The win at Melbourne should not let us ignore the deficiencies of this ODI team

[azimiqbal]

First of all would like to congratulate Pakistan on a great win!

However I hope this win does not paper over the clear deficiencies In our ODI
team.

The way we are currently constructed If Sharjeel was too fail we struggle to chase any score over 250.

Sadly I do not see a place in the ODI team for Azhar, Shafiq as they play too slowly for current ODI requirements.

I have no problem with hafees in the team as he can utilized as bowler. However he should be batting at number 6 or below.

We lack the basic ability of being able to rotate the strike in the middle overs.
We need players who can get 4-5 singles an over with the occasional boundary so when we are chasing the required rate does not climb above 7.

We also do not have any dynamic hitters in our lower order that can make 100 + runs in the last ten over of the innings.

I hope we do make the adjustments and use England as an example of what can be achieved when you change your mindset.

I have been a Die hard Pakistan Fan all my life, with my earliest cricket memory being winning the 92 word cup final.

For the first time in MY life i am truly frightened that Pakistan cricket will suffer the same fate as hockey and Squash if we refuse to move with the times.

 

[Pakpak]

I agree, even though we won it was painful seeing as bat. Noone except Malik or Sharjeel showed any intent

 

[Markhor]

Thr loss of Sarfraz has been a blow as he's good at rotating strike during the middle overs and pinching the 1s and 2s.

It wasn't the easiest of wickets to bat on, it was a bit sluggish and two paced at times. Even Australia with their explosive batting lineup struggled.

However I do agree our batsmen get too easily bogged down at the crease and are prone to soft dismissals. We make even modest chases tough work.

 

[in_cutter]

True. We are stuck with Malik & Hafeez for another decade after this win.

 

[Hasan123]

Give it a rest for one day bro, just enjoy the win. I think a change of capataincy will improve us in LO. Sarfarz will improve the strike rotation, replacing Azhar and Asad in this line up will also be very helpful to the team. Need a leg break bowler as well.

Think once Azhar is replaced will have a good period in LO cricket

 

[KhalidRafi]

True. We are stuck with Malik & Hafeez for another decade after this win.

Can y'all please lay off Malik?? He's one of the few people in the side who has been scoring runs consistently since his comeback into the side in 2015 and he's also one of the few people in the side who seems to have adapted his scoring rate according to how the game has changed. And no, we are not stuck with him for a decade he plans to retire after the 2019 WC and Pak need him in England if they are to have any chance of succeeding.
Only someone who hasn't been watching cricket for the last 2 years would criticize Malik.

 

[WC-Passion]

Can y'all please lay off Malik?? He's one of the few people in the side who has been scoring runs consistently since his comeback into the side in 2015 and he's also one of the few people in the side who seems to have adapted his scoring rate according to how the game has changed. And no, we are not stuck with him for a decade he plans to retire after the 2019 WC and Pak need him in England if they are to have any chance of succeeding.
Only someone who hasn't been watching cricket for the last 2 years would criticize Malik.

He's was a complete failure in England and in 2015 we played teams that were pretty poor for the most part with the difficult teams being played in at home. In 2016 he has done anything to be protected like some saviour either.

 

[ExpressPacer]

The biggest of them being Hafeez. Looked out of sorts at the start and was out at 0 9 days out of 10.

 

[super hitter]

a target of more then 240 is absolutely unchasable

 

[KhalidRafi]

He's was a complete failure in England and in 2015 we played teams that were pretty poor for the most part with the difficult teams being played in at home. In 2016 he has done anything to be protected like some saviour either.

How was he a complete failure in England when he was responsible for winning us our only one day game there? And if you wanna call his performance in England a failure than I think the performances of the other players were even bigger failures by contrast.

And how many matches have Pakistan played in 2016? He got a great 90 against the West Indies and I doubt we could have gotten over the line today without him in the line-up.
Malik has become a vital part of the middle-order because he not only has a lot of experience but has that ability to anchor the innings but can also up he run rate when required.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Agree with the OP, this is the typical Pakistan ODI victory where we manage to bowl the opposition out cheaply then chase down an easy target with less pressure. A win's a win obviously, but this doesn't really tell us anything new about the team.

