i have been listening to these things for years such as kick seniors out, there is so much talent on bench.
yes, we have seniors with an extended stay but where is that sensational talent on the bench which we keep on referring? I want to see it. why cant we see it?
players come, play one or two good matches and then fade because they are not that good for the international cricket. many of them were given many chances. remember sohaib maqsood? remember Umar Amin, remember haris sohail, sohail khan and many more. some need to be tried more.
anyway, most of the seniors are gone for good. misbah is gone,. younis is gone. kamran akmal is gone. afridi is gone. shoaib akhtar is gone. saeed ajmal is gone. hafeez will be gone in next 3-6 months for sure. the team is wide open. Let’s see what do we have in reserve
In the past, the talent was there. inzi, waqar, wasim, saqi all of them were spotted and they proved their worth. but now we have nothing of international quality in bench, as i see it. maybe i am wrong. if you know some really talented first call players, please start naming them here
Talent is there brother. Selection on Merit-only will see 80% of current lot not selected. What’s Azhar Ali, Shahzad, Hafeez’s role in the team? Wahad Riaz over Junaid Khan, Sohail Khan or Imran Khan doesnt make sense. They keep selecting Wahab on 2015 WC one match performance. Sarfaraz opened the batting in Australia WC 2015, he should permanently bat up the order. Him, Babar Azam and Shoaib Malik only ones who score fast, according to modern day cricket. Sohaib Maqsood was a powerful hitter, likes of Pollard. He should also be given extended run.
Pakistan’s decline in sports - cricket, hockey, squash, boxing, volleyball, wrestling and yachting is caused by the economic, political and social decline. Pakistan suffered a lot violence in the last 18 years.
Whereas India is progressing in all aspect of human life and as a result they are doing better and better every day. They now win medals in Olympics as well which was not the case some 15 years back.
Pakistan needs to check its priorities and Kashmiries should think that they would be far better off with India.
no intention to make this thread a political thread but that is exactly the point of this thread. somehow the popular sentiment among Pakistanis is that there is a lot of corruption and nepotism in our cricket structure but there is a lot of talent which needs a chance. But i have ben studying our first class for last few years. I try to watch youtube videos of every upcoming young guy when i hear about him. This year i even watched final of quaid azam trophy and overall it is a very disappointing situation. so calld talent is pathetic.
the other question is that from 1952 to 2000 we have had a similar type of first class structure, we had nepotism then as well. but then how come we were finding world class players then and not now? that shd be our number 1 question on the blackboard and try to find the answer.
one possible reason is what other poster mentioned above: Pakistan’s decline in sports - cricket, hockey, squash, boxing, volleyball, wrestling, and yachting is caused by the economic, political and social decline. Pakistan suffered a lot violence in the last 18 years and it is hurting us in many ways that we dont even realize
For example when i compare era of 70s/80s/90s with today, there was proper school cricket under professional coaches producing many international players. Today 99% of players are coming from rural village areas. that is fine. talent is talent but what happened to urban cricket base especially in Punjab? that is not even existing anymore in Pakistan. Wasim raja, rameez, imran khan, asif iqbal, majid khan, wasim bari, shoaib mohammad, waqar younis, saqi, and many more, all of them came from urban base after playing school cricket. but no one is playing cricket in schools anymore under proper coaches to go for under 14 and under 16 school tournaments. This is just one example.
Another example..in mid 80s and early 90s, there were over 100 cricket clubs registered with LCCA alone in Lahore. go check how many do we have today.
the point being, the problem is more systemic and much deeper. you guys will see soon there is not much on the bench. we are going to drown below west indies and it is almost impossible to make a comeback. Alas
I have my ticket booked for India vs Pakistan match on 18 June 2017 here in London for my favourite sports hockey - but I see no chance of Pakistan winning it as they just a lost series to Ireland 2-0! Pakistan is ranked 13th today in World Hockey which I never thought back in 1982 when Pakistan defeated India by 7-1 in New Delhi in front of home crowd and PM I Gandhi!
