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[VIDEO] "8 matches left, I have full faith in my team's ability to perform better" : Sarfaraz Ahmed

Abdullah719

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[VIDEO] "8 matches left, I have full faith in my team's ability to perform better" : Sarfaraz Ahmed

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"Toss is very crucial here because of the 10.30 starts, the team that wins the toss wants to bowl first. First 10 overs, we lost too many wickets and we couldn't come back into the game"

"We expected them to come at us hard so we weren't surprised, but we lost too many wickets early on and the shot selection wasn't good"

"Good to see Mohammad Amir back in form for the latter matches"

"We have to back ourselves against England, we can't think about past results. We have the type of players who can win matches for us so insha'Allah we'll bounce back"

"We knew they have fast-bowlers but if we survived the first 10 overs then the situation could have been better"

"We have 8 matches left and I have full faith in my team's ability to perform better and we'll try to forget this match and come back strongly in the next one"

"West Indies isn't a weak team, they have good players and fast-bowlers who have been bowling well, they have been playing well in recent months"

"I think today was our bad day and we didn't play any good cricket throughout"

"Conditions are a little overcast early on if the sun doesn't come out so the ball moves around. The pitch in Nottingham normally sees the ball come onto the bat nicely but it was getting stuck a bit today"

"We do have a plan, Fakhar has a style of playing and Imam has a different role. I thought our first 2 wickets were very soft, Imam was caught down the legside and Fakhar was hit on the helmet, if these things didn't happen our position would have been better"

"Regarding the short ball, we knew that they will bowl short and we prepared for it but it was a bad day for us as we lost 3 wickets in the first 10 overs"

"This tournament has strong teams so you have to play good cricket. If you bat first then you need to avoid losing wickets early on"

"The pressure built up after the first wicket but Russell did bowl a very good spell which was the turning point as he got two big wickets"

"The first half hour is tricky but this pitch is different from the usual Nottingham as it was a little soft and we didn't bat well"

"We have to play positive cricket here"
 
Problem with all this is that the ball didn’t swing or seam around even a fraction...
 
Sarfraz is back with his token statements like XYZ player did well, have full faith in my team, we have to play positive cricket, today was our bad day, etc.
 
Problem with all this is that the ball didn’t swing or seam around even a fraction...

Not a problem for Sarfraz he can just blabber his way past it with the usual platitudes and nonsense. I fee sorry for the guy, he doesn't even look like he believes it himself these days.
 
Bookies (Betfair) have Afghanistan to beat Australia at 3 to 1, and Pakistan to beat England on Monday at 3.5 to 1!

Pakistan were 20 to 1 to win the WC, after today's performance, Pakistan are 44 to 1!

All it took was 120 mins!

LOL!
 
Sorry, I don't see us winning a match in this World Cup. Very disappointed and utterly dejected.
 
Sarfraz please stop playing cricket.

You have disappointed the nation.
 
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Mickey earlier on used to come out and face the music after a loss but now he doesn’t even do that. Seems like he knows his days are numbered.
 
I said throughout many threads that on these flat pitches you need to bowl fast bouncers and yorkers. We got wahab back to do this - good.
Unfortunately, everyone has seen we cant play bouncers and will keep bowling these at us and we will keep collasping. I be surprised if we even win 2 games in this wc.
 
The problem is in the manner they lost the match , it also hurts run rate so bad that it’s effectively like losing two matches
 
Pakistan suffered a seven-wicket defeat to the West Indies in their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup opener in Nottingham.

Beaten by seven-wickets it was their second-lowest World Cup score in history as they were rattled out for just 105 by a hostile West Indian bowling attack at Trent Bridge.

It was their 11th consecutive ODI defeat but maybe they can take some inspiration from history.

When they last lifted the World Cup in 1992 they lost by ten wickets to the West Indies in their tournament opener, so it could be worse.

And they were bowled out for just 74 by England just a few days later.

