[VIDEO] After the Asia Cup, the Pakistan ODI side has more questions than answers

[Firebat]

Saj's comments on Pakistan's top-order batting problems, do they actually know their best XI, confusion surrounding the batting order, not utilising players properly, injuries piling up, captaincy concerns, the lack of threat with the ball in the middle-overs, more players out of form than in form, a team low on confidence and morale, some new faces needed in the World Cup squad and more.

 

[Professionalismandflair]

A complete mess more than at any World Cup before.

 

[sl-fan-of-pak]

We all know that Pakistan doesn't have a solid wicket taking leggie. So the next best thing is to have an Arshad Khan like spinner, or two of them in your team to block runs in the middle overs. Fakhar Zaman is too much of a risk, even when he gets going he takes ages to get in to his grove.

Naseem's injury is the biggest concern. I don't think Hasnain or anyone else could do justice, and even if he's back, I feel the injury might kill his speed.

Assuming Naseem is not available, the best bet is to draft in Saim Ayyub or even Shan Masood for Fakhar, an economical off spinner (even if he can't bat), Ihsanullah / Hasnain for Naseem. Pakistan's middle order looks very very fragile, but the sad thing is, nothing can be done about it.

 

[sl-fan-of-pak]

If Imad can be drafted in at least as a batter..this looks like an okay-ish middle order. However, only 02 of the openers, Three pacers along with the economical spinner would mean 05 more slots. Babar, Rizwan,Ifthikar and sadly Shadab are automatic selections. This means, only ONE of Shan, Imad, Saud could slot in. I would be inclined to go with Shan or Imad.

Openers: Saim / Imam / Abdullah Shafique
Middle Order : Shan Masood / Babar / Rizwan / Imad / Saud Shakeel
Finisher : Ifthikar
Bowling all rounders : Shadab
Bowlers: Economical spinner / Shaheen / Rauff / Zaman Khan / Alternative to Naseem

That should be the scenario.

 

[Professionalismandflair]

Drop Nawaz and Shadab. Being Babars friend is not a reason for selection. Babar of course can never be criticised. A weak coward who is the best of a bad bunch. Only there because the others are worse. Makes mistakes a club captain doesn’t every single game.

 

[Amjid Javed]

To many fans were getting carried away with wins in bilateral series and the very brief stint in number 1 rankings.

The Asia cup was a huge reality check for those fans thinking this team has a chance at world cup.

No quality spin options
Mediocre clueless captain
Opening pair that waste the PP overs
Poor 4th, 5th, 6th bowling options
Poor balance with batting in middle order

Had plenty of time to fix this mess. A Poor world cup on its way

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Pakistan must prepare some good fast bowling alternatives for the World Cup, we cannot depend on bowlers like Dahani and Waseem Jr.

 

[Professionalismandflair]

Pakistan must prepare some good fast bowling alternatives for the World Cup, we cannot depend on bowlers like Dahani and Waseem Jr.

Ihsanullah for a start.

 

[mominsaigol]

I completly agree with you saj, Pakistan at this point is completly clueless atm. Worrying signs.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Keeping up with the trend. Just the regular lead up to world cup for Pakistan.
Better to have Hasan Ali than either Fahim or Wasim for the allrounder spot.

 

[Professionalismandflair]

Bottler Hassan Ali? Can’t catch can’t bat and gets phainty? No thanks.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Bottler Hassan Ali? Can’t catch can’t bat and gets phainty? No thanks.

Ihsanullah is a very good option if he is fit, if not so we must go for Hassan Ali because right now we dont have much options left in a pool of Bowlers.

 

[Professionalismandflair]

The talent pool is truly dry.

 

[mominsaigol]

Ihsanullah is a very good option if he is fit, if not so we must go for Hassan Ali because right now we dont have much options left in a pool of Bowlers.

Arshad iqbal, Aamir Jamal, Abass afridi?

 

[Omer2002]

There is no talent anywhere....

 

[Professionalismandflair]

Certainly the nepotism isn’t helping

 

[Cricket Warrior]

There is no talent anywhere....

there are many all they need to just spot the talent and give them a chance.

 

[mrtaim3]

I think we are overreacting a bit. We do have problems but i think we still have a good team, just need few changes here and there. I hope Naseem Shah gets fit before the worldcup otherwise play Ihsanullah in his place or Hasnain. My team would be:

Openers: Imam + Abdullah
Middle order: Babar + Rizwan + Saud | Shan Masood or Fakhar
Lower order: Iftikhar | M. Haris
All-rounder: Shadab + Nawaz | Usama Mir
Bowlers: Rauf, Shaheen, Naseem | Zaman or Ihsanullah or Hasnain

I'd prefer Fakhar at 5 instead of Saud.

