Much has been said about Imran Khan’s controversial theories, from both sides of the fence, that he has suggested at various points during Straight Drive. Critics have raised their voices against him, and I do partly agree, in a sense that when a team is on the losing end, every weakness (and sometimes even those that don’t even exist) are put forward by these ex-cricketers.
To summarize (since quite a few of posts have been raised on these issues in recent past) in this thread, we will discuss the following topics (for sale):
- Imran suggested that Younis Khan should come in #3. Moreover, he criticized Malik’s batting position in the team, and provided his solution that since he (Malik) have the ability to bat in almost any condition, whether that be a pinch-hitter or ticking the scoreboard over, and such a quality should be coupled with him coming down the order, alongwith Afridi and Razzaq. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Keeping in mind that Malik has contributed a sizable donation in the team with his magnificient scores during the past series, the other top-quality batsmen (who, without mention, should have dropped the anchor) failed to showcast their abilities numerous times, and displayed horrific amount of execution in their technique. Mohammad Yousuf, in particular, and Inzamam, are the backbone of this team. Because of their size (not the actual size and weight of their bodies) and stature in the team, they are the key players that I feel, when needed the most, failed to co-operate and let-down the morale of the team. Both have the sensational capability to rotate the strike, but this was not the case last time, unfortunately.
Keeping the above in mind, Inzamam’s batting position at #6…what is the solution? Imran even clarified his point even further by indicating that the ‘cream-of-the-crop’ batsmen of any team play in the top four positions, hence, they are required to amount to a significant score in the total runs column. Our top two key batsmen (backbone of our team) more or less, foolished around to keep up with the extras column, and increased/decreased their score accordingly.
In effect, should, or should not, Younis Khan play in at #3? Granted that he can hit the ball OUTTA THE PARK (as Waqar puts it in his commentary) on lesser ocassions, Malik is a batsmen who, from my point of view, has the natural ability to do so, and thrusting him at the top isn’t helping things too much, from the looks of it. Would it be suitable for him to come lower down the order, hence maintaining that strong aspect of our batting line-up all the way towards the end (Younis at #3, Inzamam at #4 and Yousuf at #5, and then pinch-hitters in the eyes of Afridi, Razzaq and Malik - after Yousuf, the batting positions shouldn’t matter, since all three are natural in the abilities to show the ball where it needs to go)?
In conclusion, do you
-
Agree, or;
-
Disagree
with Imran Khan’s theory?
Please try to limit the discussion in this thread to discuss the above only scenario (since quite a few of Inzamam threads are open at this point in time to discuss his captaincy and other related issues).
