Usman Salahuddin - First impressions in Test cricket

[Saj]

Let's be realistic Azhar Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq will not be getting dropped anytime soon and now Haris Sohail and Babar Azam are both guaranteed starters. Usman had this one opportunity to make himself a contender and he failed to put a marker down to show why he should replace the more established players. He will need to wait for injuries and hope that nobody else in the meantime makes a bigger statement than him in either domestic cricket or the A team. I stand by my original statement, we're unlikely to see him play for Pakistan again.

I disagree, I don't think Haris Sohail is an automatic pick yet.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Hope he gets a county contract. We don't need him in lois but will need him for tests in future.

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

See him as an efficient domestic batsman. Don't see him making it to A grade in International cricket. Low hands make him a prime suspect against bounce and against seam his tendency to play across the front pad is already a weakness.

Did not score fast enough to dominate in the three innings that he had on the tour. Maybe he'll play but only because the cupboard when it comes to batting in Pakistan is empty.

 

[mirza105]

Saad should play instead of this guy

 

[azimiqbal]

I think he deserves a a test series in uae, he had put in the hard work in domestic cricket,

I think for that series drop faheeem ashraf bring in Yasin Shah.

Drop Hassan ali bring babar back.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

He should definitely be in the test squad.You don't just drop players after one match,especially when he did okay under immense pressure in the second innings.

 

[shokz1408]

Looked like he couldn't buy a run.

 

[Third Man]

Let's be realistic Azhar Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq will not be getting dropped anytime soon and now Haris Sohail and Babar Azam are both guaranteed starters. Usman had this one opportunity to make himself a contender and he failed to put a marker down to show why he should replace the more established players. He will need to wait for injuries and hope that nobody else in the meantime makes a bigger statement than him in either domestic cricket or the A team. I stand by my original statement, we're unlikely to see him play for Pakistan again.

I think that'll be a good thing. I don't think he's worth investing in. Not good enough.

 

[Hasan123]

Whilst I admire his tempremeant it was disturbing that after a long period at the crease he was struggling to rotate the strike and impose himself on the bowlers.

Hopefully he can pick this up. We don't need any more batsmen who can bat at a strike rate of below 40. The top test players can bat for long periods and score at a good rate.

 

[GLORY OF '92]

It will be a travesty if we play a dud at such a crucial position.

Can guarantee he will fail. Fakhar is 10 times the player.

 

[blackanhyellow]

Whilst I admire his tempremeant it was disturbing that after a long period at the crease he was struggling to rotate the strike and impose himself on the bowlers.

Hopefully he can pick this up. We don't need any more batsmen who can bat at a strike rate of below 40. The top test players can bat for long periods and score at a good rate.

At the age of 27, He has a strike rate of less than 45 after 100 first class matches.

I dont think he is going to be able to adapt his game at this stage in his career.

Like you said, his temperament is commendable, but we already have azhar and imam. I dont think Pakistan can afford another player who can not score at a decent rate.

 

[MenInG]

Run accumulator is one way to describe him

125 in 312 balls vs NZ A in 2nd Unofficial Test.....

 

[fluke]

what is this guy doing batting at a strike rate of 35 and that too in the second day of a fourth day game Astaghfirullah

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Curious case of Usman Salahuddin:<br><br>Dropped from the Test Squad<br><br>Then selectors announce Pakistan A squad without him<br><br>Selectors realise they've not selected the guy who just made 125 & 64* against NZ A<br><br>50 minutes later squad is announced again, this time including him<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1063797611604381696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 17, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Mainul]

He doesn't know to rotate strike, another Azhar Ali.If these two bats together entire stadium will sleep with snoring

 

[Saj]

Ever get the impression someone doesn't like you at the PCB.........

 

[TeymurBlake]

He is very much like a Azhar Ali. He batsman extremely slow. Would prefer Saad Ali over him.

 

[Salman4.]

Wouldn't have done bad here. Especially becuase he doesn't edge the ball quite like Azhar and the other batsmen.

 

[Markhor]

Despite his SR issues, don't think he would've folded as meekly as these jokers are.

 

[Saj]

Despite his SR issues, don't think he would've folded as meekly as these jokers are.

Totally agree.

But too many of our fans and experts want quick runs and high strike-rates.