 

[VForVendetta]

Thanks @Saj for pointing out the most obvious issue with this Pak team,that is their methodical outdated good old 90's approach with the bat. Poor spinners, school boy fielding, middle order dilemma all are true & should be pointed out. But very rarely any ex- cricketer, journalist or so-called expert talks about the above issue. Not just the SENAI, literally every team these days tries to follow the Morgan blueprint. Look out how Nepal batted in both games against quality fast bowling. It's almost as if it's taboo for Pak to raise this issue.
Abdullah Shafique is being congratulated, for what? Scoring another typical run of the mill fifty? Maybe they'll cut a cake for that too! So now Abdullah & Imam will open with RizBar to follow, then who's going to do the heavy lifting? On mostly flat pancakes in India, SENAI will aim for 350-400 whereas Pak will be really content with just around 300-320? Because that's what they are gonna get with such timid approach & limited players. It would be nice if you could directly ask Mickey,Bradburn, Babar, Inzy etc about the much hyped "Pakistan way". Where is it? Did they ever plan it or just created a hashtag to avoid uncomfortable questions & also hop onto the Bazzball train? If they don't change anything then frankly they will fare worse than 2019.

 

[VForVendetta]

I think we are overreacting a bit. We do have problems but i think we still have a good team, just need few changes here and there. I hope Naseem Shah gets fit before the worldcup otherwise play Ihsanullah in his place or Hasnain. My team would be:

Openers: Imam + Abdullah
Middle order: Babar + Rizwan + Saud | Shan Masood or Fakhar
Lower order: Iftikhar | M. Haris
All-rounder: Shadab + Nawaz | Usama Mir
Bowlers: Rauf, Shaheen, Naseem | Zaman or Ihsanullah or Hasnain

I'd prefer Fakhar at 5 instead of Saud.

So you are going to start with four back to back similar minded accumulators against SENAI on some of the easiest batting tracks in the world? Good luck countering their probable 350 scores with that top order

 

[mrtaim3]

So you are going to start with four back to back similar minded accumulators against SENAI on some of the easiest batting tracks in the world? Good luck countering their probable 350 scores with that top order

Now is not the time to change a settled line-up. Its not like you have the likes of Shubman Gill warming up the bench.

And we have chased over 300+ numerous times with Imam and Babar on top 4. Abdullah is a good addition and can play aggressively if needs be. Rizwan can score run a ball too once set.

Warm-ups start from the end of this month. No time to make radical changes. Give this team confidence they need and roll the heads after the worldcup

 

[VForVendetta]

Now is not the time to change a settled line-up. Its not like you have the likes of Shubman Gill warming up the bench.

And we have chased over 300+ numerous times with Imam and Babar on top 4. Abdullah is a good addition and can play aggressively if needs be. Rizwan can score run a ball too once set.

Warm-ups start from the end of this month. No time to make radical changes. Give this team confidence they need and roll the heads after the worldcup

You have either forgotten or are conveniently not pointing out that all those 300/350 chases came against third string bowling attacks on Pakistani dead roads. Just show me one example when they successfully chased down 300+ against a truly top attack or outside home,please.
Abdullah "can" play aggressively, the keyword is can.He hasn't yet done that in any of the odi's he played. He has more strokes than Imam but mentally seems to be of similar mold. Rizwan can score run a ball once set? That's the problem, you need more than just run a ball & you can't afford to take at least 25-30 balls to settle down which is what he usually does. You wouldn't agree with such views which is fine. But trust me this is going to bite them on the back if they don't come out of their comfort zone.

 

[shamaan]

Arshad iqbal, Aamir Jamal, Abass afridi?

Arshad Iqbal if Naseem is injured.
Ihsanullah if Rauf is injured.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Arshad Iqbal if Naseem is injured.
Ihsanullah if Rauf is injured.

Ihsanullah is also injured.

 

[shamaan]

I would go with this squad obviously I don't think It will happen.

Imaam
Abdullah
Babar Azam
Saud Shakeel
Rizwan
Iftikhar
Imad
Abrar
Shaheen
Arshad Iqbal
Rauf if fit if not ihsanullah.

Bench
Saim Ayub (back up opener
Ihsanullah
Shadab/nawaz
Agha Salman/Tayyab Tahir

Reserves
Muhammed Haris

 

[shamaan]

Ihsanullah is also injured.

Then I will go for Dahani unfortunately

 

[da_don]

This squad looks good.. i hope the selectors and babar have some sense and make these changes and have naseem on the reserve if fit for later half of tournament

I would go with this squad obviously I don't think It will happen.

Imaam
Abdullah
Babar Azam
Saud Shakeel
Rizwan
Iftikhar
Imad
Abrar
Shaheen
Arshad Iqbal
Rauf if fit if not ihsanullah.

