'There are 22 fast bowlers in Pakistan’s 20-member squad' : Shoaib Akhtar

[MenInG]

Former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar expressed his surprise by the number of pacers included in the 20-member squad for the upcoming three-match Test series against England.

While speaking on a local news channel, the former speedster said that he is unaware of the approach Pakistan team management will take in their selection for the first Test.

“They have announced a 20-member squad. In those twenty, there are around 22 fast bowlers. Let us see whom they select. Depends on the captain and the management, with which mindset they go in,” said Akhtar.

“What they want and how the pitch is? How management sees the whole scenario. Zero idea what they are going to do. When the team list comes, you will come to know the exact mindset they are going in with. So far as we know right now, nothing,” cricket Pakistan quoted him as saying.

“If you lose the Test match because of wrong selection, then there will be strong criticism. If 40 players have gone and from there also you don’t get a proper Test squad, then what can you do. I feel sorry for the management but they should pick their best XI,” he said

Pakistan will play their first Test at Old Trafford, in Manchester, on Wednesday, August 5. The final two Tests will be played at the Rose Bowl, Southampton, from Thursday, August 13 and Friday, August 21.

Pakistan squad for England Test series: Azhar Ali (C), Babar Azam (VC), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Imam ul Haq, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah.

https://indianexpress.com/article/s...fast-bowlers-shoaib-akhtar-slams-pcb-6529556/

 

[offstump]

Out of 20 there are 22 fast bowlers? I'm not following Shoaib's math.

 

[Omer2002]

He was clearly being sarcastic but its true there are only 6 or 7 batsman in that 20 which is strange

 

[coy0607]

He has a point. Really don't get the point of having so many fast bowlers (not to mention 3 spinners) for just 3-matches. Fakhar should have been included after that 99

 

[Zaz]

Misbahs always been hesitant to blood new batsmen

Theres a reason why there are no backup batsmen So nobody comes in to replace the likes of shafiq or azhar This is nothing new

 

[Pete Rose]

To be fair Sohail Khan and imran khan are playing as all rounders: medium pacers in first innings and spinners in the second innings

 

[cric_4life]

Typical Hindi/urdu phrase.. used as a joke.

 

[cric_4life]

I have been saying this for past few years now. Cricket is a batsmen game need to have more batsmen in the squad. Misbah is the worst selector I have seen for a while.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

He has a point. Really don't get the point of having so many fast bowlers (not to mention 3 spinners) for just 3-matches. Fakhar should have been included after that 99

What's the use of selecting Fakhar if he isn't going to play the first test in any case? Fakhar is mainly there for the T20's. They have Imam there as backup for the opening spot and Fawad Alam has the best chance to play at 6 if they opt for a 6-1-4 combination.

Guys like Haider Ali, Iftikhar might make it for the 2nd test, but Misbah has already decided who is going to play in the first test.

 

[Shoaibbtt]

Someone needs to explain to me why are they pushing for Wahab Riaz? He's shown that he has no desire to continue and as such should be left alone. Pakistan already have the bowler spots confirmed in Naseem, Shaheen and Abbas and possibly Sohail Khan in case one gets injured. Keep in mind as well Wahab didn't even play in the practice games.

 

[Saj]

The 20 man squad looks pretty weak, but then take a look around, there's not a lot else on the shelf these days.

 

[Rayyman]

Someone needs to explain to me why are they pushing for Wahab Riaz? He's shown that he has no desire to continue and as such should be left alone. Pakistan already have the bowler spots confirmed in Naseem, Shaheen and Abbas and possibly Sohail Khan in case one gets injured. Keep in mind as well Wahab didn't even play in the practice games.

Wahab looks old and overweight now. Picking him in the squad is a bad idea.

 

[Abdullah]

The 20 man squad looks pretty weak, but then take a look around, there's not a lot else on the shelf these days.

Saj Bhai why do you keep saying this.

