Pakistan tour of West Indies - July 2013

[Ahmad94]

Really? I don't know exactly what you want to see then?

I want to see someone who performs very constantly, and is young so that we have him for the future. Like India have Virat Kohli at 3, England potentially has Root, Sri Lanka has Sanga (not young, I know), etc.

If you think Afridi will play like this all day out, sorry, you're wrong. As most of the members said, he fails more than he succeeds. It will then put more pressure on the so called young guns!

The pitch was clearly not assisting the batsmen, so no blame attached to them It is about giving more no. of matches to them. Calling them garbage won't help.

Of course he won't perform like that on a daily basis. He has played at the top of the order before, and performed a lot better. Plus we watched him in the 2009 T20 world cup, came in at 3, and played well within his capabilities. He is very capable batsmen but in 9/10 games he plays, he is told to start hitting from the word go, and no matter how good you are that is not an easy task. At least at the top, he has time to play an innings. Now he knows that he is not to take his place for granted, he might play more maturely.

 

[Umair7]

Btw where are Sarwan and Chanderpaul what happened to these guys ??

 

[zeustrojanstark]

Sarwan is dropped after a poor Champions Trophy and Chanderpaul doesnt play ODIs anymore though he has not retired,he is out of favour.

Actually i thought Misbah was a good stroke maker but now he is proving to be a person commiting crimes in ODIs with horrible strike rates.He is nullifying the Afridi effect actually.I dont know why Misbah is batting in such a horrible manner.

 

[Gone4aDuck]

Did nobody read my previous post?! Seriously, in one ear and out the other!
Pollard, afridi, gayle, Warner, Morgan, white, raina, sehwag...........none of these players would have played half the amount of games they have for their countries if t20 wasn't in existence.

 

[aditya123]

Did nobody read my previous post?! Seriously, in one ear and out the other!
Pollard, afridi, gayle, Warner, Morgan, white, raina, sehwag...........none of these players would have played half the amount of games they have for their countries if t20 wasn't in existence.

Sehwag might be hit and miss in ODIs but he averages 50 over 100 test matches! He has been around well before T20 cricket shot to prominence.

 

[TheNameisNiru]

Gayle's sloppy form continues

 

[Slowcoach]

Am a bit annoyed about Misbah copping criticism for Junaid not being picked.

Would say it is a management decision to manage Junaid's workload due to him being the team's most important pace bowler. Missing a few ODIs or T20's is no big deal, it makes sense for a pace bowler.

The team is also 1-0 up anyway, and he can still play in the deciding matches in the series.

 

[Slowcoach]

Just thought of Umar Gul, seems he has faded from memory quickly, don't know if anyone is missing him.
He is too expensive too often, and unreliable when it really matters.
He can bowl yorkers accurately most of the time, so he does well in the hitting part of ODIs and T20s.
But to get wickets with yorkers when a batsman is not slogging, you need more than just accuracy.

Something else, is that expensive bowlers are ok in T20's.
Because bowlers who always concede 6 an over can hide in T20's, 6 an over in T20's is a good thing, but terrible in any other form.
Bowlers like Gul, and L.Wright from England get smashed out of the attack at 6 or 7 an over a lot in ODIs, yet manage to make a career out of being hit around at the same rate in T20's.
A bowler like Hoggard, who tries ball after ball to bowl line and length, is predictable, and gets smashed ball after ball in ODI's and T20's.
Seems a little bit of "natural variation" (the odd bad ball) helps keep the batsman on his toes (though I think Dernbach's attempts at natural variation are going a little too far).

Nothing against Gul, he is a better bowler than what I have said makes him seem, and has had plenty of good Test and other international performances, am just pointing something out about T20's I noticed.

People are constantly disappointed by Gul's performances, when all he is doing is play as he has always done, and not live up to the T20 hype and fake form from pretend cricket.

This train of thought was generated by me thinking of the fact Pakistan have 3 genuinely quick left arm pacemen, and was thinking of good right armers to slot in with them.

Though right armers for "variety" aren't necessary in ODIs and T20's, because left armers generally do better in those forms anyway.
(Unless you are playing those forms on EA Sports Cricket 2005, and hip glancing Chaminda Vaas for 10 an over).
(Don't get me started on the plague of Naved-ul-Hasans, there were about 8 in every team, even the pretend Naved-ul-Hasan looked like Naved-ul-Hasan).
(I could go on).
(About the plague of Mushtaq Ahmeds).
(Stupid game).

