What is the point of Iftikhar Ahmed in the side when he comes into bat at number 8?

[MenInG]

Seems that Babar Azam totally misread the game, thought less of Iftikhar or assumed that Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shadab were superior batters than Iftikhar Ahmed!

How/why on earth would anyone send Ifti in so late when so much depended on his coming good?

 

[MenInG]

Breaking news:

Babar said that they wanted to keep the batting order flexible and use players according to the situation....

 

[angrypathan]

Ridiculous that Shaheen was sent ahead of Iftikhar and Faheem.

 

[Snowflake]

Misread? Babar doesn't read the game at all ) He has no sense of strategy. Just keep throwing ideas at the wall hoping one sticks.

Worst captain we've ever had - maybe MoYo was worse but Babar is right up there too.

 

[angrypathan]

Breaking news:

Babar said that they wanted to keep the batting order flexible and use players according to the situation....

5 down at 55 and his genius idea was to send a bowler who can slog instead of a proper batsman?

 

[shariqnoor]

Breaking news:

Babar said that they wanted to keep the batting order flexible and use players according to the situation....

Another statement that has been shoved down the throat of fans since the past 10 years by every captain without any substance to it.

In which situation are fake allrounders going to be better than a genuine power hitting batsman?

The problem is that these statements go unchallenged in press-conferences thus every captain relieves himself from the burden by issuing such meaningless comments.

 

[Major]

it was a good captaincy move.

They wanted to extend the batting with this move and it worked.

Faheem came at no.9 thus giving us a chance.

Shaheen can pitch hit and shadab and imad can bat.

You see, in the death overs, you cant expect imad and shadab to strike as cleanly as Ifti and Faheem. So i understand the thought process and it almost worked

 

[Rana]

Your ‘data analysts’ need to be sacked

 

[shariqnoor]

it was a good captaincy move.

They wanted to extend the batting with this move and it worked.

Faheem came at no.9 thus giving us a chance.

Shaheen can pitch hit and shadab and imad can bat.

You see, in the death overs, you cant expect imad and shadab to strike as cleanly as Ifti and Faheem. So i understand the thought process and it almost worked

No. Please. This was a really brainless move. You cand send Rauf and Naseem to open and then claim to have extended the batting lineup to number 11. The fact that Shadab, Imad and Shaheen of all are considered better hitters than Iftikhar is a joke that isn't even funny.

 

[Major]

Shaheen was a bad move, but all other moves i agree.

Imad Waseem and Shadab cant really strike, so made sense to play them in middle over. Ifti can strike and everyone knew this situation would arrise where striking would be required.

Yes had shaheen been there in the end, maybe those dot balls would had helped, but babars strategy was not bad. It allowed us to bat very deep. We almost pulled it off.

 

[Major]

No. Please. This was a really brainless move. You cand send Rauf and Naseem to open and then claim to have extended the batting lineup to number 11. The fact that Shadab, Imad and Shaheen of all are considered better hitters than Iftikhar is a joke that isn't even funny.

Imad, Shadan and Shaheen can bat.

However, if you send Shadab and Imad in death overs, you are just wasting them as they cant really strike from ball 1. Ifti can. Thus, it made sense what the moves were being made.

Pakistan kept itself in the game by making these changes.

 

[shariqnoor]

Shaheen was a bad move, but all other moves i agree.

Imad Waseem and Shadab cant really strike, so made sense to play them in middle over. Ifti can strike and everyone knew this situation would arrise where striking would be required.

Yes had shaheen been there in the end, maybe those dot balls would had helped, but babars strategy was not bad. It allowed us to bat very deep. We almost pulled it off.

The whole logic of sending in recognized batsmen first is so that they score the bulk of the runs and if the need arises for the lower order to bat, then they have to score at 7 or 8 RPO only.

If this strategy of sending in allrounders ahead of recognized batsmen is good, why is Pakistan the only team that does it?

 

[Rana]

The whole logic of sending in recognized batsmen first is so that they score the bulk of the runs and if the need arises for the lower order to bat, then they have to score at 7 or 8 RPO only.

