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That is not an unplayable delivery, his technique to face that ball is all over it..
With his stance , i feel he will always find difficult to play the rising ball.. With 12k FC runs and 50+ avg i would expect him to duck and leave this rising bounce, instead of standing still like a wall for the ball to hit him...
Drop him now or keep suffering, he will be worse than Asad in away SENA tours...
India and SENA countries just discard those players who score a century but which doesnt change the outcome of the match and then they keep failing. Sir [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] is right, Wasim Khan, Ehshan Mani and Misbah ul Haq are confident that they have such a bunch of fans who will go easy on players who score a century and keep failing series by series untill fans run out of patience after defending them for their pathetic performances. There is a reason why Pakistan team is ranked 7th and India and SENA countries are so improved and are in top 5.
Fawad Alam since his comeback:
4 Tests
7 innings, 1 not out
1 century, 0 fifties, 6 innings under 25
AVERAGE 25.00
In which universe is that good enough?
1 bad game and knives are out already. Have some patience. Test cricket is not easy. VVS Laxman had test average of 20 after 17 games. All teams are home track bullies these days. Pakistan is lagging behind because they don't play at home. NZ are a beast test side at home. They hammered us also last year (India). Atleast Fawad scored a century. This new guy Jammison is unplayable like Anderson at times.
Fawad Alam since his comeback:
4 Tests
7 innings, 1 not out
1 century, 0 fifties, 6 innings under 25
AVERAGE 25.00
In which universe is that good enough?
He is averaging 26 after two tours since comeback.
He was as responsible for this whitewash as any batsman, because he badly failed in the first innings of both Tests and helped New Zealand take complete charge of the Tests.
An average of 26 is simply not good enough for a 35 year old batsman with 12,000 FC runs under his belt.
He was brought into the team to make an instant impact. He has failed to provide that. He has been utterly pathetic apart from one inconsequential innings.
If he needs a bedding period like everyone else and then there is no point in picking a 35 year old like him, and if he needs Sri Lanka and Bangladesh reserves to score runs then there is no need to flash his FC record.
Fawad Alam admirers : Is this what you like about him?
Out of 150+ years of Test cricket history, you have come up with 6-7 names to prove your point. Alright. I am convinced.
He has 12k FC runs. If he cannot handle these “unplayable” deliveries, why is he in the team?
People with their poor cricket acumen will glorify useless 4th innings runs, but Test matches are set up in the first two innings.
Fawad has yet again flopped at a time when his runs could have proved to be decisive in shaping the outcome of the match.
A 50-60 here would have been worth more than his stats-boosting, inconsequential hundred in the first Test and put Pakistan in a very commanding position.
Firstly, VVS averaged 20 after 17 games but he was 22 years old. He was a long-term investment for India and it paid off.
Fawad is 35 years old. He is not a long-term investment. He was picked at this stage of his career so that he can produce instant impact and utilize all the FC experience that he has gathered over the years.
He was basically expected to have the type of impact Voges had for Australia in 2015-16, when he averaged around 60 for 20 Tests before getting dropped because of old age.
He got his baggy green at the age of 35 after toiling in Shield Cricket for over a decade, and when he finally got his chance, he utilized that experience and hit the ground running in international cricket.
If Fawad needs a settling in period like rookie batsmen, then there is no point in selecting him because Pakistan is not going to reap any rewards 5, 10 years from now.
It is better to invest in a much younger batsman with a high FC average because even if that young batsmen needs a settling in period, there will be hope that he will repay the faith down the line.
Secondly, Pakistan is not lagging behind other teams because of not playing at home. Where do you think we were playing our home matches when we became the number 1 Test team in 2016?
The problem for Pakistan is that it is a very poor team with very poor cricketers. Poor cricketers who lack talent, skill and intelligence.
At the moment, our winning capacity is very limited against the strong sides. The only way we can win is if we play on turning tracks and throw Yasir Shah the ball, who is the only experienced match-winning Test bowler in Pakistan at the moment.
Absurd that posters also bashed him here.
Fawad should have seen it through to the close of play, and it's fair to criticize him for a soft dismissal, however, the two batsmen that should really be criticized today for getting starts and then throwing it away are Azhar and Rizwan.
I would rather take an 88 lead which is quite decent given the pitch, they'll be nervous to bat SA.
I don't understand how anyone can't appreciate a batsman coming in at 25/4, and then having three back to back partnerships to take the score to 270 before being 7th man dismissed on a pitch which had a bit of an uneven bounce throughout, while scoring a 100 (and the highest scorer in two innings by some distance).
Your post lacks complete self-awareness, and unless you are parodying yourself as a good sport, is ridiculous beyond belief.
3 centuries in 15 test innings.
None of the wickets that have fallen in this innings, apart from arguably Imran Butt's and even that dismissal was attributable to poor technique, have been due to the pitch misbehaving. There is variable bounce and inconsistent pace, but it's not unplayable. The ball hasn't spun sharply either.
If South Africa collapse tomorrow, it'll be down to inept batting more than bad batting conditions.
Others do not have 12k FC runs at an average of 55+. He should not be praised for doing the bare minimum.
