[VIDEOS] Can statpadding and anchor role win you any T20 World Cup?

[mominsaigol]

Just have to watch cricket, not just in Pakistan but all around the world. Understand how the game is moving.

2 years ago, I would never have been in favour of Sahibzada. He basically used to eat up a lot of dot balls and then hit the odd boundary or six.

But the guy worked extremely hard on his game to change this, and he looks like a proper batsman now. Has the right kind of build and structure for an attacking batsman too. Looks authoritative at the crease.

I’m not saying he is gaurenteed to perform, but he has done a lot of hard work to upgrade himself.

These guys, Babar and Rizwan have done ZILCH to evolve. They are content with the same rubbish they display. They only work hard on what they are comfortable at doing. Watch a net session video of Rizwan, he is only working hard on hitting the ball towards leg side.

Bro I don't understand why other fellow pakistani's don't see my viewpoints. I also want the best for Pakistan cricket.

Cricket isn't that hard to understand. From a batting perspective your goal should be to score as much as humanely possible, that's literally the requirement, aka score and put a total

Obviously you can't hit 400's in odi and 230's in t20 everytime but you gotta try KEY WORD try, which top teams have no issue in doing. Similarly with chasing the goal should be to chase as quickly as humanely possible.

With bowling first your goal needs to be to take as many wickets as humanely possible or save as many runs as humanely possible. That's it, that's cricket for you, it's literally in the rule books on how to play?

But people need to ask themselves, When Babar claims things like shadab and nawaz are pur best bowlers, they didn't take any wickets though but their match winners, or when he gets the entire team to be overweight and suck at fielding, or when he claims we are going to target 250 or try to chase 170 in the final 20,

Doesn't that outright contradict everything on how cricket is meant to be played? It's not a coincidence we always get put in positions where we have to score 300 in 7 overs due to how bad we are rr wise.

Even with misbah, ask yourself is misbah doing a good job when nasir jamshed drops every catch in the tournament but he keeps getting selected over sarfraz? Isn't the goal fielding wise to save as many runs as possible? So how is he a good captain if he doesn't understand this key fact?

 

[mominsaigol]

Just have to watch cricket, not just in Pakistan but all around the world. Understand how the game is moving.

2 years ago, I would never have been in favour of Sahibzada. He basically used to eat up a lot of dot balls and then hit the odd boundary or six.

But the guy worked extremely hard on his game to change this, and he looks like a proper batsman now. Has the right kind of build and structure for an attacking batsman too. Looks authoritative at the crease.

I’m not saying he is gaurenteed to perform, but he has done a lot of hard work to upgrade himself.

These guys, Babar and Rizwan have done ZILCH to evolve. They are content with the same rubbish they display. They only work hard on what they are comfortable at doing. Watch a net session video of Rizwan, he is only working hard on hitting the ball towards leg side.

^^ Basically in the above post my point was Babar and rizzu are comfort zone players, this batting through mindset and I wanna be an actor mindset needs to end.

 

[Rana]

Bro I don't understand why other fellow pakistani's don't see my viewpoints. I also want the best for Pakistan cricket.

Cricket isn't that hard to understand. From a batting perspective your goal should be to score as much as humanely possible, that's literally the requirement, aka score and put a total

Obviously you can't hit 400's in odi and 230's in t20 everytime but you gotta try KEY WORD try, which top teams have no issue in doing. Similarly with chasing the goal should be to chase as quickly as humanely possible.

With bowling first your goal needs to be to take as many wickets as humanely possible or save as many runs as humanely possible. That's it, that's cricket for you, it's literally in the rule books on how to play?

But people need to ask themselves, When Babar claims things like shadab and nawaz are pur best bowlers, they didn't take any wickets though but their match winners, or when he gets the entire team to be overweight and suck at fielding, or when he claims we are going to target 250 or try to chase 170 in the final 20,

Doesn't that outright contradict everything on how cricket is meant to be played? It's not a coincidence we always get put in positions where we have to score 300 in 7 overs due to how bad we are rr wise.

Even with misbah, ask yourself is misbah doing a good job when nasir jamshed drops every catch in the tournament but he keeps getting selected over sarfraz? Isn't the goal fielding wise to save as many runs as possible? So how is he a good captain if he doesn't understand this key fact?

Very hard to explain.

Personally (without being disrespectful towards anyone here), I feel that the vast majority of the good writers are mostly good academic students who have done well in their studies to acquire a good degree, job or whatever in their lives. Maybe a lot of them originate from upper middle class families from Pakistan and have sought residence abroad in Canada/USA through their hard work. Which is good. Well done for achieving what you have…


Then again, the basic nature of most of these good writers does reflect a sense of impracticality when it comes to reading the actual game, how it’s evolving and the reading of the actual level of players, what their strengths and weaknesses are. Theoretically, you will find writers who supposedly want to build their narrative on logic, sense and what seems statistically correct. But practically, you cannot explain to them the realities and actual dynamics of the game.

There is a champion team: let’s go back at the list of recent WT20 winners; England 2022, Australia 2021, West Indies 2016, Sri Lanka 2014, West Indies 2012.

