Why after a great and flying start, Pakistan players careers dwindle and flop?

[The Bald Eagle]

Pakistan have produced great cricketing stars in recent years that do look promising prospect but unfortunately after a great start that all seem to plunge into the island of irrelevancy and due to poor cricketing display of late become a liability for the team instead of utility.

Ahmed Shehzad, Umer Akmal, Sohaib Masood, Imam ul Haq, Sohail Khan, Rumman Raees, Shadab Khan,Mohammad Nawaz and Babar Azam are just a few example to name. Who had a brilliant headstart to their career but could never capitalize that momentum to turn their fortunes in the cricketing world.

Ahmed Shehzad, Umer Akmal and Babar Azam were named as next Pakistani Zaheer Khan and Javed Miandad but they all flopped. Rumman Raees and Hasan Ali were deemed to be the next Waqar and Wasim of Pakistan, Hasan Ali even was the man of the tournament in CT 2017 but unfortunately they all flopped and become an embarrassment for Pakistan.

 

[Azrim_91]

Quite a few and simple reasons:

1) Teams find you out and the infrastructure of Pakistani cricket is pathetic, therefore our players don’t develop or improve
2) laziness as they gain fame from being celebrity cricketers
3) linked with point 2 - they can afford to eat properly after coming from the streets and their fitness goes completely out the window.

In India, it’s very similar - difference is that with their developed infrastructure if you don’t perform, there is another keen young Indian talent waiting to take your spot.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Quite a few and simple reasons:

1) Teams find you out and the infrastructure of Pakistani cricket is pathetic, therefore our players don’t develop or improve
2) laziness as they gain fame from being celebrity cricketers
3) linked with point 2 - they can afford to eat properly after coming from the streets and their fitness goes completely out the window.

In India, it’s very similar - difference is that with their developed infrastructure if you don’t perform, there is another keen young Indian talent waiting to take your spot.

Yep,the other reasons being the lack of motivation and the loss of appetite on part of players

Babar Azam's recent downfall I don't know whether it's a rough patch like Kohli or is it end of the road for Babar

 

[FearlessRoar]

Lack of confidence, lack of exposure, lack of intent, lack of fighting spirit. That's all.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Gautam Gambhir hails Babar Azam as “best batsman”
“Babar can set the World Cup on fire!”

This proved out to be a curse on Babar since this statement he is struggling in all formats.

 

[ElRaja]

theres so little covereage of pakistani domestic scene that opposition need a few games to work out player weaknesses, once they do they exploit them mercilessly

secondly there is so little trust of the PCB that all players look out for themselves, as soon as they can they exploit short term gains of league money rather than develop their skills for long term progress given with each change of the winds, the PCB administration, selectors, coaches, everything changes.

insecurity breeds short termism, and Pakistani society is defined by insecurity of every kind, which is reflected in the cricket team.

 

[Swashbuckler]

Gautam Gambhir hails Babar Azam as “best batsman”
“Babar can set the World Cup on fire!”

This proved out to be a curse on Babar since this statement he is struggling in all formats.

Gambhir will hype any XYZ to put down Kohli. He always has an agenda against Dhoni and Kohli.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Gambhir will hype any XYZ to put down Kohli. He always has an agenda against Dhoni and Kohli.

Yep Gambhir does this in Kohli's hate. But no joke bro. Babar, indeed was the second highest run scorer in odi in 2023 up till Gambhir's statement. But just after that he started playing like Kuldeep Yadav and Bumrah.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Faheem Ashraf was termed as the 'next Ben Stokes' in cricket and Asif ali was lauded as the 'next great finisher' for Pakistan with his ability to hit more than 150 sixes in net practice. I don't know whether evil eye engulfed them or they set their own demise and disappeared from the action scene.

 

[Ahmed216]

This is because when they first arrive they got nothing to lose. After that, when they settle in they worry about only one thing, how to save your place.
They lack personality. Everyone is a selfish cricketer and is only fighting for his place in the team.
They do not pursue excellence.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

This is because when they first arrive they got nothing to lose. After that, when they settle in they worry about only one thing, how to save your place.
They lack personality. Everyone is a selfish cricketer and is only fighting for his place in the team.
They do not pursue excellence.

