Aamir Sohail: England are over-rated

[bhakkar]

KARACHI — Pakistan's top political leaders, under fire over their handling of disastrous floods, took time out Sunday to praise the country's cricket side after its victory in the third Test over England.

Captain Salman Butt dedicated the four-wicket victory at The Oval to the millions hit by Pakistan's worst-ever floods.

"The only thing we could do is win a good game to bring some cheer to them," he said. "We name this victory to the victims of the floods."

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani -- who face virulent criticism for the government's faltering relief effort -- both sent messages of congratulation to the touring cricketers.

"The team deserves congratulation," said Zardari's message to Butt, expressing hope the side would play in the same spirit in the concluding Test at Lord's from Thursday.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt, who has faced calls from some Pakistani lawmakers to resign after the team lost the first two Tests against England, also praised the side's spirit.

"The whole team displayed tremendous character and professionalism to carve out a deserved victory," he said in a message.

"All the boys fought like a unit with Mohammad Yousuf showing his class," the PCB head said of the recalled veteran batsman, who made 56 and 33 at The Oval.

Former captain Aamir Sohail blamed the PCB selectors for hampering Pakistan in England.

"We would have won the series 3-0 had we done proper selection of the squad before the tour, because England have proved to be an over-rated team," Sohail said, calling for the recall of batsmen Younus Khan and Taufeeq Umer.
Younus was banned indefinitely for indiscipline in March. Although his ban was later lifted on appeal, he has not been cleared to play by the PCB. That is in contrast to Yousuf, who was also banned only then to be recalled.

Former selection committee chief Iqbal Qasim also demanded Younus's inclusion.

"Pakistan would have been leading the series 2-1 had Younus been in the team," said Qasim, who resigned earlier this year after a disastrous tour of Australia.

"The team played with unity and that's why the result is different. It was because of our inexperience that we lost the first two Tests (against England)," he added.

[James]

they were 2 massive losses. article massive yawn.

[Sledger]

Tbh, England have always been over-rated. That's due to the intense media coverage and 'bigging up' of average players which happens. I'd suggest the only country that I've read local press from who come close to such hype are India.
Doesn't mean England aren't a quality side though - not sure about the 3-0 comment either, think Aamir is getting over excited.

[Savak]

Shockingly Idiotic stuff from Sohail. England are a very good team, definately better than Pakistan.

[James]

not sure about the 3-0 comment? it's possibly the most baseless and stupid claim I've read all year. Pakistan were absolutely mullered in tests 1 and 2.

[Awesome Anjum]

I disagree. England are simply a better side than Pakistan. They have been playing good cricket for quite a while now.

[bhakkar]

Originally Posted by Whippy not sure about the 3-0 comment? it's possibly the most baseless and stupid claim I've read all year. Pakistan were absolutely mullered in tests 1 and 2.

Not really the case imo, Pakistan tbh defeated themselves with all the dropped catches, england didnt hammer them, they hammered themselves.

[bluffmasterv2]

England is #1 test team imo.

[Maula Jutt]

Couldn't he have waited for this comment until AFTER we'd levelled the series and beaten England in both the ODIs and T20's. Because nothing short of that warrants such a comment.

[hasanmehmoodkhan]

Originally Posted by Whippy not sure about the 3-0 comment? it's possibly the most baseless and stupid claim I've read all year. Pakistan were absolutely mullered in tests 1 and 2.

no no this is where you are wrong. Pakistan lost because they dropped catches and didnt select the right team not because england are amazing and highly talented . seriously you guys only have 2 class player in swann and anderson rest are average at best. in the second test if we held our chances you guys would have been bowled out for 129 and the game would have been even. this last test shows that pakistan can beat england if we hold our catches and select the right team because england played how they have been playing all series

[Sledger]

Originally Posted by Whippy not sure about the 3-0 comment? it's possibly the most baseless and stupid claim I've read all year. Pakistan were absolutely mullered in tests 1 and 2.

