What's new

Who should replace Asad 'my middle name is Technique' Shafiq?

Haroon786

Test Debutant
Joined
Jun 27, 2013
Runs
16,421
Post of the Week
1
If you were to pick any middle order batsman in Pakistan to replace the Talented One, who would it be?

Discuss.
 
Like many here, I also feel that he will get a 50 in one of the three innings and save his spot.
 
Salahudin, Saad or Fawad, heck need two from these guys because Haris is injury prone.

If Fawad still has the legs, then he is the best option.
 
The guy with 30 FC centuries and an average of 56.
 
Salahuddin is worse than Shafiq will score more slowly without averaging high Umar Akmal is the best option an aggressive stroke maker who can definitely do better.
 
Salahuddin is worse than Shafiq will score more slowly without averaging high Umar Akmal is the best option an aggressive stroke maker who can definitely do better.
Yeah also bring back awais zia and khurram manzoor for tests , i think they are better than umar akmal

Usman Salahuddin won a game against England lions chasing 300 against bowlers like mark wood in 4th inning what has your hero umar akmal done
 
Inzi doesn't rate him.

But he rated Hafeez very highly, but then he might have a point looking at the state of Pakistan’s openers on this tour to SA.. I’m sure Hafeez got back to back test 100s on the SA tour last time, or was that in Australia?
 
But he rated Hafeez very highly, but then he might have a point looking at the state of Pakistan’s openers on this tour to SA.. I’m sure Hafeez got back to back test 100s on the SA tour last time, or was that in Australia?

Inzi also once said while captain that Hafeez should never play for Pakistan again.
 
Guys despite all Inzis Criticism the fact is Faddy wouldnt survive outside Asia with his technique. I think he should have been given a chance long time ago. It has to be Saad or Saud who should be next but again there is no batsman who will do well.
 
If he fails in the rest of this series, I think Saad Ali would be a goodd replacement
 
Tell Brother Yousuf :moyo2 he 'll say no one available to match the best technique player...
 
I think it has to be Fawad. He might not arguably be better than Usman or Saad, but we need a new test captain, Sarfraz has got to fight for his place as a wicketkeeper. I think Sarfraz has got another series as a player on the back of this test and I think that works out as it's easier not dropping a player from captaincy and team simultaneously, only fair he gets to fight for his place as a player too before being dropped altogether.

We need a proper captain out there. Even Sarfraz isn't as regular one in domestic cricket, he's more U19 and limited overs. And simply I think especially in the test format, wicketkeeping, batting, captaincy is too much.
 
Guys despite all Inzis Criticism the fact is Faddy wouldnt survive outside Asia with his technique. I think he should have been given a chance long time ago. It has to be Saad or Saud who should be next but again there is no batsman who will do well.
[MENTION=53290]Markhor[/MENTION] what do you think of the perception that Fawad can't hack it outside the SC?
 
December 8th 2018

Inzimam Ul Haq “All the players have to realize their responsibilities and perform to their roles in the team otherwise they will go home now and there will be changes in the team.”

Haris sent home not for performance either :vk2
 
Guys despite all Inzis Criticism the fact is Faddy wouldnt survive outside Asia with his technique. I think he should have been given a chance long time ago. It has to be Saad or Saud who should be next but again there is no batsman who will do well.

And How do You know he wouldn't have survived? I am sure he would make atleast 1 runs more than Asad/Azhar
 
[MENTION=53290]Markhor[/MENTION] what do you think of the perception that Fawad can't hack it outside the SC?

Honestly who really cares if he hacks it outside SC. We play the majority of games there, those are the ones we are likely to win. And even if he scores outside the SC, we're likely going to lose anyway. I remember the days of Salman Butt, scored in Australia where we lost every match, everywhere else did close to zero where he actually could have influenced the match result.

The loss against NZ in UAE irritates me far more than what's happening in SA. We were favourites and to be beaten by a non-subcontinent side who aren't even the best in the world makes me pretty sad.