If this strategy of sending in allrounders ahead of recognized batsmen is good, why is Pakistan the only team that does it?

Because Pakistan plays middle order players as openers and Openers as middle order players. That’s their way

Nothing I have stated is factually incorrect

 

[Major]

The whole logic of sending in recognized batsmen first is so that they score the bulk of the runs and if the need arises for the lower order to bat, then they have to score at 7 or 8 RPO only.

If this strategy of sending in allrounders ahead of recognized batsmen is good, why is Pakistan the only team that does it?

not as simple as it seems.

Sometimes you need to rotate strike and get runs on board, now you ahve two options, use your trump hitter earlier and risk him getting out, or use yourr lower order batters who cant hit but can rotate strike which you require.

Thus, Abdul Rehman and Babar made a smart move where shadab and Imad were sent up. Shaheen one was maybe too much, but the move allowed ifti to be saved and come up at a time when we needed a striker and he almost pulled it off. One shot just changed the result.

It was a very good strategy, because it almost worked.

 

[daytrader]

One too many promotions. Sending Shaheen was a blunder, he should've been saved for the last over. He can hit better than Rauf and Naseem

 

[topspin]

No. Please. This was a really brainless move. You cand send Rauf and Naseem to open and then claim to have extended the batting lineup to number 11. The fact that Shadab, Imad and Shaheen of all are considered better hitters than Iftikhar is a joke that isn't even funny.

I agree that Iftikhar is a better batsman but lets scope out of Misbah's lens for a second.

The guy was never going to win it in the last over. Why don't you Misbah fans learn from the 2007 WT20 final episode and the 2011 Misbah Mohali show?

Misbah and any one of his clones will never get past the finishing line when it's all left to them to do the job.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Ive always maintained that if Ifti plays he must bat in the top 3.

 

[Saj]

Breaking news:

Babar said that they wanted to keep the batting order flexible and use players according to the situation....

Is that why Shaheen came in ahead of Ifti.

Makes no sense.

 

[Saj]

Imad, Shadan and Shaheen can bat.

However, if you send Shadab and Imad in death overs, you are just wasting them as they cant really strike from ball 1. Ifti can. Thus, it made sense what the moves were being made.

Pakistan kept itself in the game by making these changes.

He came in at 8.

The score was 64/6 after 11.5 overs.

The match was over.

 

[shariqnoor]

I agree that Iftikhar is a better batsman but lets scope out of Misbah's lens for a second.

The guy was never going to win it in the last over. Why don't you Misbah fans learn from the 2007 WT20 final episode and the 2011 Misbah Mohali show?

Misbah and any one of his clones will never get past the finishing line when it's all left to them to do the job.

Whatever you wrote, what does this have to do with Shadab, Imad and Shaheen being considered better batters in today's situation than Iftikhar by the management? How did you infer from my posts that I'm suggesting that Iftikhar would've won the match?

Please don't thrust in irrelevant points when the matter being discussed is completely different.

 

[topspin]

Whatever you wrote, what does this have to do with Shadab, Imad and Shaheen being considered better batters in today's situation than Iftikhar by the management? How did you infer from my posts that I'm suggesting that Iftikhar would've won the match?

Please don't thrust in irrelevant points when the matter being discussed is completely different.

Okay lets discuss this then.

Prior to this series, Iftikhar hasn't been in good form as evident by how he fared in the PSL. That's one possible explanation from the management.

But also lets remember chacha is well in his 40s (and possibly closer to 50), I've seen him beaten for pace and struggle to get his bat down in time over the last 8 months. His reflexes are on the wane. We need to think about the long-term future. We shouldn't take these meaningless bilaterals so seriously.

Will Iftikhar be good enough to make the 2024 WT20? I really don't think so. Even if he does, he'll be a flop.

So the decision to prioritise longer term prospects in the batting order might pay dividends in the future.

 

[Marooned]

This cringe practice of seeing Shaheen as a batter must end.

 

[shariqnoor]

Okay lets discuss this then.

Prior to this series, Iftikhar hasn't been in good form as evident by how he fared in the PSL. That's one possible explanation from the management.

