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[VID/PIC] Are Pakistan's tailenders capable of helping out in batting in the series against England?

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Today Younis Khan said that he had been spending time with the bowlers in the nets to prepare them for the task ahead and he hoped that Mohammad Abbas would be the 'leader' of the tailenders when it comes to staying at the crease and help build those 300+ totals we need to compete in this series.

But is that a realistic assumption?

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It is so important for them to bat well.

The tail of 9-10-11 MUST contribute a minimum of 25-30 runs every innings
 
Today Younis Khan said that he had been spending time with the bowlers in the nets to prepare them for the task ahead and he hoped that Mohammad Abbas would be the 'leader' of the tailenders when it comes to staying at the crease and help build those 300+ totals we need to compete in this series.

But is that a realistic assumption?

Abbas has shown a stout defence on a number of occasions. However lasting against this England pace attack is a different story.
 
Our tail is worse than Windies...we need to fight really hard as it will be all about batting.
 
I think Yasir Shah and shaheeh shah are pretty much capable with the bat , I want pakistan 8 - 11 to add at least 70 runs each innings , that should be the target.
 
England's tail is ridiculously good with the bat. Anderson is probably the weakest batsman and even he almost scored a century.

I haven't seen much of Naseem's batting capability but he may have to chip in with the bat.
 
I’m more tempted to switch our 1,2,3, 5 and 6 with 11,10,9, and 7

We may actually maximise our batting capability with the tail being sacrificed against the new ball with some decent cameos up front
 
Pakistan tailenders are not good enough hence the reason why shadab has to play to balance things up
 
I remember when Shaheen Shah was coming through the U19s, he, in an interview, claimed enough confidence in his batting to suggest he could be an all rounder! Now clearly, you can put this down to the impetuousness of youth. However, additionally, everytime you would see him get out in the PSL he would be visibly peeved with himself. That demonstrates that there is a confidence there in his own ability to bat. I think it was Chris Lynn or Ben Dunk who, in a PSL TV interview mentioned that Shaheen fancied himself with the bat. He's shown absolutely nothing of it till now, but this doesn't mean he can't eek out 10-30 runs if he applies himself. inshAllah he does well.
 
I remember when Shaheen Shah was coming through the U19s, he, in an interview, claimed enough confidence in his batting to suggest he could be an all rounder! Now clearly, you can put this down to the impetuousness of youth. However, additionally, everytime you would see him get out in the PSL he would be visibly peeved with himself. That demonstrates that there is a confidence there in his own ability to bat. I think it was Chris Lynn or Ben Dunk who, in a PSL TV interview mentioned that Shaheen fancied himself with the bat. He's shown absolutely nothing of it till now, but this doesn't mean he can't eek out 10-30 runs if he applies himself. inshAllah he does well.

Tbh aslong as he takes wickets I'd take that
 
Pakistan tailenders are not good enough hence the reason why shadab has to play to balance things up

Again if you already have Yasir Shah then there is no reason for Shadab Khan. Playing 2 leggies is pointless, I was hoping Kashif Bhatti would show some capability with the bat but he's struggled and don't expect Faheem to make runs.

There are already some backup part timers in Fawad, Shan Masood and Azhar Ali who can pitch in with the ball.
 
Abbas is pretty solid, he managed to survive for extended periods in Australia as well. He played some decent innings for Leicestershire as well including a 30 odd taking his team to 100+ when they were reeling at ~50/9

Yasir can & will most probably contribute some runs, but he's someone who won't survive long, often likes to smash it and score some quick runs.

Naseem & Shaheen have been mugs with the bat so far, maybe a couple of boundaries, but that's best case scenario.

Sohail, if he plays, can stick around for sometime and score some useful runs as well.

Kashif, again if he plays, can block a few as well as go big, someone who can survive 30-40 balls and if there's a specialist bat at other end, then his stay at crease can be pretty handy. Doubt he will get any game though.

Faheem, would be a miracle if he can survive a full over against a pacer, except Shaheen & Naseem, he's worst with the bat amongst all other tailenders.

Shadab, doesn't classify as tail-ender imo, he's an all-rounder but not good enough for Tests, can get you 30-40 useful runs with the bat but people are hyping him as Bradman, with a poster here claiming him to be second coming of Smith, which I hope is just sarcasm. Him scoring in PSL shouldn't fool anyone as Tests are a different ball game all together. Should focus more on his batting, he can be a future #6 in place of Asad, if he values Test cricket same way he does T20 leagues.

Overall I think Pakistan's tailenders are better than Windies' but still way below their opponents England.
 