In the last decade or so, one team out of 5 world cups has won the T20 World Cup by playing “5 anchors” as they say, whereas 4 other teams has played batting line ups consisting of impact players/certified 6 hitters/ aggressive mindset players. Yet, this is someone these good writers will now look to cling on to in order to try and make sense of what they think is right.


The anchor theory in 2014 needs to be scrutinised carefully there too. What is the proof that Sri Lanka succeeded by setting up to anchors, whereas everyone else failed because they were playing more conventional T20 style batsmen instead? If that was a correct approach by SL, why has it not been effective since then with 3 world cups won by teams that are loaded with big guns with the odd anchor…and the anchor doesn’t open the innings!!!

As far as the matter of trying is concerned, they don’t even want you to try and match the best teams in the world! They will not let young teams, young players grow and learn. That’s why I was never truly excited about Saim opening against New Zealand under Hafeez. I knew this is not going to be successful because the kid will not be allowed to fail as long as Babar or Rizwan are in the squad and sulking about their desired opening position.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Statpadding has some signs. Slowing down near mile stones is one clear sign. In ODI it hurts you probably slightly less. But in T20 it is a crime. Slowing down for 100 especially is a crime. Because when you get to 100 you are more likely to be batting in the death overs. Other signs are not taking risks right through your stay and playing percentage cricket.

Anchors generally play the role of steering the ship when things go wrong. That role should be a fluid role. You cannot walk in to crease deciding "i am going to drop anchor". That is a pretty poor approach in T20. You play anchor role only if the situation demands. Second question should you be in such a situation how long you play that role. Most of these anchors take it too far. They play anchor role for the rest of the innings except a lot coupel of overs. Third of all even if you are anchor if you get a long hop you are still required to put away. You cannot take singles off such balls.

Yes. There are cases where pitch itself can be trickery where you cannot get going where the par total is less. You still should avoid dot balls on such pitches. Bottomline is you do not go with a mindset of playing anchor role especially opener. Atleast one of the opener has to go harder even at the risk of losing wicket. It disturbs the bowling plan of opposition which will benefit the rest of the batsmen. There are times pitch may be good only for first 6 overs and it becomes progressively difficult. There are a couple of pitches like that in India. You should sense that and play accordingly.

Overall going hard should be your philosophy. We shouldn't be using anaomolies as examples to justify poor scoring rate. Some batsmen are too predictable that team may not even want to take their wicket.

 

[daytrader]

Yes, I guess Babar and Rizwan need no time in the middle to hit every ball they face to the boundary?

Sahibzada has improved a lot. He was the best T20 opener in the Pakistan cup and he did reasonably well for LQ too. He attacks in the powerplay, consolidates a bit post powerplay, and launches again around the 10th over of an innings. He in comparison to Babar and Rizwan actually has a range to hit sixes against pace and spin. You would rather have a player like him stay at the crease for longer and become more dangerous for the opposition the longer he stays…unlike those two who only become more dangerous to the chances of their own side the longer they stay at the crease

So basically your observation. To me he who looks mediocre and weak against pace so I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Also his fielding isn't the greatest.

Every cricketer should be striving to improve if they want to stay relevant, those that don't, fade away.

When it comes to improvement, no one beats Rizwan. His story of where he was to where he is now is exemplary.

 

[Rana]

When it comes to improvement, no one beats Rizwan

Yeah go on explain to me how Rizwan has improved his strike rate as a T20 opener playing in this position everywhere in the world (International and franchise) for the past 4 years?

 

[mominsaigol]

Yeah go on explain to me how Rizwan has improved his strike rate as a T20 opener playing in this position everywhere in the world (International and franchise) for the past 4 years?

Bro, trust me deep down inside these people know the truth, their not as dumb as you think, it's just denail.

Have you seen kitchen nightmares? If you haven't basically failing restraunts that are about to go out of business request help from world class chefs(Gordon ramsey, Marco Pierrepont White etc) to help them turn it around, around 30% of the restraunts still end up failing deapite this, and you know what all those 30% had in common? Denial.

The chefs straight up come and taste their food and tell them, Hey your restraunt is failing cause your food sucks, But despite this they deny and go on narratives such as, Oh maybe its the decorum, or maybe its the menu choices, or maybe customer tastes and preferences are changing or maybe the price is too high,

Any excuse to avoid admitting that the food is bad.

Its the same situation here, Deep down this man knows exactly why fakhar isn't critisiced nearly ad much as babar deapite failing 100x more,

Deep down he knows that Misbah and Babar's captaincy results in whiteball speak for themselves, but he'll go on endless narratives with excuses such as


- Misbah played with a nothing team

- Babar sher played well but his team let him down

- They went out of form at the wrong time.

- We have no one else besides these 2.

- Misbah is a legend so don't disrespect and lie.

- It wasnt the batting, it was the bowling etc.

- Fakhar is a female so double standards exist for him.

^^ Anything to deny the actual results that these people have achieved or downplay the tragedy as much as humanely possible.

Afridi played with kamran akmal, a burnt our razzaq, Wahab who has a terrible reputation on tours and post 2011, Hafeez at opening, umar akmal, asad shafiq, younis all failures in odi at their positions yet still best an all-star Sri lankan team and had to get eliminated by virtually the most op team of the tournament.