Good but you miss a point here bro, Initially they have a great urge to showcase their talent and prove themselves to other but once they get a longer run they take it for granted and busy themselves in money making in the leagues going around the world.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Only Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed are the constant performers for Pakistan in recent times. Besides them everyone else has let us down

@Rana may dislike it and @Major may love it. He is the best player currently in your squad tbh

https://imgur.com/W0rvure

 

[Savak]

The difference between short term wonders and legends is pretty simple ie ruthless hard work, fitness, constantly evolving, reinventing and developing your games around the opposition plans for you. If you do these things successfully there should be no reason why you to not fulfil your potential.

Pakistani players obviously feel they have achieved everything once they have solidified their position in the team and hence they begin to treat Cricket as a 9-5 govt job and there is no further incentive to improve.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

The difference between short term wonders and legends is pretty simple ie ruthless hard work, fitness, constantly evolving, reinventing and developing your games around the opposition plans for you. If you do these things successfully there should be no reason why you to not fulfil your potential.

Pakistani players obviously feel they have achieved everything once they have solidified their position in the team and hence they begin to treat Cricket as a 9-5 govt job and there is no further incentive to improve.

Yep one may dislike Indian team but they can't deny the fact that BCCI has replacement and "back up player" for every player in playing XI. The fear of being replaced and extreme competition just pushes player to bring their A-Game. While this is not the case with PCB. Here a player can easily play two dozen matches by just scoring a century.

Afridi's fastest 100 back in his youth just give him a blanket cheque for prolonged career and in BCCI even Rohit after spectacular world cup has just now become Mr Nobody

 

[Croma]

I am afraid for Aamer Jamaal.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

I am afraid for Aamer Jamaal.

Yep bro but we need to find a proper back up for him so he remains under the pressure to perform consistently. Otherwise we also waste such great talent like we wasted Imad, Sharjeel, Amir and Ahmed Shehzad.

Saim Ayub needs some attention as mentioned above too.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Can anybody tell where has Haris Sohail and Hammad Azam gone??

They were two real gem that we are missing badly in team green. Haris Sohail can even replace Babar Azam in team.

 

[Savak]

Can anybody tell where has Haris Sohail and Hammad Azam gone??

They were two real gem that we are missing badly in team green. Haris Sohail can even replace Babar Azam in team.

No thank you. Harris Sohail is another flat track bully who can't play the short ball, many times teams have terrified him with pacy bouncers. He is also a lazy individual who is a poor runner between the wickets and slow in the field.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

No thank you. Harris Sohail is another flat track bully who can't play the short ball, many times teams have terrified him with pacy bouncers. He is also a lazy individual who is a poor runner between the wickets and slow in the field.

He wasn't that bad @Savak. May be you still have some glimpses of his past bad performances. He looked decent although couldn't get many chances

 

[ads101]

Two types of batsmen who have played a decent number of games. Guys who perform early on and fall off. And ones who perform early on and stay performing.

It is very rare particularly for a batsman to fail initially (even 5-10 games) at the beginning and still go onto be a good player. Probably because the bad record weighs on their minds too.

Which is why I don’t like what we are doing with Saim and Haris. It’s not ok to accumulate bad early on careers. I can’t think of a successful pak batsman that’s done that. Which is why we should be careful how we play them and give them maximum amount of chance to succeed.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Two types of batsmen who have played a decent number of games. Guys who perform early on and fall off. And ones who perform early on and stay performing.

It is very rare particularly for a batsman to fail initially (even 5-10 games) at the beginning and still go onto be a good player. Probably because the bad record weighs on their minds too.

Which is why I don’t like what we are doing with Saim and Haris. It’s not ok to accumulate bad early on careers. I can’t think of a successful pak batsman that’s done that. Which is why we should be careful how we play them and give them maximum amount of chance to succeed.

So I'm a bit confused bro. Are you suggesting that Saim and Haris wouldn't succeed because of some early failures or are you suggesting we should stick with them and give them more chance rationally and tactically?

 

[ads101]

So I'm a bit confused bro. Are you suggesting that Saim and Haris wouldn't succeed because of some early failures or are you suggesting we should stick with them and give them more chance rationally and tactically?

It gets harder to succeed when you have a 20 game poor early career start. This is happening to Haris.

