What's new

Yasir Shah ruled out of Pakistan Tests versus Ireland and England [Update Post #67]

Cricfan321

Debutant
Joined
Aug 31, 2017
Runs
14
Pakistan’s ace spinner, Yasir Shah is set to miss the only Test against Ireland and the two-match Test series against England, for which the team has to leave by the end of this month.

Yasir Shah missed the fitness test scheduled by the Pakistan Cricket Board at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) Lahore due to a groin fracture which he suffered last week. Moreover, Imad Wasim and Sohail Khan also did not appear for the test as they have not recovered from their injuries.

In absence of Yasir Shah, Shadab Khan may have a chance to shine in the longest format of the game as he has done for Pakistan in the limited-overs cricket. Shadab, the second-ranked T20I bowler, made his Test debut against the West Indies last year, however, he seemed a bit immature for the format during his outing.

Centrally contracted players, as well as other players like Shaheen Shah Afridi, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Sahibzada Farhan and Fawad Alam, have also been called for the fitness test.

Pakistan will play a four-day warm-up match against Kent and kick off the official tour with a one-off Test against Ireland on 11 May.

https://arysports.tv/yasir-shah-miss-ireland-england-tests/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Losing Yasir is a massive blow, even though the conditions in May won't be ideal for his bowling. The experience he brings to the team is invaluable for a tough tour.
 
I think this is a blessing in disguise. He is a disaster on overseas pitches unless they are grassless like Lord's and Oval in 2016.

This might not be a popular opinion, but I think Pakistan should consider Nawaz or Imad for the Test team on overseas tours.

Both are better defensive options than Yasir and can bowl tight overs. In addition, they are far better batsmen than him. The problem with Yasir - as we saw in Australia and New Zealand - is that when he is not picking wickets, he gets smashed.

That is the difference him and the likes of Ashwin or Jadeja, who are also dependent on turning tracks, but they are able to bowl tight overs when they are unable to find wickets.

The difference between India's tour of Australia in 2014 and Pakistan's tour of Australia in 2016 was pretty much the difference between the performance of Ashwin and Yasir. Kohli is worth more than our entire batting lineup, but we actually batted better than expected.

However, Ashwin was very economical which allowed India to draw two Tests, but Yasir got smashed into smithereens, ensuring that Pakistan had no chance of drawing a match.

A better defensive spinner instead of Yasir, and Pakistan could have lost that series 1-0 or at worst 2-0. It certainly wouldn't have been a 3-0 whitewash.
 
Well blessing is disguise I think. No need to play spinner. Shadab should play as an all rounder.
 
I think this is a blessing in disguise. He is a disaster on overseas pitches unless they are grassless like Lord's and Oval in 2016.

This might not be a popular opinion, but I think Pakistan should consider Nawaz or Imad for the Test team on overseas tours.

Both are better defensive options than Yasir and can bowl tight overs. In addition, they are far better batsmen than him. The problem with Yasir - as we saw in Australia and New Zealand - is that when he is not picking wickets, he gets smashed.

That is the difference him and the likes of Ashwin or Jadeja, who are also dependent on turning tracks, but they are able to bowl tight overs when they are unable to find wickets.

The difference between India's tour of Australia in 2014 and Pakistan's tour of Australia in 2016 was pretty much the difference between the performance of Ashwin and Yasir. Kohli is worth more than our entire batting lineup, but we actually batted better than expected.

However, Ashwin was very economical which allowed India to draw two Tests, but Yasir got smashed into smithereens, ensuring that Pakistan had no chance of drawing a match.

A better defensive spinner instead of Yasir, and Pakistan could have lost that series 1-0 or at worst 2-0. It certainly wouldn't have been a 3-0 whitewash.

You make a fair point in regards to Yasir's inability to operate as a defensive option. Certainly something he needs to work on and certainly no reason why he cannot improve.

