Pakistan Tour of England 2019

[CerealKiller]

Sarfraz is comically bad at hitting. Can't even put away length balls.
And which genius decided to send out an injured Imam to waste balls at the death?

 

[Aoun13]

Easily 40 runs short for a mediocre team. Teams like England, Australia or India will easily score 450-500 on today's pitch.

 

[Bevab]

Babar Azam is not going to be considered an elite batsman unless he starts turning these good starts that he gets into potentially match winning innings’. The way he slowed down before his century was a bit selfish IMO, and has been something that he’s often done in the past too.

Malik’s wicket was one of the worst I’ve seen in a long long time. How do you chip your bails off in that way?

 

[Master Khan]

Poor fielding and bowling from Pakistan again.
Don't know why Sarfaraz only made Shaoib Malik bowl 2 overs and didn't appeal for that run out???, Very poor all round.

 

[CerealKiller]

What a load of tweaking bullshit. Not gonna watch a single ball of the World Cup.

 

[hammadahmed88]

Another astounding loss. I'm a huge fan of Junaid's but it seems he might not have the pace anymore to challenge world class batters. Even though Hasnain was a bit wild and took a bit of treatment, he looked pretty impressive at times. Waqar Younis talked about a few things like run-ups etc, which if he improves, he might be one to watch in the future. I feel like Harris' inability to fast forward the scoreboard might mean we see Malik or Hafeez in his place because of today's game. Both looked pretty impressive with the ball as well.

On a side, I see people again rating Imam. He played a fantastic knock, no doubt. Secondly, no doubt his technique is good and he has the ability to become a really nice batsman. I keep having to reiterate this point but people only take in selective information. Here it is again: The criticism comes from a lack of situational batting. All great batsmen and women play according to the situation. That's the only thing you're worth as an athlete. Personally, as far as I have watched, he doesn't have that knack. Personally, I don't see a player that plays for the team, yet. Maybe they're misusing him by sending him as an opener in the powerplay in modern day cricket. I don't know. Additionally, he's not even close to a batsman that should be playing in all three formats. His position in Test cricket and now T20's is blatant nepotism. He might have a nice Test career ahead of him. But unless players are challenged for their spots, they'll naturally have no incentive to improve.

If Pakistan is to not win the world cup, here's hoping there are some major management changes that follow.

 

[CerealKiller]

Why the hell didn't he appeal? He should at least know the rules. Even if one bail is off, you can run the batsman out by removing the other one.

 

[Rehan_24]

Pakistan was clearly 40 to 50 runs short, today they played an extra batsman but when the time came to accelerate wickets started to fall after regular intervals. The team is facing a huge mental block I feel. They have a more psychological issue in crunch situations at the moment. The team desperately needs a big win to get back into rhythm. I am still quite hopeful for our World Cup chances. Pakistan's strength is unpredictability so we should never be disappointed for the World Cup at least. World Cup would be a different ball game.

Talking about today's match I believed Babar played selfish innings towards his century, It was clearly shown that he got slowed down due to his personal milestone. Hafeez played a good knock.

Overall, my core issue with Pakistan's batting is that we are making a great base up till 40 overs and when its time to accelerate the set batsman got out and then the other one gets out as well in a couple of overs and then wickets start to fall at regular intervals.

Pakistan could have won two matches out of three but panic button gets on each time. The captain is to blame as well. His bowling changes still needs improvement. He didn't appeal for Curran. That was a Joke as simple as that.

Junaid's pace has gone down a bit though he got variety, he isn't looking threatening at all. Offlate, he has been ineffective. It was sad to see how English batsmen thrashing him all over the park. Even then I feel he is still better than Fahim Ashraf. It was refreshing to see some pace from Hasnain, he should be given more chances. The more he plays, the better he will be.

Abid Ali must be tried out in last ODI in place of Imam since Imam is injured. It'd be a huge injustice if this management sent Abid Ali back without giving him a chance into a single match. We should remember he was the part of the World Cup Squad. You never know when Zaman and Imam start to get fail. You need a bench opener I will reiterate.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Additionally, he's not even close to a batsman that should be playing in all three formats. His position in Test cricket and now T20's is blatant nepotism.

I can see a bit of personal bias over here from your side. I mean that guy looks so good with his stroke play and times the ball so beautifully and he can clear the boundaries with such ease and still you are being critical of him. I see no problem in his batting atleast for the One-day format. When you overlook the good for better then you get the worst. Looking from a neutral perspective he looks one of the best batsman which Pakistan has at Present. The fact he plays slowly is because from the other end Fakhar Zaman keeps the scoreboard ticking that too at a very good rate so I see no need for quick runs from the other end. You look at the Indian team Shikhar Dhawan plays the role of an aggressor striking at nearly 100 and Rohit looks to bat out the innings and generally plays at 75-80 and once then gets out then only Rohit steps ahead and scores quick runs. That is what it is with Pakistan they have such good batsman these days. Fakhar Zaman looks the best batsman in the line-up followed by Babar Azam, Imam ul Haq and Haris Sohail. Believe me these guys are going to be your key batsmen this WC

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Talking about Yesterday's match Pakistan had an ideal score at their hands. If they took their catches and fielded well they would've won the match quite comfortably. I blame the inability of bowlers here to press the kill button once England was 5 down at the score of 216. When you have 125 runs to defend in 118 balls and half the side already back in the hut you expect your bowlers to win the match but they didn't so it was a bowling failure for Pakistan rather than a batting one

 

[LiveLoveABD]

These are all 400+ wickets. People will boast about Azam's knock but that was the killer blow. There was a lot of boasting about Dhawan and Sharma in the last CT because they were making tons and that was actually the reason we were losing out. In modern day limited overs, you either make a ton of 75-80 balls, like the English do and if you get a run a ball ton then you have to kick on and make a big 150-175 of 125 balls. That is the reality of white ball cricket in England.

