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Why is Ahmed Shehzad superb in domestic cricket but (relatively) a failure in international cricket?

A

Abdullah719

T20I Captain
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Apr 16, 2013
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He is always scoring in domestic cricket. Scored in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. Scored in National T20 Cup. Started One Day Cup with 162* in a chase of 318. Has scored a lot of runs in PSL.

When he gets to the Pakistan team, however, it's a completely different story.

Is he just a domestic bully who we need to move on from? Rumours are that he will be picked in the T20I squad for the NZ series so he's clearly on the selectors' radar.
 
(Relatively) a failure ? He's a complete failure. Averaging 18 this year at a S/R of 56 in 7 ODIs
 
He simply just doesn't have the game against good bowlers in international cricket, he's capable of rectifying his problems but so far we haven't seen anything.
 
He's got the ability to be the opener pakistan, the problem is that he just doesn't seemed to be bothered about it. He seems to love taking his time and playing unorthodox shots. He's not the opener pakistan need right now. If he can change his ways and work hard to nullify his weakness then he could get back into the team but with many young openers coming through it seems Shehzad's days maybe numbered
 
He is the kind of guy who needs to start on 20* for him to play his natural game. Before he actually gets to 20 he is all at sea and confused as to how to go about his innings
 
Rana said:
He is the kind of guy who needs to start on 20* for him to play his natural game. Before he actually gets to 20 he is all at sea and confused as to how to go about his innings
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Precisely, this is why his game is more suited to the Test format.
 
He has a mental issue.

Talent wise he is right up there with the world class players.

I dont think if he will ever come back to be the same as he was before he got hit in the head by a bouncer against NZ in a test match.
 
LOL Because our domestic cricket is a failure. No wonder there are many hacks and trundlers performing.

Ahmed Shezad has been a failure at the INT level for a good 8 years now.

Hope he doesnt come back.
 
j_kazmi said:
It’s becuase domestic cricket is harder than international cricket:butt
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GroundedDishonestAsianelephant.gif
 
Arham_PakFan said:
There is some sort of mental barrier that Shehzad faces in international cricket.
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Yes, the barrier is proper fielders and bowlers. He doesn't have technique or skill to find gaps. Hence he's a failure but don't worry he will be there in the T20 squad. We will never fully get rid of this guy....
 
Railu Katta said:
Yes, the barrier is proper fielders and bowlers. He doesn't have technique or skill to find gaps. Hence he's a failure but don't worry he will be there in the T20 squad. We will never fully get rid of this guy....
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I forgot to add that he’s also really selfish and has lost us more than a couple of games with his slow batting.He isn’t good enough against quality bowling attacks.
 
His weakness are exposed in international cricket. He has serious work to do to be successful in international cricket.
 
Why is [Sadaf Hussain] superb in domestic cricket but (definitely) [but never given a chance for] international cricket?
 
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Shezad game against pace is very weak, after couple of hits, his foot work has further deteriorate against pace. Whenever he has scored, he has mainly scored off of spinners...

There are hardly any pace bowlers in Pakistani domestic circuit, on top of that wickets have no consistency, they are either completely phatta with no bounce or pace, or wet and green that with 3/4 scores of below 150 in FC match...People don't know how to make a wicket it seams... Unfortunately domestic is not a bench mark, his technique against pace gets exposed badly at international level.
 
yasir said:
Shezad game against pace is very weak, after couple of hits, his foot work has further deteriorate against pace. Whenever he has scored, he has mainly scored off of spinners...

There are hardly any pace bowlers in Pakistani domestic circuit, on top of that wickets have no consistency, they are either completely phatta with no bounce or pace, or wet and green that with 3/4 scores of below 150 in FC match...People don't know how to make a wicket it seams... Unfortunately domestic is not a bench mark, his technique against pace gets exposed badly at international level.
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He isnt that good against spin as well.
 
because domestic cricket, does not offer the kind of international fielding standards whereby all runs are choked for players like Shehzad leading to soft dismissals.
 
In LOI, the problem I see with him is that he'll time the ball well and look great doing it but it often goes right at the fielders over and over again. I'd think in domestic, he is able to do enough to find those gaps.
 
I think he needs confidence from management to go hard at the ball at the start of innings . Few failures won't matter and he can play the role of Gilchrist as opener in the long run
 
or maybe he is a HTB but being a Pakistani he couldn't take much out of it in International cricket
 
Is he alone in that? Could any of the so called top domestic guys become Bradman's if introduced to international cricket?
 
Imran farhat was also a legendary domestic tulla but he failed every time at international level.

Shahzad is a good batsmen but his attitude is horrible. He is an international player, umpires are usually biased towards them. I saw a couple of QAT games last year and the umpiring was horrendous.

Also, Fielding is atrocious, watch shan masood t20 century. Shahzad also uses the best facilities available in the country (NCA), Other bowlers/batters dont have the luxury to enhance their skills.
 
