We must play ODIs with 5 specialist batsmen, a keeper batsman, 3 bowling all-rounders and 2 bowlers

[We Bleed Green]

Pakistan team combination is ludicrous particularly our focus on playing bowlers instead of batsman.

We must play ODIs with 5 Specialist Batsmen, Keeper Batsman, 3 Bowling all rounders (Possibly 2 Bowling and 1 Batting all rounder) and 2 Bowlers

We are constantly playing ODIs with three specialist batsmen, keeper and seven bowling all rounders and most of the bowlers do not complete their quota of overs so what is the point of playing bowlers if they are not even going to ball in the match.

We have decent bowling attack but we do not have bowling attack of Windies from 80's. We can defend around 275 target but do not expect this attack to consistently defend low 200 scores, which our batting line up with three specialist batsmen will score. We need five specialist batsmen to score 300 runs and especially on flat tracks in the 2019 worldcup.

Look at Hussain Talat in the second ODI against South Africa today. He only bowled two overs when South Africa needed 10 runs so why on earth was he playing. We could have played a batsman like Shan Masood.

We are consistently playing with 9 or 10 players as couple of players are only there for fielding. In the first ODI, Hafeez only bowled 2 overs so why on earth did he not bowl more overs and we could have played a batsman instead of Imad.

You only need five bowlers for ODIs. Playing six, seven or eight bowlers does not give you any advantage, where as an extra batsman allows you to play more aggressively and score more runs.

Having a sixth bowling option is a luxury we can not afford to have but having a seventh bowling option is just plain and simple suicide and yet another reason why our so called specialist captain is just a complete idiot. One of the worst captain ever to play the game of cricket in the history of planet Earth.

I am fuming with anger at our team combination and very close to breaking my TV every time when I see the team.

Just Imagine this team for a second.

Imam-ul-Haq (Batsman)
Fakhar Zaman (Batsman)
Shan Masood (Batsman)
Babar Azam (Batsman)
Haris Sohail (Batsman)
Mohammad Hafeez (Bowling all rounder)
Mohammad Rizwan (Keeper Batsman)
Shadab Khan (Bowling all rounder)
Faheem Ashraf (Bowling all rounder)
Hassan Ali (Bowler)
Shaheen Afridi (Bowler)

Our middle order looks solid, we have 2 bowlers and 3 bowling all rounder to ball 50 overs plus we can use Harris Sohail, Fakhar Zaman or Shan Masood to bowl few overs if required in extreme circumstances. Our batting goes as deep as nine and even Hassan Ali (Or Mohammad Amir if he plays) can score runs.

WE SHOULD HAVE MAXIMUM OF FIVE BOWLING OPTIONS IN ODIS WITH THIS BATTING LINE UP.

 

[ads101]

Made a similar thread a while back. It's more important to strengthen our batting line up than having the luxury of an extra bowler.

If we have a quality allrounder at 7 who performs significantly with the bat, than that's fine. I had hopes of Imad but not sure now.

I do disagree with the notion of Hafeez, Malik and Talat being allrounders not batsmen. They're batsmen, they were picked on their batting abilities. All at the moment are part timers tbh, none can be relied on to bowl 10 overs. Malik hardly even bowls enough to be considered a reliable part timer these days. The issue is more they aren't good enough batsmen.

I would still play which ever 3rd pacer is best regardless of batting abilities. Shadab and Hasan are capable with the bat for tailenders and to play at 8 and 9, so I'm not too fussed with the batting ability of the no.10. The issue with Faheem is more not this match, but usually, he takes the spot of the allrounder, Shadab batting 7 which his batting really isn't good enough for.

 

[IM NOT YOU]

Haris sohail is garbage.

Asif ali should be there instead as we have no strikers and in England you need big hitters as there will be scores of 350 plus.

No way guys like haris sohail are chasing xoem 350. In fact if he bats for more than 20 minutes it's an automatic loss

 

[Ahmed216]

Pakistan team combination is ludicrous particularly our focus on playing bowlers instead of batsman.

We must play ODIs with 5 Specialist Batsmen, Keeper Batsman, 3 Bowling all rounders (Possibly 2 Bowling and 1 Batting all rounder) and 2 Bowlers

We are constantly playing ODIs with three specialist batsmen, keeper and seven bowling all rounders and most of the bowlers do not complete their quota of overs so what is the point of playing bowlers if they are not even going to ball in the match.

