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What should be Pakistan's top six for their next Test series?

mak36

mak36

First Class Captain
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Azhar and Asad need to be shown the door, so what should be Pakistan's top six for their next test series? It's a "home" series so a perfect chance to introduce some new players. How about:

Shan
Imam/Fakhar (Abid Ali will be in the mix if he can lose some weight)
Haris
Babar
Saad
Usman/Saud

The lack of right handers is a bit of an issue, but otherwise that looks a decent top six. Thoughts?
 
Fakhar Zaman
Shan Masood
Haris Sohail
Babar Azam
Asad Shafiq - let's be honest he's not going anywhere now.
Saad Ali/Saud Shakeel - depending on who is in better form
 
My personal top 6 would be

1. Shan Masood
2. Fakhar Zaman
3. Babar Azam
4. Haris Sohail
5. Saad Ali
6. Mohammad Rizwan (WK)

I personally would want to have a Batting Allrounder at No.7.
 
1. Imam ul-Haq
2. Shan Masood
3. Babar Azam
4. Haris Sohail
5. Asad Shafiq !!
6. Saud Shakeel !!

!!- Won't be a problem of Usman replaces Asad and Saad replaces Saud in this VI.
 
mak36 said:
Azhar and Asad need to be shown the door, so what should be Pakistan's top six for their next test series? It's a "home" series so a perfect chance to introduce some new players. How about:

Shan
Imam/Fakhar (Abid Ali will be in the mix if he can lose some weight)
Haris
Babar
Saad
Usman/Saud

The lack of right handers is a bit of an issue, but otherwise that looks a decent top six. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

babajee said:
Fakhar Zaman
Shan Masood
Haris Sohail
Babar Azam
Asad Shafiq - let's be honest he's not going anywhere now.
Saad Ali/Saud Shakeel - depending on who is in better form
Click to expand...
I like Babar at 3 and Haris at 4.

First of all Babar has batted in Top 3 a lot in domestics while Haris was usually 4 or 5.

Second, Babar is better against pace than spin.

Third, with Haris at 3, it would be Top 3 all lefty.

Lastly, Babar and Haris are already 3 and 4 in ODIs so it just looks good like that.
 
Not sure why anyone wants Fakhar when he’s looked a glorified tailender here. Imam and Shan have done more than enough to be retained.
 
We can say and gyess what we want to but matter of the fact is that Imam, Azhar , Asad and Sarfraz aren't going anywhere. Same team will be playing in our next series as well.
 
Imam ul Haq
Shan Masood
Harris Sohail
Babar Azam
Usman Salauddin
Saad Ali

Rizwan is not good enough to bat at six but should replace Sarfraz.

I liike Abid Ali too but I think his fitness is a serious concern. It would be good to know whether Sami Aslam has improved his fitness too as he was a superb prospect.
 
Shan
Imam (can't think of any other opener right now)
Babar
Asad
Saud
Salahuddin
 
babajee said:
Fakhar Zaman
Shan Masood
Haris Sohail
Babar Azam
Asad Shafiq - let's be honest he's not going anywhere now.
Saad Ali/Saud Shakeel - depending on who is in better form
Click to expand...

If Asad Shafiq plays then its waste of time to post names of domestic performers like Saud, Saad or even Abid.

Before the top 6 we need a new selection committee.This selection committee has destroyed the batting for last 2 years.

New selector should be given a task to find players who are rewarded for playing for the country even a 20 or a 30 for the side not a 100 for self where the team still loses.

Its a tough call you need a new top 6 as well as mindset that is conditioned to favor the team over self.

Which means Babar Azam should'nt be there, he is an Akmal and they never change in terms of selfishness. Haris knee is itself a huge issue we need a strong replacement.


