Troubled times lie ahead

[Saj]

Well it was all over once Younis and Misbah were out wasn't it?

With both retiring, to me it seems like the other batsmen seem to lack that ability to fight it out and win matches on a regular basis, especially when conditions are tough. Yes Azhar Ali and from time to time Asad Shafiq do well, but the batting really is a huge concern.

I worry about the Pakistan Test batting line-up in the coming years unless we unearth some wonderful and yet unseen talent.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Every team goes through a transition period. We'll be fine. I'm excited about this generation of Pakistani cricketers. They're showing a lot of potential.

 

[Hamza_]

Well it was all over once Younis and Misbah were out wasn't it?

With both retiring, to me it seems like the other batsmen seem to lack that ability to fight it out and win matches on a regular basis, especially when conditions are tough. Yes Azhar Ali and from time to time Asad Shafiq do well, but the batting really is a huge concern.

I worry about the Pakistan Test batting line-up in the coming years unless we unearth some wonderful and yet unseen talent.

Asad Shafiq, YK and Misbah.

That is 3 of your batters, How can you say that there are trouble alarms when no other batsman than these have played for Pakistan in middle order from a long time?

 

[IAJ]

It will be tough, no doubt about that, but here lies the opportunities as well. They should move on from Hafeez and rest of the seniors and just do what Windies are doing, give youngsters a go and let them
Express themselves.

 

[Syed1]

On the contrary. Better times are ahead. For the last year or so, Misbah and Yk have been passengers and only showed up once or twice in a series.

Guys like Usman Salahuddin and Haris Sohail should replace them, hopefully they would do better than the retiring folks.

 

[KhalidRafi]

Haris Sohail is one candidate. Should get him in at No. 4, he can occasionally bowl too. Sami Aslam needs to come back in my opinion. And we need to find a new No. 6, preferably a young batsman like Usman Salahuddin. Should try Yameen too at No. 7. Especially during overseas tours where an fast bowling all-rounder is necessary.

That seems like the best modus operandi right now.

 

[GLORY OF '92]

Every team goes through a transition period. We'll be fine. I'm excited about this generation of Pakistani cricketers. They're showing a lot of potential.

No. Only Yamin will do well.

Babar is well overrated. We have been talentless since about 2007. Future is bleak.

England 2016 will be a peak we will not see again for at least another 15 years.

 

[Hamza_]

On the contrary. Better times are ahead. For the last year or so, Misbah and Yk have been passengers and only showed up once or twice in a series.

Guys like Usman Salahuddin and Haris Sohail should replace them, hopefully they would do better than the retiring folks.

Exactly this. We are not really earth shattering with these oldies and in last two series we were unable to win even a single match.

 

[MRSN]

all it will take young players to bash spinners on UAE pitches to replace legendary Misbah and YK. I really think YK and Misbah are vastly overrated on this forum. They do not bring anything to the table once we leave UAE they become average. So they won't be a big miss.

 

[MRSN]

Exactly this. We are not really earth shattering with these oldies and in last two series we were unable to win even a single match.

honestly some Pakistani fans take it to next level when they praise Misbah and YK. Look at our record in SA,Zim,Aus,NZ,WI,SL(2014),Australia with these players...what have these legendary players done that youngsters will fail to do?

 

[Hamza_]

honestly some Pakistani fans take it to next level when they praise Misbah and YK. Look at our record in SA,Zim,Aus,NZ,WI,SL(2014),Australia with these players...what have these legendary players done that youngsters will fail to do?

Totally agreed bro.

Misbah should have retired alongside YK after that England Series. And yes they are over rated as some sort of Messiahs however they have contributed as much as someone else in our defeats.

Also Azhar Ali has just scored a 300 and 200 however he never gets a mention, All we get to hear is how the loss of these oldies will turn us into minnows.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

I see a bright future. It will take time, and need our patience, but we will come good.

If the right talent is selected (not Shehzad and Masood types) I see us winning a test series in SA/Aus/Eng in one of our next assignment. I am hopeful.