We have decent bowling attack but we do not have bowling attack of Windies from 80's. We can defend around 275 target but do not expect this attack to consistently defend low 200 scores, which our batting line up with three specialist batsmen will score. We need five specialist batsmen to score 300 runs and especially on flat tracks in the 2019 worldcup.

Look at Hussain Talat in the second ODI against South Africa today. He only bowled two overs when South Africa needed 10 runs so why on earth was he playing. We could have played a batsman like Shan Masood.

We are consistently playing with 9 or 10 players as couple of players are only there for fielding. In the first ODI, Hafeez only bowled 2 overs so why on earth did he not bowl more overs and we could have played a batsman instead of Imad.

You only need five bowlers for ODIs. Playing six, seven or eight bowlers does not give you any advantage, where as an extra batsman allows you to play more aggressively and score more runs.

Having a sixth bowling option is a luxury we can not afford to have but having a seventh bowling option is just plain and simple suicide and yet another reason why our so called specialist captain is just a complete idiot. One of the worst captain ever to play the game of cricket in the history of planet Earth.

I am fuming with anger at our team combination and very close to breaking my TV every time when I see the team.

Just Imagine this team for a second.

Imam-ul-Haq (Batsman)
Fakhar Zaman (Batsman)
Shan Masood (Batsman)
Babar Azam (Batsman)
Haris Sohail (Batsman)
Mohammad Hafeez (Bowling all rounder)
Mohammad Rizwan (Keeper Batsman)
Shadab Khan (Bowling all rounder)
Faheem Ashraf (Bowling all rounder)
Hassan Ali (Bowler)
Shaheen Afridi (Bowler)

Our middle order looks solid, we have 2 bowlers and 3 bowling all rounder to ball 50 overs plus we can use Harris Sohail, Fakhar Zaman or Shan Masood to bowl few overs if required in extreme circumstances. Our batting goes as deep as nine and even Hassan Ali (Or Mohammad Amir if he plays) can score runs.

WE SHOULD HAVE MAXIMUM OF FIVE BOWLING OPTIONS IN ODIS WITH THIS BATTING LINE UP.

another wicket-taking bowler in place of faheem

 

[Markhor]

Enough of these pseudo allrounders. Only allrounder in this team worthy of a place is Shadab Khan.

As the OP mentions - pick your five strongest bowlers instead of worrying about having all these bowling options. We won the CT playing three genuine quicks. We need to return to that formula, backed by spin options in Shadab and sigh, yes Mohammad Hafeez seeing he ain't going anywhere until the World Cup.

 

[We Bleed Green]

another wicket-taking bowler in place of faheem

I agree. This team is not my team for world cup. I was merely stating what the team combination should be like

 

[Chokli]

Haris sohail is garbage.

Asif ali should be there instead as we have no strikers and in England you need big hitters as there will be scores of 350 plus.

No way guys like haris sohail are chasing xoem 350. In fact if he bats for more than 20 minutes it's an automatic loss

haris is not a garbage batsman, but he is garbage in the sense that he's not reliable and is very injury prone.

lmao asif ali, seriously mate? you just assume he'll take you to 350 or help you chase it down? he is a poor mans afridi and that's saying something

asif does not make the side on merit, if he were to learn to wicket keep then i'd take him in or learn some basic off spin.

and not like pakistan will ever chase 300, let alone 350.

 

[We Bleed Green]

Haris sohail is garbage.

Asif ali should be there instead as we have no strikers and in England you need big hitters as there will be scores of 350 plus.

No way guys like haris sohail are chasing xoem 350. In fact if he bats for more than 20 minutes it's an automatic loss

Are you joking mate. Asif Ali average in first class is 21 and list A is 27, now just imagine a player who averages in Pakistan domestic cricket around 25 then how mediocre he will be at international stage.

Asif Ali is only good at T20s.

 

[Chokli]

Enough of these pseudo allrounders. Only allrounder in this team worthy of a place is Shadab Khan.

As the OP mentions - pick your five strongest bowlers instead of worrying about having all these bowling options. We won the CT playing three genuine quicks. We need to return to that formula, backed by spin options in Shadab and sigh, yes Mohammad Hafeez seeing he ain't going anywhere until the World Cup.

lol and on what basis is shadab a pure all rounder? he is a bowler that can hold his own with the bat, if he bats at 8 or 9 it automatically makes our weak batting a little bit stronger.

by having slotting him as an all rounder you're weakening an already weak line up..

 

[PakLFC]

I always believe in having good batsmen and hitters until number nine. Need some good utility players like we did in the 1990's.

