What's new

Which pacers should Pakistan choose in the playing XIs for the Tests against Ireland and England?

Which pacers should Pakistan choose in the playing XIs for the Tests against Ireland and England?


  • Total voters
    64

Abdullah719

T20I Captain
Joined
Apr 16, 2013
Runs
44,825
Conditions are expected to be similar for the upcoming Test matches.

Which pacers would you opt for? Choose at least 3 in the poll... :genius

The options are Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Abbas, Rahat Ali and Faheem Ashraf.
 
Last edited:
Rahat ali must play along with hasan and amir. If fourth pacer is necessary then i will go with faheem.
 
I would pick 4 pacers and forget about the leg-spinner.

My 4 would be Amir, Abbas, Rahat and Faheem.
 
Abbas, Hasan and Fahim. Fahim can play as a specialist bowler, his selection at 9 will lengthen our batting line up, with Shadab at 8. We must look to lengthen our batting line up, as the pitches won't be that ideal for batting, hence in case of a collapse, our tail will be able to bail us out.
 
4 men pace attack with Haris & Azhar to bowl spin.

Amir, Rahat, Fahim for sure - probably Hasan over Abbas; not sure.
 
It will depend on the warm up games and how Abbas does with Leicestershire as well
 
As far as im concerned Haris should deffo be in the starting 11 test and odi
 
Ideally Faheem should play as the 4th seamer but I wont be surprised if we see

Amir
Hassan
Abbas
Rahat

Considering the English players struggle big time against leggies I would like the combination to be

Shadab
Faheem
Amir
Hassan
Abbas

Gives rest to the main bowlers as well as provide 5 bowling options
 
Azhar
Fakhar/ Aslam
Haris
Babar/ Osman/Saad
Asad
Sarfi
Shadab
Faheem
Hassan
Aamir
Abbas

I would like see how Fakhar and Babar fare against Ireland and in the Side game and if they have have good games then I would have them in my team against England ..
 
Last edited:
Rofl such a no-brainer, no matter what the pitch Arthur fundamentally does'nt believe spinners can win the match. He will be looking to play as many pacers as possible. His headche is Amir & the batting department. How Amir will perform ok or worse remains to be seen. Inzamam has been one of the worst selectors PAkistan has ever seen. Its 2 years now still no permanent no. 3 to no. 5 but he has given chances to everyone close to him from his neighbours to his nephew.
Really hope we hire selectors from abroad also, these former Pakistani cricketers Waqar Younis and Inzamam have weakened the team with their biased decisions than build one.
 
Last edited:
Pretty much everyone is in agreement.

Faheem can come in at 7 and be useful with the bat, while bowling as second change.

Amir and Abbas to open and Hasan as first change.
 
Pakistan need someone who can bowl off spin too as England are packed with left handers:

Cook, Stoneman, Malan, Stokes, Moeen or Leech and Broad.
 
Faheem, Hasan, Abbas, Amir. The obvious choice.

Garbage like Rahat must be thrown out. He averaged 50 in 3 matches, the last time he toured England. Since 2016, he has played 6 tests (3 in England, 1 each in Australia, New Zealand and UAE) with an average of 40. His career average is also close to 40 after 20 tests.
 
I'm not sure Faheem ashraf is a test quality bowler so i'll go with the other 4. You need 4 quicks in England imo.
 
We can go with Abbas Amir Hasan Shadab and Fahim and take out a batsman.

If Shadab averages 25 and Fahim 15 with the bat it'll just be like a 40 averaging batsman.
 
We can go with Abbas Amir Hasan Shadab and Fahim and take out a batsman.

If Shadab averages 25 and Fahim 15 with the bat it'll just be like a 40 averaging batsman.

True, idk if we have ever benefited from the extra batsman.
 
Pakistan: Practically zero batting experience. Azhar is due a forgivable failure, and the ball will move more than it did in England/Australia. The rest are rookies or not Test class like Shafiq and Azam. If Azhar falls early, I don't see there being many more runs being made after that.

We need six specialist batsmen, not five with our options and a bits and pieces players like Ashraf or Shadab at 7, who are not among the 4 best bowlers in the squad.

And we've got the seamers to take 20 wickets.

