Starting to look like a bowler that Pakistan can rely on but is it too early to say that?

Discuss!

Indian seamers appear to have a better WT20 than their Pakistani counterparts - what is the reason for that?

Discuss!

Niall O'Brien is a left-handed batsman and wicket-keeper who has played 59 one day internationals and 21 T20Is for Ireland.

Domestically he began his professional career with Kent before joining Northamptonshire at the start of 2007. In 2012 he signed a three year deal with Leicestershire and moved to Grace Road following three seasons at Kent and six years at Northamptonshire. He made his One Day International debut for Ireland in 2006 and two years later played his first Twenty20 International. He has played key roles in helping Ireland qualify for the last two 50-over World Cups and all four editions of the ICC World T20 since 2009.

O'Brien has also played in overseas t20 leagues, first the Indian Cricket League in 2008 and then the Bangladesh Premier League in 2012. His innings of 72 from 107 balls in the 2007 World Cup group match against Pakistan helped Ireland earn an upset victory and also earned him the man of the match award.

Following Ireland's shock defeat at the hands of the Netherlands which knocked them out of the ongoing World T20 tournament, O'Brien spoke exclusively to PakPassion.net about the reasons for that defeat, where Irish cricket is heading following this disappointment, who he feels will go on to win the 2014 World T20 and much more.

A blistering century from Ahmed Shehzad gave Pakistan a comfortable 50 run victory, knocking out both the hosts and Australia. Pakistan now take on the West Indies in an effective quarter-final.

Shoaib Malik got some runs today but pretty slow. Has he done enough to keep his place and batting position? Personally I don't think he deserves to be in the team. He is there purely because he is a 'senior'. I would prefer Sharjeel in the team (coming in one down) and for shoaib Maqsood to come in at 5 and Hafeez to drop down (play as a bowler only).

DISCUSS

Who do you think is the better batsmen? And do you consider them both the best two batsmen in the world?

Discuss!

Most us have our favourites. Some batsmen, we respect and realise the importance of, while we genuinely "like" others. I may respect and realise the importance of having someone like Fawad Alam in the team, and I will probably advocate his selection. But I will never genuinely "like" him, because he doesn't meet my criteria. Obviously, no batsman is perfect, so what makes Person A prefer a certain batsman, and Person B prefer another? That's because we all like to see certain qualities in a batsman. Now the question arises, what makes you "like" a batsman? Is it just about the amount of runs he scored, or how he deals with pressure situations? Or is it his shot selection? His nature? SR?

Discuss!

Hafeez mentioned it in his press conf as well as this gap allows recovery time for Pakistan players - will this help or make them more anxious for the game against BD?

Discuss!

A lack of plan? Poor tactics? Bowlers just not good enough or something else?

Discuss!

Now let's look at their cumulative averages first. 

Mohammad Hafeez ODI career

Average 31.05 

Younis Khan ODI career

Average 31.88 

One can see from career averages that Younus Khan is still leading , despite Hafeez having a purple patch with the bat as according to so-called experts.

Now people will say that Younus khan cannot rotate the SR and scored these runs at lower pace.

Unfortunately, not.

Hafeez SR career : 72

Younus Khan SR career : 75


Regarding centuries, it's clear that Hafeez has more centuries because he got to play Zimbabwe and Ireland more, but I give the centuries to him.

6 vs 9.

But in 50s, Younus Khan is 48 fifties and Hafeez is much much less.


We can argue that Hafeez is having a purple patch for last 3 years and is scoring runs and Younus Khan never scored at that level.

Let's look at Hafeez's last 3 purple patch years. 

Average of 38.72 with 8 hundreds with 2 against Zimbabwe and 1 against Ireland.

Younus Khan best years from 2006-2009

Average of 40.56 with 5 hundreds and none against the Zimb,Ireland or low quality teams.


It is clear to anyone who half looks at their stats, that Hafeez has been inferior to Younus KHan in batting even at the top of his game.

Hafeez does a good job in bowling, which overshadows his pathetic batting and makes us to believe he is some kind of revelation in batting.

His standard is mediocre and that's where he belongs.


End of the day.

Mamoon's logic.

Hafeez is a good ODI player, and Younus Khan is the worst ever ODI player in the game. 


If Younus Khan is the worst ODI batsmen for Pakistan, than surely what is Hafeez?

DISCUSS