 

[Pete Rose]

On the positive side, these two matches show that we have the Australian top order on a very tight leash.

 

[SARJ_BD]

Go and watch the 5th odi highlights. The only match Pak won and by chasing 300+ runs.
Malik and Sarfraz won the match.
Before typing, try to make sense.

He's was a complete failure in England and in 2015 we played teams that were pretty poor for the most part with the difficult teams being played in at home. In 2016 he has done anything to be protected like some saviour either.

 

[SARJ_BD]

[MENTION=138836]WC-Passion[/MENTION], if you have personal issues with Malik, you chose a wrong player mate

 

[Syed1]

I can say with full confidence that if the score was 250, we would have lost it.

Watching Hafeez bat was almost like torture. Sharjeel is a God-send for this side. If it wasn't for his innings the RRR would have reached around 6 by the 10th over.

 

[GLORY OF '92]

Rizwan and Asad out and Sarfraz and Yamin in.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

The problem is we didnt learn anything new.

I always accept wins.

This one just told us something we already know.

Restrict the opposition to below 250 and finish the target in 48 overs.

If opposition scores 270, get bowled out for 200 odd each time.

 

[Obstructing_the_field]

too many tuddlers and waste of space in the team and also the 15.... likes of rahat, wahab, shafiq, akmal should never now be allowed near the team... its a shame that people like these continue to play while likes of Fakhar Zaman, Ahmad Shahzad (not a big fan of his but he is scoring runs like water), Amad Butt, Fahim Ashraf, Fawad Alam and Tabish Khan along with Sadaf Hussain sit on the side benches.... hopefully with Harris Sohail coming into the team can push out the useless Shafiq/akmal duo out for good.

 

[Speedster777]

Azhar and Shafiq should be dropped. Hafeez should bat at lower order. After Sarfraz' return our batting would strengthen but we need a specialist opener(salman butt, fakhar zaman) and a middle order batsman like Fawad or a youngster should be given a chance.

 

[Speedster777]

Wahab, Rahat, Imran, Yasir, Sohail should never be part of our limited over squad. We need young bolod. 140 plus bowlers or swing bowlers who can take wickets Muhsmmad Abbas, Ali Imran Pasha, Tabish Khan, Mir Hamza they should be given a chance.

 

[godzilla]

either way, given the squad, they have to bench wahab certainly, and shafiq if they can for the remainder of the games. theres no space for either in any serious limited overs internationals - theyve proved that hands down.

 

[90MPH]

I can say with full confidence that if the score was 250, we would have lost it.

Watching Hafeez bat was almost like torture. Sharjeel is a God-send for this side. If it wasn't for his innings the RRR would have reached around 6 by the 10th over.

Hafeez played a class innings. A bit slow but the right temp given the circumstances.

Shafiq though was torture and I have no idea what he is doing in this format, along with his pal Azhar.

 

[moghul]

This performance with bat was not expected from Hafeez and he won't repeat it in next 10 matches and it will be hard to drop him now as he is a favorite of old school selectors . We are stuck with him , like we get stuck with YK in tests when he scores once after every 10 innings.

It was funny to see some people taking about making him TEST captain after this one ODI performance, Pakistani fans are one of a kind, seriously.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Nobody's ignoring anything. Most people know where this team stands.

 

[Barragan]

Ind chasing 350 is a prime example of where Pak are and why the 220 odd is a rare instance in this modern day.

Scoring and chasing 350 odd is the norm now, hence I want to see some dead tracks and really test Pak's batting and bowling.

Need to see who are the guys that can play the new attacking brand of cricket and bowl in those conditions.

 

[WC-Passion]

[MENTION=138836]WC-Passion[/MENTION], if you have personal issues with Malik, you chose a wrong player mate

Don't have personal issues with him, I just think that he's overrated due to performances on flat tracks and poor teams. I don't see why you're so offended by my opinion.