Best to not pick guys until they are ready and give them easier games with a defined position. For example Saim could have debuted in Asia instead of Australia. Haris could have been given one position and not stop start chances.

Haris particularly seems to have fallen to pieces lately and I think part of that is the pressure of a spot and his record. Confidence plays a huge role and early performance gives you a lot of breathing room until you have to worry about your spot.

Haris had to worry about his performance, poor record, no permanent position, competition from competing youngsters, and even competition from Babar and Rizwan as he opened in Afghanistan. As well as multiple formats. That’s too much pressure for a guy who is probably still quite raw for international cricket.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

It gets harder to succeed when you have a 20 game poor early career start. This is happening to Haris.

Best to not pick guys until they are ready and give them easier games with a defined position. For example Saim could have debuted in Asia instead of Australia. Haris could have been given one position and not stop start chances.

Haris particularly seems to have fallen to pieces lately and I think part of that is the pressure of a spot and his record. Confidence plays a huge role and early performance gives you a lot of breathing room until you have to worry about your spot.

Haris had to worry about his performance, poor record, no permanent position, competition from competing youngsters, and even competition from Babar and Rizwan as he opened in Afghanistan. As well as multiple formats. That’s too much pressure for a guy who is probably still quite raw for international cricket.

Completely agree with you bro. PCB may ruin these explosive batters by their poor choices. We need to pamper and take care of them for the sake of betterment of Pak cricket.

Or else like Rumman Raees, Khusdil Shah and Asif Ali they may also lose track.

 

[hitthestump]

Yep,the other reasons being the lack of motivation and the loss of appetite on part of players

Babar Azam's recent downfall I don't know whether it's a rough patch like Kohli or is it end of the road for Babar

One reason Babar got to the top of the world is because he is committed, works hard and is obsessed with batting.

He was known about in Pakistan for years before his debut. It never went to his head. He continued the hard work throughout.

I doubt he would suddenly become complacent. I’m guessing he may be experiencing some mental struggles after a tough year.

But over the long term as they say - “form is temporary and class is permanent”.

I would be shocked if Babar isn’t back with a bang in 2024.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

One reason Babar got to the top of the world is because he is committed, works hard and is obsessed with batting.

He was known about in Pakistan for years before his debut. It never went to his head. He continued the hard work throughout.

I doubt he would suddenly become complacent. I’m guessing he may be experiencing some mental struggles after a tough year.

But over the long term as they say - “form is temporary and class is permanent”.

I would be shocked if Babar isn’t back with a bang in 2024.

I also pray for his return of form. May be he is having quite a issues at the moment. PCB and the former Senior guys need to look after him and should sort his issues on priority basis or else we shall lose another gem and clutch player.

 

[hitthestump]

Quite a few and simple reasons:

1) Teams find you out and the infrastructure of Pakistani cricket is pathetic, therefore our players don’t develop or improve
2) laziness as they gain fame from being celebrity cricketers
3) linked with point 2 - they can afford to eat properly after coming from the streets and their fitness goes completely out the window.

In India, it’s very similar - difference is that with their developed infrastructure if you don’t perform, there is another keen young Indian talent waiting to take your spot.

The other thing India have over us is being blessed with exceptional leaders.

Ganguly and Dhoni raised the bar higher than it had ever been, but then Kohli came and single-handedly revolutionised India cricket for good.

Pakistan also once benefited massively from Imran who did so much good in creating the right mentality among his players.

But we haven’t produced a true leader in decades.

 

[Major]

This is actually a very good topic and it was an issue i also identified back in 2015.

There are multiple causes behind this phenomena which I will list below

- Players not bothering to improve themselves
- Flawed Players that were given extended runs only to realize they are bad
- Players with fitness issues
- Players not showing up First Class and even grade 2 cricket
- Players real age catching up
- Players getting comfortable to pampered life and not working hard

Lets look at each player case by case.

Umar Akmal

When Umar Akmal came in 2009-2010, fans were soo crazy about him that no one was ready to criticize him or even drop him. Just like how Aamir Jamal is a fan favorite currently and being praised to the moon, same was the case of Umar Akmal. However, I had identified back in 2010, that Umar has a habit of throwing his wicket away. This was because he couldn't rotate strike and did not have the mental capacity to extend an innings.