By the end of the tournament, Imran Khan’s side were world champions, famously turning the tables on this year’s hosts in the final at the MCG.

The point is, they remain as predictably unpredictable as ever.

“We wanted to bowl first and the start is very crucial for our team,” said Sarfaraz.

“We lost too many wickets early on and that’s why we didn’t come back into the game.

“We expected a hard game and we knew what was coming to us. It was not a good result for us but we have what it takes to play and win.”

All the pre-match talk was about whether the Windies’ powerhouse batsmen could threaten the 500-run mark on a ground made for big scores.

Sarfaraz countered he believed it would be a game for the bowlers, though it was the men in maroon who rolled back the years with a performance reminiscent of the 1970s, when their pace attack inspired them to two World Cup victories.

But it won’t get any easier for the Pakistan captain, with world No.1 side England – pumped up from their opening win over South Africa – their next opponents on the same ground next Monday.

“I was happier with how we bowled and the effort we showed, especially as we were defending such a low score,” added Sarfaraz.

“It was good to see Mohammed Amir back in the form we know he is capable of and it will be good for us in the next matches as well.

“We have got to back ourselves and not think too much about what happened in this match.

“This game is gone but we have a strong players who will help us bounce back and win the next match.

“We know we can beat England, we came close twice in the recent series and we just didn’t finish well.”
 
Bookies (Betfair) have Afghanistan to beat Australia at 3 to 1, and Pakistan to beat England on Monday at 3.5 to 1!

Pakistan were 20 to 1 to win the WC, after today's performance, Pakistan are 44 to 1!

All it took was 120 mins!

LOL!

In % terms for those who don't know:

Afghanistan to beat Australia: 25% chance

Pakistan to beat England: 22% chance

Pakistan's odds of winning the WC

20/1 - Approx. 5% chance of winning the WC

44/1 - Approx. 2% chance of winning the WC

It's remarkable to see Afghanistan have a better chance of beating Australia, than Pakistan beating England. Just wow!
 
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The reality is something is not right at camp. The body language said it all.

Could it be the news that PCB will not be renewing the contracts of Micky/Haq?
 
In % terms for those who don't know:

Afghanistan to beat Australia: 25% chance

Pakistan to beat England: 22% chance

Pakistan's odds of winning the WC

20/1 - Approx. 5% chance of winning the WC

44/1 - Approx. 2% chance of winning the WC

It's remarkable to see Afghanistan have a better chance of beating Australia, than Pakistan beating England. Just wow!

Let's not go overboard.
He's lying
Afg are 10/1 to beat Aus. Less than 10 percent.
Pak are 3/1 to beat Eng.
 
Let's not go overboard.
He's lying
Afg are 10/1 to beat Aus. Less than 10 percent.
Pak are 3/1 to beat Eng.

He had me fooled for a second following the shambles we've seen today from the side :))
 
We have 8 matches left. Play like you should. Freely, brashly and fearlessly. We are not known for doing well when we play careful cricket. You have to let the batsmen play their shots and not duck and weave and them miscue when the pressure gets too much!

We have 8 matches left indeed. That’s a lot to burn this mother down!
 
Good luck facing Archer, Woakes and Wood if they play all three. Going to be some short balls pepper galore on Monday.
 
He had me fooled for a second following the shambles we've seen today from the side :))
Lol.
But we're nearly 40/1 to win the WC.
In 2015, we were still 25/1 to win the WC even after getting thrashed by WI and Ind.
 
Worst ever captain in our history. There's no denying that this guy is abysmal in all fronts of the game.
 
Problem with all this is that the ball didn’t swing or seam around even a fraction...

actually it was moving but not by a million miles. i thought Fakhar and babar were in control then it just went to hell. I think it was a big mistake to have a very loose player like Haris in this lineup. two players getting out down the legside is beyond soft. the majority of wickets were very soft dismissals. They needed to get to over 20 with 1 or at most 2 down..it would have gotten easier as the innings would have progressed. Also disgraceful that wahab and amir couldnt hang in there another 50-70 odd runs might have made it an interesting match..
 
