The problems with pakistan's cricket?

[Arjun]

Let's look at these:

• Frustrating superstars: Pakistan's fortunes depend a lot on these superstars- Akhtar's raw power and pace, Afridi's hard hits and tricky tweaks, Asif's steady seam and swing, the big innings from Younus and Yousuf, and of course, Umar Gul. When each of them (or rather, all) have a problem, the team suffers.
• Unhelpful support: To top that, the support players are a little disillusioned, and as some find, complain a lot. We find Malik, their captain, has a few complaints. Then there's Salman Butt. Then Misbah-ul-Haq. While their complaints are genuine, their existence exposes a lack of unity in this team. That's in addition to their unhelpful fielding and running between wickets.
• Lack of leadership: Shoaib Malik has a problem up front. His own performances have been scratchy, especially as an all-rounder. Refusal to bowl when needed, his bowling changes, field placings, as also batting order, have left a lot to be desired. Then there are problems communicating with senior players.
• An inadequate coach: They played their best cricket- all of them, as a team- when they had the legendary Bob Woolmer as coach. Since that unfortunate incident, however, nobody in charge has got it right with the team. They need someone special, someone exceptional, to channelise their divided energies into a tournament-winning force.
• Pakistan Cricket Board: Worst. Administrators. Ever.

 

[Arjun]

In addition, we've seen some absolutely horrendous selections in the recent past–

• Fawad Alam
• Wahab Riaz
• Sarfaraz Ahmed

And a few more before...

 

[deeps]

Afridi is hardly the probelm... he has been managed very poorly since the death of Bob Woolmer.

His bowling alone is good enough to be picked in the ODI team. He has been thrown around the batting order, into all sorts of different situations and this is the last thing a batsman like him needs. He is a looper with the bat in hand, and the last thing u want to do is try confuse him.

His bowling has been brilliant, up till the last series where it wasn't all that effective.

There are far bigger problems that Pakistan have, and most of it is politics. It is the same with India, though as politics plays a lesser role in the game, the Indian team is slowly improving.

 

[Arjun]

Afridi is hardly the probelm... he has been managed very poorly since the death of Bob Woolmer.

His bowling alone is good enough to be picked in the ODI team. He has been thrown around the batting order, into all sorts of different situations and this is the last thing a batsman like him needs. He is a looper with the bat in hand, and the last thing u want to do is try confuse him.

His bowling has been brilliant, up till the last series where it wasn't all that effective.

There are far bigger problems that Pakistan have, and most of it is politics. It is the same with India, though as politics plays a lesser role in the game, the Indian team is slowly improving.

Still love to play devil's advocate, eh?

 

[Athlai]

In my opinion the main problem with Pakistani cricket is that these talented individuals do not work as a team.

The reasons as to why they don't have been outlined pretty well so far.

 

[SJS]

Afridi is hardly the probelm... he has been managed very poorly since the death of Bob Woolmer.

His bowling alone is good enough to be picked in the ODI team. He has been thrown around the batting order, into all sorts of different situations and this is the last thing a batsman like him needs. He is a looper with the bat in hand, and the last thing u want to do is try confuse him.

His bowling has been brilliant, up till the last series where it wasn't all that effective.

There are far bigger problems that Pakistan have, and most of it is politics. It is the same with India, though as politics plays a lesser role in the game, the Indian team is slowly improving.

As you may or may not have noticed, I did not post a single picture of Afridi bowling.

Having said that, more than his batting, his complete lack of discipline is a major problem both on and off the field. He must be one of, if not the most senior members of this side. He is hardly a role model. On top of that he doesn't do enough to justify his place in the side which was his for the taking til last week (in odis'). This is no good for the young aspirants.

Then there is the un-necessary hoo-haa about his place in the batting order (opener or middle order) where as the discussion should just be whether he should be one of the five bowlers and there fore in the side or not. If yes, then just before the pure bowlers is where he should bat in perpetuity. Irfan bats there, does a decent job and no one is cribbing about it in India.

But Afridi will keep speaking to who ever is listening about what he could do if given a chance.

 

[deeps]

not at all.. they have a good core group of players

Salman Butt
Mohammed Yousuf
Misbah Ul Haq
Mohammad Asif
Shahid Afridi
Kamran Akmal
Umar Gul
Shoaib Malik
Younis Khan

are all international quality players... may not be the best in the world, but they are all very very good players in their own right.

The talent is there. But these players get frustrated by the board, and the politics of the board. Younis Khan has often just wanted to leave whilst on tours, Afridi retired a few years ago etc. These guys may not be the most level headed players on the field, but they both love their cricket, and it is evident in the way they play. They get frustrated by the boards constantly meddling in affairs, trying to change batting orders, selection etc.

