Pakistan in Zim

[Tiger444]

It's because our players play in a much bigger market than Zimbabwe does. Nothing we can really do about players being paid lots of money despite not being very good. You'd think it would motivate our players to become the best but it seems a lot of them don't look at it that way

[simon]

Pakistans test batting is seriously awful for such an old test playing country.
too dependant on Misba and Younus.

Younus rescueing Pak from a test defeat it looks like.

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[NoName]

Pakistan always had a weak batting lineup compared to other great test playing nations, but at least they always had the bowling attack to make up for it. Currently they don't even have that, Ajmal is carrying that bowling attack.

[Tiger444]

It's probably because that country is in a mess. They basically have a war going on there. Teams can't even go there to tour. Pakistan cricket is definitely getting affected because of that.

[Gowza]

pakistan's all time team batting wouldn't be too bad with anwar, younis, yousuf, inzi, miandad etc but yeah batting isn't usually their strong point.

brings me back to umar akmal, and i'm sure there are other youngsters who aren't being given the opportunities. the board needs to stick by some of the youngsters for awhile. you've got guys like umar akmal, ahmed shehzad, even guys like babar azam and haris sohail might be worthwhile giving some proper opportunities to.

i mean look at haris soahil's record: he's 24, played 53 FC matches, averages near 53, has a highest score of 211*, 11 tons, 22 half tons. that's a really really good FC record, if pakistan are looking for good young batsman why aren't they trying someone like this? he's had a couple of ODI opportunities which great but it's not his strong format FC cricket is.

babar azam, he's only 18, played 29 list A matches and averages almost 50 with 3 centuries and 11 half centuries.

fawad alam, they might think he has issues but he still averages almost 56 after 96 FC matches, 19 tons, 38 half tons, top score of 296*. he's played 3 test matches with 1 ton and an average of 41, why has he not got more opportunities if they are looking for some good young talents, he's still only 27.

how about 21 year old mohammad rizwan? the wicket keeper batsman. get him in the playing XI, he's 21 and averages 44 in FC cricket from 35 matches and has 3 tons and 12 half centuries, top score of 154*. why is adnan akmal playing ahead of him? at the very least they could have played him against zimbabwe.

they've got some others to monitor with the 17 year old imran butt who is averaging 61, 9 FC matches, 2 centuries, 5 half centuries. fakhar zaman, FC average of nearly 53, 23 years old, only 7 matches but 1 ton and 6 half tons. shoaib ahmed with 15 matches, average 41 but 3 tons and 2 half tons. get these guys some A team tours.

they say they want some good young batsman but they're not giving them opportunities when they perform anyway. had they stuck with umar akmal in tests when they first picked him he's probably be world class or near world class by now, he has a great FC record, his test record isn't that bad as he scored a ton, and 6 half centuries in his 16 matches giving him an average near to 36, that's a decent start for someone so young. pretty sure he got a ton in his last FC match as well and he's been in good ODI form so they can't use the excuse that he's playing badly atm or hasn't done much in FC cricket lately.

[Tiger444]

^spot on Gowza. It's very hard to decipher what's going on in the Pakistan think tank. Doesn't seem they have much thinking behind their selections and reward players that have connections to the board.

[Gowza]

i wonder why manzoor was selected ahead of shehzad in the tests. they have similar FC records but shehzad is 6 years younger, they just picked him for the t20s where he got 70 and 98* and they also picked him for the ODI leg where he got a 54, ok ok so those scores obviously could not have influenced the test squad as it was announced earlier but still they have similar FC records but shehzad is younger and they went with him in the other 2 formats. are they trying to make him a short format specialist? i reckon he could turn out a really good test opener if given the chance, hope they don't pigeon hole him.

another, i just noticed, manzoor has a very respectable list A record, yet he hasn't been picked in the short format. going by records you would think they'd pick manzoor for the short formats and shehzad for the longer one if they were going to pick different openers for different formats.

nasir jamshed in a similar boat to shehzad, picked him for the short formats, similar FC record to manzoor but manzoor gets the nod in tests...it's not like shehzad and jamshed have poor FC records or that manzoor has a much better record so why not pick them for tests also? and why not manzoor for short formats since he has a better list A record than both?