Bench
Saim Ayub (back up opener
Ihsanullah
Shadab/nawaz
Agha Salman/Tayyab Tahir

Reserves
Muhammed Haris

 

[Maher96]

Saim Ayub, Abdullah, Ihsan Ullah, Zaman, Saud, Tayyab, Abrar, Imad, Sarfraz, Hasnain, Amir heck even Wahab should been kept with this team rather than Nawaz, Faheem, Imam, Haris (too early for Longer form), even Shadab and Fakhar too most extent!!


Can only take 15 too India who will
You take and bank to play be part of 1000 overs and stay on top of your game.

if I was in selection committee right now I would May be take the drastic action and make some decisions of Where we stand!

Is mickey Arthur and Najam sethi going to work?

Or do we need Misbah or Afridi to take over ?

Misbah we have tried! Saqlain we have had! Afridi we haven’t tried !

Bring in Abdur Rehman, Razzaq and Gul in as the suppor staff. Keep Morkel and Send Bradburn back.

Speak to Amir, Imad and bring Sarfraz in the middle order as rotation!

In India Ifitkhar will need to olay Hafeez’s role and bowl close to 10 overs, Imad with his batting and PP pursuits is ideal and his combo with Shadab always lifted both players game.

Amir and Hassan Ali will always be important in a line up of Rauf, Shaheen and Naseem. Looking at our last 4 competition now 2 Asia cups and 2 World cups!

It is evident that clear mistakes and repeatedly made like in loop mode.

Cushion Babar and and add Imad and Amir, have Sarfraz in the team. Drop Fakhar and play Abullah.

I would select these players

Abdullah
Saim Ayub
Babar
Saud
Rizwan
Ifitkhar
Imad
Shadab
Shaheen
Naseem
Haris

Amir
Hassan
Tayyab
Imam

 

[shamaan]

This squad looks good.. i hope the selectors and babar have some sense and make these changes and have naseem on the reserve if fit for later half of tournament

They won't make these changes unfortunately Haris is a hack until he learns how to bat properly shouldn't be in the 15 Saim Ayub is a league above him.

Shadab should face the axe.

 

[mominsaigol]

Saim Ayub, Abdullah, Ihsan Ullah, Zaman, Saud, Tayyab, Abrar, Imad, Sarfraz, Hasnain, Amir heck even Wahab should been kept with this team rather than Nawaz, Faheem, Imam, Haris (too early for Longer form), even Shadab and Fakhar too most extent!!


Can only take 15 too India who will
You take and bank to play be part of 1000 overs and stay on top of your game.

if I was in selection committee right now I would May be take the drastic action and make some decisions of Where we stand!

Is mickey Arthur and Najam sethi going to work?

Or do we need Misbah or Afridi to take over ?

Misbah we have tried! Saqlain we have had! Afridi we haven’t tried !

Bring in Abdur Rehman, Razzaq and Gul in as the suppor staff. Keep Morkel and Send Bradburn back.

Speak to Amir, Imad and bring Sarfraz in the middle order as rotation!

In India Ifitkhar will need to olay Hafeez’s role and bowl close to 10 overs, Imad with his batting and PP pursuits is ideal and his combo with Shadab always lifted both players game.

Amir and Hassan Ali will always be important in a line up of Rauf, Shaheen and Naseem. Looking at our last 4 competition now 2 Asia cups and 2 World cups!

It is evident that clear mistakes and repeatedly made like in loop mode.

Cushion Babar and and add Imad and Amir, have Sarfraz in the team. Drop Fakhar and play Abullah.

I would select these players

Abdullah
Saim Ayub
Babar
Saud
Rizwan
Ifitkhar
Imad
Shadab
Shaheen
Naseem
Haris

Amir
Hassan
Tayyab
Imam

Hafeez was a genuine spinner and middle order batsmen. He wasn't the best bowler or bat but he was still a genuine allrounder and left handers on his day were walking wickets to him.

Chacha is getting smashed if he bowls 10 overs.

 

[mominsaigol]

People don't understand that since the Misbah era and even now pakistan has had 3 glaring issues that always costs us the cup.

1) Winning 11 mentality

By playing the same winning 11 not only do you deny giving experience to the bench strength, risk getting players injured, and overlook certain out of form individuals, but you also create a golden boy unwilling to improve mentality within the dug out.

Yesterday India lost but they tested their bench strength, This allowed them to ironically gain a firm understanding of their squad, like they now know that playing axar patel strengths their previously horrific tail. We don't understand this, despite the fact that it has worked for us in the past. Fakhar coming in for Ahmed shezad in 2017 CT and Sarfraz coming in for nasir jamshed in 2015 WC did wonders for us, but pakistan doesn't understand this until a player showcases string of failures, they get to play either cause their golden boys or because their a Part of the winning 11 and have survived due to hand holding from other players such as falhar being out of form but pak was winning via hand holding from imam during the afghan series.

