What's new

Worrying mistakes in our match strategy in the T20I game against England

Joined
Mar 19, 2016
Runs
57
My analysis on our mistakes:

1) We only played 5 bowlers, there is always a risk that one of the bowlers will have a bad day, match winning sides always have 6 plus bowling options!

2) Your premium bowler bowls the final match winning over, not Ashraf - issue linked to point 1

3) At minimum we need 5 solid bowling options - Ashraf for me is a 6th bowler. 4 premier fast bowlers are a must! I’d rather have M Amir instead of him who can be a match winning performer and also can bat.

Other issues:
1) Poor communication between Hasan and Shaheen for a match winning catch

2) Asif Ali run out - poor decision which again meant we were short of runs

Plus points:
1) Hasnain looks lethal - hugely excited for his future
2) Babar and Harris in good form
3) Imad was is in good bowling form and is a useful hitter at the end of the innings!!
 
I wouldn’t read too much into this since this was a T20 game but here is what I think we need to work on:

1. Pushing the accelerator when we are on top and making sure the opposition stays down. We had 8 wickets in hand and we were not pushing for bigger hits. This allowed England to bowl one or two good overs and come back.

2. Middle and lower order really need to be smart and develop some situational awareness. The way Asif got out was amateurish and really really weak. Babar azam also could have Been more alert.

3. Fielding definitely needs to improve here. A few midfields here and there can allow stronger oppositions to come back into the game and we saw that today.

There were more positive today than negatives with an eye on the World Cup. Babar and harris are handling the responsibility of carrying the team well. Faheem showed he is capable of big hitting as we all knew. He just needs to be more consistent and perhaps a bit better with his shot selection and he can be a great late order hitter for us.

The bowlers all did well, barring a noball here and there. In T20s they all go for runs so I won’t worry about it too much. We have a good bowling attack. The guys just need to handle pressure situations well and that will come with experience.
 
Cant look too much into it as the mind was already on the ODIs.

Otherwise PAK never goes with only 5 bowling options and just 1 spinner.

Amir should have played over Imam.
 
I wouldn’t read too much into this since this was a T20 game

Going into the World Cup on a high is key, we are also the #1 t20 side so this game in both respects for me was important. Ashraf for me at the moment is not a scary enough 4th fast bowler option. We need lethal bowlers like Hasnain.
 
I wouldn’t read too much into this since this was a T20 game but here is what I think we need to work on:

1. Pushing the accelerator when we are on top and making sure the opposition stays down. We had 8 wickets in hand and we were not pushing for bigger hits. This allowed England to bowl one or two good overs and come back.

2. Middle and lower order really need to be smart and develop some situational awareness. The way Asif got out was amateurish and really really weak. Babar azam also could have Been more alert.

3. Fielding definitely needs to improve here. A few midfields here and there can allow stronger oppositions to come back into the game and we saw that today.

There were more positive today than negatives with an eye on the World Cup. Babar and harris are handling the responsibility of carrying the team well. Faheem showed he is capable of big hitting as we all knew. He just needs to be more consistent and perhaps a bit better with his shot selection and he can be a great late order hitter for us.

The bowlers all did well, barring a noball here and there. In T20s they all go for runs so I won’t worry about it too much. We have a good bowling attack. The guys just need to handle pressure situations well and that will come with experience.

Very well said..
T20 is a game of small margins and one over can change the game... our fielding was below par and we lost wickets are crucial times otherwise we could have scored close to 200 and then it’s a different game altogether.

Still dumbfounded with Yasir Shah’s selection.... a complete waste of spot which could have been used to blood in a young spinner.
 
Faheem was the right choice for last over. No one was defending 6 and needed to kill it immediately.
 
Asif Ali has no place in any Pak team in any format. Mohd Amir is a better bowler and batsman than Faheem Ashraf. Imam UL Haq should not play T20s and should be replaced by the very useful player Shadab who we missed in bowling and fielding.
 
Faheem is the best we have under the circumstances... I have a feeling he will come good in the World Cup
 
Biggest mistake, your bowling lineup had two 19 year olds both of whom are a bit wayward and prone to getting smashed. Then there is a misfiring Hasan Ali and I don't know where to classify Faheem Ashraf (but but that hairstyle tho). All the while you had Amir and Junaid warming the bench.


