Which Pakistan player in any format was the biggest disappointment of the decade? (2010-2019)

[MenInG]

As I wrote elsewhere, Fakhar Zaman was a huge disappointment for us but earlier than that, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar and Kamran Akmal also make the cut.

Who else seemed to come in to the 2010s with great promise, only to fade away by end of 2019?

 

[pakistanisgreat]

I think kamran had played enough.

sharjeel, bilawal,

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Umar Akmal

 

[MenInG]

I think kamran had played enough.

sharjeel, bilawal,

Good (in a bad way) choices! Although next decade has started with hope for Sharjeel. Could he make the next decade his to remember?

 

[Junaids]

For me, Misbah-ul-Haq.

He looked like Mr Clean Up when he arrived as captain.

But the 2012-13 Tests in South Africa showed that he was a hopeless has-been batting outside Asia against decent opposition.

He needed to retire to create a vacancy for upcoming batsmen - with Younis, Azhar and Shafiq filling the other middle order slots - but his refusal to do so delayed Babar Azam’s development by two years and cost Fawad Alam his career.

The spectacle of a geriatric has-been wrecking the careers of younger men because he loved being part of the international game was not just disappointing, it was upsetting. The fact that he was the captain just made it worse.

 

[Boi]

How was Fakhar a massive disappointment? He’s barely played 3 years of international cricket and has managed to play arguably the greatest LOI innings by a Pakistani batsmen ever. No matter what he does from now on he’ll always be remembered for that.

Umar Akmal is the biggest disappointment this decade imo. You could say Amir too after he just gave up on his Test career despite so much invested in him.

 

[Xoib]

Amir,Umer Akmal the two biggest both should have atleast a achieved the levels reached by rohit Sharma and Starc but did not for various reasons.

 

[Abdullah719]

Umar Akmal. Asad Shafiq. Mohammad Amir to an extent.

 

[Barragan]

shafiq.

Just ask yourself, who is more important to the Test team - Babar or shafiq?

If the answer is an inexperienced 25 yr old, then that sums it up.

 

[MenInG]

Umar Akmal. Asad Shafiq. Mohammad Amir to an extent.

Amir as he started the decade on a high and ended up nothing like what he could have done

 

[Junaids]

Amir as he started the decade on a high and ended up nothing like what he could have done

Did he though really?

He started the decade with a mediocre series in Australia and a good one with a Dukes ball in England.

He ended the decade doing really well in Ireland, England and South Africa in Tests, then at the World Cup in England.

He never improved from when he was supposedly 18, but I don’t think he deteriorated - people just supposed that he was better than he really was.

 

[Xoib]

Good call on Shafiq for much of first half of his career he averaged in early 40's and with his skills it was expected he would take the game to next level and will have 7k runs at 45 by now however his game further regressed after MisYou went.

 

[Cryin Out Loud]

Very easy. Mohammed Amir by some distance. Personally I never rated that lot of Pakistani batsmen, Shehzad, Akmals, etc, to be disappointed when they didn't perform. Amir on the other hand, well he was supposed to be something, just never delivered.

 

[Hasan123]

Umar Akmal
Sharjeel Khan

 

[ads101]

Umar Akmal I guess. Hasn't had much of a career at all past 2011.

Amir though more talented still had his moments like CT and still maintained an average/good level of performance. Umar has been downright poor/below average since 2011, and couldn't hold down a spot.

Don't agree with Fakhar and Asad. Fakhar still averages 46 and a great SR with winning innings in CT. Not bad on the whole even though he's dropped off. Asad was never a massive talent, but just done enough to hold onto his test spot. Mediocre yes, but still average enough to keep his spot.

Jamshed is someone people have forgotten about, I thought he was hugely talented and was going to become our opener for some time. But he fell off even before the fixing stuff came about.

I never really had huge hopes for Sharjeel. Ugly stance/footwork, terrible fitness (wasn't just a bit overweight, a lot and got tired at the end of innings). Wasn't that young either that he could rectify those things. Those sort of guys don't usually make it in the long run even if he was talented, though didn't think fixing would ultimately get him.