However it is also true that if Yasir had not been there in our last England tour we most certainly would have lost the series rather than come away with a creditable draw. Ashwin as yet has not shown any indication of delivering such a match-defining performance in the SENA region, even if the pitch surprisingly is assisting spinners to an extent. So by that token many people - fans here and experts such as Warne - will still go with Yasir in an overseas tour
 
Play Zafar instead, Shadab isn't ready for test cricket yet and Nawaz would only succeed in UAE.

Imad isn't good enough for test
 
Last edited:
I think this is a blessing in disguise. He is a disaster on overseas pitches unless they are grassless like Lord's and Oval in 2016.

This might not be a popular opinion, but I think Pakistan should consider Nawaz or Imad for the Test team on overseas tours.

Both are better defensive options than Yasir and can bowl tight overs. In addition, they are far better batsmen than him. The problem with Yasir - as we saw in Australia and New Zealand - is that when he is not picking wickets, he gets smashed.

That is the difference him and the likes of Ashwin or Jadeja, who are also dependent on turning tracks, but they are able to bowl tight overs when they are unable to find wickets.

The difference between India's tour of Australia in 2014 and Pakistan's tour of Australia in 2016 was pretty much the difference between the performance of Ashwin and Yasir. Kohli is worth more than our entire batting lineup, but we actually batted better than expected.

However, Ashwin was very economical which allowed India to draw two Tests, but Yasir got smashed into smithereens, ensuring that Pakistan had no chance of drawing a match.

A better defensive spinner instead of Yasir, and Pakistan could have lost that series 1-0 or at worst 2-0. It certainly wouldn't have been a 3-0 whitewash.
I remember you ear marking Zafar as one for the future. You no longer rate him?
 
Blessing? What are you people on about? I don't remember the last test we won without a substantial contribution by Yasir, INCLUDING the two wins we notched up on our last tour to England. Yes he has an issue of getting beat up, but what's the alternative? Shadab isn't a test bowler and trying a new spinner abroad is a horrible idea.
 
I remember you ear marking Zafar as one for the future. You no longer rate him?

Zafar is arguably the most exciting young spinner in the country, but conditions in England in early summer call for a spinner who can make contributions with the bat. He is not a number 11, but he is not as good as Imad or Nawaz either.

I would specially select Imad or Nawaz for overseas tours. In Asia/UAE, Zafar should be our second spinner.
 
You make a fair point in regards to Yasir's inability to operate as a defensive option. Certainly something he needs to work on and certainly no reason why he cannot improve.

However it is also true that if Yasir had not been there in our last England tour we most certainly would have lost the series rather than come away with a creditable draw. Ashwin as yet has not shown any indication of delivering such a match-defining performance in the SENA region, even if the pitch surprisingly is assisting spinners to an extent. So by that token many people - fans here and experts such as Warne - will still go with Yasir in an overseas tour

It has a lot to do with the fact that he is a leg-spinner. Unless you are Shane Warne, it is hard for leg-spinner to be able to bowl well defensively.
 
Zafar is arguably the most exciting young spinner in the country, but conditions in England in early summer call for a spinner who can make contributions with the bat. He is not a number 11, but he is not as good as Imad or Nawaz either.

I would specially select Imad or Nawaz for overseas tours. In Asia/UAE, Zafar should be our second spinner.

specifically*
 
Zafar is arguably the most exciting young spinner in the country, but conditions in England in early summer call for a spinner who can make contributions with the bat. He is not a number 11, but he is not as good as Imad or Nawaz either.

I would specially select Imad or Nawaz for overseas tours. In Asia/UAE, Zafar should be our second spinner.

Imad can’t hold a bat these days. Before he was a classy batsman but now he has transformed into a total hack.
 
Zafar is arguably the most exciting young spinner in the country, but conditions in England in early summer call for a spinner who can make contributions with the bat. He is not a number 11, but he is not as good as Imad or Nawaz either.

Might as well say Shoaib Malik with that line of thinking.
 
Imad can’t hold a bat these days. Before he was a classy batsman but now he has transformed into a total hack.

He has regressed but he can still score some runs. One can expect him to average around 25, which is more than good enough if he can bowl 25-30 tight overs per innings.
 