Go and watch the 5th odi highlights. The only match Pak won and by chasing 300+ runs.
Malik and Sarfraz won the match.
Before typing, try to make sense.

I watched this match, so what if he performed in a dead rubber, Imad performed in every single game.

 

[WC-Passion]

How was he a complete failure in England when he was responsible for winning us our only one day game there? And if you wanna call his performance in England a failure than I think the performances of the other players were even bigger failures by contrast.

And how many matches have Pakistan played in 2016? He got a great 90 against the West Indies and I doubt we could have gotten over the line today without him in the line-up.
Malik has become a vital part of the middle-order because he not only has a lot of experience but has that ability to anchor the innings but can also up he run rate when required.

I never said everyone in England was so much better than him, for example, our other spin-bowling all-rounder (Imad) was better and performed throughout the ODI series. Yes he played a part in the win but that was a dead rubber on a flat track with no pressure, and he didn't do it single handedly either, he had help from Sarfraz and Rizwan, wasn't solely responsible.

I agree that he can anchor the innings but we have other players who can do this, our team is packed with experience with and without Malik. His bowling has been sub-par on spinning tracks and he struggles to use them to his advantage, the T20 WC was a good example.

I don't see how he's vital. He can be a decent player, though I don't understand why people get offended when he gets criticised.

 

[Ellipsism]

Wahab, Rahat, Imran, Yasir, Sohail should never be part of our limited over squad. We need young bolod. 140 plus bowlers or swing bowlers who can take wickets Muhsmmad Abbas, Ali Imran Pasha, Tabish Khan, Mir Hamza they should be given a chance.

Out of the four bowlers you've mentioned only Pasha is capable of bowling near 140 KPH.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

250 is a par score on these pitches for last 2 matches.

Pakistan bowled exceptionally well. Its like getting OZ out on 300 on a 350 par score pitch.

If this was a total flat phatta then Pak batters would have upped the ante and OZ batters too.

If we can bowl like this consistently then we are looking in good shape for champion trophy.

Shafiq should be replaced by Haris Sohail. Rizwan for Sarfraz.

Leave the bowling unit of Hafeez/Malik/Imad/Amir/Hassan Ali/ Junaid excactly how it is.

 

[KB]

It was a good win today built on the foundations of a fine bowling performance. But certainly the fault lines remain visible.

I think very flat pitches pose a particular problem for Pakistan. Such pitches may neutralize Pakistani bowling, and make it more of a contest between the batting teams. And I don't think Pakistan has the power and zing in the batting when compared to other teams.

Fitness, fielding and running between the wickets are of course perpetual problem areas, as well. They do often look like a team that has withstood the rush of time, playing a somewhat dated version of limited overs cricket.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Shafiq and Azhar are the weak links.

 

[Abdullah]

we have too many in our pool who want/need to bat between 3 and 5
malik haris umar babar sarfaraz and hafeez.
we only have 1 proper odi opener in sharjeel.
we will end up accomodating some of the above in the power hitting positions 6 and 7.
bowling is fine.
6 bowlers who played today plus sharjeel babar and sarfaraz are locked for the ct so just leaves captain/opener and one hitter slot available

 

[zyrus]

True. Team struggled to chance 220. They can not survive anything 250+ in Australia with this approach and XI.

 

[azimiqbal]

We have postives with the bowling aspect, just hope we perform with the bat

 

[JibranAnsari]

I agree , hafeez in no case should be in the top 5. He consumes a lot of deliveries upfront without scoring much and if he gets out inside first fifteen it reads a sorry figure. I hope Arthur and management see it as they want to play the modern brand of cricket.

 

[abughio]

I think.. victory may be ours.. but moral victory goes to australia.. because for chasing 220 we needed contributions from 3 players and of you take out any 1 contribution.. we would have lost. As sharjeels inning masked hafeez issues..

