Seen Sheen
ODI Debutant
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2009
- Runs
- 10,597
No matter how horrendous the results are/have been, these three guys seem to be beyond any accountability.
Undroppable#1: Sarfraz has lead Pakistan to three of the most embarrassing defeats in its entire test history, and yet he gets a free pass as a specialist captain in the team. Barring that anomalous Abu Dhabi test against Australia, this guy has failed to instill any confidence in the batting unit and leads from the front when it comes to throwing the games away. I remember everyone used to criticize Misbah left right and centre for being responsible for promoting a defensive culture of batting (specially in ODIs) but I don't hear enough voices asking for accountability of this specialist captain. Seeing the batting implode consistently in UAE against the kind of spinners that used to be dominated in the previous era (barring Herath but he too struggled in UAE before last series), it is about time Sarfraz is given a reality check - perform as a batsman and captain in the next two tests otherwise your time is up.
Undroppable#2: It took 3/4 years to finally remove him as a Test opener and everybody thought that the team can finally move on from one of the softest player mentally who always scored soft runs on placid tracks and whenever the going got tough, was found wanting. But no, he was back last series and just like he has done on previous occasions, score runs on flat track with zero pressure and then cement the place for next dozen series. He has one of the worst records as an overseas opener. He might again score in the next test especially if Pakistan is batting first on Day 1 and there is shin-high bounce and zero movement/spin but every sane follower of Pakistan cricket knows that he will be a disaster in South Africa and it would be like playing with 10 players with him in the side.
Undroppable#3: Finally, what about the guy who brought back Hafeez, keeps ignoring talented and proven left arm spinners in domestic, rests Fakhar for this series, selects five fast bowlers for this series and six for Asia cup, keeps selecting washed up veterans like Iftikhar and Khurram for A teams, selects an average spinner like Bilal, omits spin options for the series against Sri Lanks in 2017 and ignores young crop of upcoming fast bowlers for the A tours. Inzamam has been woeful with his selections and has not really contributed anything meaningful in terms of identifying talents and injecting them into the team. The likes of Shaheen Afridi performed in the PSL and everybody was singing his praises hence it was not possible for our tea-sipping chief selector to ignore him. Real test was showing the balls by picking a promising youngster instead of just using statsguru to select the ones topping domestic charts all the time, and he has failed at that. Any tom, dick and harry can select a team based on stats. There has been no inspired selection in ODIs and Tests from him and that to me is because he has no real interest in giving weightage to the Quaid e Azam trophy and One Day cup. Primarily, only the ones performing in the PSL force their way into T20i and then to ODIs and tests. He just sits on the fence with his selections and reverts to washed up seniors like Hafeez when the going gets slightly tough.
Undroppable#1: Sarfraz has lead Pakistan to three of the most embarrassing defeats in its entire test history, and yet he gets a free pass as a specialist captain in the team. Barring that anomalous Abu Dhabi test against Australia, this guy has failed to instill any confidence in the batting unit and leads from the front when it comes to throwing the games away. I remember everyone used to criticize Misbah left right and centre for being responsible for promoting a defensive culture of batting (specially in ODIs) but I don't hear enough voices asking for accountability of this specialist captain. Seeing the batting implode consistently in UAE against the kind of spinners that used to be dominated in the previous era (barring Herath but he too struggled in UAE before last series), it is about time Sarfraz is given a reality check - perform as a batsman and captain in the next two tests otherwise your time is up.
Undroppable#2: It took 3/4 years to finally remove him as a Test opener and everybody thought that the team can finally move on from one of the softest player mentally who always scored soft runs on placid tracks and whenever the going got tough, was found wanting. But no, he was back last series and just like he has done on previous occasions, score runs on flat track with zero pressure and then cement the place for next dozen series. He has one of the worst records as an overseas opener. He might again score in the next test especially if Pakistan is batting first on Day 1 and there is shin-high bounce and zero movement/spin but every sane follower of Pakistan cricket knows that he will be a disaster in South Africa and it would be like playing with 10 players with him in the side.
Undroppable#3: Finally, what about the guy who brought back Hafeez, keeps ignoring talented and proven left arm spinners in domestic, rests Fakhar for this series, selects five fast bowlers for this series and six for Asia cup, keeps selecting washed up veterans like Iftikhar and Khurram for A teams, selects an average spinner like Bilal, omits spin options for the series against Sri Lanks in 2017 and ignores young crop of upcoming fast bowlers for the A tours. Inzamam has been woeful with his selections and has not really contributed anything meaningful in terms of identifying talents and injecting them into the team. The likes of Shaheen Afridi performed in the PSL and everybody was singing his praises hence it was not possible for our tea-sipping chief selector to ignore him. Real test was showing the balls by picking a promising youngster instead of just using statsguru to select the ones topping domestic charts all the time, and he has failed at that. Any tom, dick and harry can select a team based on stats. There has been no inspired selection in ODIs and Tests from him and that to me is because he has no real interest in giving weightage to the Quaid e Azam trophy and One Day cup. Primarily, only the ones performing in the PSL force their way into T20i and then to ODIs and tests. He just sits on the fence with his selections and reverts to washed up seniors like Hafeez when the going gets slightly tough.