Might as well say Shoaib Malik with that line of thinking.

In overseas Tests, unless the pitches are dry and grassless, Malik would be the ideal option as a spin-bowling all-rounder batting at number 8. However, he has retired from Tests.

Hafeez is a good choice to, provided that he agrees that he will not chuck at some point in the series to buy a wicket.
 
In overseas Tests, unless the pitches are dry and grassless, Malik would be the ideal option as a spin-bowling all-rounder batting at number 8. However, he has retired from Tests.

Hafeez is a good choice to, provided that he agrees that he will not chuck at some point in the series to buy a wicket.

The one thing I'll agree to here is that Hafeez when not chucking/while not detected to be chucking gave us far, far more stability across all formats than people gave him credit for.
 
I do not think bits and pieces cricketers like Imad or Nawaz are appropriate for Test cricket, that too in England.

I would consider Shadab Khan very seriously, but also Mohammed Irfan (I have been very impressed with his skill set and he seems a very rounded performer).

I think Asghar will also be in consideration. Zafar Gauhar too.
 
Kashif bhatti is in camp and has impressed micky with his rhythm and bowling speed. Bilal Asif and Shadab also being considered.
 
Having watched a lot of cricket at most of the grounds here in England, I doubt there is going to be as much assistance in the early part of the season so this is a good opportunity for Pakistan to a pick a more defensive bowler which is what is really needed. Yasir I doubt would have had much impact and probably ended up getting carted around anyway.

It's also a great opportunity for Pakistan to increase the depth in their batting which is so important with such a frail and inexperienced line up. Would like to see Nawaz or Imad play with the following side:

Azhar Ali
Pick one out of the hat - all useless
Haris Sohail
Salahuddin
Fawad Alam/Shafiq
Babar
Sarfraz
Nawz/Imad
Hasan Ali
Amir
M.Abbas
 
Shadab doesn't have the control required for Test match cricket. He might take wickets but he won't be taking them at an average of 25-30. It would be more like 50 which we can't afford given the brittle batting lineup that we have after the retirements of Misbah and Younis.

Also given that we are playing in the early English summer, spin might not be that important anyways. Might as well bring in someone who can bowl decently but can give you 35 runs on average. I'm not sure we have decent batsmen that can bowl a good line and length as well. Nawaz is the closest I can think of right now. But he might be a walking wicket in the seaming conditions.
 
Shadab is likely to suffer from the same weaknesses as Yasir in non-spinning conditions. He is prone to getting whacked, and he does not have enough control to bowl economical spells unless he is able to take wickets.

He has a Test future, but only after Yasir retires in a few years.

Shadab can possibly return with the following figures in England in May:

25-3-110-2

While Imad/Nawaz might give you:

25-6-80-1

Shadab might take a wicket or two more, or score 10-15 extra runs on average, but it will be difficult for him to keep is economy rate below 4 on green pitches.

Considering all factors, I think that Imad/Nawaz edge Shadab for the upcoming England series.
 
Shadab is likely to suffer from the same weaknesses as Yasir in non-spinning conditions. He is prone to getting whacked, and he does not have enough control to bowl economical spells unless he is able to take wickets.

He has a Test future, but only after Yasir retires in a few years.

Shadab can possibly return with the following figures in England in May:

25-3-110-2

While Imad/Nawaz might give you:

25-6-80-1

Shadab might take a wicket or two more, or score 10-15 extra runs on average, but it will be difficult for him to keep is economy rate below 4 on green pitches.

Considering all factors, I think that Imad/Nawaz edge Shadab for the upcoming England series.

No point of that then.

May as well play Faheem Ashraf. He is a good bowler and gets good seam movement so will be a wicket taking option and has scored FC centuries. He’s not gonna get tonked either.
 
No point of that then.

May as well play Faheem Ashraf. He is a good bowler and gets good seam movement so will be a wicket taking option and has scored FC centuries. He’s not gonna get tonked either.