ON field and selection should be left to a select few people, and nobody else should have a say in it.

 

[SJS]

In my opinion the main problem with Pakistani cricket is that these talented individuals do not work as a team.

The reasons as to why they don't have been outlined pretty well so far.

Exactly and the presence of prima donnas is not conducive to team work. Pakistan willl have to understand that, start afresh and give it time while they persevere with a team of people with the right attitude, a slightly more mature captain, give him complete support from the board (not from outside) and let him know you are with him for a longer haul. Knee jerk reactions wont bring any kind of consistency in performance and things will go from bad to worse.

 

[Matt79]

Let's look at these:

• Frustrating superstars: Pakistan's fortunes depend a lot on these superstars- Akhtar's raw power and pace, Afridi's hard hits and tricky tweaks, Asif's steady seam and swing, the big innings from Younus and Yousuf, and of course, Umar Gul. When each of them (or rather, all) have a problem, the team suffers.
• Unhelpful support: To top that, the support players are a little disillusioned, and as some find, complain a lot. We find Malik, their captain, has a few complaints. Then there's Salman Butt. Then Misbah-ul-Haq. While their complaints are genuine, their existence exposes a lack of unity in this team. That's in addition to their unhelpful fielding and running between wickets.
• Lack of leadership: Shoaib Malik has a problem up front. His own performances have been scratchy, especially as an all-rounder. Refusal to bowl when needed, his bowling changes, field placings, as also batting order, have left a lot to be desired. Then there are problems communicating with senior players.
• An inadequate coach: They played their best cricket- all of them, as a team- when they had the legendary Bob Woolmer as coach. Since that unfortunate incident, however, nobody in charge has got it right with the team. They need someone special, someone exceptional, to channelise their divided energies into a tournament-winning force.
• Pakistan Cricket Board: Worst. Administrators. Ever.

But you can't really argue that it's a good team if they can only be motivated by a leader of Imran or Woolmer's ability.

 

[Arjun]

But you can't really argue that it's a good team if they can only be motivated by a leader of Imran or Woolmer's ability.

They have their problems as a team, but individually, they all have a lot to contribute.

 

[Athlai]

They have their problems as a team, but individually, they all have a lot to contribute.

They are talented players, whether they can work as a team is what is in dispute. IMHO I think that a lot of these players simply cannot work together, and thats the problem. If these men were simply cricket playing machines without their own humanities, Pakistan would be a very good team indeed. The melting pot of personalities however just shows that Pakistan are going to have a lot of off days.

 

[open365]

They have their problems as a team, but individually, they all have a lot to contribute.

Do they in comparison to other teams?

Kaneria - Test average of 33, decent bowler but an ODI misfit and not quite the bowler he looks like he could be

Faisal Iqbal - Rubbish

Imran Farhat - Not test class

Imran Nazir - Not test class

Kamran Akmal - Decent-ish with the bat, but from what i remember a pretty poor gloveman

Misbah Ul Haq - Quality batsman, but can he average over 45 in test matches? Most sides have players averaging what he does, so he's not exactly setting Pakistan apart from the rest

Mohhamud Asif - Brilliant bowler, but isn't he out because of drugs or something? That may count on the attitude side, but you can't really count him if he's not avalible to play

Mohhamed Hafeez - Not test class

Mohhamed Sami - Horrible horrible record in tests(one of the worst I believe), yet he's played 33 matches already, would he be in any other country's side?

Mohhamad Yousuf - Awesome player no doubt

Salman Butt - Not test class, suprisingly good ODI record but again a Pakistan opener who isn't succeeding at the highest level

Shahid Afridi - Not as bad a record as I thought he had, but an overly inflated average from batting in completely dead games and not someone you'd want to have batting for you in a crisis, bowling is handy but averaging 35 he wouldn't be that good as a pure bowler

Shoaib Akhtar - Fantastic bowler when on form, but like Asif, he's out for the count right? Had a career plagued by injury and stupidity, simmilar in some ways to Shane Bond

Shoaib Malik - Good ODI player, but still another Pakistani batsman not performing well in test matches

Umar Gul - Good prospect with a good action, but atm he isn't setting the world alight and plenty of other countries have bowler who are better than him

Yasir Hameed - Yet another sub standard test batsman

Younis Khan - Top class player no doubt

Pakistan have 4 star players currently, 2 of whom are batsman who are performing well, 2 of whom are bowlers who for whatever readon aren't avalible for selection atm. Apart from them and Misbah Ul Haq, the team is largely sub standard players who cannot find a settled spot in the line up. The batting is very vunerable against any quality of bowling attack on lively pitches and there are only 3 players averaging 40+ in the team. Of the teams above Pakistan in the current test match rankings, only Sri Lanka have(arguably) a worse performing batting line up.

