What was the benefit of the ODI series against Zimbabwe?

[msb314]

I hate to be cynical but there has been no benefit at all in playing this series.

I dont buy the "we have 1 year until the WC so we need match practice" argument because there is nothing to gain chasing 60 odd against this hapless Zimbabwean side.

We are merely wasting money by logistics, accommodation and allowances. I doubt this series has made the PCB any money at all.

Atleast if this series was in Pakistan - it might have been commercially successful since this Pakistani market is much bigger than the Zimbabwean market - even taking into account the security arrangements.

Alternatively - could we really not have played the tri-series earlier as an ODi series instead of a pointless T20 series? Australia atleast would have been a more formidable ODi opponent - even without Warner and Smith.

PCB really need to have a hard look at themselves...

 

[Usman Chadda]

Zimbabwe got to test their bench strength

 

[msb314]

Zimbabwe got to test their bench strength

That is not our problem.

They should do that against other associate teams. PCB should not be a charity that should tour Zimbabwe just for them to "test their bench strength"

 

[Usman Chadda]

That is not our problem.

They should do that against other associate teams. PCB should not be a charity that should tour Zimbabwe just for them to "test their bench strength"

True

Sadly, that's all that has happened in this series. Our Under-19 team could have beaten these nobodies

 

[msb314]

True

Sadly, that's all that has happened in this series. Our Under-19 team could have beaten these nobodies

At the very least - if PCB was having trouble arranging an ODI series with other countries they should have forced Zimbabwe to tour Pakistan. Plain and simple and it would have benefited everyone instead of this pointless series in front of zero crowds and no coverage.

 

[Mute Witness]

This series is an expression of gratitude from the PCB to Zimbabwe cricket for when they agreed to become the first test playing nation to visit Pakistan, when no other dared. And we are eternally grateful for their support. Hell if they wanted a 7 match series in exchange of that tour, we would have bitten their hand off. So enjoy it for what it is. Put your competitive glasses aside. This is a friendly tour. Thank you Zimbabwe

 

[Usman Chadda]

This series is an expression of gratitude from the PCB to Zimbabwe cricket for when they agreed to become the first test playing nation to visit Pakistan, when no other dared. And we are eternally grateful for their support. Hell if they wanted a 7 match series in exchange of that tour, we would have bitten their hand off. So enjoy it for what it is. Put your competitive glasses aside. This is a friendly tour. Thank you Zimbabwe

Doesn't seem like a friendly tour looking at the beatings Pakistan has handed out to Zimbabwe. What's the point of Malik playing, when all he has done is offer shabashi to the bowlers

 

[Sirris]

My guess is there must have been some kind of a agreement the time when ZIM toured Pakistan. We are most probably returning some kind of a favor.

 

[Rayyman]

Statpadding

 

[in_cutter]

I hate to be cynical but there has been no benefit at all in playing this series.

I dont buy the "we have 1 year until the WC so we need match practice" argument because there is nothing to gain chasing 60 odd against this hapless Zimbabwean side.

We are merely wasting money by logistics, accommodation and allowances. I doubt this series has made the PCB any money at all.

Atleast if this series was in Pakistan - it might have been commercially successful since this Pakistani market is much bigger than the Zimbabwean market - even taking into account the security arrangements.

Alternatively - could we really not have played the tri-series earlier as an ODi series instead of a pointless T20 series? Australia atleast would have been a more formidable ODi opponent - even without Warner and Smith.

PCB really need to have a hard look at themselves...

When there is no cricket...’we are not playing enough cricket’

When we play...’what is the point in this series’

 

[hitthestump]

Junaid's performance today means this is the first time since his comeback Amir seems genuinely droppable. If it works to replace him in the side or give him a kick, then that's ends up being a pretty huge benefit i reckon.

 

[Ab Fan]

It helped Zimbabwean market I believe. They play 5 odis against India as well although India sends Rayudu and Rahane with Raina as captain in those venues.

 

[Stewie]

Don’t ever underestimate the experience and confidence our team can get from playing against weaker opposition. I guess this should have done lots of good for the confidence of Fakhar, faheem, shinwari, etc

 

[Savak]

This series is an expression of gratitude from the PCB to Zimbabwe cricket for when they agreed to become the first test playing nation to visit Pakistan, when no other dared. And we are eternally grateful for their support. Hell if they wanted a 7 match series in exchange of that tour, we would have bitten their hand off. So enjoy it for what it is. Put your competitive glasses aside. This is a friendly tour. Thank you Zimbabwe

Have to agree with this. No good deed should go unpaid

 

[msb314]

This series is an expression of gratitude from the PCB to Zimbabwe cricket for when they agreed to become the first test playing nation to visit Pakistan, when no other dared. And we are eternally grateful for their support. Hell if they wanted a 7 match series in exchange of that tour, we would have bitten their hand off. So enjoy it for what it is. Put your competitive glasses aside. This is a friendly tour. Thank you Zimbabwe

My guess is there must have been some kind of a agreement the time when ZIM toured Pakistan. We are most probably returning some kind of a favor.