No domestic bullying today for him as he was run out for 7.
 
110 today from 107 balls.
A proper domestic beast who feasts on domestic bowlers and whose game isn't meant for highest level.
 
He is a true domestic bully, he performs because in international cricket a lot of shots that he plays usually get fielded and in frustration, he tries to hit out and gets out. Verses in domestic cricket, with the pathetic level of fielding standards that exist he gets away with it. He struggles in the beginning parts of his innings and seems that he just can't break free but in domestic it's almost the total opposite.

In saying this, he did hire a psychologist to help him, maybe we are seeing a difference? There is no doubt about his talent.
 
Tbh he struggles in domestic league. He makes his runs against the club bowler and really struggles against the international bowler.

Hea like that English batsmen - he toured ashes in 2013- Carberry his name is I believe
 
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Standards are a lot different.

Also opposition teams seem to have worked him out and have a good understanding of his scoring areas.
 
Another good innings by him today. 82 off 92. We all know though if he was in NZ he would be exposed badly, he'll probably be in the T20 squad though.
 
Another century for him today for Lahore Whites. Scored 104 off 96 balls with 12 fours.
 
I think Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shahzad should meet and learn each other's best trait.
 
You actually have to rotate the strike consistently against top level fast paced bowlers in International Cricket, something that Shehzad never did, while in domestics, you can get away with hitting 4s to release the pressure and rotate the striker against medium pacers and poor spin bowlers. It's quite simple really.
 
Well all we see of domestic scorelines is runs scored and balls faced, we do not see the number of chances he got. Considering the fielding standards in Pakistan cricket, I wouldn't be surprised if Shehzad is dropped 2 or 3 times per innings which allows him to get to these scores. Also huge question mark on umpiring as well, it is an established fact that umpires will not give certain batsmen out lbw no matter how plumb it is. Shehzad falls under that list of certain batsmen who have backing from strong lobbies.


Also international sides have worked out how to curb Shehzad's scoring and where to bowl to him, the bowlers in domestic probably keep bowling him half trackers so that he can plant his feet and swing like the hack he is.
 
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Mentally and physically in their own heads and world, they are for themselves born superstars but when they get to the real deal which is international cricket they fall flat and don't want to accept that as a fact.

No hard work not accepting their weaknesses as they're aware that they will keep getting recycled into the team throughout their playing career and would carry on just like that. Domestic is not a benchmark for any player to prove themselves as the quality is not there at all.
 
Limited skills

Hard work and application cannot make him a success because he is limited by his talent and skillset

He can dominate equally limited attacks he faces in domestics but come an attack with any quality he goes into his shell (hence the 1970s strike rate) and eventually gets out
 
He is a mentally weak player. International matches are high pressure matches, no wonder he fails everytime.
 
I just compared his ODI performances with his List A output.

In ODIs: 81 inns, 2605 runs, avg 32.56 and s/r 72.08
In List A: 60 inns, 3060 runs, avg 56.67 and s/r 95.27

In ODIs, his SR when you subtract the boundaries (crude measure for strike rotation) is 42.71 while he hits a boundary every 12.59 balls.
In List A, the corresponding figures are 49.89 and 8.32.

International teams know how to stop him from rotating strike and hitting boundaries. :shezzy
 
Pakistan domestic cricket has so much variation between LO cricket and first class. In first class the batsman have no chance and matches end within 3 days. In LO every one scores with monstrous strike rates. If the FC pitches are loaded in favour of bowlers, the LO wickets seem quite the opposite. The same players have very poor SR's in International cricket.
 
giri26 said:
Pakistan domestic cricket has so much variation between LO cricket and first class. In first class the batsman have no chance and matches end within 3 days. In LO every one scores with monstrous strike rates. If the FC pitches are loaded in favour of bowlers, the LO wickets seem quite the opposite. The same players have very poor SR's in International cricket.
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I dont think that's true about LO/List A in Pakistan. The last few tournaments (regional or departmental) I can count on my fingers, the number of times teams scored 300. In the current regional one-day tournament, out of 24 games (total of 31 games way too many and with 8 teams - again, too many) only five times has a the team batting first scored 300.
 
Because he makes his runs against the club bowler not international standard bowler at the club
 
His recent t20 performances have been pretty good, with 5 scores of 30 or more and two fifties. However, he hasnt been able to translate it, on a consistent level, to ODIs and tests. The problem with this is, we also have to remember he has been dropped and played around with.

2011, a year in which he got 2 ODI centuries and played with intent, led to him being dropped for almost 2 years. I know he had some low scores but selectors and coaches have to identify who they believe will be their best players for years to come and then stick with that. Look at how England stuck with the likes of Flintoff and Bell and how well they turned out.

Too many talented players are messed around in the PCB set up.
 
Look at his innings today - awful and clueless.

