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Why did Fakhar Zaman play so defensively?

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sahiwal_punjabi_786

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In CT we started fearlessly hitting boundaries and getting a good start. Fakhar was in defensive mode - why was he not playing his natural game?

Also have no idea why Babar did not ask him if the ball might have touched his gloves - really poor thinking and lacking smartness
 
Teams have figured him out, keep it tight, don’t give him wide balls to free his arms, and with the right field set, fakhar will now have to change his game!
 
Pretty simple. ******** himself and getting under pressure of a Pak India match. Against another opposition he would have been more relaxed.
 
Why did he not review when the ball had touched his glove same thing happened in previous match.
Being the best batsman in the team he should always take that chance.
 
Just not the great batsman Pak fans think he is. Cashed on a no ball in CT Final and bashed Zimbabwe for more than half of his runs. End of honeymoon.
 
Whatever his method he was catching up. Just needed to trust himself with the DRS.
 
He needs to chill and bat out the first 10 overs. Even in CT final he cut loose AFTER his 50.

But taking singles help. We have been very poor in rotating the strike.
 
He did the right thing by staying on the crease until the arrival of spinners. Unfortunately he slipped just when he was looking to explode.
 
Most of his innings he gets a bit of luck to stay in at the beginning, and then carries on. Poor starter really.
 
He is not that good to begin with.They did not give him any loose ball.They did not give him the chance to open his arms.He is technically very weak.Better team won't let him score many runs.
 
Being good at putting away bad balls, which Fakhar Zaman is, works as long as you get served plenty of bad balls. This is the reason Pakistani batsmen traditionally struggle against Australia and South African bowlers, while score big against minnows - because once the bad balls are no longer there in abundance then you can strangle Pakistani batsmen as they just can't score runs. Period.
 
He is running out of beginner's luck. Had Bumrah not overstepped, he may not even be in the team today. His honeymoon period is over and now is his test of his character - people expect him to deliver but he is bolting under pressure.

He needs to get his act together and find a way to score runs soon, or he will be history soon.
 
sahiwal_punjabi_786 said:
In CT we started fearlessly hitting boundaries and getting a good start. Fakhar was in defensive mode - why was he not playing his natural game?

Also have no idea why Babar did not ask him if the ball might have touched his gloves - really poor thinking and lacking smartness
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If you have got a zero in the last 2 games, you want to play defensively and score a few runs before getting aggressive.
 
He looks like someone who has the weight of the world on his shoulders. I think he did everything right today barring the drs
 
SOME perspective is required. He has been given out wrongly twice. India bowled really tight and all Pak batsmen struggled early on. Fakharplayed exactly as he was told to bat. And hit some good shots before he got unlucky and slipped.
 
ipl_fan said:
Just not the great batsman Pak fans think he is. Cashed on a no ball in CT Final and bashed Zimbabwe for more than half of his runs. End of honeymoon.
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He averaged 50 in New Zealand when our other batsmen were sitting ducks against Boult and Southee.

Fakhar has struggled to adjust to slower UAE wickets where he averages 22 from 9 matches. India have done well in both matches to restrict his scoring areas and bowl to a plan. But even today he was starting to play more freely after a slow start before a terrible decision not to review the LBW.

It's true many Pakistani batsmen have faded away after impressive starts to their career once opponents do their homework against them, but it's premature to write Fakhar off.
 
Teams are figuring out his weaknesses. [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] has rightly pointed out that now begins test of his character.

Remember Nasir Jamshed ? He had a brilliant purple patch aswell and than fell apart.



Fakhar’s weaknesses :


1. Quick short pitched bowling. (Lots of top edges on hook and pull shots in CT where he was lucky to survive)


2. Bowl him fast medium stuff 135 to 143 kph on good length on middle and leg or outside leg going with the angle away from off stump and he would struggle to not only score boundaries but also fail to rotate strike. (Exploited by both Bumrah & Kumar today)


Note : Minnows or teams ranked below 5 wrt bowling have medium or medium fast bowlers who do not hurry on to you hence fakhar doesn’t get tangled against them.



3. His technique against skin relies mostly on crossed bat shots which are risky options and his bat comes at at angle rather than straight even when defending so he is likely to nick or get lbw. (Would be exploited by quality spinners like Mujeeb, Rashid, Jadega, Ashwin, Mehdi, Chahal, Kuldeep, Lyon, Shakib etc.




