This is what happens when you don’t have an anchor

[Rana]

Striking at "nearly 130" is not an achievement when you bat during the Powerplay.

In the Asia Cup and World Cup, award winning Babar was striking at 93 and 107.

[MENTION=141811]shariqnoor[/MENTION] is right. Yesterday's defeat was nothing to do with lacking anchors but poor game awareness.

I think pakistan fans casually forget the powerplay is not the same as the rest of the 14 overs to follow it.

Babar is a coward for not batting and 3 and Rizwan is a middle order failure who needed special favours by Misbah to survive

 

[KingOfPakBreakfast]

Striking at "nearly 130" is not an achievement when you bat during the Powerplay.

In the Asia Cup and World Cup, award winning Babar was striking at 93 and 107.

[MENTION=141811]shariqnoor[/MENTION] is right. Yesterday's defeat was nothing to do with lacking anchors but poor game awareness.

Exactly, we have to remember these are inexperienced lads. Game awareness is key, but so is the need for them to keep expressing themselves in the right situations.

The outcry over the result is what’ll make these lads play within themselves. They need to play with cleared intentions.

 

[hitthestump]

Striking at "nearly 130" is not an achievement when you bat during the Powerplay.

In the Asia Cup and World Cup, award winning Babar was striking at 93 and 107.

[MENTION=141811]shariqnoor[/MENTION] is right. Yesterday's defeat was nothing to do with lacking anchors but poor game awareness.

I would be an advocate of seperating RizBab provided we can find someone to do the job better.

 

[Maher96]

The ball was spinning, swinging and keeping extremely low for most parts of the Pakistan Innings, just needed calm heads to be honest.

Haris looked like a total hack couldn’t get one shot on the off side,

Saim played a unnecessary shot from which he should defo learn,

Abdullah like so many times, early on is suspect leg before, he needs a few balls to judge himself at the crease. Got done by the late swing I guess.

Azam Khan played a nothing shot!

Shadab and Imad innings also went nowhere was a run a ball scenario and they misjudged it.

Imad played just to survive no intent either.

Faheem non present with bat or ball.

Naseem was in Hero mode just to then get out Hit wicket.

Ihsanullah and Zaman actually showed some urgency and at least run 4 byes lol.

 

[shamaan]

Out of the dismissal the most disappointing was Tayyab Tahir and Azam Khan.

 

[Energy]

Babar and Rizwan are legends irrespective of whatever short term glamour is shown by other players. The volume of runs they have scored and the matches they have won for the country is recognised by the cricketing fraternity.

If some people don't respect them, it doesn't take anything away from their status.

 

[Saj]

Anchor or no anchor, bat according to the pitch, surface, match situation.

Inexperience and a lack of game awareness was clearly visible from some.

 

[hitthestump]

There are no anchors in Pakistan cricket.

Only world class batsmen called Babar and Rizwan who have marginally lower strike rates than our so called non-anchors.

If RizBab are anchors, then what are our other batsmen?? One pair strikes at 130 while the others can barely cross that.

 

[emranabbas]

Babar and Rizwan are legends irrespective of whatever short term glamour is shown by other players. The volume of runs they have scored and the matches they have won for the country is recognised by the cricketing fraternity.

If some people don't respect them, it doesn't take anything away from their status.

Absolutely single handedly won us the wt20 Cup and asia cup

 

[CricVet]

The game awareness will come. How often these guys would play on such unsporting pitches? I do understand that a vehicle can’t be driven without brakes however, the best of the vehicles would clunk for mercy on Saharan desert sand. Any team batting first on this shameful cricket surface, no matter how experienced, will need LUCK to succeed. Actually, calling this surface a Saharan desert is too forgiving, since that will make it uniform - it has Louisiana Swampland in its terrain as well.

When Pak opened, the ball was swinging wild. These young guys are selected based on the skills they displayed in PSL and were eagerly waiting to showcase it to the audiences . We all tend to get cocky to show our strength at times. The smart ones learn from mistakes. I am sure that in the back of their heads they realize, they all would not be a part of starting 11. They fell while trying to catch the bull by the horn. It does not help when our social structure is also full of “sifarshis”. They all wouldn’t get many chances. I hope we cut some slack and let them enjoy the opportunity at least. Let’s lynch those who were the real cause of defeat.

