Pakistan Team Discussion

[AsadRM]

I'm... I'm not sure how I feel about this.

So PCB has now declined that Wasim Khan said this.

 

[CerealKiller]

I don't think it's fair to call this whole ordeal a 'publicity stunt' when all the publicity that inadvertently comes is probably going to be negative.

I think the PCB's made a blunder in the sense that there ain't no way that India's coming to Pakistan with the current political landscape, and there is absolutely no good that comes for Pakistan from boycotting the WT20 in India. Which I'm sure we won't. It's just fluffer from the PCB for the time being. Pakistan WILL go to India for the WT20.

Also, the reason I'm really disappointed with this PCB statement is the sheer hypocrisy it brings to Pakistan's name. We THREATENED TO BOYCOTT THE LAST ASIA CUP 'CAUSE IT WAS IN INDIA!!! And India ended up hosting that in the UAE, but now, we expect them to come over to our country when the political landscape has only worsened?

WT actual F.[DOUBLEPOST=1579964534][/DOUBLEPOST]Also, btw, when I say 'we' I mean the PCB.

We didn’t boycott the 2018 edition, there were some visa issues for the players, that’s why it was held in the UAE.

 

[CerealKiller]

Umar Akmal suspended pending an anti-corruption investigation, because of course, that was the only thing he hadn’t done so far .
Honestly, hope he gets a life ban.

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

Umar Akmal suspended pending an anti-corruption investigation, because of course, that was the only thing he hadn’t done so far .
Honestly, hope he gets a life ban.

Shit man, I really miss the 2009-11 period when Umar Akmal was the shit and it was all about him scoring runs in Australia and New Zealand with his weird green lips and supposedly being the greatest batsman that Pakistan every got, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir being the next Wasim-Waqar combo before they threw that away, Shahid Afridi being so freakin' popular during the World Cup even after his 'ball-biting' incident in Australia, Shoaib Akhtar being this thing of mythos, a legend on his last hurrah and still bowling as quick as he had ever, Younis Khan being at the top of his game in test cricket, Umar Gul being the shit in Twenty20s and most importantly, Pakistan winning the 2009 WT20.

I know we didn't win much during that time but boy was it an enjoyable time, at least for me personally.

 

[CerealKiller]

Shit man, I really miss the 2009-11 period when Umar Akmal was the shit and it was all about him scoring runs in Australia and New Zealand with his weird green lips and supposedly being the greatest batsman that Pakistan every got, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir being the next Wasim-Waqar combo before they threw that away, Shahid Afridi being so freakin' popular during the World Cup even after his 'ball-biting' incident in Australia, Shoaib Akhtar being this thing of mythos, a legend on his last hurrah and still bowling as quick as he had ever, Younis Khan being at the top of his game in test cricket, Umar Gul being the shit in Twenty20s and most importantly, Pakistan winning the 2009 WT20.

I know we didn't win much during that time but boy was it an enjoyable time, at least for me personally.

Excluding 2010, same for me.

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

So, hypothetically speaking, should Kami bhai and Saifi bhai be recalled to the T20I side (which I think they both deserve) since the former has been performing consistently in domestic white ball cricket. And Saifi was removed unjustifiably for his poor performance in other formats, not T20I. That also solves our wicket-keeper problem. Is this what our main xi should be for the WT20 in Australia?

Openers:-
Kamran Akmal
Babar Azam

Middle Order:-
Mohammad Hafeez
Shoaib Malik
Sarfaraz Ahmed †/c

Tail:-
Imad Wasim/Shadab Khan
Mohammad Amir/Wahab Riaz
Shaheen Afridi/Haris Rauf

So that's 8 out of 11 filled. I think Kamran and Babar is the best opening pair we have for T20s right now. Our middle-order is 'stale' at best. I think we need a power-hitter that's reliable, not someone that fires once in a blue moon. I can't think of any. Then we need another power-hitter that can just go ASAP. From the very first ball. That fills 10 spots out of the 11, so there's room for another bowler. Ideally, it'd be Hasan Ali if for nothing but the fact that adds fire-power to the tail. However his performance as a bowler doesn't justify. Hopefully he does well in the ongoing PSL and gets a recall to the national team. The tail for me is either/or, we can have either Shaheen or Rauf at the same time because we shouldn't have (I think) an 'inexperienced' (for the lack of a better word) bowling attack, along with Imad or Shadab (no use in playing two spinners in Australia unless the games are in Sydney or Adelaide) and Amir or Wahab (preferably Amir, since Wahab's a bit of a gracious with runs). Perhaps this can be adjusted depending on the performances of some players.

