What's new

Why are people more influenced by a T20I than the Shaheens Unofficial Test?

Junaids

Senior T20I Player
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Runs
17,956
Post of the Week
11
I am reaching the point at which I don't understand how people think. Which is quite a problem, because I'm a psychiatrist!

Yesterday, 21 December 2020, Pakistan played two matches.

First, The Shaheens beat New Zealand A by 89 runs in an Unofficial Test.

Then New Zealand beat Pakistan in a T20i, having recalled all their top players.

In the T20, Pakistan lost because a couple of kids slogged too soon in a slogathon format.

But in the Unofficial Test:

Rohail Nazir scored 21 and 100, while:
Shan Masood scored 8 and 14
Abid Ali scored 7 and 1
Fawad Alam scored 3 and 139
Azhar Ali scored 58 and 29.

Meanwhile with the ball:

Amad Butt was consistent: figures of 3-22 and 3-38, while.....
Sohail Khan took 0-51 and 1-27
Mohammad Abbas took 4-40 and 1-34
Naseem Shah took 0-55 and 3-44
Yasir Shah took 3-54 and 2-55

I don't understand why people are homing in on a defeat in a Mickey Mouse format when two young emerging cricketers have just proven that they can outperform their more senior colleagues.
 
No idea. Very few people were following the Shaheens thread from what I could see, yet everyone’s ready to pile onto Abdullah and Haider for T20 knocks where low scores are the par.

Rohail is probably going to get a Test debut, and people will have no idea why. With Haris, Babar, and Imam out of the picture, I don’t see anyone else getting the callup.

Amad Butt might get a call depending on the team combo (I would personally back him). Yasir had decent performances. Not sure I’d drop him.
 
Exactly, Shaheens game is way more important and I was paying close attention to that rather than the T20 rubbish
 
Because T20 one was an International game between two International sides with a series on line.

The other one was an unofficial practice game. Understand the difference?
 
Because T20 one was an International game between two International sides with a series on line.

The other one was an unofficial practice game. Understand the difference?
T20 is a useless forrmat hough, so it's just funny seeing the overreactions.
 
Its because when the real test matches start it will be the same if not worse..i actually thought for us to win one game in whole series would be in 2020s even though i forecasted a 3 0 and 2 0 defeat from Day1
 
Fair point. I was closely following the game. I was a bit disappointed to see Amad fail with the bat as he doesnt make the cut to the test team as a bowler alone.

I would have played Husnain is the A team instead of Sohail Khan.

The A tours are the way to go.
 
It’s a practise match against the A team anything other than a 2-0 defeat in the test series would be a decent achievement.
 
Shaheen's team victory was good as some youngsters did perform well but, we have to realize there are 3 international formats now and there should atleast be a road map and strategy for all of them. I hope test team can put up a better fight than last year when they were here.
 
Because T20 one was an International game between two International sides with a series on line.

The other one was an unofficial practice game. Understand the difference?

Yes.

It's like the difference between Liverpool Ladies v Arsenal Ladies in an official match at the same time that Brazil plays France in a warm-up match one week before the men's World Cup starts, with both teams having players playing for a place in the team for the real thing next week.

So you are saying that some people prioritise the Mickey Mouse match because it's "official".
 
Yes.

It's like the difference between Liverpool Ladies v Arsenal Ladies in an official match at the same time that Brazil plays France in a warm-up match one week before the men's World Cup starts, with both teams having players playing for a place in the team for the real thing next week.

So you are saying that some people prioritise the Mickey Mouse match because it's "official".
When the ‘real thing’ starts, it will get the same attention.

Any format of cricket is real cricket because each of the three formats require unique skills.
 
When the ‘real thing’ starts, it will get the same attention.

Any format of cricket is real cricket because each of the three formats require unique skills.

The thing is, you can be a failed cricketer like Mohammad Hafeez or Martin Guptill, and still perform well in shorter white-ball formats in which slogging can work.

So it becomes obvious that the formats are not equal.

To me, Rohail Nazir scoring runs against Matt Henry in NZ with a slip cordon and a red ball is just priceless. Whereas Hafeez's 99 was just a big blob of nothing.
 
The thing is, you can be a failed cricketer like Mohammad Hafeez or Martin Guptill, and still perform well in shorter white-ball formats in which slogging can work.

So it becomes obvious that the formats are not equal.

To me, Rohail Nazir scoring runs against Matt Henry in NZ with a slip cordon and a red ball is just priceless. Whereas Hafeez's 99 was just a big blob of nothing.

