What are your expectations for Pakistan cricket in 2021?

[owais1]

Title says it all. Pakistan is playing a few series at home as well as abroad. Will 2021 be a year with less heartbreaks for us fans?

 

[Snowflake]

Another disastrous year unless PCB undoes its blunders that are appointing Misbah and Waqar.

With those two incompetent clowns at the helm, there's only one direction we can go in; down.

 

[HappyWarsFan]

In tests -

Pakistan playing SA in a 2 match serie at home.

Then is ZIM away in 2 tests.

Then is WIN away for 3 tests.

Then it's BAN away for 2 tests.

We need to aim to whitewash SA, ZIM, BAN series and then try to at least draw or win the series away in West indies.

 

[Shoaibbtt]

In tests -

Pakistan playing SA in a 2 match serie at home.

Then is ZIM away in 2 tests.

Then is WIN away for 3 tests.

Then it's BAN away for 2 tests.

We need to aim to whitewash SA, ZIM, BAN series and then try to at least draw or win the series away in West indies.

I hope Fawad plays all those and scores big.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Positive year for Pakistan cricket. I expect the emergence of Saud Shakeel and Haider Ali as forces to be reckoned with. In the process, we’ll develop a stronger core of players across all formats who are either world class or close to it.

Tier 1
Babar Azam
Shaheen Afridi
Mohammad Rizwan
Hassan Ali
Saud Shakeel

Tier 2
Zafar Gohar
Imam ul Haq
Haider Ali
Naseem Shah (subject to fitness)
Shadab Khan

These will be the standout core players by the end of the year.

 

[Rayyman]

Positive year for Pakistan cricket. I expect the emergence of Saud Shakeel and Haider Ali as forces to be reckoned with. In the process, we’ll develop a stronger core of players across all formats who are either world class or close to it.

Tier 1
Babar Azam
Shaheen Afridi
Mohammad Rizwan
Hassan Ali
Saud Shakeel

Tier 2
Zafar Gohar
Imam ul Haq
Haider Ali
Naseem Shah (subject to fitness)
Shadab Khan

These will be the standout core players by the end of the year.

Agreed bro.

Add Faheem Ashraf to Tier 2

 

[HappyWarsFan]

Also, I hope Fawad Alam can become our Misbah and play as a reliable batsmen until 40. He deserves it. With the series we've got in 2021, he can certainly look to seal his spot.

[MENTION=144720]Shoaibbtt[/MENTION] yep totally agree with you.

 

[Shoaibbtt]

Also, I hope Fawad Alam can become our Misbah and play as a reliable batsmen until 40. He deserves it. With the series we've got in 2021, he can certainly look to seal his spot.

[MENTION=144720]Shoaibbtt[/MENTION] yep totally agree with you.

Yep certainly don't become complacent and don't let this century get to your head, play every match as if it were your last. But with Fawad i don't see him being big headed.

 

[owais1]

If saud shakeel, zafar gohar and haider ali become regulars, we got ourselves a deserving pak XI after so many years.

 

[ShoaibM]

Pakistan team will get rid of the dead weight in Abid, Haris and Azhar and be very competitive on its way to becoming a dominate test team. Probably sounds a little out there but the signs are there and we are shaping up well. Lets go boys!

 

[Mesozoic]

In tests -

Pakistan playing SA in a 2 match serie at home.

Then is ZIM away in 2 tests.

Then is WIN away for 3 tests.

Then it's BAN away for 2 tests.

We need to aim to whitewash SA, ZIM, BAN series and then try to at least draw or win the series away in West indies.

Very easy fixtures. Good to see Pak play 9 Tests in a year for a change. Think they should win atleast 7 out of those 9 tests.

Great chance for them to sneak into the top 4 of the test rankings as England will be battered in India and Aus next year.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Very easy fixtures. Good to see Pak play 9 Tests in a year for a change. Think they should win atleast 7 out of those 9 tests.

Great chance for them to sneak into the top 4 of the test rankings as England will be battered in India and Aus next year.

Assuming we win all, it’ll probably end up something like this right?