Are you not excited by Naseem Shaheen and Abbas getting amongst these English batters?
Isn't rizwan the most capable wk bat we have had in a long time for test cricket
Haven't you seen shaan is avg 44 ish (with mostly Sena tours) since his comeback
We got Babar also.
The senior leadership and the support cast need to chip in.

My only issue is Azhar Ali , prep and selection
And slip catching

 

[Abdullah]

Did he get asked what team he would pick and his strategy?!

 

[shamaan]

Misbahs always been hesitant to blood new batsmen

Theres a reason why there are no backup batsmen So nobody comes in to replace the likes of shafiq or azhar This is nothing new

Young blood like naseem and Shaheen?

 

[Bigboii]

Wahab looks old and overweight now. Picking him in the squad is a bad idea.

He always looked old I am pretty sure he was half bald even in the u19s lol

But on a serious note he was always a bit bulky but it didn't stop him from performing so him performing has more to do with his mental state than it has to do with his physical one

 

[MenInG]

Mohammad Amir, and now Haris Rauf also being sent! Seems like a bowling XI being prepared for England!

 

[Kashur_Kalkharab]

Usman shinwari
Wahab riaz
Imran khan
Sohail khan
Naseem shah
Shaheen afridi
Mohammad Abbas
Faheen ashraf
Muhammad amir
Harris rouf.
Mohammad hasnain
The only people back in Pakistan are the wasim akram, Shoaib akhtar, imran khan, sohail tanvir,junaid khan and mohammad asif.

 

[MenInG]

so 11 fast bowlers in total

From original PCB release: plus Amir so 11

Fast bowlers (10) – Faheem Ashraf (Central Punjab, Islamabad United), Haris Rauf (Northern, Lahore Qalandars), Imran Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Abbas (Southern Punjab), Mohammad Hasnain (Sindh, Quetta Gladiators), Naseem Shah (Central Punjab, Quetta Gladiators), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Northern, Lahore Qalandars), Sohail Khan (Sindh, Quetta Gladiators), Usman Shinwari (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Lahore Qalandars) and Wahab Riaz (Southern Punjab, Peshawar Zalmi)

 

[Zaz]

Young blood like naseem and Shaheen?

The batsmens are the issue

You know you are coming to england against archer anderson and broad The balls going to hoop around corners The batting line up is weak anyway with shafiq and azhar not in great form lately

Why wouldnt you pick an additional test batter or two?

 

[Vegitto1]

It makes sense to take more bowlers than batsmen.

You are only going in for a 3 match series. You are unlikely to drop a batsman for not getting runs in a solitary match or two. In seaming conditions, you could get out to a jaffa first ball and not getting another shot would be unfair.

However, you are more likely to rotate bowlers if they don't perform over 5 days. A bowler will ball multiple overs over two innings, and you get a larger sample size to gauge their effectiveness. If a bowler does not perform in English conditions then where can he perform?

 

[Shoaibbtt]

Did he get asked what team he would pick and his strategy?!

He did in fact, he says it’s all about the conditions and whether to go in with an extra batsman or bowler. He gave no predictive playing XI

 

[shamaan]

The 20 man squad looks pretty weak, but then take a look around, there's not a lot else on the shelf these days.

Thiers more than enough on the shelf just need to go looking in domestic curcuit and play people on merit

 

[shamaan]

He was clearly being sarcastic but its true there are only 6 or 7 batsman in that 20 which is strange

Yes that's cuz they guaranteed to start and the bowling and spinners they not sure yetb

 

[shamaan]

I have been saying this for past few years now. Cricket is a batsmen game need to have more batsmen in the squad. Misbah is the worst selector I have seen for a while.

Disagree

 

[shamaan]

so 11 fast bowlers in total

From original PCB release: plus Amir so 11

Fast bowlers (10) – Faheem Ashraf (Central Punjab, Islamabad United), Haris Rauf (Northern, Lahore Qalandars), Imran Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Abbas (Southern Punjab), Mohammad Hasnain (Sindh, Quetta Gladiators), Naseem Shah (Central Punjab, Quetta Gladiators), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Northern, Lahore Qalandars), Sohail Khan (Sindh, Quetta Gladiators), Usman Shinwari (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Lahore Qalandars) and Wahab Riaz (Southern Punjab, Peshawar Zalmi)

Harris rauf ?

