I see his name being thrown around to replace YK/Misbah or even Asad Shafiq.
With yk/Misbah gone, you lose 2 out of 3players who can score relatively fast and take on the bowlers in Tests.
We have only Sarfraz left.
Do you have any idea of how slow and timid Usman Salahuddin is?
If you're tired of Shafiq s timidness and the inability to dominate batting, you're going to see a worse version of him in
We already have gritty batsmen in Azhar and Sami. And the timidness in Shafiq.
Don't have too high hopes from him. This assuming he hasn't changed after his initial chances. If he has changed, we're going to find out, but it's very unlikely.
He's been hyped to the moon before even getting a game.
See? Works both way.
For the record, didn't write him off. I'm trying to stop the hype train and bring in a reality check. People are expecting another Kohli in him .
Asking people not to have too high expectations. Unless he has transformed his game by 180 degrees.
I don’t agree. Sorry.
Usman might not flourish straightaway. But many Pakistani greats did not either. He may fail in few Tests but it won't prove a point.
At his best He will have a Test Strike Rate like Younis and I will take that. Yes I have seen him bat. He is no Yousuf, Saeed, Inzamam or Akmal etc when it comes to short making or fluency but what was Azhar Ali like in 2010 ?
If it is based upon personal likes & Aesthetics than I would go with Akmal, Saud/Amin but I won't. Why ?
Because this is Test Cricket and I will give weightage to Merit, Hardwork, Grit, Attitude, Experience and current performances. What does that tell me ? That tells me 2 names Fawad & Usman because Haris hasn't played FC Cricket for last 3 years. In terms of fluency, shot making or aesthetics he wasn't Saeed, Inzi or Yousuf either but for me He was better than Fawad, Usman, Akmal, Amin etc because He flourished in tougher domestic conditions and better bowling line ups more than these 4 and the 2nd best than was Ayub Dogar 1 Test wonder.
Usman Salahuddin should be given 5-6 Test matches. If He averages 35 plus he should be persisted with. If not than look for better options. But not without giving him a much deserved oppurtunity.
For the other spot Fawad deserves it the most but if Haris passes fitness test I will have him on Bench.
Amin & Saud need to crash Selectors doors with one or two 900 plus runs seasons. Than if there is a Spot they can get into the squad and team.
In 2015-2016 Usman & Babar Azam played for SBP if I am not wrong. Usman single handedly carried SBP to semifinal with 3-4 match winning knocks where he remained not out mostly. You can did some of [MENTION=9]Saj[/MENTION] posts of those times. Babar than announced himself in the final with first FC hundred which was a double Ton. A player carrying his team singlehandedly to the Semi and Final of premier domestic FC tournament tells you something about him even if he is limited.
In last 3 years of FC I did not see such consistent match winning performances from a single player of a team. Not even from Kamran who averages 63 in last 3 Fc seasons. Previously I have seen such performances from Misbah, Fawad & Ayub Dogar only.
I fully endorse [MENTION=133760]Abdullah719[/MENTION]. No Pper not even one has hyped Usman to Moon as you have alleged. No One has ever said that He is next Kohli. Never.
Usman deserves 2 Test Series. Yes 2 Test series. Than we will do post martum of his performances to see whether he needs to be persisted or someone else doing better in FC needs to be preferred over him.
). If you replaced 'Usman' wuth 'Babar' then your thread would make sense but atm there is no traction.
