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[VIDEOS] How good really is Saif Badar?

That was the dark era for Pakistan cricket, and everything that could have gone south, ultimately did go there.
The old batch were not bad with regards to physical ability, but they were not handled well or groomed in a competitive system.
Most of those guys were also not very bright upstairs and did not have a role model like Babar to emulate. Maqsood for example has shown minimal improvement in terms of technique. The less said about umar and Nasir, the better.

The new batch on the other hand, is being developed methodically and their growth is being facilitated by the system.

These guys are also developing in a backdrop where they have seen the previous batch dissipate altogether and seem to have learnt from their examples, as a result, have a better head on their shoulders.
All in all, these guys are part of a cultural change that is happening in Pakistan cricket, therefore i expect them to come good. InshaAllah!

In Sha Allah
 
Well the talent was no doubt there for a lot of these, but the system wasn’t. All these new youngsters are for example crazy fit compared to Haris Sohail, Umar Akmal, and Sohaib Maqsood. Abdullah Shafique quite literally packs a six pack.

Secondly, I feel there is more trust in the system now to groom batsmen than there was before. This is because a narrowed down system of just 6 teams means if you emerge as a top run scorer, you were able to do so without capitalizing on mediocre third seamers after batting out the new ball, or bashing full tosses from spinners.

There are also incentives to play positive cricket that weren’t there before which we see in how the Quaid e Azam points table is structured. Teams like Northern are doing fascinatingly well as a result. And finally, coaches are no longer accountable to their respective departments. But rather, now they are accountable to the PCB. In the previous system, 6th coach was the 6th best coach out of 20.

In this system, 6th coach is the worst coach out of 6. Removal of certain coaches between 2019 to 2020 based not just on results but on brand of cricket, set the precedent for this. You can no longer afford to be complacent, or rely on your “experienced” 35 year old gang to bash second XI standard 20 year olds. That used to be a winning formula - now, coaches are forced to pick the genuine best. On a similar point, given the number of teams in the previous system, one loss or win here or there just wasn’t enough. You were allowed to be mercurial and just needed one solid patch of form as a team to rise to the top. This new system can send you from the top to the bottom of the table within 2 games. You need to be consistent, and you need to always be on your toes from a strategic point of view.

That’s why coaches are beginning to back proper young talents as failure to do so will cost them their jobs. In turn, the genuine quality talents are quickly spotted. Before, you would have a crop of young batsmen emerge like the ones you mentioned but you couldn’t really differentiate the quality quickly because stats tended to be inflated against worse teams, and therefore didn’t tell you the entire story. Now, stats give a much, much clearer picture of quality. Though they don’t tell the entire story, a 150 here means a lot more than a 150 by a batsman 3 years ago. This allows quick identification and promotion.

There are still many wonders of the system that are still being implemented. Expect to see the results more clearly in 1-2 years’ time. Just as a sneakpeak, let me illustrate a hypothetical scenario. We know that not all these young batsmen will make it to the top level, because only 11 people can play for Pakistan. What that means is that we will have a lot of technically correct, fit, strokeplaying batsmen dominating the charts in five years time, when Omair bin Yousuf, Ali Zaryab, Saif Badar, etc are all at their peaks, while Khurram Manzoor and co are phased out. That in turn raises the standard of domestic cricket even further compared to today. So now imagine that around that time a new fast bowler comes along and tops the charts - it will mean a lot, lot more than Tabish Khan topping the charts with a dukes ball against substandard lineups.

Then you will know that there is genuine quality - no need to throw players against the wall and see what sticks.

:salute
And many thanks for the post.

Art is The Perfect Science.
 
Well the talent was no doubt there for a lot of these, but the system wasn’t. All these new youngsters are for example crazy fit compared to Haris Sohail, Umar Akmal, and Sohaib Maqsood. Abdullah Shafique quite literally packs a six pack.

Secondly, I feel there is more trust in the system now to groom batsmen than there was before. This is because a narrowed down system of just 6 teams means if you emerge as a top run scorer, you were able to do so without capitalizing on mediocre third seamers after batting out the new ball, or bashing full tosses from spinners.