 

[shamaan]

The batsmens are the issue

You know you are coming to england against archer anderson and broad The balls going to hoop around corners The batting line up is weak anyway with shafiq and azhar not in great form lately

Why wouldnt you pick an additional test batter or two?

Becouse they expect the oldies to perform what's the point in picking youngsters and if they fail they wont ever get a chance unless its babar.

Also remember it's a join 30 man squad if it was 2 15 member squad we could have had more specialists in the t3am

 

[shamaan]

It makes sense to take more bowlers than batsmen.

You are only going in for a 3 match series. You are unlikely to drop a batsman for not getting runs in a solitary match or two. In seaming conditions, you could get out to a jaffa first ball and not getting another shot would be unfair.

However, you are more likely to rotate bowlers if they don't perform over 5 days. A bowler will ball multiple overs over two innings, and you get a larger sample size to gauge their effectiveness. If a bowler does not perform in English conditions then where can he perform?

Excellent point highly unlikely a Bateman will get dropped within first test

 

[cricketAXEpert]

Out of 20 there are 22 fast bowlers? I'm not following Shoaib's math.

It was a Joke

 

[Snowflake]

Misbah thinks that every player is as incapable as him when it comes to batting against fast bowlers.

 

[cricketAXEpert]

The batsmens are the issue

You know you are coming to england against archer anderson and broad The balls going to hoop around corners The batting line up is weak anyway with shafiq and azhar not in great form lately

Why wouldnt you pick an additional test batter or two?

New series and same old problem. We have a promising pace attack but a very weak batting line up.

From new talent we only have Haider Ali (he played a couple of good innings in T20 which is no indication that he is ready for test cricket), He didn't perform in side matches. Also Abid Ali and Fawad Alam also didnt perform. Haris Sohail refused to tour(I don't understand this guy, he is talented but who refuses a test series after such a long gap ). Openers Shan Masood and Imam ul haq (couldn't do better than 40).
Azhar Ali (is trying to make a comeback at 35 years) Asad Shafiq (is going nowhere unless we have someone who can replace him).
England have the best pace attack in the world right now. Good Luck Pakistan

 

[TeymurBlake]

The point he's making I believe is regarded about the lack of batsman options, which is true. Besides options for the opening slot, there doesn't seem to be many options for the middle order positions. Besides Ifti Chacha and Sarfi, no one else who can middle orders.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

I have been saying this for past few years now. Cricket is a batsmen game need to have more batsmen in the squad. Misbah is the worst selector I have seen for a while.

He doesn’t qualify himself as a coach or a selector but sits on a dual role lol.

Out of the 30 players that he selected, there are 4 middle order batsmen for tests which are Babar, Azhar Asad and Fawad. If anyone is injured or fails in the first 4 inns will play the next test match for free as they don’t have a replacement. Misbah is the most worst selector Pak have ever had, worse than Iqbal Qasim and M. Ilyas.

 

[Kaddy]

The point he's making I believe is regarded about the lack of batsman options, which is true. Besides options for the opening slot, there doesn't seem to be many options for the middle order positions. Besides Ifti Chacha and Sarfi, no one else who can middle orders.

Main reason for this lack of options is, your middle order has 3 batsmen who have guaranteed spot in the final xi (unless tere is a fitness or injury issue)
Azhar Ali ---- He is your captain, so automatically he is the first name on the team sheet.
Babar Azam ---- He is your main performer for last one year. So you can't drop him.
Asad Shafiq ---- he is also a permanent member of team for last 10 years. So you can't expect that he will be dropped even if he fails in the first two tests. He somehow saves his spot by playing one good innings in every series.
Now only middle order batsmen left are Fawad and Iffti Chachu. So, yes Misbah should have selected at least one more middle order batman but the thing i have noticed that he has always been reluctant to include new batsmen in the test squad, even when he was captain.