Abid Ali/Omair Yusuf
Shan Masood
Fakhar Zaman [used to play one down in domestic and has pretty healthy average against semi-new ball]
Saad Ali/Nabi Gul
Saud Shakeel
Fawad Alam/Saad Naseem

Fearless Nabi Gul and Omair Yusuf will be knocking on the A side door pretty soon, are major prospects for 2019
 
Last edited:
Abid Ali
Shan Masood
Haris Sohail(must improve his fitness otherwise fawad alam)
Babar Azam
Usman salahuddin
Saad Ali

I want to see this top six in next series
 
Last edited:
Shan
Fakhar/Abid Ali
Sohail
Babar
Salahuddin
Saad Ali
Rizwan
 
People need to stop obsessing over Fakhar.His technique is pathetic and the shot he played in 2nd test should mean atleast 1 year before he is considered selectable
 
babajee said:
Fakhar Zaman
Shan Masood
Haris Sohail
Babar Azam
Asad Shafiq - let's be honest he's not going anywhere now.
Saad Ali/Saud Shakeel - depending on who is in better form
Click to expand...

Six is too late for Saad IMO. He has shown he is capable of consistently scoring centuries, and big centuries at that, so would definitely put him in the top five to actually give him time to bat.
 
mak36 said:
Six is too late for Saad IMO. He has shown he is capable of consistently scoring centuries, and big centuries at that, so would definitely put him in the top five to actually give him time to bat.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. I would just put him there to blood him into test match cricket.
 
Rayyman said:
I like Babar at 3 and Haris at 4.

First of all Babar has batted in Top 3 a lot in domestics while Haris was usually 4 or 5.

Second, Babar is better against pace than spin.

Third, with Haris at 3, it would be Top 3 all lefty.

Lastly, Babar and Haris are already 3 and 4 in ODIs so it just looks good like that.
Click to expand...

Good points, but Haris has done pretty well at three and prefers pace on the ball too. Also Babar hasn't played that many FC games so not sure how much experience he has at three in the longer format (which partly explains his struggles when he first batted at three in tests). That said, don't mind either way tbh.
[MENTION=143023]SarfiBabarHaris[/MENTION] thoughts?
 
Loralai said:
I liike Abid Ali too but I think his fitness is a serious concern. It would be good to know whether Sami Aslam has improved his fitness too as he was a superb prospect.
Click to expand...

Good reminder.

Sami is a great prospect but he seriously needs to overcome the mental hurdle of international cricket as he goes into his shell; Shan has shown him that hurdle can be overcome with hard work.
 
For future my team will be:
For uae:
Abid Ali
Omair Yousuf
Haris(must improve his fitness)
Babar
Usman salahuddin
fawad alam
Sarfraz(rizwan if sarfraz fails to perform in next series)
Zafar gohar
Yasir(for uae only)
Junaid(due to his excellent track record in uae)
Abbas/Hassan/shaheen/Amir
Bench:
Azhar
Saad Ali
Asad Shafiq
abbas
Hassan/shaheen/amir
Fahim
Rizwan
For Overseas:
Abid Ali
Omair Yousuf
Haris(must improve his fitness)
Babar
Usman salahuddin
Saad ali
Sarfraz(rizwan if sarfraz fails to perform in next series)
fahim/shadab(depends upon overseas condition)
Amir
Junaid
shaheen
Bench:
Abbas
shadab/fahim
rizwan/sarfraz
fawad alam
Asad/azhar
hassan

I selected the team mostly those batsmen based on their domestic performances and averages these above players in my team are all above 40 plus averages in domestic except abid ali who has an average close to 40 but he is performig for the last 3 4 years and for uae i have made a team that is best suited to uae condition with fawad alam and zohar gohar. with zafar gohar and yasir you got two genuine spinners who can take full advantage of uae conditions unlike bilal asif who was average bowler although he took two fivers against aus and nzl but he was average in both series.
 
babajee said:
Fair enough. I would just put him there to blood him into test match cricket.
Click to expand...

Not too worried about that. It's the youngsters who are performing in the current series...
 