There are also incentives to play positive cricket that weren’t there before which we see in how the Quaid e Azam points table is structured. Teams like Northern are doing fascinatingly well as a result. And finally, coaches are no longer accountable to their respective departments. But rather, now they are accountable to the PCB. In the previous system, 6th coach was the 6th best coach out of 20.

In this system, 6th coach is the worst coach out of 6. Removal of certain coaches between 2019 to 2020 based not just on results but on brand of cricket, set the precedent for this. You can no longer afford to be complacent, or rely on your “experienced” 35 year old gang to bash second XI standard 20 year olds. That used to be a winning formula - now, coaches are forced to pick the genuine best. On a similar point, given the number of teams in the previous system, one loss or win here or there just wasn’t enough. You were allowed to be mercurial and just needed one solid patch of form as a team to rise to the top. This new system can send you from the top to the bottom of the table within 2 games. You need to be consistent, and you need to always be on your toes from a strategic point of view.

That’s why coaches are beginning to back proper young talents as failure to do so will cost them their jobs. In turn, the genuine quality talents are quickly spotted. Before, you would have a crop of young batsmen emerge like the ones you mentioned but you couldn’t really differentiate the quality quickly because stats tended to be inflated against worse teams, and therefore didn’t tell you the entire story. Now, stats give a much, much clearer picture of quality. Though they don’t tell the entire story, a 150 here means a lot more than a 150 by a batsman 3 years ago. This allows quick identification and promotion.

There are still many wonders of the system that are still being implemented. Expect to see the results more clearly in 1-2 years’ time. Just as a sneakpeak, let me illustrate a hypothetical scenario. We know that not all these young batsmen will make it to the top level, because only 11 people can play for Pakistan. What that means is that we will have a lot of technically correct, fit, strokeplaying batsmen dominating the charts in five years time, when Omair bin Yousuf, Ali Zaryab, Saif Badar, etc are all at their peaks, while Khurram Manzoor and co are phased out. That in turn raises the standard of domestic cricket even further compared to today. So now imagine that around that time a new fast bowler comes along and tops the charts - it will mean a lot, lot more than Tabish Khan topping the charts with a dukes ball against substandard lineups.

Then you will know that there is genuine quality - no need to throw players against the wall and see what sticks.

Brilliantly put.

Just to add, contrary to popular beliefs there was a lot of politics involved in the departmental setup. Development and trust in the system to develop players aside, quite a lot of players which are getting to see now were either warming the benches or were not even getting selected by the departments and there was zero accountability for that as they were not run by PCB.

Abdullah Shafique for example only got to debut in FC cricket in last season. In 2018 he was selected by MS in PSL but couldnt even get into any of the QAE sides or make his FC debut. So Abdullah's talent was either not recognized at domestic level or the departments just wanted to go with a 30 odd year old 30 averaging batsman rather than any experiment. Another example of someone a bit older than Abdullah, Mohammad Imran who debuted in 2015-16 QAE season and played handful of matches during last 5 years and under the new domestic structure his potential is clearly recognized and we are seeing decent development as well. There are many other such examples of players who might have been somewhere in the background if it wasnt for the new structure.

Domestic structure is now finally being properly used as the tool to help meet the demands of Pakistan cricket rather than previous system which didnt have much direction and all the organizations with departmental teams had much more at their hands than to worry about their teams and thus some of them werent even much interested. It was clearly manifested the way some departments winded up their teams in recent times.
 
Brilliantly put.

Just to add, contrary to popular beliefs there was a lot of politics involved in the departmental setup. Development and trust in the system to develop players aside, quite a lot of players which are getting to see now were either warming the benches or were not even getting selected by the departments and there was zero accountability for that as they were not run by PCB.

Abdullah Shafique for example only got to debut in FC cricket in last season. In 2018 he was selected by MS in PSL but couldnt even get into any of the QAE sides or make his FC debut. So Abdullah's talent was either not recognized at domestic level or the departments just wanted to go with a 30 odd year old 30 averaging batsman rather than any experiment. Another example of someone a bit older than Abdullah, Mohammad Imran who debuted in 2015-16 QAE season and played handful of matches during last 5 years and under the new domestic structure his potential is clearly recognized and we are seeing decent development as well. There are many other such examples of players who might have been somewhere in the background if it wasnt for the new structure.