Whenever Umar was required to rotate strike and not hit boundaries, he would get tired after a few singles and doubles, and that is when he would try to release himself from running by hitting some shots and eventually throwing his wicket away.

Plus, Umar's defense was non existent and he was more focused on non cricketing activities.

One problem with Umar was that he thought he was safe in the team because Kamran Akmal was a senior player and plus Umar had develop a large fan following. Soon he was involved in controversies where he faked an injury, had traffic fights etc.

Umar should had went back to domestic cricket and grinded atleast 5 years. If he had improved mentally and skill wise, he still could had have a career. But the issue was, if Umar was dropped for one tour, he would be back after 2 tours. Infact, in Pakistan it became quite famous that whenever Umar got dropped, he would visit Raiwind and have a meeting with Mian saab. This created more resentment towards him by PCB and players aswell.

When the fixing issue took place, had Umar not made PCB his enemy, he could gotten away with a slight ban, but his antics got to him.

Ahmed Shezad

Ahmed Shezad had all the shots in the world in his arsenal. One issue with such players are is that they sometimes dont know which shot to use, thus sometimes its better to be a limited player than to be a player with all abilities.

Shezad was not a hack, but he was also a player that wasnt as good many had assumed. One of the reasons why he got into the teams permanent spot was because he had smashed a 100 in a small ground of New Zealand. Fans went gaga and so did PCB and he was made the opener of the team for many years.

Also, for many years Shezad was not even focusing on domestic cricket. He was friends with Afridi, had his backing to get in the team no matter what and also had attitude issues that were identified many times but nothing happened.

It is just during the last 12 months did Ahmed Shezad decided to focus on domestic cricket, but back in the day he could care less and did not bothered to imporve his game by playing domestic cricket. He had developed an attitude that he was a senior player as he had played for Pakistan.

Even now Shezad thinks just cause he decided to work hard in domestic for the last 12-18 months he warrants a place.

His batting became so ugly that his whole technique was ruined.

Sohaib Maqsood

Sohaib only got into the Pakistani team because of the media hype that existed for him. After just 1 or 2 seasons of domestic cricket Sohaib was avg in the high 50s but wasnt getting selected. Media started to fight his case and went on about how a player is being mistreated and not getting selected on merit.

Basically, the guy had a purple patch in domestic cricket which is why he got into team but eventually was exposed.

Mohammad Yousuf
Yousuf did great injustice to his own talent and the reason was that he had the attitude that because he topped the charts he didn require to play domestic cricket. Yousuf played very little domestic cricket and had an attitude that if God gives him more games he will play or else wont care.

Yousuf should had played uptil 2012 if he had worked hard on his game and not developed that senior player attiude.

There are also many more players I can go about, however I would also like to add that there are players that identified there issues and worked hard and came back into the team.

Mohammad Rizwan
Rizwan was always a keeper batsman avg 40+ in domestic cricket. In international circuit he was throwing away his wicket and was not able to get runs. Rizwan was about to become a cricketer that would take a few balls to get into the game and than start attacking.

However, Rizwan developed his shots. Rizwan worked hard by going back to club cricket and doing nets where he worked on his shot selection. He than developed himself into an opener where he finally got to show case his talent.


Iftikhar Ahmed

Ifti was always a hard hitter batter in domestic cricket, but ifti's issue was he was not able to shift his balance correctly, which is why he found issues in his batting in international level.

The only change that Ifti bought in was that his batting stance is as such that he focusses on his shifting of weight, plus Ifti also loves to go back to first class and grade 2 cricket whenever he is not playing for Pakistan. Playing domestic cricket more helps you alot

 

[The Bald Eagle]

This is actually a very good topic and it was an issue i also identified back in 2015.

There are multiple causes behind this phenomena which I will list below

- Players not bothering to improve themselves
- Flawed Players that were given extended runs only to realize they are bad
- Players with fitness issues
- Players not showing up First Class and even grade 2 cricket
- Players real age catching up
- Players getting comfortable to pampered life and not working hard

Lets look at each player case by case.

Umar Akmal

When Umar Akmal came in 2009-2010, fans were soo crazy about him that no one was ready to criticize him or even drop him. Just like how Aamir Jamal is a fan favorite currently and being praised to the moon, same was the case of Umar Akmal. However, I had identified back in 2010, that Umar has a habit of throwing his wicket away. This was because he couldn't rotate strike and did not have the mental capacity to extend an innings.