Saw Hassnain in detail and he is not at all ready. It would be unfair to play him, both for Pakistan and himself. Could have gone for a ton yesterday. People criticise Amir, but he is Pakistan's gun bowler. Him, Junaid and Ali have to be the top 3. Also, why did Malik not bowl more? Just stupid captaincy from in my opinion, one of Pakistan's worst captain in recent memory.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

There's one more thing- I think Pakistan are missing a HUGE trick by not playing another wrist spinner. I didn't follow the PSL this year, so I am not aware but I think I would have played Yasir Shah here. I know Shadab is there, but I am talking about two wrist spinners. I think a second wrist spinner is a must against teams like SA, Eng, NZ and Aus!

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

These are all 400+ wickets. People will boast about Azam's knock but that was the killer blow. There was a lot of boasting about Dhawan and Sharma in the last CT because they were making tons and that was actually the reason we were losing out. In modern day limited overs, you either make a ton of 75-80 balls, like the English do and if you get a run a ball ton then you have to kick on and make a big 150-175 of 125 balls. That is the reality of white ball cricket in England.

But when you bat out there in the middle you just can't throw out your mind aside and blindly strike the ball like poor tail-enders. And first tell me what is better scoring 20 off 10 or scoring 130-140 off 100-120 balls ? What would you prefer ? Definitely 130-140 off 100-120 balls. Getting bowled out inside 30 overs for 200 is of now use. You have to bat out your overs instead of going wild and try to hit every bowler out of the park. And this attitude of England have cost them as well. You have to play according to your strengths and not get attracted what others are doing !!!!!

 

[hammadahmed88]

I can see a bit of personal bias over here from your side. I mean that guy looks so good with his stroke play and times the ball so beautifully and he can clear the boundaries with such ease and still you are being critical of him. I see no problem in his batting atleast for the One-day format. When you overlook the good for better then you get the worst. Looking from a neutral perspective he looks one of the best batsman which Pakistan has at Present. The fact he plays slowly is because from the other end Fakhar Zaman keeps the scoreboard ticking that too at a very good rate so I see no need for quick runs from the other end. You look at the Indian team Shikhar Dhawan plays the role of an aggressor striking at nearly 100 and Rohit looks to bat out the innings and generally plays at 75-80 and once then gets out then only Rohit steps ahead and scores quick runs. That is what it is with Pakistan they have such good batsman these days. Fakhar Zaman looks the best batsman in the line-up followed by Babar Azam, Imam ul Haq and Haris Sohail. Believe me these guys are going to be your key batsmen this WC

I respect your opinion. But take it from someone who's watched all of the matches, every ball. Pakistani batters are not short on talent. I agree with that. Imam, Babar etc, their techniques are good, and they look good aesthetically. The problem is that they play for themselves. Fakhar is the only top order batsman on the team that doesn't, and plays for the team. He's played some slow innings as well. But he plays according to the situation. Whereas all of Babar (least of the three admittedly), Imam and Harris play the exact same way irrespective of situation. I think it's a massive disservice to compare them to the likes of Dhawan and Rohit. Those two are quite on another level when compared to Pakistan's trio. Also, they will be key batsman as you said because there is no one else. If there is to be a good score, it will have to come from them because they're the only ones here. So that's by default. Another thing that has been incredibly frustrating and disappointing is Sarfraz protecting himself. He does this often. Sending Asif Ali and Imad Wasim out before himself is absolutely disgusting. The captain is playing as a wicket-keeper batsman. It's your job to bat. He does not set the right example at all. I'm quite done with him as a leader. Your team can only go as far as their leaders take it, and this Pakistan side has none. That's why some mediocre teams outperform their talents and some great teams fail to realize theirs.

I agree with the bowling perspective. They should have closed out the match from the position in which they found themselves after five wickets went down. That was a poor effort, not the least of which was fielding issues throughout the game. I hate what they've done to cricket. No more fast bowling I guess in white ball cricket. What a shame. The two cricket balls, huge bats, small grounds, ridiculous pitches and so on is killing the art of fast bowling from the ODI game and that is such a massive shame.

 

[hammadahmed88]

Shikhar Dhawan plays the role of an aggressor striking at nearly 100 and Rohit looks to bat out the innings and generally plays at 75-80 and once then gets out then only Rohit steps ahead and scores quick runs.

This formula is a bit misleading when compared to Pakistan. Both Rohit and Dhawan have the ability to turn on the switch and accelerate at any rate, anytime they want. They play situational cricket. None of Imam, Babar or Harris possess this ability. They are restricted batters, at least for now. They play the same innings every game. Again, that is for now in what I've seen. Harris is what he is. Hopefully Babar and Imam can work on this as they move forward in their careers.