I just don't know who the aforementioned 'power-hitters' can be for those 2 spots + 1 backup (to makeup the 15-men squad). Asif Ali didn't work, personally I have some reservations about Iftikhar Ahmed even though he was quite impressive in the recent T20Is, and the newer guys in PSL are too inexperienced for a World Championship event.

Also, Kami shouldn't keep wickets unless Saifi's injured or something.

@AsadRM @CerealKiller[DOUBLEPOST=1582715175][/DOUBLEPOST]Please no Husnain, he hasn't impressed on an International level. He just hasn't. And World Cup's too big of a stage for experiments.

 

[AsadRM]

Openers:-
Kamran Akmal
Babar Azam

Middle Order:-
Mohammad Hafeez
Shoaib Malik
Sarfaraz Ahmed †/c

Tail:-
Imad Wasim/Shadab Khan
Mohammad Amir/Wahab Riaz
Shaheen Afridi/Haris Rauf

Not sure whether playing these oldies is the best way to move forward. Sarfaraz doesn't deserve this one bit, until and unless he is good in the PSL and National One Day Cup or Pakistan Cup (whatever it will be called this season). He will be a big liability in Australia in T20s. He can't even clear these 70 meter boundaries in Pakistan and how can one expect him to clear the long 80-85 meter boundaries in Australia? It will be a disaster carrying Malik and Sarfaraz in the playing XI. These two are deadweights in those conditions and won't add one bit to the team cause. Firstly, there is no way that Sarfaraz comes back and even if he does he won't be made captain and I can bet my house on it. He just doesn't deserve it AT ALL. How would you sack a 25 year old who is one of the world's best batters currently, and has lead the team decently so far? If we carry these deadweights then I am afraid that this would end in tears (of sadness).

Kamran Akmal will have to be behind the stumps otherwise he just doesn't fit in. Iftikhar Ahmed will definitely be in the squad and might even play ahead of Imad Wasim.

I would recommend you to keep an eye out for Zeeshan Ashraf. He might even be playing in the world cup 8 months later. He is also a keeper and would fit in perfectly with Babar as an opener. But, all of this would be seen if he performs in the next few games. I haven't seen much of him but he is held in very high esteem by the Multan Sultans coaching staff

I would comment on the bowling later as I am currently a bit busy.

 

[CerealKiller]

So, hypothetically speaking, should Kami bhai and Saifi bhai be recalled to the T20I side (which I think they both deserve) since the former has been performing consistently in domestic white ball cricket. And Saifi was removed unjustifiably for his poor performance in other formats, not T20I. That also solves our wicket-keeper problem. Is this what our main xi should be for the WT20 in Australia?

Openers:-
Kamran Akmal
Babar Azam

Middle Order:-
Mohammad Hafeez
Shoaib Malik
Sarfaraz Ahmed †/c

Tail:-
Imad Wasim/Shadab Khan
Mohammad Amir/Wahab Riaz
Shaheen Afridi/Haris Rauf

So that's 8 out of 11 filled. I think Kamran and Babar is the best opening pair we have for T20s right now. Our middle-order is 'stale' at best. I think we need a power-hitter that's reliable, not someone that fires once in a blue moon. I can't think of any. Then we need another power-hitter that can just go ASAP. From the very first ball. That fills 10 spots out of the 11, so there's room for another bowler. Ideally, it'd be Hasan Ali if for nothing but the fact that adds fire-power to the tail. However his performance as a bowler doesn't justify. Hopefully he does well in the ongoing PSL and gets a recall to the national team. The tail for me is either/or, we can have either Shaheen or Rauf at the same time because we shouldn't have (I think) an 'inexperienced' (for the lack of a better word) bowling attack, along with Imad or Shadab (no use in playing two spinners in Australia unless the games are in Sydney or Adelaide) and Amir or Wahab (preferably Amir, since Wahab's a bit of a gracious with runs). Perhaps this can be adjusted depending on the performances of some players.

I just don't know who the aforementioned 'power-hitters' can be for those 2 spots + 1 backup (to makeup the 15-men squad). Asif Ali didn't work, personally I have some reservations about Iftikhar Ahmed even though he was quite impressive in the recent T20Is, and the newer guys in PSL are too inexperienced for a World Championship event.

Also, Kami shouldn't keep wickets unless Saifi's injured or something.