But also lets remember chacha is well in his 40s (and possibly closer to 50), I've seen him beaten for pace and struggle to get his bat down in time over the last 8 months. His reflexes are on the wane. We need to think about the long-term future. We shouldn't take these meaningless bilaterals so seriously.

Will Iftikhar be good enough to make the 2024 WT20? I really don't think so. Even if he does, he'll be a flop.

So the decision to prioritise longer term prospects in the batting order might pay dividends in the future.

So the management is looking at the long-term future by sending in Shadab, Imad and Shaheen ahead of Iftikhar? If you want to get a batter for the long-term future, then replace Iftikhar with another genuine batter from the domestic. Not with these fake allrounders like these three.

Reinforces my point that nobody has any clue what they are doing. And Babar gets away with this clownish statement that we were trying to be flexible with our batting order.

 

[shariqnoor]

This cringe practice of seeing Shaheen as a batter must end.

His innings in the PSL final was a hammer blow to Pakistan. It's an inning that will have negative ramifications for years to come.

 

[Marooned]

His innings in the PSL final was a hammer blow to Pakistan. It's an inning that will have negative ramifications for years to come.

The travesty is even his raw batting talent is nothing to write home about. He's just a regular 10 at best 9. Not even Umar Gul/Wahab/Hasan Ali level clean hitting ability.

The team management is just indulging in fantasies.

He's just an ace fastbowler and that is more than enough.

 

[reversehook]

Breaking news:

Babar said that they wanted to keep the batting order flexible and use players according to the situation....

then him and rizwan should bat at #10 and 11... very very flexible...

 

[Rana]

then him and rizwan should bat at #10 and 11... very very flexible...

Babar flexibility is 3-11

1 and 2 don’t count

 

[Major]

He came in at 8.

The score was 64/6 after 11.5 overs.

The match was over.

Naa match was never over. Cause the batting line up was very deep.

Imad and shadab failed their roles, or else had they performed the strategy was correct... At the end we lost by 4

 

[hitthestump]

I don't think it was that big a deal.

If Shaheen scores 20 (10) then he's taken a bunch of pressure off Ifti

A bit of time at the crease to settle was important as Ifti was our last recognised batsman.

If Shaheen flops then Ifti was in the same spot he was before - having to get going from ball 1.

It was unconventional, maybe unneccessary but it wasn't crazy.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Naa match was never over. Cause the batting line up was very deep.

Imad and shadab failed their roles, or else had they performed the strategy was correct... At the end we lost by 4

Yeah it wasnt over because Henry, Milne and Lister were the bowlers.

Only Neesham and Sodhi would get a look in NZ first choice 11 as bowlers.

You make it sound like Ifti regularly hits those runs against all world class teams being 64-6 and Pakistan regularly wins from thos positions or gets close to winning.

 

[Major]

Yeah it wasnt over because Henry, Milne and Lister were the bowlers.

Only Neesham and Sodhi would get a look in NZ first choice 11 as bowlers.

You make it sound like Ifti regularly hits those runs against all world class teams being 64-6 and Pakistan regularly wins from thos positions or gets close to winning.

Ifti isn't a bad player, people that have watched ifti, like his coach Abdul Rehman, they know this guy can hit.

Thus, the strategy set all made sense.

Neesham was the one being targetted. At the end we lost, due to 6-7 dot balls off the last 2 overs

 

[MenInG]

More Babar quotes on this

"We've kept our batting order flexible. We went with what we thought was best at that time. Iftikhar Ahmed and Faheem Ashraf were outstanding. We're playing a deep batting lineup so that we can send anyone at any time. Iftikhar can bat at any number - numbers don't matter"

https://cricketpakistan.com.pk/en/n...-behind-sending-iftikhar-ahmed-at-number-eigh

 

[Suleiman]

Seems that Babar Azam totally misread the game, thought less of Iftikhar or assumed that Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shadab were superior batters than Iftikhar Ahmed!

How/why on earth would anyone send Ifti in so late when so much depended on his coming good?