Domestic structure is now finally being properly used as the tool to help meet the demands of Pakistan cricket rather than previous system which didnt have much direction and all the organizations with departmental teams had much more at their hands than to worry about their teams and thus some of them werent even much interested. It was clearly manifested the way some departments winded up their teams in recent times.

Adding to this further, Saif Badar was also roped into PSL but Wasim Akram with Multan Sultan preferred to play the oldies like malik and tanveer and many more and Saif was given less than 1/2 overs to bat. Wasim Akram with MS was a shame ... and to be realistic, he didnt do much for promoting local young talent with Kings as well...

Given that now PCB has put domestic games in HD live with proper (how ever poor in quality u can argue) commentary, there is little room for nepotism

first time i think i didnt see the likes of Arsal Sheikh ( son of shakeel sheikh) in any team .. otherwise he was a must for islamabad and would play as a specialist spinner and never bowl or bat...

the system will take time.. the garbage will be filtered out , rather forced out
 
How of these so called new talents are actually good and not just hyped?

I only rate Haider, Saud Shakeel, Hurrarira out of this current batch. Don't really think Saif, Zeeshan, are the good.

Jury is still out on abdullah shafique but he has potential.
 
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From PCB report for Day 1 of Round 6 of QeA

Southern Punjab were struggling at 46 for three before half-centuries by their captain Umar Siddiq, Saif Badar and Salman Ali Agha helped their side to a respectable total and two batting bonus points.

Umar, the wicketkeeper-batsman, smashed 89 off 203 in an innings studded with nine boundaries and was supported by Saif Badar as the pair stitched a solid 143-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Saif, the 22-year-old, made 81 with the help of 10 fours and two sixes.
 
How of these so called new talents are actually good and not just hyped?

I only rate Haider, Saud Shakeel, Hurrarira out of this current batch. Don't really think Saif, Zeeshan, are the good.

Jury is still out on abdullah shafique but he has potential.

I don't think you not rating them makes them good or bad. Either the "Jury" you are talking about. Obviously, not every player on this list is gonna succeed. But They are being hyped for the right reasons. People who watch Domestic cricket regularly can at least tell someone with potential. Whether that player comes through on that potential is up to the player or the circumstances. The fact remains that as long as I have been following Pakistan Cricket, I haven't seen this much batting talent come through at the same time.
 
Unfortunately he hasn't gone on to make a hundred. Hopefully he makes at least one hundred for his season to get more noticed.
 
I'll say it again, he's doing well, but he needs hundreds, 150s and the odd double hundred.

I know it's easier said than done, but to make an impression, 50s won't impress the selectors too much, as we have seen in the past with other players.
 
Usually he gets a game, then dropped for 5 games, then one game out of position, then back. Then the season ends. Then he gets a game in a T20 batting at 7. Then dropped for 3. Then brought back to play at 7 again. And so on.

Yes exactly thats what happened in the national cup
 
Hussain Talat
Agha Salman
Saim Ayub

There are going to be more appearing in the next 2 years.
Our domestic circuit used to be flooded with expired domestic bullies, chachas and uncles with no futures.
They are all getting strained out in this new system.

Also hurraira adeel meo and mubasir khan from the 19s and a few others
 
Talented players currently

Hurraira
Haider ali
Omair bin yousuf
Saud shakeel
Aghar salman
Nasir nawaz
Mubasir khan
Adeel meoo
Abdullah shafique
Imran butt
Danish aziz
Abdul wahid
Akif javed
Sami ayub
Hussain talent
Zeeshan malik
Muhammed haris
Rohail nazir
Ali zaryab
Saif badar
Anymore talented ones ?
 
Talented players currently

Hurraira
Haider ali
Omair bin yousuf
Saud shakeel
Aghar salman
Nasir nawaz
Mubasir khan
Adeel meoo
Abdullah shafique
Imran butt
Danish aziz
Abdul wahid
Akif javed
Sami ayub
Hussain talent
Zeeshan malik
Muhammed haris
Rohail nazir
Ali zaryab
Saif badar
Anymore talented ones ?