But with misbah it's always akin to must have been the wind, same with babar.

Deep down they already know bro, it's the same situation as kitchen nightmares, it doesn't matter how world class pur arguments and insights are, can't convince someone in perpetual denial.

 

[daytrader]

Yeah go on explain to me how Rizwan has improved his strike rate as a T20 opener playing in this position everywhere in the world (International and franchise) for the past 4 years?

To answer your particular question, in 2023 he was striking at 139 as an opener in T20Is. This is higher than his career of 129.

But I know, no amount of stats will satisfy you because you have your own observations.

But why stop at 4 years? Everyone knows his story from being Sarfraz's understudy to becoming our best wicket keeper batter ever in internationals.

Everyone also knows how he went from being Chadwick Walton's back up to being a PSL winning captain

 

[Rana]

To answer your particular question, in 2023 he was striking at 139 as an opener in T20Is. This is higher than his career of 129.

But I know, no amount of stats will satisfy you because you have your own observations.

But why stop at 4 years? Everyone knows his story from being Sarfraz's understudy to becoming our best wicket keeper batter ever in internationals.

Everyone also knows how he went from being Chadwick Walton's back up to being a PSL winning captain

So right now, Rizwan is the finished article as a T20 opener? 4 years on the job?

 

[daytrader]

So right now, Rizwan is the finished article as a T20 opener? 4 years on the job?

For Pakistan cricket, he's one of our best. Better than Sahibzada for sure.

And honestly he's what 32 now? He's obviously gonna start declining as age catches up to him. Another year and you will see the day he's gone

 

[Rana]

For Pakistan cricket, he's one of our best. Better than Sahibzada for sure.

And honestly he's what 32 now? He's obviously gonna start declining as age catches up to him. Another year and you will see the day he's gone

Right.

So even in his best years, he was Waaaay below par with all the international/high quality world T20 openers?

 

[daytrader]

Right.

So even in his best years, he was Waaaay below par with all the international/high quality world T20 openers?

That's not the case. He holds the record for most runs in a calendar year in t20is. Also was ranked #1. He was easily competing with the best

 

[mominsaigol]

That's not the case. He holds the record for most runs in a calendar year in t20is. Also was ranked #1. He was easily competing with the best

This is what I mean by stage 0.

Have had dozens upon dozens of arguments on c string bowlers and those bowlers numbers and who rizzu was playing against for that calender year on this form.

You even know this amd have seen it riddled everywhere, but you'll go in endless denial and act like it never happened.

 

[Rana]

That's not the case. He holds the record for most runs in a calendar year in t20is. Also was ranked #1. He was easily competing with the best

Competing with the best eh? What does he have to show for it? A World Cup winner’s medal?

 

[daytrader]

Competing with the best eh? What does he have to show for it? A World Cup winner’s medal?

Do SKY, Finn Allen, Aidan Markram, Rossouw or Jaiswal have those medals?

 

[Rana]

Do SKY, Finn Allen, Aidan Markram, Rossouw or Jaiswal have those medals?

Are they more deserving of those medals than Rizwan? Do you agree they are?

 

[mominsaigol]

Are they more deserving of those medals than Rizwan? Do you agree they are?

BTW he labelled the 32 years of age argument cause he'll start using that whenever rizzu fails.

Except future comments to be, He performed but can't do it consistently cause of age from now on.

 

[Rana]

BTW he labelled the 32 years of age argument cause he'll start using that whenever rizzu fails.

Except future comments to be, He performed but can't do it consistently cause of age from now on.

Yeah I mean at the age of 28-31 Rizwan was smoking it at 180+

So now his decline has began due to age!

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Kohli isn't a stat padder. He literally beat Pakistan from a collapsed position and chases 28 of 8 deliveries.

With the exception of R Ashwin playing the last ball, Kohli got 27 runs for his team in 6 deliveries(Coutning the no ball)

How is that stat padding? He's clearly shown he can chase and strike at over 200?

There is a word in English to describe such innings "fluke". If he had been that good where was against England in the semi final of the same WC. Pandya alone then stood for India.

 

[jnaveen1980]

The difference here kohlis place is under risk even with the incredible world t20 record. It was under risk last time as well. So he is likely to statpad even more. Babar has no excuse though. If he had played for India I would not want him in the XI much like I don't want kohli or Rohit in the XI

 

[mominsaigol]

There is a word in English to describe such innings "fluke". If he had been that good where was against England in the semi final of the same WC. Pandya alone then stood for India.

Bro do you guys even know what flukes are?

Flukes are meant to be unintentional, you dont unintentionally score 27 of 6 deliveries, the word you're looking for is outlier which means outside the normal lol.

Regardless Kohli in 2016 era alone is enough to prove everything. Not performing and struggling to score is different then deliberately amping stats which babar and rizwan do extremely consistently and have deliberately slowed down for their milestones a fact that everyone agrees with and attests to, well mostly everyone.

 

[daytrader]

Are they more deserving of those medals than Rizwan? Do you agree they are?

Why are they more deserving? Rizwan plays for an inferior team and him and Babar carry it. If we win, it would be more deserving

 

[daytrader]

BTW he labelled the 32 years of age argument cause he'll start using that whenever rizzu fails.