2) Playing everyone out of position

Pakistan plays people out of position. They sent zaman Khan, a middle overs and death bowler due to him being good with reverse swing to open the bowling . Same with our t20 team, We're playing middle order batsmen as openers and openers as middle order batsmen.

Just play genuine top order batsmen as top order and middle order as middle order. India was quick to recognise this with rohit and Rahul. Why can't we sort positions out? Babar is selfish and wants his milestones, it's why he promoted himself to open in t20 therefore crippling our t20 middle order. He's doing the same to saud, and haris and various other players.

3) Nepotsitic culture

Nawaz cost us the game against India , couldn't even defend 16 runs of which he committed a no ball and a wide to the opposition. So why is he playing? Same with shadab. If you look at babar's interview he outright throws zaman Khan under the bus by saying zaman isn't international level, but for shadab and nawaz he praises them as his best bowlers and tries his best to defend them. Just because their innthe friends circle. It's pure hypocrisy at its best.

Misbah use to do this as well. I remember in 2015 fans were begging him to let sarfraz open but misbah was like naw, nasir jamshed is our best opener and hasn't been given enough chances.

 

[Saj]

Thanks @Saj for pointing out the most obvious issue with this Pak team,that is their methodical outdated good old 90's approach with the bat. Poor spinners, school boy fielding, middle order dilemma all are true & should be pointed out. But very rarely any ex- cricketer, journalist or so-called expert talks about the above issue. Not just the SENAI, literally every team these days tries to follow the Morgan blueprint. Look out how Nepal batted in both games against quality fast bowling. It's almost as if it's taboo for Pak to raise this issue.
Abdullah Shafique is being congratulated, for what? Scoring another typical run of the mill fifty? Maybe they'll cut a cake for that too! So now Abdullah & Imam will open with RizBar to follow, then who's going to do the heavy lifting? On mostly flat pancakes in India, SENAI will aim for 350-400 whereas Pak will be really content with just around 300-320? Because that's what they are gonna get with such timid approach & limited players. It would be nice if you could directly ask Mickey,Bradburn, Babar, Inzy etc about the much hyped "Pakistan way". Where is it? Did they ever plan it or just created a hashtag to avoid uncomfortable questions & also hop onto the Bazzball train? If they don't change anything then frankly they will fare worse than 2019.

The Pakistan way, if there is a thing, isn't heading in the right direction. It just seems like it's the same issues and problems.

 

[Saj]

Also I believe the number one ranking and then bowling India out in the rained-off match went to a few of the players heads.

They are not as good as they think they are, that is a fact. There is too much adulation, too much hero-worshipping of these guys, may of whom are just bang average.

Sorry, but I am not one of those who will not criticise them and worship their every run or wicket.

 

[Professionalismandflair]

Also I believe the number one ranking and then bowling India out in the rained-off match went to a few of the players heads.

They are not as good as they think they are, that is a fact. There is too much adulation, too much hero-worshipping of these guys, may of whom are just bang average.

Sorry, but I am not one of those who will not criticise them and worship their every run or wicket.

If you want the glory when times are good, be prepared to take the slippers when times are bad

 

[gazza619]

Certainly the nepotism isn’t helping

This!

We deserve this humiliation.

 

[FearlessRoar]

Certainly there is need to change Captain. But world cup is ahead , it will be not wise to change Captain at this moment. Let Babar go with captaincy. Senior Players and Management should come up and guide Babar about leadership skills ,how to handle pressure and how to set field when less scores are required

 

[FearlessRoar]

I am not sure of new face, but definitely i am not in favor of inclusion of Mohammad Haris and Mohammad Wasim jr.
They are not meeting the criteria of international cricket. We have bunch of domestic players who are performing well. Management should look at their stats and bring some experienced players in replacement of injured players rather selecting young players on just basis of PSL

 

[FearlessRoar]

Saud Shakeel is reliable middle order batter. I am wondering why he wasn't given chance to play against Sri Lanka. Babar included Mohammad Haris instead.

 

[Amjid Javed]

As seen in previous world cups in Asia - you need the following.

Good opening batsmen who can take advantage of the PP and get team off to a flyer.

Strong middle order who are good at playing the spinners.

A tactically good captain

Good spin bowlers who can bowl in PP if needed, take wickets in middle overs.

Pace bowlers who can do damage with new and old ball

Out of all of the above Pakistan just have the last option. Even if Pakistan had its best ODI squad ever the re-active captaincy and plodding along batting tactics ain't going to work.

Pakistan ain't making the top 4 or semi finals, I would even go as far to say they will struggle to beat any of the other Asian sides in this world cup.

 

[Azeem Zafar]

The performance in the middle overs during Asia Cup has shown us that we really need to take a PROPER spinner to the WC in our squad, and I can't see any other option than Abrar. Yes, he is untested and probably not even suitable for 50 overs cricket, but unfortunately we don't have any other half decent alternative.