 

[Markhor]

lol and on what basis is shadab a pure all rounder? he is a bowler that can hold his own with the bat, if he bats at 8 or 9 it automatically makes our weak batting a little bit stronger.

by having slotting him as an all rounder you're weakening an already weak line up..

8 is where I'd play Shadab.

 

[hitthestump]

Would rather strengthen the bowling if anything. Pakistan could bat til 11 and still fail miserably. They should play to their strengths and play 3 pace bowlers with Faheem/Imad and Shadab.

 

[mastersaan10]

Let's use the championship trophy formula and make the minor adjustments.
Fakhar
Shan first/ imam second choice
Babar
Harris
Sarfraz
Hafeez - he is a big waste up the order when ball is new
Imad
Shadab
Hasan
Amir
Shaheen/junaid

 

[We Bleed Green]

Pakistan is playing the third ODI with three specialist batsman.

Imam
Fakar
Babar

Rest of them are all bowlers or all rounders.

Do we have batting line up with Sachin, Lara, Kohli, Ponting. We have a mediocre batting line up and we weaken it further by opting for 7 bowling options.

Amir
Afridi
Hassan Ali
Shadab
Imad
Shoaib Malik
Hafeez

7 bowlers. Are you kidding me.

 

[We Bleed Green]

Why cant we drop Imad and play a specialist batsman? I bet we will only get to use five bowlers today before South Africa chases the target. Exactly what happened in second ODI where Hussain talat only bowled when the target was under 10. Why are we playing bowlers when they do not even bowl.

Get rid of useless, idiot, pathetic, and racist Sarfraz Ahmed.

 

[aukhan]

Why cant we drop Imad and play a specialist batsman? I bet we will only get to use five bowlers today before South Africa chases the target. Exactly what happened in second ODI where Hussain talat only bowled when the target was under 10. Why are we playing bowlers when they do not even bowl.

Get rid of useless, idiot, pathetic, and racist Sarfraz Ahmed.

Rizwan should have played today's game. Insecure Sarfraz keeping him out to save his place.

 

[We Bleed Green]

Rizwan should have played today's game. Insecure Sarfraz keeping him out to save his place.

The curse of Sarfraz continues after Akmal curse.

 

[We Bleed Green]

Don't let todays match fool you. Our three specialist batsmen scored 54 percent of the runs today but most of the time and particularly during the worldcup, it won't happen.

The minute we lose couple of wickets early, the whole batting line up will fall like pack of card. Exactly what happened in the second ODI.

We must play five specialist batsmen at all costs

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Don't let todays match fool you. Our three specialist batsmen scored 54 percent of the runs today but most of the time and particularly during the worldcup, it won't happen.

The minute we lose couple of wickets early, the whole batting line up will fall like pack of card. Exactly what happened in the second ODI.

We must play five specialist batsmen at all costs

Totally agree with you but it will not happen until Hafeez and Malik hung in there

 

[Chokli]

Don't let todays match fool you. Our three specialist batsmen scored 54 percent of the runs today but most of the time and particularly during the worldcup, it won't happen.

The minute we lose couple of wickets early, the whole batting line up will fall like pack of card. Exactly what happened in the second ODI.

We must play five specialist batsmen at all costs

that's why it's crucial for imam to play the way he did

 

[We Bleed Green]

Not playing five specialist batsman will haunt us in the game

 

[We Bleed Green]

With Sarfraz captaining the team, Get ready for three batsman, Keeper and Seven Bowlers.

We will be lucky to get past 250 in most innings

 

[Pakhs]

Yes need 5 specialist batsmen plus Sarfraz is required (No Rizwan who cant hold the bat). But 3 specialist bowlers are also required and tbf Amir and Hasan can both bat a bit so definitely we can afford to play 3 specialist bowlers. I would also play one more specialist spinner too along with shadab and Imam.

 

[Pakhs]

With Sarfraz captaining the team, Get ready for three batsman, Keeper and Seven Bowlers.

We will be lucky to get past 250 in most innings

with Sarfraz captaining? Did you see 7 bowlers in CT which he won? Please dont reduce the quality of this thread if you have no knowledge or common sense.

 

[We Bleed Green]

with Sarfraz captaining? Did you see 7 bowlers in CT which he won? Please dont reduce the quality of this thread if you have no knowledge or common sense.

I suggest that you do some research before posting to avoid any further embarassment.

The bowlers who played the final are as follows.

Mohammad Amir
Hassan Ali
Junaid Khan
Shadab Khan
Imad Wasim
Mohammad Hafeez
Shoaib Malik

Count them. They are seven bowlers but despite playing seven bowlers the useless aka idiot captain decided to give 4 overs to Fakhar Zaman.