 

[Maher96]

Shan
Abid
Azhar
Babar
Fawad Alam
Asad
Rizwan
Wahab
Shaheen
Naseem
Abbas

 

[Invincible Gujjar]

Imran khan Sohail khan Usman shinwari faheem Ashraf all are useless I don't understand why they were picked.Useless selection by useless man.

 

[MenInG]

Harris rauf ?

He is in that list - 2nd name.

 

[shamaan]

He is in that list - 2nd name.

Is he allowed to come to england has defo passed the test

 

[Hawkeye]

Misbahs always been hesitant to blood new batsmen

Theres a reason why there are no backup batsmen So nobody comes in to replace the likes of shafiq or azhar This is nothing new

Of course you're going to show your bias.

Haider Ali, Naseem, Haris Rauf, Fawad, Rizwan, Avid , the list goes on.

But it doesn't suit your agenda so you're going to say false things anyway.

 

[MenInG]

Is he allowed to come to england has defo passed the test

He is on his way to England as we speak.

 

[shamaan]

He is on his way to England as we speak.

Good stuf

 

[Markhor]

Of course you're going to show your bias.

Haider Ali, Naseem, Haris Rauf, Fawad, Rizwan, Avid , the list goes on.

But it doesn't suit your agenda so you're going to say false things anyway.

Naseem and Rauf are batsmen now ?

 

[Zaz]

Young blood like naseem and Shaheen?

Of course you're going to show your bias.

Haider Ali, Naseem, Haris Rauf, Fawad, Rizwan, Avid , the list goes on.

But it doesn't suit your agenda so you're going to say false things anyway.

I ll give you haider ali even though he has no realistic chance of playing tests with no fc performances to speak of Hes more been picked for the t20s

Where are the other back up mid order test batsmen say shafiq fails in first 2 tests? Who comes in?

Rizwan is the keeper Abid opener They are pencilled in to play the tests anyway So arent backup batsmen for the mid order

 

[Major]

You people really do act naive sometimes.

Squad are going to be announced match by match. After Haris Sohail didnt join, it was obvious that Fawad Alam would get his chance, rest of the line up for batting would be same. Iftikhar who hasnt been added in the 20 squad is not in the pecking order.

Bowlers have been selected as the conditions and their performacne would be assessed.

If after 1st test match they feel like making changes in the batting line up, they would do so. Its not like they are bringing in players from Pakistan, they have 10 more guys(30) in England available.

The purpose of having a 20 man squad is to shortlist and pick from those.

Akhtar is an idiot, you cant expet logic from him, but posters here are also bizare

 

[Major]

After what had happened in Australia, the bowling is going to be a problem. They cant decide who to choose.

I think the bowling line up would be
Shaheen
Abbas/Naseem
Wahab/Sohail Khan
Yasir/Shadab

 

[Thunderbolt14]

I ll give you haider ali even though he has no realistic chance of playing tests with no fc performances to speak of Hes more been picked for the t20s

Where are the other back up mid order test batsmen say shafiq fails in first 2 tests? Who comes in?

Rizwan is the keeper Abid opener They are pencilled in to play the tests anyway So arent backup batsmen for the mid order

Rizwan was not pencilled in. Misbah could have continued with Sarfaraz. Rizwan has only become a regular because Misbah made an effort to drop a non performer and include a youngster.

I also think Misbah views Azhar Ali as a stopgap. He couldn’t drop half the team so he’s phasing the old guard out slowly.

 

[Zaz]

Young blood like naseem and Shaheen?

Rizwan was not pencilled in. Misbah could have continued with Sarfaraz. Rizwan has only become a regular because Misbah made an effort to drop a non performer and include a youngster.

I also think Misbah views Azhar Ali as a stopgap. He couldn’t drop half the team so he’s phasing the old guard out slowly.