Younis Khan's video comments added in OP.
 
Again if you already have Yasir Shah then there is no reason for Shadab Khan. Playing 2 leggies is pointless, I was hoping Kashif Bhatti would show some capability with the bat but he's struggled and don't expect Faheem to make runs.

There are already some backup part timers in Fawad, Shan Masood and Azhar Ali who can pitch in with the ball.

Let me clarify it they want to play 6 Bateman pluss wicket then it has to be fawad if they want to go wiz 5 bateman plus keeper I'd go wiz fahim and shadab.
 
So can Naseem Shah also bat? Seems to be putting in some nets time also

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So can Naseem Shah also bat? Seems to be putting in some nets time also

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Good to see. Naseem and Shaheen are both young so there is a lot of roam to develop their batting, atleast upto a useful level in tests if they are given time.

If we look at Starc, Cummins, Pattinson, Southee, Nortje etc. They all can contribute a lot with the bat and I think it has to do with the development during their younger days and off season days.
 
It’s a poor tail definitely but success of tail often depends on the partner at other side. McGrath was one of the most successful no 11 with Waugh or Gilchrist. Recently Abbas has shown resilience and he was let down by Azhar Ali!!!!! Normally, if 8-9-10 & jack forms the last three pairs, it won’t contribute much, but a set top order can add quite a few valuable runs with Yasir, Abbas, Shaheen & Naseem. I think Naseem is the novice of these four but the other three can hang around.

Sacrificing bowling strength to strengthen tail is the most stupid idea of the game - it won’t work under pressure and it won’t work if you are not batting first.
 
The lack of a genuine all-rounder exposes our tail even more.

Yes Yasir Shah can bat a bit, but seeing him listed at number 8 is actually a scary thought.
 
It’s a poor tail definitely but success of tail often depends on the partner at other side. McGrath was one of the most successful no 11 with Waugh or Gilchrist. Recently Abbas has shown resilience and he was let down by Azhar Ali!!!!! Normally, if 8-9-10 & jack forms the last three pairs, it won’t contribute much, but a set top order can add quite a few valuable runs with Yasir, Abbas, Shaheen & Naseem.

Interesting and a valid point. I think a problem is also that Pak dont have many batsmen who can accelerate much while batting with tail. Yes Babar can definitely up the anti if he remains there and maybe Rizwan to an extent as well with his unorthodox scoring areas but not much can be expected from Asad and Azhar as they have shown time and time again that they dont know how to bat with the tail and change their game.

If you have someone like Gilchrist at no 7 and Symonds at no 6 or even the main batsmen of Aus which had a lot of scoring areas then tailenders who could just play out some deliveries made a huge difference but when you dont have many players to push the scoring rate it becomes difficult.

Tailenders can only survive certain number of balls and if the batsman on the other hand isnt gonna capitalize on the opportunity to get some quick runs then tailenders ability to play balls becomes less fruitful and that is what problem of Pak has been. Sarfaraz in his purple patch of couple of years was pretty good at home with this but never really had the technique to successfully do that in overseas conditions. So the only hope for Pak to get maximum runs when 6 down or onward is either Babar on the crease or maybe Rizwan as well if it doesnt happen too early in the innings.
 
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Our lack of batting ability in our tailenders is worrying. With Riaz and Amir's departures announced, the should have been more work done on our bowlers batting.
 
Expectation is almost nil so tail can only exceed it in this series.

TBF though probably won't matter much. Only way Pak is winning is if the young guns land absolute knockout punches (Babar scoring 150-175, Shaheen/Naseem taking 3-4 wkts in a sharp burst) to make up for the non contributing passengers in XI
 
Hopefully, the bowlers have worked on their batting as I don't see huge scores coming from the higher order.
 
In swinging seaming conditions, expecting too much from the tail is unrealistic
 
Why not ask our top order to earn their keep instead of trying to sneak in runs from the tail?
 
Tail is very important. Aus were 120 for 8 and I think they got to 284 and won the match in the recent ashes. But the question is do pakistan have a better who can shepherd the tail. Maybe Babar if he plays to his full potential
 
Why not ask our top order to earn their keep instead of trying to sneak in runs from the tail?

Why not both? Shaheen and Naseem will be in this team for a long time. Will be very valuable to Pakistan if both can hold their own for 20 runs each at the end of every Test innings for the next 15 years.
 
Why not ask our top order to earn their keep instead of trying to sneak in runs from the tail?
I do agree, but too often Pakistanis fail to understand that there is a difference between the job description for a Number 8, a Number 9 and a Number 11.