Whenever Umar was required to rotate strike and not hit boundaries, he would get tired after a few singles and doubles, and that is when he would try to release himself from running by hitting some shots and eventually throwing his wicket away.

Plus, Umar's defense was non existent and he was more focused on non cricketing activities.

One problem with Umar was that he thought he was safe in the team because Kamran Akmal was a senior player and plus Umar had develop a large fan following. Soon he was involved in controversies where he faked an injury, had traffic fights etc.

Umar should had went back to domestic cricket and grinded atleast 5 years. If he had improved mentally and skill wise, he still could had have a career. But the issue was, if Umar was dropped for one tour, he would be back after 2 tours. Infact, in Pakistan it became quite famous that whenever Umar got dropped, he would visit Raiwind and have a meeting with Mian saab. This created more resentment towards him by PCB and players aswell.

When the fixing issue took place, had Umar not made PCB his enemy, he could gotten away with a slight ban, but his antics got to him.

Ahmed Shezad

Ahmed Shezad had all the shots in the world in his arsenal. One issue with such players are is that they sometimes dont know which shot to use, thus sometimes its better to be a limited player than to be a player with all abilities.

Shezad was not a hack, but he was also a player that wasnt as good many had assumed. One of the reasons why he got into the teams permanent spot was because he had smashed a 100 in a small ground of New Zealand. Fans went gaga and so did PCB and he was made the opener of the team for many years.

Also, for many years Shezad was not even focusing on domestic cricket. He was friends with Afridi, had his backing to get in the team no matter what and also had attitude issues that were identified many times but nothing happened.

It is just during the last 12 months did Ahmed Shezad decided to focus on domestic cricket, but back in the day he could care less and did not bothered to imporve his game by playing domestic cricket. He had developed an attitude that he was a senior player as he had played for Pakistan.

Even now Shezad thinks just cause he decided to work hard in domestic for the last 12-18 months he warrants a place.

His batting became so ugly that his whole technique was ruined.

Sohaib Maqsood

Sohaib only got into the Pakistani team because of the media hype that existed for him. After just 1 or 2 seasons of domestic cricket Sohaib was avg in the high 50s but wasnt getting selected. Media started to fight his case and went on about how a player is being mistreated and not getting selected on merit.

Basically, the guy had a purple patch in domestic cricket which is why he got into team but eventually was exposed.

Mohammad Yousuf
Yousuf did great injustice to his own talent and the reason was that he had the attitude that because he topped the charts he didn require to play domestic cricket. Yousuf played very little domestic cricket and had an attitude that if God gives him more games he will play or else wont care.

Yousuf should had played uptil 2012 if he had worked hard on his game and not developed that senior player attiude.

There are also many more players I can go about, however I would also like to add that there are players that identified there issues and worked hard and came back into the team.

Mohammad Rizwan
Rizwan was always a keeper batsman avg 40+ in domestic cricket. In international circuit he was throwing away his wicket and was not able to get runs. Rizwan was about to become a cricketer that would take a few balls to get into the game and than start attacking.

However, Rizwan developed his shots. Rizwan worked hard by going back to club cricket and doing nets where he worked on his shot selection. He than developed himself into an opener where he finally got to show case his talent.


Iftikhar Ahmed

Ifti was always a hard hitter batter in domestic cricket, but ifti's issue was he was not able to shift his balance correctly, which is why he found issues in his batting in international level.

The only change that Ifti bought in was that his batting stance is as such that he focusses on his shifting of weight, plus Ifti also loves to go back to first class and grade 2 cricket whenever he is not playing for Pakistan. Playing domestic cricket more helps you alot

Yep bro, I agree with your reasonings. We need a back up player for every player in playing XI. And needs to keep shuffling squad so the guys does not get complacent and loss focus after early flurry of performances.

 

[Saj]

Complacency, priorities, comfort-zone, ego are just some reasons that spring to mind.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Complacency, priorities, comfort-zone, ego are just some reasons that spring to mind.

Yep there are plenty more too. Like Self centric thinking, Money making craze in franchise leagues around, Individual innings rather than a team knock are also some other reasons that explain their pathetic performance of late.

