Your starting XI for Pakistan's T20 World Cup group match against Scotland?

[MenInG]

So it's probably last chance for Haider and Wasim Jr to get a look in - but will Babar relent from changing a winning combo?

 

[Babeikh]

I think give Shaheen a break but keep the rest of the team. Even if Haider comes in and scored 100 from 40 balls are we going to put him in for the SF in place of Hafeez? I doubt it. So let's not tinker too much - just bring in Wasim Jnr for the sake of giving Shaheen a breather, no other reason.

 

[ahmadharis1]

Rest Shaheen, don't risk injury in a meaningless game

 

[YousafTheBeast]

No let’s not make changes against minnows, Shaheen will forget how to bowl, Hassan Ali will lose his rhythm, Haris Rauf will start bowling no-balls, Babar will forget how to hold a bat and all the other nonsense posters come up with.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

Play same team.

 

[Uzi]

Same team. Shaheen has been a bit off it in the last two games, but I think it is probably best to keep the same team.

 

[fight_club]

Play the same team, same batting order hope both babar and rizwan score century. this is the best way to prepare for the semi's

 

[Shoaibbtt]

At some point players would feel the exhaustion specifically the likes of Rauf who bowls quite consistently at high speeds, so something has to give. However, given Pakistan now have a good few rest days and don't play till Sunday then the XI not being changed is best.

 

[shamaan]

I think becouse they have have gap between the next game I would not make changes.If it was a 2 days apart I would have rested Shaheen

 

[nextover666666]

I dont think management would but one fast bowler should be rested and I would wanna give haidar Ali atleast one game if possible


But I think management will stick with the same sqaud

 

[Shaddy86]

Play the same team, but shuffle the batting order. Get Fakhar to open with Rizwan. It gives Fakhar a chance to play the new ball just incase Pakistan lose an early wicket in the semi Fakhar should have some practice playing the new ball. Ask Rizwan to work on his offside play during power play. Get Hafeez and Malik in early, ideally get Imad/shadab to bat as well. Keep Babar as a back up just in case things go south.

Ask the bowlers to practice on their weaker points. The lengths they would like to bowl to the opposition on the semi final. (Yea it sounds silly but this is literally a practice match before the semi final). Give Malik couple of overs, if semi final is in Dubai, we need him and Hafeez chucking their doosras like it's the end of the world. Practice them in this match..

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

S a m e

 

[shamaan]

I think they need to change the batting order to give some players batting time.

Rizwan
Fakhar
Hafeez
Malik
Shadab
Imad
Babar Azam
Asif Ali
Hassan Ali
Shaheen
Rauf

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Too close to the semis to make any changes

 

[Ami]

keep same team
same line up
same intensity
no let ups
keep going.

 

[Shoaibbtt]

Look to secure your table top position. Same combo same everything i say.

 

[fight_club]

Let's be very clear.

A Champion team which doesn't bother about personal milestones and records but only winning would have done the following

1. Opened with Fakhar, because he is someone who can exploit the PP and can hit Sixes. It also bring left right combination and when there is a guy going sledge hammer the opposition has to switch plans and it might cause some panic.

thanksfully, It will not happen as it will make Babar and Rizwan opening silly and the opposition who are working on suffocating them will get upset

2. Hafeez will continue at no.4 holing out to spinners looking savvy as ever etc etc

So, I say same team same batting order, same napkins, same food, everything same no jadu tona

 

[Savak]

Should Pakistan test its bench strength in the final match against Scotland?

Wasim Akram feels that this is not a club tournament but the WC and therefore the First 11 must play throughout all the way till the end given that the stakes are higher as the team must be fully ready to win all their remaining games.

I think the team shouldn't risk losing and give it everything for the Semi's and then the Final.

 

[hitthestump]

Haider and Sarfaraz in for Babar and Rizwan.

Move everyone in the existing XI up two spaces i.e. Fakhar and Hafeez to open.

I think Babar and Rizwan have played enough balls in this tournament and need to give an opportunity to the other first XI players to get some time in the middle.

This is very temporary and even if Haider scores 100, he won't displace anyone from the team come the semi finals.

 

[fight_club]

Haider and Sarfaraz in for Babar and Rizwan.

Move everyone in the existing XI up two spaces i.e. Fakhar and Hafeez to open.

I think Babar and Rizwan have played enough balls in this tournament and need to give an opportunity to the other first XI players to get some time in the middle.

This is very temporary and even if Haider scores 100, he won't displace anyone from the team come the semi finals.