Babar has very poor game awareness when the heat is on. He panics too easily. It’s 3 years in and he can’t even get the batting order right. Gotta draw the line and pass the reigns off at some point…

It’s ironic how he’s willing to shuffle every random batting slot except for the opening slots ) which seems to be set in stone for some reason.

 

[amvbfm]

I feel there are two core factors at work here:

- First is Pakistan's new found obsession with data analytics and matchups. Rest of the teams have been focusing on this especially in T20s for some time while we have merrily continued with our old ways until recently. But data analysis needs expert human judgement and context to make it work. You can identify matchups but you must also use the right resources to exploit those matchups. If data says that a certain right hander will struggle against a SLAO it doesn't mean you send lower order lefthanders to counter that. That just doesn't make sense as it is highly likely that the lower order bat will struggle or get out and put even more pressure on the batsman he is trying to shield.

- The tendency to give too much weight to PSL performances. While generally these are a good indicator of a player's core abilities, sometimes performances like Shaheen's batting performance this year or Shadab's batting streak from a couple of years ago are given undue weightage and understandably don't translate well at international level. Also at times this tends to adversely affect the player's main skill.

Iftikhar's demotion yesterday in my opinion was a result of both these miscalculations. As a one off and in a meaningless game it doesn't matter but trying this in more important games can cost us dearly. I hope the management learns from this. Iftikhar is a specialist batsman and the best middle order power player in the country. To make use of that power he has to come in at a certain point in the game. Yes, he did play a blinder from 8 yesterday but that in no way justifies the blunder of demoting his so far down the order.

 

[Saj]

Strategy made no sense as the match was all but over when he went to bat.

It needed a miracle for Pakistan to win. Yes Ifti nearly pulled it off, but the reality is that the game was over when he went out there.

Poor tactics and planning.

 

[Sher Khan]

I still feel that we haven't seen the best of Iftikhar Ahmed in International cricket. He is the best middle order hitter in Pakistan.

 

[Omer2002]

I mean I know we are all talking about Iftis position but can anybody explain why Naseem came in before Haris at the end when Haris slogged a few sixers last game. Naseem's innings in UAE was a fluke he missed three vital balls where singles should have been enough in my opinion.

 

[Kroll]

I agree that Iftikhar is a better batsman but lets scope out of Misbah's lens for a second.

The guy was never going to win it in the last over. Why don't you Misbah fans learn from the 2007 WT20 final episode and the 2011 Misbah Mohali show?

Misbah and any one of his clones will never get past the finishing line when it's all left to them to do the job.

NAIL ON THE HEAD right there! I was just thinking that while Iftikhar was on his wee merry run, that he was going to bottle it at the end. And lo and behold, he does exactly that leading to our loss.

If he bottles it against a NZ C team in a meaningless T20, it's no surprise he fails in proper matches and against proper attacks.

 

[Asif321]

Lol immature excuses by babar “numbers don’t matter “ then why don’t you come and bat at 3 and rizwan at 4 . If it doesn’t matter . It was terrible move to send ifti when team was 65/6 . It was just that ifti was too good so game got close . It won’t happen everytime . Ifti should be batting ahead of all these all rounders .

 

[ads101]

The weird thing about iftikhar is actually his average and sr increase at every position he moves down. His record up the order at 4 and 5 is very mediocre. 6 and below it’s phenomenal.

Maybe is worth sticking him down the order. You’d think logically he should be batting higher, but stats tell otherwise.

 

[Galla]

The weird thing about iftikhar is actually his average and sr increase at every position he moves down. His record up the order at 4 and 5 is very mediocre. 6 and below it’s phenomenal.

Maybe is worth sticking him down the order. You’d think logically he should be batting higher, but stats tell otherwise.

Thats because he doesnt have the 2nd and 3rd gear in his batting.He can either block or hit out which doesnt work at the top as he is confused when to start hitting.When he comes at the end he can start hitting right away thats why he does well.

 

[Saj]

I mean I know we are all talking about Iftis position but can anybody explain why Naseem came in before Haris at the end when Haris slogged a few sixers last game. Naseem's innings in UAE was a fluke he missed three vital balls where singles should have been enough in my opinion.