Qasim Akram. Good cricketer.
 
Is having a decent season but will need one outstanding season before he deserves a look in.
Saud,Omair and Kamran ghulam should be ahead of him in pecking order.
 
I believe he's good enough to represent Pakistan now.

But, he NEEDS to average minimum 40 in both formats.
 
I believe he's good enough to represent Pakistan now.

But, he NEEDS to average minimum 40 in both formats.

He needs to score at least 5 hundreds and average more than 40 before being considered.

He only has one hundred at the moment.
 
He's averaging 50 this season.

It's his last televised game tomorrow.

He needs a 100.
 
Comes in on a tough pitch

Scores 35* off 35 right now whilst his partner was 23 off 100

Super batsman

One shot he played in the first innings was WORLD CLASS

It was a boundary on the up against Taj Wali.

Can the video be posted?
 
Comes in on a tough pitch

Scores 35* off 35 right now whilst his partner was 23 off 100

Super batsman

One shot he played in the first innings was WORLD CLASS

It was a boundary on the up against Taj Wali.

Can the video be posted?

This is a little misleading. When Badar came in, his partner was 23 off 92. During the time Badar made that 35(35) when you posted, Rafique got to 51(132).

So while Badar was at the crease, and made 35(35), his partner made 28(40).

Obviously Badar is playing with more intent, but the difference isn’t as big as you made it out to be. It seems the pitch has gotten easier and the initial tough spell has been weathered out, so even the same batsman who made 23(92) to begin with is cashing in now. On face value, I would actually rate the 23(92) higher than a 35 ball stay at the crease after batting has become easier.

Obviously, if Badar goes on to get a big score, that would be good. But all the statistics that you showed really tell us is intent.

Currently Badar is 41(50), which means his partner is 37(60) since Badar walked to the crease. That does show Badar is probably higher in quality, but it’s not as big a difference as you’re making it out to be.

Lastly, Badar is competing not with Rafique but with the likes of Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Haider Ali, Hussain Talat, Abdullah Shafique, Saud Shakeel, etc, so he will need more than these pretty 50s (currently on 41) to get noticed.

It’s a televised game, and I am indeed a big fan of his, so I hope he cashes in especially since the opposition is Balochistan and it doesn’t have their spearhead Yasir Shah anymore. Needs to make a big daddy 100 today.
 
This is a little misleading. When Badar came in, his partner was 23 off 92. During the time Badar made that 35(35) when you posted, Rafique got to 51(132).

So while Badar was at the crease, and made 35(35), his partner made 28(40).

Obviously Badar is playing with more intent, but the difference isn’t as big as you made it out to be. It seems the pitch has gotten easier and the initial tough spell has been weathered out, so even the same batsman who made 23(92) to begin with is cashing in now. On face value, I would actually rate the 23(92) higher than a 35 ball stay at the crease after batting has become easier.

Obviously, if Badar goes on to get a big score, that would be good. But all the statistics that you showed really tell us is intent.

Currently Badar is 41(50), which means his partner is 37(60) since Badar walked to the crease. That does show Badar is probably higher in quality, but it’s not as big a difference as you’re making it out to be.

Lastly, Badar is competing not with Rafique but with the likes of Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Haider Ali, Hussain Talat, Abdullah Shafique, Saud Shakeel, etc, so he will need more than these pretty 50s (currently on 41) to get noticed.

It’s a televised game, and I am indeed a big fan of his, so I hope he cashes in especially since the opposition is Balochistan and it doesn’t have their spearhead Yasir Shah anymore. Needs to make a big daddy 100 today.

Rafique is a selfish limited batsman.

Salman Butt was shocked how he batted 35 overs as an opener and only then hit a boundary.
 
Rafique is a selfish limited batsman.

Salman Butt was shocked how he batted 35 overs as an opener and only then hit a boundary.

I completely 300% agree. It’s just Badar isn’t competing with Rafique for the Pakistan team. Also, even as a selfish limited batsman, he seems to have found it suddenly much easier to bat around the time Saif came in.
 
