What's new

Will Faheem Ashraf and Shadab Khan send Imad Wasim out of the team?

Imad one foot is already out of the odi team but i think shadab and imad will be important for new zealand series as hafeez will be banned forever:hafeez2
 
In ODIs, I'd play Faheem and Shadab. Drop Imad.

Obviously play Imad in T20s though. He is #1 bowler.
 
It's a hard one. Imad's the no.1 bowler in T20s. And in ODIs he averages 36 at 7 at an almost 100 SR along with a useful 33 bowling average. Though he's definitely been replaced as the main spinner in the team now, he's second fiddle to Shadab, even in T20s.

Tbh an extra spin bowler I think suits our style of playing. Especially if Hafeez is outed from the side/banned from bowling. It's what especially non-asian sides struggle with. On the other hand not only is Fahim potentially better bat and ball, also a better fielder, and Imad's not exactly keeping himself fit.

Fahim as the third pacer slot might be the best option, would strengthen the batting, even though I'd still bat him above Imad if both were in the team. On the other hand though, we'd miss out on Usman.

I'm not really sure. What I might do is on pace friendly pitches/good against spin sides drop Imad, and play Usman and Fahim. On a spin friendly pitch, drop Usman, play Fahim and Imad. Though that's assuming Fahim keeps it up and can handle the 3rd seamer bowling slot alone. I'd do this for both T20s and ODIs, though Imad would get the nod for the vast majority of times in T20s.
 
Last edited:
he can be part of squad , in case pakistan need to go in with another spin option. But I think Raza hassan is far better option than Imad.
 
In ODIs Imad needs to go. Bilal Asif and Raaz Hasan are better options. Asif gives you an offspiner and decent slogger. Raza can handle the bat as well and is a class bowler on form, id argue that he is the best left arm spinner in the country. You also have asghar who has been waiting for his chance for a while
 
Shadab and Faheem should play ahead of Imad. Imad is must in t20s . But in ODIs, we should look to phase him out.
 
Imad is to stay because there is no replacement for his defensive economical spin bowling and as a leftie will give problems to RH batsman with that angle. I would like to see all 3 incorporated into the following XI for 2019 WC:

Sahibzada
Fakhar
Babar
Sarfraz (c + wk)
H.Talat (or S.Malik)
Faheem Ashraf (or Amir Yamin)
Shadab (has more hitting ability than Imad)
Imad
Hasan Ali (but has the power and game to become a potential late order hitter at 8)
M.Amir
Rumman Raees/Shinwari/Junaid Khan (in order of preference)
 
backfootpunch said:
Imad is to stay because there is no replacement for his defensive economical spin bowling and as a leftie will give problems to RH batsman with that angle. I would like to see all 3 incorporated into the following XI for 2019 WC
Click to expand...

If you want an economic left arm spinner then Raza Hasan will do an far better job and get mor wickets. He is also a decent batsmen, not that would be issue considering we would have Faheem and Shadab
 
In odis they will push him out of the 11 but not the squad
In t20s he's still our best spinner. Shadab gets smashed in t20s.
 
I personally think time is running out for Imad, but then again I can see him being retained in the Pakistan squad for quite some time. I would definitely prefer having Faheem and Shadab as my No.7 and No.8. Also If your looking at a second spinner I don't see anything wrong with having Haris Sohail slipped into the our middle order once you take out Hafeez. With Malik also likely to be retained into the Pakistan lineup for the foreseeable future he also gives you a different bowling option. All in all I would take Imad out of the line-up but keep him in the squad
 
I think in T20s he is vital player. One of the highest ranked bowlers for a reason so I don't think he is going anywhere in that format, rightly so as he is a solid player. In ODI's I think he does risk losing his place if he doesn't perform as there are many other good alternatives to him doing good in domestics.
 
Keep Imad. 10 overs for 40 bowler...

It's Hafeez that makes way tbh
 
Changed my mind. Replace Imad with Fahim, Hafeez with Haris. If our batting so too weak, make fahim third pacer and get another in at 7.
 
Personally atm I'd play

1. Imam
2. Fakhar
3. Babar
4. Haris
5. Sarfraz
6. Malik
7. Amin
8. Fahim
9. Shadab
10. Amir
11. Hasan

That sort of line up would cover the fifth bowling slot i feel with part timers Haris, Malik, Amin without sacrificing batting strength and allow us to bat till 9 (even Amir and Hasan ain't bad). I'd really like us trying to go for a long batting line up, make it a strength. Amin could be replaced with someone else (ideally I'd want a Maqsood or Umar Akmal type of player), but realistically he's looking good right now and is amongst the squads so natural choice, plus his bowling is useful especially if we decide Fahim to be 3rd pacer.

I think it's the way forward really, we need a batting side which consistently puts up good scores. If we have to marginally decrease our bowling for that, fair enough. But from what I've seen, I don't think Fahim is much of a downgrade from Raees or Junaid bowling wise.
 
ads101 said:
Personally atm I'd play

1. Imam
2. Fakhar
3. Babar
4. Haris
5. Sarfraz
6. Malik
7. Amin
8. Fahim
9. Shadab
10. Amir
11. Hasan

That sort of line up would cover the fifth bowling slot i feel with part timers Haris, Malik, Amin without sacrificing batting strength and allow us to bat till 9 (even Amir and Hasan ain't bad). I'd really like us trying to go for a long batting line up, make it a strength. Amin could be replaced with someone else (ideally I'd want a Maqsood or Umar Akmal type of player), but realistically he's looking good right now and is amongst the squads so natural choice, plus his bowling is useful especially if we decide Fahim to be 3rd pacer.

I think it's the way forward really, we need a batting side which consistently puts up good scores. If we have to marginally decrease our bowling for that, fair enough. But from what I've seen, I don't think Fahim is much of a downgrade from Raees or Junaid bowling wise.
Click to expand...

Tbh I don’t really think this sort of lineup would work.

Firstly who would open the bowling? Amir and ....?

Faheem’s utility as a bowler would be best in the middle overs. I don’t think he has it in him to open the bowling against the top sides.Also we don’t need another batsman at 7. Number 7 should be an all rounder like Faheem.

Personally i’d go with

1. Fakhar
2. Imam/Amin
3. Babar
4. Haris
5. Sarfraz
6. Malik
7. Faheem
8. Shadab
9. Hasan
10. Amir
11. Junaid

There’s enough batting depth in this side
 
babajee said:
Tbh I don’t really think this sort of lineup would work.

Firstly who would open the bowling? Amir and ....?

Faheem’s utility as a bowler would be best in the middle overs. I don’t think he has it in him to open the bowling against the top sides.Also we don’t need another batsman at 7. Number 7 should be an all rounder like Faheem.

There’s enough batting depth in this side
Click to expand...

Think Hasan's good enough to open the bowling. Plus not sure Junaid is exactly the best new ball bowler either.

You might be right, but to me it kind of feels like our 3rd pacer is a bit weak. A 30 odd average and can't bat isn't impressive, and that's what you get with Raees and Junaid atm. Both are talented and you'd expect both to do better, but they haven't so far. Fahim's main skill, the one he practises on the most is bowling after all, and he has a great record with it in domestic (much better than his batting).
 
ads101 said:
Think Hasan's good enough to open the bowling. Plus not sure Junaid is exactly the best new ball bowler either.

You might be right, but to me it kind of feels like our 3rd pacer is a bit weak. A 30 odd average and can't bat isn't impressive, and that's what you get with Raees and Junaid atm. Both are talented and you'd expect both to do better, but they haven't so far. Fahim's main skill, the one he practises on the most is bowling after all, and he has a great record with it in domestic (much better than his batting).
Click to expand...

Rumman is very promising and the sample size isn’t large enough for him in ODIs.

Junaid has been on an upward curve since his comeback and bowled beautifully in the CT and against SL. I think he doesn’t get as much credit as he deserves on PP. Amir even said that Junaid supports him very well when he opens the bowling.

Also, regarding Hasan, why fix something that isn’t broken? He’s been lethal in the middle overs and his role shifts the momentum in games
 
This darter should only be considered for T20's. Not good enough for Odi's. His fitness is awful, batting below average, average fielder and just a darter. Hopefully the NZ is his last series. We have much better options then him anyway. Plus Shadab and Fahim are way better then him.
 
Khan12 said:
This darter should only be considered for T20's. Not good enough for Odi's. His fitness is awful, batting below average, average fielder and just a darter. Hopefully the NZ is his last series. We have much better options then him anyway. Plus Shadab and Fahim are way better then him.
Click to expand...

He's been on the decline for the past year or so, his stats are a lot worse of late. If you take away Minnows, i.e. Ireland and Zimbabwe his bowling average in ODIs skyrockets to 45. That's pretty bad for someone who is primarily a bowler. His batting stats are still decent, low 30s at SR of near 100, but that's largely down to some good knocks against England. He does have batting ability though.

I think Imad does well against the sides who struggle against spin, Eng, SA, WI, Aus (not NZ who actually are good against spin). The others, he struggles to do well. Similar story in T20s too I feel (which he has also declined in as late). He still could have use as a second spinner in the squad to come in on spin favouring pitches or sides which struggle with spin. But I don't see him as a regular atm, his output isn't good enough atm.
 
ads101 said:
He's been on the decline for the past year or so, his stats are a lot worse of late. If you take away Minnows, i.e. Ireland and Zimbabwe his bowling average in ODIs skyrockets to 45. That's pretty bad for someone who is primarily a bowler. His batting stats are still decent, low 30s at SR of near 100, but that's largely down to some good knocks against England. He does have batting ability though.

I think Imad does well against the sides who struggle against spin, Eng, SA, WI, Aus (not NZ who actually are good against spin). The others, he struggles to do well. Similar story in T20s too I feel (which he has also declined in as late). He still could have use as a second spinner in the squad to come in on spin favouring pitches or sides which struggle with spin. But I don't see him as a regular atm, his output isn't good enough atm.
Click to expand...


This is not about Imad, but I think we all are missing an important point here. When a youngster is introduced in a team and looks like he has cemented his place then he is bound to replace a senior not another player who has played handful more matches than him. The players who really need to go are Shoaib Malik, Hafeez and What Riaz. They have been around in team for more than atleast a decade, close to decade for Riaz. Malik and Hafeez somehow managed to strike in CT final, that is why we have reincarnated them as our heroes.
This is what a difference between likes of India, Australia, and us. We give too much room for our seniors. In Australian team after 2003 WC, Michael Clarke was introduced into the Aussie team, and 2 years later Hussey entered into the side. During these 2 years Clarke played as second fiddle to the likes of Martin, Symonds, and didn't get much opportunities. And Clarke wasn't discarded to make way for Hussey, In fact, it was Damien Martyn who was forced to retire to accommodate Clarke and Hussey in the side. This is how teams are developed.

Even if we have to play Hafeez and Malik, then they both should come either at top (both as an opener or come at no. 6/7, to play as sloggers or to handle the situation when faced with adversity). Our batting problem is we have not able to develop batsman who can anchor the innings, except for Babar to some extent. And to develop that skill, especially in ODI's you need to come at a situation when you have at least 20/30 overs to face, and then players can learn the skill and art of building the innings , when to defend, when to strike. And yes, no matter what we say to Umar Akmal , he was wasted at number5/6/7 position, when he should have been 1/2 down batsman.


Further, I think, big point Mickey and company is missing here is they are giving ample amount of game time to the likes of Hafeez and Malik ( at number 3/4/5) against weaker teams such as SL, where they have improved their records, while our lower middle order got very limited batting opportunity, and sufferer is not only Imad, but Sarfaraz too. And that is what it is debated many times that Sarfaraz and Imad both are coming too late in batting, because we are accommodating 2 seniors in the team.

Now what will happen against good teams such as NZ/Aus/SA etc. Hafeez and Malik will play their mediocre innings of 10s/20s/30s, and others with the likes of Sarfaraz, Imad haven't spent the time enough in middle, possibly struggle to face smart pacy bowlers. And then we will again go into the vicious circle of mediocrity, insecurity and negativity. And then, we will not question Hafeez and Malik for playing mediocre innings, but will sack few youngsters that they have not performed well enough. This is bad and unfair. Hafeez and Malik have played for almost 10-15 years and if they are still struggling to score runs against good teams, then its better that they both should be dropped forever.

I still think Imad is not bad, this guy hardly played for 2 years. Ok, for sake of it , he is booted out from the team. And we think Shadab, Faheem and few more are our prime players. Now what, if some XYZ players performed really well in PSL or in domestic, and then we will demand the head of Shadab as well.(the same happened after the first test match he played)

But again we will miss that few spots are taken by our so called seniors who are bound to fail in challenging situations outside subcontinent, and we are not solving that problem. The day when we develop a team culture where even senior players are accountable, then only we can really become the best team.

BOTTOM LINE IS replace Senior with promising Junior , not with other junior.
 
And I think, people are becoming too sentimental here for the reason that he was struck for 3 sixes by Pandya in final over. I have talked to many and people only remember those 3 sixes, not the good things like had he not taken the wickets of Amla and ABD in CT match against South Africa, we were out of the champions trophy on the same day. And that is what I believe was the turning point of Pakistan's fortune in Champions Trophy crusade.

Well to remind people who only look at the embarrassing moments of players, Shadab was hit for 5 sixes (3 in a row, followed by 2) by Pandya in CT final.
So please, don't pressurize youngsters. Its only because of young players (thanks to Inzi and Mickey Arthur) that we won the CT. We have given 400 matches to the likes of Afridi who produced hardly 20 match winning performances, and we lost countless World Cup games, and we demand that every young player should perform best in every game.

This is not only about Imad, this could be about Shadab next year or with Fahim after 6 months.

We Pakistanis are brave , and emotional people. Throw every youngster into the water, by giving them opportunity to face best players and let them compete, they will produce results better than seniors.
 
For the first time in a while, Pakistan have genuine depth so competition for places is welcome. We shouldn't obsess over starting XIs - its more important to have options within a squad then your XI can change according to the conditions.

I'm not the biggest fan of Imad Wasim - don't like how cute he tries to be when batting in the death overs and his bowling is most threatening against teams who haven't faced him before and don't know that he's a wicket-to-wicket bowler who doesn't spin the ball much. His action is such that he won't turn the ball much.

However he is the golden boy of the team management. I do see his utility - in the CT his role in roughing the ball up during the PP overs was important so Hasan Ali and co could get it to reverse. His role isn't to be a lethal wicket-taker but to be economical and build pressure for the other bowlers like Hafeez did. He has a similar ER in Australia to Ravi Jadeja who is the most comparable player to Imad and a lower ER in England than him.

I'm fine with him playing in Asia as he's tough to get away on those slow, low decks in UAE. You could play a specialist spinner instead but in the modern game batting depth has become important. Outside Asia, I'd rather we go with a fourth pacer with Shadab and Malik as the spin options.
 
Fahim and Shadab have great potential while the other is mediocre and his is only passing fitness tests due to Arthur. The sooner we get rid of him the better.
 
Faheem and Shadab are a lot better than Imad. Imad needs to be dropped from ODIs.
 
First step, this is.

Imad should get his act right. If not, it's not far when he'd be dropped from playing 11, despite being fit.
 
Looks like he's sent himself out of the team. I was at a PSL game in Sharjah and he was fielding right in front of me and I was shocked to see his fitness level. He was really lean and fit when he first came into the Pakistan side but hasn't maintained that same fitness, only has himself to blame I'm afraid. He's a good bowler but needs to work hard on his fitness and maybe take a leaf out of Shoaib Malik's book.
 
Imad Wasim should be treated as the "backup All Rounder" for Fahim & Shadab. If anyone among these 2 stops performing or gets injured (God forbid) then just put Imad Wasim or Amir Yamin on their place.

In the presence of Fahim & Shadab, I dont think that Imad or Nawaz has any place in the playing 11.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

The Bald Eagle
Shaheen Shah Afridi leads PSL X team of the tournament [Update@post#12]
Replies
17
Views
987
Rana
Rana
MenInG
[PICTURES] Faheem Ashraf returns to the fold - but will FA 2.0 be any better than before?
Replies
41
Views
1K
DeadlyVenom
D
mominsaigol
Pakistan's ICC Champions Trophy Squads: A comparison of 2017 vs 2025
Replies
15
Views
998
RizwanT20Champ
R
BouncerGuy
"Money is a good motivator; if you are paid well, you will travel anywhere": Imad Wasim
Replies
25
Views
1K
ali_ed2006
A
RyanRyan10
Is it time for Pakistan to prioritize pace bowling all-rounders over spin bowling all-rounders?
Replies
17
Views
906
RedwoodOriginal
RedwoodOriginal
Back
Top