The three specialist batsmen were as follows.

Azhar Ali
Fakhar Zaman
Babar Azam

So please dont reduce the quality of this thread with your opinion.

 

[Pakhs]

I suggest that you do some research before posting to avoid any further embarassment.

The bowlers who played the final are as follows.

Mohammad Amir
Hassan Ali
Junaid Khan
Shadab Khan
Imad Wasim
Mohammad Hafeez
Shoaib Malik

Count them. They are seven bowlers but despite playing seven bowlers the useless aka idiot captain decided to give 4 overs to Fakhar Zaman.

The three specialist batsmen were as follows.

Azhar Ali
Fakhar Zaman
Babar Azam

So please dont reduce the quality of this thread with your opinion.

How many overs did Shoaib Malik Bowl? I guess in your opinion Hafeez and Malik are full time bowlers in which case I can confirm you IQ levels are below acceptable. You can't just play with 5 specialist bowlers you need at-least one hafeez or malik type player who can roll their arm over every now and then for cover.

Please stop trolling and reducing the quality of this thread further.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Get rid of bits and pieces.. I will play 5 frontline batsman with Haris Sohail and Shan Masood who can chip in for 5-6 overs with the ball + 1 wk + 1 all rounder and 4 frontline bowlers not worried if they can’t bat.

Imam UL Haq
Fakhar Zaman
Shan Masood
Babar Azam
Haris Sohail
Sarfraz
Hafeez/ imad Wasim
Shadab
Hasan Ali/Abbas
Aamir/ Junaid
Shaheen Shah Afridi

 

[Bilal7]

Pakistan's strength is the bowling and the bowling is what won them the CT a couple of years ago. Therefore, it makes no sense to weaken the bowling under any circumstance.

Three proper pace bowlers should play every game. One proper spinner - yes, I consider Shadab and Imad proper spinners - should also be present. The fifth bowler's quota can be shared by Hafeez, Malik and/or Talat.

 

[Bilal7]

1) Imad
2) Fakhar
3) Babar
4) Haris
5) Hafeez/Malik
6) Malik/Talat
7) Sarfaraz (c) (wk)
8) Shadab/Imad
9) Junaid/Hasan
10) Amir/ Hasan
11) Shaheen

If Haris plays, we'll have a reliable part-timer for the fifth bowling quota. However, even if he doesn't, Hafeez and Malik can get through four or five cheap overs each. Then you also potentially have Talat and Fakhar, in case of an emergency.

 

[Kohli The King of Chase]

And three ARs are

Yuvraj Wasim
Faheem Klusner
Shadab Afridi

 

[We Bleed Green]

How many overs did Shoaib Malik Bowl? I guess in your opinion Hafeez and Malik are full time bowlers in which case I can confirm you IQ levels are below acceptable. You can't just play with 5 specialist bowlers you need at-least one hafeez or malik type player who can roll their arm over every now and then for cover.

Please stop trolling and reducing the quality of this thread further.

I dont consider them good enough bowlers or good enough batsman. Sarfraz picks them because of their bowling abilities. There is absolutely no way in hell they can make it into the team with their batting skills.

If you say we need six bowling options then it is just madness with our pathetic batting order but to insist with seven bowling options it is plain and simple suicide.

Why not get rid of these two mediocre Shoaib or Hafeez or even one of them and play specialist batman who can average over 40.

 

[We Bleed Green]

Pakistan's strength is the bowling and the bowling is what won them the CT a couple of years ago. Therefore, it makes no sense to weaken the bowling under any circumstance.

Three proper pace bowlers should play every game. One proper spinner - yes, I consider Shadab and Imad proper spinners - should also be present. The fifth bowler's quota can be shared by Hafeez, Malik and/or Talat.

So you want three bowling options to bowl ten overs. Why not play one or even two. Why do you need three of them and restrict batting to three specialist batsmen.

 

[We Bleed Green]

Pakistan's strength is the bowling and the bowling is what won them the CT a couple of years ago. Therefore, it makes no sense to weaken the bowling under any circumstance.

Three proper pace bowlers should play every game. One proper spinner - yes, I consider Shadab and Imad proper spinners - should also be present. The fifth bowler's quota can be shared by Hafeez, Malik and/or Talat.

In Cricket, you need to bat too. Playing three specialist batsman and seven bowling options damage your batting beyong repair especially with our pathetic middle order.

I tell you what. Why dont you strengthen bowling even further and play ten bolwers and one keeper. I am sure you think this is the best strategy and leave the batting for opposition to do. We just bowl and then we go home.