Another tactical masterstroke I guess.

 

[hafizexpress]

The game was much closer because he came at 8 and went berserk, rather than coming in the middle order and wasting time.

 

[Saj]

The required run rate when Ifti came into bat was 12 per over.

I mean did they really expect him to perform miracles when the team run rate at that point when he came into bat was 5.40?

I'm afraid some people are trying to make this moving Ifti to 8 like it was some tactical masterstroke. When the reality is, it was flawed thinking and poor tactics.

 

[Snowflake]

Naa match was never over. Cause the batting line up was very deep.

Imad and shadab failed their roles, or else had they performed the strategy was correct... At the end we lost by 4

Match is also not over when you need 36 from 6.

You lost by 4 because of a freak innings by Iftikhar that he will only play once in a blue moon.

Match was effectively over at 64/6 after 11.5 overs.


Anyone defending this batting order needs better understanding of the game.

 

[topspin]

NAIL ON THE HEAD right there! I was just thinking that while Iftikhar was on his wee merry run, that he was going to bottle it at the end. And lo and behold, he does exactly that leading to our loss.

If he bottles it against a NZ C team in a meaningless T20, it's no surprise he fails in proper matches and against proper attacks.

Unfortunately this is what happens when you have modelled your game and possess the same mindset as Misbah.

His innings was very much reminiscent of Misbah's knock in the 2007 WT20 final. When you turn into his clone, there was only going to be one outcome in that final over.

Iftikhar also has the tuk-tuk/selfish mode in him as well. A fine example of this was during Quetta's last game of this year's PSL. They had 263 to beat Peshawar.

Everyone was doing their best to chase the total but this clone decided to give us a repeat of the 2011 Misbah Mohali show. He showed no interest in chasing the total and was simply playing for his stats in the hope of securing his place for PSL 9.

As you say, in the more meaningful contests, there'll be no surprise if he fails. I would go say he's the last Pakistani player I would trust to successfully chase if it all came down to one player to rescue the side.

I wonder if we'll see a repeat of the Misbah Mohali show in India later this year.

 

[Saj]

And Ifti doesn't deserve stick for his effort despite Pakistan losing the match.

He did his best, brought Pakistan back into the match - it's the other batters and the think-tank that deserve stick.

 

[ahmadharis1]

I don't think it was that big a deal.

If Shaheen scores 20 (10) then he's taken a bunch of pressure off Ifti

A bit of time at the crease to settle was important as Ifti was our last recognised batsman.

If Shaheen flops then Ifti was in the same spot he was before - having to get going from ball 1.

It was unconventional, maybe unneccessary but it wasn't crazy.

This is my reasoning as well. I was pretty upset at first when Shaheen came in but came to this conclusion as well.

We constantly give Babar flak for being unimaginative with his captaincy (I sure do). Now when Babar tries something out of the box, we give him more crap because it didn't pan out?

Sending a pinch hitter to slog isn't a half bad idea. If Shaheen scores that 20 off 10 then Ifti takes the game home and we all praise Babar.

These random bilaterals is the perfect time for little experiments like these. Nobody is going to care about the outcome of the third Pak/NZ T20 by the time the next T20 world cup comes.

 

[shamaan]

This is my reasoning as well. I was pretty upset at first when Shaheen came in but came to this conclusion as well.

We constantly give Babar flak for being unimaginative with his captaincy (I sure do). Now when Babar tries something out of the box, we give him more crap because it didn't pan out?

Sending a pinch hitter to slog isn't a half bad idea. If Shaheen scores that 20 off 10 then Ifti takes the game home and we all praise Babar.

These random bilaterals is the perfect time for little experiments like these. Nobody is going to care about the outcome of the third Pak/NZ T20 by the time the next T20 world cup comes.

Exactly we as fans can't and never be happy.

 

[Rana]

This is my reasoning as well. I was pretty upset at first when Shaheen came in but came to this conclusion as well.

We constantly give Babar flak for being unimaginative with his captaincy (I sure do). Now when Babar tries something out of the box, we give him more crap because it didn't pan out?