 

[Scoop_shot]

Thanks @Saj for pointing out the most obvious issue with this Pak team,that is their methodical outdated good old 90's approach with the bat. Poor spinners, school boy fielding, middle order dilemma all are true & should be pointed out. But very rarely any ex- cricketer, journalist or so-called expert talks about the above issue. Not just the SENAI, literally every team these days tries to follow the Morgan blueprint. Look out how Nepal batted in both games against quality fast bowling. It's almost as if it's taboo for Pak to raise this issue.
Abdullah Shafique is being congratulated, for what? Scoring another typical run of the mill fifty? Maybe they'll cut a cake for that too! So now Abdullah & Imam will open with RizBar to follow, then who's going to do the heavy lifting? On mostly flat pancakes in India, SENAI will aim for 350-400 whereas Pak will be really content with just around 300-320? Because that's what they are gonna get with such timid approach & limited players. It would be nice if you could directly ask Mickey,Bradburn, Babar, Inzy etc about the much hyped "Pakistan way". Where is it? Did they ever plan it or just created a hashtag to avoid uncomfortable questions & also hop onto the Bazzball train? If they don't change anything then frankly they will fare worse than 2019.

can you explain what is the Morgan blueprint can't find it

 

[Rafay586]

The performance in the middle overs during Asia Cup has shown us that we really need to take a PROPER spinner to the WC in our squad, and I can't see any other option than Abrar. Yes, he is untested and probably not even suitable for 50 overs cricket, but unfortunately we don't have any other half decent alternative.

You always need right man for right job, We don't need Jack of all master of nothing. We have Iftikhar, Agha, Nawaz and Shadab. 4 All rounders; i still belive we need 2 of them a proper batter and a proper spinner.

 

[mominsaigol]

can you explain what is the Morgan blueprint can't find it

2015 England was pretty much the worst team barring some minnows in the 2015 world cup.

With 1980 era players like Ian Bell, Alastair Cook, Gary ballance etc, only Morgan was up to date. So England basically crashed out of the cup with trash bowlers, outdated players and a tail that began from no 7

However after 2015 England overhauled everything. Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Bairstow, Butler, Morgan, Moeen Ali, Chris woakes, Ben Stokes, Archer, Rahseed, plunket and joe root all these guys basically were a killer team. Morgan deserved to win the cup

Basically the focus was on strike rates more then averages. Each of these players could bat anywhere in the order, with all of them striking at 100+ and playing for the team, with only Joe root being the one anchor so others can play around him without worry. Over time all these guys averages also improved and they became world class.

In a world where 300 was on par, England were scoring 400 + impossible to chase totals with Morgan even believing that 500 is possible one day.

The mentality of the England side + their striking players were like none other. In terms of bowling their Liam plunket was like our haris Rauf, a genuine wicket taker in the middle, coupled with Archer and wood being Killer opening bowlers and rasheed making for a good spin department.

No wonder 2019 England were Nigh unbeatable on their day.

Thing is, We are stuck in 1990 whereas England who in 2015 were stuck in 1990 being the worst team transitioned to a team that cracks 400+ totals like theirs no tmr.

 

[mominsaigol]

2015 England was pretty much the worst team barring some minnows in the 2015 world cup.

With 1980 era players like Ian Bell, Alastair Cook, Gary ballance etc, only Morgan was up to date. So England basically crashed out of the cup with trash bowlers, outdated players and a tail that began from no 7

However after 2015 England overhauled everything. Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Bairstow, Butler, Morgan, Moeen Ali, Chris woakes, Ben Stokes, Archer, Rahseed, plunket and joe root all these guys basically were a killer team. Morgan deserved to win the cup

Basically the focus was on strike rates more then averages. Each of these players could bat anywhere in the order, with all of them striking at 100+ and playing for the team, with only Joe root being the one anchor so others can play around him without worry. Over time all these guys averages also improved and they became world class.

In a world where 300 was on par, England were scoring 400 + impossible to chase totals with Morgan even believing that 500 is possible one day.

The mentality of the England side + their striking players were like none other. In terms of bowling their Liam plunket was like our haris Rauf, a genuine wicket taker in the middle, coupled with Archer and wood being Killer opening bowlers and rasheed making for a good spin department.

No wonder 2019 England were Nigh unbeatable on their day.

Thing is, We are stuck in 1990 whereas England who in 2015 were stuck in 1990 being the worst team transitioned to a team that cracks 400+ totals like theirs no tmr.

This is why I despise people who keep relying on rizwan, Imam etc being the answer.

We should focus on players like saim ayub and try grooming them from being raw to world class. Alex hales, Johnny bairstow etc none of these lads were world class but they were groomed to be class over time.

With only one accumulator aka babar playing his game and others having the freedom to strike around him.

Why are we playing 1990's era cricket in the modern game?

 

[Technics 1210]

There is no jazba on the team, and firmly place the blame on Misbah, and the Kaptaan, Babar.