 

[shady]

Can only go up from losing 7 of 8... hopefully. We have the foundation for a world class bowling unit in Yasir and Amir, and enough young bowlers looking to establish their place (Hasan, Abbas, Shadab, Asghar). I just hope we give younger batsmen a chance to establish themselves in the team(Haris, Sallahuddin, Sami, Talat). Sarfraz needs a young team he can develop for the next couple years.

 

[Hamza_]

Can only go up from losing 7 of 8... hopefully. We have the foundation for a world class bowling unit in Yasir and Amir, and enough young bowlers looking to establish their place (Hasan, Abbas, Shadab, Asghar). I just hope we give younger batsmen a chance to establish themselves in the team(Haris, Sallahuddin, Sami, Talat). Sarfraz needs a young team he can develop for the next couple years.

Knowing Sarfraz he might bring in Faisal Iqbal, Mohammad Hafeez and Force Malik out of retirement.

 

[Hasan123]

Moving on to the future is exciting. Younis and Misbah can't play on forever.

 

[big_gamer007]

Can only go up from here a couple of years of transitional phase and if right players are selected and backed Pakistani team should be good enough again

 

[in_cutter]

Those who are saying the future is bright are deluded. They will be crying when Hafeez & co are recalled to the Test side.

 

[idrizzy]

The future is bright, doesn't mean they'll get picked though.

 

[Muhammad10]

Those who are saying the future is bright are deluded. They will be crying when Hafeez & co are recalled to the Test side.

36-year-old minnow-basher/bottler/FTB hardly screams future. However, I can only pray Inzi agrees with my interpretation of the term.

 

[Saj]

When our future superstars are struggling to score runs even in UAE, we will be saying "we wish Misbah and Younis were still around and we guess it wasn't that easy to score runs in UAE was it"

 

[Chief Destroyer]

When our future superstars are struggling to score runs even in UAE, we will be saying "we wish Misbah and Younis were still around and we guess it wasn't that easy to score runs in UAE was it"

Same was said in ODIs and we've actually improved since Misbah's departure.

 

[MRSN]

Same was said in ODIs and we've actually improved since Misbah's departure.

Yeah ' we will struggle to put 230' comes to mind.

 

[Saj]

Same was said in ODIs and we've actually improved since Misbah's departure.

ODIs can be covered but harder to replace proper batsmen in Test cricket.

 

[zulfiqar]

Yes, we all share your concern Saj bhai, but this test match was mainly lost because we decided to randomly play Shadab, when the strategy should have been 3 fast bowlers & a spinner. And also, Asad Shafiq and a few other batsmen should've come to the party in the first innings when Azhar and Misbah both scored 200+ runs together.

 

[light]

Every team goes through a transition period. We'll be fine. I'm excited about this generation of Pakistani cricketers. They're showing a lot of potential.

If they survive the bribery episodes which hits Pakistan cricket every couple of years or so, then yeah.

 

[Abdullah]

Azhar
Sami
Babar
Shafiq
Fawad/Harris
Yamin
Shadab
Amir
Yasir
Abbas

We need to play this team and the 5 1 2 combo from now. The quality of bats will be covered by better depth In batting n bowling. It will take a bit of time but we must be patient.

 

[Abdullah]

Edgbaston hurt more than today. 150+ on that wicket on day 5 against proper pace was tough

 

[zyrus]

Cricket is done in Pakistan. It is going to be much harder to unearth naturally talented players with each year as children are not that interested in cricket anymore. Previously, streets used to be full of kids playing street-cricket but these days its hardly 10% of what it used to be in previous times, 40-50% are into football, rest have given up on sports and are resorting to gaming or other activities. To be honest, it is very difficult to spot a naturally talented player now. All we can hope is that we are able to 'groom' few decent players out and hope to maintain our team in top-10 till we win a major tournament to ignite little passion back into the nation.

 

[moghul]

We can only get better once they leave us. How many tests we have won with their presence in the team out of last 7 tests ?

