Which World Cup Pakistan side (out of 2011, 2015 and 2019) is the strongest?

[Ronaldo7]

Out of the these 3 world cups, which pak team is the strongest and which one was the weakest? 2011? 2015? 2019?

 

[Suleiman]

Batting wise definitely this current one by far.

If you’re talking bowling wise outside Asia, 2011 is a bit better. Gul, Junaid were in form and Akhtar whatever last he had in the tank was willing to put in 100%. Ajmal and Hafeez were at their chucking best pre degree rule change as well.

 

[StreetSmart]

on paper 2011 was better but form wise current team is stronger.

 

[Alamgeer]

2019 is best batting side.
2019 is best in pace bowling. In spin department its the weakest
2011 was good in spin bowling but not in pace. Gul and shoaib did ok job. Junaid did nt get a single game. Wahab was mediocre.

 

[Swashbuckler]

Taking into consideration the conditions, 2011 easily. That bowling was so strong in those sporting 2011 pitches. They will give a tough fight to the current Pakistani team in present day English highways but steamroll them 9 out of 10 times if pitches like 2011 India are served.

 

[Swashbuckler]

Peak Gul
Akhtar (past his best but Kamran's drops demoralized him)
Young Junaid
Young Wahab
Razzaq (past his best)
Pre ban Ajmal at his best
Pre ban Hafeez at his best
Peak Afridi
Abdur Rehman

Look at the number of bowling options and possible combos, the flexibility it gives the captain.

On sporting SC wickets, 2011 PAK bowling line up will make the present English team cry.

 

[Chokli]

2011 by far

 

[jiduguravindra]

On paper 2019 squad is very strong but there are not performing upto their potential.

 

[uak92]

form? individual batting form you mean? otherwise we are losing all the games recently.

 

[Ronaldo7]

form? individual batting form you mean? otherwise we are losing all the games recently.

Obviously individual batting form

 

[The Viper]

2015 the worst. 2019 has best batting.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

2015 worst. 2019 best batting. 2011 best overall simply because of the great bowling attack. Ajmal and Hafeez (pre action change), Afridi in the form of his life, Gul at his peak. Plus the conditions really suited our bowling attack

 

[Captain caveman]

On paper , i would say 2011 side. People on this forum dont appreciate that this side made it to the semi finals of the wc just after losing butt,asif and amir. I reckon this team would have won the world cup if yosuf and malik had been selected instead of younis and shafiq.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Man that 2015WC side is so bad, I can't believe we got behind that team but are struggling to get behind the current one. Like, seriously. The middle-order relied on Maqsood, Misbah and Umar. Seriously.

 

[Ronaldo7]

Man that 2015WC side is so bad, I can't believe we got behind that team but are struggling to get behind the current one. Like, seriously. The middle-order relied on Maqsood, Misbah and Umar. Seriously.

You start to appreciate things when you lose it.
Compare our current top 3 to the one in 2015.

 

[Usman Chadda]

You start to appreciate things when you lose it.
Compare our current top 3 to the one in 2015.

This new batch of rondhu fans deserve an opening pair of Shehzad, Jamshed or Younis.

Look at that God awful bowling attack man. Wahab Riaz, who wasn't even picked for the current squad initially, was the leader of the pack at the time. Rahat Ali and Sohail Khan

But I guess having Shahid Afridi made everything better for these kids

 

[Ronaldo7]

This new batch of rondhu fans deserve an opening pair of Shehzad, Jamshed or Younis.

Look at that God awful bowling attack man. Wahab Riaz, who wasn't even picked for the current squad initially, was the leader of the pack at the time. Rahat Ali and Sohail Khan

But I guess having Shahid Afridi made everything better for these kids

I remember when sarfaraz opened the batting against sa and made a run a ball 49, people started calling him the next captain of Pakistan.

 

[Usman Chadda]

I remember when sarfaraz opened the batting against sa and made a run a ball 49, people started calling him the next captain of Pakistan.

Funny enough I didn't hear much about 'the death of Pakistan cricket' back then.

But I guess having Shahid Afridi made everything better for these kids

 

[msb314]

Batting wise 2019.

