Pakistan is playing with 3 specialist batsmen - is this a viable strategy?

[We Bleed Green]

This is a big brain faart by Pakistan Management.

Imam-ul-Haq
Fakhar Zaman
Babar Azam
Mohammad Rizwan
Sarfaraz Ahmed †
Mohammad Nawaz
Faheem Ashraf
Hasan Ali
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Usman Qadir
Haris Rauf

What is the point of replacing Rizwan as a keeper and playing Sarfraz as keeper. Why not let Rizwan play as a keeper and add specialist Batsmen in place of Sarfraz. This alone is sackable offense.

Our batting now ends at 4 and then Relo Kataz come. Why are we playing Nawaz for. He is good at nothing. We need specialist batsmen in his place. 6 bowlers is a luxury we can't afford to have especially when you have joker Sarfraz Ahmed in the team.

I am boiling here with anger and will explode any second.

[Barragan]

What do you expect?

misbah is an awful, awful coach!

[Third Man]

This is absolutely ridiculous. My blood is boiling right now. What is Haider Ali doing on the bench?

[Third Man]

To be honest, this seems like politics to me. Wants to play a weak team so Misbah the team man can blame it on the squad he was given by Wasim. I mean I can't find any other reason for selecting this joke of a team.

[Saj]

3 batsmen
2 wicket-keepers
2 all-rounders
4 bowlers

It's an interesting line-up. Could work, but could also go horribly wrong.

Not very often you see a team pick only 3 front-line batsmen in the XI.

[reversehook]

This is absolutely ridiculous. My blood is boiling right now. What is Haider Ali doing on the bench?

maalish, he should be getting a game here but actually its a good thing, let him toil on the bench a bit, hopefully the shuper ishtaar ego/air will stay away from him that our youngsters get inflated with without any substantial performances behind them.... yes misbah is a clueless coach, but he will take credit for this if it works out that way...

[reversehook]

This is a big brain faart by Pakistan
I am boiling here with anger and will explode any second.

well, u gona explode every match misbah coaches....

[Major]

Look at the squad given by the Selector.

Asif ALi, Danish, Haider Ali, Abdullah SHafique.

Inexperirenced players. No need to play such players.

Sarfraz atleast has experiiecne.

If the selector had given us Hafeez and Harris Sohail they would had been playing today.

[Amjid Javed]

Most pathetic team combo ever, we have young batsmen we could try out and instead we pick failures like nawaz and Sarfraz

[Mesozoic]

*Me, an Indian fan who have watched Kohli and Shastri play just 2 specialist batsmen and 4 wicket keepers in a World cup semi final* -


"First time"?

[Concerned]

Don’t see the point of picking 6 bowlers considering it will possibly be a shortened match.

Safraz and Nawaz/Qadir should have been replaced by specialist batsmen.

[lahoriyah1234]

Haider Ali is not fit he still suffering from toothache. They have no choice saud shakeel should have been the one playing but unfortunately he got injured. Relax Sarfraz deserves a chance.

[PakPremi]

3 batsmen and 2 capable wicketkeeper batsmen are sufficient for this SA attack. With Nawaz, Usman and Hasan Ali good tail end batting as well. This is best team that you can pick from the players available in squad.

[Saj]

Haider Ali is not fit he still suffering from toothache

He's recovered and was available for selection today.

[PakPremi]

Don’t see the point of picking 6 bowlers considering it will possibly be a shortened match.

Safraz and Nawaz/Qadir should have been replaced by specialist batsmen.

6 bowlers are always required one or two bowlers could have off day or opposition like their bowling.

[Saj]

In theory you could pick XI all rounders against this South African side which looks terribly weak, and Pakistan SHOULD still win.

[Concerned]

6 bowlers are always required one or two bowlers could have off day or opposition like their bowling.

Having 6 specialist bowlers*?

[gazza619]

May be this was a political move by Misbah / Waqar / Babar to get M Wasim sacked.

Will back fire big time.

[Concerned]

Pak should still win this game, however Misbah always likes keeping the side unchanged which would be the bigger issue for future games.

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

I think Misbah was forced to play Sarfaraz because both Asif and Danish batted poorly and he can't play Haider Ali in a must win game?

[aukhan]

Misbah and Waqar - these two shameless individuals have destroyed last decade of our cricket and could very well destroy this decade as well.

[Cpt. Rishwat]

That's the most shallow batting line up I've ever seen. Only the top 4 are genuine batsmen, although Sarfaraz is probably worth a place somewhere. Nawaz at no 6 is ridiculous though, he's a bowler who can swing the odd 6. Faheem is probably a better batsman, and even he's a bowler who can bat a bit in reality.

We might get away with it today due to the century opening partnership, but against top opposition that team would get hammered.

[Sir-fraz]

Look at the squad given by the Selector.

