[VIDEO] "Pakistan middle-order seems to suffer from a lack of confidence": David Gower

[MenInG]

Saj Sadiq chats with David Gower about his experiences of visiting Pakistan, which is better Lahore or Karachi food, Pakistan's chances at the T20 World Cup, Pakistan's tactics in T20Is and more.

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[Colorblind Genius]

Indeed Pakistan are not favorites. Thanks for laying it out bare naked. Reaching semis will be a pleasant surprise. However, many at times, those who aren't favorite actually excel.

As you stated, Pakistan's middle is under confident. And the cause of this "under confidence" is NOT lack of exposure.

It's the lack of wrong preparation and non-existing training/coach for power hitting.

In nets, all day long they practice hitting against balls pitched in hitting zone. But in the match, they get, Yorkers, slower bouncers, on the crease wide balls, and many other deceptive delivers - against which, they have no practice and no idea how to cope?

There hardly seems to be any footwork to disrupt the spinners, there is no concept of innovation and improvisation if the ball is not in your comfort zone.

T20 power hitting is not just holding the bat in the nets and hit sixes on halwa balls all day long. No, that doesn't help. It backfires.

Body strengthening and muscle building drills must be done rigorously and religiously, so that you body and your brain opens up.

These drills help you build sharper hand-eye coordination, quick and strong muscular reflexes, powerful ligaments, and sharper vision on the ball.

And when you your body energized with all that good stuff, you jump on the balls that are out of your comfort zone and smack it for boundaries.

 

[Major]

Pakistan's middle order is a non issue....

What has happened is that alot of people have transitioned from ODI cricket towards T20 Cricket. They expect the middle order to hit 50 or 60s.

Its very rare to see a top order that excels, and we Pakistani fans are not used to seeing our openers perform well. When Rizwan and Babar score you runs, they do the job of the middle order, now its the middle orders job to just whack it out, and when you do that you will see contributions of 30-40 runs.

Its just a matter of perception, when we see our openers do well, we expect that with wickets in hand we can go for 200+. If we had bad openers, than off course the middle order will be pacing the innings accordingly and we would be getting targets of 140-150 and when that happens we wont complain. Because the perception changes. When you get to 120 runs by the 17th over, you expect 30 more to get 150 and be happy.

 

[Savak]

Pakistan in the last few ICC tournaments have done better than expected inspite of not being favourites. The lack of expectations and pressure works in their favour.

 

[adzzy786]

Pakistan's middle order is a non issue....

What has happened is that alot of people have transitioned from ODI cricket towards T20 Cricket. They expect the middle order to hit 50 or 60s.

Its very rare to see a top order that excels, and we Pakistani fans are not used to seeing our openers perform well. When Rizwan and Babar score you runs, they do the job of the middle order, now its the middle orders job to just whack it out, and when you do that you will see contributions of 30-40 runs.

Its just a matter of perception, when we see our openers do well, we expect that with wickets in hand we can go for 200+. If we had bad openers, than off course the middle order will be pacing the innings accordingly and we would be getting targets of 140-150 and when that happens we wont complain. Because the perception changes. When you get to 120 runs by the 17th over, you expect 30 more to get 150 and be happy.

What a load of rubbish. What about the times when our top order hasn’t scored runs and the middle order skittled. Plus having an average of between 5-9 for 3/4 middle order batsman over the last year isn’t because the top order is excelling so well it’s making the middle order look bad

 

[Markhor]

Great interview, enjoyed that. I love Bumble but felt he was being rather too kind to us, but Gower having commentated in PSL and the ENG series was more informed about our strengths/weaknesses.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

It's pretty much confidence and lack of intent throughout the team and not just the middle order.

Pakistans over reliance on Babar and Rizwan at the top has put so much pressure on them that they feel they have to play in a certain way which means they consume most overs.

 

[Mainul]

Pakistan in the last few ICC tournaments have done better than expected inspite of not being favourites. The lack of expectations and pressure works in their favour.

A good point. Lack of pressure favours them . But fans of a team like Pakistan can't be satisfied with reaching quarter or semis.

 

[James]

The best thing to happen for Pakistan in their next warmup game would be for Babar and Rizwan both to lose their wickets early, with the next 5-6 batters being exposed; this would be a big test, but valuable, and would provide additional experience.

