"Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq should be included in the Pakistan side for World Cup" : Mohammad Yousuf

[Abdullah719]

Mohammad Yousuf speaking on GTV:

"In 1998 we drew a series in South Africa which was a great achievement for any Asian side"

"After that all teams from Pakistan have lost and lost badly with 3-0 margins"

"These are inexperienced players and even the captain is young too so we shouldnt be too angry on them"

"They made difficult wickets for batsmen for Pakistan and also when India toured"

"I still feel that the batsmen did well such as Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq and Shan Masood did"

"Shan Masood played really well in all four innings and his technique has improved a lot from what it was before"

"I had said before that the real alarming thing would have been to lose to Australia who are a very 'light' team and seem to lose everywhere like in Sri Lanka, India and even had problems in Bangladesh"

"So nowadays any team can win against Australia, anywhere"

"If Pakistan side goes to Australia now, even they have a chance to win"

"No one can negate or overlook the performance by India in Australia and that cannot be doubted"

"Everyone is raising fingers at the selection committee but its not the selection committee that decides on the side"

"The team cannot be made without permission of or without asking for the captain's views"

"I am surprised that Yasir Shah couldnt do much even though he is one of the best in the world and is fastest to 200 wickets"

"Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq should be included in the Pakistan side for the World Cup"

"If you look at the Champions Trophy, it was Azhar Ali's batting that had the most effect"

"Azhar Ali should have given more thought about his retirement from ODI cricket, there was no hurry"

[JibranAnsari]

OK.

None of his comments show that he was a cricketer.

[Hasan123]

Absolutely pathetic comments. A 31 year old isn't young. Azhar Ali knows he isn't good enough for ODIs that's why he retired. He just needs to look at Shafiqs stats in ODIs to see why he shouldn't be selected.

Overall clueless comments .

[Ahson8]

Someone show him Shafiq's ODI record

[Savak]

Legendary Analyst Yousaf. Only thing spot on from him was his correct criticism of Misbah ul Haq

[Kroll]

Someone show him Shafiq's ODI record

That probably wouldn't matter. For some in the PCT camp, it's all about playing your pals and favourites.

[Khan12]

Lost as usual.

[Ab Fan]

Spot on Analysis by the worst captain of all-time.

Seems like an early exit is what the idea is for Yousuf bhai

[Rahul1]

Legendary Analyst Yousaf. Only thing spot on from him was his correct criticism of Misbah ul Haq

Misbah can't do anything if your players are mediocre.

[Savak]

Misbah can't do anything if your players are mediocre.

Worst thing for mediocre players is to be led by an equally mediocre captain and batsman.

[Hitman]

Azhar Ali for the World Cup? Did I read it correctly?

[MMHS]

What an insightful speech on TV!!! This guy really has lots of clues for his cricket - a perfect candidate for next CS, after his "Bhai" or may be even Director cricket role.

[Ted123]

Clueless man ever when it comes to team selection and tactics.

[Gabbar Singh]

2 guys with odi strike rates of 74.5 and 67.5 should be included in the WC team? Mmm what could possibly go wrong.

[Markhor]

This is why local coaches or ex-players cannot be trusted to be the national team coach and we keep hiring from overseas !

They have little analytical abilities.

[gazza619]

Yeah sure.

I think MoYo gave this statement while chewing into his burger king burger.

[Kroll]

Azhar Ali for the World Cup? Did I read it correctly?

Unfortunately yes and Asad Shafiq too.

[Plumb]

You were great when you had bat in your hand but I believe you have lost it ever since Mic comes in front of you

[Varun]

Legendary Analyst Yousaf. Only thing spot on from him was his correct criticism of Misbah ul Haq

And the only reason he critiqued Misbah was because the latter usurped him in the T20 and ODI team. Certainly nothing to do with any astute analysis on Yousuf's part - personally I think he's always been a little thick.

[hadi123]

How can someone be so good at cricket yet have such poor knowledge

[Chokli]

Worst thing for mediocre players is to be led by an equally mediocre captain and batsman.

He made the best out of the mediocre bunch.

[Kroll]

Azhar Ali is now retired from ODIs and Shafiq was given numerous chances before he got the boot, so I'm not sure how MoYo thinks he wouldn't be ridiculed for these statements.

[topspin]

Yeah sure.

I think MoYo gave this statement while chewing into his burger king burger.

[gazza619]

Yep that was the moment.

[topspin]

This is why local coaches or ex-players cannot be trusted to be the national team coach and we keep hiring from overseas !

They have little analytical abilities.

Precisely this. Pakistan needs foreign coaches and dare I say it perhaps a foreign run PCB as well!