 

[Savak]

One reason Babar got to the top of the world is because he is committed, works hard and is obsessed with batting.

He was known about in Pakistan for years before his debut. It never went to his head. He continued the hard work throughout.

I doubt he would suddenly become complacent. I’m guessing he may be experiencing some mental struggles after a tough year.

But over the long term as they say - “form is temporary and class is permanent”.

I would be shocked if Babar isn’t back with a bang in 2024.

I judge a players overall attitude towards the game via their fitness. It is the controllable they are completely in charge off.

One can clearly see that Babar as captain encouraged lax fitness standards in the team and many players started to show higher body fat levels under his watch. The team's social media accounts and the players social media accounts constantly showed them having a good time off the field. Babars issues in his batting are linked with his higher than before body fat levels, belly and he is now more crease bound, his footwork is worse than before and he is now playing away from his body and has a large gap bw bat and pad.

Babar clearly has now gotten way to comfortable with the perception that he is the best batsman in the team. If he carries on like this, it won't be long before the PCB is forced into axing him just like the PCB finally stopped picking Mohd Amir on reputation in 2018.

 

[Bouncer]

This is because when they first arrive they got nothing to lose. After that, when they settle in they worry about only one thing, how to save your place.
They lack personality. Everyone is a selfish cricketer and is only fighting for his place in the team.
They do not pursue excellence.

You have described last 25 years of Pak cricket in one post. Kudos.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

One reason Babar got to the top of the world is because he is committed, works hard and is obsessed with batting.

He was known about in Pakistan for years before his debut. It never went to his head. He continued the hard work throughout.

I doubt he would suddenly become complacent. I’m guessing he may be experiencing some mental struggles after a tough year.

But over the long term as they say - “form is temporary and class is permanent”.

I would be shocked if Babar isn’t back with a bang in 2024.

There is nothing wrong with Babar.

Watch him hit those 3rd string bowlers out of the park in NZ and be hailed magical again.

 

[Marooned]

Two types of batsmen who have played a decent number of games. Guys who perform early on and fall off. And ones who perform early on and stay performing.

It is very rare particularly for a batsman to fail initially (even 5-10 games) at the beginning and still go onto be a good player. Probably because the bad record weighs on their minds too.

Which is why I don’t like what we are doing with Saim and Haris. It’s not ok to accumulate bad early on careers. I can’t think of a successful pak batsman that’s done that. Which is why we should be careful how we play them and give them maximum amount of chance to succeed.

Bad early career is a very very valid point. For both batsmen and bowlers.

 

[BouncerGuy]

As far as I can say, it is the limelight and stardom that ruin the players. Players need to stay humble till the very last day of their careers. I guess everybody has heard this line "pride hath a fall". They lose the interest soon after they had all the fame and focus less on their cricket.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

As far as I can say, it is the limelight and stardom that ruin the players. Players need to stay humble till the very last day of their careers. I guess everybody has heard this line "pride hath a fall". They lose the interest soon after they had all the fame and focus less on their cricket.

The way Umar Akmal ruined his career and the way Shadab Khan, Shahnawaz Dahani, Imam ul Haq are ruining their ones now are just prime examples of it.

Especially the case of Imam ul Haq who used to play with great concentration early on in his career but after getting the fame and stardom it appears he has forgotten how to play the cricket.

 

[Major]

Faheem Ashraf was termed as the 'next Ben Stokes' in cricket and Asif ali was lauded as the 'next great finisher' for Pakistan with his ability to hit more than 150 sixes in net practice. I don't know whether evil eye engulfed them or they set their own demise and disappeared from the action scene.

Faheem ashraf was always limited and got selected way too early and wasnt allowed to develop.

Inzi liked him and during some practice game against some minnow, where the houndary was about 35-40 meter from one side he scored runs.

Everyone went gaga over him and he was in the pakistani team.

Asif Ali everyone knew he was limited player, he was shahid afridi but on steroids

 

[Swashbuckler]

For every Umar Akmal, Ahmed Shehzad etc. you also had YK, Misbah, Azhar Ali, now Rizwan, players who put their heads down, continued to improve and achieved their full potential. You'd be hard pressed to find cricketers from other countries who have maximized their potential the way MisYou, Azhar Ali have done, and I am sure Rizwan will join their ranks by the end of his career.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

For every Umar Akmal, Ahmed Shehzad etc. you also had YK, Misbah, Azhar Ali, now Rizwan, players who put their heads down, continued to improve and achieved their full potential. You'd be hard pressed to find cricketers from other countries who have maximized their potential the way MisYou, Azhar Ali have done, and I am sure Rizwan will join their ranks by the end of his career.