We already returned the favor to Zimbabwe when we toured them in October 2015.

We won the ODI series 2-1

 

[AssassinatedDevil]

We have given our zimbabwean brothers a lot of good match practice and earned good deeds in the process. That is the only benefit.

 

[moghul]

Something is better than nothing.

 

[Shaddy86]

You beg Zimbabwe to tour Pakistan since nobody else would tour, and then when you have to pay back yoru dues, you moan about it?

It should have only been a 3 match series, and it is painful to watch such pathetic cricket and we're probably doing more harm than any good by playing this series but we had to pay back our dues and it was the right thing to do by PCB.

 

[iniqbal223]

youngsters to play and lead
Had it been some other captain/coach, we would have seen the below XI, with few close games as well:

Imran Farhat
K Akmal
Hafeez
Malik
Misbah
Umar Akmal
Afridi
Anwar Ali
Bilawal Bhatti
Aizaz Cheema
Umar Gul

 

[giri26]

To be really frank, this series could have been used to test the bench strength. Pakistan could have picked a young team to Zimbabwe under Safaraz sans Hafeez, Malik, Amir etc. There is no point in playing them in this series. Also this could have been used to rest someone like Fakhar Zaman, who has been playing. Zimbabwe is missing 4 key players, players who could have at least made this more competitive. Taylor, Raza, Jarvis and Cremer are crucial members of the Zimbabwe line up.

Pakistan missed a trick here, hopefully in the upcoming two games, they will rest the seniors and play a young team.

 

[msb314]

We have given our zimbabwean brothers a lot of good match practice and earned good deeds in the process. That is the only benefit.

But how does that benefit our team?

 

[msb314]

You beg Zimbabwe to tour Pakistan since nobody else would tour, and then when you have to pay back yoru dues, you moan about it?

It should have only been a 3 match series, and it is painful to watch such pathetic cricket and we're probably doing more harm than any good by playing this series but we had to pay back our dues and it was the right thing to do by PCB.

Which "dues" are you talking about?

After Zimbabwe toured Pakistan in May 2015 - we toured them back less than 6 months later.

We played them in an ODI series in October 2015 in Zimbabwe and won 2-1.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistani_cricket_team_in_Zimbabwe_in_2015–16

 

[hadi123]

What kind of point are you making? How can you criticize PCB for playing this series? Don't get me wrong, I don't really care about this ODI series myself but it's still part of the Future Tours Programme. You can't just not a play a team cos they are rubbish. Do you think that Man City could just skip the fixture against a team like Southampton in the PL? I don't understand some fans logic sometimes.

 

[mak36]

Disrespectful thread. Really does leave a poor taste.

Pakistan has a long history of supporting smaller cricketing nations and that is something that should be applauded.

When this series was scheduled a full strength Zimbabwe team was expected- there's very little the PCB can do if ZCB has a player dispute.

As for your alternative, the ZCB wanted the tri-series to be T20s and that is their pregotative. I assume it was to give themselves the best chance of being competitive, and given they came close to beating Australia it almost worked.

Also, whilst this series hasn't been competitive it's worth remembering Pakistan last played ODIs in January. It also means Mickey can keep making them work hard in-between matches.

So I suggest it is you who needs to have a hard look at himself.

 

[Sunny_majoka]

They have achieved a lot but you don't forget the fact that
Pakistan is still a young side.
Fakher
Babar
Imam
Usman
Shadab
Faheem
How many matches they have played
Even Sarfraz amir and Hasan.
The only experience player we have is malik

 

[KyoOne]

PCB is the worst to negotiate bilateral series.

They could have negotiated a much better timetable for us had it been a little more competitive

 

[The_Odd_One]

Enabled a Pakistani batsman to score a double hundred

 

[El Generico]

A boast to stats and confidence.

 

[gazza619]

I don’t think you understand the fact that international cricket is the best platform to keep your form and fitness in. No matter how weak the opposition is, there is always pressure to not fail (as replacements are sitting in the pipeline) and then the game is being televised worldwide. If anything playing against a weaker opposition sometimes adds extra pressure as everyone is expecting you to do well.
A big high five from me to the lads. Well done!!!