 

[PakLFC]

Hard times await no doubt but the show must go on. When Inzi and Moyo retired Younis and Misbah took on the responsibility. I feel the likes of Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq have to come to the fore now.

 

[Tusker]

ODIs can be covered but harder to replace proper batsmen in Test cricket.

its the other way around. The difference between Pakistan and other top ODI teams is a pretty darn huge.

 

[Sadevdesai]

Almost 5 folds smaller score in the 2nd Innings ...... Hmmmmm ..... !!!!!

 

[bleaf27]

Hard times await no doubt but the show must go on. When Inzi and Moyo retired Younis and Misbah took on the responsibility. I feel the likes of Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq have to come to the fore now.

Ofcourse it should go on , no one else is guaranteed to fail as much and bring the laughs

 

[PakLFC]

Ofcourse it should go on , no one else is guaranteed to fail as much and bring the laughs

What laughs? Every team has an off day. We thrashed them in the T20 and One dayers and are level in the test series.

 

[Junaids]

Well it was all over once Younis and Misbah were out wasn't it?

With both retiring, to me it seems like the other batsmen seem to lack that ability to fight it out and win matches on a regular basis, especially when conditions are tough. Yes Azhar Ali and from time to time Asad Shafiq do well, but the batting really is a huge concern.

I worry about the Pakistan Test batting line-up in the coming years unless we unearth some wonderful and yet unseen talent.

Quite the reverse, I would argue.

Firstly, Misbah and Younis for half a decade have failed with such consistency overseas that this was likely to happen.

But secondly, the two senior batsmen completely misjudged how to handle the deteriorating pitch.

If they had scored faster on Days 2 and 3 they would not have condemned themselves to having to chase on Day 5.

But moreover, it was obvious overnight after Day 4 that on Day 5 the erratic bounce would limit the fourth innings to a maximum of 50 overs before ten wickets would fall. It needed to be approached like an ODI run chase: aim for 3-4 per over before a ball arrives with your name on it.

There are problems with the temperaments of Shafiq and Babar, no doubt.

But Younis and Misbah at their advanced ages are incapable of changing gears when they need to.

 

[Junaids]

You lose your seventh Test out of the last eight - including two to the West Indies - yet you think you will miss your Numbers 4 and 5 batsmen?

Weird!

 

[starbuck]

I am sure other batsmen will step up. Transition period will take time but I think some players will step up. Main thing is PCB organizing more A tours so that players improve

 

[MRSN]

You lose your seventh Test out of the last eight - including two to the West Indies - yet you think you will miss your Numbers 4 and 5 batsmen?

Weird!

exactly!! when your legendary batsmen can't avoid 81 all out against this rookie WI side how are you going to miss them? 2013 SA tour, 2014 SL tour, 2016 NZ,2016 Aus they have failed in all these series. If experience doesn't help you win away than it's better to dump them for good and replace with youngsters. At least they have time on their side and can improve.

 

[khurram39]

They had tried Babar Azam and I really looking forward for some one in middle order. Anxiously waiting for usman salahuddin how he bats. I think they will do more changes in opening area including Sami Aslam and shan masood in the team will give a better sight.

Sami Aslam
Shan Masood
Azhar Ali
Babar Azam
Asad Shafique
Sarfraz
Include an all rounder here if experience preferred it could be Hafeez
Amir
Wahab/?
Yasir
Abbass

 

[proud_pakistani]

YK has been amazing. Misbah has been very good as well but I am honestly not worried about them leaving. I feel guys like Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Umar Amin should comfortably fill their void. Fawad I think will probably outperform Misbah. Haris definitely has potential to be a very good test player as well.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

Pakistani test team will suffer a lot in next few years. Troubled times ahead, indeed!

It all depends on Azhar, Babar Azam and to some extent Sarfaraz.

I have 0 expectations from Shafiq and other "batsmen" we have.

 

[JibranAnsari]

True that , no real good batsmen coming out from domestic. Fast bowlers are nowhere to be seen and offspinners are scarce. Misbah and younis have done so well in the middle order , there are no adequate replacements for now.