Yep the competition among players allow the hard worker ones to eclipse the talented ones once they get slack.

 

[Concerned]

Pakistan simply need to play stronger opposition. Majority of the false hope is created by consistently playing weak oppositions.

 

[JAV12341]

Letting early success get to their head and thinking they’ve made it and main one is lack of work ethic once they get selected.

That's why a lot of youngsters falter just like Haider Ali who is a prime example of lack of work ethic who just faded away at a mere age of 23 he paid more importance to smoking Shisha and going to fancy restaurants in his stint in England.

 

[sweep_shot]

I noticed fans and media hype up a player (Umar Akmal, Haider Ali, Babar Azam, Shaheen etc.). It puts pressure on the player. When the player eventually loses form, very few back them. It ruins his confidence further.

A cruel circle.

 

[FearlessRoar]

I noticed fans and media hype up a player (Umar Akmal, Haider Ali, Babar Azam, Shaheen etc.). It puts pressure on the player. When the player eventually loses form, very few back them. It ruins his confidence further.

A cruel circle.

Yes, maybe they feel more responsibility on their shoulders and the graph of their career decline

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Letting early success get to their head and thinking they’ve made it and main one is lack of work ethic once they get selected.

That's why a lot of youngsters falter just like Haider Ali who is a prime example of lack of work ethic who just faded away at a mere age of 23 he paid more importance to smoking Shisha and going to fancy restaurants in his stint in England.

I noticed fans and media hype up a player (Umar Akmal, Haider Ali, Babar Azam, Shaheen etc.). It puts pressure on the player. When the player eventually loses form, very few back them. It ruins his confidence further.

A cruel circle.

Yep the media hype and poor work ethics are a reason but a bigger issue with these players is their impatient approach and unhinged mentality. Instead of spending more time on crease and finding a way out. These players mostly end up throwing their wickets cheaply.

Glenn Maxwell was diagnosed with the same problem but the Australian consultants and psychologists had sessions with him and sorted his mental midgetity. We also need to do the same with our players.

 

[Shadow_muaythai]

I honestly believe that it comes down to having a weak mind set, a lack of proper management and the "emotional" nature of the players coming into the team. I think the prospects break into the international scene with excitement and eagerness to do well, but after training and getting an earful from everyone around them, they seem to lose the passion and excitement that they once had. Pakistan has always done better when they have a professional outfit, focusing on discipline.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

I honestly believe that it comes down to having a weak mind set, a lack of proper management and the "emotional" nature of the players coming into the team. I think the prospects break into the international scene with excitement and eagerness to do well, but after training and getting an earful from everyone around them, they seem to lose the passion and excitement that they once had. Pakistan has always done better when they have a professional outfit, focusing on discipline.

May be the atmosphere of dressing room is so toxic that even ruins the best ones. Shoaib Akhtar once alluded at that,don't know whether this thing is still relevant or not.

 

[Rana]

There is nothing wrong with Babar.

Watch him hit those 3rd string bowlers out of the park in NZ and be hailed magical again.

Yeah Babar worked exceptionally hard to reach the top of the world to score easy runs against below par bowling.

 

[Rana]

One reason Babar got to the top of the world is because he is committed, works hard and is obsessed with batting.

B string attack world?

 

[Cricket Warrior]

lack of competition allows them to become relaxed after a few performances, feeling that nobody can replace them now.

This attitude is bascially letting them down

 

[jnaveen1980]

Stagnation is one thing. Babar Azam was not a fast runner between wickets 5 years back. He is still the same. Conscious effort to get better in all facets of cricket is missing. Teams start working on your weaknesses. You have to do something to counter that. Then they come back with another solution. You have to react to that. Younis Khan definitely is a product of hardwork. May not have hade the most natural sense of timing which Inzi had. But he made the most of what he had. Rahul Dravid shared some tips in early stages of his career. He improved over a period and had a solid career.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Stagnation is one thing. Babar Azam was not a fast runner between wickets 5 years back. He is still the same. Conscious effort to get better in all facets of cricket is missing. Teams start working on your weaknesses. You have to do something to counter that. Then they come back with another solution. You have to react to that. Younis Khan definitely is a product of hardwork. May not have hade the most natural sense of timing which Inzi had. But he made the most of what he had. Rahul Dravid shared some tips in early stages of his career. He improved over a period and had a solid career.