TBH Rohail scored only when NZ A were a man down and Henry is an awful long format bowler who still got a 6-fer

Does this NZ-A comprise of any fringe players? I checked their stats and they didnt look impressive
 
The thing is, you can be a failed cricketer like Mohammad Hafeez or Martin Guptill, and still perform well in shorter white-ball formats in which slogging can work.

So it becomes obvious that the formats are not equal.

To me, Rohail Nazir scoring runs against Matt Henry in NZ with a slip cordon and a red ball is just priceless. Whereas Hafeez's 99 was just a big blob of nothing.

Why are you so jealous of T20 format and players who perform in it ? T20 requires different skillset compared to Tests but it's not worthless. Not all Test Specialists can play T20 either infact most suck at it.
 
Being a Fawad fan I was following the Shaheen match more, but in terms of t20 I was hoping from some big things from 2 players I love to watch in Shafique and Khushdil both of which unfortunately didn’t fire and I hope get a shot in the dead rubber game on Tuesday.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Fair point. I was closely following the game. I was a bit disappointed to see Amad fail with the bat as he doesnt make the cut to the test team as a bowler alone.

I would have played Husnain is the A team instead of Sohail Khan.

The A tours are the way to go.

Yep in the second innings I was hoping he’d let it fly with the bat and go for some meaty blows.
 
Shaheen's team victory was good as some youngsters did perform well but, we have to realize there are 3 international formats now and there should atleast be a road map and strategy for all of them. I hope test team can put up a better fight than last year when they were here.

It was pretty terrible imo. Individual performances got us through by the very skin of our teeth. If Fawad wasn't such a great FC basher and Rohail didn't play one of the best innings of his life we'd have lost badly.
 
It was pretty terrible imo. Individual performances got us through by the very skin of our teeth. If Fawad wasn't such a great FC basher and Rohail didn't play one of the best innings of his life we'd have lost badly.

Well, for starters, Rohail has played several innings like this in the past. Let’s not sell him short, especially if Imran Butt is about to get a Test debut after failing against the same second string NZ A attack that Rohail scored a 100 against, while Haris Sohail is likely to play the Tests despite no match practice in two months, chronic fitness issues, and a record of bad performances on bouncy tracks.
 
Because there's a serious danger of selections based on A/warmup games going horribly wrong. I think fans remember the selection of Imran Khan last year for the tests based on his performance in the warm-up and we all saw how that ended even if the OP has forgotten. Amad Butt could possibly be Imran khan on this occasion.
 
Realities of today.

Tamasha cricket is watched and given much more importance.

Can we change that? Nope. TAMASHA and casual cricket will remain the top priority for the masses.

The only time t20s matter are during the World T20.
 
Because there's a serious danger of selections based on A/warmup games going horribly wrong. I think fans remember the selection of Imran Khan last year for the tests based on his performance in the warm-up and we all saw how that ended even if the OP has forgotten. Amad Butt could possibly be Imran khan on this occasion.

If you seen his bowling in QeA he was bowling similar lines and length there as well, finding the edge of that bat. This wasn't an all terrible NZ-A team.
 
Rohail Nazir scored 21 and 100, while:
Shan Masood scored 8 and 14
Abid Ali scored 7 and 1
Fawad Alam scored 3 and 139
Azhar Ali scored 58 and 29.

We had this discussion earlier as well, and as I said the last time also, your best performer was a senior in Fawad Alam. Rohail batted brilliantly and he's definitely one for the future - Heck he may be Test ready even right now but in that squad Fawad is your best batsmen, by a fair stretch.

As for why people don't pay attention to FC cricket, well......short attention spans maybe??
 
End of the day Shaheens is our A side and the match doesn’t get counted for official tests or WTC. Pakistan defeated Australia A before test matches last year but we only remember the pasting we got in the 2 test matches played.
 
I was following the shaheens very closely due to rohail ammad butt and imran.even thou i dont think rohail has a chsnce of playing the first test.the other 2 have more of a chance i believe
 
Very impressed with Shaheens win but important to keep perspective. International cricket is a different cookie.

Having said that important also to separate the two formats and judge them independently. Lots of T20 fans out there looking for a quick thrill. Real fans of test cricket understand the value of patience and holding your judgement. Only thing I am against is muddling the two formats and judging players/coaches in one format based on performance in the other.
 
Last edited:
Very impressed with Shaheens win but important to keep perspective. International cricket is a different cookie.

Having said that important also to separate the two formats and judge them independently. Lots of T20 fans out there looking for a quick thrill. Real fans of test cricket understand the value of patience and holding your judgement. Only thing I am against is muddling the two formats and judging players/coaches in one format based on performance in the other.

it's certainly a different kettle of fish i will agree, but you can't help but not keep your eyes off of it and also it gives you a glimpse of a player's individual performance going into the proper series.
 
Back
Top