 

[Pakhs]

I dont consider them good enough bowlers or good enough batsman. Sarfraz picks them because of their bowling abilities. There is absolutely no way in hell they can make it into the team with their batting skills.

If you say we need six bowling options then it is just madness with our pathetic batting order but to insist with seven bowling options it is plain and simple suicide.

Why not get rid of these two mediocre Shoaib or Hafeez or even one of them and play specialist batman who can average over 40.

I dont think there is a better batting option than malik and hafeez in Pakistan right now (dont forget hafeez innings in CT final or his contribution in the only two games we have won in this SA tour). The only one I can think of is Harris who is made of glass. If anyone here thinks Asif Ali who played instead of hafeez and cost Pakistan both T20s is better option than hafeez then he cant be helped by me.

I would agree with you if there is any batsman who is capable of averaging 40 then he must play but not if there are none. Instead what they should do is stop playing Asif Ali who is even poor version of afridi with the bat and afridi could bowl and field. Also I dont see the value in Faheem Ashraf currently in this Pakistan line-up just play Amir instead of him who can also bat to similar levels.

 

[We Bleed Green]

1) Imad
2) Fakhar
3) Babar
4) Haris
5) Hafeez/Malik
6) Malik/Talat
7) Sarfaraz (c) (wk)
8) Shadab/Imad
9) Junaid/Hasan
10) Amir/ Hasan
11) Shaheen

If Haris plays, we'll have a reliable part-timer for the fifth bowling quota. However, even if he doesn't, Hafeez and Malik can get through four or five cheap overs each. Then you also potentially have Talat and Fakhar, in case of an emergency.

Why Why Why would you have Hafeez and Shoaib in the team. They are almost 40 and still average in mid 30s. Why on earth cant we play batsmen who can average over 40.

We are the only team happy with middle order who averages mid 30s.

 

[Greenstorm]

Pakistan should always play with three specialist fast bowlers outside of UAE.

 

[We Bleed Green]

Pakistan should always play with three specialist fast bowlers outside of UAE.

I agree but the third can be a bowler who can bat i.e Hassan Ali

I dont have a problem with three fast bowlers but we must have five specialist batsmen.

 

[Greenstorm]

I agree but the third can be a bowler who can bat i.e Hassan Ali

I dont have a problem with three fast bowlers but we must have five specialist batsmen.

Agreed. This is my XI for WC,

1. Fakhar
2. Shan
3. Babar
4. Harris/Saud
5. Sarfaraz
6. Umar/Maqsood/Any other hard hitting batsman
7. Shadab
8. Imad/Faheem
9. Hassan
10. Shaheen
11. Junaid/Bashir/Amir

 

[Starky]

You need an allrounder who is extraordinary in one discipline. And there is only one guy in the team that fits the above criteria and that is Shadab..All the other guys you have are just bits and pieces.Shadab can win you games single handedly with his bowling. You cant say that for others..

 

[We Bleed Green]

Agreed. This is my XI for WC,

1. Fakhar
2. Shan
3. Babar
4. Harris/Saud
5. Sarfaraz
6. Umar/Maqsood/Any other hard hitting batsman
7. Shadab
8. Imad/Faheem
9. Hassan
10. Shaheen
11. Junaid/Bashir/Amir

Five specialist batsmen - Ticked
Three bowling all rounders (Lets include Hassan as all rounder) - Ticked
2 Bowlers - Ticked

I agree with team combination 100 percent. I dont think the forum wants to see Umar Akmal at sixth but i can see you are flexible here

 

[Bilal7]

Why Why Why would you have Hafeez and Shoaib in the team. They are almost 40 and still average in mid 30s. Why on earth cant we play batsmen who can average over 40.

We are the only team happy with middle order who averages mid 30s.

In Cricket, you need to bat too. Playing three specialist batsman and seven bowling options damage your batting beyong repair especially with our pathetic middle order.

I tell you what. Why dont you strengthen bowling even further and play ten bolwers and one keeper. I am sure you think this is the best strategy and leave the batting for opposition to do. We just bowl and then we go home.

So you want three bowling options to bowl ten overs. Why not play one or even two. Why do you need three of them and restrict batting to three specialist batsmen.

Relax. Hafeez and Malik are batsmen first, bowlers second. Same goes for Hussain Talat. Then we have Sarfaraz and Shadab/Imad lower down the order.

You can play eight batsmen in every game and Pakistan still will not become a team that scores 300 consistently. They'll need another batsman of Babar's class to start doing that but that does not seem likely at the moment.