I'd say Rahat, Hasan, Abbas, and Amir. Those are our 4 best bowlers and if the ball is doing a bit, we'll knock their mostly woeful batsmen over.
 
We can go with Abbas Amir Hasan Shadab and Fahim and take out a batsman.

If Shadab averages 25 and Fahim 15 with the bat it'll just be like a 40 averaging batsman.

You can add domestic averages but I don't know if they can be copied and added for Test cricket, or if they make sense for swing conditions abroad. Where most international batsmen would struggle, mind you.
 
Last edited:
I think all pacers shall play..
I guess Pakistan is one pacer short
Azhar
Sami
Asad
Haris
Sarfaraz
Saad ali
Faheem
Shahdab
Amir
Nawaz
Rahat
 
If Mohammad Zahid is to be believed, Hasan Ali will not be effective - but do we have a choice?
 
Anybody who would play Rahat Ali over Hasan Ali or Mohammad Abbas is insane.

Amir
Hasan
Abbas
Faheem(if we don't need a spinner)
 
If Mohammad Zahid is to be believed, Hasan Ali will not be effective - but do we have a choice?

He has no idea what he's talking about. Hasan Ali is a 140kph bowler with very nice seam position, will get the ball seaming around in early English conditions. Can also bowl hooping outswingers as we saw in the PSL.
 
Anybody who would play Rahat Ali over Hasan Ali or Mohammad Abbas is insane.

Amir
Hasan
Abbas
Faheem(if we don't need a spinner)

Abbas was pretty toothless for his county. He did only play one game but still he averaged 30+. That isn’t good enough. Division 2 as well...

Amir averaged ~15 in pretty much every game he played for Essex.
 
Hasan Ali seems a good choice, although Mohammad Zahid thinks he will struggle. Need that next warm up to be a full game to get a good idea.
 
Abbas was pretty toothless for his county. He did only play one game but still he averaged 30+. That isn’t good enough. Division 2 as well...

Amir averaged ~15 in pretty much every game he played for Essex.

Abbas averages 21 in international cricket so far, in 5 Tests, on the flattest of UAE and Windies pitches.

Rahat Ali averages 50 in England, and 37 across his illustrious 20 Test career.

So even if Abbas does little more than replicate his one game performance in the counties he will be a better option that Ranat.
 
Bowled ok last time in England and by all accounts he's looked the best pace bowler at the camp in Lahore.

Bowled OK? Averages 50 in England.

And he always looks good in the nets. This we know about him. 20 Tests, ave 37, not a single 10 fer in his FC career, and always looks good in the nets.
 
6 batsmen + keeper + fast bowling all-rounder + 3 fast bowlers

You can't play 4 specialist bowlers out of whom two can't bat at all. Your 4th seamer should be an all-rounder.

Faheem
Hassan
Amir
Abbass

Haris, Azhar, and Hafeez to bowl spin overs.
 
The Northamptonshire match starts tomorrow. Good chance for bowlers to push their claims for the starting XI.
 
Abbas, Hasan and Amir. Has to be that.

Rahat's a good back up option, has miles of talent and am interested to see if he's improved. However given his average international record, hard to play him

Dislike playing Amir who wants to limit his test career, rather would play someone who desperately wants to play tests, not picking and choosing which tests. Though given our inexperienced squad, especially bowling wise (we don't even have Yasir), you've got to go with a guy who's had 2 test series in England already and numerous LOI games. Amir by all accounts has the ability to succeed in England.

Fahim could replace Shadab if we choose to go without a spinner and our batting is struggling. Though on pure bowling alone I'd rather go with Rahat than Fahim at this point of time.
 
Why are people pushing for bits and parts Faheem to be in the Test side as a 4th bowler?
 
Last edited:
Amir is as toothless as they come, but at least we know that he will largely be economical. Rahat and Hasan are more penetrative, but they are also more likely to leak runs. Moreover, Shadab is a lottery on this tour. If he comes off, it will be great; if not, he is going to get milked on those green pitches at a high economy rate.

All of these bowlers lack penetration, but Amir provides the most control along with Abbas. If you have mediocre bowlers, pick the mediocre bowlers that will likely be less expensive.
 