When we regularly win in the subcontinent then we can turn our heads towards doing well abroad, but we need to fix that first. Play all the flat track bullies you can if it will improve our subcontinent (or simply just UAE) win ratio. If we start winning regularly in the subcontinent we can be a decent side, maybe even a good one, teams have got to no.1 dominating at home/familiar conditions. Even if we say win a sole SA tour, it's not going to surge us up the rankings or make us a great team if we're losing at home. We need to get our priorities straight.
 
I wonder how many here have seen Saad Ali and Abid Ali play.

Khurram Manzoor has been the leading run scorer in QeA trophy this year so please dont bring blind statistics in discussion.

I would like to hear from someone who has seen them play.
 
It’s come at the wrong time for Saad

Should have been picked earlier, not going through the best fc season right now (by his standards)
 
Saad Ali, Saud Shakeel, Abid Ali, Usman Salahuddin. To be honest not only Asad Shafiq needs to go, even Azhar Ali has to go. Have been backing imam but his technique against pace is bad, fakhar’s technique is the worst.

You have one opener in Shan Masood, you need to select another from domestic, considering the form Khurram Manzoor is performing really well, but considering age and performance I would not select him, I would select someone younger. Middle order we need 3 batters at least: Saad Ali, Saud Shakeel are must, slelect one between usman Salahuddin and Abid Ali. Fawad is a wonderful player but I think it is better to give chance to younger options.

Coming to the combination, we have to play a 5-1-4 combination or 5-2-3.

(Example XI) Shan Masood, New Opener, Middle Order Batsman, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed, Usman Salahuddin, Faheem Ashraf/Left Arm spin all rounder, Yasir Shah, Amir, Abbas, Shaheen.
 
Honestly who really cares if he hacks it outside SC. We play the majority of games there, those are the ones we are likely to win. And even if he scores outside the SC, we're likely going to lose anyway. I remember the days of Salman Butt, scored in Australia where we lost every match, everywhere else did close to zero where he actually could have influenced the match result.

The loss against NZ in UAE irritates me far more than what's happening in SA. We were favourites and to be beaten by a non-subcontinent side who aren't even the best in the world makes me pretty sad.

When we regularly win in the subcontinent then we can turn our heads towards doing well abroad, but we need to fix that first. Play all the flat track bullies you can if it will improve our subcontinent (or simply just UAE) win ratio. If we start winning regularly in the subcontinent we can be a decent side, maybe even a good one, teams have got to no.1 dominating at home/familiar conditions. Even if we say win a sole SA tour, it's not going to surge us up the rankings or make us a great team if we're losing at home. We need to get our priorities straight.

I agree with your big picture thinking but it's also important to understand that such logic isn't used when making selections for Pakistan, otherwise Fawad would've been in the team many years ago. It may not be realistic to think that Pakistan can win a match or series in SA, but we were pretty darn close to being in an extremely favourable position heading into the final innings at Centurion had there been another good partnership.

I share the view of being competent or at least winning our home series in Asia being far more significant than away series outside the SC, but every match and series counts and we should pick the players most suited to succeed in Asia and outside it too.
 
Does he deserve to be in the test team given his performances over the last 8 years?

No, he doesn’t.

One 50/100 in the series and he stops caring as he knows his spot is safe. But if Hafeez can block a spot with fewer achievements then it shouldn’t be very difficult for him with his occasional big scores.
 
[MENTION=53290]Markhor[/MENTION] what do you think of the perception that Fawad can't hack it outside the SC?

That's all it is - a perception. We don't know unless we test him, and I'd rather test someone with a FC record that blows every one of our Test batsmen out of the water than chancing my arm on another 30s averaging FC batsman because he "looks good".

Even if he fails outside Asia, I'd rather we take care of home base first. It's embarassing in an era of such pronounced home domination that Pakistan have shelled two Test series in a year in UAE, so Fawad's spin playing ability is needed. Pakistan cannot turn their noses up at someone with 30 FC hundreds !