I accept that you pick your best two bowlers. But after that the remaining bowlers need to be able to bat to varying degrees.
 
I do agree, but too often Pakistanis fail to understand that there is a difference between the job description for a Number 8, a Number 9 and a Number 11.

I accept that you pick your best two bowlers. But after that the remaining bowlers need to be able to bat to varying degrees.

Agree that when the time comes to bat they should put on some runs but I'd rather NS get a 5fer and a 5 off 100 balls helping out Asda Shafiq as he gets his 100 (140)
 
Seems some serious work in progress on our tailenders!

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Shadab doing well here - rest will need to put in the hard yards too.
 
Well.... works still needs to be done. Our tail is not the finish article on tailender batting. Shaheen and Naseem in particular need to work on it. There young enough to learn a lot whereas Abbas and Yasir entering the ends of there career.
 
Yasir looked technically OK i thought. Had a solid enough defence where i think he'd be capable of hanging around with a better batsman.
 
Well.... works still needs to be done. Our tail is not the finish article on tailender batting. Shaheen and Naseem in particular need to work on it. There young enough to learn a lot whereas Abbas and Yasir entering the ends of there career.

Shaheen looks better than naseem
 
Combined runs of No.'s 9, 10, 11 in the first innings of this Test:

Pakistan: 9 runs
England: 52 runs

Is this becoming a bigger problem for Pakistan?
 
Forget staying on the wicket - how about be able to duck under bouncers - maybe just that training?
 
9, 10, 11 is a problem for pakistan

In a brittle line up you need your tail to wag and pakistans is pretty awful
 
Need to class Azhar as part of the tail on recent form.
 
Yasir Shah giving a good account of himself.
 
Combined runs of No.'s 9, 10, 11 in the first innings of this Test:

Pakistan: 9 runs
England: 52 runs

Is this becoming a bigger problem for Pakistan?

Not much we can do about it other than hoping these 3 improve.
Gotta play our best bowling attack.
 
Good effort from the tailenders. But a shame that some of our top order players batted like tailenders too.
 
Regardless what happens today, they deserve a shellacking for the batting performance yesterday. Utterly inept.
 
With Yasir Shah at No 8, though, England know Pakistan have a long tail?

Michael Holding on Sky Cricket explains:

"Definitely. We saw Yasir getting some runs in the last Test match but it was a matter of him swinging the bat. You don’t expect him to have a fantastic defence and that is what you need on this pitch."
 
Pakistan’s 3 Number 11s

Abbas, Shaheen and Naseem.

I really don’t get how in the modern day especially the younger two haven’t worked on some aspect of their batting game to be serviceable.
 
Naseem's batting is especially embarrassing. Does a split legged dance just for a forward defensive.
 
ITS SO annoying that we have 3 no. 11's!!!!! Absolutely no hope of the tail.wagging. we need tail enders who can hold a bat... Likes of Zafar and Ehsan Adil would greatly improve this tail.
 
The NCA and the so called " high performance coaches " from the prehistoric era have been a bit of a joke , haven't they . No excuse whatsoever.
 
It will remain a serious issue for Pakistan considering Naseem, Shaheen and Abbas will be our main pacers in the upcoming tests.

Maybe the head coach/selector needs to take a hard stance on this and prefer playing bowlers who can hold a bat? That way these guys will feel motivated to spend some time in the nets holding a bat as well.

Misbah can't do much about the fact that Amir, Wahab retired and Hasan is always injured, but needs to address this in the future otherwise many collapses on the card.
 
Yasir Shah needs a good lashing in that dressing. God, im so ******.Who does he think he is ? The second coming of Sir Vivian ?. All that was needed was to stay on the wicket and provide Rizwan company. Played and missed a few extravagant drives and eventually fell playing another.
Seriously, did he feel an ounce of responsibility knowing he has three No.11s to follow him
 
Naseem's batting is especially embarrassing. Does a split legged dance just for a forward defensive.

Well if you lot didn't back Misbah so much we would have proper batsmen and not expecting the freaking number 11 to have Dravid-esque technique.
 
Well if you lot didn't back Misbah so much we would have proper batsmen and not expecting the freaking number 11 to have Dravid-esque technique.

I never wanted Misbah as coach.
 
Abbas, Shaheen and Naseem.

I really don’t get how in the modern day especially the younger two haven’t worked on some aspect of their batting game to be serviceable.

There's only so much you can fit into 20 years when you've hardly played first class cricket. When were Naseem and Shaheen supposed to hone their batting? They've jumped up about 5 weight classes to be now facing Anderson and Broad in England. I imagine the last time either got a decent bat was in U19 cricket, bit of a difference there.
 