Mashallah
 
Faheem is the best we have under the circumstances... I have a feeling he will come good in the World Cup

Faheem can't be any good. He's is simply one dimensional bowler who always rely on one length. Doesn't have any variation waiting for seem movement.
 
Faheem can't be any good. He's is simply one dimensional bowler who always rely on one length. Doesn't have any variation waiting for seem movement.

Hardly got any seam movement today.... is garbage
 
He can bat .. he does have the ability to hit.. and he can bowl.. he is the closest thing to a pace bowling all rounder we have. And with our brittle batting we need two such players in the lineup. Do you want to play a genuine bowler and have a long tail?

It’s a compromise.. not a best solution but with some work and investment it can pay off.
 
He can bat .. he does have the ability to hit.. and he can bowl.. he is the closest thing to a pace bowling all rounder we have. And with our brittle batting we need two such players in the lineup. Do you want to play a genuine bowler and have a long tail?

It’s a compromise.. not a best solution but with some work and investment it can pay off.

I expected better from you Stewie saab :(
 
The biggest mistake was made on the toss when Pakistan decided to bat first. It was a fairly easy pitch but Pakistan always bat too conservatively when they bat first, and they were about 15 runs short of a target which would really test England.
 
Bhai better option koi aur hai to bata do... Anwar ali? Bilalwal bhatti?

Let’s be realistic.. that’s all :)

If we're being realistic here we should first realise that Faheem is NOT an all rounder.

He easily gets replaced by Amir.
 
To be really frank, the thing Pakistan need to worry about is that this is technically England's second string XI. They were missing their core from the LOI sides. Buttler, Bairstow, Stokes, Roy, Moeen, Woakes etc and still the contest was one-sided.
 
I think we made a tactical mistake by playing Imam instead of an extra bowler. Sarfraz didnt even bat and could have easily come at no 3 or no 4 and we could have strengthened our bowling that way too.
 
Shaheen and Hasnian need either of Amir or Junaid as a senior to help guide during the tough situations in a game. You can’t just throw two 19 years old in today’s ruthless arena and expect them to do wonders.
 
To be really frank, the thing Pakistan need to worry about is that this is technically England's second string XI. They were missing their core from the LOI sides. Buttler, Bairstow, Stokes, Roy, Moeen, Woakes etc and still the contest was one-sided.

How was it one sided? I'd agree if England chased it down within 17 overs but it went to the last over and anything can happen in the last over.
 
If we're being realistic here we should first realise that Faheem is NOT an all rounder.

He easily gets replaced by Amir.

Brother I am having a hard time getting through to you. Faheem plays as an all rounder. I can understand if you say he is a poor all rounder.. debatable but understandable. Point is he is the best option we have. Unless you are considering amir an all rounder, you are comparing apples and oranges.

Teams have to have something called a balance. Yes I would love to stack the team with five genuine pacers or four genuine pacers but thst will only work if we have 5 proper genuine bats averaging over 50 and a keeper who averages the same. Unfortunately it’s not happening. People who gripe about faheem don’t realize all teams field a player like faheem whether it pays off or not. Unfortunately that’s how cricket is. If we get a better option, by all means replace him.
 
Brother I am having a hard time getting through to you. Faheem plays as an all rounder. I can understand if you say he is a poor all rounder.. debatable but understandable. Point is he is the best option we have. Unless you are considering amir an all rounder, you are comparing apples and oranges.

Teams have to have something called a balance. Yes I would love to stack the team with five genuine pacers or four genuine pacers but thst will only work if we have 5 proper genuine bats averaging over 50 and a keeper who averages the same. Unfortunately it’s not happening. People who gripe about faheem don’t realize all teams field a player like faheem whether it pays off or not. Unfortunately that’s how cricket is. If we get a better option, by all means replace him.

Meri jaan, just because Faheem Ashraf plays as an all rounder it doesn't make him an all rounder.

Please have a look at Faheem Ashrafs batting stats and then come back and tell me whether he's an all rounder.
 
Meri jaan, just because Faheem Ashraf plays as an all rounder it doesn't make him an all rounder.

Please have a look at Faheem Ashrafs batting stats and then come back and tell me whether he's an all rounder.

So what would you do?
 