As it has been pointed out and I being redundant - the captain‘s decision to bat first and on top of it, going with 3 pacers and a fast medium alrounder - really? Shadab in my book is/was a 2nd in line after Rizwan to captain the T20 sides. How can he make such a pathetic decision? I am sure that it came with team’s coach approval. The real culprits in the first game are no other than Shadab and Gull. They dropped the ball. You can’t drop the best PSL spinner Usama in a game on a terrible surface and choose to go with 4 pacers on top of it, while you have another spinner in the squad Nawaz warming up the bench.

Now that the monkey is off the back - we don’t have any pressure of keeping the Afg winless. Go with at least 3 spinners and win.

 

[Markhor]

Babar and Rizwan are legends irrespective of whatever short term glamour is shown by other players. The volume of runs they have scored and the matches they have won for the country is recognised by the cricketing fraternity.

If some people don't respect them, it doesn't take anything away from their status.

Legends win trophies - unless you consider winning the BanglaWash tri-series being a legendary achievement.

RizBab fans are coming out with some gems recently. First Rizwan is better than Buttler and now they're already being hailed as legendary cricketers.

 

[Zaz]

It can happen

Did pakistan not nearly botch their chase against them in the Asia cup too? It’s cricket. They have 3/4 players with a higher net value than our biggest stars

Respect a good team

Which 3-4 players do they have than our biggest stars?

This is afghanistan bro A team that hasnt gone past group stages in the last 2 t20 world cups They are an avge to poor team

A pakistan b team should be beating them too

 

[Energy]

Legends win trophies - unless you consider winning the BanglaWash tri-series being a legendary achievement.

RizBab fans are coming out with some gems recently. First Rizwan is better than Buttler and now they're already being hailed as legendary cricketers.

Pakistan has only won three trophies in its entire 50 year cricketing history. Babar was part of one. So he's already better than majority of cricketers Pakistan have ever produced in its entire lifetime.

So much for trophy winning chest thumping. You're making it sound as if Pakistan wins ICC trophies on a regular basis and produce No.1 ranked batsmen every year like mince pies.

Riding high horses with heels isn't a good thing.

 

[Markhor]

Pakistan has only won three trophies in its entire 50 year cricketing history. Babar was part of one. So he's already better than majority of cricketers Pakistan have ever produced in its entire lifetime.

So much for trophy winning chest thumping. You're making it sound as if Pakistan wins ICC trophies on a regular basis and produce No.1 ranked batsmen every year like mince pies.

Riding high horses with heels isn't a good thing.

Babar had little to do with the CT17 win.

The only thing legendary about Babar last year was his legendary flop at the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup where his SRs were 93 and 107 respectively.

There was also his legendary captaincy that oversaw 8 winless home Tests, including our first ever 0-3 blanking in a home Test series. Nor should we forget his legendary "below the belt" declaration nearly giftwrapping NZL a Test win.

Seems the bar to gain legendary status for Pakistani cricketers is lower than ever.

 

[CricVet]

Pakistan has only won three trophies in its entire 50 year cricketing history. Babar was part of one. So he's already better than majority of cricketers Pakistan have ever produced in its entire lifetime.

So much for trophy winning chest thumping. You're making it sound as if Pakistan wins ICC trophies on a regular basis and produce No.1 ranked batsmen every year like mince pies.

Riding high horses with heels isn't a good thing.

By that logic, Sarfraz should be keeping vs Rizwan in T20. By just being part of a winning team, does not earn a spot.

 

[Energy]

By that logic, Sarfraz should be keeping vs Rizwan in T20. By just being part of a winning team, does not earn a spot.

Your tag team is the one that bought up winning trophies as being equivalent to quality of a player.

So when I mention Babar in the same category then why the double standards?

 

[CricVet]

Your tag team is the one that bought up winning trophies as being equivalent to quality of a player.

So when I mention Babar in the same category then why the double standards?

My views are independent and hardly come here to express. I know however that some folks here just don’t analyze things fairly. I am kind of getting irked of seeing Babar and Rizwan brigades justifying their T20 approach at the cost of young players batting debut on an extremely tricky pitch where Babar’s own batting has been atrocious barring one game against a non test playing country. One has to be fair to criticize young batsmen in a jiffy style cricket.

 

[Savak]

Imad anchored the innings, he didn't accelerate enough.

 

[emranabbas]

Imad anchored the innings, he didn't accelerate enough.

