Why is Salman Ali Agha considered a modern T20 hero compared to Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan?

[Raja Ishtiaq]

Why is he no longer bowling?

We need a extra fast bowler in the team in the place of a spinner.

Agha needs to be the replacement spinner

 

[Mamoon]

I don’t know if people remember him or not, but a decade or so ago, Pakistan had a replica of Agha called Saad Nasim, who also hailed from Lahore.

But back then, Pakistan didn’t feel the name to make him their waqti Abu because they had the likes of Misbah, Afridi, Hafeez and Malik in the team.

Agha is a player of the same level. A journeyman cricket who will play a few years of international cricket at best and few years later, no one will remember his name.

The fact that PCB took a completely ordinary player like him and decided to make him captain just because they have an axe to grind against Babar and Rizwan is completely absurd.

He has done absolutely nothing in his career to deserve Pakistan captaincy, and he currently finds himself in a situation that he isn’t capable of handling.

 

[IronShield]

Why is he no longer bowling?

We need a extra fast bowler in the team in the place of a spinner.

Agha needs to be the replacement spinner

Afraid of getting tonked maybe?

 

[jnaveen1980]

Shan Masood was picked as captain for English speaking skills. I suppose Agha for chewing gum skills?

 

[Mamoon]

Shan Masood was picked as captain for English speaking skills. I suppose Agha for chewing gum skills?

I think his hiding skills are better than his chewing skills. He hid better than Osama today. Vanished without a trace after Pakistan lost the match.

 

[hks222]

I don’t know if people remember him or not, but a decade or so ago, Pakistan had a replica of Agha called Saad Nasim, who also hailed from Lahore.

But back then, Pakistan didn’t feel the name to make him their waqti Abu because they had the likes of Misbah, Afridi, Hafeez and Malik in the team.

Agha is a player of the same level. A journeyman cricket who will play a few years of international cricket at best and few years later, no one will remember his name.

The fact that PCB took a completely ordinary player like him and decided to make him captain just because they have an axe to grind against Babar and Rizwan is completely absurd.

He has done absolutely nothing in his career to deserve Pakistan captaincy, and he currently finds himself in a situation that he isn’t capable of handling.

He is anything but a T20i player.

 

[ads101]

Agha doesn’t know where he should bat. It’s a strange problem. Even Rizwan and Babar they might be slower but they know that they prefer to bat opener (and Babar can bat no.3 too). Agha doesn’t want to bat too low as he can’t hit as well as others. Can’t play to far up the order as isn’t as good at pace. It also depends on match situation, if we’re off to a good start, it’ll often be better to send others in. If we get off to a bad start, he might be too early in (I saw them in the past send Haris instead of that game as a result). Basically he requires so many factors to suit his game. Even worse now Hasan is batting too low at 6 because of this. I wonder even Salman has a preference of a position he should bat or knows where his best position is.

I think he should step up and bat at no.3. Lead from the front as captain.Even if he may not suit the position due to his preference for spin, his style of game suits there rather than down the order. If you want to play the stabiliser role which he clearly does, you have to do it up the order.

 

[mazkhan]

I've come to the conclusion our cricket is finished and we are associate level and only good enough to compete with uae , afghanistan etc level I even think afghanistan probably have better players in certain areas

The moment you put them against any top team the opposition look a class apart .

 

[mazkhan]

As for agha can't play pace he looked totally clueless against indian spinners today .

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Modern day captain salman ali agha 24 innings 489 runs and 116.15 strike rate

Vs

Babar azam 121 innings 4223 runs 129.22 strike rate

Humain tu modern captain b form 47 wala mila ha lol

 

[Caved12]

The whole “Agha is a modern T20 hero” narrative was just online hype pushed by people who disliked Babar and Rizwan. Otherwise, how can anyone glorify a player who has been a proven failure in this format? That said, I still support Salman. I believe he can improve as a player if Babar and Rizwan are around, because while he isn’t ideal for T20s by international standards, he’s still better than most of the other options we have, players with poor techniques who are nothing more than sloggers.

The real problem is that the PCB’s politics disrupted his progress. Instead of letting him gradually develop, they burdened him with too much too soon. Making him captain at a time when he hadn’t earned it only added unnecessary pressure. Leading a young side in the Asia Cup not only exposed him but also distracted him from working on his own game. Earlier, I noticed real improvement in his batting and even signs of him growing into a handy part time bowler, but all of that has stalled. Right now, he’s juggling far too many responsibilities instead of focusing on becoming a better cricketer.