Lol at pathetic captain saffy.... and then he will say we have 7 matches left, then 6, and then...
We can countdown to our last game with him.
 
Regardless whatever the ball was apparently doing we were playing...sorry surrendering and lying down at a batting paradise 400 wicket at a place in Nottingham called Trent Bridge.
 
Amir has no new ball partner. From time and again it is proven that Hasan Ali or Wahab Riaz are not new ball bowlers.

This is why I insisted upon having Abbas in the team. Always in a 11 there should be two new ball bowlers and one type of plunkett can have if they really want to
 
This pitch was not a 350 or 400 pitch.

It was a 270 to 300 pitch and Pakistan played too many shots to try to get 300 plus.

West Indies would have lost had Pakistan gone above 250.
 
Disappointed with the lower order today. Top order was slightly unlucky going by mode of dismissal, but hafeez shadab and Imad should have gne into defense mode to post 250
Babar was actually playing it right, but was probably worried by strike rate brigade and slashed at one
 
only way to bounce back from this is to defeat the biggest, baddest team in the game i.e England. If they can do that then things might turn for the better otherwise it will be downhill from there.
 
This pitch was not a 350 or 400 pitch.


It was a 270 to 300 pitch and Pakistan played too many shots to try to get 300 plus.

West Indies would have lost had Pakistan gone above 250.

Sure but certainly wasn’t a 108 all out pitch
 
Today’s match provided every other team the blueprint for beating Pakistan. They don’t even have to do any homework on Pak. I knew Pak players were bad against short ball but didnt know they were this bad. Fakhar seems to get hit in his face every match while automatic selection can’t pull, same goes for all others. Highly unlikely Pakistan will make a comebavk from this shitshow.
 
By the end of this tournament , this man will be in a position to lose his place in this side
 
This guy seriously needs to shut his gob :jk. There is no way Pak is supposed to bounce back. Expect a mutiny by tomorrow and sarfaraz to be sacked. No way you can stay calm after such a disaster. Its all good to say that I am proud of my boys, toss is important, played badshots blah blah blah. This guy keeps repeating the same sentences in each and every press conference. Might as well be frank and true so that we Pakistan fans know that nothing is do be expected of these bunch of losers.

Will always support Pakistan team but these guys are bunch of selfish, showoff, and at best mediocre level club players. A club level captain who at best will relive his CT days till he's 70. I am sure sarfaraz will go back and watch the ct final highlights to cheer himself and google up a few videos of the under 19 worldcup.

This loser has probably watched all fan made videos on youtube about ct glory and thats what he lives for What do you expect!!
 
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Bhai, as a captain you need to perform simple as that

No matter what other players do, a captain is required to show a performance. If you cant do that then the captains arm band needs to be snatched from him.

Even if the team performs bad and he performs well, then there would be no criticism on him. Problem is, this guy cant score runs.
 
Today’s match provided every other team the blueprint for beating Pakistan. They don’t even have to do any homework on Pak. I knew Pak players were bad against short ball but didnt know they were this bad. Fakhar seems to get hit in his face every match while automatic selection can’t pull, same goes for all others. Highly unlikely Pakistan will make a comebavk from this shitshow.

exactly.

This is the main problem, every team will be coming in to bowl short.

What really makes me angry is that these guys show up 1 month earlier play matches do practise and all. And yet, they forgot about practicing short balls.

THey took shaheen and hasnain with them for gods sake.
 
exactly.

This is the main problem, every team will be coming in to bowl short.

What really makes me angry is that these guys show up 1 month earlier play matches do practise and all. And yet, they forgot about practicing short balls.

THey took shaheen and hasnain with them for gods sake.

Not going to be a pretty sight when the team is continually peppered with short balls.
 
