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*Official* Australia in Pakistan 2022

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
I thought Pak were never going to win anything from the way they bowled on Day 1 of the 2nd test. Think I remarked even on that very day that they have to be careful as this means Australia can easily nick a game and the series. Their selection was muddled, the board and its top guys (Imran and Rameez) are dumbos who care more about their political issues than this team. I can see why it is annoying for the Pak fans here coz this side has the talent to compete in a proper series on result oriented wickets in these conditions against Australia. And yet, they roll out this crap and Rameez basically admits they even doctored the first test pitch to be so. Pathetic. Babar continues to show he is a class apart as a batsman in this line up. Rizwan is a bit overhyped but he is very good for sure. Azhar Ali is dependable as always and being a defensive batsman, is always underrated. I am not sold on Imam. Shafique was definitely the best news for Pak from this series. Hasan maybe should not have played ahead of Faheem this test, in hindsight. But unless Yasir comes back somewhere near his best, this will be an issue for Pak against the top 3 or 4 sides.

For Australia, Khawaja was obviously immense. Steve Smith stuck around enough to put miles on the legs of the Pak attack and Carey and Green maturing into test class batsmen in these conditions basically made the difference for Australia this series. I admit I would have binned Starc for Agar even in the first test but obviously Starc has done realy well and proved me wrong on that front. Their attack looks far more complete now with the second spinner. Still think Swepson was mighty unlucky last test and there is enough to work with about him, he should not be binned just like that. Cummins continues to show he is a class apart as a bowler even compared to everyone else. He is really the complete package as a fast bowler right now. Lyon was poor throughout the series but delivered a very good spell when it mattered at the end there.


Positives - For Pak - Shafique, Naseem are the finds. Babar, Shaheen, Azhar reiterating their class.
For Aus - Carey, Green are the finds. Khawaja, Starc back at their best. Cummins reiterating his class. Warner, Lyon chipping in when it mattered.

Negatives - For Pak - the spinners, and the allrounder. And their overall attitude and mindset. DRS reviews.
For Aus - Head, Swepson, Lyon not being as good as people may have expected. DRS reviews.
 

Gob

International Coach
Yeah. These are flat decks tbf. Even though this one where he picked up wickets was more bowler friendly, the value of one big haul in a series like this is massive. Would much rather your spearhead do that than spread it out with 2-3 cheap wickets every game.
Thought he was the pick of the bowlers in the last test too. Was surprised he didn't bowl with the new ball towards the end. Could have run through that low order
 

ParwazHaiJunoon

First Class Debutant
Ramiz was average batsman still Imran Khan persisted with him & now he made him PCB Chairman. For this reason alone, I want him lose upcoming No Confidence Vote.

Ramiz's meek mindset (about Rwp Pitch) coupled with Babar's defensive tactics were recipe of disaster.
 

ParwazHaiJunoon

First Class Debutant
I can't see us winning ODI series either.

Pressure of captaining this mediocre team would eventually effect Babar's batting at some point.

Azhar & Fawad should be replaced by Saud & Kamran who are with the squad since last year but didn't get their caps bcz of seniority culture.

As for spinners, we don't have any youngsta beauty better than uncles. Current Afg Govt is friends with Pak. PCB should exploit it. Even Afg 10year old (muscular bearded) spinners are better than these uncles.
 

Calm_profit

State Vice-Captain
Yeah. These are flat decks tbf. Even though this one where he picked up wickets was more bowler friendly, the value of one big haul in a series like this is massive. Would much rather your spearhead do that than spread it out with 2-3 cheap wickets every game.
Ive checked the records of bowlers by the end of 2nd test and looks like only Nauman Ali and Faheem Ashraf were averaging less than Cummins.
Edit: Also Babar :thumbup:
 
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SteveNZ

Cricketer Of The Year
Not a very nice series for the vocal buddies of Langer in the media, was it?

First Test series win abroad in six years. Pat Cummins - the pirate who made Langer walk the plank, apparently - takes 12 wickets at 22s on absolute roads. And Khawaja scores 500 runs at 165 when he couldn't get a gig ahead of Marcus Harris.