 

[ads101]

The whole “Agha is a modern T20 hero” narrative was just online hype pushed by people who disliked Babar and Rizwan. Otherwise, how can anyone glorify a player who has been a proven failure in this format? That said, I still support Salman. I believe he can improve as a player if Babar and Rizwan are around, because while he isn’t ideal for T20s by international standards, he’s still better than most of the other options we have, players with poor techniques who are nothing more than sloggers.

The real problem is that the PCB’s politics disrupted his progress. Instead of letting him gradually develop, they burdened him with too much too soon. Making him captain at a time when he hadn’t earned it only added unnecessary pressure. Leading a young side in the Asia Cup not only exposed him but also distracted him from working on his own game. Earlier, I noticed real improvement in his batting and even signs of him growing into a handy part time bowler, but all of that has stalled. Right now, he’s juggling far too many responsibilities instead of focusing on becoming a better cricketer.

Ironically happened to other players too. Captaincy is a curse. Babar given captaincy, and what you saw for the years he got it was he was trying to learn the role on the job. I think he could have developed more as a batsman without it. Then re given it when he should have been focusing on rediscovering his form. Think he’s just mentally shot now, which has been awful for us, he was by a mile our best batsman across all formats. It’s not good for Pakistani cricket, I don’t know how some posters celebrate his drop in form, we don’t have a huge well of batsmen to replace someone like that.

Sarfraz stopped working hard on his fitness and overall game since given captaincy. I don’t know why that happened and was clearly someone suited for captaincy. People forget just how good he was before he got captaincy.

Not international cricket, but Shadab and Shaheen have clearly been less focused on their stronger suit and more on their weaker suit since PSL captaincy. And have both declined as players.

Even Rizwan who I kind of wanted him to take over captaincy earlier as he’s an already seasoned captain in domestic has lost form since taking captaincy.

Sometimes I think captaincy is just a curse. Perhaps the best idea is to give it to someone older who has nothing left to develop in his game. Or someone more disposable, who’s loss of form doesn’t devastate the team (like Babar). I also just think we need to take the responsibility off the captain and place it more on the coach. Captain is just there to lead the team on the field. I think Pakistani captains take on too much burden, if we lose they are blamed for team strategy, Picking the team, batting positions, bowling strategy etc. Just trying to juggle too many things at once and in turn also creates friction in the team.

 

[Caved12]

Ironically happened to other players too. Captaincy is a curse. Babar given captaincy, and what you saw for the years he got it was he was trying to learn the role on the job. I think he could have developed more as a batsman without it. Then re given it when he should have been focusing on rediscovering his form. Think he’s just mentally shot now, which has been awful for us, he was by a mile our best batsman across all formats. It’s not good for Pakistani cricket, I don’t know how some posters celebrate his drop in form, we don’t have a huge well of batsmen to replace someone like that.

Sarfraz stopped working hard on his fitness and overall game since given captaincy. I don’t know why that happened and was clearly someone suited for captaincy. People forget just how good he was before he got captaincy.

Not international cricket, but Shadab and Shaheen have clearly been less focused on their stronger suit and more on their weaker suit since PSL captaincy. And have both declined as players.

Even Rizwan who I kind of wanted him to take over captaincy earlier as he’s an already seasoned captain in domestic has lost form since taking captaincy.

Sometimes I think captaincy is just a curse. Perhaps the best idea is to give it to someone older who has nothing left to develop in his game. Or someone more disposable, who’s loss of form doesn’t devastate the team (like Babar). I also just think we need to take the responsibility off the captain and place it more on the coach. Captain is just there to lead the team on the field. I think Pakistani captains take on too much burden, if we lose they are blamed for team strategy, Picking the team, batting positions, bowling strategy etc. Just trying to juggle too many things at once and in turn also creates friction in the team.

You made some very good points today, not just in this post but in others as well. Finding a good leader is never easy, even in countries where players are well educated and backed by strong, professional boards. In our case, the problems are bigger. Once players become captain, their game often goes backwards. The main reasons are politics, backbiting from teammates, lack of education, and no real role models to learn from.

It is a sad situation. Babar was always weak tactically as captain. In the early years he still did well with the bat, but later he struggled because of politics and losing the dressing room. There is also far too much outside noise and pressure. Once the honeymoon period is over, both the captain’s leadership and his personal performance begin to suffer. Rizwan should have done better because he is tactically sharp, but I have to admit he has also been a disappointment, and his batting has declined as well.