 

[Arsalan Pro]

Pakistan has been in trouble in Test cricket from the end of the England tour.

 

[Cuts_and_cuts_hard]

If you look at the last 5 years, here are Pak's results:

Drew 1-1 vs SA in "Fortress UAE". Should have lost series but only 2 tests saved the team from a series defeat. Same SA team got destroyed in India.
LOST 3-0 in SA. Humiliated
DREW 1-1 in ZIM. Embarassing to lose a test to a minnow. Should have lost test status after this.
DREW 1-1 vs NZ. Against a poor team vs spin, could only draw at "fortress UAE". Shameful.
DREW 1-1 vs SL in UAE. Losing test to weakling SL at "fortress UAE"
WON 2-0 vs Aus in UAE. That Australia team was poor in SC conditions, with Smith not at his peak, no Renshaw, Starc, Hazelwood, and Clarke and Johnson in decline. Lucky.
WON 2-0 vs Eng in UAE. Good win, but at home against a team which is poor in SC conditions. Not a big achievement.
Drew 2-2 in ENG. Good series but a fluke
LOST 2-0 in NZ. Humiliated by the weakling NZ team. Collapsing to Colin DeLillee a national shame.
LOST 3-0 in Aus. Whitewashed by a Australia team which had suffered 2-3 horrible series in a row. Disgusting performance
Won 2-1 vs WI in UAE. Losing a test at "fortress UAE" to WI is absolutely embarassing. If it had happened to Ind/Aus, people would be asking to remove their test status
Now 1-1 in WI. Again losing a test to one of the worst teams in the world.


Only 2-3 series wins in 5 years, even though so many have been played at home. And still people say things like "UAE is our fortress" and "Pakistan are the best Asian team" without bursting out laughing

 

[MRSN]

If you look at the last 5 years, here are Pak's results:

Drew 1-1 vs SA in "Fortress UAE". Should have lost series but only 2 tests saved the team from a series defeat. Same SA team got destroyed in India.
LOST 3-0 in SA. Humiliated
DREW 1-1 in ZIM. Embarassing to lose a test to a minnow. Should have lost test status after this.
DREW 1-1 vs NZ. Against a poor team vs spin, could only draw at "fortress UAE". Shameful.
DREW 1-1 vs SL in UAE. Losing test to weakling SL at "fortress UAE"
WON 2-0 vs Aus in UAE. That Australia team was poor in SC conditions, with Smith not at his peak, no Renshaw, Starc, Hazelwood, and Clarke and Johnson in decline. Lucky.
WON 2-0 vs Eng in UAE. Good win, but at home against a team which is poor in SC conditions. Not a big achievement.
Drew 2-2 in ENG. Good series but a fluke
LOST 2-0 in NZ. Humiliated by the weakling NZ team. Collapsing to Colin DeLillee a national shame.
LOST 3-0 in Aus. Whitewashed by a Australia team which had suffered 2-3 horrible series in a row. Disgusting performance
Won 2-1 vs WI in UAE. Losing a test at "fortress UAE" to WI is absolutely embarassing. If it had happened to Ind/Aus, people would be asking to remove their test status
Now 1-1 in WI. Again losing a test to one of the worst teams in the world.


Only 2-3 series wins in 5 years, even though so many have been played at home. And still people say things like "UAE is our fortress" and "Pakistan are the best Asian team" without bursting out laughing

wonderful post bro.

some people love to stay in their fantasy world where this Pakistan test team is some world beater. Reality is this team is full of ftbs whose legends avoid scoring against fast bowlers and bash spinners for their hundreds and they pace their innings like they are playing for a draw. This mentality was always wrong and outdated.