Except future comments to be, He performed but can't do it consistently cause of age from now on.

Yeah I mean at the age of 28-31 Rizwan was smoking it at 180+

So now his decline has began due to age!

Don't get your hopes up too high, it won't be for a few years to come. He's one of our fittest

 

[Rana]

Why are they more deserving? Rizwan plays for an inferior team and him and Babar carry it. If we win, it would be more deserving

The only thing him and Babar carry are each other’s cup cakes. If that’s the case, Kusal Mendis and Hasaranga are more deserving to win a World Cup instead of Markram, Finn Allen, Phillips etc

Even more, Shakib Al-Hasan and Liton Das are more deserving than Babar, Rizwan, Mendis and Hasaranga….

And more, Wesley Madhavere and Sikander Raza are way more deserving than Babar, Rizwan, Mendis, Hasaranga, Shakib, Liton.

Another massive step up to this, George Munsey is much more deserving to win a T20 World Cup over Babar, Rizwan, Shakib, Liton, Wesley, Sikander.

Is that what you are basically arguing?

 

[daytrader]

The only thing him and Babar carry are each other’s cup cakes. If that’s the case, Kusal Mendis and Hasaranga are more deserving to win a World Cup instead of Markram, Finn Allen, Phillips etc

Even more, Shakib Al-Hasan and Liton Das are more deserving than Babar, Rizwan, Mendis and Hasaranga….

And more, Wesley Madhavere and Sikander Raza are way more deserving than Babar, Rizwan, Mendis, Hasaranga, Shakib, Liton.

Another massive step up to this, George Munsey is much more deserving to win a T20 World Cup over Babar, Rizwan, Shakib, Liton, Wesley, Sikander.

Is that what you are basically arguing?

I'll be very happy if any of the under dogs win. Yes some of us do root for those guys. The guys you are rooting for aren't winners either, they might be favourites but more deserving? I think not. They come from better structures and teams

 

[Rana]

I'll be very happy if any of the under dogs win. Yes some of us do root for those guys. The guys you are rooting for aren't winners either, they might be favourites but more deserving? I think not. They come from better structures and teams

So basically,

Pakistan cricket team went from a solid first position/ranked team under Sarfaraz…and it was completely overhauled in order to accommodate Rizwan…and then it became a mediocre side that was being carried by Babar and Rizwan.

That’s what you are arguing?

 

[mominsaigol]

So basically,

Pakistan cricket team went from a solid first position/ranked team under Sarfaraz…and it was completely overhauled in order to accommodate Rizwan…and then it became a mediocre side that was being carried by Babar and Rizwan.

That’s what you are arguing?

Basically his argument is,

Those that worked hard to build better structures and better teams capable of winning cups are not deserving of winning

But babar and rizwan are.

^^ This argument is one of the top 5 weakest arguments ever made

 

[Rana]

Basically his argument is,

Those that worked hard to build better structures and better teams capable of winning cups are not deserving of winning

But babar and rizwan are.

^^ This argument is one of the top 5 weakest arguments ever made

Yes. That’s what he is basically arguing.

 

[daytrader]

So basically,

Pakistan cricket team went from a solid first position/ranked team under Sarfaraz…and it was completely overhauled in order to accommodate Rizwan…and then it became a mediocre side that was being carried by Babar and Rizwan.

That’s what you are arguing?

What number did we rank when Sarfraz was let go? Also when we were #1, weren't you one of the posters saying the rankings are fake because we are playing B/C teams. How times change. Now you use the same arguments to put down rizbar

 

[Rana]

What number did we rank when Sarfraz was let go? Also when we were #1, weren't you one of the posters saying the rankings are fake because we are playing B/C teams. How times change. Now you use the same arguments to put down rizbar

Pakistan didn’t lose how many series in a row under Sarfaraz? What’s his streak again? Did we achieve that under Babar against much weaker sides that Sarfaraz faced?

 

[mominsaigol]

What number did we rank when Sarfraz was let go? Also when we were #1, weren't you one of the posters saying the rankings are fake because we are playing B/C teams. How times change. Now you use the same arguments to put down rizbar

Difference is, sarfraz's rank may or may not been accurate(No ranking is ever accurate, as everyone's opinions are different) but was backed up by a trophy victory, public opinion believed they were up their due to a tournament victory.

Almost no one believed Pakistan the no 1 ranked team could actually have a respectable world cup, reality check threads were being made as far back as the asia cup

 

[daytrader]

Difference is, sarfraz's rank may or may not been accurate(No ranking is ever accurate, as everyone's opinions are different) but was backed up by a trophy victory, public opinion believed they were up their due to a tournament victory.

Almost no one believed Pakistan the no 1 ranked team could actually have a respectable world cup, reality check threads were being made as far back as the asia cup

Your cricketing knowledge ends when you compare ODIs to T20s

Please don't quote me again you lying clown. You're not worth my time

 

[mominsaigol]

Your cricketing knowledge ends when you compare ODIs to T20s

Please don't quote me again you lying clown. You're not worth my time

I will quote whoever I want and expose whoever I want, when I asked for the same privilege your bud as you call it denied it.