Carrying Forward PD’s point, i remember how Thursday nights and later Saturday nights use to be fixed for Tape ball tournaments…
Shabab-e-Milli organizing Ramazan Cricket Tournaments…
Grounds full of boys playing cricket from dawn till dusk…
Nothing like that i see anymore, no more muhalla teams…limited galli cricket and in schools i see no cricket or any other sports for that matter…
90s ( 80s i cant recall…was in pampers…i hope u can help me here )…great times, Qadafi was open as boys are called in to bowl to kinds of Miandad in the nets, Minto Park, what treat that used to be…Jinnah Garden had a ground…race course park…Jallo…Model Town…New Campus…it was cricket everywhere…
We use to play alot, would you believe AbdurRazzaq use to play with us…and there were plenty others who were good…but couldnt make it to National Team…
All that is gone…my friend who had a sports shop, use to sponsor a team ( his father was @ehsan bhai of Cricket)…he has to shut hus business due to decrease in sales…
So how can you have kinds of Inzi and Saeed Anwar and Waqar and Waseem…
I use to play with Abdul Qadir at Mian Meer Ground…he is down to earth guy…all happy to give free tips…
Now thesw guys who makes it to top 20 consider it below their level to come out and practice…let alone playing and practising…
Hence…all new talent coming up..is getting wasted due to sheer arrogance and lack of practice…
Let these guys in team practice 5-6 hours a day…see the results
yes i did not mention this point. in 80s and 90s i played so much cricket in parks and gallie mohalla. i have gone back to same places many times and those small colony parks are empty. no one plays cricket there anymore. our urban cricket base is very weak now. the school cricket is not there either.
Another thing which matters here (and again it relates to economic decline) is the demise of most departmental teams - young people see no future in sport.
But we have an opportunity across the border - where our players can groom - but that depends our relations with them! India has never invaded any country in its 5000 years history!
A more pertinent Q to ask is, does anyone remember our batting ever being as pathetic in our history as it has been during the past 5 or 6 years? I certainly don’t and I have been following cricket since the 80s.
This line-up is as dull as it gets. no fluency, no style, no aggression, no excitement, no skill to find the gaps, zero ability to improvise, no big hitters..
it has something to do with misbah/younis era as well. while Misbah contributed a lot from the stability standpoint, he was so defensive from mindset perspective that he just shunned any aggressiveness in batting. before we had javed miandad, imran khan, wasim akram as skipper who were aggressive and promoted some flair. even inzi was not bad
sir jee, bowling is equally pathetic. minus saeed ajmal and we have **** show. fast bowling is totally dead.
Misbah’s influence on our limited overs batting has been particularly damaging. We are sure to remain in this rut for sometime unless we soon find one or two free flowing batsmen from somewhere
I haven’t been too impressed with Mickey’s coaching either
Bowling has been hugely disappointing too bar Amir. I think he would be more effective if Junaid rather than wayward Wahab was bowling from the other end.
In ODI’s whenever Misbah came to bat Pakistan were in doldrums like 40/5 or something similar, what did you expect him to do start hitting and get out, than you would have been saying his brainless batting was the result of our decline. We are just too emotional to accept his brilliance. We will always find excuse to rubbish Pakistan’s best captain ever.
fair point sir jee…but i think you need to recognize that we are not criticizing his own batting style (many people do but I am not). agreed he usually came in emergency conditions, so he had to restraint.
but the criticism I have is in relevance to his overall defensive mindset, which went beyond his batting. it reflected in his field positions, in his team selection, in his bowling changes, and in his strategic decisions. the way he handled yasir shah in Australia is a prime example. he killed yasir shah confidence. he never entertained aggressiveness in any form. when shezad came into team, he was a flamboyant opener with all kind of strokes but look at him now. Plus for good 5 years, when misbah was incharge of ODI, he went back to 90s model. play defensive, retain wickets and try to accelrate later. it does not work like this anymore. he never selected any had hitting player.
Miandad almost always came out to bat in a crisis situation. 1992 World Cup is a good example of that. He was slow initially before he opened up and played a few shots. He could hit big boundaries if needed. Javed was very deft at finding the gaps and rotating the strike plus he was an excellent runner between the wickets. All of this helped in keeping the scoreboard ticking over. With Misbah it was either Tuk Tuk Tuk or big shots. There was no middle play. He was not a very good rotator of the strike and this curse rubbed off on the other players.
)…great times, Qadafi was open as boys are called in to bowl to kinds of Miandad in the nets, Minto Park, what treat that used to be…Jinnah Garden had a ground…race course park…Jallo…Model Town…New Campus…it was cricket everywhere…