 

[Pete Rose]

I think Pakistan's batsmen and bowlers need to think differently about what is a logical score in the one-day game.
Their batsmen need to understand and make peace with the fact that the modern game asks minimum for a 300 score (barring the odd shocker of a pitch).
Their bowlers on the other hand have to believe that their job is to dismiss the opposition for less than 250 every time they go to bowl, whatever the situation.
Having seen what they have done in the first two one-dayers, the opening bowlers in particular must take heart from their performances. They have the Australian top order under the pump, and they must continue to dream big: with the objective of having the top 4 Australian wickets in the first 15 overs. I think Australia will try to reign in their batting at perth slightly up front: unless of course they dismiss Pakistan for 120 by bowling first. The bowlers have to continue to challenge their openers. I think Junaid Khan had excellent body language in his opening spell. Need more of that stuff.

 

[New Yorker]

Wahab, Rahat, Imran, Yasir, Sohail should never be part of our limited over squad. We need young bolod. 140 plus bowlers or swing bowlers who can take wickets Muhsmmad Abbas, Ali Imran Pasha, Tabish Khan, Mir Hamza they should be given a chance.

People need stop confusing formats.

Mir Hamza is not a good LOI bowler yet. Has Rahat-esque domestic stats in LOIs

Abbas is a decent LOI bowler but not the best on recent record, again his forte is FC.

I dont know about Pasha's LOI form.

Sohail is quality LOI pacer. Was better than Hasan Ali in domestics last year. Can bat well. Would be silly to put him out of the reckoning completely.

The only pacer who was better than Hasan and Sohail last year was Sadaf. Who for this reason should never ever be tried out.

 

[New Yorker]

Out of the four bowlers you've mentioned only Pasha is capable of bowling near 140 KPH.

And Junaid bowling at 120 something in Melbourne showed us how crucial that is.

Their speed is not as pertinent as the fact that some of them average 30 something in domestic LA cricket.

 

[Syed1]

And Junaid bowling at 120 something in Melbourne showed us how crucial that is.

Their speed is not as pertinent as the fact that some of them average 30 something in domestic LA cricket.

Junaid bowled only one or two deliveries in the 120 kph range. Most of his bowls were in the 132-138kph range with the fastest being around 140.

Take off those hate filled glasses.

 

[Seamer]

We got to be realistic there won't be too many big changes now till the champions trophy. My team for ct will be :

1. Sharjeel Khan
2. Fakhar Zaman
3. Hafeez
4. Babar Azam
5. Malik
6. Sarfaraz
7. Imad Wasim
8. Amad Butt
9. Amir
10. Hassan Ali
11. Junaid Khan



12. U Akmal
13. Rizwan
14. Sohail Khan
15. Nawaz

 

[MRSN]

I think Pakistan's batsmen and bowlers need to think differently about what is a logical score in the one-day game.
Their batsmen need to understand and make peace with the fact that the modern game asks minimum for a 300 score (barring the odd shocker of a pitch).
Their bowlers on the other hand have to believe that their job is to dismiss the opposition for less than 250 every time they go to bowl, whatever the situation.
Having seen what they have done in the first two one-dayers, the opening bowlers in particular must take heart from their performances. They have the Australian top order under the pump, and they must continue to dream big: with the objective of having the top 4 Australian wickets in the first 15 overs. I think Australia will try to reign in their batting at perth slightly up front: unless of course they dismiss Pakistan for 120 by bowling first. The bowlers have to continue to challenge their openers. I think Junaid Khan had excellent body language in his opening spell. Need more of that stuff.

I think you also need skills, just belief is not good enough.Firstly we have to pick and back players that are capable of scoring at a fast rate.

2 changes will make this team look good on paper at least.

One's obvious Sarfraz in for Rizwan.

And second is Asad Shafiq or Azhar's replacement..If Harris comes back and Azhar is removed from captaincy from ODI team we might have a stronger ODI side.

 

[Hasan123]

Junaid bowled only one or two deliveries in the 120 kph range. Most of his bowls were in the 132-138kph range with the fastest being around 140.

Take off those hate filled glasses.

Lol Junaid is getting too much hate even though he performed