 

[Caved12]

Something is not right within our dressing room. The way we picked and dropped players last minute for the Sri Lanka game shows that some of our guys were simply being punished for may be speaking out loud in a team meeting or not accepting their mistakes. I believe It is too late to make all these changes before the world cup. We had more than enough opportunities to try Saud, Abdullah, Imad Wasim or try Ibrar , but no we kept thinking from our backsides and refused to acknowledge that we have a weak bench.

 

[VForVendetta]

can you explain what is the Morgan blueprint can't find it

Well @mominsaigol has beautifully explained it,hopefully you realized my point. I would like to just add to be able to execute this sort of brand you not only require exceptional level of skills but also you need to be unselfish. If you get yourself occupied too much with milestones, records & rankings there's no way you will be able to play that sort of brand of cricket. Pak in last 3 years has created & encouraged this toxic culture unfortunately.

 

[SM1989]

My my …what a reality check this Asia Cup has given to our deluded fans who were sharing photoshopped memes from 1992 photos with Babar’s face pasted over Imran Khan’s.

Playing for an extended period against weaker teams and B string Australia and B string New Zealand during IPL windows had really given us a false mirage.

This team is not capable of competing against the best, so my suggestion is to keep our expectations low for the ODI world cup and just hope we do better in the 2024 T20 world cup.

 

[Azeem Zafar]

You always need right man for right job, We don't need Jack of all master of nothing. We have Iftikhar, Agha, Nawaz and Shadab. 4 All rounders; i still belive we need 2 of them a proper batter and a proper spinner.

Agreed, they're playing too many RAILU KATTAS right now and expecting these bits and pieces players to give consistently good performances is like living in a fool's paradise. 3 ODI's vs AFG and the ASIA CUP was the perfect opportinity to try Abrar but Babar and CS missed it completely.

 

[Farabi]

2015 England was pretty much the worst team barring some minnows in the 2015 world cup.

With 1980 era players like Ian Bell, Alastair Cook, Gary ballance etc, only Morgan was up to date. So England basically crashed out of the cup with trash bowlers, outdated players and a tail that began from no 7

However after 2015 England overhauled everything. Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Bairstow, Butler, Morgan, Moeen Ali, Chris woakes, Ben Stokes, Archer, Rahseed, plunket and joe root all these guys basically were a killer team. Morgan deserved to win the cup

Basically the focus was on strike rates more then averages. Each of these players could bat anywhere in the order, with all of them striking at 100+ and playing for the team, with only Joe root being the one anchor so others can play around him without worry. Over time all these guys averages also improved and they became world class.

In a world where 300 was on par, England were scoring 400 + impossible to chase totals with Morgan even believing that 500 is possible one day.

The mentality of the England side + their striking players were like none other. In terms of bowling their Liam plunket was like our haris Rauf, a genuine wicket taker in the middle, coupled with Archer and wood being Killer opening bowlers and rasheed making for a good spin department.

No wonder 2019 England were Nigh unbeatable on their day.

Thing is, We are stuck in 1990 whereas England who in 2015 were stuck in 1990 being the worst team transitioned to a team that cracks 400+ totals like theirs no tmr.

This is some weird myth that continues to persist here on PP.
All these players you are mentioning are experienced county batters and regularly play test cricket for England. They are not “powerhitters” like Mohd Haris, Khusdil. They are more like Abdullah Shafique, Saud Shakeel with an extra gear, which was developed through targeted coaching. Hafeez is an example of someone who developed 6 hitting.

The entire coaching setup, skill enhancement was revamped to support the England agenda.

Whoever thinks that you can play like England by selecting Saim, Haris hasn’t seen Pak cricket in the last decade. Using nebulous words like “intent” doesn’t mean anything unless you have skills to dominate.

KL Rahul, Mendis, Assalanka, Kohli scored 6-7 RPO with smart cricket. That’s what we need. Solid batters with great strike rotation and ability to put bad balls away.

Pak can do wonders if these select solid batters with great basics:

Imam
Fakhar/Abdullah
Babar
Saud
Rizwan
Iftikhar

 

[Markhor]

This is some weird myth that continues to persist here on PP.
All these players you are mentioning are experienced county batters and regularly play test cricket for England. They are not “powerhitters” like Mohd Haris, Khusdil. They are more like Abdullah Shafique, Saud Shakeel with an extra gear, which was developed through targeted coaching. Hafeez is an example of someone who developed 6 hitting.

The entire coaching setup, skill enhancement was revamped to support the England agenda.

Whoever thinks that you can play like England by selecting Saim, Haris hasn’t seen Pak cricket in the last decade. Using nebulous words like “intent” doesn’t mean anything unless you have skills to dominate.

KL Rahul, Mendis, Assalanka, Kohli scored 6-7 RPO with smart cricket. That’s what we need. Solid batters with great strike rotation and ability to put bad balls away.