Therefore, they should play to their strength, which is bowling and target a total of 270-ish in each game which they can definitely do with my given lineup.

 

[ILcricket]

My general thinking is if you have 5 quality batsmen , a good keeper who bats well , a batting all rounder who bowls 10, a bowling all rounder who can strike a 30 off 20 or score a 50 off 70 if need be & 3 strike bowlers - you are good . 5 + 1 + 2 + 3 .

 

[Markhor]

My general thinking is if you have 5 quality batsmen , a good keeper who bats well , a batting all rounder who bowls 10, a bowling all rounder who can strike a 30 off 20 or score a 50 off 70 if need be & 3 strike bowlers - you are good . 5 + 1 + 2 + 3 .

I agree this is the ideal formula but sadly there aren't many genuine ARs in Pakistan. We have bits and pieces like Shadab and Fahim.

Firstly, we must begin with the premise of playing five specialist batsmen. It's foolish for a weak batting team like Pakistan to play any less, yet we regularly play three specialist batsmen meaning if one or two of them fails our whole innings is screwed.

Secondly, Sarfraz must decide where he will bat. He averages 53 at SR of 92 at 5 yet we see him batting all over the place.

Thirdly, we must pick genuine ARs not pseudo cricketers. Imad lacks wicket-taking threat in ODIs but is economical, and a handy hitter at #7. He's more of an AR than Fahim Ashraf whose output against top teams with bat and ball is embarrassing. Shadab Khan gives one bad ball per over and cannot be a frontline spinner. His attitude and fielding is great, but he needs to go back to domestic and improve his control. Zafar Gohar is far more likely to win matches with his spin than Shadab, and can hold a bat, so should take the #8 spot.

These can be supplemented with three specialist pacers. Given Mohammad Amir's nonexistent returns since the CT and Usman Shinwari's inconsistency, I'd expect them to select Shaheen Afridi, Junaid Khan and Hasan Ali.

 

[We Bleed Green]

Relax. Hafeez and Malik are batsmen first, bowlers second. Same goes for Hussain Talat. Then we have Sarfaraz and Shadab/Imad lower down the order.

You can play eight batsmen in every game and Pakistan still will not become a team that scores 300 consistently. They'll need another batsman of Babar's class to start doing that but that does not seem likely at the moment.

Therefore, they should play to their strength, which is bowling and target a total of 270-ish in each game which they can definitely do with my given lineup.

Why play them Hafeez and Malik in the first place if their bowling is not going to be utilised. Thats the whole point. We play them because of their bowling abilities partly but they are rubbish in batting and equall bad in bowling.

We must play 5 specialist batsmen and Malik and Hafeez are not specialist batsmen. They average mid 30s. Complete mediocre level

 

[We Bleed Green]

Relax. Hafeez and Malik are batsmen first, bowlers second. Same goes for Hussain Talat. Then we have Sarfaraz and Shadab/Imad lower down the order.

You can play eight batsmen in every game and Pakistan still will not become a team that scores 300 consistently. They'll need another batsman of Babar's class to start doing that but that does not seem likely at the moment.

Therefore, they should play to their strength, which is bowling and target a total of 270-ish in each game which they can definitely do with my given lineup.

No one is asking for 8 batsmen. We must play 5 specialist batsmen, then keeper, then all rounders like Shadab, then bowlers.

Key is 5 specialist batsmen.

 

[ILcricket]

I agree this is the ideal formula but sadly there aren't many genuine ARs in Pakistan. We have bits and pieces like Shadab and Fahim.

Firstly, we must begin with the premise of playing five specialist batsmen. It's foolish for a weak batting team like Pakistan to play any less, yet we regularly play three specialist batsmen meaning if one or two of them fails our whole innings is screwed.

Secondly, Sarfraz must decide where he will bat. He averages 53 at SR of 92 at 5 yet we see him batting all over the place.

Thirdly, we must pick genuine ARs not pseudo cricketers. Imad lacks wicket-taking threat in ODIs but is economical, and a handy hitter at #7. He's more of an AR than Fahim Ashraf whose output against top teams with bat and ball is embarrassing. Shadab Khan gives one bad ball per over and cannot be a frontline spinner. His attitude and fielding is great, but he needs to go back to domestic and improve his control. Zafar Gohar is far more likely to win matches with his spin than Shadab, and can hold a bat, so should take the #8 spot.

These can be supplemented with three specialist pacers. Given Mohammad Amir's nonexistent returns since the CT and Usman Shinwari's inconsistency, I'd expect them to select Shaheen Afridi, Junaid Khan and Hasan Ali.