Yep Younis just get refined as a player over time only Rizwan is a player in Pak side at the moment that constantly is worried about improving his game.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Azam Khan and Haris Rauf careers RIP (2018-2024)

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Just saw the Haider Ali's vital innings against KK yesterday. The lad played well, I think he has just lost belief in his own abilities, looked so much compact some years ago but then went into a self created shell... A perfect example of talent ruined.

 

[PakLFC]

The players attitude is not correct. There technique is exposed by international bowlers repeatedly combined with the constant lack of fitness and commitment to improve. Too early in their careers they start thinking of themselves as a Sachin.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Who else but Mohammad Amir. He was flying like an eagle when he started but the money glitter got him bad. Was never the same after he made his comeback.

 

[mominsaigol]

Recently their was a similar thread discussing why PCB is poor at identifying talent and not selecting them earlier into their career.

But what about players who showed promise but failed to live up to the mark?

1) Fakhar Zaman: Fakhar when onsong is a beast of a batter and I remember 2016 when fans were begging for this lad to be selected into the team.

However it's safe to say fakhar hasn't really lives up to his potential as on most days he's a tail ender?

2) Sohaib maqsood: Scored 2 50's against steyn and morkel on debut back to back, but by 2015 and onwards he was basically a washed up cricketer.

3) Shehzad/ Akmal: Shehzad scored a 100 on debut and umar akmal has gone down in history as the biggest wasted potential in cricket. Shehzad and akmal were once seen as next generation superstars?

4) Sharjeel/Nasir jamshed: they fixed later on but they was also pretty poor against spin and wasn't the ultimate aggressive opener, Jamshed scored 2 100's against India and was considered to be our next opener but by 2015 he couldn't even get a double digit score? Sharjeel was also found out against spin?

I can go on and on, but you get the point.

Now some people will say nepotism aka allowing others to get ahead and not supporting these players at their ideal batting position in the case of fakhar, but shehzad, nasir jamshed etc these players got everything they wanted when it comes to batting in their favourite positions, getting full support from seniors and management, getting world class coaching and even getting sponsored in leagues, I remember how good shehzad was in BPL?

So what's the reason that so many of our players who did get selected, who fans wanted to be selected, players who got their favourite positions to bat in, why did they fizzle out? Its a question I have always asked and I don't know the answer to.

 

[jnaveen1980]

I can make a generic comment not specific about Pak players. All players when they are new are unknown quantities. So it takes a while for teams to figure out their weaknesses. Once they start exploiting your weaknesses, your job is to fix those issues. Then as you play along you might pick some bad habits and you will develop new weaknesses. Then they start using it against you. Then you go back and fix them. There has to be consistent growth in the early part of your career. It applies to all players including generational talents. When that doesn't happen they gradually vanish from the scene. Kambli and Tendulkar are two of the greatest examples. Both were considered generational talents. Both shared a partnership of 664 at school level. Best friends at school level. One fizzled out. One had a legendary career. The difference is hard work.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Due to their own misfocus on their career... once they get into the team they take things lightly, don't care about their fitness so performance goes down because of that and ultimately they get dropped from the team.

 

[shaz619]

Because they all start to think they are the rated r soooooooper star

 

[shaz619]

Due to their own misfocus on their career... once they get into the team they take things lightly, don't care about their fitness so performance goes down because of that and ultimately they get dropped from the team.

Biryani Culture is a real thing

 

[160KPH]

Many of them are not as great as they seem at first. A lot of players have technical deficiencies that don’t get exposed until they begin playing international cricket. Sometimes they don’t get exposed at all playing on the low and slow pitches in Pakistan and the UAE, and then their career inevitably falls down a bit after they play in SENA.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Because they are busy picking those players who are going to retire soon.

You never know shoaib malik might also get a call.