 

[Dingolfy]

Should have send your A team instead of full senior team.

 

[Hasan123]

Pakistan players getting some confidence but we should have rested some more players.There was no need for Hafeez,Malik,Sarfraz ,Amir ,and Hassan Ali to be in the squad.

 

[ads101]

Sigh nothing. Usually I still say weaker teams is good experience, but Pakistan's domestic teams will put up a better fight than this depleted Zimbabwe side. And I bet Zimbabwe aren't even playing up to their full potential even with this worse side, hard to when the focus is on how all the senior players are boycotting. A lot of the players probably just feel like stop gaps until they resolve the problems, not a proper chance to break into the team.

Feel sad because it's important to play these teams and give them exposure. I commend Pakistan as one of the teams who puts a big effort into this.

The T20 series was a lot better viewing even the Zimbabwe matches.

People are saying we should have played a weaker team, but with the world cup near, what's the point. You want to keep your side settled, it's approaching time to pretty much stick with a group of players and let them gel.

The only things I would have liked was to try out the spinner a bit more. See if picking a 2nd spinner might be viable. But we did that in the recent ODI and we'll probably do it the next one. I preferred Zafar but again I understand, a little too soon to the world cup, it's tough to realistically fit Gohar in who has next to no int. experience.

They promoted Asif which was good, but I'd like to see them promote Fahim too. I'm sure Fahim and Asif would have got more chances, but if Zimbabwe can't get past the openers and Babar, how can they? Maybe given the last ODI, just send in Fahim and Asif as openers. The top three have batted enough now, and Zimbabwe clearly can't get them out.

 

[coy0607]

Probably Imam and Usman ... Both have established themselves in the starting 11 going into the Asia Cup

Also Amir, more questions continue to be raised about him.. I don't even think he is in the starting 11 in the AC

 

[Square Drive]

Put Hafeez's ego in check.

Made records.

Shinwari and Asif very close to cementing their places.

 

[Abdullah719]

I will take the words of the players themselves. Confidence.

Hopefully it's not confidence bordering on delusion though

 

[msb314]

I will take the words of the players themselves. Confidence.

Hopefully it's not confidence bordering on delusion though

The jury will be out on that one until we play better teams

 

[Abdullah719]

The jury will be out on that one until we play better teams

They can gain confidence and go and lose a match heavily tomorrow, those aren't mutually exclusive

 

[shokz1408]

I guess for our openers to spend time out on the field, in which they learnt more about how to construct long innings. Our bowlers also had success, and will be feeling confident for games ahead.

However, I don't imagine that this series would have any significant impact on the way we perform against better teams.

 

[msb314]

They can gain confidence and go and lose a match heavily tomorrow, those aren't mutually exclusive

I guess my point is confidence is useless if you are unable to beat the better teams

 

[Sadevdesai]

A little Chest Thumping !!!!!!!!

 

[Darkrai]

Records and records

 

[Oligochaetes]

Lots and lots of records, the first Pakistani 200, the highest ODI score for the country.

Might even end Zimbabwe's test status (I hope)

 

[Joseph Gomes]

I guess for our openers to spend time out on the field, in which they learnt more about how to construct long innings. Our bowlers also had success, and will be feeling confident for games ahead.

However, I don't imagine that this series would have any significant impact on the way we perform against better teams.

It will have zero impact. Current Zim team is barely more skilled than college cricket teams in Australia and England. They're worse than Scotland who're associates. Bullying unpaid cricketers isn't much of experience.

 

[Rayyman]

Alhamdulillah now our ODI team is finally settled.

 

[Cricket_2018]

This is an underrated Zim team. Pak has played really well to win, it was not easy. Finally we have 2 amazing openers.

 

[InziRules]

Batting practice

 

[Josh]

Stats boosting up and high morals for players

 

[barah_admi]

What are these threads about exactly? Is this the first time cricket has been played in Zimbabwe? Is this the first time teams have played Zimbabwe? Are Zimbabwe not a cricket playing nation? Should they be banned from playing international cricket?

 

[Couch Cricketer]

The greatest thing is we didn't play Hafeez all series and showed that we don't need him. That is huge in terms of Pak cricket for the future.

 

[Kohli The King of Chase]

Stats padding, making records and gaining confidence.

At max this should have been a 3 match series.

 

[Mr.Q]

What are these threads about exactly? Is this the first time cricket has been played in Zimbabwe? Is this the first time teams have played Zimbabwe? Are Zimbabwe not a cricket playing nation? Should they be banned from playing international cricket?

