Pakistan tour of Australia and New Zealand 2023/24

[pillowprocter]

Yeah this is SOP to finalise who the third pacer should be before a test series.

Wonder who would you guys opt for.

I would go Khurram, assuming Hassan gets the new ball. Shaheen and Hamza are kinda samey and Hamza's main weapon is probably swing so he won't be too effective at 1st change. Jamal lacks control, wouldn't want him playing. Not sure Wasim is a realistic chance if they aren't giving him the tour game.

Rana Don Faheem Ashraf Stokes obvs

I think he will be the no. 7 4th pacer

 

[noducksallowed]

Yeah this is SOP to finalise who the third pacer should be before a test series.

Wonder who would you guys opt for.

Shaheen, Wasim Jr, and then any of Hasan/Khurram for the 3 pacers, with Faheem likely as 4th pacer and "allrounder" slot. Having said that, I don't know much about the non mainstream bowlers so just looked at their stats:

Khurram has 56 FC wickets at just under 27...not really setting the world alight there.
Amer Jamal 76 wickets at almost 33...he is meant to be an all rounder and I think I saw him play in the PSL? But with a lack of any serious pace and swing, I'm not sure what use he is here. Might be worth giving him a try above Faheem who knows.

 

[noducksallowed]

Thinking of picking an XI for Perth (one of the few pitches in Aus left with some pace) I'd go with:

1. Shafique
2. Saim Ayub may as well try him out as we know Imam will be found out against bounce
3. Shan Masood c
4. Babar
5. Saud has had a promising start to the test arena
6. Rizwan...although it will be Sarfraz wk
7. Agha Salma to shore up the batting a bit?
8. Faheem but I'd rather try someone fresh like Jamal
9. Wasim Jr
10. Hasan Ali/Hamza
11. Shaheen

Plenty of questions in that XI and I would always go with fresh hopefuls rather than tested failures.

 

[Viper.]

Rizwan batted well in their last test match though

 

[pillowprocter]

Imam ul Haq, partnership breaker

 

[noducksallowed]

Rizwan batted well in their last test match though

Yeah....that too because Sarfraz was out hurt or something? or was Rizwan in the team anyway? I can't remember the details but Sarfraz in tests is needlessly keeping Rizwan out of the side.

 

[Ahmad94]

Thinking of picking an XI for Perth (one of the few pitches in Aus left with some pace) I'd go with:

1. Shafique
2. Saim Ayub may as well try him out as we know Imam will be found out against bounce
3. Shan Masood c
4. Babar
5. Saud has had a promising start to the test arena
6. Rizwan...although it will be Sarfraz wk
7. Agha Salma to shore up the batting a bit?
8. Faheem but I'd rather try someone fresh like Jamal
9. Wasim Jr
10. Hasan Ali/Hamza
11. Shaheen

Plenty of questions in that XI and I would always go with fresh hopefuls rather than tested failures.

Saim Ayub won't come in - I think management (Wahab I believe) said they'd try Imam at the top and then consider Saim if he fails (so that will buy Imam at least one more test). Sarfaraz is a guaranteed starter for the XI (although not sure why you'd drop Rizwan when he is good enough to come in as a batsman).

Faheem is a pathetic bowler! I will stand up till my last breath. He just isn't good enough to come into the side on his bowling alone. Arguably Aamer Jamal doesn't seem like he's got the stats to back him up - but we don't have any options.

Also - seems a waste to not go in with a genuine spinner as well. I'm all for utilizing the pitch but even Aussies will play Lyon.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Am I understanding this correctly, Rizwan will be dropped for Sarfaraz Ahmed? Am I missing something? He is your best batsman across format and may I say even better then Babar. I have not followed Pakistan test cricket as they dont play that much but what did Rizwan do to not be in the XI?

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

Am I understanding this correctly, Rizwan will be dropped for Sarfaraz Ahmed? Am I missing something? He is your best batsman across format and may I say even better then Babar. I have not followed Pakistan test cricket as they dont play that much but what did Rizwan do to not be in the XI?

It's all politics

 

[CerealKiller]

Also - seems a waste to not go in with a genuine spinner as well. I'm all for utilizing the pitch but even Aussies will play Lyon.

Abrar is injured and out of the first Test. So they should go with 4 pacers

 

[pillowprocter]

Abrar is injured and out of the first Test. So they should go with 4 pacers

Four pacers meaning 7 batsmen 4 bowlers, 6 batsmen 4 pacers 1 spinner or 6 batsmen 5 pacers?

 

[CerealKiller]

Four pacers meaning 7 batsmen 4 bowlers, 6 batsmen 4 pacers 1 spinner or 6 batsmen 5 pacers?

7 batsmen, 4 bowlers.
We have Imam as 5th bowler

 

[CerealKiller]

Imam
Abdullah
Shan
Babar
Saud
Rizwan
Sarfraz
Faheem/Jamal
Shaheen
Hasan
Khurram/Jamal

Imam is guaranteed. And it’s not a bad thing if Saim comes in on the friendlier terrain of Sydney. Same for Sarfraz, hopefully this series ends his career.

 

[Bevab]

Am I understanding this correctly, Rizwan will be dropped for Sarfaraz Ahmed? Am I missing something? He is your best batsman across format and may I say even better then Babar. I have not followed Pakistan test cricket as they dont play that much but what did Rizwan do to not be in the XI?

He lost form in tests because of his high workload and Sarfaraz was scoring runs in domestic cricket (which may or may not have been on flat roads). Then Sarfaraz walks in and has a monster series on flat roads against the Kiwis and now you can’t drop him because he was already a politically influential cricketer beforehand.

As I’ve said before if they really want him in they should play him as a specialist batter because his keeping is miles off Rizwan’s.

 

[Ahmad94]

He lost form in tests because of his high workload and Sarfaraz was scoring runs in domestic cricket (which may or may not have been on flat roads). Then Sarfaraz walks in and has a monster series on flat roads against the Kiwis and now you can’t drop him because he was already a politically influential cricketer beforehand.

As I’ve said before if they really want him in they should play him as a specialist batter because his keeping is miles off Rizwan’s.

Rizwan isn't 21 anymore - he has to travel with a medicated pillow due to the strain of consistent keeping. Honestly, he is talented enough to not waste as a keeper, especially in a test match. I would much rather Sarfaraz continued to keep (despite being considerably worse) to prolong Rizwan's overall career.