 

[Savak]

Indeed Pakistan are not favorites. Thanks for laying it out bare naked. Reaching semis will be a pleasant surprise. However, many at times, those who aren't favorite actually excel.

As you stated, Pakistan's middle is under confident. And the cause of this "under confidence" is NOT lack of exposure.

It's the lack of wrong preparation and non-existing training/coach for power hitting.

In nets, all day long they practice hitting against balls pitched in hitting zone. But in the match, they get, Yorkers, slower bouncers, on the crease wide balls, and many other deceptive delivers - against which, they have no practice and no idea how to cope?

There hardly seems to be any footwork to disrupt the spinners, there is no concept of innovation and improvisation if the ball is not in your comfort zone.

T20 power hitting is not just holding the bat in the nets and hit sixes on halwa balls all day long. No, that doesn't help. It backfires.

Body strengthening and muscle building drills must be done rigorously and religiously, so that you body and your brain opens up.

These drills help you build sharper hand-eye coordination, quick and strong muscular reflexes, powerful ligaments, and sharper vision on the ball.

And when you your body energized with all that good stuff, you jump on the balls that are out of your comfort zone and smack it for boundaries.

Totally agreed with this. Pakistan's coaching staff is a joke.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Indeed Pakistan are not favorites. Thanks for laying it out bare naked. Reaching semis will be a pleasant surprise. However, many at times, those who aren't favorite actually excel.

As you stated, Pakistan's middle is under confident. And the cause of this "under confidence" is NOT lack of exposure.

It's the lack of wrong preparation and non-existing training/coach for power hitting.

In nets, all day long they practice hitting against balls pitched in hitting zone. But in the match, they get, Yorkers, slower bouncers, on the crease wide balls, and many other deceptive delivers - against which, they have no practice and no idea how to cope?

There hardly seems to be any footwork to disrupt the spinners, there is no concept of innovation and improvisation if the ball is not in your comfort zone.

T20 power hitting is not just holding the bat in the nets and hit sixes on halwa balls all day long. No, that doesn't help. It backfires.

Body strengthening and muscle building drills must be done rigorously and religiously, so that you body and your brain opens up.

These drills help you build sharper hand-eye coordination, quick and strong muscular reflexes, powerful ligaments, and sharper vision on the ball.

And when you your body energized with all that good stuff, you jump on the balls that are out of your comfort zone and smack it for boundaries.

Good post.

The only Pakistan player that has been able to convert into a genuine T20 power hitter has been Hafeez in his last few years, and I think he learned on his own via playing golf and strength training.

Our coaching staff did nothing to help him.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Great interview Saj. I'm a big fan of these videos so far.

Gower not being on Sky coverage for the England game is a blessing for us Pakistani fans. He is as stylish with his words as he was with his batting.

He is not a 'yes man' commentator and his insights are always incisive.

Our think tank would do well to listen to some of his thoughts here!

 

[James]

Excellent interview.

 

[Kianig89]

Sir Gower more than confidence its the lack of ability which is evident

 

[Saj]

Great interview Saj. I'm a big fan of these videos so far

Thank you.

David Gower has a pretty good knowledge of Pakistan cricket.

 

[Saj]

Sir Gower more than confidence its the lack of ability which is evident

I think the current middle-order for the T20 World Cup is amongst the weakest I have seen.

The problem is that you have players out of form, players who are hit and miss and players who are struggling with confidence, and some players who are all 3 of the aforementioned.

 

[MenInG]

He makes an excellent point - the middle-order need more chances to bat!

 

[Cric1234]

They didn’t lack any confidence against New Zealand chasing 11 an over comfortably in the last 10 a few wrong players have been selected that aren’t power hitters the only big match Pakistan has won this year was down to the middle order.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Pakistan need more quality batters in the pipeline. Specifically for this format and for various phases . It's an issue of skill (or lack thereof). Nothing to do with confidence .

 

[bones]

It's a lack of something for sure. Confidence, ability or mentality, take your pick. Mine pick is ability.

 

[TheSultan]

It's a lack of guts. They bat like cowards.

 

[ZafarKhan2022]

Cowardice or lack of confidence doesn't explain why they run between the wickets incompetently.

 

[Saj]

Lack of ability more than anything else.

