"PLEASE READ THE WHOLE POST"
I AM NOT ASKING TO KEEP MALIK AND HAFEEZ IN THE TEAM. BUT WHEN YOU HAVE DECIDED TO PLAY BOTH, then why don't you drop Imad and bring in Haris
Hafeez, Malik and Haris can easily bowl 10, and you get an extra batsman, Haris.
Above all, Hafeez , Malik and Haris can attest spin the ball.
This team looks lot better
Fakhar
Azhar/ Imam/ Sahibzada
Babar
Haris
Hafeez
Malik
Sarfraz * +(floater, comes in early if wickets fall.)
This gives you depth in the batting.
Simple equation:
HARIS IS MUCH BETTER BATSMAN THAN IMAD.
HAFEEZ IS MUCH BETTER SPINNER THAN IMAD, ABOVE ALL IS AN OFFIE.
I don't understand why people don't see it; Imad is an absolute necessity to this team because of a multitude of reasons;
1) While he certainly is not up there with the best finishers in the world, he is certainly a massive upgrade over the likes we've had in the recent past, for example - Anwar Ali, Bilawal Bhatti, Aamer Yamin, Saad Nasim and co.
It is these few runs he makes at the end of the order taking a few deliveries that really make the difference between the two sides and add pressure onto the the other team.
2) His bowling is an absolute necessity and all Non-Asian sides will have an extremely hard time playing him, as they have thus far. I can't believe how most fans have ignored his contributions in the CT win, especially in the South African game where he got AB who averages IIRC a 100 against us.
It is not HIS fault that he is usually underutilized and therefore, ends up with fewer wickets and high bowling averages. Even in the last game, he was given only 2 overs and that too not until the 40th over.
However, your demand of having Harris Sohail in the squad is absolutely valid and therefore, I think Mohammad Hafeez should make way for Harris because:
1) Harris Sohail, despite being a very good hitter compared to most of our batsmen, is NOT a finisher. And it would make absolutely ZERO sense for Harris Sohail to come in for Imad, who bats at 7/8. Babar has always batted in the middle-order and that is where the management can make best use of him.
Not only will a probably failure at 7/8 will lead to him being dropped and being labelled as a "Test" specialist but also the fact that PCT will have to persist with Hafeez forever.
2) Mohammad Hafeez, despite being on the back of a very good CT '17 Final performance is STILL an extremely average, 38 year old batsman and a liability to the team. He has bought himself some time with that innings but it is only a matter of time before he will be back to his usual
best and he is already showing signs of it with his low scores in the first two ODI's vs Sri Lanka.
And not to mention it is only a matter of time before Hafeez gets called for chucking and gets banned AGAIN, only to play as a specialist "batsman".
Imad, Malik, Harris and Shadab are all absolute fundamentals to this team and need to be in the XI. Maybe Imad and Fahim Ashraf can replace each other for different kinds of pitches but no way in hell should any of these guys make way for Hafeez.