1) We cannot afford both Faheem and Hassan, they are both run machines. I would replace Faheem with Shadab when he is fit and keep Hassan for now but watch his performance real close. As far as I know Hassan is marginally both a better batsman and bowler than Faheem.

2) Hafeez comes back in place of Imam when he is fit.

3) Amir replaces Hasnain as he is too raw at the moment. However if Hassan Ali still continues his poor performance then Hasnain stays and Amir comes in for Hassan.

My T20 side:

Fakhar
Babar
Haris
Sarfaraz
Hafeez
Imad
Asif
Hassan Ali
Shadab
Amir
Shaheen
 
How was it one sided? I'd agree if England chased it down within 17 overs but it went to the last over and anything can happen in the last over.

It was a one-sided game. You cannot go by the number of overs they took. There wasn't a NRR situation here. They just took time. They just lost 3 wickets and won it with 4 balls to spare comfortably. If they needed to score quick like a World tournament where NRR comes into play, they would have done that. Here they wanted to win the game which they did by 7 wickets. That is a huge margin whichever way to look at it. Pakistan were playing their first choice side but England were playing without their major players and still won the game by 7 wickets. It is nothing to do with strategy, Pakistan bowling wasn't good enough with your spearhead going for 42 in 4 overs.
 
It was a one-sided game. You cannot go by the number of overs they took. There wasn't a NRR situation here. They just took time. They just lost 3 wickets and won it with 4 balls to spare comfortably. If they needed to score quick like a World tournament where NRR comes into play, they would have done that. Here they wanted to win the game which they did by 7 wickets. That is a huge margin whichever way to look at it. Pakistan were playing their first choice side but England were playing without their major players and still won the game by 7 wickets. It is nothing to do with strategy, Pakistan bowling wasn't good enough with your spearhead going for 42 in 4 overs.

It was a matter of 1 wicket and a few tight overs, we missed Shadab in the middle overs. We went into with no spinner, Imad isn't a spinner more of a darter, not one sided at all.

Pakistan were not playing their first choice either.

Haris Sohail, Imam Ul Haq & Mohammad Hasnain do not make our first choice XI.
 
To be really frank, the thing Pakistan need to worry about is that this is technically England's second string XI. They were missing their core from the LOI sides. Buttler, Bairstow, Stokes, Roy, Moeen, Woakes etc and still the contest was one-sided.

Giri if you assess the top 4, Pakistan was playing Imam and Harris, and although the former scored some runs, it is still pretty clear that this wasn't our regular T20 top 4, England had Morgan and Root in the top 4 as well, and we never got down to their second string batters apart from duckett and denly.

As far as bowling worries go, I have always maintained that we need the right balance, Hasan and Shaheen are enforcers but since they are young, they can also leak runs, that is why Amir should be in the 11 he gives us that cushion. Absence of a spinner (Shaddy) also dented the edge that our attack generally has in the form of variety. Faheem's bowling form looked bad, I am hoping that he can adjust in time for the WC. He is a really good bowler in terms of defensive skills.

My XI for WC
Fakhar
Babar
Harris (needs to improve his fielding,but I would still give him a nod over Imam)
Sarfaraz
Shadab (Floater)
Hafeez
Immad
Faheem
Amir
Hasan
Shaheen

This side has a great bowling cushion in the form of Faheem/Harris/Immad/Hafeez. In these batting conditions, we are gonna need more options. Since all the bowlers can bat, batting depth is not much of a worry. Tail enders generally tend to bat well in truer batting conditions, so batting isn't going to be a worry. The scores that we get would depend on how well Fakhar and Babar bat, these 2 are going to be pivotal for us.
 
It was a matter of 1 wicket and a few tight overs, we missed Shadab in the middle overs. We went into with no spinner, Imad isn't a spinner more of a darter, not one sided at all.

Pakistan were not playing their first choice either.

Haris Sohail, Imam Ul Haq & Mohammad Hasnain do not make our first choice XI.

Aren't they in your WC squad? So obviously they are going to play. England are playing players who are not even in their WC squad. There is a difference. They will do the same in the ODIs as well, good chance for Pakistan to notch up a win in England.
 