 

[Ahmad94]

I hope that WI get to a high score, so that Pakistan can have a decent score to chase. They need for international practice at it.

 

[Slowcoach]

Why does Afridi do that ridiculous pose in celebration, like he has achieved the greatest triumph in the history of time, and is lapping up the loudest applause and ovation ever, a deafening roar of a crowd of 10 billion people.

All he has done is take a wicket, it's his job.

And Pakistan haven't played at home in years, so chances are no one in the crowd is even cheering for him.

In his mind there are are 10 billion people roaring...but we all knew the guy was psycho...just look at the way he bats.

Maybe it's time we picked him in the test team again, the team needs a legspinner...
Saying he can't bat outside the subcontinent does not apply...none of them can.
And someone to blast a quick 150 on the subcontinent to give you enough time to bowl the opposition out is useful, considering results are hard to achieve sometimes on those flat tracks.
And I am being serious, am sure he has at least another 2 Test centuries in him, and a few wickets, his form isn't too bad is it?

People also forget he can bat for six hours if he wants to, and has done so at Test level.

 

[Ahmad94]

Why does Afridi do that ridiculous pose in celebration, like he has achieved the greatest triumph in the history of time, and is lapping up the loudest applause and ovation, and deafening roar of a crowd of 10 billion people.

All he has done is take a wicket, it's his job.

And Pakistan haven't played at home in years, so chances are no one in the crowd is even cheering for him.

In his mind there are are 10 billion people roaring...but we all knew the guy was psycho...just look at the way he bats.

Maybe it's time we picked him in the test team again, the team needs a legspinner...
Saying he can't bat outside the subcontinent does not apply...none of them can.
And someone to blast a quick 150 on the subcontinent to give you enough time to bowl the opposition out is useful, considering results are hard to achieve sometimes on those flat tracks.
And I am being serious, am sure he has at least another 2 Test centuries in him, and a few wickets, his form isn't too bad is it?

Not a fan,eh?

If Pak bowl well, the maximum from this stage should be 200 for WI.

 

[Gone4aDuck]

Maybe it's time we picked him in the test team again

Please tell me you're kidding. The very reason he retired from test cricket in the first place is because he's no good at it! When he was made captain for a test series in england he had to give up the job after one test because he can't resist but swing the bat every other ball. If Pakistan have to bat him in a test squad then that's a sorry day indeed for Pakistani cricket. And please don't say he could offer something with the ball. I would love to see afridi try and take 7-12 in a test. More like 7-600.

 

[Slowcoach]

Am a fan of Afridi, just not the pose.

I seriously think now might be the right time to make him captain again in all forms.
Hafeez is too much like the Shoaib Malik situation, a guy not good enough to be in the team if not in form, you can't have a captain like that.
Better players you can carry when not in form.

I think the team would be a bit directionless under a new leader, too conservative as well, and teams like that never do well.
There seems no one in the team with the experience, or a strong enough personality, other than Afridi.

Misbah's stability has been perfect, and was the perfect choice at the time.

But for next captain, I would prefer a new crazy Afridi direction, than a directionless Shoaib Malik like drift into mediocrity under someone else.
He would inject the team with energy, so there would be no lifeless drifting and silent lack of confidence.

Is probably equally likely to fail, but more likely to succeed.

And I know how illogical it seems, given how he bats, and how he sometimes struggles to get wickets, but I think it is a viable option, and options are never a bad thing.

That said, the guy is psycho, and too messed up in the head to make good decisions, so is not the ideal captain.

 

[abhi_jacko]

Afridi's biggest problem is not inconsistency of big scores, but the consistency with which he scores in the 0-15 runs range. In between two big scores, he has a long string of single digit scores which really hurt the team. He would be so much more valuable if those insignificant performances were replaced with some average/below-average scores of 30-40

Windies are showing amazing restraint right now, although Samuels is being extremely Misbah-esque

 

[Slowcoach]

Is not that Afridi gets out so cheaply so often, it is that it is usually to some ridiculous first ball slog, when he has way more time to get himself in than that.