1. Australia
2. India
3. New Zealand
4. Pakistan
5. England
6. South Africa

Not bad to be honest. But I just don’t see us winning that many games lol, we’ll probably shell a Test to South Africa at home and give Bangladesh a memorable win.

 

[Ab Fan]

Also, I hope Fawad Alam can become our Misbah and play as a reliable batsmen until 40. He deserves it. With the series we've got in 2021, he can certainly look to seal his spot.

[MENTION=144720]Shoaibbtt[/MENTION] yep totally agree with you.

There is only one Misbah, brother.

 

[Mesozoic]

Assuming we win all, it’ll probably end up something like this right?

1. Australia
2. India
3. New Zealand
4. Pakistan
5. England
6. South Africa

Not bad to be honest. But I just don’t see us winning that many games lol, we’ll probably shell a Test to South Africa at home and give Bangladesh a memorable win.

That's the problem with Pakistan. They can draw a series in England and then go on to lose to some no-name NZ spinners in the uAE a couple of months later. I can easily see Pak thrashing SAF (H) and WI (A) and then bottle it against Bangladesh and draw a Test in Zim.

Mind you, BD in BD is a different beast altogether. They might have lost to Afghanistan recently but don't think Pak has a Rashid level spinner and dare I say even Nabi/Zahir level one to trouble them. Unless they find one in the domestic or Yasir comes back to his 2016 self (unlikely), it's not gonna be easy.

 

[RyanRyan10]

In tests -

Pakistan playing SA in a 2 match serie at home.

Then is ZIM away in 2 tests.

Then is WIN away for 3 tests.

Then it's BAN away for 2 tests.

We need to aim to whitewash SA, ZIM, BAN series and then try to at least draw or win the series away in West indies.

Start of another Golden Era

 

[ChTab]

In tests -

Pakistan playing SA in a 2 match serie at home.

Then is ZIM away in 2 tests.

Then is WIN away for 3 tests.

Then it's BAN away for 2 tests.

We need to aim to whitewash SA, ZIM, BAN series and then try to at least draw or win the series away in West indies.

So we are only playing 9 tests in whole year? PCB should arrange 1 test with Afghanistan & 1 with Ireland, because I think we should at least play 11 test matches in year.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Pakistan has a realistic chance of bagging the #5 ranking in 2021 if they put everything on the line. It's a realistic goal and the team must rally behind Misbah to achieve this fest.

Regardless of the negativity showed by many, I firmly believe Pakistan is a step ahead of the rest of the tier 3 teams in terms of potential.

 

[Shazzam]

Absolutely the worst year. We will lose majority of the year than continue to make excuses its a young team.

 

[King_Kohli]

In tests -

Pakistan playing SA in a 2 match serie at home.

Then is ZIM away in 2 tests.

Then is WIN away for 3 tests.

Then it's BAN away for 2 tests.

We need to aim to whitewash SA, ZIM, BAN series and then try to at least draw or win the series away in West indies.

How many of those covered as pert of WTC ?(Next cycle)

 

[MenInG]

Emergence of new talent, improvements in Haider Ali and Naseem Shah

 

[KingOfPakBreakfast]

How 2021 will go will depend very much on how the SA home tour goes and everything that stems from it.

The SA tour, including both tests and t20s will decide if Misbah stays (and shows improvements in team line ups/strategy), goes or is forced to change his ways (If the board can't sack him).

2021 will also depend on how often Misbah plays some of the newer players that Mohammad Wasim will pick, and if Misbah will be able to get the best out of them.

I'm genuinely hopeful InshAllah that Younis Khan working with the likes of Imam, Saud Shakeel etc may finally give us some more alternatives at test level.

I'm also hopeful that Azhar and Shan can finally be phased out in a respectful manner, and Abdullah Shafique given a long rope to succeed them.

It'll be a make or break year for Haris Rauf, in terms of his bowling progression.

InshAllah Haider Ali and Abdullah Shafique will progress as well.

Lastly, we'll see if Azam Khan is s genuine future PCT prospect or just another flash in the pan.