Mickey earlier on used to come out and face the music after a loss but now he doesn’t even do that. Seems like he knows his days are numbered.

i tell you that is not very professional, he is contracted and should make an effort.
 
This was a Must Win Match for Pakistan. Rest of the matches, I presume, won't be any easier with that massive negative NRR.
 
I think it was a big mistake to have a very loose player like Haris in this lineup.

Haris is the only one in this lineup who has shown the ability to be able to deal with good bowling in trying conditions. He's done it a few times when we lost early wickets. The thought process behind his inclusion was perfect because he gives the team solidity, but the execution was wrong. All the batsmen failed to deal adequately with the short-bowling and were also guilty of playing low percentage shots.

The only alternatives to Haris in the squad are Hafeez, Malik or Asif. All three are far inferior players of pace bowling. Hafeez and Malik are on their last legs and can not bat at #4. If they come in at 20/2, they'll fail 90% of the time. Asif is not an option above #6.
 
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Fakhar
Imaam
Babar
Haris
Malik
Asif
Sarfaraz
Shadab
Hassan
Amir
Wahab

Malik and Haris need to bowl 10 overs between them, this is what we have. Haris i dont like but we dont have anyone else. Imaad needs a rest he has been peppered with bouncers for a while now, even in the eng tour.
 
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This was a Must Win Match for Pakistan. Rest of the matches, I presume, won't be any easier with that massive negative NRR.

NRR run rate only comes into picture when we have 5 wins and are competing with other teams for that 4th position. Before getting minimum 5 wins NRR is pointless.
 
Fakhar
Imaam
Babar
Haris
Malik
Asif
Sarfaraz
Shadab
Hassan
Amir
Wahab

Malik and Haris need to bowl 10 overs between them, this is what we have. Haris i dont like but we dont have anyone else. Imaad needs a rest he has been peppered with bouncers for a while now, even in the eng tour.

against the asian sides i would play Hafeez instead of Haris.
 
Haris is the only one in this lineup who has shown the ability to be able to deal with good bowling in trying conditions. He's done it a few times when we lost early wickets. The thought process behind his inclusion was perfect because he gives the team solidity, but the execution was wrong. All the batsmen failed to deal adequately with the short-bowling and were also guilty of playing low percentage shots.

The only alternatives to Haris in the squad are Hafeez, Malik or Asif. All three are far inferior players of pace bowling. Hafeez and Malik are on their last legs and can not bat at #4. If they come in at 20/2, they'll fail 90% of the time. Asif is not an option above #6.
Bro what changes would u make for the next match?
 
Problem with all this is that the ball didn’t swing or seam around even a fraction...

Yes, there was no swing, it was wrong shots caused their fall. Ramiz on his pitch report said it was a bat first, flat wicket. England also started their inning at 10-30 AM yesterday.
 
Haris is the only one in this lineup who has shown the ability to be able to deal with good bowling in trying conditions. He's done it a few times when we lost early wickets. The thought process behind his inclusion was perfect because he gives the team solidity, but the execution was wrong. All the batsmen failed to deal adequately with the short-bowling and were also guilty of playing low percentage shots.

The only alternatives to Haris in the squad are Hafeez, Malik or Asif. All three are far inferior players of pace bowling. Hafeez and Malik are on their last legs and can not bat at #4. If they come in at 20/2, they'll fail 90% of the time. Asif is not an option above #6.

Hope he is not related to you, Harris was the worst of the main batsmen.
 
NRR run rate only comes into picture when we have 5 wins and are competing with other teams for that 4th position. Before getting minimum 5 wins NRR is pointless.

What I ment to say is that -5NRR will be in back of the player's mind. This may lead to other heavy losses.
 
This wasn't suppose to happen, on paper we batted deep, and not a single batsman could get a big score. The lower order couldn't contribute either, how can every one screw up, literally every batsman.
 