Imad played according to conditions
rizwan and babar play this sort of innings in every condition and every ground

 

[Rana]

Absolutely single handedly won us the wt20 Cup and asia cup

Yes

They absolutely did

 

[Zaz]

Babar and co made it to the final of both trophies

Semi final last years in uae At least we kept some standard

This performance by the newbies has been awful Not just the resukts but the batting and the fielding as well has taken pakistan to new lows

So much for these guys being big hitters and scoring at 150 strike rate

They cant even score at 6 an over against afghanistan

 

[hitthestump]

Imad played according to conditions
rizwan and babar play this sort of innings in every condition and every ground

I think after 57 balls Rizbab generally would have had 15-20 runs more. They are very good at strike rotation and finding gaps which is crucial on these types of wickets.

This isn't a knock on Imad neccessairly. Babar and Rizwan are pure batsmen while Imad is an all rounder. The pitch was a tough one.

I think Imad could have taken a few more risks though bearing in mind his role is as an aggressive lower order batsman but at the same time someone had to hold it together too. It's not an easy job.

 

[IMMY69]

Babar had little to do with the CT17 win.

The only thing legendary about Babar last year was his legendary flop at the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup where his SRs were 93 and 107 respectively.

There was also his legendary captaincy that oversaw 8 winless home Tests, including our first ever 0-3 blanking in a home Test series. Nor should we forget his legendary "below the belt" declaration nearly giftwrapping NZL a Test win.

Seems the bar to gain legendary status for Pakistani cricketers is lower than ever.

I still find it astonishing that you're continuing with the same line of argument. Others I can understand, but you?

Arrh well

 

[Rana]

I still find it astonishing that you're continuing with the same line of argument. Others I can understand, but you?

Arrh well

Others are right too. We don’t hate this team

 

[IMMY69]

For the record, in 2017 Babar scored 38 not out against England in the semis and 46 in the final.

But even that doesn't matter.
Yes his captaincy is poor, but batting wise he's not only very good to watch but is also head and shoulders above all Pakistani batters, no matter what the format is.

It seems there is an agenda against Babar and Rizwan and every failure by these two is pounced on by some here on PP and others in the media. More fool them

 

[RagingJ]

Arh but you hate Rizwan with a passion and never hold back this shows two things.
1. That you have a hatred for a certain player and you don't hold back and 2. you don't know when to hold back which shows immaturity...

The countless number of hateful posts is testament to someone who isn't quite there.

That's all I've seen in countless of threads since returning to the forum.

Every 2nd or 3rd post is something to do with hate toward either one of those two players at any opportunity.

I am a fan of the team, and team alone, no current favourite player in the Pak squad as none of them excite me enough, but there's a limit of hate one can spew on to players.

This Pak team and current structure just isn't good enough, and it won't be the way it is always has been managed. Be thankful with what we have, at least isn't in the 2013-2016 mould where it was absolutely dire with next to no talent.

 

[sweep_shot]

For a team like England, anchors are not needed. They have proper hitters. All of them can hit well.

But, for regular teams (Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies etc.), one anchor is necessary to stop unnecessary collapse.

 

[TheSultan]

For the record, in 2017 Babar scored 38 not out against England in the semis and 46 in the final.

But even that doesn't matter.
Yes his captaincy is poor, but batting wise he's not only very good to watch but is also head and shoulders above all Pakistani batters, no matter what the format is.

It seems there is an agenda against Babar and Rizwan and every failure by these two is pounced on by some here on PP and others in the media. More fool them

He is head and above in ability, but he’s mentally weak.

And especially in t20s, he is holding the team back. So much energy is being expended on justifying his existence at the top of the order.

Look at the t20 World Cup. He was absolutely woeful in that tournament.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

I don't think the lack of anchors were an issue. The issue was bad captaincy and poor team selection.

We had a team that was too bowler heavy and playing two keepers. There was hardly any batting in the team.

Our skipper decided to bat first again in the second match and then now bowl one of our best bowlers.

Look, I like Rizwan and Babar but we have went through a three tournament cycle with no wins ( despite getting very close). Our cricket relies on our bowling clicking and then batsmen just about doing enough to scrape by.

For our next big tournament cycle we need to think differently and experimentation is the only way to decide the capability of the side, its potential style of play and whether we really do need anchors or not.

 

[Kroll]

For a team like England, anchors are not needed. They have proper hitters. All of them can hit well.

But, for regular teams (Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies etc.), one anchor is necessary to stop unnecessary collapse.

In the case of Windies, is it even possible to score 258 with playing an anchor?

 

[sweep_shot]

In the case of Windies, is it even possible to score 258 with playing an anchor?