Raja Danish said:
For future my team will be:
For uae:
Abid Ali
Omair Yousuf
Haris(must improve his fitness)
Babar
Usman salahuddin
fawad alam
Sarfraz(rizwan if sarfraz fails to perform in next series)
Zafar gohar
Yasir(for uae only)
Junaid(due to his excellent track record in uae)
Abbas/Hassan/shaheen/Amir
Bench:
Azhar
Saad Ali
Asad Shafiq
abbas
Hassan/shaheen/amir
Fahim
Rizwan
For Overseas:
Abid Ali
Omair Yousuf
Haris(must improve his fitness)
Babar
Usman salahuddin
Saad ali
Sarfraz(rizwan if sarfraz fails to perform in next series)
fahim/shadab(depends upon overseas condition)
Amir
Junaid
shaheen
Bench:
Abbas
shadab/fahim
rizwan/sarfraz
fawad alam
Asad/azhar
hassan

I selected the team mostly those batsmen based on their domestic performances and averages these above players in my team are all above 40 plus averages in domestic except abid ali who has an average close to 40 but he is performig for the last 3 4 years and for uae i have made a team that is best suited to uae condition with fawad alam and zohar gohar. with zafar gohar and yasir you got two genuine spinners who can take full advantage of uae conditions unlike bilal asif who was average bowler although he took two fivers against aus and nzl but he was average in both series.
Click to expand...

i missed saud shakeel he will be in my squad as well
 
I want to prioritise solidity. We're not even taking Tests to the fifth day anymore.

Abid Ali (however I expect Azhar Ali to be named in the next series)
Shan Masood
Haris Sohail
Babar Azam
Fawad Alam
Usman Salahuddin
 
three openers

Shan , shehzad and imam.

number 3 Haris sohail /usman salahuddin ( i'd prefer haris if available)

Number 4 Babar
Number 5 Shafiq/Saad ali (I 'd prefer saad)
Number 6 Saud shakeel

Pakistan should select these 9 batsmen for their next test series

Bowlers should be

Yasir shah , zafar gohar , shadab khan , shaheen shah , amir , abbas and some real quick bowler(if any)
 
Sadly, the same side might play.

But this is what i would want to see:

1) Shan Masood
2) Ahmed Shahzad
3) Haris Sohail
4) Babar Azam
5) Saud Shakeel
6) Usman Sallahuddin
7) Rohail Nazir (WK)
8) Shaheen Shah Afridi
9) Muhammad Amir
10) Hassan Ali / Abbas
11) Yasir/Shadab/Faheem (depending on the conditions)

Subs:
12) Junaid Khan
13) Mir Hamza
14) Abid Ali
15) Rizwan
16) Zafar Gohar
 
Azhar and Shafiq are going nowhere. There has been too much investment in them to just throw it away at this point. Hopefully, Azhar can rediscover his form and Shafiq can continue batting with his newfound confidence.

1) Shan Masood
2) Imam ul Haq
3) Azhar Ali
4) Asad Shafiq
5) Babar Azam
6) Haris Sohail
7) Sarfaraz Ahmed (c) (wk)
8) Mohammad Amir/Shadab Khan
9) Yasir Shah
10) Mohammad Abbas
11) Shaheen Shah/Junaid Khan/Hasan Ali

12) Mohammad Rizwan
 
I think, they’ll stick to 5123 combination, hence no. 6 will be a WK.

For a conventional 614 combination, this’ll be my top 6

Shan
Imam
Babar
Haris
Asad
Umar Akmal

I would have liked to swap between Haris & Babar, that makes 3 lefti in top 3. Had Asad been 2-3 years younger, I would have swapped him & Haris but 33+ isn’t the best age for No. 3.

If Haris isn’t fit enough, then I'll replace him with Saud or Saad - probably Saud, because that gives a spin option like Haris for a 614 combination.
 
Let's be honest Asad's going nowehere. Azhar I'd give another series, he did average 60 against NZ. It's SA top order, many players struggle even though Azhar was by far the worst batsman of the tour.

1. Shan
2. Azhar
3. Asad
4. Haris
5. Babar
6. Fawad (c)
7. Sarfraz
 
Bilal7 said:
Azhar and Shafiq are going nowhere. There has been too much investment in them to just throw it away at this point. Hopefully, Azhar can rediscover his form and Shafiq can continue batting with his newfound confidence.

1) Shan Masood
2) Imam ul Haq
3) Azhar Ali
4) Asad Shafiq
5) Babar Azam
6) Haris Sohail
7) Sarfaraz Ahmed (c) (wk)
8) Mohammad Amir/Shadab Khan
9) Yasir Shah
10) Mohammad Abbas
11) Shaheen Shah/Junaid Khan/Hasan Ali

12) Mohammad Rizwan
Click to expand...