Saud Shakeel is another terrific prospect but his List A record is much stronger than his FC record so I'd debut him in ODIs first. I'd wait until he increases his FC average above 45.
 
I would give Usman Salahuddin a run of 5 Tests to see how he does. He can't be much worse than what we have at the moment.
 
Fawad- might be useless outside Asia but with his pedigree in Domestic, he should score heavily at home in matches that are expected to win. Saud and Saad bat at a pretty good strike rate and have proven themselves in domestic. Usman was also unlucky to be dropped early.
 
Fawad- might be useless outside Asia but with his pedigree in Domestic, he should score heavily at home in matches that are expected to win. Saud and Saad bat at a pretty good strike rate and have proven themselves in domestic. Usman was also unlucky to be dropped early.

It would be nice for Fawad to get a chance before we write him off.
 
Shan
Haris
Babar
Shadab
Faheem
Sarfaraz
That should always be our 3 to 8.

Most of them are equally likely on a given day to get a 40-70 score and we are only looking to get scores of 275 to start with.
Azhar and imam can open. ( Fakhar in UAE)
 
No, he doesn’t.

One 50/100 in the series and he stops caring as he knows his spot is safe. But if Hafeez can block a spot with fewer achievements then it shouldn’t be very difficult for him with his occasional big scores.

Yeah I agree there, but I think Hafeez was a level about Shafiq whilst batting in Asia.
 
That's all it is - a perception. We don't know unless we test him, and I'd rather test someone with a FC record that blows every one of our Test batsmen out of the water than chancing my arm on another 30s averaging FC batsman because he "looks good".

Even if he fails outside Asia, I'd rather we take care of home base first. It's embarassing in an era of such pronounced home domination that Pakistan have shelled two Test series in a year in UAE, so Fawad's spin playing ability is needed. Pakistan cannot turn their noses up at someone with 30 FC hundreds !

Saud Shakeel is another terrific prospect but his List A record is much stronger than his FC record so I'd debut him in ODIs first. I'd wait until he increases his FC average above 45.

Agreed there, it is imperative we have a team that can win in the UAE and also in Asia. This issue has largely come about due to the retirement of MisYou, as the replacements are either inexperienced or keep getting injured and the likes of Sarfraz, Azhar and Shafiq instead of standing up over the last year and half have instead cowered and declined in performance. So yes, we need batsmen who can produce consistently in Asia and win the match, especially when faced by pressure situations - however, we next have a test series in October and Fawad will be 34 by then, so while he could be a good short term fix, I think it would be optimal in the longer term to select a younger replacement.
 
What about the Saud or Usman?

Was never really on the Usman train, he spent a lot of time in regional cricket and is another grafter

Saud maybe decent but he has never excited, happy to be proven wrong though


Would you consider anyone else?


That’s the difficulty, the cupboard is quite bare. I’d probably still go with Saad due to a lack of options . With him I’d take Fawad. It’s too late for him, well past his prime but I am hopefull he can at least provide some runs while other players come through.

People need to have realistic expectations. Right now I would be happy to get back to not loosing at home, and competing in Asia. The rest can come after we achieve that.

Asad for me has to go, Sarfraz I’m a fan, but I reckon he himself is over test cricket.

Shan has surprised me, hopefully it continues but I doubt it, I saw farhat hit a few decent 50s overseas as well. Same goes for imam

Fahkar is another one id keep hope with because he will be invaluable in the uae, especially given the pedestrian nature of a lot of our batsmen.

So basically I reckon we should rip up the entire senior batting lineup minus Azhar, who has done enough to be given some more rope.



With all that in mind, my lineup for the next series

1. Fahkar
2. Azhar - C (on an interim basis)
3. Haris - please be fit
4. Babar
5. Fawad
6. Saad Ali
7. Rizwan - wk
8. Zafar
9. Haris
10. Abbas
11. Pacer

There are quite a few left handlers here, which may be an issue on uae pitches vs an offspiner


In reserve I’d include:

Abid Ali - another grafter, but as an opener he merits a chance
Umar Akmal - there is no logic to me saying this, just fools hope
Amir Yameen - again I don’t expect anything special but he knows his limits and operates well within them.