It was just an okay innings like Azhar and Faheem’s. Nothing more than that.
So he almost scored double his average, good by him..
On this pitch and if you've done an analysis on Nuaman Ali in particular he can skittle a team in a second innings and has done so in QeA.
So he almost scored double of his average, good by him..
Very true. Unfortunately all our players (including Babar) and most of the fans have this small team mentality.
I have no doubt that this is the ideal surface for an accurate spinner like Nauman Ali, but I still feel that concerns over the pitch have been overplayed. If South Africa bat sensibly tomorrow, not that I think that's probable given how they batted on day 1, they can accumulate a lead over 200.
Again, I don’t need lectures on cricket from deluded Pakistani fans.
I will repeat - 109 is not a great Test knock for a 55 averaging batsman with 12k runs in most circumstances including this one, and yes I am aware of the match situation and the pitch.
It was just a “good” innings. Nothing more, nothing less. Certainly not worth the 250 tribute threads that are running around today.
Pakistan is a small team, to pretend otherwise is nothing more than unwarranted ego inflation. As a small player for a small team Fawad scored a small hundred, and it seems to have infuriated some small minded cheerleaders which makes me happy to a small degree.
You cant call him a bad batsman and ignore the FC performances, and then when he performs in international cricket - say that his innings isn't a great test knock because his average is so high in domestic.
The issue, as always, is fan reaction. If they accept that Fawad is just a 35-40 averaging batsman, I will not criticize him for scoring 109.
However, first they hype up his FC average of 55 and then they also distribute mithai when he scores 109. Looks like they themselves do not have expectations from him in spite of hyping his average.
Fawad should have seen it through to the close of play, and it's fair to criticize him for a soft dismissal, however, the two batsmen that should really be criticized today for getting starts and then throwing it away are Azhar and Rizwan.

The issue, as always, is fan reaction. If they accept that Fawad is just a 35-40 averaging batsman, I will not criticize him for scoring 109.
However, first they hype up his FC average of 55 and then they also distribute mithai when he scores 109. Looks like they themselves do not have expectations from him in spite of hyping his average.
So critise the people who have scored runs but we should not critise the ones that haven't right ?
Batsmen that get in on this wicket should make it count. No one should be satisfied with pretty 30s or ugly 50s.
Fawad should be disappointed with getting out before the close of play, his job wasn't done. Nonetheless, that doesn't mean we shouldn't praise him.
Sucks the life out of the game. Ugly watch. Should be replaced with Haris Sohail.
Fawad Alam is an inspiring story.
We are such a rubbish ODI team, i say no harm in trying Fawad Alam in ODIs..
An ugly 50 so far but runs are runs!
Sucks the life out of the game. Ugly watch. Should be replaced with Haris Sohail.
Fawad Alam is an inspiring story.
We are such a rubbish ODI team, i say no harm in trying Fawad Alam in ODIs..
Keeping him out for a decade is the most glaring injustice I’ve seen in Pakistan cricket. Yet another skillful inning in tough conditions.
Sadly he doesn’t have a lot of time left at age 35 but really hope he has another couple of productive years. Of course his numerous detractors will be on his case every time he fails but for now they can eat cake.
All substance, zero style. That's Fawad Alam for you. And quite honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way.
Not comparing who is the better batsman, but interestingly:
Fawad Alam has 5 centuries in 13 Tests
Babar Azam has 5 centuries in 35 Tests
babar has failed to show hes an innings builder, even in domestics he has one giant double hundred, and only two other hundreds in 40 odd first class games.
as good as he is, unless he levels up that ability to rack up big daddy hundreds he will not fulfull his potential, which doesnt mean he wont still be a good batsmen, but not the white knight pak were expecting him to be.
I think given the rubbish situation Babar was given he’s done well. You ain’t always gonna score 100s all the time but it takes a true leader to declare when he should, support the players when they do well and bat in a crisis situation just like he did in Pakistan against SA and then again in this match.
We are always too harsh on players but we need to look at the match scenario and how somebody’s contribution turned that around.
read my post again, i have not said anywhere his runs were not crucial, but you cant ignore the elephant in the room, he has a propensity to get out at the start of a new day and 8 hundreds in 70 first class games and an average of 41 shows that there is room for improvement.
babar has failed to show hes an innings builder, even in domestics he has one giant double hundred, and only two other hundreds in 40 odd first class games.
as good as he is, unless he levels up that ability to rack up big daddy hundreds he will not fulfull his potential, which doesnt mean he wont still be a good batsmen, but not the white knight pak were expecting him to be.
yup Babar needs to level up ... As elite as he is in LOIs, he hasn't reached that world class level in tests ... thought his run from 2018-2020 where he averaged 61 was the sign of his ascendency but it has stalled in the past year ... hopefully playing with Fawad, a real superstar in this format can help Babar convert more of his 50s into 100s ... still got time
Not comparing who is the better batsman, but interestingly:
Fawad Alam has 5 centuries in 13 Tests
Babar Azam has 5 centuries in 35 Tests
Fawad has scored for more than a decade in first class cricket. Babar Azam has some time to develop himself as a great test batsman