 

[Cuts_and_cuts_hard]

If you look at the last 5 years, here are Pak's results:

Drew 1-1 vs SA in "Fortress UAE". Should have lost series but only 2 tests saved the team from a series defeat. Same SA team got destroyed in India.
LOST 3-0 in SA. Humiliated
DREW 1-1 in ZIM. Embarassing to lose a test to a minnow. Should have lost test status after this.
DREW 1-1 vs NZ. Against a poor team vs spin, could only draw at "fortress UAE". Shameful.
DREW 1-1 vs SL in UAE. Losing test to weakling SL at "fortress UAE"
WON 2-0 vs Aus in UAE. That Australia team was poor in SC conditions, with Smith not at his peak, no Renshaw, Starc, Hazelwood, and Clarke and Johnson in decline. Lucky.
WON 2-0 vs Eng in UAE. Good win, but at home against a team which is poor in SC conditions. Not a big achievement.
Drew 2-2 in ENG. Good series but a fluke
LOST 2-0 in NZ. Humiliated by the weakling NZ team. Collapsing to Colin DeLillee a national shame.
LOST 3-0 in Aus. Whitewashed by a Australia team which had suffered 2-3 horrible series in a row. Disgusting performance
Won 2-1 vs WI in UAE. Losing a test at "fortress UAE" to WI is absolutely embarassing. If it had happened to Ind/Aus, people would be asking to remove their test status
Now 1-1 in WI. Again losing a test to one of the worst teams in the world.


Only 2-3 series wins in 5 years, even though so many have been played at home. And still people say things like "UAE is our fortress" and "Pakistan are the best Asian team" without bursting out laughing

Another two bad losses to add to this list.

And yet people had the gall to call UAE our fortresss. It was never a fortress.

 

[the Great Khan]

time to give up cricket. I think we need to organise a mass wrist slitting ritual at the banks of the Indus..

 

[Arham_PakFan]

When our future superstars are struggling to score runs even in UAE, we will be saying "we wish Misbah and Younis were still around and we guess it wasn't that easy to score runs in UAE was it"

Prophetic words

Still believe there are better times ahead,though.

 

[IndYeah1]

Pak batsmen missing experience. Maturity. Temperament. And dare I say it, a degree of skill and spine is lacking as well.

 

[Mamoon]

We are finished as a Test team. The ranking is not going to improve any time soon.

 

[R0H1T]

Pak batsmen missing experience. Maturity. Temperament. And dare I say it, a degree of skill and spine is lacking as well.

This is why you can't drop seniors easily, even when they are on their last legs! You know unlike a certain poster & his misguided rage, would have you believe otherwise.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

What do you expect my picking Aslam and Masood as openers?

 

[babajee]

I think people need to relax and realise that this Lankan team isn’t as bad as we thought and that we are a team in transition.

How can you expect results from a team with only 2 world class players in Azhar Ali and Yasir Shah? The fact that we hardly play tests doesn’t help

 

[IndYeah1]

This is why you can't drop seniors easily, even when they are on their last legs! You know unlike a certain poster & his misguided rage, would have you believe otherwise.

Sorry. I don't think persisting with 45 year old players is in the best interest of Pakistan either. Better that they try out the next gen and weed out failures, rather than paper over weaknesses by playing grandpa cricketers.

 

[amvbfm]

I think people need to relax and realise that this Lankan team isn’t as bad as we thought and that we are a team in transition.

How can you expect results from a team with only 2 world class players in Azhar Ali and Yasir Shah? The fact that we hardly play tests doesn’t help

Isn't great either. A good team doesn't collapse the way they did twice in the series. Barring Herath they don't have any stand out players. It's just that they made fewer mistakes or rather we made more, and our pace bowling was utterly toothless. The standard of cricket in this series has been awful tbh.

 

[Rana]

I can pretty much see Azhar heading towards a career average of 43 or below simply because he has been ladened with a burden that I dont think he is capable of handling. Nor does he have suitable partners in the team he plays for who can help him play the way he would possibly want to. This is not an Inzi, Moyo or YK. This is Azhar Ali and he wont miraculously raise his game to the standard of Alistair Cook or Joe Root

 

[Slog]

Don't worry

Uncle Mickey Arthur has all the answers

After all he achieved the impossible by taking us from #1 to #7 in a year

 

[Slog]

We are finished as a Test team. The ranking is not going to improve any time soon.

