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[VIDEOS] Imran Butt - Test Performance Watch

Opening for Pakistan - hope he does well and shows the value of domestic cricket!
 
Doesn't have a great domestic record overall (averaging 35) but obviously most recent form in domestic is good. Took a brilliant catch in the slips so should be the first choice 1st slip in the cordon.

Too early to judge with the bat, this surface is very up and down.
 
Look fairly decent but needs to be playing short ball better than he just did.
 
Could not play the short ball in domestic cricket. Can't play the short ball in international cricket. What a surprise.
 
Was pretty nervy today. I guess that's normal especially for openers. Was going for fairly wide balls as early as the first over. Not very encouraging vibes though. I hope he gets better.
 
Loralai said:
Could not play the short ball in domestic cricket. Can't play the short ball in international cricket. What a surprise.
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Thats a huge worry and can see why he only averages 35 domestically. He needs to be given a run in the side now.
 
Loralai said:
Could not play the short ball in domestic cricket. Can't play the short ball in international cricket. What a surprise.
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Wow. Which genius picked him to face Nortje and Rabada then?

Which genius picked him anyway given his FC average?
 
Amjid Javed said:
Thats a huge worry and can see why he only averages 35 domestically. He needs to be given a run in the side now.
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If I remember rightly Hafeez also had an average in low 30s in domestic first class cricket before making his test debut , so it just goes to show that domestic stats don’t mean a lot - as we all know Hafeez went on to play top level international cricket for Pakistan for 15 years and is today regarded by many as one of Pakistan’s best ever batsmen.
 
For the hundredth time, he has only averaged above 40 once since 2012/13 in a QEA season.

And that was last year on dead slow pitches. What was the team management expecting? Should've opened with Azhar.
 
Markhor said:
For the hundredth time, he has only averaged above 40 once since 2012/13 in a QEA season.

And that was last year on dead slow pitches. What was the team management expecting? Should've opened with Azhar.
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Exactly and played Saud. Specially considering they have 2 left arm spinners as well.
 
Majid Khan said:
If I remember rightly Hafeez also had an average in low 30s in domestic first class cricket before making his test debut , so it just goes to show that domestic stats don’t mean a lot - as we all know Hafeez went on to play top level international cricket for Pakistan for 15 years and is today regarded by many as one of Pakistan’s best ever batsmen.
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And Mohammad Hafeez was a very underwhelming test cricketer.
 
Pakistan messed up. They needed the extra middle order batsman instead of the opener in Imran Butt
 
A lot of comments about his short ball play in this thread, and he may not be a good player of it, but it's unfair to judge on this delivery. I thought that kicked up from a good length. Maybe I'm wrong.
 
I don't know why he was even selected!!

Just move Azhar to opening, it's not rocket science!!
 
Looked edgy.

Glaring problem with the short ball.

What are domestic coaches getting paid for.
 
Majid Khan said:
If I remember rightly Hafeez also had an average in low 30s in domestic first class cricket before making his test debut , so it just goes to show that domestic stats don’t mean a lot - as we all know Hafeez went on to play top level international cricket for Pakistan for 15 years and is today regarded by many as one of Pakistan’s best ever batsmen.
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Sarcastic...
 
Third Man said:
A lot of comments about his short ball play in this thread, and he may not be a good player of it, but it's unfair to judge on this delivery. I thought that kicked up from a good length. Maybe I'm wrong.
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You are right as far as I could tell. Looked like a brute of a delivery, wasn't particularly short. He may or may not be the answer but hard to judge from that innings as he seemed okay while he was in.
 
Am I the only one who thought he wasn't really that bad?

Perhaps played a couple airy drives, but that's to be expected, especially on debut. Left the ball really well, pulled well against extreme pace, and got a brute of a delivery that exploded off a good length from a world class bowler.

