Worst Pakistani team to play in a World Cup

[Obstructing_the_field]

Has to be 2007....
openers were Haffez (hahaha) and Imran NAzir
Younus Khan... never a good LOI player
Mo Yo.. only decent batsmen
Inzi (waaaaaaaaaaaaay past his best)
Azhar Mehmood (past his xpirey date as cricketer)
k akmal (was good youngster, xcellent at tht time)
U Gull (naaaah)
Sami (always bottom tier)
Rao Ifthikhar (well.....)
Shaoib Malik (na teetar na bater)

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Keep saying how overrated this team is. It's hilarious when Pakistanis say this team had any chance. Look at the squads of other teams like Australia, South Africa etc. Even the only player in form (MoYo) was a huge choker.

 

[Syed1]

I think the 2015 side was pretty poor. It was just a paid vacation for all the oldies and TTFs. Not one single player inspired any sort of confidence. Wahab vs Australia was the only performance of note. Harry Sohail looked good in patches. That's about it.

 

[Pete Rose]

The 92 team. Far more inexperienced than any team of past and future for Pakistan

 

[Syed1]

The 92 team. Far more inexperienced than any team of past and future for Pakistan

2015 side:

Hafeez/Jamshed/YK/Sarfaraz
Shehzad
Haris
Misbah
Umar Akmal
Maqsood
Afridi
Wahab
Ehsan Adil
Sohail Khan
Rahat Ali




You mean to tell me a team comprising of Javed Maindad, Imran Khan, Mustaq Ahmed, Wasim Akram, Inzimam-ul Haq and company was worse than the side I listed above?

 

[Obstructing_the_field]

The 92 team. Far more inexperienced than any team of past and future for Pakistan

the bowling attack was far far far far far more superior in 92 than 2007 ... and batting wise as well... javed beat his age which inzi couldnt... then inzi played a far superior role than anyother 2007 guys esp in crunch games... and Aamir sohail showed he was international team material... Mushi was phenominal with Akram and Aqib def gr8z @ tht time... soo... no

 

[Pete Rose]

2015 side:

Hafeez/Jamshed/YK/Sarfaraz
Shehzad
Haris
Misbah
Umar Akmal
Maqsood
Afridi
Wahab
Ehsan Adil
Sohail Khan
Rahat Ali




You mean to tell me a team comprising of Javed Maindad, Imran Khan, Mustaq Ahmed, Wasim Akram, Inzimam-ul Haq and company was worse than the side I listed above?

Talking about the reputation of those players at that time. Wasim was the only star. Javed was last minute selection. Imran had knee injections throughout.

 

[Pete Rose]

the bowling attack was far far far far far more superior in 92 than 2007 ... and batting wise as well... javed beat his age which inzi couldnt... then inzi played a far superior role than anyother 2007 guys esp in crunch games... and Aamir sohail showed he was international team material... Mushi was phenominal with Akram and Aqib def gr8z @ tht time... soo... no

Again, it's based on what those players were at that time. Inzi was a nobody, sohail as well. Imran and Javed both had back and knee injections throughout to play. Wasim was the only.
It's a bit of contrarian logic, but Pakistan's win in that tournament certainly wasn't built on how seasoned their players were.

 

[Obstructing_the_field]

Again, it's based on what those players were at that time. Inzi was a nobody, sohail as well. Imran and Javed both had back and knee injections throughout to play. Wasim was the only.
It's a bit of contrarian logic, but Pakistan's win in that tournament certainly wasn't built on how seasoned their players were.

atleast they were based on proper talent rather than friendships and boot-lickings....

 

[MMHS]

I think it's very close between 1983 & 2015, followed by 2007.

 

[Markhor]

2015 WC team was grim. We made batting look a struggle nearly every game.

2003 team was way past its prime and we underachieved in every game, our batting limped to 250 against Holland and Namibia in a very unconvincing manner.

2007 team was flawed but you can't tell me it wasn't good enough to get out of a group containing West Indies, Ireland and Zimbabwe - it'll always remain a black mark on that team.

 

[Arsalan Pro]

2007 and 2015.

 

[IMMY69]

Talking about the reputation of those players at that time. Wasim was the only star. Javed was last minute selection. Imran had knee injections throughout.

Shoulder injections. But yes in the twilight of his career.

and I do agree with you.