@AsadRM @CerealKiller[DOUBLEPOST=1582715175][/DOUBLEPOST]Please no Husnain, he hasn't impressed on an International level. He just hasn't. And World Cup's too big of a stage for experiments.

Sarfraz is useless in Australia unless he plays at 4, but then we’d have Hafeez, Sarfraz, Malik as a middle order, which is not ideal, because none of them can go big from ball one. Malik is a weakness outside Asia, too. On Kami, i have been advocating for his inclusion ahead of Rizwan ever since Sarfraz was sacked. Not really sure about the middle order yet, let’s see how the PSL plays out first.

 

[AsadRM]

Fastest deliveries by bowlers in the HBL PSL 5:
Shaheen Afridi - 151.6 kph
Hasnain - 151.0 kph
Muhammad Musa - 150.8 kph
Dilbar Hussain - 149.6 kph
Naseem Shah - 148.7 kph
Wahab Riaz - 148.6 kph
Chris Jordan - 148 kph
Haris Rauf - 147.3 kph
Salman Irshad - 144.5 kph
Akif Javed - 144.2 kph

I never thought Shaheen would be clocking 151. He is definitely the best pacer in Pakistan, that too by a country mile.

Naseem's average speed in this year's PSL was 141.82 kph. Naseem Shah bowled 64 out of 132 deliveries at 145+, which means 41% of his deliveries were over 145. It was freakish from Naseem considering he just turned 17, and is yet to reach his prime.

Pakistan has great fast-bowling reserves currently and is proved by the fact that 9 out of the 10 fast deliveries were bowled by Pakistanis and only 1 by a foreigner. Shaheen, Hasnain and Musa all bowled a delivery (at least) above 150, while Naseem hit 148.7, and these 4 pacers are not even 20 yet. Just imagine these 4 bowling together and that too 2-3 years down the road when their bodies should be at their peaks. Waqar Younis couldn't have asked for many better young talents than these, to work with. Surely, the upcoming years will be exciting times for fast-bowling and Pakistan fans.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Fastest deliveries by bowlers in the HBL PSL 5:
Shaheen Afridi - 151.6 kph
Hasnain - 151.0 kph
Muhammad Musa - 150.8 kph
Dilbar Hussain - 149.6 kph
Naseem Shah - 148.7 kph
Wahab Riaz - 148.6 kph
Chris Jordan - 148 kph
Haris Rauf - 147.3 kph
Salman Irshad - 144.5 kph
Akif Javed - 144.2 kph

I never thought Shaheen would be clocking 151. He is definitely the best pacer in Pakistan, that too by a country mile.

Naseem's average speed in this year's PSL was 141.82 kph. Naseem Shah bowled 64 out of 132 deliveries at 145+, which means 41% of his deliveries were over 145. It was freakish from Naseem considering he just turned 17, and is yet to reach his prime.

Pakistan has great fast-bowling reserves currently and is proved by the fact that 9 out of the 10 fast deliveries were bowled by Pakistanis and only 1 by a foreigner. Shaheen, Hasnain and Musa all bowled a delivery (at least) above 150, while Naseem hit 148.7, and these 4 pacers are not even 20 yet. Just imagine these 4 bowling together and that too 2-3 years down the road when their bodies should be at their peaks. Waqar Younis couldn't have asked for many better young talents than these, to work with. Surely, the upcoming years will be exciting times for fast-bowling and Pakistan fans.

There is also a fine crop of batting talent that is coming up. Pakistan Cricket all of a sudden once again looks like falling in place. But you never know.

 

[CerealKiller]

A great piece on Saleem Malik
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/28983634/slim-turned-shady

 

[The Cricket Story]

Imran Khan's Cornered Tigers - How Pakistan won the 1992 World Cup

Watch how Pakistan upset the odds at the 1992 Cricket World Cup as they lifted the trophy with victory over England in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground:

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

Imran Khan's Cornered Tigers - How Pakistan won the 1992 World Cup

Watch how Pakistan upset the odds at the 1992 Cricket World Cup as they lifted the trophy with victory over England in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground:

Love that! The narration and animation is awesome. Just wish there was a background score to it.

 

[The Cricket Story]

Love that! The narration and animation is awesome. Just wish there was a background score to it.

Thank you - much appreciated! Adding background music is a great idea - I will do that for future videos. I also made a video on the history of the Doosra - a must watch for any Saqlain fans:

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

Thank you - much appreciated! Adding background music is a great idea - I will do that for future videos. I also made a video on the history of the Doosra - a must watch for any Saqlain fans:

Already did.