Why Pakistan cricket fans also need to play a role in improving the cricket team!

[DandyFellow]

Since last night, I was wondering why did Babar try to cover drive on the first over of the day. Many people get out on the first over but vast majority is lbw or defensive push behind. Cover-drive on the first over signals some kind of over-confidence. But isn’t Babar one of the most humble and balanced person in the team? Yes he is. But this thread will reflect why us fans are the problem too.

After Babar scored 69 on the first day which included flair and attacking cricket, everybody was talking about Babar loudly. Isn’t he better than Kohli? Is he already the best batsman? Is he a Pakistani legend already?

The truth is that he has the potential to be a modern great and Pakistan’s best batsman ever. But we can only talk about these things when he performs and wins us some games in the next few years. We have a got a wonderful player but that does not mean we make him over-confident.

If tomorrow Pakistan wins, majority Pakistan cricket fans will say that Babar played well in first innings. Yes that is true but he did not win us the match. If we win it that would be due to our bowling and the 150 by Shan Masood. We fans need to stop thinking as we are a mediocre team. If we expect more, we will get more too.

The worse outcome would be that Pakistan loses the match tomorrow and then we will shout loud and eventually the worse players will be booted out later. Rightly so but the point is that enough? Are we okay with mediocrity? Players like Kohli, Tendulkar and other batting greats have won matches and loads of them for their teams. Our own Inzimam won us some pressure games.

Lastly, I want to just say that right now Babar is the best batsman is our team and I am a huge fan of his batting. But it is time for the fans to push him to keep working hard and fulfil his potential by winning us pressure games which people remember forever. He is capable and hardworking and I personally do not want to see another under-achiever in Pakistani cricket.

 

[MenInG]

I understand where you are coming from but fans are humans - they feel elated about what they see and its natural for them to feel good about one of their own, like Babar.

 

[DandyFellow]

I understand where you are coming from but fans are humans - they feel elated about what they see and its natural for them to feel good about one of their own, like Babar.

I have to agree on this one as that is important. We all have one cricketer who we love that much that we will defend them everywhere. For most that is Babar. That's fine but I feel PCT fans need to raise the standards in regards to batting. Fans should take their time. Culture needs to improve though gradually otherwise we will stay mediocre.

 

[MenInG]

I have to agree on this one as that is important. We all have one cricketer who we love that much that we will defend them everywhere. For most that is Babar. That's fine but I feel PCT fans need to raise the standards in regards to batting. Fans should take their time. Culture needs to improve though gradually otherwise we will stay mediocre.

To be honest Babar is a special talent and he should have got to a hundred on Day 2 - bit of a shock he didnt so some level of optimism is understandable.

 

[DandyFellow]

I think this is the best time to have this discussion. I fear we will lose cricket too because gradually we are accepting mediocrity. Put some pressure on Azhar and he totally loses it in captaincy. Fans need to be loud and clear and show that they do not accept mediocrity from everyone. Even Babar. If we need to be a formidable team, we have to push them otherwise the corruption and mediocrity will uproot Pakistan cricket. Sponsors are already being lost and this test match is not gonna help the support and fanbase of PCT in the coming games. I want my team to win more and lose less just like we used to be but now every win is like a shock.

 

[Local.Dada]

I don’t want to rub it in because I personally felt Pakistan punched above their weight and did give a great fight. However I have seen some ridiculous statements here calling Rizwan a million times better than Jos Butler of all people and comparing Shafiq to Stokes.

For people who missed it, yes it happened here.

Pakistan fans need to focus on performance over flair.

The guys who actually did well here like Abbas,Shan and Yasir are a game away from being hated but excuses are found for players like amir,naseem even when they continuously fail.

 

[Mamoon]

Pakistani fans are way too arrogant and loud for a team that is ranked 7th and 6th in Tests and ODIs respectively.

That also means that when it comes to being delusional, we are in a league of our own.