You got me :genius

If you'd like to respond to any of the points specifically, please do so.
Someone like Asif Ali could have come in and stopped this poking around business that was prevalent in our batsmen today. All it needed was one counter-attack, and the Windies would have reverted to bowling the rubbish they were bowling at the beginning of the innings. The way Haris and Babar got bullied by Russell in that 16-18 ball spell, completely destroyed the mindset of the batsmen coming in next.

Haris, Babar, Imam and Hafeez cannot play in the same batting line-up. They are pretty much the same, with Hafeez being a bit more dynamic.
 
Sarfraz sounds like a broken record, pakistan should have dumped him and a few others a while ago, but as per usual pcb feels need to carry passengers into a world cup and only tend to dump them after.
 
Bro what changes would u make for the next match?

Depends on the pitch. If it's the same one, no batting changes, but I think Hasnain should play. So far both matches have shown that quick, short bowling can trouble the batsmen, but of course it needs to be accurate so there's no guarantee of success.

If the pitch is the usual Trent Bridge style, completely flat rather than the one we saw today, should get Asif in. Though not sure who should sit out.

No easy solutions :jk
 
Someone like Asif Ali could have come in and stopped this poking around business that was prevalent in our batsmen today. All it needed was one counter-attack, and the Windies would have reverted to bowling the rubbish they were bowling at the beginning of the innings. The way Haris and Babar got bullied by Russell in that 16-18 ball spell, completely destroyed the mindset of the batsmen coming in next.

Haris, Babar, Imam and Hafeez cannot play in the same batting line-up. They are pretty much the same, with Hafeez being a bit more dynamic.

If Asif had to face that spell, he'd have gotten out within an over. The way to counter good bowling is through good, sensible batting alongside a heavy dose of patience. Not slogging.

Overall, the batting lineup should be a little more dynamic but we need to make do with what we have. I don't think Asif would've made a difference on this pitch.
 
If Asif had to face that spell, he'd have gotten out within an over. The way to counter good bowling is through good, sensible batting alongside a heavy dose of patience. Not slogging.

Overall, the batting lineup should be a little more dynamic but we need to make do with what we have. I don't think Asif would've made a difference on this pitch.
He might have got out on the first ball. Or launched a counter-attack on Russell and Thomas for a cameo of sorts. Our batsmen just kept poking and trying to survive, which played right into the hands of the Windies bowlers.
 
If Asif had to face that spell, he'd have gotten out within an over. The way to counter good bowling is through good, sensible batting alongside a heavy dose of patience. Not slogging.

Overall, the batting lineup should be a little more dynamic but we need to make do with what we have. I don't think Asif would've made a difference on this pitch.

Unless Asif was not in the right mental space for this game, he should have played. No one player makes a difference but in my opinion Pakistan were just nervous.
And three guys looked the worst: Haris, Imad, and Hafeez.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sarfaraz Ahmed at today's press conference <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CWC19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CWC19</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PAKvWI?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PAKvWI</a> <a href="https://t.co/ibwyWgIU5K">pic.twitter.com/ibwyWgIU5K</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1134540951576338433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 31, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sarfaraz Ahmed at today's press conference <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CWC19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CWC19</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PAKvWI?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PAKvWI</a> <a href="https://t.co/ibwyWgIU5K">pic.twitter.com/ibwyWgIU5K</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1134540951576338433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 31, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

You were around the game today, so I wanted to get your perspective. To me they all looked nervous when they batted. not because of the short-ball, but just nervous in general.
 
Pk didn’t get enough runs
We cant blame selection commitee because Asif Ali wouldn’t have done any better
 
If you take Sarfaraz at his word then its even more damning. They knew they were going to get short pitch bowling (probably mushy told inzi) but they couldnt cope with it because they dont have the fight. I watched the entire south african test tour and it was clear that AFTER losing the series they were happy to take on the short ball (barring Azhar).
This is a team that has great stats (batting) but not enough match winners.
 