I’d have included Iftikar Ahmed if he wasn’t 40 years old. He is an okay player, plus his offspin would have been useful
 
Last edited:
They should have left Asad at number 6.

Moving him around the order was a major error.
 
Was never really on the Usman train, he spent a lot of time in regional cricket and is another grafter

Saud maybe decent but he has never excited, happy to be proven wrong though





That’s the difficulty, the cupboard is quite bare. I’d probably still go with Saad due to a lack of options . With him I’d take Fawad. It’s too late for him, well past his prime but I am hopefull he can at least provide some runs while other players come through.

People need to have realistic expectations. Right now I would be happy to get back to not loosing at home, and competing in Asia. The rest can come after we achieve that.

Asad for me has to go, Sarfraz I’m a fan, but I reckon he himself is over test cricket.

Shan has surprised me, hopefully it continues but I doubt it, I saw farhat hit a few decent 50s overseas as well. Same goes for imam

Fahkar is another one id keep hope with because he will be invaluable in the uae, especially given the pedestrian nature of a lot of our batsmen.

So basically I reckon we should rip up the entire senior batting lineup minus Azhar, who has done enough to be given some more rope.



With all that in mind, my lineup for the next series

1. Fahkar
2. Azhar - C (on an interim basis)
3. Haris - please be fit
4. Babar
5. Fawad
6. Saad Ali
7. Rizwan - wk
8. Zafar
9. Haris
10. Abbas
11. Pacer

There are quite a few left handlers here, which may be an issue on uae pitches vs an offspiner


In reserve I’d include:

Abid Ali - another grafter, but as an opener he merits a chance
Umar Akmal - there is no logic to me saying this, just fools hope
Amir Yameen - again I don’t expect anything special but he knows his limits and operates well within them.

I’d have included Iftikar Ahmed if he wasn’t 40 years old. He is an okay player, plus his offspin would have been useful

How well can Zafar bat at no. 8?
 
How well can Zafar bat at no. 8?

At under 19 level he was pretty clutch in the lower order

In his one innings for Pakistan he played a couple nice shots. Recently he has been scoring some 50s in first class

Ideally you would want a better batsmen at 8, but I reckon he is someone who can average in the 20s.

Having said all that I think Yasir doesn’t have much gas in the tank left. That means Shadab walks in
 
They should have left Asad at number 6.

Moving him around the order was a major error.

I mean, he's a senior player. It's quite natural to move your senior players up and having the inexperienced lads starting off at #6. Happens everywhere. Keep in mind Asad himself prefers batting up the order too.

If he can't do well anywhere other than #6, then maybe he's just trash and doesn't belong in the side at all.
 
As our next series is in Sri Lanka, (I think, too lazy to check) and considering the possibility that there will be some major changes, this would be my 11:

1.Azhar
2.Shan (He's earned a longer run)
3.Haris
4.Babar
5.Saad Ali
6.Shadab/Fawad/any other good bat in domestics
7.Mohammad Rizwan (Deserves to be tested)
8.Zafar Gohar (please don't select 30 year old Bilal Asif)
9.Hasan Ali
10.Yasir Shah
11.Mohammad Abbas

I guess the captain would be Mohammad Rizwan? That's a bit of a problem with this 11.
 
Last edited:
As our next series is in Sri Lanka, (I think, too lazy to check) and considering the possibility that there will be some major changes, this would be my 11:

I'd play
1. Manzoor (he's doing well, and has a history of partnering Shan, so give him a go)
2. Shan
3. Azhar
4. Haris
5. Babar
6. Fawad (c) (we need someone who knows how to captain)
7. Sarfraz (one more series without the captaincy to fight for his place. Also feel like it would be Armageddon if we kicked out a captain before we gave him a chance as a player again )
8. Bilal (doesn't deserved to be dropped yet, but Zafar would be the guy to replace him if needed)
9. Shah
10. Abbas
11. Mir Hamza (give him a few more tries to see how good he is, only had one shot)
 
Last edited:
Was never really on the Usman train, he spent a lot of time in regional cricket and is another grafter

Saud maybe decent but he has never excited, happy to be proven wrong though

Well if they're performing well and are still young enough to contribute for a few years then they should be at least given a brief run IMO.
That’s the difficulty, the cupboard is quite bare. I’d probably still go with
Saad due to a lack of options . With him I’d take Fawad. It’s too late for him, well past his prime but I am hopefull he can at least provide some runs while other players come through.