Well I'm not sure what he means by "had we done proper selection of the squad before the tour". Obviously, they wouldn't have won with the current side.

[Hash]

If we had taken our catched we would have won the 2nd test for sure.

Not sure about 3-0 but we would have been 2-1 up.

[Sufian84]

england would be 2-0 up, but the big would not have so big. also, what is all that fuss about taufeeq umar?

[fawad_wellwisher]

A Sohail has joined the bandwagon as soon as Pakistan win a test match.

England are overrated though and would have had a hard time beating us in the first 2 tests if we had held on to those catches.

[bhakkar]

Originally Posted by hasanmehmoodkhan no no this is where you are wrong. Pakistan lost because they dropped catches and didnt select the right team not because england are amazing and highly talented . seriously you guys only have 2 class player in swann and anderson rest are average at best. in the second test if we held our chances you guys would have been bowled out for 129 and the game would have been even. this last test shows that pakistan can beat england if we hold our catches and select the right team because england played how they have been playing all series

Agreed!! although KP is world class too, just out of form currently.

[Rana]

Originally Posted by Whippy not sure about the 3-0 comment? it's possibly the most baseless and stupid claim I've read all year. Pakistan were absolutely mullered in tests 1 and 2.

2nd test......yeah. ok. Anybody who watches cricket could tell england got away because of pak's own silly mistakes, england were lucky mate. They didn't muller us. Their batsmen got mullered in practically every innings upto now, shame about the feilding

[Dondulkar]

Obviously they are !

You dont become one of world's top teams just by beating teams like current Australia, Bangladesh and Pakistan

[AZ]

lol @

kabhi hum bekaar hain, to kabhi woh bekaar hain.

make up your mind, mate.

[Sledger]

Maybe means they should have selected Junaid Zia in place of Mohammad Asif and play Hafeez instead of Yousuf.

[Atif]

I agree with Sohail with England being overated, thats obviously because of the media bull...but bringing back Taufeeq Umar is abit over the top...

[cricketpassion]

Not sure about 3-0 but if we had taken all the catches we would have been leading 2-1 at least with the same team

[cricketpassion]

Originally Posted by Atif I agree with Sohail with England being overated, thats obviously because of the media bull...but bringing back Taufeeq Umar is abit over the top...

Thank god he didnt say brining in hafeez and junaid zia would have made difference

[Blistering Barnacle]

Sohail is right. Pak would have won this series if selection was right. We played with the weakest batting lineup I can recall for the first couple of tests, and we also played with a wk who couldn't catch.

[Rizie]

We definately would have performed better if the selection was done better.

Dont think we would all the test matches.

[Zedman]

Sorry - but there is no way we would have been leading 3-0 with our batting - even with YK and Moyo. We would still have Farhat and U Akmal in the top 6. That is akin to playing with 4 batsmen not 6.

[James]

you lost by a zillion runs and then 9 wickets. these are massive losses. I know England are overrated, but 2-1 is a fair reflection of the series thus far. you lost because of Kamran? so there's no chance whatsoever that the other wk would have dropped any of those? you lost because you dropped catches? that is just another symptom of a rubbish performance and why England were better in that match, because they caught theirs. you can't argue with results when they are that convincing.

[Xoib]

Originally Posted by Whippy you lost by a zillion runs and then 9 wickets. these are massive losses. I know England are overrated, but 2-1 is a fair reflection of the series thus far. you lost because of Kamran? so there's no chance whatsoever that the other wk would have dropped any of those? you lost because you dropped catches? that is just another symptom of a rubbish performance and why England were better in that match, because they caught theirs. you can't argue with results when they are that convincing.

yeah agreed Amir is being harsh still feel with catches taken you would have a nervy run chase but would still won like ours chase.

[Luton Bad Boy]

Losing by 354 runs and 9 wickets is no accident and no matter how much Pakistan media blame the conditions, it was there techniques that was found wanting...