This ultimately is a year which has many winnable series. It's important to blood newcomers within such an atmosphere, so that they can get experience InshAllah in a winning environment.

 

[HappyWarsFan]

That's the problem with Pakistan. They can draw a series in England and then go on to lose to some no-name NZ spinners in the uAE a couple of months later. I can easily see Pak thrashing SAF (H) and WI (A) and then bottle it against Bangladesh and draw a Test in Zim.

Mind you, BD in BD is a different beast altogether. They might have lost to Afghanistan recently but don't think Pak has a Rashid level spinner and dare I say even Nabi/Zahir level one to trouble them. Unless they find one in the domestic or Yasir comes back to his 2016 self (unlikely), it's not gonna be easy.

That NZ series was so embarassing. Forgot all those defeats to AUS away, losing in UAE to NZ was unforgivable and it's what made me want mickey arthur to leave. For all his faults I am sure a Misbah team would never lose a series to NZ in UAE.

Regarding the matches, yeah I can see Pakistan winning most of them if they make the right selections and settle down on a team combination. Bangladesh away definitely isn't easy but we need to win that one 2-0. We thrashed them in 2011 and 2015, but that team had MisYou and I'm pretty sure Bangladesh is better now than in 2015.

 

[Minnowbasher]

2021 seems quite dull other than the t20 world cup.
Touring England and south africa is only exciting when there are tests involved.
Bored of seeing Pakistan get thrashed in lois in England.
Hopefully Pakistan can win in SA.

 

[hitthestump]

Another disastrous year unless PCB undoes its blunders that are appointing Misbah and Waqar.

With those two incompetent clowns at the helm, there's only one direction we can go in; down.

The first post in the thread is the best one. Misbah has undone whatever progress we'd made by 2019 under Mickey, now it's just a matter of seeing how much more damage he'll be allowed to do in 2021 before someone stops him.

 

[hitthestump]

Emergence of new talent, improvements in Haider Ali and Naseem Shah

What improvements have we seen really? Neither player looks international class yet at all. No other international team would take them. We're very much still hoping they get there, but i don't think 2020 was a breakthrough for either one yet.

 

[hitthestump]

Positive year for Pakistan cricket. I expect the emergence of Saud Shakeel and Haider Ali as forces to be reckoned with. In the process, we’ll develop a stronger core of players across all formats who are either world class or close to it.

Tier 1
Babar Azam
Shaheen Afridi
Mohammad Rizwan
Hassan Ali
Saud Shakeel

Tier 2
Zafar Gohar
Imam ul Haq
Haider Ali
Naseem Shah (subject to fitness)
Shadab Khan

These will be the standout core players by the end of the year.

Disagree pretty much entirely. In my view this is an overly positive summary on this year which borders on delusion unfortunately.

If Tier 1 involves two guys in their mid 20's who couldn't even make the team in a year where we got thrashed by all comers then how is that a good sign? Same for our Tier 2 Imam. Why are you positive when you're resting hope on seasoned players who can't even get selected right now?

As for the rest Zafar hasn't played and will probably continue not to play next year, Yasir will block him. Haider and Naseem are still nobody's on the international scene. Shadab seems to change his role on a game by game basis without ever mastering one.

It's PP tradition that players become better when they're out of the team, and i'm afraid this is full of it. I'm as hopeful as you that Hassan, Saud etc. come good, but if we're at such an admittedly desperate stage depending on debutants to save us next year then surely we have to accept this year has been a disaster.

 

[HappyWarsFan]

The first post in the thread is the best one. Misbah has undone whatever progress we'd made by 2019 under Mickey, now it's just a matter of seeing how much more damage he'll be allowed to do in 2021 before someone stops him.

Mickey lost a test series to SL and NZ in the UAE. Enough said about how poor he was as a coach.

 

[shamaan]

I expect a few youngesters to come good for example saud,haider,dahani

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Disagree pretty much entirely. In my view this is an overly positive summary on this year which borders on delusion unfortunately.

If Tier 1 involves two guys in their mid 20's who couldn't even make the team in a year where we got thrashed by all comers then how is that a good sign? Same for our Tier 2 Imam. Why are you positive when you're resting hope on seasoned players who can't even get selected right now?