You said same last year before we drew in England and reached number 1

You said same before CT and we all saw what happened there

These are tactical mistakes and can be fixed

 

[Nil Dhumrojal]

This team just need time to recover the loss of MisYou

 

[Mamoon]

You said same last year before we drew in England and reached number 1

You said same before CT and we all saw what happened there

These are tactical mistakes and can be fixed

Random fluke wins are not a substitute for long-term consistency and sustainable success.

 

[pkwdpassion]

Well it was all over once Younis and Misbah were out wasn't it?

With both retiring, to me it seems like the other batsmen seem to lack that ability to fight it out and win matches on a regular basis, especially when conditions are tough. Yes Azhar Ali and from time to time Asad Shafiq do well, but the batting really is a huge concern.

I worry about the Pakistan Test batting line-up in the coming years unless we unearth some wonderful and yet unseen talent.

The question is, is PCB interested in picking up talent for the Pakistan team?
if a biased selector being paid millions for organizing revolving door for his relatives/friends like Shehzad, Wahab, Salman Butts, Imamul Haq, Akmals and Masood. Nothing could be done. Even captain like Clive Lloyd can't utilize this garbage.
Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali are very happy, Sami Aslam and Shan Masood are in the team, they would be happier if umar Akmal joins in. They know they will play longer the more crap is inducted by Inzimam.

Seriously I am very disappointed with the way Pakistan team is doing, it would've been better not to watch this series.

 

[Abdul]

Can't wait for a clueless coach like Mickey to be sacked.

 

[Ocelot]

Drew 2-2 in ENG. Good series but a fluke

Nice try to sneakily insert this with others, but no. That series was one of the best in Pak's history. A very competitive one. Any other team would've totally gotten pummeled over there.

 

[CricFan2012]

Nice try to sneakily insert this with others, but no. That series was one of the best in Pak's history. A very competitive one. Any other team would've totally gotten pummeled over there.

No Anderson and Stokes in some matches, competitive lol. It was a fluke

 

[Ocelot]

No Anderson and Stokes in some matches, competitive lol. It was a fluke

Oh, so wrist slitting is already out. Signs of a mentally weak nation.

 

[CricFan2012]

Oh, so wrist slitting is already out. Signs of a mentally weak nation.

its not wrist slitting, its looking at things realistically with no bias.

We're the kings of UAE and pretty much it, we can't find against stronger sides away and west indies and Sri lanka have been pounding us last few series in UAE as well

 

[Ocelot]

its not wrist slitting, its looking at things realistically with no bias.

We're the kings of UAE and pretty much it, we can't find against stronger sides away and west indies and Sri lanka have been pounding us last few series in UAE as well

Absence of a player here and there doesn't make a series fluke. If you really want to point out something as fluke then it's Pak's 92 World Cup win.

 

[Saj]

The harsh reality is that you will win a few Tests here and there with a couple of good cricketers, but if the majority of players keep on failing as they have done in this series then I'm afraid Pakistan will continue to struggle.

Too many passengers in this Test team at the moment.

 

[cricfan967]

Time is now for Fawad to get a go, our batting hasn't looked this brittle in the UAE in quite some time.

 

[Mamoon]

The harsh reality is that you will win a few Tests here and there with a couple of good cricketers, but if the majority of players keep on failing as they have done in this series then I'm afraid Pakistan will continue to struggle.

Too many passengers in this Test team at the moment.

That is precisely the point. Even if we pull it off tomorrow, it won't whitewash the problems and shortcomings of the team.

A 1-1 vs SL in the UAE is still a poor result, with majority of the players misfiring.

 

[Saj]

That is precisely the point. Even if we pull it off tomorrow, it won't whitewash the problems and shortcomings of the team.

A 1-1 vs SL in the UAE is still a poor result, with majority of the players misfiring.

And in addition, players keep getting picked despite not being suitable for some formats and despite having obvious technical issues with their game.