What are you going on about? Rizwan is the man in possession and hence pencilled in for the test series as first choice He played the last couple of test series since the world cup Just like abid

Sarfraz is the backup Unless rizwan performs drastically or gets injured sarfy doesnt come in

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Rizwan was not pencilled in. Misbah could have continued with Sarfaraz. Rizwan has only become a regular because Misbah made an effort to drop a non performer and include a youngster.

I also think Misbah views Azhar Ali as a stopgap. He couldn’t drop half the team so he’s phasing the old guard out slowly.

Further, you have Abid and Haider Ali, while
Mickey definitely wouldn’t have given Naseem a debut so early. Misbah is slowly breeding new blood in the squad. I am no Misbah supporter but credit where it is due. Musa Khan as well and even Shinwari has been getting attention. He was also quick to include Haris Rauf.

Misbah isn’t perfect - (M Irfan, Imran Khan, Sohail Khan, and Iftikhar, who despite being a performer in the last year so far in LOI, is quite older than he says he is) but he has given a fair amount of chances to youngsters and a good number of names Babar, Shadab, Haider Ali, Shaheen, Rizwan, Rauf, Hasnain, Imam, and Naseem. That’s 9 players who will play across the Tests and LOI who qualify as “young”.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

What are you going on about? Rizwan is the man in possession and hence pencilled in for the test series as first choice He played the last couple of test series since the world cup Just like abid

Sarfraz is the backup Unless rizwan performs drastically or gets injured sarfy doesnt come in

Yeah so shouldn’t Misbah get some credit for dropping Sarfaraz for Rizwan several months ago?

 

[cric_4life]

He doesn’t qualify himself as a coach or a selector but sits on a dual role lol.

Out of the 30 players that he selected, there are 4 middle order batsmen for tests which are Babar, Azhar Asad and Fawad. If anyone is injured or fails in the first 4 inns will play the next test match for free as they don’t have a replacement. Misbah is the most worst selector Pak have ever had, worse than Iqbal Qasim and M. Ilyas.

Exactly Pakistan bowlers get to play county or other leagues more then Batsmen.. Batsmen in the team have no competition of the spot expect for number 5 or 6. Pak team is going nowhere with this strategy.

 

[cric_4life]

Disagree

Okay that's fine. But Pak team is going nowhere with this strategy.. The day they start selecting 10 batman's and 4 allrounders you will see the batsmen perform automatically. Right now Babar , Asad, Shan masood and azhar have no competition. There is no back up batsmen to take there place. And you will see the performance soon.

 

[shamaan]

Okay that's fine. But Pak team is going nowhere with this strategy.. The day they start selecting 10 batman's and 4 allrounders you will see the batsmen perform automatically. Right now Babar , Asad, Shan masood and azhar have no competition. There is no back up batsmen to take there place. And you will see the performance soon.

Listen it's all about scouting the reason why asad shan have bo competition is becouse our players get 1 big innings at the start of the career and never get dropped if you look at the domestic competition in Pakistan.imran butt got top run scorer in qaid e azam .sami aslam got average of 78.

Players under 26
Sami aslam 78
Imran butt 62
Zeeshan Malik 52
Haider ali 49
Azhar got average of over 72 but if you look at their batting line up it's a proper team

 

[Zaz]

Yeah so shouldn’t Misbah get some credit for dropping Sarfaraz for Rizwan several months ago?

Thw thread is about his over choice in bowlers and the lack of batsmen in the team There is no middle cover in reality The sudo all rounders and the likes of haider ali are no cover for shafiq babar, azhar in tests

Hes done this for years as captain now selector

Now you can keep defending misbah by not answering the qs

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Thw thread is about his over choice in bowlers and the lack of batsmen in the team There is no middle cover in reality The sudo all rounders and the likes of haider ali are no cover for shafiq babar, azhar in tests

Hes done this for years as captain now selector

Now you can keep defending misbah by not answering the qs

I have answered the question before. I will do so again though.

Firstly, Haider Ali is not a reserve as you mentioned. Let’s do the math. In this 20-man squad, there are 5 confirmed bats plus Rizwan: Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, and Shan Masood.