I do not like the idea of an all-pace attack, and Fahim is very much prone to having a high economy rate. Imad and Nawaz will be economical 8/10 times. You know what you are getting with them.
 
I do not like the idea of an all-pace attack, and Fahim is very much prone to having a high economy rate. Imad and Nawaz will be economical 8/10 times. You know what you are getting with them.

We’ve got Haris to do the honors with his left arm spin.

Faheem bowls a good length for test cricket. Doubt he would get milked. He hardly gets smashed in limited overs anyway :)

Didn’t India play with all pace attack in SA?
 
Just stick in chota Klusener and go all pace
Amir
Hasan
Abbas
Faheem

Abbas the only bunny in the XI
 
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO :mou

He is Pakistan's best bowler, has a ten for and a couple of 5 fors in England, can be a match winner on his own, a gun fielder, a handy bat and brings tonnes of cricketing knowledge....NO NO NO!

There is literally no spinner in world cricket good enough to replace him, let alone Shadab, who is too young and not at test level. Usama Mir? Gohar?

This is a shambles.
 
We’ve got Haris to do the honors with his left arm spin.

Faheem bowls a good length for test cricket. Doubt he would get milked. He hardly gets smashed in limited overs anyway :)

Didn’t India play with all pace attack in SA?

Yeah...and they lost rather comfortably against Steyn-less SA, I think SA lost another player along the way too.

Anyway, England are worse against spin and Shah was an out and out match winner last time, so a world class spinner is needed...where can we find one?
 
The bowling attack should be selected based on their ability to take 20 wickets as a group.
 
[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] i agreed with you regarding Yasir weakness to keep it tight.Imad is not a turner of the ball so no chance,May be Nawaz or Zafar can be there.
 
Shadab is likely to suffer from the same weaknesses as Yasir in non-spinning conditions. He is prone to getting whacked, and he does not have enough control to bowl economical spells unless he is able to take wickets.

He has a Test future, but only after Yasir retires in a few years.

Shadab can possibly return with the following figures in England in May:

25-3-110-2

While Imad/Nawaz might give you:

25-6-80-1

Shadab might take a wicket or two more, or score 10-15 extra runs on average, but it will be difficult for him to keep is economy rate below 4 on green pitches.

Considering all factors, I think that Imad/Nawaz edge Shadab for the upcoming England series.

Shadab will get whacked for sure but don’t let that fool you because Imad and Nawaz will be worse. As soon as someone goes after them - they lose most of their control and rhythm and will get taken to the cleaners.

Agree that Hafeez would have probably been our best option but he is not in Mickey’s plans anymore.
 
Best 11 u could play.

In order to win test, u need to have a bowling attack to win take 20 wiclets. So best is improve ur bowling, without compromising on batting.

1.Fakhar (for quick starts)
2.Sami(to keep wickets)
3.Azhar(Wall)
4.Haris (technically sound, and plays at decent strike rate)
5.Asad(final chance, just for experience)
6.Sarfraz + * (give him responsibility)
7.Shadab (spinner won't be effective in early summer, atleast shadab can give 25 runs)
8.Faheem (4th seamer and 20 runs)
9.Amir
10.Hassan
11.Abbas

Amir
Abbas
Hassan
Fahim
Shadab

Good bowling attack


Average contribution:

Sami will give u 40
Fakhar 35
Azhar 50
Haris 40
Asad 30
Sarfraz 40
Shadab 25
Faheem 20
Amir 15
Hassan 20
Abbas and extras 15

Total is 330, and u have 5 bowlers and Haris as part timer for 5th day.
 
Shadab is too inexperienced and Yasir injured.

That leaves a certain Z. Gohar but Mickey wasn't all that impressed with him since he barely played. He's probably the best option as he can extract the most turn out of anyone in Pakistan atm.
 
Apparently Kashif Bhatti, Bilal Asif and Shadab are the 3 players being considered as replacements
 
After keeping Md Ashgar in the test squad of 15 members, for more than a year it is higly unlikely to debut a new spinner or recall another Player.
 