Sshh. Please don't even suggest something like this. Pakistan should play babar and Rizwan and tell to play all 20 overs because only these two can Win Pakistan the trophy and this is the winning combination
rest of the batsmen are only to fill the numbers.

I hope they all wear the same shoe laces also

 

[PakLFC]

Yes the first team should start to keep the good form going. If it ain't broke don't change it!

 

[MenInG]

7 Pakistan players practicing at the ICC CA (Pictures courtesy of the PCB)

 

[mastimasti]

I'd say hand a few guys a game AND change the batting order:

1. Zaman
2. Haider Ali
3. Hafeez
5. Asif Ali
6. Malik
7. Rizwan wk
8. Nawaz
9. Imad
10. Shadab c
11. Wasim
12. Rauf

Easily beat Scotland and change the combo just enough to give everyone a chance.

 

[farazaidi]

Really have to give Wasim jr. a chance, inplace of Rauf or Shaheen.

 

[Justcrazy]

Shaheen Shah should be rested

I am really surprised that even with the new coaching staff the mentality has not changed. They simply have no idea on how to rotate players.

Haider and Waseem should have played both games.

 

[PakPremi]

No changes would be made. Players will have 5 days to recover from tiredness and any niggles.
Pakistani players do not get much game time, so they need the Scotland match to practise before the big event of semi final.

 

[indianpanacea]

No change at all...After winning WC pak may rest Shaheen,imad,Hafeez,Shoaib for west indies series

 

[tauseef_mahmood]

Make 3 - 4 changes; bring in Haider Ali, Wasim, Khushdil Shah and Muhammad Nawaz. Rest few key players like babar, shaheen, haris, rizwan. doesnt matter, it is match practice.

 

[tauseef_mahmood]

No change at all...After winning WC pak may rest Shaheen,imad,Hafeez,Shoaib for west indies series

It is not resting, injury risk needs to be avoided.

 

[Charmander]

there is no reason to play a full-strength team for a meaningless game and risk injury. only reason seems to be pride. save the energy for semis and finals

 

[MenInG]

there is no reason to play a full-strength team for a meaningless game and risk injury. only reason seems to be pride. save the energy for semis and finals

But maybe in a T20 tournament, bowlers arent that taxed and probably want to stay in rhythm and want to play all games?

 

[Charmander]

But maybe in a T20 tournament, bowlers arent that taxed and probably want to stay in rhythm and want to play all games?

i don't believe that bowlers lose rhythm because they missed one game. But maybe you are right.

At this point the only thing that can stop pakistan from lifting the trophy is themselves or injuries. And i am always in favor of trying to minimize the latter as much as possible.

 

[Visaal-E-Yaar]

I will go with management and captain. Winning combination should continue

 

[sweep_shot]

Maybe try out someone else instead of Hasan Ali. Rest should be same.

 

[The Googly]

Same team. No changes and play with full intensity.

 

[jawwada]

play all the bench and rest shaheen , rauf, babar and rizwan. Key players should not be risked at this time. Hasan should open the bowling to get his rhythm back. Imad and Shadab can open to get batting time in the middle, rest of the batting order to remain the same. You would think that I am joking , but no, actually Pakistan late middle order has not been tested in the middle and they need game time. similarly shaheen looks over worked. No need to expose him further. Be relaxed, Any team in Pakistan's 15 will win

 

[IMMY69]

120 overs in the field over two weeks is less then three half odi's and that it's max 4 overs per bowler.

There are no excuses for tiredness and if anything both batters and bowlers should have more game time.

So same team

 

[ekpakistani]

Keep same team.

Do players need to be rested when they bowl 4 overs every two days? Really? I don't think so.

 

[moghul]

I would not rest Shaheen , 4 over after many days rest are not too much, he has to stay match fit and in rhythm .

Wasim should be given a chance and if he perfoms well , should replace useless Hasan Ali, but I doubt it will happen .

 

[mon858]

If anyone has even a slight niggles play replacement from Wasim, Nawaz, Haider. Otherwise same team. 4 overs and t20 game after few days breaks is not going to cause any issue.
Only argument could to be avoid risk of some injury while fielding for Shaheen but probability of that is very low.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

The only person who could get a look in is Mohammad Nawaz.

Haider Ali has been found out real bad at international level. His lack of temperament has been painful to watch. As much as I like him, he can't become an international batter till he matures.

Regarding Wasim, there's been whispers that he is one of those players that management doesn't believe in yet and can be considered to be a Mohammad Wasim selection. If that is indeed true, I feel for the young guy as he could well be getting a cold shoulder from his team mates with no fault of his own.

 

[PerfectionPersonified]

Same Team but different batting order, i will have Hafeez and Fakher opening with Malik at #3.