The 2011 bowling attack was world class - did really well in Asian conditions

 

[Ronaldo7]

Funny enough I didn't hear much about 'the death of Pakistan cricket' back then.

But I guess having Shahid Afridi made everything better for these kids

He's still 16 according to some.

 

[Usman Chadda]

I remember when sarfaraz opened the batting against sa and made a run a ball 49, people started calling him the next captain of Pakistan.

A run a ball 49 was enough to get the juices flowing back then , but now someone like Babar Azam who is banging good scores at more than a run-a-ball left, right and centre, is selfish and deserves to be booted out.

But I guess having Shahid Afridi made everything better for these kids

 

[Snowflake]

Spin department gave an edge to the 2011 attack. Fast bowling is better for 2019.

2019 is miles ahead batting wise.

Less said about the 2015 squad the better.

 

[octavian]

A run a ball 49 was enough to get the juices flowing back then , but now someone like Babar Azam who is banging good scores at more than a run-a-ball left, right and centre, is selfish and deserves to be booted out.

But I guess having Shahid Afridi made everything better for these kids

So true. We need Khurram Manzoor and Fawad alam

 

[big_gamer007]

In 2011 shehzad and akmal were top notch talents.. It's like currently people are rating imam and Babar highly but if tomorrow their career goes the akmal way 10 years from now people will remember imam and Babar as how people remember akmal and shehzad right now. However back in 2011 they were top notch talents..

Also chucking hafeez and ajmal and afridi on Indian pitches did great job.. It was the fielding and middle order which was Pakistan's problem otherwise they could have won..

2011 for me is strongest .

 

[Ronaldo7]

In 2011 shehzad and akmal were top notch talents.. It's like currently people are rating imam and Babar highly but if tomorrow their career goes the akmal way 10 years from now people will remember imam and Babar as how people remember akmal and shehzad right now. However back in 2011 they were top notch talents..

Also chucking hafeez and ajmal and afridi on Indian pitches did great job.. It was the fielding and middle order which was Pakistan's problem otherwise they could have won..

2011 for me is strongest .

Babar is way way ahead of where Shehzad was. Shehzad never even broke into the top 10 in batting in his whole career.
Also how was Shehzad a top notch talent?
The guy was averaging 30 when he went into the WC.

 

[Pakistanian]

2019 is best batting side.
2019 is best in pace bowling. In spin department its the weakest
2011 was good in spin bowling but not in pace. Gul and shoaib did ok job. Junaid did nt get a single game. Wahab was mediocre.

Because of his 5-wicket haul against India?

 

[big_gamer007]

Babar is way way ahead of where Shehzad was. Shehzad never even broke into the top 10 in batting in his whole career.
Also how was Shehzad a top notch talent?
The guy was averaging 30 when he went into the WC.

Shehzad had some great knocks against top quality bowling iirc.. in new Zealand or sa? So did akmal.. you have to remember both of them were kids back then, averages don't matter when you are starting career.. they had already played some great innings in difficult conditions and were both highly rated. Akmal was mentioned in same breath as Kohli/Rohit Sharma potentially.

It's not all about averages, Kohli debuted in 2008 and boomed post 2013-14. In an ideal scenario shehzad and akmal should have been Pakistan's Rohit and Kohli. However it didnt work out for various reasons, but that doesn't mean in 2011 they weren't considered the future.

 

[Usman Chadda]

In 2011 shehzad and akmal were top notch talents.. It's like currently people are rating imam and Babar highly but if tomorrow their career goes the akmal way 10 years from now people will remember imam and Babar as how people remember akmal and shehzad right now. However back in 2011 they were top notch talents..

Also chucking hafeez and ajmal and afridi on Indian pitches did great job.. It was the fielding and middle order which was Pakistan's problem otherwise they could have won..

2011 for me is strongest .

Umar Akmal was our brightest talent then, yes. He was more popular than Babar or Imam is right now. Everybody was expecting big things from him in that World Cup.

Shehzad had a few good knocks against NZ in NZ right before the WC, but he wasn't as popular. Neither was he ever considered a top-notch talent.