Agreed, we need heavy batting line up for ENG on Monday if we're to win or come close to winning this match. We made a mistake by keeping Faheem and Shinwari out of the WC squad. This will be our Achilles heel.
 
If Asif had to face that spell, he'd have gotten out within an over. The way to counter good bowling is through good, sensible batting alongside a heavy dose of patience. Not slogging.

Overall, the batting lineup should be a little more dynamic but we need to make do with what we have. I don't think Asif would've made a difference on this pitch.

However if you're struggling fend off/duck the short stuff, then you have to attack.

Pakistan just let WI dictate terms out there today.
 
I am not defending him but how is he worse than Misbah when we were 4 wickets down for 1 run against West indies in 2015 world cup

We have become regularly poor against West Indies in an ICC tournament.

2005 champions Trophy semi final, Pak batting no show!
2007 wc opening match loss
2013 CT batting no show
2014 T20 wc huge defeat
2015 worst wc defeat
2019 worst ODI defeat for Pakistan, forget wc defeat

Sarfaraz needs to zip his mouth and not give false promises
20
 
However if you're struggling fend off/duck the short stuff, then you have to attack.

Pakistan just let WI dictate terms out there today.

I know its difficult to to say anything here without being seen as a partisan fan, but what i saw today was:
Imam and Fakhar were unfortunate dismissals.
Haris, Imad, and Hafeez were genuinely rattled by the pace and bounce
Babar and Sarfaraz - threw it away, and he should get more blame than the others because he is supposedly our best batsman.
 
I think one of the problems is the expectation of the players that things will just happen. As if the CT performance would just happen again without any hard work. You can't bat like that, it cannot be justified for everyone to fail that badly.
 
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"Toss is very crucial here because of the 10.30 starts, the team that wins the toss wants to bowl first. First 10 overs, we lost too many wickets and we couldn't come back into the game"

"We expected them to come at us hard so we weren't surprised, but we lost too many wickets early on and the shot selection wasn't good"

"Good to see Mohammad Amir back in form for the latter matches"

"We have to back ourselves against England, we can't think about past results. We have the type of players who can win matches for us so insha'Allah we'll bounce back"

"We knew they have fast-bowlers but if we survived the first 10 overs then the situation could have been better"

"We have 8 matches left and I have full faith in my team's ability to perform better and we'll try to forget this match and come back strongly in the next one"

"West Indies isn't a weak team, they have good players and fast-bowlers who have been bowling well, they have been playing well in recent months"

"I think today was our bad day and we didn't play any good cricket throughout"

"Conditions are a little overcast early on if the sun doesn't come out so the ball moves around. The pitch in Nottingham normally sees the ball come onto the bat nicely but it was getting stuck a bit today"

"We do have a plan, Fakhar has a style of playing and Imam has a different role. I thought our first 2 wickets were very soft, Imam was caught down the legside and Fakhar was hit on the helmet, if these things didn't happen our position would have been better"

"Regarding the short ball, we knew that they will bowl short and we prepared for it but it was a bad day for us as we lost 3 wickets in the first 10 overs"

"This tournament has strong teams so you have to play good cricket. If you bat first then you need to avoid losing wickets early on"

"The pressure built up after the first wicket but Russell did bowl a very good spell which was the turning point as he got two big wickets"

"The first half hour is tricky but this pitch is different from the usual Nottingham as it was a little soft and we didn't bat well"

"We have to play positive cricket here"

Pakistan was getting all obsessed with power hitting. But Not all pitches are going to be batting paradises. This is England after all and there is always something for the bowlers if not pitch than overcast conditions. Pakistan Obviously forgot all about grinding and staying in the middle. Today a 250 would have been good total.
Now this huge margin of defeat is going to severely hamper Pakistan's chances. Even if we do end up winning some matches
 
This pitch was not a 350 or 400 pitch.

It was a 270 to 300 pitch and Pakistan played too many shots to try to get 300 plus.

West Indies would have lost had Pakistan gone above 250.