Sick and tired of our delusional ex-players...

[topspin]

Goes to back to what @unemployedgm was saying with his POTW. Ex-players are analytically inept because they tend to struggle to think outside of their technical mindset. But it is even more alarming with our former players for some reason

[Kohli, The King of Chase]

Thought a thread for 2015 WC was bumped(as it said about Asad and Azhar to be brought in the team).

But,....


Didn't expect any sane person to say this, let alone a cricketer.

[shaz619]

Indians are still traumatised from beatings Azhar gave them in the Champions Trophy great to see Alhamdullilah

[Pete Rose]

hahahahahaha.
he sure knows how to trigger

[Savak]

He made the best out of the mediocre bunch.

Indeed, lowest possible ODI rankings and not a surprise the team won the CT after his exit. Good riddance to bad rubbish

[rhony]

The strength of Pak team is to surprise other teams. That's been the USP for decades. They play fearless cricket when it matters and have enough talent and skills to beat any team on their day. Examples being CT SF and Final, Aanedo series, WC win against SA etc.

The support structure and the game played at the domestic level just doesn't support consistent play. The egos, the politics in selection, the senior culture and finally lack of professionalism at every level make it impossible for Pak to be a well oiled outfit.

For the old tradition to continue, Pak needs to give chances to players who can dazzle and forget about accumulators. 250 is never going to be enough anyway in ODIs. Go for glory or bust and take the game away like Fakhar Zaman did in CT. Bring back Umar Akmal. Instead, we see suggestions to include Azhar Ali and Shafiq in LOIs. Pak is out of the Misbah era of trying for a 'minimum guarantee' scores. It's time to go back to the roots and play like the way Pakistan always played. Fearless and enigmatic. Let the world be scared of which Pakistan team is gonna turn up that particular day. Ignore averages and focus on Strike rates.

[Chokli]

Indeed, lowest possible ODI rankings and not a surprise the team won the CT after his exit. Good riddance to bad rubbish

Not to mention defeating South Africa in South Africa and India in India, multiple Test victories including 3-0 drubbing of England.

When you select players like Fawad Alam and Saad Nasim, ofcourse you're going to end up as a number 9 side. Misbah was the one holding the team together and they rightfully dropped to where they belong when he left the side.

Champions Trophy was a fluke.

[badsha001]

Azhar Ali might not be a bad idea actually but he should be benched and only played in the crucial games when our openers aren't performing.

[Sunny_majoka]

asad shafique is one of the long lasting list of pakistani cricketers who are managed poorly.

he could be our perfect middle order batsman
and his list A record back my argument with a 50+ avg at strike rate of almost 90+

his start to odi career was perfect. he also scored good handy runs at world cup 2011
but he was fighting his place with the likes of umer akmal and younis khan.

it was just a matter of giving full confidence to him. he would not have done bad than shoaib malik , hafeez or azhar ali who were our first choice in odis

[sjahmed23]

asad shafique is one of the long lasting list of pakistani cricketers who are managed poorly.

he could be our perfect middle order batsman
and his list A record back my argument with a 50+ avg at strike rate of almost 90+

his start to odi career was perfect. he also scored good handy runs at world cup 2011
but he was fighting his place with the likes of umer akmal and younis khan.

it was just a matter of giving full confidence to him. he would not have done bad than shoaib malik , hafeez or azhar ali who were our first choice in odis

Was given plenty of chances don't think he could've been managed any better. In professional sports you manage yourself and prove yourself.

[Sunny_majoka]

Was given plenty of chances don't think he could've been managed any better. In professional sports you manage yourself and prove yourself.

no he was not given many chances he warmed the bench most of his career when he was on peak.
and we continuously gave chances to umer and azhar ali ahead of him

[javid]

How many more odi have Azhar played than Asad...

[King-Misbah]

asad shafique is one of the long lasting list of pakistani cricketers who are managed poorly.

he could be our perfect middle order batsman
and his list A record back my argument with a 50+ avg at strike rate of almost 90+

his start to odi career was perfect. he also scored good handy runs at world cup 2011
but he was fighting his place with the likes of umer akmal and younis khan.

it was just a matter of giving full confidence to him. he would not have done bad than shoaib malik , hafeez or azhar ali who were our first choice in odis

Baas kar mera bhai. Shafiq has been given more chances then anyone and he is still a timid useless player!

[ahmedwaqas92]

I'd pay good money to actually read Yousuf's posts on Pakpassion. Can you guys somehow rope him in for this platform - Would be incredible.

[redmaverik84]

Imagine this chap becoming chief selector after Inzi. There is every chance he could..