Prior to our disaster-class in the first Test, a lot of our fans were adamant that if combine the Pakistan and England sides, as many as 5 or 6 Pakistani players would walk into the side, even though England is ranked 3 places above us.

We overhype mediocre players and then we are surprised and shocked when they fail to deliver.

 

[MenInG]

Pakistani fans are way too arrogant and loud for a team that is ranked 7th and 6th in Tests and ODIs respectively.

That also means that when it comes to being delusional, we are in a league of our own.

Prior to our disaster-class in the first Test, a lot of our fans were adamant that if combine the Pakistan and England sides, as many as 5 or 6 Pakistani players would walk into the side, even though England is ranked 3 places above us.

We overhype mediocre players and then we are surprised and shocked when they fail to deliver.

Pakistan fans are exactly that. They arent fair-weathered friends. They back their team to the hilt. They feel for the team when it does well, they feel for it when it doesnt.

Only Pakistan cricket fans would know this.

 

[smkk]

Disagree with the op! Of all the things I found that Babar has faced constant criticism from this site. Remember when he cannot play fast enough, or he is not suited for t20 at all. Before his unbeaten century against New Zealand in the world cup, he cannot take or cannot play under extreme pressure. Even a year ago, he was criticized for not being a test player and was demanded to be drop out from the test team, remember those dark days?

Babar had always been criticized on this site, but I am actually happy for him as a fan. Because it shows how much he had improved and he had worked himself out of all his weaknesses. These criticisms are a timeline of how and when did he improved himself to be a world-class player. So have some patience and let him play on his own accord.

 

[DandyFellow]

Disagree with the op! Of all the things I found that Babar has faced constant criticism from this site. Remember when he cannot play fast enough, or he is not suited for t20 at all. Before his unbeaten century against New Zealand in the world cup, he cannot take or cannot play under extreme pressure. Even a year ago, he was criticized for not being a test player and was demanded to be drop out from the test team, remember those dark days?

Babar had always been criticized on this site, but I am actually happy for him as a fan. Because it shows how much he had improved and he had worked himself out of all his weaknesses. These criticisms are a timeline of how and when did he improved himself to be a world-class player. So have some patience and let him play on his own accord.

My post is not about criticizing Babar rather it is about the fans. Babar is our best batsman and best player by a margin and he has great potential. My point is if 10 players are not good enough that does not mean fans give easy path to Babar to relax and put blame on other players. Tendulkar has won games for India on his own and if we want to compare him in that elite category, he has to win some games. Babar's attitude is wonderful but it is hype of the fans that gets into the head. I am also his fan but I want to see him win some games for Pakistan. In the end, cricket is a team sport and things count when we win. I actually believe he has the potential to win us some games single-handedly.

 

[MoFresh23]

I think this is the best time to have this discussion. I fear we will lose cricket too because gradually we are accepting mediocrity. Put some pressure on Azhar and he totally loses it in captaincy. Fans need to be loud and clear and show that they do not accept mediocrity from everyone. Even Babar. If we need to be a formidable team, we have to push them otherwise the corruption and mediocrity will uproot Pakistan cricket. Sponsors are already being lost and this test match is not gonna help the support and fanbase of PCT in the coming games. I want my team to win more and lose less just like we used to be but now every win is like a shock.

Your absolutely right. If us fans have high standards of the Pakistan team and not get excited when Pakistan wins inconsistently then Pak would be doing better and winning consistently like in the past. They have the potential to be the number one team.

But the important thing to think about is that are Pak players mentally prepared for the high standards from the fans. Besides Babar, Shan and a few others, these players can not take pressure as you can see in this recent test where Azhar Ali panicked and became defensive right away. PCB need to teach these players on how to cope pressure like England do.
The mentality that Babar has is what upcoming and current cricketers should have. His mentality is to play every ball on merit and every match do better than the previous match. He is strict with his fitness and always looking forward to make his game better.