258 for Windies was an anomaly. They are unlikely to do this on most pitches and in most games.

The pitch was a road.

Also, South Africa didn't field their main team I believe. Nortje was missing. Maharaj was missing. Ngidi was missing.

 

[Markhor]

I still find it astonishing that you're continuing with the same line of argument. Others I can understand, but you?

Arrh well

I don't know what's so shocking - did those events I listed not happen last year ? Do you really believe Babar and Rizwan are already "legends" of Pakistan cricket as the poster above claimed ?

Many of the plaudits Rizwan and Babar have received are deserved. However what's astonishing are fans elevating them to legendary status despite winning zilch and not accepting any legitimate criticism about their PP SRs. Look how Simon Doull is attacked for pointing out their limitations on commentary.

When Babar was horribly out of form last year in T20s, he should've demoted himself to 3. He didn't. He put his own needs ahead of the team's - that's selfishness and I will not apologise for pointing out the facts.

 

[Kroll]

I don't know what's so shocking - did those events I listed not happen last year ? Do you really believe Babar and Rizwan are already "legends" of Pakistan cricket as the poster above claimed ?

Many of the plaudits Rizwan and Babar have received are deserved. However what's astonishing are fans elevating them to legendary status despite winning zilch and not accepting any legitimate criticism about their PP SRs. Look how Simon Doull is attacked for pointing out their limitations on commentary.

When Babar was horribly out of form last year in T20s, he should've demoted himself to 3. He didn't. He put his own needs ahead of the team's - that's selfishness and I will not apologise for pointing out the facts.

Well said bro, your standing on this forum got referenced but it just means you will still speak the truth.

Just for the record: I'm a big fan of Babar also.

 

[gazza619]

Haris strikes again.

T20 was the only format Pakistan had some success in recent years.

We are doomed.

 

[MenInG]

No anchoring, just sensible batting by understanding the pitch etc

 

[shaz619]

I don't know what's so shocking - did those events I listed not happen last year ? Do you really believe Babar and Rizwan are already "legends" of Pakistan cricket as the poster above claimed ?

Many of the plaudits Rizwan and Babar have received are deserved. However what's astonishing are fans elevating them to legendary status despite winning zilch and not accepting any legitimate criticism about their PP SRs. Look how Simon Doull is attacked for pointing out their limitations on commentary.

When Babar was horribly out of form last year in T20s, he should've demoted himself to 3. He didn't. He put his own needs ahead of the team's - that's selfishness and I will not apologise for pointing out the facts.

The criticism may have weight, but do you support sugar coating two defeats to this Afghanistan side, I find it disturbing some are going to great lengths to defend the performances of their preferred XI

 

[IMMY69]

I don't know what's so shocking - did those events I listed not happen last year ? Do you really believe Babar and Rizwan are already "legends" of Pakistan cricket as the poster above claimed ?

Many of the plaudits Rizwan and Babar have received are deserved. However what's astonishing are fans elevating them to legendary status despite winning zilch and not accepting any legitimate criticism about their PP SRs. Look how Simon Doull is attacked for pointing out their limitations on commentary.

When Babar was horribly out of form last year in T20s, he should've demoted himself to 3. He didn't. He put his own needs ahead of the team's - that's selfishness and I will not apologise for pointing out the facts.

Ok so one thing we do agree with is that neither are Pakistani Legends.
Babar though is on his way to becoming one.
His captaincy is awful but he's a beautiful batsman who I would pay to watch.

Rizwan as a package is head and shoulders above any other wicket keeper batsmen we have in Pakistan and not long ago he was being talked of being the best keeper batsmen in the world, in all formats.

Form comes and goes but the cringeworthy hate these two have received in the last 12 months is ridiculous.

Yes their strike rates were down, yes they didn't perform well in the Asia Cup or World Cups in 2022, but neither did the middle order in many games. So their failures looked even worse when the pressure was on, they inevitably failed and then there was no in inte middle order to pick up the baton.

People go on about opening being the easiest place to bat with fielders in the circular etc etc.
Do you know how much nonsense this is?
Look at the majority of t20 internationals and you will see players that come in lower in the middle order and literally take a game away from you. That's not in the PP overs either.

Simon Doull? Come on man. The bloke is a gun to hire and commentates in all the leagues and is an ex bowler who had a very short career and that too as a bowler. I listen to Simon doul like I listen to Amir Suhail, with the mute button on

 

[shamaan]

They didn't adapt to the pitch and that's the reason why they lost the series.