 

[Ronaldo7]

Shehzad had some great knocks against top quality bowling iirc.. in new Zealand or sa? So did akmal.. you have to remember both of them were kids back then, averages don't matter when you are starting career.. they had already played some great innings in difficult conditions and were both highly rated. Akmal was mentioned in same breath as Kohli/Rohit Sharma potentially.

It's not all about averages, Kohli debuted in 2008 and boomed post 2013-14. In an ideal scenario shehzad and akmal should have been Pakistan's Rohit and Kohli. However it didnt work out for various reasons, but that doesn't mean in 2011 they weren't considered the future.

I'm talking about babar azam specifically. He's achieved a lot more than umar akmal or shehzad have ever achieved.
He's out of the one hit wonder stage.

 

[TalhaSyed]

C'mon Wahab! Use that pace and reverse swing to set the stage alight and bring home the cup for Pakistan inshallah!

 

[coy0607]

between 2011 and 2019 - 11 had better bowling and 19 has batting

'15 was hot garbage- looks like a B grade team. I can't believe that team played in the WC

probably 19 is the best of those

 

[JattMaula]

2011 team was good for the conditions it was assembled for. I dare 2019 one to do better that that team.

 

[Ronaldo7]

between 2011 and 2019 - 11 had better bowling and 19 has batting

'15 was hot garbage- looks like a B grade team. I can't believe that team played in the WC

probably 19 is the best of those

No wonder it nearly didn't make the QFs

 

[hitthestump]

The consensus in this thread is that 2011 had fantastic bowling. Now just imagine how much more lethal we'd been without the bans of Asif and Amir....we might have won everything.

 

[Gullycricket]

2011 side was good for SC only as we saw a similar team get demolished in CT 2013.The current team is miles ahead in SENA and will do well in SC also if we get a spinner like Ajmal

 

[Mamoon]

Our batting standards were deplorably low back in 2015, and that 49 by Sarfraz was probably the most celebrated <50 score in history of cricket.

There were multiple threads on PP in his honour and people were acting as if he had just scored a triple ton, when all he did was to bash a part-timer like Duminy and get himself run out in reckless fashion.

I suppose the overreaction was understandable to an extent thanks to the embarrassing performance of Jamshed.

The current side is comfortably better when it comes to batting options, and the 2015 bowling attack wasn’t better either. However, this team is completely devoid of winning mentality in spite of fluking the Champions Trophy two years ago.

I suppose it really puts into perspective how pathetic Sarfraz and Mickey have been in terms of motivating the players. They have not been able to build on the Champions Trophy fluke and instill some belief in the team.

The only thing that we gained from the Champions Trophy (both the players and the fans) was overconfidence and cockiness, which came crashing down thanks to the massive reality check in the Asia Cup.

 

[QalandarFan]

I would die to have a spin bowling attack of pre ban Ajmal, Hafeez, and in peak Shahid Afridi. Gul at his peak was one of the best limited over bowlers in the world. Wish somehow we could just swap the bowling of this world cup with the 2011. We made it surprisingly far in the 2011 world cup, infact every time Pakistan has done good in a tournament the bowling has turned up, or the bowling has been by far the main strength going into the tourney. It will be interesting to see how we do going into a tournament with a stronger batting than bowling, at least based on current form.

 

[QalandarFan]

Our batting standards were deplorably low back in 2015, and that 49 by Sarfraz was probably the most celebrated <50 score in history of cricket.

There were multiple threads on PP in his honour and people were acting as if he had just scored a triple ton, when all he did was to bash a part-timer like Duminy and get himself run out in reckless fashion.

I suppose the overreaction was understandable to an extent thanks to the embarrassing performance of Jamshed.

The current side is comfortably better when it comes to batting options, and the 2015 bowling attack wasn’t better either. However, this team is completely devoid of winning mentality in spite of fluking the Champions Trophy two years ago.

I suppose it really puts into perspective how pathetic Sarfraz and Mickey have been in terms of motivating the players. They have not been able to build on the Champions Trophy fluke and instill some belief in the team.