anyway pakistan actually should be ok in tests with the bat atm, they've got younis averaging over 50 and then they've got misbah, azhar ali and asad shafiq averaging 40+ that's pretty solid from #3 down to #6. but they should replace adnan with rizwan. thought about umar as the keeper but i think in tests let him be a specialist bat, if shafiq or azhar have a bad series or two then get umar in quick smart. they need to work out their openers though, personally i think i'd give shehzad and jamshed a run together in tests but they probably don't want to drop hafeez because he adds extra to the bowling. haris sohail and fawad alam can also be back up batsmen ready to be drafted in if someone in the middle order isn't performing.

[al Furqaan]

ZIM collapsed...at 172-3 I almost knew it was gonna happen...and then by the time I got to work, 203-7. Deshi style collapse there.

ZIM and PAK, the only teams that score at under 3 an over in Tests nowadays. Any test they play the first result that comes to mind is a draw, lol.

[Gowza]

asad shafiq hasn't done well against zim, the selectors might choose to go for someone else next series.

[simon]

same old story, Younis & Misbah to the rescue Pak fans must be like watching same game everyday.

PS: Younus as a Test batsman is so underrated.

[Gowza]

Originally Posted by simon
same old story, Younis & Misbah to the rescue Pak fans must be like watching same game everyday.

PS: Younus as a Test batsman is so underrated.

totally agree, younis is a very underrated test batsman.

[Gowza]

pakistan in bad shape atm, misbah out, younis out, trailing zim by 80 odd and already 7 wickets down.

[Tiger444]

Credit to Zimbabwe for fighting so hard this series. They should try and get the target to 250-300. If they could, they'll have a real chance to win

[koushik]

With out ajmal+mishba+younis pak will loss against even ireland if they given chance to play test

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[NoName]

Haha, Zimbabwe took the lead again.

[Tiger444]

Originally Posted by al Furqaan
ZIM collapsed...at 172-3 I almost knew it was gonna happen...and then by the time I got to work, 203-7. Deshi style collapse there.

ZIM and PAK, the only teams that score at under 3 an over in Tests nowadays. Any test they play the first result that comes to mind is a draw, lol.

Your forgetting England lol. I honestly wouldn't mind if our players did the same. We're no India but yet we try to be by scoring at 3.5-4. Would be good if we carried on but we end up getting out fast for the most part. For a struggling Test team like us, I think it'd be better if we slowed down. There's a reason why we lost to Zimbabwe twice in Tests. Their batsmen show more patience than ours

[koushik]

Day 3 Stumps
Zim 121/4
lead-184

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[MohammedShamim]

Zimbabwe on verge of Beating Pakistan in Test! This might result in Whatmore getting Sacked!

Should we Approach Whatmore if he gets Sacked?

[Nadim]

Its Zim's game to lose now.

[Equinox]

As long as Misbah is there I'd back Pakistan to come through. I feel like Zimbabwe fell 40 runs short. Chasing 300+ in the fourth innings is a different mental hurdle altogether regardless of the opposition.

[AsifTheManRahman]

Pakistan needs Mahmudullah at #8. At least losses will be respectable then.

[simon]

Originally Posted by AsifTheManRahman
Pakistan needs Mahmudullah at #8. At least losses will be respectable then.

or Abul @ 10 to win

[Tiger444]

You never know with Pakistan. They can either win this in a breeze or lose all their wickets without scoring. Honestly though, Zimbabwe deserves to win this match. They've outplayed Pakistan this whole Test and it would be harsh if they lost this series 2-0 despite being the better team the majority of the time. Has to be worrying for Pakistan as they play a very strong SA team next series.

[Tiger Manc]

Come on Zim! Take those last 5 wickets! Misbah's wicket is key. Get him early tomorrow and it's game over. Unfortunately I've got a feeling he'll do what he normally does and see pakistan home.

[RazabQ]

Tamim's spouse reports he's been found sleep-walking around the house muttering: "told you Vittori's ordinary"