I have not followed the recent white ball exploits of Pakistan because after Test match cricket , every thing is kind of low priority for me & T20 is nothing but a lottery .
From your team , i think Imad is very useful in white ball . Remember , in limited over edition , 199/0 is more acceptable than 200/10 for a bowling side which is a pity . I like games where bowlers have a say too .
The young kid Shaheen is a talent who i wish PCB decides how to use & condition him - primarily as a long term Test prospect & to be used in key ODI encounters & few T20's or a mule must in all 3 . Why i say this is because he is young & has the talent .
I wonder why Junaid is ignored in ODI's .
Sarfaraz is in my opinion is a poor skipper . Is he your best option if not the captain ?
I agree you do not have good depth in batting but packing in mediocre all rounders at expense of specialists in 50 over format , be it batsmen or bowlers, which to an extent is not classic Test or lottery T20 but somewhere in between might really not be the solution .

 

[Kroll]

it is clear that we need to play 5 proper batsmen at the very minimum. Playing Hafeez, Malik and Sarfi/some other hack from 4-6 is just asking for trouble especially after the loss of early wickets. This was exposed in the SA series for all to see.

I don't really get this strategy aside from wanting to accommodate the sainted seniors. The thick tank really need to come up with something else otherwise it's going to be a painful WC.

 

[JibranAnsari]

how many bowling all rounders have we tried so far and how many of them have worked?

pakistan do not have this kind of talent so we cant take this luxury.

only imad wasim and hafeez are all rounders.

In shorter formats shadab is not all rounder, faheem is not an all rounder at all.

hafeez will retire soon , so we are left with imad wasim only.

shadab should work hard on his bowling and forget about batting for now.

Pace all rounder is a rare breed and pakistan do not have any at the moment , the closest we have to a pace all rounder is aamir yamin and but the guy hasnt got a chance for a long long time now.


Better find good top 5.

a good batting wicketkeeper.

a pace all rounder
imad wasim
shadab khan

two pacers.

 

[yasir]

Malik
Hafeez
Immad
Faheem
Shadab
Sarfraz (Keeper Batsman)

Are all allrounder with their skillsets, that's half the team. Malik and Hafeez never in their 15 years of International Career Certified as batsman specially in SENA, they are now considered batsmen because of seniority not skill. They still have no skill against pace

Ironically none of them is genevan allrounder(maybe Shadab, but his batting in ODI is pretty weak). We are end up playing half of the team as bits and pieces, no wonder we are no 7 team.

Issues does not end here, Fakhar is Hack, Immam is Bhanja will struggle at 75 SR, Amir is not even half the bowler what we need for WC, so basically tank is completely empty, only thing we are hopping for our skills and experience of ENG that's about it

 

[jeetu]

I think a every team should play 4 best bowlers according to conditions, if they can bat too then its a bonus. Too many bits and piece bowlers tend to lose match more than they can wins.

 

[The Viper]

I think Hafeez should stay because he can strike well against both pace and spin. Did decently in SA series. Even if he can't bowl he needs to stay due to the lack of boundary hitters.

 

[We Bleed Green]

I think Hafeez should stay because he can strike well against both pace and spin. Did decently in SA series. Even if he can't bowl he needs to stay due to the lack of boundary hitters.

We need batsman who can average 40 plus with decent strike rate. Hafeez is mediocre by any standard

 

[ILcricket]

We need batsman who can average 40 plus with decent strike rate. Hafeez is mediocre by any standard

How many players with over 2k runs average above 40 ?

 

[Kroll]

Playing a few bits and pieces players hasn't really worked so I'd prefer 2 all rounders and 3 specialist bowlers.

6/7. Talat - I know he's been slaughtered on these boards but he needs to get a grip and I'd like see a batting all rounder if Hafeez and Malik are picked.
8. Shadab - Spin option and time for the young man to come of age.
9. Hasan
10. Amir
11. Afridi

Bench:
Faheem: He'll probably play and take place of Talat but his batting's been disappointing.
Imad: Another that could take place of Talat but more of T20 specialist
Rumman Raees: Bit hit n miss but useful to have on the bench
Junaid Khan: Another one that gets slaughtered on these boards but I'd like to see him back, has had some good performances in the last couple of years.

 

[The Viper]

Playing a few bits and pieces players hasn't really worked so I'd prefer 2 all rounders and 3 specialist bowlers.