Asif ALi, Danish, Haider Ali, Abdullah SHafique.

Inexperirenced players. No need to play such players.

Sarfraz atleast has experiiecne.

If the selector had given us Hafeez and Harris Sohail they would had been playing today.

Lol dude stop, how many times are you gonna defend misbahs illogical selections?

Fact is he is a terrible man manager. We already know he has zero coaching knowledge..

We are facing a weak SA team. There was no excuse not to play haider over nawaz or sarfaraz.

Why would you want a 40 plus hafeez and a knee less harris??

We are building towards the upcoming WC which potentially babar has 3 he will captain in..

Your logic of playing experianced players for the sake of public appeasement is low iq...

Which is more important usless series cricket or the World Cup?

[Major]

Lol dude stop, how many times are you gonna defend misbahs illogical selections?

Fact is he is a terrible man manager. We already know he has zero coaching knowledge..

We are facing a weak SA team. There was no excuse not to play haider over nawaz or sarfaraz.

Why would you want a 40 plus hafeez and a knee less harris??

We are building towards the upcoming WC which potentially babar has 3 he will captain in..

Your logic of playing experianced players for the sake of public appeasement is low iq...

Which is more important usless series cricket or the World Cup?

funny how i am being called for having a low iq by someone who is saying we should play players who have only 1-2 match experience.

Players who have played 5-7 matches are not capable to play international. You need experience to learn how to play cricket. Especially on these bouncing wickets.

Look at the way Imam and Fakhar batted, they adjusted with the bounce of the wicket from todays pitch and the second odi pitch.

Haider Ali, SHafique and Danish are just 5-6 match players who have no expeirnce.

You can hate Hafeez all you want, but he has played cricket and knows how to adjust to wicekts. Harris Sohail experiecne matters

[RedwoodOriginal]

Look at the squad, its not like they are spoiled for choices.

It was either Sarfraz or Haider Ali. And they went with Sarfraz. I really dislike Sarfraz but I would take him over Asif Ali any day of the week.

[Sir-fraz]

Im hearing the excuse of haiders exclusion is a tooth ache..

Seems like a cop out. Misbah never likes playing young players

[reversehook]

In theory you could pick XI all rounders against this South African side which looks terribly weak, and Pakistan SHOULD still win.

last ball thriller coming your way...

[reversehook]

Im hearing the excuse of haiders exclusion is a tooth ache..

Seems like a cop out. Misbah never likes playing young players

he got the toothache when he requested a game, misbah said you are not a ttf yet youngster as he punched him to tbe bench...

[Sir-fraz]

funny how i am being called for having a low iq by someone who is saying we should play players who have only 1-2 match experience.

Players who have played 5-7 matches are not capable to play international. You need experience to learn how to play cricket. Especially on these bouncing wickets.

Look at the way Imam and Fakhar batted, they adjusted with the bounce of the wicket from todays pitch and the second odi pitch.

Haider Ali, SHafique and Danish are just 5-6 match players who have no expeirnce.

You can hate Hafeez all you want, but he has played cricket and knows how to adjust to wicekts. Harris Sohail experiecne matters

Dont send players if your not gonna let them play and learn.

Again we are a REBUILDING team. We are looking at the 2nd WC babar will captain. The first will used as experiance for our team.

It doesnt matter let them play. Give them roles to play.

Misbah and waqar have set zero roles for the players, have zero plans set and have no idea how manage and coach an intsrnational team.

Waqae has been given like double digit chances even a blind man can see now hes not coach material.

Why do we have misbah and younis if these so called coaches cant part off some knowledge to these players and give the set roles to play.

All i hear are excuses.. i dont hate hafeez or harris, their time is done we need to look elsewhere and develop a TEAM to win a WC.

This is the best chance with a LONG-TERM captain.

Misbah sight only goes like 2 matches far. He wants to look good infront of the public...

Never faces the media and always has the same two lines.

[marlonbrowndo]

Disgusting batting lineup. But I am not surprised with this management

[Major]

Dont send players if your not gonna let them play and learn.

Again we are a REBUILDING team. We are looking at the 2nd WC babar will captain. The first will used as experiance for our team.

It doesnt matter let them play. Give them roles to play.

Misbah and waqar have set zero roles for the players, have zero plans set and have no idea how manage and coach an intsrnational team.

Waqae has been given like double digit chances even a blind man can see now hes not coach material.

Why do we have misbah and younis if these so called coaches cant part off some knowledge to these players and give the set roles to play.

All i hear are excuses.. i dont hate hafeez or harris, their time is done we need to look elsewhere and develop a TEAM to win a WC.

This is the best chance with a LONG-TERM captain.

Misbah sight only goes like 2 matches far. He wants to look good infront of the public...

Never faces the media and always has the same two lines.

rebuilding doesnt mean you send in 5-6 list A match players.