But absolutely us fans should appreciate a win and expect bigger and better results. Pakistan has the talent and alhamdulillah cricket is in our bloods but it all comes down to the system and the stakeholders to make Pakistan great once again.

 

[MoFresh23]

Your absolutely right. If us fans have high standards of the Pakistan team and not get excited when Pakistan wins inconsistently then Pak would be doing better and winning consistently like in the past. They have the potential to be the number one team.

But the important thing to think about is that are Pak players mentally prepared for the high standards from the fans. Besides Babar, Shan and a few others, these players can not take pressure as you can see in this recent test where Azhar Ali panicked and became defensive right away. PCB need to teach these players on how to cope pressure like England do.
The mentality that Babar has is what upcoming and current cricketers should have. His mentality is to play every ball on merit and every match do better than the previous match. He is strict with his fitness and always looking forward to make his game better.

But absolutely us fans should appreciate a win and expect bigger and better results. Pakistan has the talent and alhamdulillah cricket is in our bloods but it all comes down to the system and the stakeholders to make Pakistan great once again.

I would like to add that some fans as some posters on PP are always expecting low standards and always thinking negative. If us fans dont back our team then how do you expect the players to do good. You have to support your team through thick and thin. Give constructive criticism so they can benefit.

 

[Bigboii]

I don’t want to rub it in because I personally felt Pakistan punched above their weight and did give a great fight. However I have seen some ridiculous statements here calling Rizwan a million times better than Jos Butler of all people and comparing Shafiq to Stokes.

For people who missed it, yes it happened here.

Pakistan fans need to focus on performance over flair.

The guys who actually did well here like Abbas,Shan and Yasir are a game away from being hated but excuses are found for players like amir,naseem even when they continuously fail.

In tests as of know hell yeah!!!
His keeping is way better and he is a bit better in test batting than Josh

And people compared Stokes to Shafiq just on a batting basis not taking his bowling in to account (but imo Stokes is a better batsman than Shafiq)

 

[MenInG]

I would like to add that some fans as some posters on PP are always expecting low standards and always thinking negative. If us fans dont back our team then how do you expect the players to do good. You have to support your team through thick and thin. Give constructive criticism so they can benefit.

I agree. Its easy to criticize and kick someone when they are down.

But I can also understand a level of frustration by people.

 

[Abdullah]

The way we help the team is by taking a medium term view.
The way people were slating SSA after the game was a joke.
The aim should be to be top 3 ranked side in 2 years time. SSA is a big part of that is, So is Naseem.
These guys have to play as much as possible ( even if it means missing the t20s)
Yes people are frustrated, but the reason we lost the game was

1 captaincy
2 match fitness ( matters more in crunch moments)
3 Senior batsmanship

Unfortunately we could not do ANYTHING about the above and 2 of the issues are there to stay until at least the end of the tour.

Everything else we did was fine.We are not Australia of the 90s and 00s that we are going to steam roller a team that hasn't lost a home series in ages, ( yet we missed them for 9 out of the 12 sessions)

It's all about building up to becoming a better team

 

[DandyFellow]

I want to clear one thing in this thread that we need to support our team through thick and thin and that is exactly most of us do. The only thing I want is that us fans should be clear that we want better cricket and we need to raise our standards and this should be put into the minds of the players that they should work harder because the fans love them and expect more from them. The current defeat was not easy for most of us. I know many people who watch Pakistan cricket seriously and they get mentally impacted by these kinda matches.
I know everyone has biases and favorites but let's always put Pakistan cricket over our biases. Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq deserve to be dropped considering their performances and younger players need to be brought in who play around Babar. Younger players deserve less criticism because they are new and inexperienced and that is why we should be careful with Shaheen and Naseem. Our patience should be with younger and inexperienced players and our high expectations should be with old and experienced players. We should invest 2-3 years on Shaheen and Naseem to see what do they do after these years and then judge. In the same way, we should judge Rizwan after 2-3 test series.