About whether the coach should have more power than the captain, I don’t think cricket works like that. The captain has to be the main authority on and off the field, otherwise the setup falls apart. But you are right, a respected coach can still play a big role in handling egos, giving stability, and keeping the team united. Bob Woolmer was the best example, he absorbed the outside nonsense and protected the players, so the captain and players could just focus on cricket.

 

[SportsWarrior]

I am sorry, this guy is cr**. I don’t think he will walk into any decent t20 team, even in second grade leagues. He has absolutely no performance to back up. He has shown no skills or ability to be in the team let alone captain it. He has the charisma of a doormat. Bit Babar and Rizwan, who themselves are nothing great in this format, absolutely deserve a spot about this guy on merit. Infact Babar and Rizwan can walk into this oak team in place of atleast four other players, Farhan, Salman, Fakar and in current form Saim

 

[jnaveen1980]

I am sorry, this guy is cr**. I don’t think he will walk into any decent t20 team, even in second grade leagues. He has absolutely no performance to back up. He has shown no skills or ability to be in the team let alone captain it. He has the charisma of a doormat. Bit Babar and Rizwan, who themselves are nothing great in this format, absolutely deserve a spot about this guy on merit. Infact Babar and Rizwan can walk into this oak team in place of atleast four other players, Farhan, Salman, Fakar and in current form Saim

I think they are loving his "sacrifice" by promoting himself down the order when needed in order to be less useless. But turns out for the year 2025 he faces the 3rd highest number of balls per innings . on an average he scores 22(19) in each innings.

 

[Asif321]

That was terrible decision to bat first you been playing whole life in UAE you should know how things pan out . You weren’t playing Oman

 

[Hyder]

I don’t know if people remember him or not, but a decade or so ago, Pakistan had a replica of Agha called Saad Nasim, who also hailed from Lahore.

But back then, Pakistan didn’t feel the name to make him their waqti Abu because they had the likes of Misbah, Afridi, Hafeez and Malik in the team.

Agha is a player of the same level. A journeyman cricket who will play a few years of international cricket at best and few years later, no one will remember his name.

The fact that PCB took a completely ordinary player like him and decided to make him captain just because they have an axe to grind against Babar and Rizwan is completely absurd.

He has done absolutely nothing in his career to deserve Pakistan captaincy, and he currently finds himself in a situation that he isn’t capable of handling.

He had better bowling than agha

 

[Hyder]

Agha sucked the life out of the whole inning

 

[ads101]

I think they are loving his "sacrifice" by promoting himself down the order when needed in order to be less useless. But turns out for the year 2025 he faces the 3rd highest number of balls per innings . on an average he scores 22(19) in each innings.

Captains should not be selfless. If a captain is just a passenger in the team it makes him less respected and wastes a spot. I always thought Sarfraz made a mistake, he should have put himself at 4 to bat where he could have performed. The team would have been better for it (providing he kept his fitness and work on his batting up). And even then Sarfraz always had keeping as an asset to fall back on. Salman doesn’t even have that.

Captain should lead from the front.

The issue with Agha is he’s not performing well enough to prove his place as a player and hasn’t cemented a spot. He needs to do these things sharpish and he’s running out of time. He’s not even bowling now so there’s not a single facet of his game where we rely on him.

Because of the inflexibility of his game, better against spin and not being able to hit as well, that leaves pretty much 3 and 4. 5 is too low to stabilise the innings. I’d prefer him at 3 for the team but if the only way he performs is at 4 then fine take 4 but make sure you excel at it. Maybe hasan bats 3 then who is batting far too low right now.

 

[SportsWarrior]

I think they are loving his "sacrifice" by promoting himself down the order when needed in order to be less useless. But turns out for the year 2025 he faces the 3rd highest number of balls per innings . on an average he scores 22(19) in each innings.

Yeah, and that is in a team where none of thr top six even averag 30. Their top six has not a single player who is having decent record. Here are the career avarage and strike rates of top six and their typical score based on average and strike rate

Saim - 21@136 - 21(15)
Farhan - 20 @123 - 20(16)
Harris - 17.6 @138 - 18(13)
Fakhar 23.5 @132 - 24(18)
Salman - 24.6 @114 - 25(22)
Hasan - 23.5 @160 - 24(15)
Nawaz - 17.75@133 - 18(14)

So they will be something like 150/155 by end of their 20 overs. This not enough in modern day cricket at all. And salman is worst among already some very average players. I am sure pak can better players than him or just bring back Babar and Rizwan. They will atleast win occasional matches and offer some resistance.