Lots of work needed.
 
I just think Pakistani opening batsmen need to look to rotate the strike. They just seem to want to get runs only through fours and sixes. Although Sarfaraz and Malik steadied things in the middle I got that feeling with them too.
 
Things balancing out, no way is he a player who deserves to average 70 in ODI cricket, he is going through a bad patch like every other batsman. Pakistanis have crazy expectations from him, he is quite good however.
 
Technique wise he isn't very efficient. He's the kind of guy that teams can restrict by just bowling in the right areas. He's lucky he's been playing against weak opposition in the past year otherwise who knows if he would even be in the team right now.

Nonetheless, I hope he comes out of his slump he does have the aggressive mindset we need at the top. He needs to learn how to settle in first and then go for big shots.

AND he needs to prevent fame and hype from getting to his head. I'm afraid this is a factor in both his and Hassan's dip in form
 
At best, I see him as a slightly upgraded version of Imran Nazir. Sharjeel is still the best opener Pakistan have, some of the shots he played reminded me Jayasurya and Hayden.
 
BlackShadow said:
At best, I see him as a slightly upgraded version of Imran Nazir. Sharjeel is still the best opener Pakistan have, some of the shots he played reminded me Jayasurya and Hayden.
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Somehow the best player of a losing team never is in the eleven..
 
Ooh FZ please come to the party IF we reach the final and shut these so called experts.

Please FZ its time to stand up!
 
Simply put, he needs to learn how to rotate strike when the boundaries aren't coming and be innovative when quicks are bowling tight line and lengths to him... oh and realize whether he has gloved the ball when given out LBW.
 
To be fair to him he’s looking a bit out of touch but he showed character today and started to middle the ball. I honestly think if he never got unlucky he would have scored some good runs. He was starting to look dangerous.
 
Pete Rose said:
Whatever his method he was catching up. Just needed to trust himself with the DRS.
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This.
Didn't everybody ask him to take his time as he had lost it last two games!!
He was just about to start taking it to the spinners, but his lack of use of drs has worried me
 
He played well considering excellent bowling and orders he received to keep himself in control. Nudging for 1s is not his game but yes he needs to work on that aspect. He slipped and for second time given out wrong. I know I am repeating myself but people are so unforgiving even for accidents and bad umpiring decisions.
 
Abdullah said:
This.
Didn't everybody ask him to take his time as he had lost it last two games!!
He was just about to start taking it to the spinners, but his lack of use of drs has worried me
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I think he is short of confidence, so he almost expects that he will not succeed. Maybe that’s why he is not being more positive
 
He was batting himself into form, which is acceptable after 2 ducks. As [MENTION=107807]Pete Rose[/MENTION] said, he was doing alright before he decided not to review
 
When you're the only aggressive player in the top order there's a lot of pressure on your shoulders and he probably knows he can't afford to give his wicket away or the run rate will totally dry up as he's capable of changing gears very quickly. Sigh....how we could do with a Sharjeel at the other end...tears!
 
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Asif khan said:
When you're the only aggressive player in the top order there's a lot of pressure on your shoulders and he probably knows he can't afford to give his wicket away or the run rate will totally dry up as he's capable of changing gears very quickly. Sigh....how we could do with a Sharjeel at the other end...tears!
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Every team has 4-5 hard hitting batsmen and 2 steady batsmen who can lift their strike rates to 100 plus at the end. We are still playing too many accumulators in the ODI and T-20 team which is unacceptable.
 
Savak said:
Every team has 4-5 hard hitting batsmen and 2 steady batsmen who can lift their strike rates to 100 plus at the end. We are still playing too many accumulators in the ODI and T-20 team which is unacceptable.
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Agreed...really painful to watch.
 
I'm just glad that I made a decision many years ago not to take Pakistan cricket team so seriously that it hurts -- my strategy as a fan is simple, always expect the worst when Pakistan play and anything else is bonus, accept it and enjoy it because such moments will be few and far in between...
 
Was out of form trying to play himself in coupled with some tight indian bowling.
 
babajee said:
It's just UAE pitches.
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This! People dissecting his technique and what not :))) The guy averaged 50 in NZ against one of the best seam attacks. He has terrific performances in England. I'm sure he'll come good in SA too. Its just that he is struggling to adjust to the sluggish pitches of UAE.

All the talk of teams 'figuring him out' are rubbish.
 