As for the rest Zafar hasn't played and will probably continue not to play next year, Yasir will block him. Haider and Naseem are still nobody's on the international scene. Shadab seems to change his role on a game by game basis without ever mastering one.

It's PP tradition that players become better when they're out of the team, and i'm afraid this is full of it. I'm as hopeful as you that Hassan, Saud etc. come good, but if we're at such an admittedly desperate stage depending on debutants to save us next year then surely we have to accept this year has been a disaster.

It’s my prediction. I rate Imam highly (purely in terms of consistency and work ethic, which I believe is more important than “talent” and “x factor”), he has the grits and as far as strike rate goes he’s been working on that heavily. As do i highly rate Saud and Hassan Ali based on ability, form, attitude, intelligence, and technique. Has nothing to do with them being out of the team.

As for them not being able to make the team in a year we got thrashed from all corners, surely you know Hassan has been carrying an injury since the world cup in 2019? In fact, he was carrying an injury even during the world cup and the games preceding it, which is due to overbowling and something he’s brought up. I simply think he’s back in form now, and will probably get a callup soon — and impress too.

We’re playing a lot of games in Asia this year. We are likely to go with two spinners in a lot of Tests, but even if we go with just one, I am not certain Yasir will make it too far with declining performances. So again, it’s a prediction - Zafar will play this year and impress. Some spinner has to impress given the games in Asia.

Haider and Naseem, yeah they are still nobodies, but Naseem’s a nobody with a 5fer and a hat trick while Haider has such obvious natural ability that even Mamoon thinks he’s good haha. As long as he stops premeditating.

I don’t think positivity is foolish, nor naive. This year has indeed been a disaster in terms of actual performances and we indeed are going to be hoping certain newcomers fit in quickly.

 

[UzmanBeast]

Mohammad Wasim has been blessed to become a chief selector in a year where we are playing lower-quality oppositions. Realistically, we should be able to win a lot of test matches in the year and help some players settle into the team. Now what he needs to do is actually introduce youngsters instead of letting the likes of Shan Masood and Azhar Ali pad their stats and look as if they did something major to help Pakistan in these wins.

Shan Masood has been given a very long rope as an opener, and has not provided enough stability at the top of the order with as many chances he was given. It is a sad reality, but he does not deserve to be on our team moving forward with a measly average of 30.6, that is unacceptable. We desperately need a new opening combination at the top of the order, and there are two ways MW (Mohammad Wasim) can approach the problem.

1. He can create a completely new opening combination from the domestic ranks (I personally don't know that many openers who deserve to play and are young as well.)
2. He can also keep one of Shan Masood or Azhar Ali for the beginning part of the year to let one opener settle before bringing the second.

Moving onto the middle order, the likes of Haris Sohail need to be replaced.

Yasir Shah has seen his best years, and its time that he relinquishes his spot on the team for a new spinner, preferably an off-spinner who can provide control.

The pace attack should include Hasan Ali as well. Abbas has provided a lot of control but has not taken wickets as often as we would like. His strike rate is also extremely high, it was in the 90s for the year 2020. He needs to bring up his pace so that people don't step outside the crease and basically negate every aspect of his bowling.

For the year 2021, I'd like to see us start with this squad:

Azhar Ali (one senior player will be kept, mark my words.)
Imam-Ul-Haq
Usman Salahuddin
Babar Azam (c)
Fawad Alam
Saud Shakeel
Mohammad Rizwan
Sajid Khan/Zafar Gohar
Hasan Ali
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Mohammad Abbas/Usman Khan Shinwari

Abbas won't be useful on Pakistani tracks in my opinion, as there is practically no seam movement for him. Batsmen will step out and he won't be effective.

 

[shamaan]

Mohammad Wasim has been blessed to become a chief selector in a year where we are playing lower-quality oppositions. Realistically, we should be able to win a lot of test matches in the year and help some players settle into the team. Now what he needs to do is actually introduce youngsters instead of letting the likes of Shan Masood and Azhar Ali pad their stats and look as if they did something major to help Pakistan in these wins.