However, in the long run, it will keep them in good stead in future tours to Australia and South Africa...

As for England over-rated, Anderson/Broad/Finn require the conditions to suit them and offer nothing special on flat decks and it is only Swann who has become their main bowler now...

However, it wont take long before he suffers the second-or-third season blues once he has been found out....then it will be back to Monty Panesar...

England cricket is not too dissimilar to Pakistan cricket!!

[James]

we got completely owned in test 3, I have no problem admitting that we deserved to lose. Pak fans sometimes struggle with this idea.

[James]

Swann just took another 7-fer. some people just want him to fail.

[khalil1986]

Originally Posted by Whippy Swann just took another 7-fer. some people just want him to fail.

To be fair we hardly want him to take wickets against us now, do we?

[James]

nah not that, more that there is quite the anti-Swann brigade here, who just refuse to accept he might be good for the long haul.

[Prince_Pathan]

hah yes finally

made their bowling look good because of our poor batsman...apart from graeme swan who is pretty damn good...certainly made broad and finn look pretty ordinary at times though

[Wised up]

Originally Posted by Whippy nah not that, more that there is quite the anti-Swann brigade here, who just refuse to accept he might be good for the long haul.

If anyone denies that, then I am sure he hasn't been following the cricket.

@article. Aamer Sohail has this annoying habit where he never credits the opposition. He is one of those guys who thinks, "you lost cuz you played poor cricket not that the opposition played better than you."
Is England overrated? maybe... but are they a better side than Pak? Yes! especially in their country..

Not giving them the due respect is equals to undermining our achievement as well.

[Blitz]

Originally Posted by Dondulkar Obviously they are ! You dont become one of world's top teams just by beating teams like current Australia, Bangladesh and Pakistan

Technically, they haven't beaten us yet, still can be a tied series. So basically, its just on Aus and Ban.


Anyway, why is everyone chatting crap? Salman, now this idiot. Keep your words short and sweet, you may end up eating them.

[sa88]

Originally Posted by Whippy nah not that, more that there is quite the anti-Swann brigade here, who just refuse to accept he might be good for the long haul.

Swann is good, very good. He gets a lot of spin and made the 3rd Test very interesting. That being said, some of the English players are overrated. Finn and Trott are two that pop to mind. Performances against Bangladesh should not be an indicator of how well a player is going to perform against established Test match nations. However, there are some excellent players in the current English team and their recent fielding has mostly been top notch.

[insaaniyat]

Originally Posted by bluffmasterv2 England is #1 test team imo.

and beating the number one team should have some satisfaction, shouldn't it?

[Desire]

problem is this. when you beat them they look overrated but when you loose they look like best in the world.

[IMMY69]

As an England supporter it would really annoy me knowing that Pakistan has made some huge selection blunders, got their batting positions wrong, dropped catches after catches and yet can still come away with a drawn series!!!

[James]

Originally Posted by IMMY69 As an England supporter it would really annoy me knowing that Pakistan has made some huge selection blunders, got their batting positions wrong, dropped catches after catches and yet can still come away with a drawn series!!!

then Australia will be red-faced right now. in reality, England are still favourites to win this series.

[Slickman]

What is this sohail on about before this game they were on course for a 4-0 and looking like a proffesional outfit and now they've become overated ?! yes we won 1 game but that dosen't make them rubbish yes they may not be as great as everyone says, but their a tough test team who are very hard to beat they've lost what 3 odd tests in 20 they've got a good side we should respect that and drawing the series would be a respectable achivement in their backyard, we know pakistan are not consistnent and to say we should be 3-0 up is stupid we didn't deserve to win either of the first two tests we didn't even come close dropped catches or not.

[Sledger]

To put this comment in context, I'd say India and Australia are more over-rated (the former by there own media/home games smokescreen and the latter from past reputation and legacy on foreign media).