Not saying he will be a success at this level, but I was feeling slightly encouraged by what I was seeing, before he got out of course.
 
he got a good ball, would have got most players, let alone an opener making his debut.

having said that, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, he does not look 25. pcb really need to sort this out, its becoming a joke.
 
ElRaja said:
he got a good ball, would have got most players, let alone an opener making his debut.

having said that, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, he does not look 25. pcb really need to sort this out, its becoming a joke.
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Doesn’t look over 30 to me. His age is fine for a batsman.
 
aloo paratha said:
Got a bit unlucky today, ball bounced a lot from a good length.
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Not an issue of luck but of technique. If you can't cope with this kind of stuff on home pitches then what chance will he have outside Pakistan?
 
Loralai said:
Not an issue of luck but of technique. If you can't cope with this kind of stuff on home pitches then what chance will he have outside Pakistan?
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Well, the thing is this sort of stuff isn't easy to cope with anywhere. In fact it's even more difficult to play it here since the bounce is generally low and you're looking to be on the front foot.

Show me a batsman in any international team who can play such deliveries with control, and I'll pile on Imran Butt as well.

We'll need to show a little more patience than this. One innings where he looked good until he got a bad one isn't enough to form such a firm opinion. I'll wait for the end of the series.
 
Looked awful against the shorter stuff, was getting hurried on this slow pitch lol.
 
Majid Khan said:
If I remember rightly Hafeez also had an average in low 30s in domestic first class cricket before making his test debut , so it just goes to show that domestic stats don’t mean a lot - as we all know Hafeez went on to play top level international cricket for Pakistan for 15 years and is today regarded by many as one of Pakistan’s best ever batsmen.
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sarcasm coming from you, but Hafeez's 151 vs England in 2015 was one of the best test knocks by a Pak opener
 
Since there is no transparency in selection decisions, can someone explain why he got selected for a Test match? His numbers look mediocre. Am I missing something? Is this the best opener numbers we have in the country? Has he been in phenomenal form recently or what?

Anyway, I hope he succeeds and makes the best out of his opportunities.
 
Loralai said:
Not an issue of luck but of technique. If you can’t cope with this kind of stuff on home pitches then what chance will he have outside Pakistan?
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Uneven bounce is not easy to handle, no matter how good your technique is. If you’re getting into the line of the ball in such a situation then besides playing it, you can do little else. And if it rears up, you’re in trouble.

5oZ3uBA.png
 
Wiji said:
Since there is no transparency in selection decisions, can someone explain why he got selected for a Test match? His numbers look mediocre. Am I missing something? Is this the best opener numbers we have in the country? Has he been in phenomenal form recently or what?

Anyway, I hope he succeeds and makes the best out of his opportunities.
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Top-scorer in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy last season.
 
Third Man said:
A lot of comments about his short ball play in this thread, and he may not be a good player of it, but it's unfair to judge on this delivery. I thought that kicked up from a good length. Maybe I'm wrong.
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defonitely kicked up off a length cant judge him being poor of the short ball based around that delivery
 
JibranAnsari said:
They arent very qualified i think.
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I mean the lad obviously has issues with the short ball as we have seen with Abid Ali.

So my question is that if we can see that in a few overs, why can't the people who are getting paid to work with these guys, see these issues and work on them.
 
He looked to be negotiating the new ball duo alright - and it’s a formidable duo, as good as any. looked like he got one that bounced horribly.

Abid though does leave his stumps exposed, similar to how Archer got him in England - needs rectifying, which isn’t great given his age. If it continues happening against good attacks then surely Azhar must open with Butt, and bring in Shakeel to 3.

Babar also gets out to tame ones sometimes, a bit like Root used to also in fairness.
 
Firebat said:
Am I the only one who thought he wasn't really that bad?

Perhaps played a couple airy drives, but that's to be expected, especially on debut. Left the ball really well, pulled well against extreme pace, and got a brute of a delivery that exploded off a good length from a world class bowler.