[big_gamer007]

100% right Yousuf Bhai

Pakistan ideal team for 2019 WC

1. Azhar Ali
2. Imam up haq
3. Ahmed Shahzad
4. Babar Azam
5. Asad shafique
6. Umar akmal
7. Sarfaraz
8. Shadab khan
9. Junaid
10. Amir
11. Hasan

If they play this team they have a chance otherwise nothing.

[Darkrai]

These sorts of people (meaning almost everyone in Pakistan) just make you want to slit your wrists and end it all.

[Amjid Javed]

MoYo has the same backwards thinking Like Inzi. No wonder current team is such a mess with selections.

[BreadPakoda]

no he was not given many chances he warmed the bench most of his career when he was on peak.
and we continuously gave chances to umer and azhar ali ahead of him

60 ODIs at an average of 24 with SR of 64 isn't enough to judge a batsman?

[Sunny_majoka]

60 ODIs at an average of 24 with SR of 64 isn't enough to judge a batsman?

surely he has played 60 odi, but he played odis here and there but not on consistent basis

[topspin]

The strength of Pak team is to surprise other teams. That's been the USP for decades. They play fearless cricket when it matters and have enough talent and skills to beat any team on their day. Examples being CT SF and Final, Aanedo series, WC win against SA etc.

The support structure and the game played at the domestic level just doesn't support consistent play. The egos, the politics in selection, the senior culture and finally lack of professionalism at every level make it impossible for Pak to be a well oiled outfit.

For the old tradition to continue, Pak needs to give chances to players who can dazzle and forget about accumulators. 250 is never going to be enough anyway in ODIs. Go for glory or bust and take the game away like Fakhar Zaman did in CT. Bring back Umar Akmal. Instead, we see suggestions to include Azhar Ali and Shafiq in LOIs. Pak is out of the Misbah era of trying for a 'minimum guarantee' scores. It's time to go back to the roots and play like the way Pakistan always played. Fearless and enigmatic. Let the world be scared of which Pakistan team is gonna turn up that particular day. Ignore averages and focus on Strike rates.

Spot on - the team has a habit of picking players that favour the "minimum guarantee". When Azhar Ali was interviewed he was asked about Pakistan's batting approach under Misbah, he revealed his target in mind was 260 and relying on Ajmal to defend the total. Talk about putting your eggs in one basket and being behind the times with the batting approach concerned.

Pakistan team needs more firepower like Umar Akmal - if he can prove fitness. We see an accumulator XI that just relies on Fakhar to change the complexion of the innings while they play around him. What makes it even worse is the number of players who struggle score against pace and now we have a legendary ex-player who pleading for the return of 2 extremely mediocre who nothing but failed limited over players.

[Swashbuckler]

Cluelessness at its peak.

[TeymurBlake]

......

Okay then Yousuf bhai, we'll take your word for it then. Pakistan will win the world cup with and .

[hadi123]

How can someone be so good at cricket yet have such poor knowledge

Or maybe he's trying to impress someone in the PCB with this amazing thinking so he can be the next selector

[aukhan]

haha Yousuf bhai back with his gems. No wonder why he was a horrible captain.

[Zeeraq]

Does he really want to reduce our already low chance of winning the world cup to pretty much nothing?

[MenInG]

Former Pakistan captain and batting great Mohammad Yousuf reckons that even the current Pakistan team could have beaten Australia in a Test series. India recorded a historic 2-1 series win Down Under, becoming the first sub-continent team to taste such success.

Yousuf said the current Australian team is one of the weakest he has seen but insisted he was not trying to devalue the feat of the Indian team. “What the Indians have achieved is big and they played well to win the series but it is also a fact that when Pakistan beat Australia one nil in UAE last Sept-Oct, I was not surprised at all. Such is the strength of this Australian side,” Yousuf told PTI.

Yousuf said he had no doubt that if Pakistan went to Australia now they would also have good chances of winning a test series for the first time. “I think India and Pakistan compared to Australia are very good sides. India in particular has quality batsmen and their bowlers have also learnt the art of bowling in test cricket,” he said.

The veteran of 90 tests and 288 One-Day internationals said that Australia for the last two years had struggled to win outside their country and their performance has suffered due to absence of banned Steve Smith and David Warner. “The Australians are struggling at the moment. Their batting is not showing quality and because of this their bowlers have also struggled badly,” he opined.

https://indianexpress.com/article/sp...ousuf-5534344/

[Major]

He is correct regarding Azhar ALi.

Should play in ODI and world cup

[Majid Khan]

Looks like both Azhar and Asad have celebrated their possible call to the World Cup squad in style, with two desi anday ke omlette.