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Who is the most complete batsman in Pakistan?

Technique wise,yes. He looked good in the CT but he needs to make runs ay a sr of atleast 78-80 if he wants to continue as an ODI opener
 
umer187 said:
Technique wise,yes. He looked good in the CT but he needs to make runs ay a sr of atleast 78-80 if he wants to continue as an ODI opener
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He already did in last match... he was going at 80+.. unfortunately run out
 
Azhar has a solid technique, but he has major flaws in his game still

CT Final aside, he still goes into a shell with lots of dot balls then tries to smash his way out

Malik might be the most complete player. Since his comeback, he's been generally pretty consistent. Excellent runner, solid defence, and has power
 
Azhar has really improved his skill to a very good level so much so that English commentators like Nas and Athers many times remarked 'proper Test match technique' when they spoke about him. This wasn't the case until a couple of years back when he looked quite ugly as a batsman. However Babar Azam looks even better than him and this guy still has time to improve even further on to what he has currently but Babar really has to improve on his fitness and approach to become complete batsman.
 
Babar Azam and Haris Sohail. Azhar Ali is our best Test batsman but he isn't suited for Limited Overs cricket
 
Babar looks good on the eye but he is far from a complete batsman. For one, has no power game and struggles to accelerate. Dot balls are an issue with him as well. The young Umar Akmal was a complete batsman, too bad he didn't develop his brain as time progressed.
 
Babar, by some distance.

Azhar doesn't have the best technique. Most people make a mistake of mixing technique with defence - good technique includes solid defence & all round shot making ability. Azhar's biggest asset is his concentration, value for wicket & apetatite to stay on the wicket despite not scoring or being tied down. Still, most times he gets out to balls that should have been defended with better technique.

One difference between Azhar & Babar is after couple of hours of batting - Babar actually can increase his scoring rate to even 150 SR - that's his range of shots improves with the time on wicket. But, one can't tell if Azhar is on 20 or 200 from his batting - it's always on same tempo. This indicates his limitation as a batsman. He is perfectly suited for Test opener, and nothing else.

After Babar, next comes Amin, but he lacks every quality that made Azhar a 48+ average Test batsman. With similar mental aspects, Amin could have been twice the player than what he is now. He is only PAK batsman who can hit through either side of point to fast bowlers on either feet & loft spinners straight over site screen; but he can't do that for more than 30 minutes may be.

Of the young players, I thought Saud Shakeel had similar qualities, but probably people at PCB doesn't, hence his last innings for PAK A had been top class 87 (?) at Leeds against SRL A, followed by s 40+* in same match chasing 150+ in 20 overs or so.
 
Asad. Drives and Cuts better than Babar but sucks at the pull...both tend to fall over to the in-swinger. I honestly don't think we have a complete batsman but Asad is a better player of short bowling.
 
Asad Shafiq is absolutely rubbish batsman. Anytime he comes to the crease he comes with only block block mentality. No positivity whatsoever you can expect from the club level batsman.
 
Babar Azam and by some distance. the mark of a true batsman is how he turns good deliveries into singles and bad ones into 4's. Azhar Ali is a mental giant and can grind opposition in tests and thats how he gets most of his runs. even after facing 50 balls in odis, its sad how many balls he mistimes to the fielder. A proper batsman after settling would find gaps with ease and would make it look super simple.
 
Babar Azam.

From the younger lot I think it has to be Saud Shakeel.Whenever I have watched him bat he has looked a perfectionist.Very easy on the eyes and has the temprament as well.But too bad that he is playing in the same team that has "the mighty" Faisal Iqbal as its captain He has made him to bat at No.7/8 and turning him into a spinner when he isn't.Pathetic.
 
Babar Azam.

Requires development but he is the closest thing to a "complete" batsman.

Azhar Ali's technique is flawed but his willpower is magnificent. This means he's able to bunker down and restrict his strokeplay to maximize his innings.