Shan Masood has been given a very long rope as an opener, and has not provided enough stability at the top of the order with as many chances he was given. It is a sad reality, but he does not deserve to be on our team moving forward with a measly average of 30.6, that is unacceptable. We desperately need a new opening combination at the top of the order, and there are two ways MW (Mohammad Wasim) can approach the problem.

1. He can create a completely new opening combination from the domestic ranks (I personally don't know that many openers who deserve to play and are young as well.)
2. He can also keep one of Shan Masood or Azhar Ali for the beginning part of the year to let one opener settle before bringing the second.

Moving onto the middle order, the likes of Haris Sohail need to be replaced.

Yasir Shah has seen his best years, and its time that he relinquishes his spot on the team for a new spinner, preferably an off-spinner who can provide control.

The pace attack should include Hasan Ali as well. Abbas has provided a lot of control but has not taken wickets as often as we would like. His strike rate is also extremely high, it was in the 90s for the year 2020. He needs to bring up his pace so that people don't step outside the crease and basically negate every aspect of his bowling.

For the year 2021, I'd like to see us start with this squad:

Azhar Ali (one senior player will be kept, mark my words.)
Imam-Ul-Haq
Usman Salahuddin
Babar Azam (c)
Fawad Alam
Saud Shakeel
Mohammad Rizwan
Sajid Khan/Zafar Gohar
Hasan Ali
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Mohammad Abbas/Usman Khan Shinwari

Abbas won't be useful on Pakistani tracks in my opinion, as there is practically no seam movement for him. Batsmen will step out and he won't be effective.

1 spinner for the start of 2021 against south africa in asia

 

[Mamoon]

Good to see we are going to continue our rivalry with Zimbabwe in 2021 as well.

 

[ElRaja]

would rather play play 3 3-match series and not play zim, but im guessing it will have to do with reciprocal tours.

fwiw only hope is that shaheen, rizwan and babar continue to perform. if pak keep the xi consistent i see at least 1 of haider, fahim, hassan, shadab, kamran, saud hopefully stepping up.

pak are thoroughly mid tier atm, shouldnt have realisitic expecations from the test side so hopefully by 2022 theres a settled core of 5 to 6 test quality players.

biggest worry is no spinner development, this will continue to plague pak.

 

[Shazzam]

Even though teams look easy in 2021 I am pretty sure we will get some upset losses.

 

[UzmanBeast]

would rather play play 3 3-match series and not play zim, but im guessing it will have to do with reciprocal tours.

fwiw only hope is that shaheen, rizwan and babar continue to perform. if pak keep the xi consistent i see at least 1 of haider, fahim, hassan, shadab, kamran, saud hopefully stepping up.

pak are thoroughly mid tier atm, shouldnt have realisitic expecations from the test side so hopefully by 2022 theres a settled core of 5 to 6 test quality players.

biggest worry is no spinner development, this will continue to plague pak.

If Yasir is dropped for the second test, which should happen in my opinion, it would let Zafar Gohar have a chance to settle in and we will be able to see what he can produce on wickets that don't assist him.

 

[shamaan]

would rather play play 3 3-match series and not play zim, but im guessing it will have to do with reciprocal tours.

fwiw only hope is that shaheen, rizwan and babar continue to perform. if pak keep the xi consistent i see at least 1 of haider, fahim, hassan, shadab, kamran, saud hopefully stepping up.

pak are thoroughly mid tier atm, shouldnt have realisitic expecations from the test side so hopefully by 2022 theres a settled core of 5 to 6 test quality players.

biggest worry is no spinner development, this will continue to plague pak.

i think gohar should be given a chance very soon

 

[moghul]

I hope Fawad plays all those and scores big.

I also hope so, but I will just check the score then, can't watch Fawad playing . Ugliest and the most unpleasant batting stance and style.

 

[MenInG]

I also hope so, but I will just check the score then, can't watch Fawad playing . Ugliest and the most unpleasant batting stance and style.

As they say, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.