People need to have realistic expectations. Right now I would be happy to get back to not loosing at home, and competing in Asia. The rest can come after we achieve that.

Asad for me has to go, Sarfraz I’m a fan, but I reckon he himself is over test cricket.

Shan has surprised me, hopefully it continues but I doubt it, I saw farhat hit a few decent 50s overseas as well. Same goes for imam

Fahkar is another one id keep hope with because he will be invaluable in the uae, especially given the pedestrian nature of a lot of our batsmen.

So basically I reckon we should rip up the entire senior batting lineup minus Azhar, who has done enough to be given some more rope.



With all that in mind, my lineup for the next series

1. Fahkar
2. Azhar - C (on an interim basis)
3. Haris - please be fit
4. Babar
5. Fawad
6. Saad Ali
7. Rizwan - wk
8. Zafar
9. Haris
10. Abbas
11. Pacer

There are quite a few left handlers here, which may be an issue on uae pitches vs an offspiner


In reserve I’d include:

Abid Ali - another grafter, but as an opener he merits a chance
Umar Akmal - there is no logic to me saying this, just fools hope
Amir Yameen - again I don’t expect anything special but he knows his limits and operates well within them.

I’d have included Iftikar Ahmed if he wasn’t 40 years old. He is an okay player, plus his offspin would have been useful

I'm in agreement with most of what you have there, but seeing Shan in his comeback, he really looks like a proper, elite level batsman with a fluid technique so I'm optimistic that he can succeed and do it in a big way too. I'm not a fan of Imam and don't think he can play the short ball well so think his technique needs to improve, but he has got some runs in this series so he's still someone who can be excused for the moment.

With your line-up, I'd replace one of the batters with Shan and I'm very surprised that you'd drop Yasir unless it's an away series next.

Umar and Ifti in the squad? Think the following smiley will be enough! :ma
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'd play
1. Manzoor (he's doing well, and has a history of partnering Shan, so give him a go)
2. Shan
3. Azhar
4. Haris
5. Babar
6. Fawad (c) (we need someone who knows how to captain)
7. Sarfraz (one more series without the captaincy to fight for his place. Also feel like it would be Armageddon if we kicked out a captain before we gave him a chance as a player again )
8. Bilal (doesn't deserved to be dropped yet, but Zafar would be the guy to replace him if needed)
9. Shah
10. Abbas
11. Mir Hamza (give him a few more tries to see how good he is, only had one shot)

Having both Hamza and Abbas would be too much of a one paced attack. Hasan is the best exponent of reverse swing in Pakistan anyways.
 
Having both Hamza and Abbas would be too much of a one paced attack. Hasan is the best exponent of reverse swing in Pakistan anyways.

Was thinking this, but it is Asia so was thinking we might get away with it. I think you're right though, it's probably better to play Hasan instead.
 
Shan Masood*
Azhar Ali
Haris Sohail
Babar Azam
Saad Ali
Fakhar Zaman
Mohammad Rizwan (WK)
Hasan Ali
Zafar Gohar
Yasir Shah
Mohammad Abbas

Reserves: Usman Salahuddin, Saud Shakeel, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Mir Hamza, Shaheen Afridi

Give Shan interim captaincy until Babar is ready.
 
Asad doing well today - some fine shots vs Olivier
 
Shafiq in a hurry to score a 50 today. He plays attackingly when his place is in danger. :))
I wonder why he cant bat positively like this. Btw he looks good when he plays positively which happens very rarely.
 