[ace58]

Originally Posted by Sledger To put this comment in context, I'd say India and Australia are more over-rated (the former by there own media/home games smokescreen and the latter from past reputation and legacy on foreign media).

I'm not saying that India isn't over rated but wouldn't most media outlets hype their team if the ranking declared them to be Number one?

[Sledger]

Yes, and if things stay as they are, then all number 1 teams will be over-rated. The reason is because there is no 'great' side that can truly edge so far ahead of the rest like the Aus team of 00/01 or the classical WI team. At the moment, there are 3-4 teams which are pretty close hence rankings mean a little less these days, for me at least.

[shan]

We couldnt have won first 2 tests even with catches taken, but could have been alot closer.

And in 3rd test the end the result was closer because of Pakistani batting when chasing small totals. Overall when you look at it Pak won first 3 days and dominated England till the end.

[James]

2-1 is a fair reflection, and there may yet be a tied series, although at home, at Lord's, England are favourites to either win or draw and take the series.

[Wristy_Shuffler]

Originally Posted by Whippy you lost by a zillion runs and then 9 wickets. these are massive losses. I know England are overrated, but 2-1 is a fair reflection of the series thus far. you lost because of Kamran? so there's no chance whatsoever that the other wk would have dropped any of those? you lost because you dropped catches? that is just another symptom of a rubbish performance and why England were better in that match, because they caught theirs. you can't argue with results when they are that convincing.

I Agree.One of the reasons for Aus being #1 for so long was their fielding,it's part of the game, just like batting & bowling.And honestly, even this 3rd test may have been englands had strauss held on to that chance late in our first innings. England overrated? perhaps,it does show how reliant they are on Swann and the middle order. Imagine if Cook hadn't gotten his ton.

[90MPH]

Who is anti-Swann ?

He is by far my favourite spin bowler in the world. He gets revs, drift in the air, dip and then big turn on the pitch. Wonderful bowler to watch and hopefully he will win the ICC cricketer of the year award.

As for England being over-rated I disagree, England are a better side than Pak at Test level but there is not a big gap between the teams, so Pak can compete with them as long as they take their catches.

[Sledger]

Originally Posted by shan We couldnt have won first 2 tests even with catches taken, but could have been alot closer. And in 3rd test the end the result was closer because of Pakistani batting when chasing small totals. Overall when you look at it Pak won first 3 days and dominated England till the end.

Actually, I would say Pak could have won the second test had they held on to their catches. However, they're not good enough and catching isn't 'luck' based, if you practise the skill, you'll catch them.

They [Pak] wouldn't have survived Anderson in the conditions for too long at Trent Bridge even with the Ys. Sohail's introduced pointless hypothticals and one of his points is that had x, y & z been selected it could have been different. Well 2-1 is a fair result as England are an overall better team and much more discipline. They're good/decent at batting, bowling & fielding. Pakistan are only good at one discipline out of the 3 and you won't win enough games that way.

[ace58]

Originally Posted by Sledger Yes, and if things stay as they are, then all number 1 teams will be over-rated. The reason is because there is no 'great' side that can truly edge so far ahead of the rest like the Aus team of 00/01 or the classical WI team. At the moment, there are 3-4 teams which are pretty close hence rankings mean a little less these days, for me at least.

I kind of disagree. A team doesn't need to dominate in order to be considered number 1. I agree that rankings aren't everything. For example if south africa was able to win that test series in india nobody would have considered India to be number 1. Their is no clear number 1 but the unbiased official rankings consider India to be number one and thus the media has the right to over hype their team with it. Indias tour to south africa will settle who is number IMO. If india doesn't win or draw nobody will consider india to be number one. I personally don't think their is a number one either.

[Sledger]

Originally Posted by ace58 I kind of disagree. A team doesn't need to dominate in order to be considered number 1. I agree that rankings aren't everything. For example if south africa was able to win that test series in india nobody would have considered India to be number 1. Their is no clear number 1 but the unbiased official rankings consider India to be number one and thus the media has the right to over hype their team with it. Indias tour to south africa will settle who is number IMO.