Will need to take wickets at some point and only Hasan, Rahat & Shadab have done that on this tour. Abbas gives us control.

Rahat does bowl tightly in the UAE but like all Pakistani pacemen since 2000 tends to bowl far too short on English wickets.
 
Amir is as toothless as they come, but at least we know that he will largely be economical. Rahat and Hasan are more penetrative, but they are also more likely to leak runs. Moreover, Shadab is a lottery on this tour. If he comes off, it will be great; if not, he is going to get milked on those green pitches at a high economy rate.

All of these bowlers lack penetration, but Amir provides the most control along with Abbas. If you have mediocre bowlers, pick the mediocre bowlers that will likely be less expensive.

So Hasan is a mediocre bowler all of a sudden?
 
Here we go again, building up our bowlers as something special. I don't deny Hasan had lit up one day cricket but the real quality is in tests. Let's see how he does.

Cummings may have something to say about who the best young fast bowler after Rabada is.
 
Here we go again, building up our bowlers as something special. I don't deny Hasan had lit up one day cricket but the real quality is in tests. Let's see how he does.

Cummings may have something to say about who the best young fast bowler after Rabada is.

Amir has/had all the ingredients to be a top test bowler. Now it is simply a case of lacking heart and stamina.

It’s up to Hasan now to see what trajectory his test career takes.
 
He is the most exciting upcoming Test bowler after Rabada.

In Tests, he is not even 'upcoming' yet, let alone the second most exciting prospect after Rabada. He has only played 2 Tests so far, and he has to prove that he is not a Limited Overs specialist, which may or may not be the case.

However, at this point, he does not enter the discussion as far as Test cricket is concerned.
 
In Tests, he is not even 'upcoming' yet, let alone the second most exciting prospect after Rabada. He has only played 2 Tests so far, and he has to prove that he is not a Limited Overs specialist, which may or may not be the case.

However, at this point, he does not enter the discussion as far as Test cricket is concerned.

What is it about his bowling that makes you think he could just be a limited overs specialist?

If he’s not “upcoming” - then what is he?
 
What is it about his bowling that makes you think he could just be a limited overs specialist?

If he’s not “upcoming” - then what is he?

An upcoming Test bowler would be someone who has 10-15 Tests under his belt and has performed well. A bowler with 2 Tests is not upcoming.

Test bowling is different from Limited Overs bowling. You need to bowl a consistent length and be patient. Bowlers like Hasan are often prone to over-attacking in Tests and rely too much on magic deliveries, conceding a lot of runs in the process when things do not go their way.

Starc was underwhelming in Tests for a while due to the same reasons, and someone like Umar Gul never got going in Tests at all. The next 12 months will reveal his long-term prospects in Tests.
 
Faheem ashraf am disappointed with, was hoping for more wickets for him in the warmups
 
As I said Abbas, Hasan & Shadab will play. A toss up between Rahat and Amir for the remaining spot. Should be Rahat based upon performances.
 
Faheem ashraf am disappointed with, was hoping for more wickets for him in the warmups

I think like Hasan he is a lot more effective in limited overs. From the PSL Umaid Asif looked the type of bowler who might be effective in England although I haven't seen that much of him.
 
Amir, Abbas, Hasan, Shadab. Amir's done little in the performances, but Rahat hasn't done enough to usurp Amir from the attack given his experience and experience/previous success in English test conditions.
 
I’d give Amir the test against Ireland. If he doesn’t take at least 5 wickets in the match then bench him.
 
Can't go with just 4 bowlers. That will run Amir and Abbas into the ground - especially if the pitch is a batting pitch. Faheem Ashraf for that reason is necessary.

Also, not going with a spinner is just daft. Variety is essential and you always find players in the opposition who are weak against spin. Shadab got important wickets in the Ireland game. He will again - even if he is expensive.

I'd go with the same line up as Ireland test but substitute Rahat with Hassan.
 
Mohammad Amir could be the deciding factor but Mohammad Abbas can be the partner that Amir needs to keep the pressure up.
 
Voted for Ashraf, Abbas, Amir and Hasan Ali, just voted now. :P
 
Hasan for Rahat
Rahat needs rest after his brilliant performance against Ireland
 
Back
Top