You need domestic experience players to be added. Pakistan has got domestic players who have experiecne, but problem is we select based on t20 performance.

Misbah and Younis are coaches, Waseem is selector. Waseem has no idea who to select as he is playing to public.

Haider Ali is a good player, but if they do not develop him proeprly than he would be wasted.
You know why Babar Azam succeedded? Because the guy played amounts of u19 cricket and than played doesmtic.

[We Bleed Green]

Fakhar Zaman will save the team from losing but imagine if we were 15/3 then team would have been all out on 100

[OMB]

For now, the three specialist batsmen have done their job. Its up to Middle order and then bowlers to perform

[PerfectionPersonified]

3 batsmen
2 wicket-keepers
2 all-rounders
4 bowlers

It's an interesting line-up. Could work, but could also go horribly wrong.

Not very often you see a team pick only 3 front-line batsmen in the XI.

Stupid selection, may still pay off due to SA C team

[We Bleed Green]

Not playing with specialist batsmen will cost us 50 runs here

[ssuhaide]

This would have been the ideal game to try Aziz. Games like this should be used to blood younger talent. No use in having Rizwan and Safraz occuying batting slots.

[We Bleed Green]

Another one gone. Now 249/5.

Now imagine if we were 20/3

[PerfectionPersonified]

Wth was that Fahim

[shah_1]

The worst move by Pakistan

[PerfectionPersonified]

300 impossible now

[Sir-fraz]

rebuilding doesnt mean you send in 5-6 list A match players.

You need domestic experience players to be added. Pakistan has got domestic players who have experiecne, but problem is we select based on t20 performance.

Misbah and Younis are coaches, Waseem is selector. Waseem has no idea who to select as he is playing to public.

Haider Ali is a good player, but if they do not develop him proeprly than he would be wasted.
You know why Babar Azam succeedded? Because the guy played amounts of u19 cricket and than played doesmtic.

Yea just seen all the experiance... haider wouldve been a better option at this point in the game.

[We Bleed Green]

Another blunder go unnoticed as we have won today but we will meet again in the future when Misbah will play with three keepers, five leg spinners and three all rounders.

We do not need any batsmen in the team. CC Misbah-ul-Haq

[Bewal Express]

No. Against the better teams it will come unstuck.

[PakPremi]

Having 6 specialist bowlers*?

Of course not. Nawaz played as an all rounder.

[Line and Length]

Only reason we won today with this sort of lineup was because South Africa's team was weakened and Fakhar went big. If either of those two things didn't happen, this exceptionally poor team selection would have been exposed. They basically tried to respond to the middle order problem by not having a middle order at all. Hope this was a one off and not a team selection we see more frequently because it's definitely not sustainable.

[Waqar's inswinging yorker]

Directly attributable to Misbah.

Shocking team selection from within the squad.

No Haider Ali.
Shafique not given a go in middle order.

We have to right nos 4 to 8 asap!

1 to 3 is set and 9 to 11 seems set. Half the team needs work

[Shoaibbtt]

Directly attributable to Misbah.

Shocking team selection from within the squad.

No Haider Ali.
Shafique not given a go in middle order.

We have to right nos 4 to 8 asap!

1 to 3 is set and 9 to 11 seems set. Half the team needs work

Team selection was fine in my view, Pakistan were spoiled for choice and you could've easily played another allrounder in M. Wasim Jr but can't really complain with how Nawaz and Qadir bowled.

[Zaz]

Team selection was fine in my view, Pakistan were spoiled for choice and you could've easily played another allrounder in M. Wasim Jr but can't really complain with how Nawaz and Qadir bowled.

The batting lineup wasnt fine It was shockingly light just like it was in the last game

It couldve cost us again this game

Which team plays 2 keepers at positions 4 and 5 and then bits and pieces players at 6 and 7 who cant even avge in their 20s?

The batting basically finished with babar azam at 3 rizwan at 4

The management were asking for a collapse and duely got one They were lucky once again fakhar and babar azam held the innings together and hasan hit a few in the end otherwise i dread to think what wouldve been the score if they failed today

Bizarre thinking once again from misbah and couldve cost pakistan the series

[Shoaibbtt]

The batting lineup wasnt fine It was shockingly light just like it was in the last game

It couldve cost us again this game

Which team plays 2 keepers at positions 4 and 5 and then bits and pieces players at 6 and 7 who cant even avge in their 20s?

The batting basically finished with babar azam at 3 rizwan at 4

The management were asking for a collapse and duely got one They were lucky once again fakhar and babar azam held the innings together and hasan hit a few in the end otherwise i dread to think what wouldve been the score if they failed today

Bizarre thinking once again from misbah and couldve cost pakistan the series

Yep, Sarfraz certainly didn't make my final XI, I would've played Abdullah. Can't say you didn't have players.

[shamaan]

Haider should have played instead sarfraz