6/7. Talat - I know he's been slaughtered on these boards but he needs to get a grip and I'd like see a batting all rounder if Hafeez and Malik are picked.
8. Shadab - Spin option and time for the young man to come of age.
9. Hasan
10. Amir
11. Afridi

Bench:
Faheem: He'll probably play and take place of Talat but his batting's been disappointing.
Imad: Another that could take place of Talat but more of T20 specialist
Rumman Raees: Bit hit n miss but useful to have on the bench
Junaid Khan: Another one that gets slaughtered on these boards but I'd like to see him back, has had some good performances in the last couple of years.

I don't think Talat would do much batting that low. He needs to bat at 4 or 5. He seems like a Malik upgrade.

 

[Kroll]

I don't think Talat would do much batting that low. He needs to bat at 4 or 5. He seems like a Malik upgrade.

Don't think he's shown enough yet to merit higher? If he has a great PSL, then yeah he could get shifted to 5. If he bombs who else is there as a batting all rounder?

 

[The Viper]

Don't think he's shown enough yet to merit higher? If he has a great PSL, then yeah he could get shifted to 5. If he bombs who else is there as a batting all rounder?

The point was that Talat doesn’t really fit the position of 6/7 as a power hitter. Didn’t you see his constant play and misses in the second T20I? His bowling is not good enough also. Rather have Imad at 7 as the allrounder. At least he can keep things tight with the ball.

He actually had a decent List A average before the recent failure in the recent one day cup. He is more of an accumulator type player. I would consider him after World Cup for ODI team as it’s a format he would do better in.

If he has to play, it has to be as a specialist Batsman.

 

[Kroll]

The point was that Talat doesn’t really fit the position of 6/7 as a power hitter. Didn’t you see his constant play and misses in the second T20I? His bowling is not good enough also. Rather have Imad at 7 as the allrounder. At least he can keep things tight with the ball.

He actually had a decent List A average before the recent failure in the recent one day cup. He is more of an accumulator type player. I would consider him after World Cup for ODI team as it’s a format he would do better in.

If he has to play, it has to be as a specialist Batsman.

Yeah ok, fair enough. Imad had a good T20 series so we could put him in instead of Talat. As I preferred a batting all rounder just hope he can continue his T20 batting form in the ODIs.

 

[moghul]

With so many Imran Khans, Kapi Devs and Bothams in our domestic circuit , it will be hard to pick only three allrounders.

 

[Justcrazy]

2 specialist bowlers , plus two bowling all rounders , plus two part timers like Fakhar / Malik / hafeez etc.

 

[Kroll]

2 specialist bowlers , plus two bowling all rounders , plus two part timers like Fakhar / Malik / hafeez etc.

You'd still be able to accommodate another specialist bowler if you went with this configuration. Some might prefer another bowling all rounder but I'd prefer 7 batsmen of which one could do bowling like a Hafeez and one good WK batsman. That leaves 4 bowlers one of which would be the other all rounder.

 

[Justcrazy]

You'd still be able to accommodate another specialist bowler if you went with this configuration. Some might prefer another bowling all rounder but I'd prefer 7 batsmen of which one could do bowling like a Hafeez and one good WK batsman. That leaves 4 bowlers one of which would be the other all rounder.

Shaheen , Hassan , Faheem , Shadab , Imad could be main 4 bowlers.

Harris , Hafeez , Fakhar can fill in 10 overs.

 

[Kroll]

Shaheen , Hassan , Faheem , Shadab , Imad could be main 4 bowlers.

Harris , Hafeez , Fakhar can fill in 10 overs.

Bowling places up for grabs. Great opportunity for the likes of Shaheen and Faheem.

Haris might not make it due to injury problems etc. I'd rather not see Hafeez but he'll be there unfortunately.

 

[Justcrazy]

Bowling places up for grabs. Great opportunity for the likes of Shaheen and Faheem.

Haris might not make it due to injury problems etc. I'd rather not see Hafeez but he'll be there unfortunately.

This WC Hafeez will be in the playing XI.

Pakistan have not used Fakhar that much that is a mistake. He should have been developed as a bowler like Yuvraj in 2011 WC.

I think Harris is very good part time bowler. But Pakistan need to make sure that they do not play too many bowlers and end up giving them 2 - 3 overs. Players playing as bowlers and bowling all rounders Must bowl 8 - 10 overs each

 

[We Bleed Green]

Time has come to end this madness of using more than five bowling option.

We need 5 specialist batsmen, keeper batsman, then three or two all rounders which can be any three from Imam, Shadab, Faheem, Hafeez then two specialist fast bowlers