It's wonderful in some circumstances but can lead to woeful situations where he can't hit a gap to save his life.
 
no one.

1. azhar - unable to accelerate. never gets settled. will play the 5th, the 50th, and the 500th ball the same way if the ball were to be the same.

2. babar - can't play spin - of any kind that actually spins. be it lyon or shadab. dressed in white he can't play any kind of bowling to be precise. inadequate against short ball

3. malik/hafeez - 15 years and counting and now their averages are going to be lower than their age. perfect

4. shafiq - the forever nearly man. if he'd be a biography, it'll be named 'almost'.

5. whoever isn't named here - unable to replace hafeez and malik so ain't no one calling them top class, not even their mums

not saying that babar can't become classy but after seeing a tournament where indian batters batted, pakistani batting isn't just behind, it's in a totally different timezone. literally indian rejects like uthappa, gambhir, and raina could make our first eleven on total merit atm.
 
Azhar Ali. Not pleasant on the eye but our most complete batsman.
 
In terms of potential Babar is the best we have had since Umar Akmal. He is technically proficient and has the temperament to excel at the international level. Azhar is the most solid player we have but he can't be termed complete as his limited overs game still needs a lot of improvement. From the younger lot, Sami Aslam and Haris Sohail are the two player who in my opinion, have the ability and temperament to become complete batsmen.

As for the others, none of them are even close to being complete. Shafiq is too inconsistent, Malik and Hafeez are...well Malik and Hafeez, Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shahzad do not have the attitude to excel at the highest level and Umar Amin lacks temperament (people might disagree but I still don't think he is fit for international cricket - and I am a fan of his game).I do see a lot of promise in the third tier in the form of players like Talat, Saud and Badar, but they have some way to go before we start evaluating their game for completeness.
 
Fawad Alam is consistent but he has a shoddy technique and cannot be called a complete batsman. He bats like Katich he or shiv and but nowhere as good as them both. I would say Azhar or babar are probably the most complete batsmen I have seen so far.

Umair akmal tops them both but we all know he has other issues.
 
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Yeap youre right. Looking at Amin's batting, he has the best technique to defend the ball with power to send them out of the park. Arguably one of the fittest player in pakistan too. He certainly deserves a chance asap.
 
Azhar Ali is the most complete batsman in PAK today technically at least.
 
SarfiBabarHaris said:
http://www.pcb.com.pk/match_detail.php?match_id=24390

no one can play an innings like this which Haris did.
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The thing is he always looks a million dollars whenever I see him bat, it's almost like 'wow', here is a guy who has so much time on the ball and then he disappoints you by getting out. I would say there are batsman who are mentally stronger than him but he's almost Gower-esque in terms of style.

I'm disappointed he never got a game in England, the wickets are so flat and with the lightning fast outfields he could have been a very difficult batsman to contain.
 
Name me one bowler that you can confidantly say would get Azhar

This guy doesn't play the bowler but the ball,I am so proud of him. Whenever he bats my heart has no fear,He is so complete he defends and very rarely looses his patience,I'm sure he will flourish in South Africa and IA will go beyond younis'is milestone

I would rate Azhar as more precious then Misbah and younis

Younis would make hundreds but as expected over these 2 years his batting has deteriorated,As for Misbah it would be a breath of fresh air without him.
 
Azhar and Babar

If Azher learn how to rotate strike in early overs, he can be a very good player. Plus he's not captain now, so he's playing better with no pressure on him
 
No contest, just two words; Azhar Ali and then you have the night.
 
Asif khan said:
The thing is he always looks a million dollars whenever I see him bat, it's almost like 'wow', here is a guy who has so much time on the ball and then he disappoints you by getting out. I would say there are batsman who are mentally stronger than him but he's almost Gower-esque in terms of style.