Pak can do wonders if these select solid batters with great basics:

Imam
Fakhar/Abdullah
Babar
Saud
Rizwan
Iftikhar

Picking up on that - I was curious the other day to see if NZ's big hitters like Glenn Phillips and Mark Chapman have played any FC cricket.

Turns out Phillips averages 41 and Chapman averages 43 in FC cricket.

It demonstrates the importance of having a solid technical base even in white-ball cricket. They are proper batsmen but with powerhitting skills too. Contrast that with likes of Asif and Khushdil.

 

[Farabi]

Picking up on that - I was curious the other day to see if NZ's big hitters like Glenn Phillips and Mark Chapman have played any FC cricket.

Turns out Phillips averages 41 and Chapman averages 43 in FC cricket.

It demonstrates the importance of having a solid technical base even in white-ball cricket. They are proper batsmen but with powerhitting skills too. Contrast that with likes of Asif and Khushdil.

Yup - all these so-called power hitters from Eng, SA or Eng, whether you talk about Miller, Chapman, Glenn, Wade, Bairstow, Stokes, or Buttler, they have all played 50+ FC games. They are not T20 tullay playing ODIs.
Pak should back proper batters like Abdullah and Saud. And get a powerhittng coach to develop their 6 hitting.

 

[sam_ahm]

In India too most of the players are proper bats who can go big. You can talk about Pandya and Jadeja and Jadeja has a couple of triple hundreds at domestic level. The likes of Gill, Iyer have good domestic exposure.

In the past Pakistan's selection was really good, I remember Mohammad Asif when he made his debut, it was a given that this guy will make an impact, and boy he did. Misbah when he came back in 2007 T20 WC, he had a huge impact, I was like "wow! they select good players, not like just throwing someone in for the heck of it", same goes with a lot of players, Salman Butt I remember during Bob Woolmer days, he started off as a very promising youngster and went on to lead the side. M Yousuf (then Youhana) was so classy right from the first time I saw him, Yasir Hameed, came in and had a great start to his career, although he eventually faded.

These days, every tom, dick and harry gets the nod to play for Pakistan, I don't know on the basis of what! Other than Abrar no one has had an impact.

Alternatively it could also mean the quality of cricketers in Pakistan is significantly deteriorating and if this is the case then it is a very very serious concern and doesn't stop just at this WC, it goes far deeper.

 

[Farabi]

In India too most of the players are proper bats who can go big. You can talk about Pandya and Jadeja and Jadeja has a couple of triple hundreds at domestic level. The likes of Gill, Iyer have good domestic exposure.

In the past Pakistan's selection was really good, I remember Mohammad Asif when he made his debut, it was a given that this guy will make an impact, and boy he did. Misbah when he came back in 2007 T20 WC, he had a huge impact, I was like "wow! they select good players, not like just throwing someone in for the heck of it", same goes with a lot of players, Salman Butt I remember during Bob Woolmer days, he started off as a very promising youngster and went on to lead the side. M Yousuf (then Youhana) was so classy right from the first time I saw him, Yasir Hameed, came in and had a great start to his career, although he eventually faded.

These days, every tom, dick and harry gets the nod to play for Pakistan, I don't know on the basis of what! Other than Abrar no one has had an impact.

Alternatively it could also mean the quality of cricketers in Pakistan is significantly deteriorating and if this is the case then it is a very very serious concern and doesn't stop just at this WC, it goes far deeper.

Aligned. I don’t think it’s detoriarated. The selections are mind boggling.
Who was stopping us from selecting Tayab Tahir in the game vs SL. That guy has been top performer in list A for last 2-3 years. He’s in form as was seen in Emerging Asia cup.
The guy can rotate strike, has good basics, but also has the ability to go big.
But who did we go with at no4? Mohd Haris.

 

[Suleiman]

Maybe coping but whatever…

I’d rather lose this pre WC warm up tournament in a bad fashion to keep us on our toes rather than win it (including beating India) only to be super complacent in the WC.

You gotta understand by now Pakistan is not a professional side. Never was. They play on form which is wildly inconsistent month to month, week to week, day to day. Don’t expect consistency.

Once we taste a major victory, infighting, politics, big headedness etc takes over before a big loss.

I’m not saying this crash out 100% means that we will now dominate WC…. But just look at be patterns in our history.

 

[Unbiased-Fan]

Pakistani fans are overreacting and over thinking too much. They still have a good team but certainly some issues to sort out.

India, Australia and England are certainly reaching semis. One of the Newzealand or Pakistan will fill the 4th spots.

Fakhar and Imam are quality openers in any conditions and they're doing great from past 4-5 years. Though Fakhar is in bad form, he can't be ignored by anyone as he is a matchwinner. Imam is accumulator and a steady player.

Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed are certainly in starting XI with clutch performances in Asia Cup.