Inzamam was inzaman or was it inzamam..
Either way, he'd played less then ten or so odi's prior to the worldcup.

Mushtaq was young and a non entity (a poor Qadir imitation) until that worldcup...

Sikandar and wasim Haider... who?

Salim Malik was experienced but known for being useless in Australia plus out of form going into the tourney.

Ijaz Ahmed was another who was totally out of form and was played as an all rounder

Amer Sohail was inexperienced and hadn't played outside of Asia.

On paper, I'd say 1992 was one of the worst squads we've had.

With Imran injured and barely able to bowl, Waqar missing completely our bowling side was heavily reliant on Wasim and only Wasim.

Thank goodness Aaqib Jarvis got his outswingers going and the white seam was hard to pick up Mushie's googlies

 

[Pete Rose]

Shoulder injections. But yes in the twilight of his career.

and I do agree with you.

Inzamam was inzaman or was it inzamam..
Either way, he'd played less then ten or so odi's prior to the worldcup.

Mushtaq was young and a non entity (a poor Qadir imitation) until that worldcup...

Sikandar and wasim Haider... who?

Salim Malik was experienced but known for being useless in Australia plus out of form going into the tourney.

Ijaz Ahmed was another who was totally out of form and was played as an all rounder

Amer Sohail was inexperienced and hadn't played outside of Asia.

On paper, I'd say 1992 was one of the worst squads we've had.

With Imran injured and barely able to bowl, Waqar missing completely our bowling side was heavily reliant on Wasim and only Wasim.

Thank goodness Aaqib Jarvis got his outswingers going and the white seam was hard to pick up Mushie's googlies

Yeah, that's what I was getting at. The 92 squad were a lot of nobodies and over the hill players. We don't see that squad in this light because (a) they won the tournament and (b) a lot of those young nobodies became big stars later.

 

[super hitter]

Has to be 2007....
openers were Haffez (hahaha) and Imran NAzir
Younus Khan... never a good LOI player
Mo Yo.. only decent batsmen
Inzi (waaaaaaaaaaaaay past his best)
Azhar Mehmood (past his xpirey date as cricketer)
k akmal (was good youngster, xcellent at tht time)
U Gull (naaaah)
Sami (always bottom tier)
Rao Ifthikhar (well.....)
Shaoib Malik (na teetar na bater)

same as my opinion until this...look down ...btw, Yousuf was decent? .I guess Malik was the only performer, don't really remember though

I think the 2015 side was pretty poor. It was just a paid vacation for all the oldies and TTFs. Not one single player inspired any sort of confidence. Wahab vs Australia was the only performance of note. Harry Sohail looked good in patches. That's about it.

Hafeez/Jamshed/YK/Sarfaraz Shehzad Haris Misbah Umar Akmal Maqsood Afridi Wahab Ehsan Adil Sohail Khan Rahat Ali - See more at: http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...m-to-play-in-a-World-Cup#sthash.EzQdL88u.dpuf

you forgot to mention the likes of the legend Yasir Shah and legend Nasir Jamshed who was preferred ove the ttf malik.

 

[Hasan123]

2015 was an awful team.

 

[A.A.Z]

The 2007 team gave our worst showing, but the 2015 team was weaker.

In 2007 we had a very strong batting line-up, which had done well in England, India, Australia, and West Indies in the preceding 2 years. Younis might might have had a below par odi career, but he was a gun odi player between 2006 and 2008 and the main architect of our successful run chases. Yousuf was very good, Inzi was old but still a clutch player, and Malik was going through the best period of his career often doing remarkably well at no. 3. Nazir was exactly the kind of player we needed at the top of the order, he was much better than someone like Sharjeel. Kamran was also going through the best period of his career and was considered to be one of the best wicketkeeper batsmen in the world, he was no Gilchrist of course. In Woolmer we had one of the most formidable coaches in world cricket.

Our bowling was over-reliant on Akhtar and Asif, who cost us dearly. The likes of Rao Iftikhar and Sexy Rana, with his hips sticking out as he ran into bowl, were just not good enough. They were run containers, not wicket-takers, but as India showed in Loi's back then, as long as the bowlers didn't concede too many and the batting was good enough you could succeed. Ultimately we failed terribly.

Before the 2015 World Cup, Team Misbah won the 2012 Asia Cup, won in India, won in South Africa, and reached the 2014 Asia Cup final. We were a terrible batting team, incapable of scoring. But, we had a ridiculously strong bowling line-up with Hafeez and Ajmal's suspect actions. No team could get away from us with a score too big. Losing them before the World Cup rendered our attack impotent.