Been awfully shy with their praise, have messers Ponting, Hayden, Gilchrist and co. I expect in the name of balance that'll come, however.
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
There is a serious lack of balance even here at CW, forget among those ex-players when discussing the Cummins captaincy and Langer-gate.

Langer obviously had lost the dressing room and it was never gonna work out with him as the coach post Ashes. That said, there has also been an inclination to almost write off every single failure or bad tactic on Langer (and Paine) over here which has been silly. Make no mistake, the captaincy by Cummins has been mediocre all along. He did better in this last test, esp. with the declaration but as far as on field tactics go, there have been many strange calls and I really think a better captain could have won this series 2-0, given all the issues and the attitude of this Pak team.

I dont think there was anything wrong Cummins did with respect to the Langer issue and he honestly carried himself very well, apart from that one interview immediately after they won the Ashes. And the ex-players basically crucifying him was stupid and unnecessary. At the same time, he seems as prone to galaxy brain-fades as any other Aussie captain in the past few years.

The good thing about him seems to be that he is always learning and seems to correct his mistakes as he goes on. Lets see, but I have a feeling he will need a much better vice captain than Steve Smith if he is gonna succeed long term.
 

SteveNZ

Cricketer Of The Year
Yeah, but my point is that if these ex-players want to stick the knife in, if they're worth any pinch of **** they should be able to acknowledge when something is done right. There is nothing worse than people in the media who only deal in the brickbats.
 

morgieb

Request Your Custom Title Now!
OK series ratings:

Imam-ul-Haq 6 - hard to gague. Excellent at Rawalpindi but it would've been more concerning if he wasn't. Otherwise seemed to struggle, even the 50 here felt a bit flakey.
Abdullah Shafique 8 - unlike Imam, he looked very convincing in all conditions. Probably needs to build his temperament somewhat - he threw away his wicket on a number of occasions after looking a million bucks - but that's forgiveable given his lack of experience. He's gonna be a hell of a player.
Azhar Ali 6 - one great innings on a road, one pretty good knock here, otherwise struggled. You'd probably take that I guess, but it wasn't his best series.
Babar Azam 8 - one ATG knock, and otherwise looked in great form before running out of partners/time. Would've loved another century, but took another step towards him being one of Pakistan's best.
Fawad Alam 1 - I feel for him. Despite being on flat decks he seemed to find himself in situations where the ball was reversing and copped a lot of brutes. Hopefully he'll do better against slightly less lethal attacks.
Mohammad Rizwan 7 - one great innings to save a Test, otherwise largely forgettable with the bat. Generally pretty solid with the gloves.
Iftikhar Ahmed 5 - NFI how to grade him as he only bowled a handful of overs and only batted when Pakistan were looking at setting up a declaration. I guess he wasn't terrible?
Sajid Khan 2 - was largely pretty poor with the ball, though in fairness the conditions weren't great. And how on earth was he batting 7?
Nauman Ali 5 - one great spell on paper, but in practice he got most of his wickets from the negative line he was bowling and Australia trying to force the ante on a pitch where a result was close to impossible. Otherwise didn't look great, though at least proved very solid and knew his game well.
Shaheen Shah Afridi 7 - very solid. Probably didn't have that genuine game defining spell, but bowled with fire and hostility on decks that gave him little and always seemed at least some kind of a threat.
Naseem Shah 8 - it looks like he's back. Seemed to be a consistent threat and was a perfect component of reserve swing. Him and Shaheen are gonna be a hell of an opening bowling pairing going forward.
Faheem Ashraf 5 - bowled some great deliveries on a flat deck, but didn't really stand out either way. And nearly gave Australia an opening following a first-ball duck with the bat.
Hasan Ali 3 - looked pretty trash. The odd decent ball but seemed unable to build up pressure and bowled a lot of pies. Real weak link that I think Australia were able to comfortably exploit.