 

[Plumb]

I was very excited for Usman. I saw few clips and he seemed very stylish and solid.... We never gave him chance and he got dropped after free tour.

 

[Hasan123]

Totally agree.

But too many of our fans and experts want quick runs and high strike-rates.

I understand what you are saying but why are the top batsmen in tests cricket the ones with a good strike rate such as Root ,Kohli,Williamson,Smith,and Warner ?

Not asking for a strike rate of a 100, but asking for a strike rate of 50 shouldn't be too much.

 

[Abdullah719]

I understand what you are saying but why are the top batsmen in tests cricket the ones with a good strike rate such as Root ,Kohli,Williamson,Smith,and Warner ?

Not asking for a strike rate of a 100, but asking for a strike rate of 50 shouldn't be too much.

Let's first get competent batsman who can survive at this level before worrying about unearthing Kohlis and Smiths.

 

[Markhor]

I understand what you are saying but why are the top batsmen in tests cricket the ones with a good strike rate such as Root ,Kohli,Williamson,Smith,and Warner ?

Not asking for a strike rate of a 100, but asking for a strike rate of 50 shouldn't be too much.

[MENTION=141114]Hasan123[/MENTION] what was the RR India batted at in their 1st innings at the MCG ?

 

[Saj]

I understand what you are saying but why are the top batsmen in tests cricket the ones with a good strike rate such as Root ,Kohli,Williamson,Smith,and Warner ?

Not asking for a strike rate of a 100, but asking for a strike rate of 50 shouldn't be too much.

Valuing your wicket
Technically adequate
Know where your off stump is
Ability to play long innings

All skills that are more important than strike rate in Tests.

 

[Markhor]

It makes no sense for a guy like Usman Salahuddin, who was excellent for Pakistan A against good bowling attacks in New Zealand A and England Lions, with a FC average of 47 and 22 hundreds to his name, to be rotting on the bench.

The guy is aged 28 so we must make use of his prime years now. Instead Shafiq continues to hog a place and block development of younger batsmen.

 

[Mamoon]

[MENTION=141114]Hasan123[/MENTION] what was the RR India batted at in their 1st innings at the MCG ?

That was a tactical decision. After the Perth collapse, they wanted to grind the Australian attack and wear them down.The Indian batsmen (minus Pujara to an extent) are all capable of scoring big at a strike rate of 50+.

However, we bat slow not because we want to but because our batsmen cannot score unless they go into their shell. Slow-poke batting has cost us multiple matches and I don't see any purpose in replacing one 40 strike rate batsman with another.

However, I do agree that beggars cannot be choosers. If he can maintain a 45+ average in Test cricket, his low strike rate can be ignored because he would still be doing better than our current so-called seniors.

 

[Hasan123]

[MENTION=141114]Hasan123[/MENTION] what was the RR India batted at in their 1st innings at the MCG ?

Most of the time they bat at a good strike rate. They also put the loose balls away. Our guys just tuk tuk till they get out.

 

[Hasan123]

Valuing your wicket
Technically adequate
Know where your off stump is
Ability to play long innings

All skills that are more important than strike rate in Tests.

It is possible to do all of those things and still score at a good strike rate.

Great played bat long periods and score runs at a good rate.

Even Pujara is batting at a strike rate of 50 in India's game.

 

[Hasan123]

Let's first get competent batsman who can survive at this level before worrying about unearthing Kohlis and Smiths.

But if strikw rate isn't important why do these guys always maintain healthy strike rate?

It is possible to score at a good rate and bat long periods.

 

[SportsWarrior]

That was a tactical decision. After the Perth collapse, they wanted to grind the Australian attack and wear them down.The Indian batsmen (minus Pujara to an extent) are all capable of scoring big at a strike rate of 50+.

However, we bat slow not because we want to but because our batsmen cannot score unless they go into their shell. Slow-poke batting has cost us multiple matches and I don't see any purpose in replacing one 40 strike rate batsman with another.

However, I do agree that beggars cannot be choosers. If he can maintain a 45+ average in Test cricket, his low strike rate can be ignored because he would still be doing better than our current so-called seniors.