Agha Salman deserves to be in the squad but not in playing XI as same role is performed by Iftikhar.Saud Shakeel should be playing instead of Salman as brings stability to the side.

Nawaz must be in the side. His lower order batting is assest for Pakistan. He is not doing bad with bowl either.

Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf forms a quality duo of pace bowling.


* Worries for Pakistan :-

1. Babar Azam is a terrible and clueless captain who don't inspire his teammates at all. No matter what will be the outcome of the tournament, PCB should sack him from the captaincy and make Rizwan or Afridi the captain.
He is similar player to Imam with better stats. This world cup will make or break his reputation.

2. Shabad Khan as a frontline spinner doesn't making mark like his contempories like Kuldeep or Zampa. Still he should be in the squad and in the playing XI. He always perform better in tournaments.


3. Naseem Shah's injury is probably the biggest loss of the world cup. He is Pakistan's best pacer and made mark in short career. He is irreplaceable right now.


So, Pakistan should stick with their Asia cup squad. They are fighting against Newzealand, Africa and Srilanka for the 4th semi final spot. Their chances will probably depend on Babar Azam's captainship.


1. Imam Ul Haq
2. Fakhar Zaman
3. Babar Azam
4. Saud Shakeel
5. Mohammad Rizwan
6. Iftikhar Ahmed
7. Shadab Khan
8. Mohammad Nawaz
9. Shaheen Afrid
10. Wasim Junior
11. Haris Rauf

Bench :-
Abdul Shafique (Backup Opener)
Zaman Khan (Backup pacer)
One quality spinner/ Allrouder
A quality middle order batsman

 

[daytrader]

PCB reviews Pakistan Men’s team performance in Asia Cup

Lahore, 21 September 2023:

The Pakistan Cricket Board under the Chairman Management Committee Mr. Zaka Ashraf on Wednesday evening met with the National coaching staff headed by Mickey Arthur, captain Babar Azam, vice-captain Shadab Khan, and former captains Misbah ul Haq and Mohammad Hafeez - to review Pakistan Men’s cricket team performance in the ACC Asia Cup 2023.

In the meeting, the complete men’s national coaching staff which includes head coach Grant Bradburn, batting coach Andrew Puttick, and bowling coach Morne Morkel were also invited to report on the team’s recent performance. The review meeting was also attended by Dr Sohail Saleem to brief about players’ injuries and the way forward for players' rehabilitation programs.

In a robust analysis, every aspect of recent team performance, player fitness, and future plans came into discussion with a view to bringing improvement to the side. There was an agreement on making a better approach and strategy on players’ workload. The importance of strengthening the bench was also emphasised.

Chairman Management Committee Zaka Ashraf: “The philosophy behind this review was to create an atmosphere of open discussion and develop consensus. The idea is to have everyone on board and debate about performances, identifying the problems and their solutions. We have to debate strengths and weaknesses so that we are clear about what and where we need to invest for the betterment of our team.

“Discussion revealed that the previous management had allowed a lot of players to play league cricket which caused them to fatigued ahead of their national duty. But going forward we have agreed to form a proactive approach to tackle players workload and give national duty a priority.

“I am glad we had a good positive review session and are on the same page. We are confident that the experience gained in the Asia Cup was a learning curve and will help prepare for the ICC Men's World Cup.

“Our team is filled with talent, and we believe they have the capability to compete and win at the highest level. We have world-class batters and bowlers and are committed to providing them with the necessary support and resources to ensure they are well-equipped ahead of the mega event.”

Inzamam ul Haq, chief selector, who couldn’t make into the meeting yesterday due to a medical emergency but met Zaka Ashraf on Thursday afternoon to share his input. After the completion of the review, Inzamam has finalised the Pakistan squad for the ICC World Cup, which will be announced on Friday morning in a press conference scheduled to take place at 1115 am at Level 2, Far-End Building of Gaddafi Stadium.

 

[MenInG]

The issues that were brought to light after the Asia Cup debacle remain and seems that the failure in that tournament was put down to "one of those things".. = spells disaster.

 

[hassan918]

Pakistan had a forgetable second half of the Asia Cup and no one seems to have any answers after that 228 run defeat against India. Pakistan team were clearly stunned with that massive loss and couldn't really recover. Hopefully, these few weeks between the Asia Cup and the World Cup will give them a chance to look into the areas where they need to improve. A couple of good sessions with a world class mental performance coach would also be helpful.

 

[Suleiman]

Pakistan side always has more questions than answers lol… nothing new.

It’s a constant flow of uncertainty.

 

[Saj]

Captaincy concerns
Top order concerns
Middle-overs lack of wickets concerns
Lack of wickets from spinners concerns
Third seamer concerns

Apart from the above - all good.

 

[Saj]

Yes today was only a warmup, but the concerns and questions about this squad continue.