A shout no one has brought up is Haris Sohail. I thought this guy was going to be the mainstay of our batting. Injuries and fitness have hampered his career though, perhaps not his fault. But just feels like a talent gone to waste.

 

[shamaan]

Amir and Umar akmal

 

[ChTab]

Definitely Umar Akmal, M. Amir & Sharjeel Khan especially after that impressive Australian tour.

 

[topspin]

For me, Misbah-ul-Haq.

He looked like Mr Clean Up when he arrived as captain.

But the 2012-13 Tests in South Africa showed that he was a hopeless has-been batting outside Asia against decent opposition.

He needed to retire to create a vacancy for upcoming batsmen - with Younis, Azhar and Shafiq filling the other middle order slots - but his refusal to do so delayed Babar Azam’s development by two years and cost Fawad Alam his career.

The spectacle of a geriatric has-been wrecking the careers of younger men because he loved being part of the international game was not just disappointing, it was upsetting. The fact that he was the captain just made it worse.

I very much agree.

 

[topspin]

Misbah-ul-Haq for me as well.

His failures in the 2010s can be summarised as follows:

2011

Mohali:

I will never forgive him for the innings he had played that day because I know what his intentions were. He wasn't playing for the team, he was playing for his place in the side, so he could muster a few more years in the side. The match commentators, Sky TV pundits and fans may have been all been baffled by the manner in which he played this knock but Misbah knew exactly what he was doing.

2013

His time was up in tests when Pakistan lost against a very weak Zimbabwe side. If he cared about the best interests of Pakistan cricket, he would have retired, so Fawad Alam could step in as his replacement at number 5.

2013 CT:

Misbah's Pakistan lost every game to crash out of the group. He should have called it a day after the Mohali knock but if there was another telling moment for him to retire, it was after Pakistan's embarrasing exit out of the 2013 CT.

It is important to highlight the performances of Misbah's team and Sarfraz's side. The latter managed to win the following edition of the CT, which was also held in England. Don't get me wrong, I despise him as well but at least he wasn't as inept as Misbah, otherwise Pakistan wouldn't have come anywhere near to reaching the final, let alone bring the CT home.

2015 - Present

Pakistan's 2015 WC, as well as 2016/17 and 2019 Tours of Australia proved why he's the worst ever captain, coach and tactician that has ever played international cricket held in Australia.

What he did as a committee member to oust Mickey behind his back to serve his own self-interests was just despicable to say the least. But that sums up Misbah and the sheer greed of this man.

There is no doubt that Misbah has done more harm to Pakistan cricket than anyone else in the 2010s era.

I am pretty sure that the 2020 eras will not be so bleak if PCB can give him the ultimatum that he deserves sooner rather than later, otherwise it will be another decade of sorrow for Pakistan fans unfortunately.

 

[Titan24]

Amir and Umer Akmal for me because of the talent they had and their inability to translate that into enough performances for Pakistan due to number of factors.

 

[Ami]

Umar Akmal
Ahmed Shahzad
....mainly.

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

The fact that Ahmed Shehzad is still the only Pakistani player with at least one hundred across all three formats of the game tells you how much he could’ve achieved and how much of a disappointment his career has been.

 

[sindhiboy]

Umar akmal and amir

Shezad had potential but I think salman butt was more skilled and had much better temperament.

Akmal, amir and asif threw away their careers

 

[coy0607]

Amir, by some distance for me. The way he started his career in 2009, and the the first half of 2010, most people expected him to have a career like Wasim Akram's (400+ wickets apiece in Tests and ODIs, with some decent batting chops)

Instead, all he has to show for the decade is the spot fixing disgrace, diminishing form and pace, test retirement at under 100 wickets, and may soon lose his ODI/T20 place in the team too.

He should have been Pakistan's player of decade, but he's been the total opposite of that. The CT final performance is one of very few memorable moments.

Umar Akmal would be #2 - I expected him to do what Babar has been doing. Maybe have 11K-13K international runs in the decade, instead he will be known for all his off-field stupidity

 

[coy0607]

Misbah-ul-Haq for me as well.