Not saying he will be a success at this level, but I was feeling slightly encouraged by what I was seeing, before he got out of course.
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thats what i was thinking it exploded of a length.
but alot of comments on here stating he has issue with the short ball.am sure he pulled the ball from a short delivery for 4 to get off the mark and looked fairly comfortable playing it
 
I was criticizing his selection before the match, but honestly I can't blame him for getting out to one that reared sharply off a good length.

These domestic batsmen are simply not equipped to handle uneven bounce at high pace, given that they grow up facing a steady stream of mediocre fast bowlers who'd struggle to make the breakthrough in Bangladesh.
 
Loralai said:
Not an issue of luck but of technique. If you can't cope with this kind of stuff on home pitches then what chance will he have outside Pakistan?
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You hardly get thst kind of uneven bounce on day 1 the ball he got suprised him espically in day 1
 
Looked ok until this...

<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 48.500%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/3ssle5" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%" allowfullscreen style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>
 
Looked ok until this...

<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 48.500%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/3ssle5" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%" allowfullscreen style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>
 
imran butt got out to a very good bowl which kicked off a length.he looked to play the short ball very well
 
Third Man said:
A lot of comments about his short ball play in this thread, and he may not be a good player of it, but it's unfair to judge on this delivery. I thought that kicked up from a good length. Maybe I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

defonitely kicked off a length.he got off the mark with a pull.
 
Abdullah719 said:
Top-scorer in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy last season.
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That seems like a long time ago. His name doesn't even appear on this list for the 2020/2021 season (probably because he was taken to New Zealand):
https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...ost_runs_career.html?id=13734;type=tournament

These are his most recent games at a grand average of 28.5, and he wasn't even opening in one of these games:
Imran.jpg


And before that, the last time he played FC was on 2nd December 2019.

A very unusual selection. Anyway, good that he took that smart catch at slips today.
 
shamaan said:
defonitely kicked off a length.he got off the mark with a pull.
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They had done their homework on him and knew his weakness and had a leg slip around the corner for him.
 
Wiji said:
That seems like a long time ago. His name doesn’t even appear on this list for the 2020/2021 season (probably because he was taken to New Zealand):
https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...ost_runs_career.html?id=13734;type=tournament

These are his most recent games at a grand average of 28.5, and he wasn’t even opening in one of these games:
View attachment 106502


And before that, the last time he played FC was on 2nd December 2019.

A very unusual selection. Anyway, good that he took that smart catch at slips today.
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Yes, that was Sep-Dec 2019.

This season, he played 3 games and averaged ~32.

Batting averages for openers dropped drastically from last season to this season (47.xx to 29.xx). It would have been interesting to see how he would have performed this season if they hadn’t taken him with the Shaheens.
 
He'll have his issues against the short ball as he stands quite low ala Sarfraz which usually works well on slow low wickets but impractical on lively wickets. He got a good one today but in general doesn't look like one for the future from what we have seen today.

There is a reason he averages 36 something in FC. Guys like these have a few good games and a lot of poor ones.
 
I won;t he harsh on him, he won my support by plucking that catch in front of 1st slip, while he was at 2nd slip , he could have easily not even tried it as it was dropping in front of 1st slip .

Then he played a very god pull for 4, but got out cheaply.

Showed some skill, he is young , he should be given proper run , before deciding his fate.
 
MenInG said:
Looked ok until this...

<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 48.500%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/3ssle5" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%" allowfullscreen style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>
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Bad bounce.
 
moghul said:
I won;t he harsh on him, he won my support by plucking that catch in front of 1st slip, while he was at 2nd slip , he could have easily not even tried it as it was dropping in front of 1st slip .

Then he played a very god pull for 4, but got out cheaply.

Showed some skill, he is young , he should be given proper run , before deciding his fate.
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That slip catch was one of the best i have seen by a pakistani fielder.

Well he has 3 more innings in the series to show us what he can do. Looked confident though when he was batting. The bounce was uneven on the Rabada delivery which got him out.
 
