Pakistan’s 30-member squadOpeners
Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Nasir Jamshed, Sharjeel Khan, Sami Aslam Middle order
Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Sohaib Maqsood, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Umar Akmal Allrounders
Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Bilawal Bhatti Wicketkeepers
Sarfraz Ahmed, Kamran Akmal Fast bowlers
Mohammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Ehsan Adil, Mohammad Talha, Anwar Ali, Sohail Tanvir
Spinners
Saeed Ajmal, Zulfiqar Babar, Raza Hasan, Yasir Shah
Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Sohaib Maqsood, Fawad Alam, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Zulfiqar Babar, Yasir Shah
Openers (2): Ahmed Shehzad, Muhammad Hafeez
Middle Order (5): Fawad Alam, Umar Akmal, Misbah ul Haq, Azhar Ali, Sohaib Maqsood
All rounders (1): Shahid Afridi
Wicket keeper (1): Sarfaraz Ahmad
Fast bowlers (4): Muhammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Ehsan Adil
Spinners (2): Yasir Shah, Raza Hasan
I think Younis’ competition is with Misbah and Azhar Ali since they have similar roles: provide stability even if the strike rate is a bit low. Comparing their ODI and LIST A records, I think the other two are much better:
Ok. So Mibah is a clear winner among the three. Among Younis and Azhar, Younis has more ODI runs at a better strike rate but a much poorer average. But since, Azhar has only played 14 ODIs, I think the LIST A stats are more relevant here. Younis has more runs but again at much poor average (around 15 less than Azhar), and a poorer conversion rate 11/61 compared to Azhar’s 7/20. Hence, if I am selecting a player based on his ability to provide stability in the middle, I would chose the one who can stay for longer and is able to convert 50s into 100s. So, sorry Younis : )
What is List A? Younis average abt 32 in both odi and list A.
Azhar Alis strike rate sucks. Literally sucks the air of the batting side.
IMO centuries are overrated. A quick fire 90 may be more important than a century. Average and strike rate should determine a person’s contribution. Not century. 100 is just a number.
I will root for Azhar Ali inclusion. He redefines tuk tuk.
List A are domestic limited over/one day matches as opposed to first class matches which are the domestic versions of test matches.
A 90 might be better than a century occasionally, but keeping everything else the same, a 100 is always better than a 90 : ) I mean if a person consistently gets out earlier than another person and scores consistently less than the other, then I’d say the other is a better or a more reliable batsman.
Re 90 vs 100. N when u say a person consistently gets out earlier than the other. But that is where average comes into play. A person with 10 100s and average of 35. A person with 1 100 and average of 45. Both played same number of innings. Who is better?
Many times people spend a life time in the nervous nineties. And eventually get a 100. I would prefer a 90 without wasting deliveries for a useless stat. That is where strike rate comes in.
So strike rate plus average should tell whole story. Plus where a person bats. A number 6 would have lower average. Cause he may have to slog at end. And may not be able to build innings like number 1 thru 4.
Re: 90 vs 100. I was talking in context of Younis vs Azhar. Azhar already has a much better average than Younis. The better conversion rate is an additional plus point. So it shows he doesn’t just score more on average but he also plays a long inning more often compared to Younis or that his ‘long’ innings are usually longer than Younis’, if that makes any sense : ) So IMO while conversion rate alone might not be sufficient, if you look at it together with average, it does tell you a bit about the quality of a player. But I agree, among the three, average is the most important parameter, then the strike rate, and then the conversion rate.
Ok. I misunderstood. I though you were speaking in general.
Now re Azhar vs Younis, Azhars higher average comes at the expense of a really poor strike rate. So I am not sure I really want that high average in the batting line up.
I think neither Azhar nor Younis would fit into the team if we had a batsman with a slightly better average than Younis and a slightly better strike rate than Azhar to replace them. Among the two, I would choose Azhar especially for the ‘rainy days’ when Pakistan starts losing quick wickets and we need someone to stay in the middle.
Veeru: One day pandrah man team mein Pakistan ne solah men chuni
Villager 1 to Villager 2 : 16 Aadmi kyun chune gaye
Villager 2 : Pakistan selectors aise hi karte hain
Villager 1: Pakistan selectors aise kyu karte hain?
Villager 2:
Since then he has only been killing the prospects of other more deserving younger players.
This is Shoaib Malik’s record in the last three years: a batting average of 24.27 (not a single 50+ score) and he only took two wickets in 16 matches at 76.50 each.