Sending a pinch hitter to slog isn't a half bad idea. If Shaheen scores that 20 off 10 then Ifti takes the game home and we all praise Babar.

These random bilaterals is the perfect time for little experiments like these. Nobody is going to care about the outcome of the third Pak/NZ T20 by the time the next T20 world cup comes.

Let’s see Babar think out of the box and bat at number 3.

Oh wait…

 

[Rana]

Ifti and Faheem are pretty strong on the low full toss/ missed yorker length

Good death overs hitters

 

[PakPremi]

Ive always maintained that if Ifti plays he must bat in the top 3.

Seen him bat higher and he starts tuk tuking,he has ti bat no higher than 5 where he knows he has to get on with it

 

[Dr_Bassim]

This is my reasoning as well. I was pretty upset at first when Shaheen came in but came to this conclusion as well.

We constantly give Babar flak for being unimaginative with his captaincy (I sure do). Now when Babar tries something out of the box, we give him more crap because it didn't pan out?

Sending a pinch hitter to slog isn't a half bad idea. If Shaheen scores that 20 off 10 then Ifti takes the game home and we all praise Babar.

These random bilaterals is the perfect time for little experiments like these. Nobody is going to care about the outcome of the third Pak/NZ T20 by the time the next T20 world cup comes.

He can start with rotation of openers if he is desperate for experiments.

But that NEVER happens.

We all know why.

 

[ahmadharis1]

Let’s see Babar think out of the box and bat at number 3.

Oh wait…

He can start with rotation of openers if he is desperate for experiments.

But that NEVER happens.

We all know why.

I'm not saying he's perfect, I'd love to have him either up his tempo opening or move down to 3, but I'm willing to give like 5% credit for trying something different. Small steps lol

 

[Rana]

I'm not saying he's perfect, I'd love to have him either up his tempo opening or move down to 3, but I'm willing to give like 5% credit for trying something different. Small steps lol

When he takes the big steps, we will be more appreciative of him

 

[daytrader]

He can start with rotation of openers if he is desperate for experiments.

But that NEVER happens.

We all know why.

He's desperate to fix problems that exist not fix something that isn't broken.

 

[Rana]

He's desperate to fix problems that exist not fix something that isn't broken.

The opening pair not broken is a myth

Rizwan is averaging the same in this series (same sr) as the one he had in the World Cup and also the tri series (matches against NZ)

Rizwan isn’t opening on merit

 

[daytrader]

The opening pair not broken is a myth

Rizwan is averaging the same in this series (same sr) as the one he had in the World Cup and also the tri series (matches against NZ)

Rizwan isn’t opening on merit

If you think so but experts don't agree. Since Misbah set this opening combo, we've had Saqlain, Mohammad Yusuf, Hayden, Ramiz Raja, Shahid Afridi and various ex cricketers as interim coaches in team management. None of them have changed this pair. There must be a reason and that is simply that they're world class and successful. The two at the top make us more competitive

 

[Rana]

If you think so but experts don't agree. Since Misbah set this opening combo, we've had Saqlain, Mohammad Yusuf, Hayden, Ramiz Raja, Shahid Afridi and various ex cricketers as interim coaches in team management. None of them have changed this pair. There must be a reason and that is simply that they're world class and successful. The two at the top make us more competitive

World class how?

We’ve lost literally everything important. They did well against India (fair enough)

-They failed in the NZ crunch game, also Afghanistan in 2021.
-They did nothing of note against Australia in the semis, Warner alone showed them how to bat on that deck
-they failed pretty much in the 7 match series v England whilst Butler sat out
-Babar had a horror show in the Asia cup, whilst Rizwan was finally exposed in the final
-they were pretty much passengers in the tri series (especially final) and the World Cup to follow
-they have failed 2/3 times against NZ C Team in this series already

I don’t understand how they are world class? They are not T20 openers

 

[daytrader]

World class how?