The only thing that we gained from the Champions Trophy (both the players and the fans) was overconfidence and cockiness, which came crashing down thanks to the massive reality check in the Asia Cup.

Lmao it's so weird to think back to how Sarfraz was thought of as the second coming of Gilchrist in the 2015 World Cup. )

 

[QalandarFan]

2011 side was good for SC only as we saw a similar team get demolished in CT 2013.The current team is miles ahead in SENA and will do well in SC also if we get a spinner like Ajmal

The bowling was still pretty good in the CT if I recall it was just a horrendous batting performance with Shehzad and Hafeez as our openers. If I recall actually we didn't score 240+ once in that tournament, and Misbah missed out on his first ODI hundred in the 90's cause the batting was so horrific we got bowled out for like 180ish.

Bowling even in the CT 13 wasn't bad Pre ban Ajmal and Hafeez, Afridi in pretty good form still, along with peak Junaid, peak Irfan, and Umar Gul I believe. So yeah it's weird that we are going into the world cup with such weak bowling. Had we gone into the CT'13 with that same bowling but current batting we probably would of won.

 

[giri26]

On paper 2011 looks the strongest.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

2011 squad bowling looks strong simply because of the conditions. 1 ball that would reverse in SC and the fact that chuckers hafeez and ajmal could bowl the way they did makes that attack look stronger than it actually was. I believe the 2019 squad is the strongest - better batting and bowling . The only problem is that the competition is much tougher than it was back in 2011 and all teams, minus SL, have improved vastly.

 

[big_gamer007]

Umar Akmal was our brightest talent then, yes. He was more popular than Babar or Imam is right now. Everybody was expecting big things from him in that World Cup.

Shehzad had a few good knocks against NZ in NZ right before the WC, but he wasn't as popular. Neither was he ever considered a top-notch talent.

I'm talking about babar azam specifically. He's achieved a lot more than umar akmal or shehzad have ever achieved.
He's out of the one hit wonder stage.

Fair enough but the point still stands.. In 2011 UK was considered the next big thing and can be compared to Babar's popularity now even if Babar has achieved more. And shehzad can be compared to Imam..

What my point was the people automatically say 2011 was weak batting line up. If you look at it now then yes it was weak but you have to look at it objectively from POV of 2011 when shezhad and akmal weren't garbage like they are now. So 2011 had a pretty strong batting line up.. They could have actually won if they played sensibly and fielding was better.

The current team has less chance of winning than 2011 team had, though that's more to do with bowlers and conditions. Only way current team wins is if Amir delivers how we all know only he can.

 

[Usman Chadda]

2011 squad bowling looks strong simply because of the conditions. 1 ball that would reverse in SC and the fact that chuckers hafeez and ajmal could bowl the way they did makes that attack look stronger than it actually was. I believe the 2019 squad is the strongest - better batting and bowling . The only problem is that the competition is much tougher than it was back in 2011 and all teams, minus SL, have improved vastly.

Also the 2019 squad is in the worst bowling form possible. The whole make-up of this team will drastically change as soon as even two of these seven bowlers hit form in this World Cup.

 

[Hyperion66]

on paper 2011 was better but form wise current team is stronger.

True, it takes some impeccable form to lose a dozen matches on the trot.

 

[Adijazz1706]

2013 CT is by faaar the worst squad in any tournament, Misbah's picks unraveled so fast that Afridi UA etc. were immediately put back in afterwards.

2011> 2019 >>>> 2015

 

[Hyperion66]

Pak was one of the favorites in 2011 despite some issues, bowling was absolutely top notch for those conditions and batting wasn't bad either. That Mohali match gave me a real scare.

 

[Hasan123]

2011 was the better team.

 

[Hawkeye]

2011 was better because of the bowling.

We had a full team of chuckers, spinning the heck out on those spin-friendly tracks.

Even with the chuckers and throwers, we couldn't do it!

 

[szundercover]

This current squad is the strongest of the lot in terms of batting.

 

[Kianig89]

2011 best side since 2003 WC which underperformed badly this 2019 lot is pre avg. Infact no genuine spinner and wicket taking pacer