Our pacers bowled bravely and single-handedly helped us reach the quarters, with a vintage bowling performance against South Africa, and made a match of the quarter itself. But, our batting was so abysmal it cannot be put into words. Misbah played at a very slow rate, but given the lack of batting ability around him there wasn't much he could do. Reaching the quarters was admirable, but this was a team incapable of even reaching 250, in a world cup with multiple 400+ scores, apart from the game against the mighty UAE. The 2015 team did not even belong in the world cup, specifically the batsmen.

 

[Pakpak]

(a) they won the tournament and (b) a lot of those young nobodies became big stars later.

Which by definition makes them a better squad. A lot of 2015 stayed nobodies and the TTFs among them did nothing of note. While 92 squad the nobodies became stars and the oldies, IK, performed well. So its the group that had the ability to become stars was a much more talented and better squad.

 

[IMMY69]

Which by definition makes them a better squad. A lot of 2015 stayed nobodies and the TTFs among them did nothing of note. While 92 squad the nobodies became stars and the oldies, IK, performed well. So its the group that had the ability to become stars was a much more talented and better squad.

Talented and better, yes perhaps.
But not as experienced as some would like to think.

 

[Pakpak]

Talented and better, yes perhaps.
But not as experienced as some would like to think.

The OP is about talented and better, not experience. A squad that won the title and later on the inexperienced bunch of that squad reached stardom, regardless of what people thought about it at the time, is obviously better than the one that not only failed miserably but also failed to produce a single star.

 

[IMMY69]

The OP is about talented and better, not experience. A squad that won the title and later on the inexperienced bunch of that squad reached stardom, regardless of what people thought about it at the time, is obviously better than the one that not only failed miserably but also failed to produce a single star.

Missing the irony

 

[Pakpak]

Missing the irony

Atleast not missing the point of the thread.

 

[Adil_94]

2015 WC team was worse.

 

[Justcrazy]

2015 WC Team was poorest Pakistan had.

In 2007 , Razzak and Afridi were injured.

 

[Sarfarazian92]

The 2015 team was the worst, easily.

We had an opener who hadn't done anything of note since early 2013.

Our second opener was, according to stats, one of the most defensive openers in ODIs post 2000.

One of the worst ODI bats in the world at that time, Rondu Khan, was our #3 and somehow managed to open against India as well.

In Maqsood and Akmal we had two batsman who had no clue how to pace an innings; they still don't.

There was no proven or on form specialist spinner in our side. That was the nail in the coffin because the rare victory or two we used to get vs top sides was because of our spinners. Afridi's bowling was on the decline, Yasir didn't even have 10 ODIs to his name, Ajmal and Hafeez were banned.

Our pace attack included Rahat Ali, who was considered a bowler limited to Test Cricket. Irfan shouldn't have been expected to last the entire tournament in the first place. Sohail Khan eventually did well, but he came into the tournament having played his last ODI in the summer of 2011 and was seen as a left-field selection for the WC. Ehsan Adil, like Rahat Ali, barely had any experience of ODI cricket prior to 2015 and his best domestic performances were in FC cricket, not List-A. Wahab Riaz, our most senior pacemen, ended the tournament as Pakistan's best player, but coming into the tournament, he was considered inconsistent and was a run-machine (still is).

Pakistan's 12 ODIs before the WC consisted of two wins. 8 of those matches were in the UAE, and our 2 wins were against a second string NZ side at home.

I doubt any other Pakistani side had so much going against them heading into a WC.

 

[coy0607]

quiet frankly all the teams after 99 have been awful

07, 11, 15 were awful, 03 is slight better but thats mostly has-beens too

 

[MMHS]

That 1983 team had Rashid Khan & Shahid Mehboob as opening bowler, while Imran played as specialist bat. Most of the stars were at their last mile, while hardly any of the younger players had long career after that WC. It was not that good team, but they had ENG, NZ & SRL in their group - lost 3 matches to ENG (2) & WI comprehensively, while lost once against NZ. But, NZ also lost one match to SRL, which landed PAK - NZ in last match for a KO (or wash out - Kiwis had 3 wins, PAK 2 till then). Imran played a match winning innings (Zaheer got a hundred as well - they put unbeaten ~150 ...) & Kiwis lost a tight match.