Typical Asad, will probably score a meaningless ton to secure his spot for another year

Story of the last 8 years. Vast majority of his tons have come in losses, Asad generally can only perform when we are expected to loose
 
This is depressing. He isn’t going anywhere.
 
Surprise surprise, his place is in doubt and he's playing a good innings. Why can't he play like this more often?
 
As most had predicted, he is scoring runs to save his place for the next series or two.

He is the GOAT at saving his place and no one else will be able to replicate his greatness in this aspect.
 
There's a reason I don't reply to knee-jerk threads like these. Do you lot really think any other Pakistani batsman (barring Babar) can play like Asad did today?
 
Well done to Asad. He's saved his place. Very good innings, against a top attack, not hiding down at 6 but at 4 and not in a dead rubber, Pakistan are now with a chance of setting a total SA have to chase which is great.

I wanted him to play at 4 and take responsibility and looks like he has. Should play at 4 in the future and Masood should continue to open.
 
Asad Shafiq should still be dropped from test squad after this tour

Too many times he has failed and then perform in 1 inning when his position in the team is in danger and then go back to not performing. And the cycle keep repeating. Time for selectors to take a principle stand and drop him forever.
 
Good innings but his dismissal showed why he has been so inconsistent in test cricket. Good bowlers will set you up and bowl that teaser in the end. Asad needs to learn to resist.
 
As most had predicted, he is scoring runs to save his place for the next series or two.

He is the GOAT at saving his place and no one else will be able to replicate his greatness in this aspect.

Both Asad and Azhar will play 100 tests for Pak. We can say whatever we want but they always manage to save their *****.
 
Pak fans had similar concerns against Moyo who would often score a soft 100 and go missing in crucial times. Younis was the one who put his hand up in crisis a lot. Younis was like Moyos understudy then.
 
Pak fans had similar concerns against Moyo who would often score a soft 100 and go missing in crucial times. Younis was the one who put his hand up in crisis a lot. Younis was like Moyos understudy then.

Please don't compare a legend like Moyo to loser Shafiq!
 
Sorry this is not good enough you can’t have a free ride forever. You can’t play a selfish innings and keep on surviving based on it. This guy is a total failure when it comes to playing for the team and actually winning
 
Saad Ali should replace Asad Shafiq after this tour.
 
Really scratchy innings with some oustanding shots in between.

His career is just mediocre where there are moments lf brilliance which are good to watch but have zero effect on the result of the games.
 
Abid Ali, Saud Shakeel, Saif badar, Hasan Mohsin, Saad Ali, Adil Amin, Umair Yousuf, Ali Sarfraz, there are 10 more I can't recall who will play better than Asad Shafiq to help the Pakistan team, not only hitting a one off 50 or 60 to save his place in the side.
 
There are several players who could replace him Saad Ali, Saud Shaqeel, Usman Salahuddin. In fact, I'd bring the three of them in and drop Azhar, Asad and Fakhar Zaman
 
Pak fans had similar concerns against Moyo who would often score a soft 100 and go missing in crucial times. Younis was the one who put his hand up in crisis a lot. Younis was like Moyos understudy then.

Yousuf had an average of around 53 and was one of the best of his era.

Shafiq is mediocre bit like Rahane in tests who are just their to play supporting role. Rahane supports Kohli, Pujara while Shafiq dont even have anybody to support now.
 
Contrast his innings with that of Shan. Shan basically gave one chance and that ended his innings. Whereas, despite his sparkling shots, Shafiq’s innings looked like it could end anytime
 
Abid Ali, Saud Shakeel, Saif badar, Hasan Mohsin, Saad Ali, Adil Amin, Umair Yousuf, Ali Sarfraz, there are 10 more I can't recall who will play better than Asad Shafiq to help the Pakistan team, not only hitting a one off 50 or 60 to save his place in the side.

And good thing is atleast they will have some future, at 32 with this mediocrity Asad doesnt have much.
 
Back
Top