Actually even Pujara can score with a strike rate of around 50 comfortably when he is in good form. He just pales in comparison to others who bat around him. He comes from.old school where you gave first session to bowler and then take the remaining two. But Kohli has been impatient with him and to large extent Rahul and Vijay. All three are actually old fashioned top order batsman who currently have a confused game due to easily excitable captain and coach

Thankfully Kohli is realizing his mistake and letting pujara be himself. Left to himself Pujara is a fluent batsman once set.

 

[SportsWarrior]

It is possible to do all of those things and still score at a good strike rate.


Great played bat long periods and score runs at a good rate.

Even Pujara is batting at a strike rate of 50 in India's game.

Maintaing a good strike rate is very important. I can understand top three batsman scoring at 30 strike rete for first 25 overs. But once they settled down everyone expects to push that rate to atleast 50. It helps everyone, batsman, non striker, team everyone benefits with rotation of strike. More than a boundary an over what demotivates fielding side is well placed ones and tows. What I have seen in pakistani batsman is that even after they are very well set they struggle to get two or three singles with an occasional boundary

 

[Hasan123]

Maintaing a good strike rate is very important. I can understand top three batsman scoring at 30 strike rete for first 25 overs. But once they settled down everyone expects to push that rate to atleast 50. It helps everyone, batsman, non striker, team everyone benefits with rotation of strike. More than a boundary an over what demotivates fielding side is well placed ones and tows. What I have seen in pakistani batsman is that even after they are very well set they struggle to get two or three singles with an occasional boundary

I agree. But our fans think you can only score by dead batting for 100 overs.

 

[Saj]

I agree. But our fans think you can only score by dead batting for 100 overs.

If only our current lot could even bat for 100 overs combined.

It seems a distant dream.

 

[Saj]

It makes no sense for a guy like Usman Salahuddin, who was excellent for Pakistan A against good bowling attacks in New Zealand A and England Lions, with a FC average of 47 and 22 hundreds to his name, to be rotting on the bench.

The guy is aged 28 so we must make use of his prime years now. Instead Shafiq continues to hog a place and block development of younger batsmen.

He has been consistently near the top of the 4-day domestic cricket charts for several years and is not a flash in the pan.

Deserves a proper chance in Test cricket.

 

[Hasan123]

If only our current lot could even bat for 100 overs combined.

It seems a distant dream.

Fair point. In our next innings we should just aim bat for a period of time. We need to show some fight.

 

[Markhor]

Time to recall Usman Salahuddin. He had a good A team season and we desperately need to replace Shafiq who provides no consistency or reliability whatsoever.

The guy has 22 FC centuries to his name. Whilst his record against departments isn't as strong as against regions, he deserves an extended run in the team.

 

[shah_1]

Don't care about his Strike rate

He will be better than Asad Shafiq

Saad Ali should replace Azhar Ali

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Mickey and Inzi do not want guys who bat at low SR.

The reason Salahuddin got sacked after just one game.

We will remain a joke in Test cricket because of this very non serious attitude.

 

[Saj]

Makes me laugh when people talk about players strike rate in Test cricket. You'd think we were scoring 300 plus every match and had Tendulkars and Laras in our team.

 

[Hasan123]

I did complain about his strike rate but he did only have 1 game. I don't have an issue with him getting another chance as he has done well in domestic cricket. Beggars can't be choosers. Aboslultey sick of seeing Azhar and Asad being selected for non performances.

 

[babajee]

I back him to do very well in the UAE but it will be a while now until he gets his chance.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Makes me laugh when people talk about players strike rate in Test cricket.

This.

People mocked him too much for his one innings even though he was the (2nd) highest scorer i guess and when even the commentators said he looked the best Pakistani batsmen in terms of technique.

Sadly his name is not Asad Shafiq.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Usman's last 6 scores against International A teams

18, 77 vs Eng
125, 64* vs NZ
8, 50* vs NZ

but but but he bats slow
Regards,
Tamasha cricket fans

 

[HappyWarsFan]

Really deserves a chance next series.

 

[MenInG]

From PCB report Day 1 of Round 6 of QeA20

Usman Salahuddin scored his 46th first-class half-century on his 30th birthday as Central Punjab were 232 for five from 87 overs against Sindh at the close of play.

The right-handed middle-order batsman scored 80, which included nine boundaries.