Just because he scored few 340 + innings in flat pitches doesn’t mean we can score 250 all the times. Our team will not score 150 even we play again against WI. This is actual Pakistan team strength.
 
I know its difficult to to say anything here without being seen as a partisan fan, but what i saw today was:
Imam and Fakhar were unfortunate dismissals.
Haris, Imad, and Hafeez were genuinely rattled by the pace and bounce
Babar and Sarfaraz - threw it away, and he should get more blame than the others because he is supposedly our best batsman.

Imam and Fakhar were a bit unlucky, but there were also beaten for pace on a wicket that was quicker than expected.

But your bang on the money with the other five players.
 
Pakistan suffered a seven-wicket defeat to the West Indies in their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup opener in Nottingham.

Beaten by seven-wickets it was their second-lowest World Cup score in history as they were rattled out for just 105 by a hostile West Indian bowling attack at Trent Bridge.

It was their 11th consecutive ODI defeat but maybe they can take some inspiration from history.

When they last lifted the World Cup in 1992 they lost by ten wickets to the West Indies in their tournament opener, so it could be worse.

And they were bowled out for just 74 by England just a few days later.

By the end of the tournament, Imran Khan’s side were world champions, famously turning the tables on this year’s hosts in the final at the MCG.

The point is, they remain as predictably unpredictable as ever.

“We wanted to bowl first and the start is very crucial for our team,” said Sarfaraz.

“We lost too many wickets early on and that’s why we didn’t come back into the game.

“We expected a hard game and we knew what was coming to us. It was not a good result for us but we have what it takes to play and win.”

All the pre-match talk was about whether the Windies’ powerhouse batsmen could threaten the 500-run mark on a ground made for big scores.

Sarfaraz countered he believed it would be a game for the bowlers, though it was the men in maroon who rolled back the years with a performance reminiscent of the 1970s, when their pace attack inspired them to two World Cup victories.

But it won’t get any easier for the Pakistan captain, with world No.1 side England – pumped up from their opening win over South Africa – their next opponents on the same ground next Monday.

“I was happier with how we bowled and the effort we showed, especially as we were defending such a low score,” added Sarfaraz.

“It was good to see Mohammed Amir back in the form we know he is capable of and it will be good for us in the next matches as well.

“We have got to back ourselves and not think too much about what happened in this match.

“This game is gone but we have a strong players who will help us bounce back and win the next match.

“We know we can beat England, we came close twice in the recent series and we just didn’t finish well.”

For some reason, I am getting the feeling that the resurgence may not happen in this tournament like 2013 CT. I'd be extremely happy to be proven wrong though.
 
I feel for sarfraz too, It's a shambolic time to be Captain

I hope we find some kind of resurgence but odds are completely stacked against us and even Afghanistan would start as favorites against this sorry bunch
 
You were around the game today, so I wanted to get your perspective. To me they all looked nervous when they batted. not because of the short-ball, but just nervous in general.

They look disinterested in giving any effort it seems like they are just going through the motions and marking their attendance to earn pay checks
 
As a team this is not such a bad unit. Yea bowling is not that penetrative which is traditionally their strength. AN Ajmal or Afridi were always able to provide crucial breakthroughs. In contrast batting has improved a lot. Back then par score of Pakistan used to be 250 odd.
 
They look disinterested in giving any effort it seems like they are just going through the motions and marking their attendance to earn pay checks

Talking about the batting not the bowling. The game was lost by then. When they were batting, all I saw was panic.
 
One down.

8 to go.

By the time England is finished our NRR may be beyond recovery.
 
Agreed, we need heavy batting line up for ENG on Monday if we're to win or come close to winning this match. We made a mistake by keeping Faheem and Shinwari out of the WC squad. This will be our Achilles heel.

I honestly thought Shinwari would be a handful in England, especially with his raw pace. He get's smacked about for a few balls yes, but he gets wickets. Rather have him than Wahab who gets smacked about but can't take wickets
 
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