 

[MenInG]

Pictures of practice by Pakistan squad (Courtesy of the PCB) ahead of their final Super-12 game against Scotland

 

[reversehook]

No we are too scared to experiment on changing the team or methods... hassan will cost us heavily in the semi finals or finals and it will be too late...

 

[Artaxerxes]

Same team.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

Haider should come in for Shadab.
Hafeez n Malik to share the 4 overs bowling load.

This should be all the way to the final.

Shadab has little to no bite in these games.

Bowling is our strong suit.

We must realize that we need to strengthen the batting line.

 

[Golden arm]

Haider should come in for Shadab.
Hafeez n Malik to share the 4 overs bowling load.

This should be all the way to the final.

Shadab has little to no bite in these games.

Bowling is our strong suit.

We must realize that we need to strengthen the batting line.

shadab needs to bowl in these conditions, so this game is as crucial for him as for Hasan and Hafeez.

Following are the weak links at present

Hafeez
Hasan
Fakhar
Shadab

They need more practice

 

[Saj]

Same XI.

Too late in the day to change things around now.

 

[hitthestump]

If we play the same team i don't want to see Babar and Rizwan anchor the innings this time.

They've done it enough, they're clearly very good at it, but the tournament situation requires others to have some time in the middle.

 

[Extreme Pace]

Same 11 BUT Rizwan and Babar need to start in 6th gear and get out, fakhar, hafeez and malik need to find some form.

 

[ads101]

Same 11, same order. Every batsman has had practice out there even if guys like Hafeez haven't done so well. Players, even the bowlers who probably won't be tired after a few T20s, will appreciate the practice before the big game in the semi finals.

It won't happen, but if we lost against Scotland we'd play England in the semis so it's important to secure the top position in the table.

 

[MenInG]

6 November - Sharjah - Scotland Captain Kyle Coetzer pre-match press conference

Q. Looking ahead to tomorrow's game, obviously Babar and Rizwan as an opening partnership for Pakistan, can you give us some thoughts on those two players?

KYLE COETZER: What a challenge we're going to be faced with. An exciting one as well. Two players at the top of their game at the moment. So it would be great to experience that and hopefully try and knock a few of them over at the same time.

We have to go in there respecting them but also willing to go and try and take them on, too. I think we've taken a few learnings from our last couple of games and some special learnings from yesterday's game.

Q. Do you feel the guys have got enough left in the tank for just one more last effort?

KYLE COETZER: Definitely. We've got plenty left in the tank yet in this group. We had a tough experience yesterday. But I firmly believe having to go through that and go through some of these performances out here to realize how far and how much further the T20 format has developed, even since the last time we played in it, which was 2016, I think.

And we didn't manage to get through the group stages then, but we did this time around. So we're sure our development is there. But that the development of the game is moving at an amazing rate.

And just the conversations following the game yesterday versus India have been positive; the fact that we're so disappointed losing the manner in which we did and the opportunities that were created to go and speak to some of the finest players in the world yesterday was a real special moment.

The guys have learned more in the last two or three games than they have in probably the last three, four years, I reckon.

Q. You mentioned that obviously the India players were chatting to you guys afterwards. That was quite nice.

KYLE COETZER: Of course it was. I think guys have had small opportunities to speak to various players from various teams during this tournament, but it's been made a little bit harder by the not being able to mix as easily in this tournament. So that's just one of the challenges that we're faced with.

But the opportunity to go and speak to the India team yesterday was a moment that some guys will probably never forget but also learned so much from.

You've got young players in there like Michael Jones getting a chance to speak to Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. And there's some amazing names obviously in there. And we've got to find ways to raise our bar and try and compete with them as best as we possibly can in the future.

That's the first time we've ever played India on the world stage. So hopefully we won't have to wait that long to play them again. But I'm confident that we'll grow from this experience.

Q. It seemed that the top order hasn't really quite clicked in unison in the Super 12s, but there were signs, there were encouraging signs against New Zealand. And what do you put it down to? And how crucial has it been having Jonathan Trott as a batting consultant for this tournament?

KYLE COETZER: Obviously having Trotty with us and prior to the World Cup was really helpful gaining some experience from him, some of his challenges that he faced as a cricket player and just small insights here and there. He was fantastic to have around.

Yes, the batting group hasn't fired since getting out through the group stage. But leading up to that, the batting group have done brilliantly.

But it's clear to see that the levels have improved. And what we've noticed, it's not only has batting been tricky in this tournament because of conditions, not saying that people can't score runs, because that's certainly happened in a few games.