We’ve lost literally everything important. They did well against India (fair enough)

-They failed in the NZ crunch game, also Afghanistan in 2021.
-They did nothing of note against Australia in the semis, Warner alone showed them how to bat on that deck
-they failed pretty much in the 7 match series v England whilst Butler sat out
-Babar had a horror show in the Asia cup, whilst Rizwan was finally exposed in the final
-they were pretty much passengers in the tri series (especially final) and the World Cup to follow
-they have failed 2/3 times against NZ C Team in this series already

I don’t understand how they are world class? They are not T20 openers

That's a handful of games compared to their overall careers. You can't expect a player to perform in 100% of games, that's just not realistic. Again though, so many experts involved with the PCB and the continous turmoil and change in management yet the only thing that has remained constant is RizBar opening. Obviously it's the one thing that's not broken

 

[Rana]

That's a handful of games compared to their overall careers. You can't expect a player to perform in 100% of games, that's just not realistic. Again though, so many experts involved with the PCB and the continous turmoil and change in management yet the only thing that has remained constant is RizBar opening. Obviously it's the one thing that's not broken

How has that not changed? The management forced them to sit and rest. They didn’t force everyone else to rest whilst Babar and Rizwan got to play against Afghanistan

This management I think is playing it very smart. Let them dig their own graves. Which IMO they are doing.

2 more losses in this series and oh boy…

 

[Saj]

Exactly we as fans can't and never be happy.

I don't think people should be happy when Pakistan loses at home to a team missing many of its best players.

 

[PakPremi]

I don't think people should be happy when Pakistan loses at home to a team missing many of its best players.

Many fans were not even happy when they won first two easily.

 

[Saj]

Many fans were not even happy when they won first two easily.

There's always room for improvement, but to be satisfied and happy when you have lost to a very weak NZ touring side is just bizarre.

 

[PakPremi]

Of course there is room for improvement, even if you win a world cup there will still be room for improvement but do also appreciate the little improvements team has made ,for instance Babar style if batti g getting better in T20s, biwling overall putting up good show more often than not, Imad also is putting up better performances than he used to, younsters like Zaman and Siam showing good potential, and Rizwan keeping has been great to watch.

 

[MenInG]

Is Iftikhar a long term option for Pakistan is the question to be asked.

Whilst he may give us short term relief, we do not have a batter of his type for the future.

 

[Saj]

We know what he can do with the bat.

However against India his bowling was really shown up.

Part-time bowler? Pie-chucker? Or someone reliable with the ball?

 

[mominsaigol]

Pcb loves bits and pieces players that's why. Chacha, Nawaz, Shadab, Faheem, Anwar ali, asif Ali etc

^^ These lads wouldn't ever make it beyond club level if they were playing under bcci or ecb or any sena cricket board. Heck I doubt Sri lanka or even bangaldesh would Select these lads.

Chacha isn't a player, I've seen what he can do in the LPL. He's a bang Average medicore bat and horrible bowler. He ain't a finisher, top order or middle order bat.

I will never understand the think tank. Technically solid players like Abdullah, Saud, saim aren't groomed and are water boys because apparently their raw, but players who are technically limited and are bits and pieces, aka players who have a zero ceiling to improve and will get cremated as soon as they face a 1st string attack are selected.

 

[hassan918]

Iftikhar Ahmed has played so much cricket that he can perform well at any position but it would be better for the team that he gets to play enough ball to make an impact on the game.

 

[mominsaigol]

Iftikhar Ahmed has played so much cricket that he can perform well at any position but it would be better for the team that he gets to play enough ball to make an impact on the game.

Chacha isn't a finisher, nor is a middle order bat. He can't read wrist spin. Idc about the roles he'd played, hes a medicore player regardless.

Saying he's pur best middle order bat when his competition is agha, Shadab, faheem and nawaz doesn't mean anything.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Chacha isn't a finisher, nor is a middle order bat. He can't read wrist spin. Idc about the roles he'd played, hes a medicore player regardless.

Saying he's pur best middle order bat when his competition is agha, Shadab, faheem and nawaz doesn't mean anything.

Iftikhar is the best finisher we have right now, what else u want him to do? he has scored quick runs yesterday also performed quite well with a ball too.