Some of the results over the last few years I can remember are
SA beating Ind home, Aus beating Eng at home, Ind beating Eng away, SA beating Eng away, Ind beating Eng home, Aus beating Ind home, Ind beating Aus home, Eng beating Aus home & Eng beating SA away.
These 4 in particular all have solid cases to be number one. I'd say India have done well against England both home and away which puts them just infront but the teams have moved on now, and going by England's recent record, I'd say they'd easily beat India at home.

[KingKhanWC]

I don't think any team is rated that highly at the moment. Every team has plenty of weaknesses. South Afica have the least, but a big one, with and against spin.

SA,Pak,India,Aus and England could win a series against each other.

[Amir]

A little over the top but I agree with the sentiment. England is over-rated. Many a time we could have put them to bed but its just that our batting sucks. Don't get me wrong, England bowled well but they would not bowl a top team out consistently under 100. I feel the pundits are getting a little too excited for the Ashes.

They definitely have a problem in batting. They don't see it (at least Botham doesn't) because our inept batting has covered for it. I think they are going to have a hard time in Australia. Their bowlers as well cause without swing, some of them are just not good enough. Like I said, there is a reason why Jimmy Anderson averages 33.

[Sledger]

England's batting will be well prepared for the Ashes because 1) Wickets are fairly easy to handle for non-Asian teams with good carry and pace 2) Pakistan's bowling has given England a sterner test. Let's not forget that Aus don't have Warne/Mcgrath but have Hauritz/Johnson.

Its bowling on mainly flat Aus wickets which will worry them the most, though they can take heart from the amount of reverse Anderson was getting so early in the last innings at the Oval.

[Maula Jutt]

Why would you jinx your own team like this, Aamer Sohail?

[ace58]

Originally Posted by Sledger Some of the results over the last few years I can remember are SA beating Ind home, Aus beating Eng at home, Ind beating Eng away, SA beating Eng away, Ind beating Eng home, Aus beating Ind home, Ind beating Aus home, Eng beating Aus home & Eng beating SA away. These 4 in particular all have solid cases to be number one. I'd say India have done well against England both home and away which puts them just infront but the teams have moved on now, and going by England's recent record, I'd say they'd easily beat India at home.

England has no case to be number 1 at all. They lost at home to india and south africa, lost they their recent away series in india ,sri lanka, and west indies. Australia recent record against top sides hasn't been particularity good either.

[Sledger]

England has the least case of the 4 but my point is that I don't consider ONE team to be number one right now.

[James]

Hang on. who actually rates England that much? the commentators may be excited by the Ashes, but they're pretty realistic. the media are particularly Ashes-hungry, but they'll slaughter the team when they fail. and most importantly, the majority of our fans don't rate us ultra high either.

[Sledger]

And I'm thinking England are marginal favourites (as it stands) to take the Ashes.

[James]

going into the series, it actually does feel like it. but watch the 300-run loss at Brisbane and it'll all be downhill from there.

[KingKhanWC]

Originally Posted by Whippy Hang on. who actually rates England that much? the commentators may be excited by the Ashes, but they're pretty realistic. the media are particularly Ashes-hungry, but they'll slaughter the team when they fail. and most importantly, the majority of our fans don't rate us ultra high either.

Not now but remember after 2005 ashes win? ;)

Not a single England thought the series away in Pakistan would end up in a 2-0 defeat.

[James]

yeah we were loving it after that win. but that was a long time ago now...

[Sledger]

Truth be told, this isn't close to the Australia of old - I know they still dominate Pakistan - but talking from a purely cricketing view. Even Pak SHOULD have won in Sydney.. and could have won at the MCG had they not dropped so many catches. Even Ponting was droppped on 0 at Hobart and Pakistan shelled a few at Lord's. Obviously, England are a much better fielding team.
Reality is that they're carrying a lot of passengers right now and I'm shocked they've decided to retain walking wicket North in their team. Watson/Katich are good and Hussey and Clarke excellent. Ponting's looking past it these days and a fast short ball will usually do. Bowling attack is attackable as the WI proved.