But the standard and the skills and the plans that bowlers come out with now have developed so far since the last time we've played ion this world stage. So we have to experience that, take it in and try to learn as fast as we can.

If we are going to continue thinking about the game, yes, we think in a positive manner, but if we are going to thinking about the game in which we do, we'll fall behind.

There's lots of skill amongst this group. The learnings we'll take from these games are going to be huge. Yes, we haven't performed where we would like to, but I think we've been showing up by the skills, I'm sure.

Q. Final game tomorrow, what's your message to the squad?

KYLE COETZER: Yes, we've got to make sure we go in there with as much confidence as we possibly can do. We've got one last show, one last crack of the whip while we're out here. We're not going to play together for a long period of time. We're not going to play together until April probably.

We have to make every opportunity of every game that we get. And what better game and what better team to play against than Pakistan. They're at the top of their game at the moment. That's just an ultimate test and to challenge yourself against them.

We'll go in there with as much enjoyment and freedom as we possibly can and try and make the most of the opportunity. We have some skills we haven't yet shown in the Super 12s. So tomorrow is the last chance we get to show them.

Q. From your Instagram, it seemed as if you were to do (indiscernible), is that something we might see tomorrow?

KYLE COETZER: I was a little bit on the wind-up with that. But bowling in early April in England and Scotland is very different to turning up to try to bowl at Sharjah. I might give it a miss.

If ever I do get a chance to bowl, obviously I'm not going to turn it down. I love my bowling. But not quite at this level. We've got the proper bowlers on our team to do the job.

Q. Lighter note, if you look back, what were the high points for Scotland as a group? Anything you'd like to share with us?

KYLE COETZER: We've had some great memories on this trip so far. We hopefully still have a few more to be made.

The experience of playing under pressure, which we're not short of playing under pressure experience, but having to compete and win the games in Oman in the first group stage -- Oman is an excellent venue and they hosted that group stage very well. And getting through that.

I think the context of beating Bangladesh for us was the context around that of it being in a world event was a huge moment for this team. We've beaten full member teams before. But like I said, the context around that made that even more special.

And then coming up against a really strong Oman team in a must-win game, obviously we had to win all three of the games to make sure we got through Super 12s. So that was a great achievement.

But I think the one of the best experiences and what I think players will learn most out of is trying to mix with some of these players from some of these top nations has been very special.

And that moment going into the India dressing room yesterday was a real highlight, I think, for us and our team, because I honestly believe what we spoke about in that dressing room will leave us in a much better place.

I think players have learned far more from that 20 minutes than we have done in a few years. I think we're learning all the time, but those moments, they're like gold and you need to make the most of those.

So a huge thank you to the Indian team for that. That was a really special moment.

 

[MenInG]

Pakistan squad practicing ahead of their final Super 12 clash against Scotland (Pictures courtesy of the PCB)

 

[fight_club]

If Pakistan has any sense then they must try out a different batting order in this game. I expect all games to be high scoring as has been in last few days. Pakistan batting has been the most pathetic among all top teams and NRR sucks for that reason.

 

[Shah]

I think that the batting order needs to be changed to give other players a chance to bat. What will be the benefit to the team if Azam and Rizwan score half centuries and eat up the majority of the overs? We need to give Zaman, Hafeez, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan and Hassan Ali some batting practice to get used to the pitches and conditions.

Rizwan needs a day off as he is spending just too much time in the middle, opening the batting and keeping. Give Sarfraz, Haider Ali, Nawaz and M. Wasim a game replacing Rizwan, Malik, Imad Wasim and Afridi.

England played their full strength team in a meaningless game against S.A. and guess what, Roy was injured. So England has a weaker team in the S.F.

 

[Visaal-E-Yaar]

If Pakistan has any sense then they must try out a different batting order in this game. I expect all games to be high scoring as has been in last few days. Pakistan batting has been the most pathetic among all top teams and NRR sucks for that reason.

What you want now man? 200+ thunderstorms every inngs and bowled out your opponents cheaply?
Never ending complains.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

If Pakistan has any sense then they must try out a different batting order in this game. I expect all games to be high scoring as has been in last few days. Pakistan batting has been the most pathetic among all top teams and NRR sucks for that reason.

I keep saying take out Shadab.
He has no teeth in these games. Bring in Nawaz or Haider to reinforce the batting line.

Changing batting order is one thing but having the confidence of a deep batting is a different thing. Both options should be explored and minor adjustments must be made.

Not every game is the same, not every opposition is the same and not every pitch is the same. And hence, this "don't change the winning combo" not always the best way to blindly approach every game as the same as the previous one.

And one must be ready to make adjustments to cope with the ever changing situation.