Titan24
Senior Test Player
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2016
- Runs
- 25,094
- Post of the Week
- 6
We have all listened to selectors and coaches saying that these are the best players and after every failiure we hear the same justifications again and again.
Lets take an example of one of Australia’s batting position in tests and their efforts to not settle on mediocrity despite limited options available. Aus changed their opener pairing with Warner multiple times from Burns, Harris, Bancroft, Renshaw and now again back to Burns. Aus has very limited talent available in their batting outside of Smith and Warner but that doesnt stop them to try and rise above mediocrity. They dont have many batsmen averaging mid 40s and 50s in domestic cricket to choose from but that doesnt mean to them to continue with players failing again and again and that they shouldnt try new faces or atleast rotate depending upon the form so that one day they can find someone who is much more improved can permanently fill that void.
Even if some players aren’t waiting in domestics, it doesnt mean you have to stick with the proven failures. Why not give chances to Saud Shakeel, Imran Butt, Sami Aslam, Amad Butt, Sameen Gul, Zafar Gohar, Ehsan Adil and in future Zeeshan, Omair, Shafique etc and see which one of them stands out and gets us out of mediocrity atleast in one or two positions in the lineup. 3-4 world class players are enough to make a team into a decent one and target should be to finding those rather than expecting players above 30 who have played countless tests and ODI matches to suddenly become world class.
Lack of prodigies in the domestic setup doesnt mean you shouldnt be giving chances to other performers when current players are proving to be failures time and time again. I am not sure how many teams would have continued with 33 year old middle order batsman averaging 38 after 72 tests or 30 year opener averaging 27 after 17 tests. Looking good on the wicket doesnt win your team matches, scoring runs does. On top of that we have a captain who is out of form while other batsmen are yet to play handful of matches at test level. While other players available aren't world beaters but then the current lot isnt setting the world on fire either.
Take an example of Srilanka, yes they are also struggling in last few years with some memorable victories and poor losses in between however, they have tried different players from youngster to FC veterans to see which players have the temperament and which players can help them to change this tide of mediocrity. They have found some players while some havent turned out to be good but, atleast they have tried.
Pak on the other hand has tried very limited number of players outside of PSL in last two years. Some of the names I have mentioned nor fall under emerging category or some might not be getting enough chances in PSL and some might not be T20 players, so where should they go? As nobody has looked at them in last couple of years. Players in the mid 20s are the ones with quite a lot of FC experience and a good amount of years ahead of them, so why are we hell bent on not giving chances to a whole generation of players.
I am not sure what is that PCB and management is afraid of, what is the worst that can happen? Saud Shakeel might score a duck while Zafar might go for 80 runs in ODIs? Even if that happens it isnt like we havent seen such things before in last 2,3 years. We have seen batsmen with average in 20s playing test after test for Pakistan while bowlers going for 100 runs in ODIs and spinner going for 200 runs in tests.
If we can continue with those why not try some new faces, who knows there might be a gem lying somewhere which just needed international pressure and exposure to show his true worth.
Lets take an example of one of Australia’s batting position in tests and their efforts to not settle on mediocrity despite limited options available. Aus changed their opener pairing with Warner multiple times from Burns, Harris, Bancroft, Renshaw and now again back to Burns. Aus has very limited talent available in their batting outside of Smith and Warner but that doesnt stop them to try and rise above mediocrity. They dont have many batsmen averaging mid 40s and 50s in domestic cricket to choose from but that doesnt mean to them to continue with players failing again and again and that they shouldnt try new faces or atleast rotate depending upon the form so that one day they can find someone who is much more improved can permanently fill that void.
Even if some players aren’t waiting in domestics, it doesnt mean you have to stick with the proven failures. Why not give chances to Saud Shakeel, Imran Butt, Sami Aslam, Amad Butt, Sameen Gul, Zafar Gohar, Ehsan Adil and in future Zeeshan, Omair, Shafique etc and see which one of them stands out and gets us out of mediocrity atleast in one or two positions in the lineup. 3-4 world class players are enough to make a team into a decent one and target should be to finding those rather than expecting players above 30 who have played countless tests and ODI matches to suddenly become world class.
Lack of prodigies in the domestic setup doesnt mean you shouldnt be giving chances to other performers when current players are proving to be failures time and time again. I am not sure how many teams would have continued with 33 year old middle order batsman averaging 38 after 72 tests or 30 year opener averaging 27 after 17 tests. Looking good on the wicket doesnt win your team matches, scoring runs does. On top of that we have a captain who is out of form while other batsmen are yet to play handful of matches at test level. While other players available aren't world beaters but then the current lot isnt setting the world on fire either.
Take an example of Srilanka, yes they are also struggling in last few years with some memorable victories and poor losses in between however, they have tried different players from youngster to FC veterans to see which players have the temperament and which players can help them to change this tide of mediocrity. They have found some players while some havent turned out to be good but, atleast they have tried.
Pak on the other hand has tried very limited number of players outside of PSL in last two years. Some of the names I have mentioned nor fall under emerging category or some might not be getting enough chances in PSL and some might not be T20 players, so where should they go? As nobody has looked at them in last couple of years. Players in the mid 20s are the ones with quite a lot of FC experience and a good amount of years ahead of them, so why are we hell bent on not giving chances to a whole generation of players.
I am not sure what is that PCB and management is afraid of, what is the worst that can happen? Saud Shakeel might score a duck while Zafar might go for 80 runs in ODIs? Even if that happens it isnt like we havent seen such things before in last 2,3 years. We have seen batsmen with average in 20s playing test after test for Pakistan while bowlers going for 100 runs in ODIs and spinner going for 200 runs in tests.
If we can continue with those why not try some new faces, who knows there might be a gem lying somewhere which just needed international pressure and exposure to show his true worth.