PAK made the SF on equal points with Kiwis, but at better run rate (Those days, they used to calculate Run Rate, not Net Run Rate - otherwise probably Kiwis had the better NRR). The SF against WI was almost a walk over. That has to be the worst PAK team in WC, though over achieved for Imran's leadership & couple of individual brilliance (Qadir being the other one (Defended ~235 in 60 overs match with 5/44 against SRL for a 11 run win).

[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] - you must have seen all 3 teams - 1983, 2007 & 2015. Which one you think is the poorest?

 

[msb314]

On paper - the 2015 team was ok.

It had Shehzad who was in form at the time and Haris was considered a good upcoming batsman good against pace. We had the X factor of Afridi, Maqsood and Akmal. Misbah and YK's presence led to a sense of stability in the middle order in the face of collapse. The biggest let down was Nasir IMO. Sarfraz was also a breath of fresh air.

The 2011 team wasn't that great on paper either even though we had a great WC. Back then - Hafeez was just starting to find his form and Kammy was always inconsistent. Misbah and YK were younger and reliable and Shafiq was just a newbie at the time. Admittedly - Afridi, UA and Razzaq gave us some firepower but all of them had a poor tournament with the bat.

2007 team was good on paper - one of the best we had but failed spectacularly. Same goes for the 2003 team albeit some players were over the hill.

 

[Junaids]

That 1983 team had Rashid Khan & Shahid Mehboob as opening bowler, while Imran played as specialist bat. Most of the stars were at their last mile, while hardly any of the younger players had long career after that WC. It was not that good team, but they had ENG, NZ & SRL in their group - lost 3 matches to ENG (2) & WI comprehensively, while lost once against NZ. But, NZ also lost one match to SRL, which landed PAK - NZ in last match for a KO (or wash out - Kiwis had 3 wins, PAK 2 till then). Imran played a match winning innings (Zaheer got a hundred as well - they put unbeaten ~150 ...) & Kiwis lost a tight match.

PAK made the SF on equal points with Kiwis, but at better run rate (Those days, they used to calculate Run Rate, not Net Run Rate - otherwise probably Kiwis had the better NRR). The SF against WI was almost a walk over. That has to be the worst PAK team in WC, though over achieved for Imran's leadership & couple of individual brilliance (Qadir being the other one (Defended ~235 in 60 overs match with 5/44 against SRL for a 11 run win).

[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] - you must have seen all 3 teams - 1983, 2007 & 2015. Which one you think is the poorest?

2015 was the worst. There was no batting line-up at all.

The 1983 team was a strange creature. They had done quite well on tour in England the previous summer, and then smashed to pieces Australia and India at home, and so they were massively over-rated. As I have written previously, the English "The Cricketer" magazine's cover story before the 1983 World Cup was "Can Pakistan Topple The Champions?"

But the problem was that the bowling entirely consisted of Imran Khan (60% of the attack) and Abdul Qadir (30%) and the rest was just rubbish. And then Imran broke down with stress fractures in his leg......

It was a red ball daylight World Cup, with Test-like conditions, right down to 60 over innings.

But it was still a passable team. Rashid Khan + Shahid Mahboob + Tahir Naqqash was an awful attack, but BS Sandhu, Roger Binny and Madan Lal was pretty similar. And they won the World Cup in combination with the excellent Kapil Dev.

India deserved to win - Madan Lal and Binny used the damp early summer conditions brilliantly. But the two superstars of the 1983 World Cup were actually David Gower with the bat - he was sensational - and Richard Hadlee at his peerless Nottinghamshire best with the ball, who was lethal in English conditions.

 

[Dulex9]

2003 Pakistan had Wasim, Waqur, Akthar, Inzy, Afridi, Razzaq, Anwar, definitely a team good enough to get out of the group stage, so was the 2007 squad.

1996 and 1999 WC squads were very strong, the 96 world cup should have won the WC.

2015 wc squad was the weakest.

 

[silentkiller187]

any campaign since the 99 tournament has been a failure in my eyes, good build ups but the same old has beens always given a free ride.

 

[Nil Dhumrojal]

2019 wc team if they could qualify

 

[Junaids]

2003 Pakistan had Wasim, Waqur, Akthar, Inzy, Afridi, Razzaq, Anwar, definitely a team good enough to get out of the group stage, so was the 2007 squad.