[James]

everything points to this being a good chance for England. but I can already feel the scoreboard pressure of 600 when our bowlers fail, and our batsmen who should succeed on those wickets (and have in the past) folding badly. bye bye Ashes.

[KingKhanWC]

Aus aren't the team of old, to be fair it was one of the two teams that has dominated cricket, the other being West Indies of the 80's.

It would be hard to get to that level again. With this being a local derby of sorts, it's hard to judge. Australia will raise their game just because it's a home Ashes series.

One thing they haven't lost is the nak of putting on pressure. I would have backed England until this series. After their collapes, I can't see them standing up to the pressure esp if Aus score big in the first innings. The other issue is the ball, English bowlers won't have the duke ball.

Aus to win 3-1, although I will be supporting England.

[saeed-sohail]

May be because he knows about cricket more then us esp after winning test series in Eng twice and having a great record in Eng.
England 7 12 2 490 205 49.00

[James]

I never bought the logic of trusting a rubbishy comment from an explayer because he was good.

[Sledger]

Originally Posted by saeed-sohail May be because he knows about cricket more then us esp after winning test series in Eng twice and having a great record in Eng. England 7 12 2 490 205 49.00

You don't need to remind us in every Aamir Sohail thread.

[saeed-sohail]

Originally Posted by Sledger You don't need to remind us in every Aamir Sohail thread.

Aamir sohail Younis khan Kumar Sanu meri kamzori hain.

[Torpedo]

The people who are saying that England got lucky because we dropped catches/bad selections etc etc who's fault is that? England can only beat the team in front of them, they can't say 'oh hey Pakistan, can you please hold on to all of your catches and select only deserving players so we can show that we beat you proper'

If the shoe was on the other foot and England supporters were making these excuses, the Pakistani fans would be calling them sore losers/ poor sportsmanship/ accept that we're better, and so forth.

[SG]

and going by England's recent record, I'd say they'd easily beat India at home.

People have been saying this for quite a while now. Still Eng's last home series win against us came almost 15 years back.

When Eng actually beat us at home then probably we can talk about this.

[rabi_sultan]

Completely agree with Sohail, England's bowling attack is overrated (other than Swann who is superb). Anderson works only under clouds so he would have remained an absolute handful in those conditions. But England didn't beat Pakistan it was more like Pakistan self-destructed with the bat as well as their hands (catching).

[James]

'England didn't beat Pakistan'

lol. this forum never fails to amuse me.

[AZ]

considering England's recent Test results at Lord's, an English victory is by no means a done deal.

[MC]

I can understand (not that I always agree) with England being proud and confident about themselves, given their recent performances, but its quite nauseating to see people taking them incredibly seriously, just to defame them. How hard is to accept that England is quite an improved side at the moment and they have the potential to at least compete for number three spot in the rankings? Collingwood should be lynched for not calling an 18 year old bowler the next best thing after Wasim Akram, but its all mighty fine for Amir Sohail to not give the due respect to an entire team?

[Amjid Javed]

Sohail should learn to not to talk with his Pants down!

What a pathetic fool!

[Acim]

I haven't read the article, but if he is talking about this series, then I don't England are over rated, it's just that PAkistanis were under rated.

No one gave us a chance to win even one match on this tour but the boys have proven everyone wrong by winning 4 of the 7 internationals played. Hopefully this will continue Insha Allah.

[James]

Originally Posted by Ahmed Zulfiqar considering England's recent Test results at Lord's, an English victory is by no means a done deal.

actually one of our stronger grounds, especially since finally beating Australia there. then again, the same went for the Oval

[Osman]

Zardari please keep your despicable face out of our cricket! Your comments good or bad are not wanted you worthless scum!