Where Misbah-Whatmore combo has disappointed badly

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The thing that irks me most about the combo is:

  • lack of opportunities given to young blood
  • lack of merit-based selection

People here know that I am not a Misbah-hater but the combo (I am sure both Whatmore and Misbah have some say in selection matters) is guilty imo of not giving enough opportunities to youngsters selected for ODIs. Players such as Babar Azam and Haris Sohail were either given very few chances or none at all. Others such as Sharjeel Khan, Fawad Alam & Sami Aslam etc. who have been consistent performers in domestic circuit have been ignored by the selectors and coach/captain.** Every successful debut over the next 3-4 years, I am going to blame the combo for that because it would mean that player should have been selected earlier**

Whatsmore the combo has maintained a defeatist attitude and negative mindset among the players. The overcautious, defensive approach in batting is there for everyone to see. Batting has always been our bane but during their era,** Pakistan’s batting crisis has worsened.**

Can’t they ask the selection committee to select some top-performers in domestic cricket? With such a poor form in ODIs, Misbah could have threatened to quit the job (and go public). Thats how Imran Khan made selection committee listen to him. By contrast Misbah seems more content with keeping captaincy than making sure that his authority actually benefits Pakistan cricket in the long run

**He selects the low scorers in domestic cricket (the tried and tested old failures) and ignores the top young performers and then rants about there not being enough talent in domestic circuit. **Is this just a convenient excuse or a deliberate attempt to keep his old buddies in the team (I wonder)?

There doesn’t seem to be any method or strategy in place as far as batting is concerned, young batsmen are dropped after one game and then re-selected after another, others don’t get a chance and bench warm, seniors who have consistently been rubbish keep on getting picked, we keep going in with too many bowlers. It’s just farcical

**Sohaib Maqsood got his break only after Asad Shafiq, Umar Amin & Nasir Jamshed failed miserably in the series. **If Amin, Shafiq & Jamshed had made 20-30’s, we would probably never have witnessed his debut. Or atleast not anytime soon.

In tests Misbah is the right choice as captain for another 6 months to a year but for ODIs we need a different captain and approach. **We need more attacking batsmen like Shehzad, Umar Akmal (struggling at present) and Sohaib Maqsood in the ODI team

Whatmore has brought virtually nothing to Pakistan cricket. If anything, it has been a gradual regression (esp. in batting)**

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Re: Where Misbah-Whatmore combo has disappointed badly

I agree with you wholeheartedly, selection has been mostly about returning the favors, very small number of chances given to new players. Whatever chances they are given are here and there instead of given few series. Few players careers have been marked as "Test only" because of such pick and throw away.

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Re: Where Misbah-Whatmore combo has disappointed badly

Not to mention his laid back approach to everything. Imran Khan used to rip your heart out if you bowled one bad over. Misbah on the other hand let things happen. Players need an energetic captain who can lead from the front especially in ODIs. I've noticed in last 3 ODIs players don't look enthusiastic. Their batting failures have effected the bowlers as well. Team atmosphere is too negative for them to think outside the box.

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Re: Where Misbah-Whatmore combo has disappointed badly

Time for Misbah to retire from ODI's as well.

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Re: Where Misbah-Whatmore combo has disappointed badly

It has been around 2.5 years when Misbah took over, but we still don't have a good player whom we can consider worthy of crowning the captaincy. If we make captain from "senior" players then we will continue to see the same recruitment of tried and tested players. Hafeez has given chance to new players in T20 I think but then he doesn't even deserve a place in ODI team. Unless we go SA way of crowning a young rookie as captain and give him a long run.

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Re: Where Misbah-Whatmore combo has disappointed badly

Whatmore is a useless coach

Time to get rid of him

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Re: Where Misbah-Whatmore combo has disappointed badly

First class (domestic) is equivalent of Tests (international)
List-A (domestic) is equivalent of ODIs (international)

Expecting more out of less - DAWN.COM

Look at the list-A record of the following players

And then compare them to the present team (most of the players are averaging in low 30s even in List-A!). Only Misbah’s list-A average (48.8) is comparable to the above.

I know international cricket is a different ball game altogether but if we don’t give chance to players who have consistently performed well in domestic circuit (Sharjeel Khan and Babar Azam etc.) then how do we really know if they are good enough at international level. This is what I mean by lack of merit-based selection… agar hum chance hi nahin dein ge tau pata kaise chale ga!!!

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Re: Where Misbah-Whatmore combo has disappointed badly

If domestic averages were all to go by, then Ghulam Ali, Rizwan uz Zaman, with averages over 40 would have been linchpins of the Pakistani batting line up.

Miandad has done nothing to improve domestic cricket in the years he has been enjoying fat PCB pay cheques, Bufoon Butt came to power in 2008 and killed most of the emerging player projects going on at the National Academy not to mention get rid of Malik and Lawson who at the time were beginning to turn around and rebuild a team that had been routed in the world cup. Fast forward to Whatmore-Misbah – biggest issue I have with Whatmore is his lack of authority to overrule the selectors who keep recalling the same tried and tested players. He should have put his foot down and asked for young players from the get go and groom them instead of relying on the selectors. Pakistani selectors are usually gutless and never have the courage to select young players, probably the only two chief selectors who had any guts were Aamir Sohail and Abdul Qadir - the likes of Mohsin Khan, Iqbal Qasim, Salim Jaffer etc have always relied on the old and senior players each time and that has never gotten us anywhere.

Now, in all probability we will have another local coach and the infighting, match fixing, ball tampering and indiscipline will all return to the team as usually is the case when a local coach is in charge.

Whatmore had a chance to be an authority figure but he didnt take it and now unfortunately his time is up.

Players like Shan Masood and Sohaib Maqsood could have been playing for a long time - similarly Harris Sohail should have gotten an extended run, same goes for Hammad Azam, and Usman Qadir etc - instead we keep going back to the likes of Younis Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Malik, Razzaq etc - basically 10 steps back rather than 1 step forward.

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Re: Where Misbah-Whatmore combo has disappointed badly

I know domestic performance is not everything but you must give a decent chance to the top 4 or 5 players. It's only fair. How-else can you gauge their talent and readiness for international cricket?

And if you look closely mediocre players like Hafeez and Afridi are averaging the same with the bat in both List-A and ODIs (so List-A is not complete trash!). Maqsood averages 52 in List-A and (although it's still early days), his talent stood out in the two ODIs that he played

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Re: Where Misbah-Whatmore combo has disappointed badly

Azhar Ali should be brought back into ODI team and made captain.

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Re: Where Misbah-Whatmore combo has disappointed badly

http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=40112&stc=1&d=1384352724

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Re: Where Misbah-Whatmore combo has disappointed badly

Misbah gussa kar gaya

Misbah ul Haq Was Blasting on Pakistani Team

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Re: Where Misbah-Whatmore combo has disappointed badly

As a leader he is responsible for the team performance not just his own. He has failed to take other players with him.

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Re: Where Misbah-Whatmore combo has disappointed badly

Have got to give this guy a chance soon. Pakistan needs new batsmen and Sami is one of them, should be in the team in place of many losers

https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/1441383_666942463349866_1699186423_n.jpg

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Re: Where Misbah-Whatmore combo has disappointed badly

if thats the case then Fawad deserves more chance than this guy

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Re: Where Misbah-Whatmore combo has disappointed badly

Why not both? Its not like we are packed with batting geniuses :D

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Re: Where Misbah-Whatmore combo has disappointed badly

Yeah time for new youngsters ! Lookat India and Look at us after one year is the WC and we are still playing with Jhakka Scooter,Kukri and Termite