I agree that Pakistan are hardly masters of playing for the team and the PCB appear to be faily incompetent, but I don't think they're as 'talented' as some people make out they are and at present haven't got the quality to better England, South Africa, Australia or India.

 

[Arjun]

Kaneria - Test average of 33, decent bowler but an ODI misfit and not quite the bowler he looks like he could be

He's had good matches against top teams. While he does become a little predictable, he surely can do quite well, especially if the track turns. His ODI form is an enigma.

Imran Farhat - Not test class

Imran Nazir - Not test class

Salman Butt - Not test class, suprisingly good ODI record but again a Pakistan opener who isn't succeeding at the highest level

Yasir Hameed - Yet another sub standard test batsman

Look at how they treat their openers and then you get a hint of why they're 'not test class'.

Kamran Akmal - Decent-ish with the bat, but from what i remember a pretty poor gloveman

He was a phenomenal batsman for a wicketkeeper. His wicketkeeping is quite dreadful, but this is an age of batsmen-who-can-keep.

Misbah Ul Haq - Quality batsman, but can he average over 45 in test matches? Most sides have players averaging what he does, so he's not exactly setting Pakistan apart from the rest

He's got some hitting power, more than a few strokes, and most importantly, he's quite intelligent.

Shahid Afridi - Not as bad a record as I thought he had, but an overly inflated average from batting in completely dead games and not someone you'd want to have batting for you in a crisis, bowling is handy but averaging 35 he wouldn't be that good as a pure bowler

He's not a batsman for a crisis. That would be Younus or Yousuf or Misbah. He is useful in delivering the knockout punch to a bowling side, after building on a good start by the top five. His bowling has been a lot better now.

Umar Gul - Good prospect with a good action, but atm he isn't setting the world alight and plenty of other countries have bowler who are better than him

Recent performances against a superior batting side are quite remarkable for such a bowler.

Shoaib Malik - Good ODI player, but still another Pakistani batsman not performing well in test matches

Shouldn't be opening an innings.

Sami is an enigma. Younus and Yousuf are class players and doing a good job. But then, better man-management could have done so much more.

 

[SJS]

One of the biggest mistakes Pakistan made was to force Inzy to retire.

They should have allowed him to continue, groomed a new captain under him with the support of a solid coach with no interference from the top.

But....

 

[haroon510]

One of the biggest mistakes Pakistan made was to force Inzy to retire.

They should have allowed him to continue, groomed a new captain under him with the support of a solid coach with no interference from the top.

But....

i agree with you with that..well i blame pcb..

 

[Fusion]

One of the biggest mistakes Pakistan made was to force Inzy to retire.

They should have allowed him to continue, groomed a new captain under him with the support of a solid coach with no interference from the top.

But....

That was actually the original plan. It collapsed when Younis Khan took himself out of the running. That, combined with the after-effects of Ovalgate, a string of losses including the embarrassment at the WC, and Woolmer’s death caused PCB to panic. They wanted to start fresh by having a new coach and a new captain. The PCB also were wary of the influence/control that Inzi had over the team (they specially didn’t like the religious direction that Inzi was guiding the team towards). After all was said and done, the board probably did force Inzi to retire much too early. The failure of having a good captain (which Malik may become someday, but certainly isn’t one now) has definitely contributed to the decline of Pakistan cricket.

 

[Beleg]

lack of quality players.

 

[FRAZ]

Can any one higlight the problems with pakistani cricket? i know there are many, but highlight some 4, 5 main problems

I believe pakistans team is one of the most talented in the world, but some thing is wrong. Thats why we dont win to many matches these days.

1. Impotent board!
2. Impotent board
3. Corrupt board
4. Mixing their bizarre ways of pretending to be religious .
5. ****ing mullahs who have disturbed the peace in our country and some countries make it an issue and they have a right to do so and they use their right effectively by not going there to play.
6. Political involvement in the board .
7. Lack of discipline .

 

[FRAZ]

lack of quality players.

BS

 

[FRAZ]

One of the biggest mistakes Pakistan made was to force Inzy to retire.

They should have allowed him to continue, groomed a new captain under him with the support of a solid coach with no interference from the top.

But....

His absence is better to be honest . He was dumb in some ways but he was the only choice back then .