Big blow but I don't think he would have been useful in the early season English conditions. We should go with a spinner who can keep it tight.
 
people are understating how big of a blow this is. Yasir bowled a crazy amount of overs for us, something i cant see anyone replicating

However this is a good opportunity to try out someone new. If they go with Shadab we have to trust the management's judgement.

Personally, I see little point in going for Bhatti when Nawaz offers the same things but is much younger or Zafar who I think is the best pure spinner we have .
 
Amir
Asif
Hasan
Wahab
Spin all rounder (like Moeen Ali)

This should be the bowling attack if Pakistan wants to win.
 
The rest of the attack is useless. It's either Yasir or bust.
 
I don't know why they are considering Bilal and Kashif when Zafar gohar is way better then better them and way better fielder and can hold a bat. Mickey needs to get him
 
Given that's PCB used Dukes ball for the QEA trophy, they should just pick the top performing seamers. Slow experience trundlers like James kirtley and Stuart Clarke is the way to go. You shouldn't need spinners to win in England in may.
 
That is bad news...he was one of the reasons why pakistan drew 2-2 last time pak toured england.
 
Big blow...Pakistan can either throw in another surprise leg spinner in Usama Mir or go with one of the left armers in Asghar or Gohar..preferably Gohar.
 
I would take Shadab or Nawaz as they will useful with the bat which will be required ps can’t wait to be in Dublin to watch this historic game
 
Would want to see Zafar Gohar play but looks like he isn't being considered unfortunately. I think Shadab could be an interesting pick but he's still inexperienced at the first class level and I'm not convinced he'd do well at the test level.

1. Azhar Ali
2. Sami Aslam/Shan Masood
3. Haris Sohail
4. Babar Azam
5. Usman Salahuddin/Fawad Alam/ some other batsman
6. Asad Shafiq
7. Sarfraz Ahmed
8. Hasan Ali
9. Zafar Gohar
10. Mohammad Amir
11. Mohammad Abbas
 
This is big loss because he bowled a big chunk of our overs. But this might make way for a 4 man seam bowling attack, with 1 spin bowling all rounder and Haris Sohail to bowl the rest of the overs.

We could potentially have a line up of

Amir
Hassan
Abbas
Shinwari/Rahat the destroyer
Nawaz/Shadab

Might need to replace Amir as well when he’s to tired to bowl in the second test after picking a grand total of 1 wicket:msd
 
This is a big blow to Pakistan as saw him live at both Lords and the Oval test last year. Not only did he bowl the majority of the overs and was instrumental in our two wins, but he seemed to have a psychological edge over the English batsmen which you could feel in the crowd e.g. when he got Root out in the 2nd innings at the Oval when he was just trying to play out the day, which then triggered the collapse

Anyone else brought in will not be able to replicate that. And I am not for an all pace attack either. Damn, was hoping to see him again as going to 3rd day of the Lords test....
 
Have a feeling they're gonna go with Nawaz as he's the only one that's played before. Unlikely to see a debutant in these conditions as much as I would like to see Zafar.
 
It's the Mickey effect - he has made sure that no player* is picked without 100% confidence on fitness.
It's a blessing in disguise actually - dropping Yasir wasn't going to be easy for anyone, but he isn't required for those 2 Tests to be honest. They can take a leg-spinner to UK, but it's not suggested to play him in May-June Tests. 4 pacers + Hari, Asad & Azhar is perfect combination.




*However, Captain shouldn't be considered among ordinary team members.
 
Have a feeling they're gonna go with Nawaz as he's the only one that's played before. Unlikely to see a debutant in these conditions as much as I would like to see Zafar.

What about that leggy Mohammad Irfan ? He averages 30 with the bat in first class.
 
Although I have not seen Kashif's bowling but his stats are impressive.

Tbh pretty much every bowler has good stats in FC cricket

Kashif Bhatti is probably being considered also due to his two FC hundreds... Mickey likes spinners that can bat, we know that by now.

Haven't seen him bowl much though.