I completely 300% agree. It’s just Badar isn’t competing with Rafique for the Pakistan team. Also, even as a selfish limited batsman, he seems to have found it suddenly much easier to bat around the time Saif came in.

Rafique is a middle order bat usually.
 
Rafique is a middle order bat usually.

Explains why he batted so slowly as opener then. Again, just trying to bring context to Saif’s innings. I really rate him but he needs to do a lot more right now than bat at a SR of 82 while his partner bats at a SR of 62, to make a pretty 41*. I know he’s a clutch talent, but he needs to go on and either make 150+ or instead make 100 runs at the very, very least on the condition he follows it up with 2-3 50s in the rest of the tournament.
 
Explains why he batted so slowly as opener then. Again, just trying to bring context to Saif’s innings. I really rate him but he needs to do a lot more right now than bat at a SR of 82 while his partner bats at a SR of 62, to make a pretty 41*. I know he’s a clutch talent, but he needs to go on and either make 150+ or instead make 100 runs at the very, very least on the condition he follows it up with 2-3 50s in the rest of the tournament.

Yeah it's not over. Scoring 41 is a failure. Anything under 80 here is a failure for Saif.

100 is a minimum here.
 
Not ready yet. Still needs a year or two to figure out his game.
He plays unnecessarily outside offstump and sometimes overbalances because the head leads too much towards the offside.
A wider stance can help with this.
This is similar to the issue Kohli had on the 2014 England tour.
 
Comes in on a tough pitch

Scores 35* off 35 right now whilst his partner was 23 off 100

Super batsman

One shot he played in the first innings was WORLD CLASS

It was a boundary on the up against Taj Wali.

Can the video be posted?

Sorry but Badar is a nothing batsman. He is a poor mans Shoaib Malik. There is nothing to suggest that he should be anywhere near the international team right now. Unless he has a Shaan like resurgence/ work ethic, he’s going to stay at the domestic level for his career.
 
Sorry but Badar is a nothing batsman. He is a poor mans Shoaib Malik. There is nothing to suggest that he should be anywhere near the international team right now. Unless he has a Shaan like resurgence/ work ethic, he’s going to stay at the domestic level for his career.

Badar is 5 times better against pace than Malik has ever been, and has much better core co-ordination as well as bat swing.
If he figures his game out and makes a few small technical adjustments he has a lot of potential.
 
Run out again after reaching a good fifty.

He was sold by Rafique. Unfortunate way to go, he was looking very good.
 
Rafique is a selfish limited batsman.

Salman Butt was shocked how he batted 35 overs as an opener and only then hit a boundary.

Imran Rafique isn't an opener, he is only filling the gaps created by the absence of Shan Masood, Zeeshan Ashraf and the loss of form of Mukhtar Ahmed, yet he is scoring runs. It only shows that he isn't a quitter. He is someone who is willing to up-skill, learn and do what the team needs.

Imran can easily throw tantrums, cite personal reasons for skipping the game since he isn't being played in his desired position just like SAMI ASLAM did, but he chose not to.

He will never be a free flowing batsman at the opening position but he is doing a job on a tricky pitch and his batting in the 2nd innings has helped South Punjab to a decent lead till now.
 
Convinced this guy has the worst luck in cricket

Run out in BOTH innings.

Imran Rafique, how selfish can you be


Saif looked set for his 100!

Run out on 53
 
Convinced this guy has the worst luck in cricket

Run out in BOTH innings.

Imran Rafique, how selfish can you be


Saif looked set for his 100!

Run out on 53

Imran Rafique ran another batsman out as well lol.. Agha Salman if im not wrong
 
did you watch him getting run out?

First innings dismissal was hard luck. Run out at non-striker end when a straight drive shattered stumps and ball had brushed bowlers fingers.

Second innings run out wasn't fault of his batting partner alone. And after run-out, Saif Badar shouldn't have reacted/shouted in the way he did.
 
First innings dragged on

Second innings walked in at 11/4. Batted well on 22, and then was LBW to an arm ball.

Yet Mubassir did what he couldn't on his debut. Badar has technical problems and his temperament isn't where it needs to be. He plays away from his body and his hands reach out to the ball. A lot of hype over him, but if he can't even score a century in the whole FC season than I am afraid there are a lot of quality batsmen coming through to take him out of the pecking order.
 
The guy is mostly hype his fans complained he never gets consistent chances when he gets them they say he does not have a settled batting position now when he is givin he still struggles to get a 3 figure score in a fc tourney where top 35 players are not even playing.

Wonder what be the next excuse.
 
Badar needs to fight back. It’s moments like these when you’re slipping, career trajectory wise, that the top talents show what they’re made of. No excuses - Badar needs to prove he’s one step higher, or else I fear he will have a long first class career.
 
Badar needs to fight back. It’s moments like these when you’re slipping, career trajectory wise, that the top talents show what they’re made of. No excuses - Badar needs to prove he’s one step higher, or else I fear he will have a long first class career.
He does not seem the one who will toil at the fc level and be a journeyman I expect him to move to UK and play leagues there and hoping to get gigs in low quality t 20 leagues.
 
First innings dragged on

Second innings walked in at 11/4. Batted well on 22, and then was LBW to an arm ball.

Always excuses for this guy, Mubashir Khan walked in today for his first match and now has the same number of centuries in FC as Saif Badar does.

Keep hearing, Saif was at this position or run out or this happened, lol enough of the excuses this guy just can't score big.
 
He does not seem the one who will toil at the fc level and be a journeyman I expect him to move to UK and play leagues there and hoping to get gigs in low quality t 20 leagues.

I hope not. To be honest, had he come about 5 years ago, there was a definite lack of resources. But now we’re seeing so many people who are even more technically correct than Badar and are scoring big too where it counts. So he has a lot of catching up to do. Even a 200 at this point won’t catapult him to the Shaheens for their next tour.
 
With PSL uncertainty gone, I expect him to play with more freedom. Now is the time for me to reassess if its all hype or otherwise.

Playing against Northern today. He's due couple of match winning performances in Pakistan Cup.
 
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Saif scores 57(40) for Overseas Warrior vs Muzaffarabad Tigers

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Saif Badar slams 114 off 94 deliveries against Central Punjab at UBL Sports Complex in Karachi (7 fours & 4 sixes).

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Said Badar now part of Knight Riders in MLC (USA)
 
Saif Badar's performance in MLC 2024 has been disappointing so far, with only 64 runs scored in 4 matches for LAKR, and a strike rate of 114.28. This is a significant drop in form for the talented Pakistani batter, who was known for his impressive shot selection and had shown promise in his early career.
 
None of the Pakistani players that are trying to qualify for/or have qualified USA are any good: Zia-ul-Haq, Hammad Azam, Ehsan Adil, Saif Badar, Sami Aslam.
They all started with promise and decline massively as time went on. None of the Pakistani players are able to kick in and put in the hard yards to stay consistent and improve.

They like their restaurants and Shisha pipes abit too much is the honest truth fitness last thing on these players mind
 
They all started with promise and decline massively as time went on. None of the Pakistani players are able to kick in and put in the hard yards to stay consistent and improve.

They like their restaurants and Shisha pipes abit too much is the honest truth fitness last thing on these players mind
Maybe during their U-19 days. None of them have even done anything significant in domestic cricket. And alot of them like Hammad Azam, Zia-ul-Haq and Ehsan Adil are way past their prime. I guess USA Cricket are really desperate to get a viable talent pool of players. Because none of these guys are international material.
 
None of the Pakistani players that are trying to qualify for/or have qualified USA are any good: Zia-ul-Haq, Hammad Azam, Ehsan Adil, Saif Badar, Sami Aslam.
Usa isn't desperate to get these guys because if they were you'd be seeing them represent the international team but none of em made it.
 
Usa isn't desperate to get these guys because if they were you'd be seeing them represent the international team but none of em made it.
Only 15 players get selected, but your entire talent pool can't exactly be made up of 15 players either. I think they are pretty desperate if these are the guys that they brought on and I'm guessing gave a pathway to citizenship? And its not like the Indian, Sri Lankan, South African players are a whole lot better

Of the guys in their system, only Netravalkar, Aaron Jones, Adries Gous and to a lesser extent, Monank Patel look like decent players.
 
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