Amir in for Faheem
Shinwari in for Junaid

You are talking about the whole squad or the playing eleven? If you are talking about playing eleven then you have just extended your tail. Amir, shinwari, hasan, Afridi. You want Amir to come in at 8 in the World Cup?
You know who bats at number 8 for other teams? Moin for England and Jadeja for India.
That’s the balance I was talking about..in theory it sounds great to play so many front line bowlers but it destroys the balance of the team. Hamarey pass waisey bhi Aadhey pehelwaan batsmen hein.. you need the cushion of having someone who can bat till 10 if possible.
 
Biggest mistake, your bowling lineup had two 19 year olds both of whom are a bit wayward and prone to getting smashed. Then there is a misfiring Hasan Ali and I don't know where to classify Faheem Ashraf (but but that hairstyle tho). All the while you had Amir and Junaid warming the bench.


Mashallah

Since when is Shaheen wayward ? Hasnain bowled fine too...

Amir should've played ahead of Fahim
 
Its a start of the season T20 match....dont read too much....as a neutral i feel you guys are laying into your side in spadefuls....i still feel pak has an awesome ICC record in tourney's in the UK and is capable of going long in the tournament.....i do feel this bowling attack is world class and will cause big damage...cmon hve faith in your guys...cheers
 
175 is less than par score in England , I think Pak was at least 15 runs short
 
Brother I am having a hard time getting through to you. Faheem plays as an all rounder. I can understand if you say he is a poor all rounder.. debatable but understandable. Point is he is the best option we have. Unless you are considering amir an all rounder, you are comparing apples and oranges.

Teams have to have something called a balance. Yes I would love to stack the team with five genuine pacers or four genuine pacers but thst will only work if we have 5 proper genuine bats averaging over 50 and a keeper who averages the same. Unfortunately it’s not happening. People who gripe about faheem don’t realize all teams field a player like faheem whether it pays off or not. Unfortunately that’s how cricket is. If we get a better option, by all means replace him.

I have read all your posts and I completely understand where you're coming from . . Unfortunately, with or without Faheem, the output is the same . . your tail is just as long . .

Let's look at it another way:

Faheems competition isn't Amir, Hasan, shaheen, hasnain or Junaid . . they are out and out fast bowlers . .
Faheems competition is Shadab and Imad . .

We have to go in with 3 fast bowlers in the world cup . . your best 3 fast bowlers . .bowlers who will giev you value . . not wickets . . you can see yourself faheem's record as a fast bowler . . he will get hammered . . . now can Faheem get in to the side as our top 3 fast bowler? No!

Now let's look at his competition . . Shadab, Imad and Faheem . . Shadab we need cuz of his spin bowling . . and obviosuly batting as well (albeit he isn't that great in ODI but I hear he has been improving recently in the nets)
Imad has out batted all of them recently and is a steady bowler . . who won't give you too many wickets but he will control it . .

Now with Shadab out . . you dont have a spinner . . so either you drop a fast bowler and play Yasir . . or you drop a fast bowler to play faheem and play Yasir . . both ways, you're kinda screwed!

So when you look at your team . . you have:

8. Spinner (only Yasir available)
9. Fast bowler
10. Fast bowler
11. Fast bowler

Having said all the above . . where does it leave Faheem?

Unfortunately, there is no space for him in this side . . only way I can see him play is if we get a green top and rainy conditions where you can drop a shadab or Imad and play Faheem instead . .
 
It was inexperience in bowling in last 4 overs

You are spot on.
To give an example, Hussain bowled some exceptional, fast Yorkers but needed to change it up...
He bowled three in a row which went for no runs and then the fourth was swept by Root...
That’s where experience comes into it...

This is all a good learning curve for our bowlers..
 
Aren't they in your WC squad? So obviously they are going to play. England are playing players who are not even in their WC squad. There is a difference. They will do the same in the ODIs as well, good chance for Pakistan to notch up a win in England.

Yes but the World Cup is a 50 over tournament.....
 
You are talking about the whole squad or the playing eleven? If you are talking about playing eleven then you have just extended your tail. Amir, shinwari, hasan, Afridi. You want Amir to come in at 8 in the World Cup?
You know who bats at number 8 for other teams? Moin for England and Jadeja for India.
That’s the balance I was talking about..in theory it sounds great to play so many front line bowlers but it destroys the balance of the team. Hamarey pass waisey bhi Aadhey pehelwaan batsmen hein.. you need the cushion of having someone who can bat till 10 if possible.