To be fair to him, he was the highest wicket-taking spinner in the 2017/18 season of QEA - 49 wickets @ 16 with Dukes' balls being used.
 
Last edited:
Yasir Shah ruled out of Pakistan Tests v Ireland & England

Pakistan have been dealt a blow by the news that leading leg-spinner Yasir Shah has been ruled out of action for the forthcoming Tests against Ireland and England.

The 31-year-old is facing 10 weeks of rehabilitation from a stress fracture to the hip that means he will miss Ireland's debut Test in Dublin (11 May) and the following two Tests against England at Lord's (24 May) and Headingley (1 June).

Pakistan are considering leg-spinner Shadab Khan, off-spinner Bilal Asif and left-arm spinner Kashif Bhatti as possible replacements, chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq said.

Yasir will be a significant loss, having been central to Pakistan's Test successes since 2014, taking 165 wickets in 28 Test matches.

https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/661209
 
Can't believe people are saying this is good for us. PP experts at their finest :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm:




Shah is borderline ATG category and has been instrumental in our team's success at home and abroad. This is like a deathblow to our chances.
 
Can't believe people are saying this is good for us. PP experts at their finest :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm:




Shah is borderline ATG category and has been instrumental in our team's success at home and abroad. This is like a deathblow to our chances.

Nahi yaar. He’s been a TTF on green tops.
 
Can't believe people are saying this is good for us. PP experts at their finest :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm:




Shah is borderline ATG category and has been instrumental in our team's success at home and abroad. This is like a deathblow to our chances.
Not at all.

English pitches in May are soft and damp. Yasir Shah wouldn’t have even got a bowl - like the NZ series 16 months ago.
 
Nahi yaar. He’s been a TTF on green tops.

he isn't an ATG but he is a Pakistan great

His record when read is mediocre outside of Asia but he got two opportunities to win us a game in England and he did so on both occasions, how many spinners not named Warne or Murali can astest to that ?
 
he isn't an ATG but he is a Pakistan great

His record when read is mediocre outside of Asia but he got two opportunities to win us a game in England and he did so on both occasions, how many spinners not named Warne or Murali can astest to that ?

I love Yasir.

But he has no use on a green top.
 
I love Yasir.

But he has no use on a green top.

first test is at lords, i known last year is was low scoring but in general it offers more for the spinnners

headingley yes will be a green seamer.

Regardless though, it would have been great to have him as an option in the squad
 
Disappointing news given our heavy reliance on Yasir. The only silver lining is that his bowling wouldn't be suited to early season English conditions.
This might not be a popular opinion, but I think Pakistan should consider Nawaz or Imad for the Test team on overseas tours.

Whenever I've seen Nawaz, I've been extremely underwhelmed. He's shown next to nothing with the bat at international level or in PSL so wouldn't strength the batting greatly. Also I'm skeptical whether his bowling will be threatening outside Asia and the Caribbean.

Rather we play a pure spinner like Zafar Gohar but from the names mentioned in the articles I'd prefer to see Shadab Khan the most.
 
Terrible news. Yasir was really important last time despite the stats, he was matchwinning for us.

Pacers will have to really step up this time now, they weren't amazing last tour. Sohail was our best pacer last time, but likely he won't play as he's fallen out of favour.

I'd go with Shadab. Has experience in international cricket, can hold a bat, has played in England before and against English batsmen. Isn't probably ready for test cricket, but don't think any of them really are. Zafar and Ashgar haven't debuted in test cricket either. We should have debuted Ashgar in SL series as well, we had our chance to. England isn't the place to debut a spinner.

Imad and Nawaz might play containing roles, and can bat a bit but think it's still nice to have the option of someone who can actually do damage on a turning pitch in the latter innings. Don't think those two can.

Play Shadab, even though it's likely he won't excel at this stage. Might as well give him the experience as he likely will take over from Yasir in the future anyway. I don't think he'll do any worse than the others.

More important that the Pacers actually step up this time. Especially Amir, this will be the third time he tours England if he plays.
 
Back
Top