And I haven't lied even once, me claiming you claimed "Babar can hit 6 4's in a super over" is not me lying,

Nor is me claiming you're in a perpetual state od denial.

Look at you spamming clown emojis on me lol, people's masks ans true colors get exposed eventually, and this is exactly what I meant by you showcasing hostility towards me when we first meant and genuinely not actually meaning anything during the POTW incident lol.

 

[mominsaigol]

Pakistan didn’t lose how many series in a row under Sarfaraz? What’s his streak again? Did we achieve that under Babar against much weaker sides that Sarfaraz faced?

^^ The most honest cricketer to ever play the game

 

[The Bald Eagle]

DK much abouch this guy, Ayush Badoni from LSG, he played a good knock of 55(35) and saved his side from a one sided match. A lesson for senior stat padders from India.

 

[FastBowlingAllrounder]

Right

This strategy was exposed brutally against Australia in the semi final. Enough said there

The two games against Scotland and Namibia don’t really count or make any sense, they can’t be used to reinforce a point for whatever reasons.

Pakistan pretty much botched the chases against Afghanistan and New Zealand. There were two fluke/freak cameos by Asif Ali to see Pakistan through. The ‘strategy’ as you say….flopped.

The ‘strategy’ worked once against India, I’m not sure that was even down to a particular strategy that day. India bottled a 100% World Cup record against Pakistan. They really shouldn’t have, but fair play to Pakistan.


So out of 4 crucial games (India, NZ, AFG, AUS), the strategy came off properly once. That’s a 25% success rate. It was already on edge….and then it has been completely failing since then onwards.

Bit unfair to complete write off two games if they go against your agenda... If you're saying that because they're weaker teams then you must also realise that the Pakistan cricket team is in such shambles that they can't even take wins against Scotland, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, etc. for granted. Secondly, Namibia themselves caused an upset or two in the '22 edition of the WC.

As for the Aus semi-final, Australia batted first. IIRC I mentioned that Pakistan relied on winning the toss and bowling first (completely agree they got lucky in that regard and the moment the toss went against them it fell apart).

Fair enough re: Asif Ali cameos. But above all, I'm not necessarily advocating for this "strategy". Merely saying that accumulators may be able to leverage their skills to achieve an asymmetrical advantage under specific playing conditions.

 

[BouncerGuy]

IMO, Statpadding, and Anchors are 2 different things. Stat padding is a behavioral thing where a player plays for his personal milestone by playing slow or changing his approach towards the game while Anchor players are role-based. Mostly, top-order batters. Their job is to provide stability to the team and should be able to bat for longer durations.

 

[jnaveen1980]

IMO, Statpadding, and Anchors are 2 different things. Stat padding is a behavioral thing where a player plays for his personal milestone by playing slow or changing his approach towards the game while Anchor players are role-based. Mostly, top-order batters. Their job is to provide stability to the team and should be able to bat for longer durations.

In T20 there is absolutely no requirement for anybody to anchor the innings unless you are playing for a real crappy batting unit where half the batsmen don't know how to hold the bat. If you have half decent cameo specialists down the order who can tee off from ball one you should distribute the batting power.

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

Yeah right, dumping Kohli with Babar, Rizwan and Rahul.

Kohli has had a lot of impact in t20 world cups and knockouts, Babar and Rizwan on the other hand have nothing to show.



Kohli might not be needed in 2024 but he has already done enough in t20 world cups

 

[BouncerGuy]

In T20 there is absolutely no requirement for anybody to anchor the innings unless you are playing for a real crappy batting unit where half the batsmen don't know how to hold the bat. If you have half decent cameo specialists down the order who can tee off from ball one you should distribute the batting power.

Considering Pakistan, anchors are important. This batting unit is quite crappy and can prove to be a wall of sand.

 

[Ab Fan]

Anchoring like Virat Kohli does is absolutely perfect but you can't expect anchors to win you a tournament. They will need a couple of genuine clutch match winners at 5-6 alongwith a very good bowling attack to win a World Cup.

Ultimately, it is a team game and unless you don't have the right balance, you probably won't win anything. That's why when any team wins a World Cup, credit should go to all the players and when any team doesn't but an individual has performed, he shouldn't be downgraded for not being able to win the tournament.

 

[Ab Fan]

Considering Pakistan, anchors are important. This batting unit is quite crappy and can prove to be a wall of sand.

In T20s, you need couple of world class clutch batters in middle order like Yuvi-Dhoni or Stokes-Buttler types to win a World Cup.

 

[BouncerGuy]

In T20s, you need couple of world class clutch batters in middle order like Yuvi-Dhoni or Stokes-Buttler types to win a World Cup.

Unfortunately, Pakistan is missing one. Fakhar is considered one of them but he is pretty inconsistent TBH.

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

In T20s, you need couple of world class clutch batters in middle order like Yuvi-Dhoni or Stokes-Buttler types to win a World Cup.

Dhoni?
What has he done in t20 international and world cups?

 

[Ab Fan]

Dhoni?
What has he done in t20 international and world cups?

Won a World Cup in his first attempt.

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

Won a World Cup in his first attempt.

Joginder Sharma also won one, I guess someone like him is also needed in t20s

 

[Rana]

Anchoring like Virat Kohli does is absolutely perfect but you can't expect anchors to win you a tournament. They will need a couple of genuine clutch match winners at 5-6 alongwith a very good bowling attack to win a World Cup.

Ultimately, it is a team game and unless you don't have the right balance, you probably won't win anything. That's why when any team wins a World Cup, credit should go to all the players and when any team doesn't but an individual has performed, he shouldn't be downgraded for not being able to win the tournament.

Same question to you.

What number does the anchor bat?

A lot of people coming out with this comment “anchoring is fine as long as this and that”….


First clarify what number the anchor bats? Then I’ll tell you what’s fine or not!

 

[Ab Fan]

Joginder Sharma also won one, I guess someone like him is also needed in t20s

MSD captained them to a T20 World Cup win with his revolutionary on field tactics and team selection. All of those wins were down to his team defending some tricky chases led by his captaincy.

Joginder Sharma is a nobody. He bowled the final over and bowled some harmless full toss at low pace.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Anchoring like Virat Kohli does is absolutely perfect but you can't expect anchors to win you a tournament. They will need a couple of genuine clutch match winners at 5-6 alongwith a very good bowling attack to win a World Cup.

Ultimately, it is a team game and unless you don't have the right balance, you probably won't win anything. That's why when any team wins a World Cup, credit should go to all the players and when any team doesn't but an individual has performed, he shouldn't be downgraded for not being able to win the tournament.

Current Kohli has multi fold issues. Weak against spin. in order to show numbers he does slow down while approaching mile stones. He was not like that 5 or 6 years back. He can totally outperform so many batsmen in the world. But we have to look at from India's perspective. One main reason we keep losing is we don't have a versatile side. A largely one-dimensional, predictable side. You know which guy India will depend on. You know which bowlers will bowl at what phase. Teams use that predictability to their advantage. In comes Kohli they toss the ball to a random left arm spinner. To counter that you need a spin bully at other end. We usually have Rahul who can play spin well. But he doesn't bully them.

 

[Ab Fan]

Same question to you.

What number does the anchor bat?

A lot of people coming out with this comment “anchoring is fine as long as this and that”….


First clarify what number the anchor bats? Then I’ll tell you what’s fine or not!

Ideally it should be #3 as you are allowing your opener to go boom boom first up. If it comes off, rest can just follow the template. If he gets out cheaply then #3 can come and anchor the innings.

Having said that, the #3 should have the ability to bat through and make an impact in the consequence of the game.

 

[Ab Fan]

Current Kohli has multi fold issues. Weak against spin. in order to show numbers he does slow down while approaching mile stones. He was not like that 5 or 6 years back. He can totally outperform so many batsmen in the world. But we have to look at from India's perspective. One main reason we keep losing is we don't have a versatile side. A largely one-dimensional, predictable side. You know which guy India will depend on. You know which bowlers will bowl at what phase. Teams use that predictability to their advantage. In comes Kohli they toss the ball to a random left arm spinner. To counter that you need a spin bully at other end. We usually have Rahul who can play spin well. But he doesn't bully them.

Rahul is not a solution in T20. Look beyond, it has to be Surya, Hardik and someone else. Hardik is also weak in striking the ball vs pace so every player will have some weakness or other. Surya may get out cheaply in a big game trying to over-attack.

Pant does well in IPL but his T20 record is poor so not sure about him too. Samson also does well in IPL but seems good vs bad bowlers but bad vs good bowlers and Jitesh may not have the clutch ability to finish pressure games. Kohli is not necessarily a problem given his form in the last 1.5 years in white ball cricket.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Rahul is not a solution in T20. Look beyond, it has to be Surya, Hardik and someone else. Hardik is also weak in striking the ball vs pace so every player will have some weakness or other. Surya may get out cheaply in a big game trying to over-attack.

Pant does well in IPL but his T20 record is poor so not sure about him too. Samson also does well in IPL but seems good vs bad bowlers but bad vs good bowlers and Jitesh may not have the clutch ability to finish pressure games. Kohli is not necessarily a problem given his form in the last 1.5 years in white ball cricket.

This iis why sending a raw young team with different dynamics should be tried. Sure they will lose a few. We shouldn't write them off. Give them a run. This superstar culture has to vanish. This concept of playing around "a certain batsman" will not go away until all of these seniors retire at the same time. Not one by one.

 

[topspin]

@daytrader

We can make Babar and Rizwan opening work. Hear me out. Don’t worry we can continue with Misbah’s choice of openers so there’s no need to panic.

I suggest Babar should face first ball and hit six fours in the first over to send Pakistan off to a flyer with 24 runs on the board after the 1st over.

For the remaining 5 overs in the powerplay, Babar and Rizwan can revert to their normal mode of operation and play at an ODI strike rate. They are capable of scoring 36 off the next 30 balls.

This will achieve 60 runs off 6 overs after the powerplay without any scary risks of being caught on the boundary whilst attempting a six.

I’ll be sending my proposal to Misbah but thought I’d run it by you first to get your views on this.

 

[topspin]

Very hard to explain.

Personally (without being disrespectful towards anyone here), I feel that the vast majority of the good writers are mostly good academic students who have done well in their studies to acquire a good degree, job or whatever in their lives. Maybe a lot of them originate from upper middle class families from Pakistan and have sought residence abroad in Canada/USA through their hard work. Which is good. Well done for achieving what you have…


Then again, the basic nature of most of these good writers does reflect a sense of impracticality when it comes to reading the actual game, how it’s evolving and the reading of the actual level of players, what their strengths and weaknesses are. Theoretically, you will find writers who supposedly want to build their narrative on logic, sense and what seems statistically correct. But practically, you cannot explain to them the realities and actual dynamics of the game.

There is a champion team: let’s go back at the list of recent WT20 winners; England 2022, Australia 2021, West Indies 2016, Sri Lanka 2014, West Indies 2012.

In the last decade or so, one team out of 5 world cups has won the T20 World Cup by playing “5 anchors” as they say, whereas 4 other teams has played batting line ups consisting of impact players/certified 6 hitters/ aggressive mindset players. Yet, this is someone these good writers will now look to cling on to in order to try and make sense of what they think is right.


The anchor theory in 2014 needs to be scrutinised carefully there too. What is the proof that Sri Lanka succeeded by setting up to anchors, whereas everyone else failed because they were playing more conventional T20 style batsmen instead? If that was a correct approach by SL, why has it not been effective since then with 3 world cups won by teams that are loaded with big guns with the odd anchor…and the anchor doesn’t open the innings!!!

As far as the matter of trying is concerned, they don’t even want you to try and match the best teams in the world! They will not let young teams, young players grow and learn. That’s why I was never truly excited about Saim opening against New Zealand under Hafeez. I knew this is not going to be successful because the kid will not be allowed to fail as long as Babar or Rizwan are in the squad and sulking about their desired opening position.

POTW

 

[Rana]

POTW

Lol, guys like me don’t win awards like Rizwan wins ICC player of the month awards

 

[topspin]

Joginder Sharma also won one, I guess someone like him is also needed in t20s

You do because Pakistan has Misbah 2.0.

 

[topspin]

Lol, guys like me don’t win awards like Rizwan wins ICC player of the month awards

It’s an award that mostly belongs to Misbah/Babar/Rizwan fans.

 

[Ab Fan]

This iis why sending a raw young team with different dynamics should be tried. Sure they will lose a few. We shouldn't write them off. Give them a run. This superstar culture has to vanish. This concept of playing around "a certain batsman" will not go away until all of these seniors retire at the same time. Not one by one.

It can be tried. But my point is that if this is not possible, atleast for the T20s I believe we have bigger problems than Kohli. Last time Rohit and Rahul both were flops. Even this IPL( current form), Kohli has done better than Rohit or Rahul.

 

[mominsaigol]

It’s an award that mostly belongs to Misbah/Babar/Rizwan fans.

Is their any babar/ Rizwan fan that hates misbah or vice versa? Never encountered any tbh except maybe one or 2 but even they mostly end up backtracking

 

[Rana]

Is their any babar/ Rizwan fan that hates misbah or vice versa? Never encountered any tbh except maybe one or 2 but even they mostly end up backtracking

@PakEngFan hates Misbah but loves Babar and Rizwan.


I personally think he is dishonest about hating Misbah

 

[jnaveen1980]

It can be tried. But my point is that if this is not possible, atleast for the T20s I believe we have bigger problems than Kohli. Last time Rohit and Rahul both were flops. Even this IPL( current form), Kohli has done better than Rohit or Rahul.

They are collectively our problem. Even if you remove ROhit and Rahul , others will try to play around Kohli which should never be the case. Nobody should play around anybody.

 

[topspin]

Is their any babar/ Rizwan fan that hates misbah or vice versa? Never encountered any tbh except maybe one or 2 but even they mostly end up backtracking

As Rana said, the only one I know of is @PakEngFan

 

[mominsaigol]

@PakEngFan hates Misbah but loves Babar and Rizwan.


I personally think he is dishonest about hating Misbah

As Rana said, the only one I know of is @PakEngFan

Doesn't he always claim

I hate this player but their all we got?

Even with babar getting Into the Indian team it's, I hate babar but if its him vs sheryas, Babar is the only option India has got

 

[PakEngFan]

@PakEngFan hates Misbah but loves Babar and Rizwan.


I personally think he is dishonest about hating Misbah

So you know what's in my heart? I have said it a million times misbah was the worst thing to happen to Pakistan cricket and I for the million time I don't love Babar or Rizwan. I defend them against blind haters like you.

 

[topspin]

So you know what's in my heart? I have said it a million times misbah was the worst thing to happen to Pakistan cricket and I for the million time I don't love Babar or Rizwan. I defend them against blind haters like you.

That's not true because I remember when other posters used to post about their opposition about the RizBar opening partnership, your response was always hostile towards them.

Have some chest and admit you were one of the biggest proponents of Babar and Rizwan batting together as openers in T20Is.

 

[topspin]

That's not true because I remember when other posters used to post about their opposition about the RizBar opening partnership, your response was always hostile towards them.

Have some chest and admit you were one of the biggest proponents of Babar and Rizwan batting together as openers in T20Is.