His failures in the 2010s can be summarised as follows:

2011

Mohali:

I will never forgive him for the innings he had played that day because I know what his intentions were. He wasn't playing for the team, he was playing for his place in the side, so he could muster a few more years in the side. The match commentators, Sky TV pundits and fans may have been all been baffled by the manner in which he played this knock but Misbah knew exactly what he was doing.

2013

His time was up in tests when Pakistan lost against a very weak Zimbabwe side. If he cared about the best interests of Pakistan cricket, he would have retired, so Fawad Alam could step in as his replacement at number 5.

2013 CT:

Misbah's Pakistan lost every game to crash out of the group. He should have called it a day after the Mohali knock but if there was another telling moment for him to retire, it was after Pakistan's embarrasing exit out of the 2013 CT.

It is important to highlight the performances of Misbah's team and Sarfraz's side. The latter managed to win the following edition of the CT, which was also held in England. Don't get me wrong, I despise him as well but at least he wasn't as inept as Misbah, otherwise Pakistan wouldn't have come anywhere near to reaching the final, let alone bring the CT home.

2015 - Present

Pakistan's 2015 WC, as well as 2016/17 and 2019 Tours of Australia proved why he's the worst ever captain, coach and tactician that has ever played international cricket held in Australia.

What he did as a committee member to oust Mickey behind his back to serve his own self-interests was just despicable to say the least. But that sums up Misbah and the sheer greed of this man.

There is no doubt that Misbah has done more harm to Pakistan cricket than anyone else in the 2010s era.

I am pretty sure that the 2020 eras will not be so bleak if PCB can give him the ultimatum that he deserves sooner rather than later, otherwise it will be another decade of sorrow for Pakistan fans unfortunately.

I never expected very much from Misbah, so hard to say that he disappointed me. He lacked the talent needed to be anything more than 2-3 year, short-term solution. I blame the PCB for persisting with him so much more than his shelf life

 

[Saj]

A special mention to all the players who sold their country for money.

Nothing worse than doing that.

 

[topspin]

I never expected very much from Misbah, so hard to say that he disappointed me. He lacked the talent needed to be anything more than 2-3 year, short-term solution. I blame the PCB for persisting with him so much more than his shelf life

Point well made, I agree with this as well.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Almost 90% of players who have played in last decade have been a dissapointment, its been the decade for TTFs.

 

[Waleed93]

Mohammad Amir, was supposed to carry Pakistan's bowling legacy for more than a decade. What happened in 2010 can be called a teenager's mistake or an unforgivable crime, but the PCB invested in him, trusted him when the world was against his return. He came back, and everyone knew he was not the bowler who debuted in 2010. He had a few career defining moments such as the CT Final, the victory at Lord's, etc... but he was never as good as the pre-ban Amir.

The biggest disappointment came when he decided to retire from Test Cricket at the age of 27, abandoning Pakistan just before a tough tour of Australia. Amir's premature retirement was his slap on the face of the PCB who invested in him for so many years, the fans who waited for 5 years for him to comeback, and everyone who thought that what he did in 2010 was just a mistake. His retirement was a testament from Amir himself, a testament that told us all that he knew exactly what he was doing 9 years ago, a testament that showed us all where Amir's priorities have been since the start of his career.

 

[Junaids]

A special mention to all the players who sold their country for money.

Nothing worse than doing that.

I thought that at first when I saw this thread, but then I changed my mind.

Firstly, if you read “Bookie, Gambler, Fixer, Spy” then you know where else the finger of guilt points, at certain people who were never even investigated. Yet all it takes is for any of us to list the two absurd 2009 defeats in Sri Lanka and the two matches I won’t specify which are described in the book and even discussion of the possibility of guilty men getting away with it is usually shut down. That can’t be a good thing! But it means that there are the ones who were caught and the ones who were not.

Secondly, it’s difficult to see how Misbah was better than them.

He knew after South Africa in early 2013 that he want good enough outside Asia and that Younis, Azhar and Shafiq has bought a few more years.