1996 and 1999 WC squads were very strong, the 96 world cup should have won the WC.

2015 wc squad was the weakest.

Sorry, but Wasim, Waqar and Inzamam were miles and miles past their best by 2003.

 

[waleed88]

The 92 team. Far more inexperienced than any team of past and future for Pakistan

They couldn't bat 50 overs, until it was Miandad who was brought only late on in emergency, after the disastrous start for Pakistan... where we were bowled out for 72 in one innings, but thankfully that game got washed out

 

[ask_analyse_act]

2015 team was the weakest of all...

 

[choclate]

2015 side:

Hafeez/Jamshed/YK/Sarfaraz
Shehzad
Haris
Misbah
Umar Akmal
Maqsood
Afridi
Wahab
Ehsan Adil
Sohail Khan
Rahat Ali




You mean to tell me a team comprising of Javed Maindad, Imran Khan, Mustaq Ahmed, Wasim Akram, Inzimam-ul Haq and company was worse than the side I listed above?

lol well said. I think 2015 was the weakest of the lot, 2007 performed badly just like 2003 one. 1999 was the strongest probably that beat Australia in the group game but lost in the finals

 

[choclate]

Sorry, but Wasim, Waqar and Inzamam were miles and miles past their best by 2003.

Inzi was past his best by 2003?? Check his form post 2003 until 2006

 

[choclate]

2007 took a hit because Shoaib Akhtar and Asif got banned (happens to us before every WC, just like 2015 we lost Ajmal and Hafeez who were ranked in top-5 at the time)

 

[IMMY69]

Atleast not missing the point of the thread.

Thread title: Worst Pakistan Team to Play in a World Cup.

IMHO

23rd February 1992 Vs West Indies

Rameez Raja
Amir Sohail - Inexperienced
Inzimam - Inexperienced
Javed Miandad - Over the Hill but still our best
Salim Malik - Out of Form and known for being useless in Australia
Ijaz Ahmed - Out of form and played for his bowling
Wasim Akram - Our Best bowler
Iqbal Sikandar - Who?
Wasim Haider - Who?
Moin Khan - Inexperienced
Aqib Javed - Decent medium/fast away swing bowler

 

[IMMY69]

The 2003 squad was plagued with controversies.

Waqar's leadership was not holding up and we'd come off of a hiding against South Africa.

Anwar, Wasim and Inzy were out of the side before the worldcup only to return just before the tournament.

The squad itself wasn't bad.

Despite Wasim and Waqar coming to the end of their careers, we still put up a decent bowling performance against England, restricting them to 246 and having them at 115 for 5 at one stage.

Battingwise, Anwar was still in decent touch. Inzy and YoYo were approaching their peaks. YK was a decent ODI player in those days.

Razzaq was near his peak, Afridi is Afridi and Akhtar was at his fastest.

Against the Aussies, we have them 4 down for nothing too only for Symonds to run riot.

So all in all the squad wasn't as bad as it is made out to be. We just had too many batsmen under performing and with our usual fielding standards allowing teams to escape.

Even against India, Razzaq failing to take Tendulkar's catch at mid off at the start of the innings....

Honestly, I think it matters not who we select because if we continue to drop catches and bat like rabbits we're not going to finish in the top 6 let alone win a world cup.

 

[Pakpak]

Thread title: Worst Pakistan Team to Play in a World Cup.

IMHO

23rd February 1992 Vs West Indies

Rameez Raja
Amir Sohail - Inexperienced
Inzimam - Inexperienced
Javed Miandad - Over the Hill but still our best
Salim Malik - Out of Form and known for being useless in Australia
Ijaz Ahmed - Out of form and played for his bowling
Wasim Akram - Our Best bowler
Iqbal Sikandar - Who?
Wasim Haider - Who?
Moin Khan - Inexperienced
Aqib Javed - Decent medium/fast away swing bowler

Which is clearly false as we have hindsight now and proven winners can't be called worst.

You can continue writing otherwise, its a free world.

 

[IMMY69]

Which is clearly false as we have hindsight now and proven winners can't be called worst.

You can continue writing otherwise, its a free world.

I'll stop writing now as clearly I'm deluding myself... I suppose it would help if I actually knew what you were trying to say.

 

[Speedster777]

Hafeez, Miabah, Sohail Tanvir, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik