Wont Pakistan's T20 squad be better off if we stopped searching for the so called power hitters?

[golagunda]

Pakistan has tried a lot of so-called power hitters in the t20 squad but all of them have turned out to be glorified sloggers. Awais zia, Asif Ali, Iftikhar, Khushdil Shah and Hussain Talat can all hit an occasional six or two but none of them can do it on a consistent basis. The cupboard also seems rather bare in domestics when it comes to big hitting.

I also don't remember the last time a power hitter helped us reach a big score in t20s. Most of our better scores in the recent past have come on the back of solid performances from batsman like Rizwan, Babar or Hafeez rather than some big hitting cameo. In this situation wouldn't it be better for us to focus on having some sold batsman in the line up rather than look for power hitters that we just dont have?

With the top 4 almost guaranteed to be out of Rizwan, Babar, Haider/Hafeez/Sharjeel/Fakhar, why cant we just have the four alrounders Imad, Shadab, Faheem and Nawaz as our middle order? While none of them are huge hitters, they are all much more solid than the sloggers we have a habit of trying and will help us reach 150-180 scores more often than not. And it is not like we score 200 everyday, power hitting or no power hitting.

Wouldn't it be better if we stopped searching for the elusive power hitters and make use of what we have?

Thoughts?

 

[Savak]

T-20 format is all about power hitting, singles, double's, threes will not help you beyond a certain point. If your opponents hit 10-12 sixes and you hit 1-2, then that is a big problem for you. Pakistan should persist with the power hitters and give them confidence.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

You are generally right — there is no point to a power hitter if they flop 9/10 innings like Asif Ali.

However, the right power hitters need to be invested in. My definition of power hitter has nothing to do with the size of the sixes they hit, but the strike rate which needs to be approx 145-160. Haider Ali is one of them. Azam Khan is another. Iftikhar Ahmed is another (gets a lot of hate when he flops and absolutely zero love when he comes off, like against Australia and New Zealand). Imad and Shadab are also high strike rate players and turn out reliably. Faheem is a general anchor but knows how to hit at the death — has a strike rate of 50 against spin and 150 SR against pace in his T20I career.

Your bar for scores is too low. We should not be looking at 150-180, those totals will almost never be defended. We need to be looking at 170-190 from our batting unit.

1. Babar Azam (c)
2. Mohammad Rizwan (wk)
3. Haider Ali
4. Mohammad Hafeez
5. Shadab Khan
6. Azam Khan
7. Imad Wasim
8. Faheem Ashraf
9. Hassan Ali
10. Mohammad Nawaz / Usman Qadir
11. Shaheen Afridi

This is the lineup I would go with. Note the deep batting order until number 10 with Shaheen able to hit a six or two at 11. That is crucial when setting up a big target and providing a cushion to the power hitters to play freely (mental shift from playing at 150 to a strike rate of 160) and to the anchors to up their strike rates from 130 (Babar’s career strike rate) to 140.

We have a pretty settled T20I team, it’s really just the fact that we were missing Babar in New Zealand and our middle order was injured/on vacation against South Africa that the team combination looks a little weaker than it really is.

I am very certain that the above team would be a handful against any opposition.

 

[Savak]

Pakistan would not have won the last T-20 against South Africa had it not been for the batting depth of Faheem Ashraf, Mohd Nawaz, Hasan Ali. You need power hitters in T-20 cricket

 

[ads101]

I'd just select power hitters in positions where we there aren't any real complete batsmen. Babar, Hafeez, Rizwan are really the only proper batsmen who get into the side anyway. I'd probably just choose Haider and Ifkhitar from the "power hitters".

I think just filling the side with allrounders is a waste. I'd have an allrounder at 7, but none higher than that. And if we play Imad/Fahim with Shadab and Hasan we have guys who can hit anyway. 5 full time bowling options are enough, and while sometimes it feels like these allrounders are better batsmen, they often don't come off and average 10 something. The specialist batsmen will usually outperform them with the bat even if they're not great. I don't think Shadab in the long run is good enough to be a batsman in LOI despite some PSL success, his batting stats are extremely poor in international cricket and is rather slow, he can't hit from ball one, really 7th highest I'd play him.

 

[golagunda]

Pakistan would not have won the last T-20 against South Africa had it not been for the batting depth of Faheem Ashraf, Mohd Nawaz, Hasan Ali. You need power hitters in T-20 cricket

That is what I said in the OP. Faheem and Nawaz are not generally regarded as power hitters but are much more effective than so called power hitters like Asif Ali, Khushdil or Iftikhar. We are just keep giving chances to sloggers based on the size of their hits when people like Faheem, Imad and Nawaz are much more likely to win us matches.

 

[golagunda]

You are generally right — there is no point to a power hitter if they flop 9/10 innings like Asif Ali.

However, the right power hitters need to be invested in. My definition of power hitter has nothing to do with the size of the sixes they hit, but the strike rate which needs to be approx 145-160. Haider Ali is one of them. Azam Khan is another. Iftikhar Ahmed is another (gets a lot of hate when he flops and absolutely zero love when he comes off, like against Australia and New Zealand). Imad and Shadab are also high strike rate players and turn out reliably. Faheem is a general anchor but knows how to hit at the death — has a strike rate of 50 against spin and 150 SR against pace in his T20I career.

Your bar for scores is too low. We should not be looking at 150-180, those totals will almost never be defended. We need to be looking at 170-190 from our batting unit.

1. Babar Azam (c)
2. Mohammad Rizwan (wk)
3. Haider Ali
4. Mohammad Hafeez
5. Shadab Khan
6. Azam Khan
7. Imad Wasim
8. Faheem Ashraf
9. Hassan Ali
10. Mohammad Nawaz / Usman Qadir
11. Shaheen Afridi

This is the lineup I would go with. Note the deep batting order until number 10 with Shaheen able to hit a six or two at 11. That is crucial when setting up a big target and providing a cushion to the power hitters to play freely (mental shift from playing at 150 to a strike rate of 160) and to the anchors to up their strike rates from 130 (Babar’s career strike rate) to 140.

We have a pretty settled T20I team, it’s really just the fact that we were missing Babar in New Zealand and our middle order was injured/on vacation against South Africa that the team combination looks a little weaker than it really is.

I am very certain that the above team would be a handful against any opposition.

Fair enough. I agree that the right power hitters should be invested in. Haider and Azam are both promising because they are proper batsmen who can hit big. I am just not sure about giving repeated chances to people who are specialized sloggers. That will always be a lottery.

 

[golagunda]

I'd just select power hitters in positions where we there aren't any real complete batsmen. Babar, Hafeez, Rizwan are really the only proper batsmen who get into the side anyway. I'd probably just choose Haider and Ifkhitar from the "power hitters".

I think just filling the side with allrounders is a waste. I'd have an allrounder at 7, but none higher than that. And if we play Imad/Fahim with Shadab and Hasan we have guys who can hit anyway. 5 full time bowling options are enough, and while sometimes it feels like these allrounders are better batsmen, they often don't come off and average 10 something. The specialist batsmen will usually outperform them with the bat even if they're not great. I don't think Shadab in the long run is good enough to be a batsman in LOI despite some PSL success, his batting stats are extremely poor in international cricket and is rather slow, he can't hit from ball one, really 7th highest I'd play him.

Generally agree with the idea of not having too many allrounders. Just feel that Imad/Nawaz/Faheem are better than most of our specialized lower order hitters at the moment so might as well play them anyway. Agree that Shadab needs to improve his hitting ability. Also think Nawaz is rather underrated as a batsman.