These 6 comprise your first XI. Number 7 will likely range between Faheem/Shadab and 8-11 will likely be Yasir, SSA, M Abbas, and Naseem.

The remaining names are:
Fawad Alam, Imam ul Haq, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Kashif Bhatti, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Imran Khan.

That leaves 3 reserve batsmen (counting Sarfaraz), 4 pacers, and 1 spinner. It also leaves one of Faheem, Shadab, and Yasir, as only two of them are likely to play.

I do not believe there is an over choice in pacers — between Sohail, Shinwari, Riaz, and Imran Khan, only Imran sticks out like a sore thumb due to quality. But quantity wise, it is perfect. 4 reserve pacers is essential especially when you are playing in England and will optimally require 4 pacers per test. Between Sohail, Shinwari, and Wahab, they all provide different dimensions to the attack, so that if let’s say Abbas is injured, you have a new ball option in Sohail but if Naseem needs to be rested you can rotate with Wahab.

3 reserve batsmen is in my opinion a decent amount. Imam covers positions 1-3, while Fawad covers 4-6. Sarfaraz in particular covers the wicket keeping position. These reserve picks are enough. And worst comes to worst, you always have players such as Iftikhar and Haider Ali on standby.

Batsmen do not need to be rested like fast bowlers. Therefore, it is encouraging that Misbah has picked a lot of fast bowlers as it means he plans to operate a rotation policy.

Note I am simply addressing the questions on the mathematics and balance of the squad. There are enough reserves, and I would say it is a perfect number assuming 20 is the upper limit. Maybe one more batsman would have been better.

Overall, I do believe there is strategic significance in the thought process that might have gone into squad selection. Only time will tell if I’m right, otherwise Misbah just really likes extra fast bowlers for no reason and we shouldn’t debate at all.

 

[Monsee]

Those who are counting/considering Wahab as one of the main choices in the test team, you have got to be kidding me...gun barrel straight, expensive as heck, and is on the way down for last 2-3 years now (as if...)!

I would much rather Sohail Khan plays and gives his all (remember he had two 5-Fers last time around in England and seems to be in good nick these days as well) than someone who will be pretty much ineffective once any English batsman scores 20-30 runs in his first 2-3 overs...after that Azhar Ali will be too worried to bring him back for the fear that he will keep leaking runs at a great pace. We already have Yasir for that, if both played, England will be 400+ in less than a day. We will then be out twice in next 1 1/2 days to lose by an innings, unless Babar scores freely.

 

[cric_4life]

Listen it's all about scouting the reason why asad shan have bo competition is becouse our players get 1 big innings at the start of the career and never get dropped if you look at the domestic competition in Pakistan.imran butt got top run scorer in qaid e azam .sami aslam got average of 78.

Players under 26
Sami aslam 78
Imran butt 62
Zeeshan Malik 52
Haider ali 49
Azhar got average of over 72 but if you look at their batting line up it's a proper team

Exactly that's what I meant by my first post.. Misbah is a very poor selector he chose like 12 bowlers in a team of 20 instead of picking up batsmen. Pick the top three from the list u mention instead of Sohail Khan, Imran Khan, kashif bhatti.
Make it a batsmen heavy team let the competition build up within the team.

 

[shamaan]

Exactly that's what I meant by my first post.. Misbah is a very poor selector he chose like 12 bowlers in a team of 20 instead of picking up batsmen. Pick the top three from the list u mention instead of Sohail Khan, Imran Khan, kashif bhatti.
Make it a batsmen heavy team let the competition build up within the team.

Maybe I miss read your first post sorry

 

[shady]

It's pretty obvious that the reason they have a lot of bowlers in the squad is so that they can give the batsmen proper practice without tiring the main bowlers before the test series. There's no local net bowlers available because of COVID, the team can only practice with each other. Having a lot of bowlers lets them keep the quality of practice high without wearing anyone out. This was the right call by Misbah.