I'm afraid that several of the middle-order batters are simply not good enough, whether batting first or batting last.

 

[Spitfire]

It's a combination of many factors: lack of application, poor selection criteria, no hunger to train hard and strive to improve, buying too much into selfie/social media culture, lack of self belief and mental toughness, definitely lack of ability and also physical fitness required for the rigours of modern day cricket.

The selectors and followers are hell bent on making T20 stars out of one hit wonders based on number of YouTube and social media clicks.

All in all a lethal cocktail of downfall and failure.

Proof is in the pudding as they say!

 

[Colorblind Genius]

It's a combination of many factors: lack of application, poor selection criteria, no hunger to train hard and strive to improve, buying too much into selfie/social media culture, lack of self belief and mental toughness, definitely lack of ability and also physical fitness required for the rigours of modern day cricket.

The selectors and followers are hell bent on making T20 stars out of one hit wonders based on number of YouTube and social media clicks.

All in all a lethal cocktail of downfall and failure.

Proof is in the pudding as they say!

Check out Asif Ali’s dismissal today.
He says he practices hitting 150 sixes a day in nets.
What the Think Tank, coaching staff and he himself is unable to realize that 150 sixes are hit on balls pitched in his zone.

What they don’t understand is that this sorta practice backfires so bad that you can’t imagine.

You solidify the tunnel vision in your brain and become an EXTREMELY LIMITED batsman.

And to make it worse - no one is gonna bowl you those halwa deliveries in the actual match.

Just as we saw today, lack of versatility in his batting and lack of physical fitness made him look like lost sheep when the ball was not in his hitting zone and he was trying to hit a six.

Out coaching and power hitting training is absolutely horrible.

Players need to become fitness freaks and live wires to jump on the balls that are out of their comfort zone, instead of being over weighted, unfit one shot ponies that we are.

 

[SpiritOf1903]

These guys should try minor leagues...hacks

 

[AZulfi]

Lack of quality would be a more apt description. The middle order is essentially comprised of bowling all-rounders. They might score runs in the odd match but they are just not fully equipped for this role. You need either proper batsmen or batting all-rounders such as Stokes, Stoinis or Maxwell

 

[AZulfi]

These guys should try minor leagues...hacks

True. I should have said bowling all-rounders (Nawaz, Shadab) or hacks such as Asif, Khushdil and Haider (on top of that he is a poor fielder. Cannot catch, cannot stop the twos and threes). Shot selection by many leaves a lot to be desired. This is where commonsense and game awareness comes into play.

 

[shaz619]

Not just the middle order but the top order clearly lacks confidence, they don’t want to bay anywhere else in a T20 game. Hilarious.

 

[Saj]

Well the batting reared its ugly head in the final didn't it.

84/2 in 11 overs to 137/8 in 20 overs.

It was always going to be a recipe for disaster.

 

[Cric1234]

Well the batting reared its ugly head in the final didn't it.

84/2 in 11 overs to 137/8 in 20 overs.

It was always going to be a recipe for disaster.

Luckily Mark Wood didn’t play or it would have been worse a 110 all out situation was likely if people are blaming the middle order here they haven’t analysed the match situation the ground and the pitch the middle order is the only reason Pakistan got to the final.

Against South Africa from 40-4 they took the team to 180 before that against New Zealand in the tri series the middle order chased 11 an over in the last 10 overs.

The great Babar Azam has returns worse than a tailender in the last 2 tournaments he’s played I would look at the main batsmen first before saying anything to the all rounders who you expect inconsistency from.

 

[Saj]

Definitely one of the better commentators around these days, although the competition isn't exactly the strongest especially when it comes to Pakistani commentators.

 

[MenInG]

David Gower on why he is not in the PSL commentary team for PSL 8

"Yes. I’m afraid they haven’t requested my presence. I’m going to New Zealand but would have liked to have continued my love affair with PSL!"

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">David Gower "Sadly I’ve not made the commentary team for PSL this time. I’d have loved to continue my love affair with Pakistan cricket but maybe there will be a chance again another time" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PSL8?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PSL8</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1622953027631042561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[MenInG]

Happy Birthday to David Gower

==

Born: April 1, 1957 (age 66 years), Royal Tunbridge Wells,

 

[MenInG]

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