But he was so selfish as a “cricket tragic” that he wouldn’t give up his golden ticket in the team to allow a younger man like Babar Azam or Fawad Alam to get into the team.

All of knew 19 months later when Babar hit a century against Australia that his time was now. And yet he had to wait over two more years until Azhar started to open to get a secure place in the team.

What Babar Azam is doing now is terrific. But it would have been happening over 2 years ago had Misbah not stolen his slot in the team in 2014-2016.

The fixers were selfish and deserve condemnation, but they thought they were committing a victimless crime.

Misbah knew that Babar Azam and Fawad Alam were the victims of his desperation to go on and on and on. He also knew that if he and Younis retired together a huge hole would be left for unestablished batsmen to fill, rather than phasing them in one at a time.

But he didn’t care.

 

[Rayyman]

Mohammad Sami

 

[BreadPakoda]

Nasir Jamshed - Looked like the best Pakistani opener after Anwar. I remember people going crazy over him here and comparing him even with legends. Don’t know what suddenly happened to him - lost confidence and then disappeared.

Saeed Ajmal - I really thought he would be good even after remodeling his action.

Sohaib Maqsood - Was touted to be the next Inzi and could hit some good aerial shots initially. Got found out by Dhoni in the World Cup and then vanished from the scene.

Anwar Ali - Possibly the most hyped of all the mentioned players, ppers begged for him to get a debut but boy did he end up becoming ordinary

Umar Akmal - Was directly compared with Kohli for years with the latter famously been called a do takke ka player. Umar kept on regressing though.

Ahmed Shehzad - PPers disliked him from word go and were correct this time though. Kept his place due to his closeness (no pun intended) with Afridi but once the latter left Shehzad’s chances reduced significantly.

Honorable mentions - Junaid Khan, Mohammad Amir, Taj Wali, Mohammad Talha, Ruman Raees, Bilawal Bhatti, Rahat Ali, etc.

 

[KingKhan12]

Nasir Jamshed just faded away. Was our main batsmen at one point.

 

[Rana]

Shafiq is good. Just inconsistent.

Umar Akmal is a big disappointment

 

[imshally81]

Umar Akmal, Amir & Asif

 

[sshakir411]

There’s only 3 players that got a run in the side for way too long this decade. Hafeez, Junior, and shehzad.

People mentioning Shafiq, Amir, Sharjeel, etc. should really ask themselves who the biggest disappointments were other than the 3 mentioned above. Junior and Shehzad were the most average players who were forced to become legends despite being pea brains.

 

[sweep_shot]

Umar Akmal has to be the biggest disappointment. He is a very talented player but he couldn't convert that talent into anything meaningful.

 

[muqarrab]

As I wrote elsewhere, Fakhar Zaman was a huge disappointment for us but earlier than that, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar and Kamran Akmal also make the cut.

Who else seemed to come in to the 2010s with great promise, only to fade away by end of 2019?

Asif. Once in a 100 yr talent and what a waste of talent.

 

[nextover666666]

Nasir Jamshed when he started looked very specials and played some great innings Agaisnt India and than it just fell all apart was very dissappointed thought we found a solid opener

Zulfiqar babar I thought he was going to be great

 

[Square Drive]

Umar Akmal easily.

 

[Haripotter]

Umar akmal
Ahmed shehzad
Sami Aslam
Mohd amir
naser Jamshed
Hasan Ali
Fakhar zaman
Junaid Khan
Imam ul haq

Pretty much sums up all the talunt brigade of this decade who blew hot and cold, leaving fans high and dry at the end of it.

 

[Captain caveman]

Umar akmal
Ahmed shehzad
Sami Aslam
Mohd amir
naser Jamshed
Hasan Ali
Fakhar zaman
Junaid Khan
Imam ul haq

Pretty much sums up all the talunt brigade of this decade who blew hot and cold, leaving fans high and dry at the end of it.

Add to your list

Wahab riaz
M. Irfan
Shajeel khan
Khalid latiff
Umar amin
Asif ali

And the winner - UMAR AKMAL(but i hope he can have a golden final few years of his career, yes i know its wishful thinking, but i live in hope!).