I think people are questioning the no. of matches. 5 is too much. 2-3 would have been enough. And to add to that you played a full strength team. I’m of the opinion that a strong team shouldn’t play a 5 match series even against a team like Bangladesh. You should be playing against better teams.

 

[Hamad_H]

This will be a confidence boost for squad. Even though it was against a weak Zimbabwe, it is always to nice to score big/take a few wickets in a series. Although I feel the team made a mistake not selecting SS Afridi for at least one ODI which shows he is probably not a starting option for the WC.

 

[cricketerB94]

I think people are questioning the no. of matches. 5 is too much. 2-3 would have been enough. And to add to that you played a full strength team. I’m of the opinion that a strong team shouldn’t play a 5 match series even against a team like Bangladesh. You should be playing against better teams.

I think initially there were 3 ODIs scheduled and a test series. But ZC scrapped the test series due to finances and increased 2 ODIs. Not sure about it though.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Great batting practice

 

[blackanhyellow]

It doesnt really benefit senior players, however it definitely benefits the inexperienced players.

Young players often feel worried about their spots in the team, which can sometimes cause selfish batting and bowling when it matters.

These performances will add to their confidence and they wont worry as much about their place in the team for the next couple of series. This will allow them to express themselves freely.

Luckily, Mickey is a visionary and let the youngsters take the lead.

Fakhar, Imam, Babar, Asif, Usman, Hassan, Shadab, Fahim all young guns who stat padded here. I think this will help them for sure.

 

[barah_admi]

I think people are questioning the no. of matches. 5 is too much. 2-3 would have been enough. And to add to that you played a full strength team. I’m of the opinion that a strong team shouldn’t play a 5 match series even against a team like Bangladesh. You should be playing against better teams.

Full strength? What exactly is that strength? Talat, Imam, Asif have all played less than 10 matches, Shinwari is still making his way into the international team, Zaman has barely a year in the side, Babar and Junaid are coming back from injuries...jeez. It's not so long ago Zimb took two wins against SL.

What is actually happening is self whipping by a bunch of self hating Pakistanis and Indians. I call it how it is.

 

[InziRules]

We got to see Sarfaraz bowl )

 

[Darkrai]

We made some people cry out of jealous because of the records...

 

[Rana]

I think one benefit of this series has been the removal of some mental blocks in batting. A player like Fakhar Zaman knows that he can play cricket at his pace and score a double ton. Scoring a double ton is a huge mental block removed as it is, previous Pakistani players struggled to go past 140. Babar Azam's knock today should give him the confidence of playing much more agressively in the future

 

[Madplayer]

What are these threads about exactly? Is this the first time cricket has been played in Zimbabwe? Is this the first time teams have played Zimbabwe? Are Zimbabwe not a cricket playing nation? Should they be banned from playing international cricket?

Brilliant questions. This post should be pinned at the top if possible. Its shameful that so many people are unhappy that Pakistan have dominated a team so comprehensively. Literally clutching at straws to discredit the side. As if this was the 1st time somebody had played against Zimbabwe. The same people would be ready with knives had Zimbabwe come close to winning a game.

 

[barah_admi]

Brilliant questions. This post should be pinned at the top if possible. Its shameful that so many people are unhappy that Pakistan have dominated a team so comprehensively. Literally clutching at straws to discredit the side. As if this was the 1st time somebody had played against Zimbabwe. The same people would be ready with knives had Zimbabwe come close to winning a game.

Exactly! Also, the records the team and individuals have broken were never done before against Zimb, so should we now complain why everyone else (especially India) have been so trash against Zimb and not scores 700?

These people, seriously...

 

[Mamoon]

We made some people cry out of jealous because of the records...

Trust me when I say this. Absolutely no one is jealous to see Pakistan pile up the runs against a third string Zimbabwean side.

People are aware of the fact that this Pakistan side has been very lucky to play a lot of matches against minnows and weak opposition over the last 12 months, and they were brutally exposed in the only tough series that they played (NZ ODIs).

People are also aware that this team is not far away from getting a reality check because a lot of tough cricket is coming up.

The reason why people are being critical is because they can Pakistani fans lose perspective of the fact that this is still a mediocre team, and relentlessly bashing minnows and weak opposition does not change the fact that we are still not good enough to beat the top teams in the world barring one-off games.

 

[silentkiller187]

Trust me when I say this. Absolutely no one is jealous to see Pakistan pile up the runs against a third string Zimbabwean side.

People are aware of the fact that this Pakistan side has been very lucky to play a lot of matches against minnows and weak opposition over the last 12 months, and they were brutally exposed in the only tough series that they played (NZ ODIs).

People are also aware that this team is not far away from getting a reality check because a lot of tough cricket is coming up.