@PakEngFan

I was once a supporter of the RizBar opening partnership because like you I once used to believe there were no other viable options until @Rana debunked this.

 

[Rana]

So you know what's in my heart?

I didn’t claim to know. I wrote “I think”

Besides, you also call everyone who disagrees with your cricketing views as “blind haters”. As if their cricketing opinion is dishonest

 

[PakEngFan]

That's not true because I remember when other posters used to post about their opposition about the RizBar opening partnership, your response was always hostile towards them.

Have some chest and admit you were one of the biggest proponents of Babar and Rizwan batting together as openers in T20Is.

Let me repeat for the millionth time. Get rid of both of them when you find better players. When I ask for alternatives people can't only silly suggestions like ttf fakhar and a fixer like sharjeel who can't even perform in Ramadan tournaments. As I have said Saim should replace rizwan at opening because he's clearly got the talent and potential to be better than rizwan. Not hard to accept if you look at it without any bais.

 

[mominsaigol]

Let me repeat for the millionth time. Get rid of both of them when you find better players. When I ask for alternatives people can't only silly suggestions like ttf fakhar and a fixer like sharjeel who can't even perform in Ramadan tournaments. As I have said Saim should replace rizwan at opening because he's clearly got the talent and potential to be better than rizwan. Not hard to accept if you look at it without any bais.

You're going so far as to defend babar's 4 tournament failures in a row and even undermining Sarfraz's tournament success but not acknowledging 2022 nedtherlands victory as us even reaching in the first place.

For asia cup you're only argument was I don't rate it.

Quit the drama, if you were genuine, you'd have responded and accepted that he isn't a good by any means.

 

[Rana]

Let me repeat for the millionth time. Get rid of both of them when you find better players

No.

Get rid of them now and play the correct style of players as openers. I don’t care if they have an average of 40 or 50.

 

[Statpadder Inc]

Let me repeat for the millionth time. Get rid of both of them when you find better players.

You won't get those players falling out of the sky. Give chances to players with good potential and play them at their best positions

 

[jnaveen1980]

You're going so far as to defend babar's 4 tournament failures in a row and even undermining Sarfraz's tournament success but not acknowledging 2022 nedtherlands victory as us even reaching in the first place.

For asia cup you're only argument was I don't rate it.

Quit the drama, if you were genuine, you'd have responded and accepted that he isn't a good by any means.

I checked Babar's T20 stats in world T20. Strike rate is 114 in 13 innings including 6 matches against Namibia, Netherlands, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Scotland, Zimbabwe.

 

[Rana]

You won't get those players falling out of the sky. Give chances to players with good potential and play them at their best positions

Of course he knows those players won’t fall out of the sky. It’s their way of deflecting and buying as much time as they can for these selfish statspadders to score a 50 and then using it to argue why they should be the openers

They’ve been playing these tricks for years.

 

[daytrader]

@daytrader

We can make Babar and Rizwan opening work. Hear me out. Don’t worry we can continue with Misbah’s choice of openers so there’s no need to panic.

I suggest Babar should face first ball and hit six fours in the first over to send Pakistan off to a flyer with 24 runs on the board after the 1st over.

For the remaining 5 overs in the powerplay, Babar and Rizwan can revert to their normal mode of operation and play at an ODI strike rate. They are capable of scoring 36 off the next 30 balls.

This will achieve 60 runs off 6 overs after the powerplay without any scary risks of being caught on the boundary whilst attempting a six.

I’ll be sending my proposal to Misbah but thought I’d run it by you first to get your views on this.

They were not just Misbah's choice only. Saqlain, Mickey Arthur and Co all had them opening together - why? Because it was working

 

[Rana]

Because it was working

Really?

If it was working, why was the team totally unbalanced? Why couldn’t you find a single/proper middle order Batsman for Pakistan?

If it was working….why did you have openers batting at 3-4 and even 7 (Sahibzada Farhan)?

 

[PakEngFan]

You won't get those players falling out of the sky. Give chances to players with good potential and play them at their best positions

Those players need to perform in domestics. Is Babar and rizwan stopping them in domestics too?

 

[PakEngFan]

No.

Get rid of them now and play the correct style of players as openers. I don’t care if they have an average of 40 or 50.

And the correct style player are? Fakhar who was the worst opener in PSL and a flopped t20 opener and sharjeel the fixer who even struggled in Sindh league? You only have Saim at the moment and he deserves all the chances.

 

[mominsaigol]

And the correct style player are? Fakhar who was the worst opener in PSL and a flopped t20 opener and sharjeel the fixer who even struggled in Sindh league? You only have Saim at the moment and he deserves all the chances.

Why do you keep forgetting about usman khan?

You're constantly stating they need to perform and when a viable opener/ Top order bat does perform you respond with

But but I personally don't rate him? Silly logic

 

[PakEngFan]

Why do you keep forgetting about usman khan?

You're constantly stating they need to perform and when a viable opener/ Top order bat does perform you respond with

But but I personally don't rate him? Silly logic

The reason why I don't say Usman is because he's a spin basher and is woeful against pace hence not an opener. I don't think I have seen this guy hit a six against pace.

 

[Ahmed216]

Captain Azam and his friend Rizwan will bat at their preferred positions.Call it statpadding or whatever