A hint of movement and this lad looks all at sea. So many flaws in his technique, where do I start.
 
When he’s one of the best you got. You have to invest in him because the reality is there is no other alternative. Not sure if he realizes this enough to want to improve his game.
 
He’s our best opener across all formats according to [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION], so he must be good as Mamoon bhai has very high batting standards.
 
He's the sort of player you need to watch out for, and I mean that in a terrible way - a decade of investment in him and he has only gone backwards or plateaued, just not got the temperament for international cricket, he will always let you down when it matters.
 
HuzaifaE said:
He's the sort of player you need to watch out for, and I mean that in a terrible way - a decade of investment in him and he has only gone backwards or plateaued, just not got the temperament for international cricket, he will always let you down when it matters.
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just too much attitude problem .
no respect for the game .
 
Saj said:
Look at his innings today - awful and clueless.

A hint of movement and this lad looks all at sea. So many flaws in his technique, where do I start.
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Kohli has made a career with such attitude. Why putting him under the fire alone?
 
indipper said:
Kohli has made a career with such attitude. Why putting him under the fire alone?
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kohli has immense, immense respect for the game. He gives his blood.and sweat in and out of the team. No one works out as much as him. No one respects cricket, need for scoring huge, need to constantly improve themselves like him. He works on his weakness and tehcniques and keeps improving.

Never seen kohli bragging or fighting with anyone on social media. There has never been any bqd news about him off the field. So am not sure where you are comparing kohlis attitude with umar or shehzad.
 
In fact, in majority of the televised matches. Most of our domestic players are like this, ordinary in televised games, especially the batsmen.
 
Indiafan said:
kohli has immense, immense respect for the game. He gives his blood.and sweat in and out of the team. No one works out as much as him. No one respects cricket, need for scoring huge, need to constantly improve themselves like him. He works on his weakness and tehcniques and keeps improving.

Never seen kohli bragging or fighting with anyone on social media. There has never been any bqd news about him off the field. So am not sure where you are comparing kohlis attitude with umar or shehzad.
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Having attitude to improve is one thing, technique is another.
 
babajee said:
He’s our best opener across all formats according to [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION], so he must be good as Mamoon bhai has very high batting standards.
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People have a Shehzad-phobia, but there is a reason why he is the top scorer in the PSL and almost always outperforms his competition in domestic cricket.

He is not great, but he is one of our best options. The so-called openers who are supposedly better than him do not seem to be able to outperform him.

Fakhar is the only one ahead of him at this point. Shehzad will continue to play for Pakistan as long as the competition does not beat him.
 
indipper said:
If PCB was as powerful as BCCI, Shehzad would have been Pakistan's Kohli.
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Certainly. The fact that Kohli is about 10x more talented and is obsessed with doing well has nothing to do with it.

Of course, it is all about PCB and BCCI.
 
Mamoon said:
People have a Shehzad-phobia, but there is a reason why he is the top scorer in the PSL and almost always outperforms his competition in domestic cricket.

He is not great, but he is one of our best options. The so-called openers who are supposedly better than him do not seem to be able to outperform him.

Fakhar is the only one ahead of him at this point. Shehzad will continue to play for Pakistan as long as the competition does not beat him.
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the competition was taken out of place by repeatedly giving one guy (shehzad) the chance for eternity...

Every now and then whoever replaced him did well, but the tolerance level applied to shehzad wasnt applied to others when they fail... this is how he beats and win those competitions..
 
Awful awful batsman.He is way too mediocre should not be near in the national. So many technical deficiencies in his game.
 
Slog said:
surely at this point you do not believe that
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I do because I have seen teams coming on top as soon as their boards are. Let it be CA, BCCI or even PCB.

Indiafan said:
How is Shehzad's technique comparable to Kohli's? And you were talking about attitude. Obvious troll is obvious
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Shahzad's technique is 70% while Kohli's 50% bad. But BCCI's domination has covered it well. Its the batting equivalent of creating green tops to make your bowlers look better.

Attitude however is another story.
 
84 off 49 today in the Pakistan Cup.

In international cricket, he's more likely to make 49 off 84 :danish
 
Why he is poor against international Pacers despites having faced some good bowlers at home?
 
I think it's time to look ahead in LOIs.

Shahzad has a chance to become a decent Test opener for us, if Sami and Imam fail this year, but that's about it.
 
PakSarZameen said:
I think it's time to look ahead in LOIs.

Shahzad has a chance to become a decent Test opener for us, if Sami and Imam fail this year, but that's about it.
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Sadly from someone that looked to have lots of promise, Shazad has become this generations Nazir, Farhat etc. Lots of promise, very little performance but annoyingly hangs around for years to be hated by fans.
 
I watched the match he was dropped twice. And he capitalized on those chances by scoring quickly. Yet he continued to rush his innings and got out on a very soft stumping dismissal off Asghar.
 
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