The reason why people are being critical is because they can Pakistani fans lose perspective of the fact that this is still a mediocre team, and relentlessly bashing minnows and weak opposition does not change the fact that we are still not good enough to beat the top teams in the world barring one-off games.

Who are these people. I have seen a lot of praise for Pakistan from pundits and ex professionals from all over the world in the last 12 months. The road to the WC 2019 has already started so confidence and momentum is key.

 

[Pete Rose]

Clarity on Hafeez’s future

 

[silentkiller187]

Pakistan are not good enough to be considered part of the elite but are too good to play the rest

 

[Darkrai]

Trust me when I say this. Absolutely no one is jealous to see Pakistan pile up the runs against a third string Zimbabwean side.

People are aware of the fact that this Pakistan side has been very lucky to play a lot of matches against minnows and weak opposition over the last 12 months, and they were brutally exposed in the only tough series that they played (NZ ODIs).

People are also aware that this team is not far away from getting a reality check because a lot of tough cricket is coming up.

The reason why people are being critical is because they can Pakistani fans lose perspective of the fact that this is still a mediocre team, and relentlessly bashing minnows and weak opposition does not change the fact that we are still not good enough to beat the top teams in the world barring one-off games.

I'm not saying they are jealous because we have incredible players or a better team. I doubt anyone here feels that we are a superior team than India or any other top teams.

They are jealous because Pakistani batsmen are creating records, that doesn'[t sit well with Indian fans because they believe their batsmen are superior and should be the ones creating these records.

You can say no one is jealous but once you see Indian fans reactions it's very clear. If their reaction is not jealousy then what is it?

You can state facts and still be jealous.

 

[Mamoon]

I'm not saying they are jealous because we have incredible players or a better team. I doubt anyone here feels that we are a superior team than India or any other top teams.

They are jealous because Pakistani batsmen are creating records, that doesn'[t sit well with Indian fans because they believe their batsmen are superior and should be the ones creating these records.

You can say no one is jealous but once you see Indian fans reactions it's very clear. If their reaction is not jealousy then what is it?

You can state facts and still be jealous.

What records? We couldn’t even score 400 against this third rate attack. We broke the record for the highest ODI opening stand, but no one outside Pakistan is taking it seriously. There hasn’t been much hype about it, because this Zimbabwe team is complete joke.

One Tweet by one analysis doesn’t mean than Indians are jealous.

 

[Darkrai]

What records? We couldn’t even score 400 against this third rate attack. We broke the record for the highest ODI opening stand, but no one outside Pakistan is taking it seriously. There hasn’t been much hype about it, because this Zimbabwe team is complete joke.

One Tweet by one analysis doesn’t mean than Indians are jealous.

I remember Indian fans pointing out how no Pakistan batsmen had scored 200, not the case anymore.

Record such as back to back 3 100s, fastest to 1000 runs-record that lasted decades. Records that Indian batsmen couldn't break.

I'm not talking about this particular tweet i'm talking about general reaction from Indian fans.

 

[Duckworth Lewis]

One of Pak's batsmen joined the double centurian's club which is tough otherwise.

 

[Nil Dhumrojal]

Overconfidence.

 

[dauntless]

Pretty useless series. Now that imam guy who is very average will play the world cup.

 

[hafeezrocks]

Stats boosting exercise.

 

[TeamPak95]

Glass half full: Pakistan showing pure dominance on a consistent game-by-game basis to a team that they should be expected to dominate. Pakistan throughout it's cricketing history is known for inconsistency, even with teams weaker than them, so for them to perform the way they did for 5 straight ODIs is remarkable on their part.

Glass half empty: Stat inflating for Pakistan's A team with nothing notable to improve the skill levels of each player. They should have played a B team against probably the most depleted team, even for a minnow, ever.

On a bit of a side note, this series really should have been 3 ODIs tops.

 

[todfod 11]

youngsters to play and lead
Had it been some other captain/coach, we would have seen the below XI, with few close games as well:

Imran Farhat
K Akmal
Hafeez
Malik
Misbah
Umar Akmal
Afridi
Anwar Ali
Bilawal Bhatti
Aizaz Cheema
Umar Gul

3- 2 to pakistan

 

[topspin]

What records? We couldn’t even score 400 against this third rate attack. We broke the record for the highest ODI opening stand, but no one outside Pakistan is taking it seriously. There hasn’t been much hype about it, because this Zimbabwe team is complete joke.

One Tweet by one analysis doesn’t mean than Indians are jealous.

Totally agree here - England would have scored 500+ with ease I reckon with their firepower and depth of their batting line up down to 9.