Newfound confidence? :)))

Its just another once in a series innings in a losing cause for Shafiq, same old same old.
 
mak36 said:
Good points, but Haris has done pretty well at three and prefers pace on the ball too. Also Babar hasn't played that many FC games so not sure how much experience he has at three in the longer format (which partly explains his struggles when he first batted at three in tests). That said, don't mind either way tbh.
[MENTION=143023]SarfiBabarHaris[/MENTION] thoughts?
Click to expand...

Haris at 3
and
Babar at 4

Babar should be our permanent # 4.
 
Ok i guess Imam hasnt been as bad as i first thought. We have invested a lot in him so i guess he should be persisted with in tests at least.

My top 6:

1. Imam-ul-Haq
2. Sami Aslam
3. Shan Masood
4. Haris Sohail
5. Babar Azam
6. Muhammad Rizwan (w/k)
 
Shan
Fakhar/Abid Ali
Haris
Babar
Saad
Saud/Usman

Saad had an epic QEA Trophy performance last year so deserves a chance to score big. I would prefer Saud for 6 but Usman was discarded unfairly so wouldn't mind if he gets further chances.
 
We have to play 5-2-3. It is imperative to win overseas
I hope shadab can come good tomorrow
Shadab needs to be the future number 6 with the wickie at 7 or vice versa depending how good the wickie is.
And a bowling all rounder at 8. Currently nobody can argue with that being faheem, given his bowling performance in this test.

So that means
Shan
Imam/fakhar
Haris
Asad- he can stay until next aus tour- that's 4 tests left in his career
Babar
 
Last edited by a moderator:
mak36 said:
You want Saud to debut at three, ahead of Haris of Babar? :broad

Interested to hear why.
Click to expand...

Yeah seems a bit like throwing him into deep waters haha, maybe swap him & Haris but that would mean two inexperienced batsmen batting at 5 & 6; I just want Babar to bat at 4 since he's our best bat
 
Shan Masood
Imam ul Haq
Harris Sohail
Babar Azam
Umar Akmal
Saud Shakeel
Mohammad Rizwan

That will be my top 7. I will like to see the comeback of one between Umar Akmal and Umar Amin to have a little experience. And they are both quite good in my opinion. Said Shakeel should be groomed well.

Opening : I will continue with both of Imam and Shan because I will want both of them to have a good chance to prove themselves before getting dropped. As we don't have a genuine good opener in domestic cricket we should not rush the changes at this position.
 
Too early to talk about this, so much will happen in between ie the odi world cup. Much will depend on how that pans out
 
SarfiBabarHaris said:
Haris at 3
and
Babar at 4

Babar should be our permanent # 4.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

SarfiBabarHaris said:
Abid
Shani
Harry
Bobby
Mani
Saad/Saud
Click to expand...

Saud is so good but he needs to start making the most of these A tours.

Also, you are a big supporter of Usman. what do you make of the argument that his FC stats are misleading because of the regions/department divide. These stats are slighty out of date but they illustrate the point:

Overall – 99 matches, 6329 runs, Avg 46.53

Playing FOR regional team – 3730 runs, Avg 54.1
FOR department team – 2422 runs, Avg 38.4

AGAINST regional team – 3389 runs, Avg 58.4
AGAINST dept team – 2763 runs, Avg 36.8
 
Shan Masood
Abid Ali/Fakhar Zaman/Imam-ul-Haq
Haris Sohail
Babar Azam
Saad Ali
Usman Salahuddin

Bench: Saud Shakeel

Abid is old but he could be a stop-gap. Fakhar should open in the UAE. Imam, because of a lack of alternatives and due to the fact that he can occupy the crease, as third choice for that second opener slot, until Sami shows some more promise and comes out of his shell.

Rizwan at 7, but if we go with the 5-2-3 option outside of the UAE, then he moves up to #6.

Saud as the sole bench option, although until then, he should also get a run in our ODI side (hopefully right after the WC).
 
1. Imam-ul-haq
2. Shan Masood
3. Babar Azam
4. Fawad Alam
5. Saad Ali
6. Saud Shakeel

I would also pick Mohammad Rizwan instead of Sarfaraz but I fully expect him to still be there as captain.