Adil_94 said:
Was out of form trying to play himself in coupled with some tight indian bowling.
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Agreed. Also, he needs to be smarter with the DRS. Having played so many deliveries, and now feeling somewhat settled on the crease, he should've opted for the review even if he wasn't sure. With the retention rule for the DRS, we should be more confident in using reviews.
 
Snowflake said:
This! People dissecting his technique and what not :))) The guy averaged 50 in NZ against one of the best seam attacks. He has terrific performances in England. I'm sure he'll come good in SA too. Its just that he is struggling to adjust to the sluggish pitches of UAE.

All the talk of teams 'figuring him out' are rubbish.
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Struggling to adjust to the sluggish UAE pitches is a lame excuse now. India has not played in the UAE for 12 years but have had no problems in replicating their batting form in these conditions which is shameful considering Pakistan has been playing in the UAE all the time for the last 10 years.
 
Savak said:
Struggling to adjust to the sluggish UAE pitches is a lame excuse now. India has not played in the UAE for 12 years but have had no problems in replicating their batting form in these conditions which is shameful considering Pakistan has been playing in the UAE all the time for the last 10 years.
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But where did I say he's as good or better than the Indian batters? They are a class apart and quick adjustment to the pitches is a skill that they posses and we do not.

I'm not defending Fakhar, I'm just saying that it has got nothing to do with his technique but the fact that he's the kind of batsman who likes the ball to come on to the bat. He's a free-flowing kind of batsman and because of that, is struggling in the UAE where the ball stop on you. It's a flaw in his game, yes, but nothing wrong in his technique.
 
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Snowflake said:
But where did I say he's as good or better than the Indian batters? They are a class apart and quick adjustment to the pitches is a skill that they posses and we do not.

I'm not defending Fakhar, I'm just saying that it has got nothing to do with his technique but the fact that he's the kind of batsman who likes the ball to come on to the bat. He's a free-flowing kind of batsman and because of that, is struggling in the UAE where the ball stop on you. It's a flaw in his game, yes, but nothing wrong in his technique.
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Its not just Fakhar but the entire batting line up to be honest. Lol, as if the Indians don't like the ball to come on to the bat. You give them a pitch with pace, bounce they will murder you.
 
Savak said:
Its not just Fakhar but the entire batting line up to be honest. Lol, as if the Indians don't like the ball to come on to the bat. You give them a pitch with pace, bounce they will murder you.
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I agree, it's the case with the entire lineup. No wonder we've got such a poor record in ODIs in the UAE. Also, I probably should've phrased it differently. Yes, all batsmen like the ball to come on to the bat, but not all can adjust when it's not the case. Indians are terrific at adapting, whereas we are not.
 
Seems a bit out of form but was starting to score more freely prior to getting out by the LBW decision. What puzzled me is how did he not know he got some bat on it, more importantly your our most important batsman should have went for the review, not saying it would change the result of the match but would have made things more interesting
 
He played defensively because the Indian bowlers bowled good lines. Fakhar seems to lack the ability to hit big down the ground in a natural fashion. If he had a good straight drive he could have simply gotten on the front foot and hit the ball back forcing bowlers to adjust their line. Fakhar can play the straight drive when the ball is full enough but sometimes you need to hit straight through the line. Indian bowlers just cramped him and kept bowling straight.
 
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At toss, Sarfraz clearly said that the management have asked Fakhar to stay on wicket and take his time before going big.

He was doing exactly what he was asked for.
 
We should accept he isn't an elite opener. He's still capable of getting us off to good starts though.
 
Abdullah said:
This.
Didn't everybody ask him to take his time as he had lost it last two games!!
He was just about to start taking it to the spinners, but his lack of use of drs has worried me
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I have a feeling he will get a complete dress down from the coach & captain & end up doing exactly the opposite - end up taking a review in a clear-cut case & wasting it! You have to have a brain to go for a review or not - nobody can teach you that!

On the other hand he definitely is in a lot of pressure which is affecting his batting. Trying too hard to not give his wicket away which is affecting his running between the wickets. Somebody should tell him to relax & enjoy his game!
 
I think this new Fakhar game plan is the result of bad habits developed during the Zim series in which he played defensively early on but made up for it later.

He just needs to stop worry about getting out and go after their bowling, take advantage of the space over the fielders' head in first 10 overs, its just a matter of clearing the infield...
 
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