I'm disappointed he never got a game in England, the wickets are so flat and with the lightning fast outfields he could have been a very difficult batsman to contain.
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Yes he does look a million dollar. If you have seen his mode of dismissals, you would have noticed that most of them are when he tried to hit out even in the Pakistan cup except for the last match when he got a wrong decision. Throughout his career bowlers have hardly troubled him. He needs to improve his hitting for odis as this is kindof one weak area in his game and one of the reason why i think he will be better test player than odi. I would be extremely dissapointed if he doesn't end up as test great. Has all the tools!
 
For me it is Umar Amin. Has all the shots in the book and can play in all 3 formats. He just has extremely poor temperament. Besides him Babar Azam has the ability to manage the tempo and flow of the game and can adjust to different formats.
 
SarfiBabarHaris said:
Yes he does look a million dollar. If you have seen his mode of dismissals, you would have noticed that most of them are when he tried to hit out even in the Pakistan cup except for the last match when he got a wrong decision. Throughout his career bowlers have hardly troubled him. He needs to improve his hitting for odis as this is kindof one weak area in his game and one of the reason why i think he will be better test player than odi. I would be extremely dissapointed if he doesn't end up as test great. Has all the tools!
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I can't say I've watched him as much as you but the first extended time I saw him was in the '15 world cup. I'm interested into hearing why you think he needs to improve his hitting because to me, he didnt didn't need hitting ability, he was all timing and was one of those batsmen that are very difficult to contain because he had strokes all around the ground.

I hope he gets an extended run, it would be a shame to waste a batsman with his kind of ability.
 
None, everyone has some weakness. Babar is the most promising of all. Sharjeel was getting there, too bad he sold out.
 
He has faults and young, but Babar is the most complete among all Pakistani batsmen.
 
If we are talking complete batsmen

It's got to be Babar

Complete doesn't mean the one who blocks for fun,what it means is to play definsively and attacking whilst also being effective and a player that plays without pressure.
 
Shoaib Malik I'd say. Babar is too 1D to be labelled complete. Even inform Shahzad would get more marks from me.

Lynx said:
Babar looks good on the eye but he is far from a complete batsman. For one, has no power game and struggles to accelerate. Dot balls are an issue with him as well. The young Umar Akmal was a complete batsman, too bad he didn't develop his brain as time progressed.
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Ah! Was about to mention young UA as complete one.
 
Azhar in my opinion is not dynamic enough to be the most complete batsman in Pakistan right now I would have to say Babar Azam is the most complete batsman I can think of. He has solid defense, good strike rotation in middle overs and to some extent as shown an ability to accelerate latter on in the innings. Probably the most complete batsman in Pakistan.
 
Not agreed with the statement. To be a complete batsman he needs to build his hitting ability, no doubt on his technique though.

In current squad may find it hard but in my opinion to some extent it is Shoaib Malik and Babar Azam.
 
in pakistan azhar is closest to a complete batsmen foolowed by babar azam. Azhar has a very good defence which makes a bowler frustated. he can outright defend a very very good ball but needs to score more freely nowadays.
 
Overall till now : Javed Miandad
Now a days
ODIs : Shoaib Malik
Tests : Azhar
T20 : None
 
Apart from Root, Smith, Williamson, Kohli and Warner who else would be labelled as a complete batsman in world cricket atm? I wouldn't think anyone apart from the list mentioned above so let's not get too deep
 
KashifButt said:
Apart from Root, Smith, Williamson, Kohli and Warner who else would be labelled as a complete batsman in world cricket atm? I wouldn't think anyone apart from the list mentioned above so let's not get too deep
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Warner isn't a complete batsman,time and again he's been exposed on pitches that aren't flat.
 
Babar is in no way complete. Have you seen his test record? Maybe in the future, he will be more complete but across odi's and tests, Azhar is the more complete player. Babar has to succeed in tests first.
 
Harris and Amin both have a pretty good technique. Solid defense and good gap hitting ability.
 
Fawad alam (after a few shots of hgh)
Azhar Ali (after a few shots of adrenaline)
 
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