami captained the u-21 side in which he was the opening partner to imam, and arguably is the superior talent, more aggressive, better stroke player, and very willing to take singles. Lets use his List A stats as an example, in 70 innings he averages 48.86 at an sr of 86.18. He will not bash sixes often, but hes capable of a few, and he is great at picking gaps and getting boundaries along the ground, with exceptional stroke play. His stats are obviously superior to imam on the List A level. Now before people start hating on him and saying hes been given a chance, 4 innings is not enough, especially when those chances are spread out, in his debut, sami hit 45 at around a 100 sr in a losing effort. Sami is a limited over batsman that is struggling due to the pressure of being a test only batsman. Babar as a comparison has struggled also in Test, if he was brought on as test only bastman would he be in the odi side today? Babars list A stats are in 104 innings he averages 51.72 at 83 which is almost exactly in line with his international one day career so far. Again, i must emphasize that 4 innings for a young player with loads of potential is not enough. Imam in ODI has played 8 innings, 4 of which have been against a minnow zimbabwe whose best players are refusing to play, while also having a world class opening partner. Sami aslam on the other hand was opening with who? Azhar ali, who we know for the most part pressures his opening partner to be aggressive and run while also piling on dot ball pressure. Statistically sami aslam deserves a chance, and on this tour should have been in the side to play at least 2 or 3 games splitting with imam.
Sahibzada farhan- has been successful in domestic one days, and for balochistan put up some big partnerships opening with fakhar. Young and has a lot of potential, aggressive batsman but takes some unadvised risks. For IU he had a good knock or two and can be a very useful player for us, I see him more suited to a middle order role rather than opening.
Babar- obviously our arguably best all around batsman, should keep him at 3 but he has experience opening and maybe opening will give him more of a chance to abuse the power play so he doesnt have pressure to hit sixes and get his sr up. Situational batsman and can go at a run a ball, but has the same time of play as root and the lot, definitely has the potential to be a kohli esque player for pakistan who can serve as a rock at the 3 spot, but could also use his chemistry with fakhar as a way to open and build longer innings and have more time at the crease.
Asif ali- Asif is more suited to the top or middle order than finisher imo, great hand eye coordination and reminds me of the fakhar that first came into the CT trophy, movement in the crease was shoddy, but against zimbabwe he has shown that he isnt a stagnant stand and deliver player, and can actually move to the ptich of the ball and set himself up in the crease in good positions to attack. Sometimes too aggressive but like fakhar can definitely address that. Hes a clean hitter of the ball and his overall domestic stats arent the best, but recent performances show us hes worth a shot to develop as an explosive middle order bat or an opener to pair with fakhar so fakhar can play his natural game and doesnt have the sole pressure of scoring fast. He can probably abuse the powerplay and play some shots in the empty field to gain confidence and get set.
Pakistan has seemed to have an opener problem for ages now, for what can be traced back a long way before even the 2015 World cup humiliation where our bowling carried us. Now finally one spot seems to have been filled, after the failures of jamshed and shahzad, the ban of sharjeel and the slow tuk tuk and inability to handle pressure of azhar ali. fakhar has been an answer to our biggest need, hes a hardworking individual who has a good head on his shoulders, and has now become the pride of pakistan after his clutch performances and record breaking efforts. The second spot though still poses an issue, and with the world cup a year away, fakhar needs a solid partner to help get us all the way. Imam in my humble opinion is too slow for the modern game and although i think he should be in the squad so he can be developed, he is getting an extended look due to his lineage and the fact that blood ties matter. Imam is built for the test game and could very well be a great piece for tests, whereas test may not be the best place for sami. Even though starting XI is up to mickey and sarf, carrying the name and lineage of a legend plays a role. Sami, although he also has his flaws, is the superior talent to imam and has leadership experience as well,hes more willing to run, and shows better stroke play and ability to get boundaries, he is also better on pull shots and cut shots than imam and has shown some big innings with big shots such as his 169 off 126 in the pakistan one day cup last year and was also among the top scorers in the t20 cup he played in. Asif might be more important to top or middle order than as a finisher since we already have shoaib who is better suited to the finisher role due to his big shot ability when pressure is low. And Sahibzada has shown promise but recently he has shown a cavalier attitude which raises some questions about whether hes worth it after the attitudes of the akmal brothers and shahzad. My pick would be to bring back sami and give him more chances to develop and give him some easy innings like the zimbabwe ones to get bis confidence back, and to use asif earlier at 4 instead of 5 or 6 so he can offer big scoring ability in the middle order and get more chances alongside fakhar and babar and if given the chance, sami. So what are your thoughts? Should we persist w imam? Bring back sami? Try babar or asif in the opening slot? Bring in sahibzada? Or maybe even give haris a shot to open
My top lineups for WC 2019 are in order
1.
Fakhar
Sami
Babar
Asif
Sarfi
Shoaib
Faheem
Shadab
Hassan
Usman
Amir
Or
2.
Fakhar
Asif
Babar
Sarf
Sahibzada
Shoaib
Faheem
Shadab
Hassan
usman
Amir
Or
3.
Fakhar
Babar
Asif
Sarf
Sahibzada
Shoaib
faheem
Shadab
hasan
Usman
Amir