I don't think Azhar or Asad are going anywhere in reality and will continue to promise that a meaningful performance is still coming. I also expect Haris Sohail will be in the team and will probably break down again mid series due to being unfit and injury prone.
 
mak36 said:
Agreed.



Saud is so good but he needs to start making the most of these A tours.

Also, you are a big supporter of Usman. what do you make of the argument that his FC stats are misleading because of the regions/department divide. These stats are slighty out of date but they illustrate the point:

Overall – 99 matches, 6329 runs, Avg 46.53

Playing FOR regional team – 3730 runs, Avg 54.1
FOR department team – 2422 runs, Avg 38.4

AGAINST regional team – 3389 runs, Avg 58.4
AGAINST dept team – 2763 runs, Avg 36.8
Click to expand...

Bro i have seen him bat and i liked what i saw.
If i remember correctly he wasnt in form when he played for department.

He was the star player along with Haris Sohail in our premier domestic FC tournament somewhere around 2011-2012 against top attacks.
 
There aren't many cricketers about who have scored a triple century so I don't think we should dispense of Azhar just yet, not at least until he's had another run in his favoured opening slot. I want to back him to form a useful left-right combo with Shan.

Azhar
Shan
Babar
Fawad
Haris
Saad Ali
 
SarfiBabarHaris said:
Bro i have seen him bat and i liked what i saw.
If i remember correctly he wasnt in form when he played for department.

He was the star player along with Haris Sohail in our premier domestic FC tournament somewhere around 2011-2012 against top attacks.
Click to expand...

Agree he looks a solid bat, just a little worrying his average against departments (who usually have better attacks) is considerably lower, and given you have followed his career closely was interested to hear your thoughts on that.

But like I said earlier, going by eye he looked compact vs England so would like to see more.
 
Quite hard to choose as there's so long till our next series and a lot will change. Will be easier to decide closer to the time. I think the likes of Saad Ali, Saud Shakeel and Usman Salahuddin should be very motivated to perform in domestics now as they know 1 or 2 spots in the Pakistan team are starting to open up.
 
Shan
Imam
Asad (should be given a license to bat freely)
Sarfraz
Babar
Azhar (to occupy crease and prevent a lower order collapse)
 
Interesting to see people saying there is no good opener in domestic without mentioning Abid Ali?

Abid is very good and trust me his fitness is not that bad.

 
You guys know that Abid has scored heavily in last 3 years and his home ground was the pacy and bouncy wicket of Diamond ground Islamabad, right?

Then why people preferring Bhateeja who averages in low 30s in FC and late 20s in tests after been given a long rope?
 
Personally I think Talat would be a sick addition to the team

1- Shan
2- Azhar (1 bad series doesn’t define you)
3- Haris
4-Babar (c)
5-Asad (he ain’t leaving)
6- Talat (5th bowling option as well)
7-Rizwan (wk)
8- Shadab
9- Faheem/yasir (depends where we playing)
10- Amir
11-Abbas
 
OR
Shaan Masood
Rizwan
Haris
Babar
Asad shafiq
Saad Ali
Imad wasim
Faheem
Shahdab/yasir
Shaheen afridi
Naseem shah
 
1. Salman Butt
2. Shan Masood
3. Fawad Alam
4. Usman Salahuddin
5. Barbar Azam
6. Sarfraz Ahmed
 
Shan Masood
Abid Ali
Bobby Azam
Usman Salahuddin
Mohd Rizwan
Saad Ali
Shadab Khan
Faheem/yasir (away/Asia or spin friendly pitch)
Abbas/ amir
Shaheen/asghar(away/Asia)
Hasan
 
The ideal top 6 are:-

Bilal
Najam
Waqas
Nouman
Rashid
Feroz

but they are yet to born and this is a serious problem:(
 
Shan
Some new opener.
Haris
Fawad Alam
Babar
Saad Ali
Rizwan

Can Haris open? If yes then maybe and we can squeeze in Usman Salahuddin somehow.
 
For tests
Shaan
Imam
Umar amin
Umar akmal
Asad
Babar
For ODIs
Umar Amin
Umar Akmal
Babar
Haris
Nasir nawaz
Hafeez
 
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