And you think Faheem is the solution for the number 8? Somebody who has a worse batting average than Amir?

I'm talking about the 15 BTW, in the 15 Amir comes in for Faheem and Usman for Junaid.

In the XI

Imad at 7
Shadab at 8
Hasan at 9
Amir at 10
Shaheen at 11

You have batting till 10.
 
Last edited:
175 is less than par score in England , I think Pak was at least 15 runs short

Which is why I said the biggest mistake was winning the toss. You can guarantee when Pakistan is setting a total they will set the bar low and go safety first. They will do the same in the world cup. Sarfraz will have been giggling with delight at scoring 173 thinking what a great job we have done. Then he will look like a puzzled chimp as the England team comfortably chase it down.
 
Which is why I said the biggest mistake was winning the toss. You can guarantee when Pakistan is setting a total they will set the bar low and go safety first. They will do the same in the world cup. Sarfraz will have been giggling with delight at scoring 173 thinking what a great job we have done. Then he will look like a puzzled chimp as the England team comfortably chase it down.

India is no different , too content getting to 300+ when even 350 is not safe on most English grounds . England would have messed up badly if they dont win this time , they are playing at a different level to every other team .
 
My analysis on our mistakes:

1) We only played 5 bowlers, there is always a risk that one of the bowlers will have a bad day, match winning sides always have 6 plus bowling options!

2) Your premium bowler bowls the final match winning over, not Ashraf - issue linked to point 1

3) At minimum we need 5 solid bowling options - Ashraf for me is a 6th bowler. 4 premier fast bowlers are a must! I’d rather have M Amir instead of him who can be a match winning performer and also can bat.

Other issues:
1) Poor communication between Hasan and Shaheen for a match winning catch

2) Asif Ali run out - poor decision which again meant we were short of runs

Plus points:
1) Hasnain looks lethal - hugely excited for his future
2) Babar and Harris in good form
3) Imad was is in good bowling form and is a useful hitter at the end of the innings!!

Also I think our quicks bowled good Yorkers, the short straight boundary made the margin for error even smaller, but on a normal size boundary, that bowling will do great.
We shouldn't be deterred from the way we bowled.

Also faheem had to bowl last because we needed to take the game deep with our better bowlers trying to get Morgan out.
Absolutely the right strategy
 
Through out bits and pieces player Fahim Ashraf and bring in Mohammad Amir for WC 2019 squad.
4 Frontline pacers are must in English conditios.

Bowling unit must be,

Shaheen Shah Afridi
Mohammad Hasnain
Mohammad Amir
Junaid Khan
Hasan Ali
Shadab Khan
Imad Wasim
 
A one-off T20 should not be given too much importance. Considering, the upcoming ODI series and world cup, this T20 was nothing but a glorified side match.
 
The game was lost in that little stutter after Sohail and Azam both got out in quick succession.
 
its the the last few overs of batting which cost us. saw bit of that in the australia odi series as well/.
 
a big plus I saw in the bowling was yorkers hasan, hasnain and shaheen all bowled good yorkers. Fahim is a garbage bowler
 
I don't know why captain and management has so much trust on Faheem. No doubt guy has been doing quite well in bowling department but we should not forget that he is not the first choice bowler for us. Bowling the second last over of the match was surprising for me.It clearly shows lack of planning in the middle from skipper.

Also, Imad as usual was the best in terms of economy, not because he was accurate, but most of the England batsmen were new to the International standard of spin. This was a golden opportunity for Skipper to get some economical overs done from Harris Sohail. Again clueless in game awareness.

Skipper didn't come to bat as he also know he can't hit the ball out of the park which is required in last 5 overs. But hiding from the situation is never gonna help him, instead will create the negativity in the dressing room. He must realise that despite of having limit shot in the book, he can be a handy batsmen at top of the order. He can easily drop Imam from playing 11 and can promote himself at No. 3 position in T20's.

Also, we are unfortunate to have guys like Asif Ali in the team who doesn't know how construct the inning.I felt he was confused between when to hit and when to defend. Meaning thereby, the guy lacks professionalism and presence of mind.
 
Back
Top