Last edited:
gazza619 said:
That slip catch was one of the best i have seen by a pakistani fielder.

Well he has 3 more innings in the series to show us what he can do. Looked confident though when he was batting. The bounce was uneven on the Rabada delivery which got him out.
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I have never seen any Pakistani even tried that kind of slip catches, only Australian, English and NZLers do those sort of things.

Rather than giving credit to him and keeping him at the slip, Babar brought in Yasir shah in the slip and he dropped an easy slip catch, Babar is not that smart , I guess.
 
moghul said:
I have never seen any Pakistani even tried that kind of slip catches, only Australian, English and NZLers do those sort of things.

Rather than giving credit to him and keeping him at the slip, Babar brought in Yasir shah in the slip and he dropped an easy slip catch, Babar is not that smart , I guess.
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Slip positioning is done before the match not at the time of the match
 
Well dont know about his batting but catching - outstanding!


<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/fakvh2" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%" allowfullscreen style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>
 
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Clearly not international class, and there's no point in persisting with him at this stage as I don't really care about continuity for the sake of it.

He needs to go back to domestic cricket and prove that his form in 2019 wasn't an outlier.
 
2 very poor shots to get dismissed.

The second innings shot wasn't even club level.

But then, they should give him a few Tests though to see if he can improve.
 
He is a 30-35 averaging opener. Pakistan needs to find someone who can average around 40-42.

Imam can be that player if he is given a fair shot. He has the temperament and the technique.
 
Mamoon said:
He is a 30-35 averaging opener. Pakistan needs to find someone who can average around 40-42.

Imam can be that player if he is given a fair shot. He has the temperament and the technique.
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Technique of playing all around the pads and falling over.
 
Imran Butt's second innings dismissal

<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/96m4eb" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%" allowfullscreen style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>
 
such a poor dismissal for an opener in the context of the game. really wanted him to do well despite his FC record simply for his catching but that was unforgivable.

he will get another test simply cos i dont see abdullah shafique playing. but unless he scores 75+ in at least one innings i dont think he'll hold his spot.
 
Drop him, it won't be the end of his career by any means. Telling a young (well, youngish) player that he needs to go back to domestic cricket isn't a bad message provided there's constructive advice and a clear pathway to improve. Too many failures at the start of his career could prove counterproductive in the long-run.

Abid on the other hand is hanging on by a thread, and if he is dropped there is realistically no way back for him. Bizarrely, I'd be more inclined to give him another go out of sheer sympathy as I'd rather give someone one additional test to save a career.

Both aren't good enough for international cricket, mind.
 
There are no Gavaskars and Greenidge waiting in the wings in Pakistan's domestic cricket. All you have players with lousy techniques . Lets hope some of them possesses talent to improve at international level, with some experience.

No point discarding Imran Butt after two test , makes no sense, give him couple of tests more, at least. I saw SOME talent in him.

Time to discard Abid Ali, enough of him.
 
Has no feet movement at all , plays with low hands proper low. Suspect against pace and totally wrong disposition to play anything short , he'll be a walking wicket in sena.
 
moghul said:
There are no Gavaskars and Greenidge waiting in the wings in Pakistan's domestic cricket. All you have players with lousy techniques . Lets hope some of them possesses talent to improve at international level, with some experience.

No point discarding Imran Butt after two test , makes no sense, give him couple of tests more, at least. I saw SOME talent in him.

Time to discard Abid Ali, enough of him.
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Ofcourse now that he has been given a chance, he deserved a long rope, but Saud should have played in the first place, Imran can be an okay player but Saud will probably be a very good one inshaAllah.
 
Mamoon said:
He is a 30-35 averaging opener. Pakistan needs to find someone who can average around 40-42.

Imam can be that player if he is given a fair shot. He has the temperament and the technique.
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Same imam who was give run of 11 tests and was exposed as being just as bad :)))
 
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