Yasir Shah needs a good lashing in that dressing. God, im so ******.Who does he think he is ? The second coming of Sir Vivian ?. All that was needed was to stay on the wicket and provide Rizwan company. Played and missed a few extravagant drives and eventually fell playing another.
Seriously, did he feel an ounce of responsibility knowing he has three No.11s to follow him

Hes a bowler not a batter blame the top order not the lower order !
 
Without Rizwan and the tail-enders sticking around Pakistan would have been out of this match by now. Now they have a fighting chance. Abbas in particular really punched above his weight to block out 20 odd deliveries in very tough conditions.
 
You can’t blame the tail too much. Their job isn’t to score runs, that’s the job of the top order. When Azhar, Asad & fawad are getting out cheaply you need to hold them accountable instead of your bowlers.
 
However, Abbas has some potential. I’ve seen him play around 20-35 balls in a couple matches. Shaheen also has some potential but he’s more of a hit or miss batsman.
 
To be fair they have all exceeded expectations given their skill levels.
Abbas has hung around.and gotten in line pretty much every inns.
Afridi and Naseem have tried their best with and not thrown their wickets away.
Yasir has been kamikaze but that is the style that works best for him
 
The tail hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. Infact, Abbas looked more comfortable than Azhar Ali & Asad Shafiq.
 
How good a tail is often doesn’t depend on their batting skills, rather on how good their partner (s) are.
 
How good a tail is often doesn’t depend on their batting skills, rather on how good their partner (s) are.

Until the partner gets out, after which they're no longer required to just survive but to also score runs. Which of Abbas, Shaheen and Naseem look capable of even hitting double figures in 30% of their innings?
 
Until the partner gets out, after which they're no longer required to just survive but to also score runs. Which of Abbas, Shaheen and Naseem look capable of even hitting double figures in 30% of their innings?

There is a way to develop tail. They need basically two things - solid defence when playing with a top order and using long handle almost hopelessly when alone. And yes, often they’ll fail in first task, most times in second one.

Now, you can’t train them to a good batsman,‘can’t over burden them to become posedu all rounder and sacrifice bowling, can’t give longer time in National team’s net session because they need to bowl to batsmen. They just are not skilled enough to do the job - it’ll be foolish to think that Machrath or Murali didn’t have the so called “talent”, but they just wasn’t equipped to use that for batting. Same can be said for batsmen as well.

But, what you can do is to develop them marginally better batsman than what they are by teaching few tricks and inserting some common sense. I mean, you don’t need to a genius not to play that shot what Yasir played when Rizwan was well set at other end. The best way to do that, ad the Aussies will tell you - use the domestic FC cricket. Make their respective FC teams to put Shaheen, Naseem (& few others) at 8 or even at 7; may be Yasir & Faheem at 7 or even 6; Dhafab at 5 or 4.... regardless of the batting potentials of other bowlers and force them to bat n the middle for longer. Second thing is, associate a mentor with the bowler from his team mates - Waugh Sr was responsible for McGrath, Waugh Jr. for Warne .... these were their FC mate as well - almost for whole year a running mentor who’ll help them to be more effective tailender.

Of the four, Yasir had the best potential and he is a Test specialist, played 5-7 games per year, should have worked his way into a 20 average batsman and he had the talent, but not hunger. Of the three you mentioned,’best organised batsman is Abbas, but he has max 2-3 years shelf life. Naseem is the poster boy and a perfect reflection of modern PAK team - all shine but not that sharp. He MUST improve his batting to bat at nine because like Yasir, he should be used as Test specialist only. Shaheen is more organised than Naseem & can use the long handle, but he is already over burdened with cricket in three formats, at two meterish height, it’s not safe either for him to train too much for batting - he should be allowed to gradually go down as no 11. Still can use long handle and whatever comes is bonus, he should focus to become a pacer somewhere near Michel Starc with ball and Mcgrath with bat - that’ll be like plutonium for PCT.
 
Pak tailenders 9,10,11 - all seem to have similar abilities!
 
Mohammad Abbas- can't bat
Mohammad Abbas - can't even run!

I mean how can we improve these people? hypnosis?
 
With Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf and Mohammad Husnain are now expected to be our frontline bowlers regardless of the formats. Unfortunately there are almost non-exist with the bat. There needs to be some serious work done with them.
 
NZ's 'tailenders' scored 124 runs in first innings of the second Test.

Pakistan's tailenders scored only 8 runs in first innings.
 
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