Warner 5 - did have some innings of influence (his innings here was a real reason why Australia were able to force innings), but it's hard not to come to the conclusion that he's a declining force. Looked hurried significantly by Shaheen and Naseem.
Khawaja 10 - monster. Barely looked like getting out all series. When he did it was after he had already made a big match-defining score. Easily the MOTS and has probably answered any doubts about him as a cricketer. I can easily see him pulling a Misbah/Gooch for the next 3-4 years.
Labuschagne 5 - good innings first Test, otherwise not great. Didn't look as settled and seemed to throw his wicket away before he got going. Will look at this and improve.
Smith 6 - weird series. Did look like he was near his best for long periods but unlike previous tours often got bogged down and got out before making a big match-defining score. Still, looked closer to his best than he has for a while. Loses a mark for all those dropped catches.
Head 2 - yeah, this shows why I'm a little bit worried having him at 5 long-term. Didn't look completely comfortable for the role Australia had him at and seemed the least solid out of Australia's Top 7. IMO he should move to 6.
Green 7 - continues his development very nicely. I was worried he might struggle away from home, but his innings at Lahore was crucial and took some key wickets in conditions which wasn't favourable for his MO.
Carey 8 - OK, now I'm sold. While he looked very ordinary at Rawalpindi the last two Tests he managed two key knocks, and his keeping was way more solid than I've seen from him previously. Has earnt an extended crack now.
Starc 7 - patchy, but bowled two incredible spells - the first that should've been match-winning, the second that absolutely was. Showed why he's as good of an exploiter of reverse swing as anyone.
Cummins 9 - what a player. Never bowled badly and seemed to always find a breakthrough. His bowling in this Test was out of this world. While his captaincy I think could still use a bit of work, it's hard to argue against someone who won in Asia for the first time in 10 years. How close is he to making the ATG Australian side?
Lyon 6 - finally bowled a side to victory on the last day! Wasn't great before that but I think even then was the best of the four spinners on display.
Hazlewood 4 - copped a raw deal. Didn't bowl badly at Rawalpindi but couldn't make an impact. I think in these conditions he's at best the third-choice quick, though.
Swepson 3 - was possibly a bit unlucky in the second Test, but looked really poor in the third. Lots of garbage balls and the good ones weren't quite good enough to have the advantages of being a leggie.
 
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honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
Yeah, but my point is that if these ex-players want to stick the knife in, if they're worth any pinch of **** they should be able to acknowledge when something is done right. There is nothing worse than people in the media who only deal in the brickbats.
Fair enough... but we all know how post 80s Australian cricket is really only about the "boys " and their mateship.
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
Pak need to find a better opener to partner Shafique. I will still try Shan Masood than Imam. If Faward's issues are terminal, I would see if Haris Sohail can be the #5/6 who can also double up as an additional spin option. They should look at promoting Rizwan to 5 IMO. And get Yasir back.

Shan Masood
Abdullah Shafique
Azhar Ali
Babar Azam
Haris Sohail
Mohammed Rizwan
Faheem Ashraf
Yasir Shah
Hasan Ali
Shaheen Afridi
Naseem Shah

Play another spinner for Hasan in spinny conditions. This is not a bad side at all but as always, I think PCB and Pakistan will implode in their obsession with besting India than actually looking at where their team is and what they need to move forward.
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
For Australia, Head did not look convincing but he has earned another go. Same with Swepson although I would play Agar above him in SL if conditions dictate that. Not many other holes but also, a bit worryingly, I dont think there is anyone knocking at the door for most places in this side, which can be an issue with injuries being so frequent these days.

Warner
Khawaja
Marnus
Smith
Head / Maxwell (??)
Green
Carey
Starc
Cummins
Lyon
Swepson/Agar

Really apart from Haze, the backups are not that strong. And the batting is still rather brittle IMO, esp. for SC.
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!


Some brutal points there -

That article said:
Ramiz produced another video; it wasn't quite clear why, but he felt adamant the great escape provided Pakistan a "big boost" for the final Test.

For 14 days Pakistan had given Australia little reason to fear them, offering every indication that if they needed to make a move, it would involve stepping back rather than forward.

Pakistan have now gone three successive Tests without a win in Asia. At least one aspect of learning from Australia is going to plan, after all.
 

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