Pakistan Discussion

[Blaze 18]

What pills ?

 

[smalishah84]

What pills ?

Faisal asked me to take anti-depressants since I was always pessimistic about Pakistan's chances and I asked him to get a reality check. So we both got the respective things done

 

[Faisal1985]

Just did

Awesome...

 

[Faisal1985]

What pills ?

 

[Faisal1985]

WATCH OUT FOR PAKISTAN in this world cup.

they have absolutely ZERO pressure on them. nobody has been looking at the teams performance with any judgement. it was all about the off field controversy.

consequently, these guys are basicalyl free to just play.

i'm tipping pakistan to make the semi's at least- and from there, if they get going, it is anybodys game.

as an indian/aussie, the prospect of india v pakistan in semis is MOUTHWATERING.
i love watching pakistani cricket and would love for them to have a great tournament.
certainly more than teams like lanka, safrica and aus.

matchwinners are there:
razzak, afridi, shoaib, younis, gul etc.
a tournament like this is made for teams like pakistan (especially when they're under no pressure), as past form really doesnt mean too much at all.

was impressed with them against south africa and nz in odi's. may just spring a surprise.

Nice post....Pak plays best when they have nothing to lose....and really all that they have gone through...there is really nothing to lose...

 

[smalishah84]

Nice post....Pak plays best when they have nothing to lose....and really all that they have gone through...there is really nothing to lose...

don't be on it pal.......whenever I think we have hit rock bottom we take out the shovel and start digging

 

[Shri]

And the digging involves 2-3 unsuccessful attempts at digging holes for others too(read ICC, BCCI etc).

 

[salman85]

don't be on it pal.......whenever I think we have hit rock bottom we take out the shovel and start digging

I think you're seriously confused about Pakistan's chances in the WC.In the semifinal predictions thread,you say how Pakistan look great.Here you're constantly mentioning how Pakistan will get destroyed and the world is coming to an end.

Undecided much?

 

[Blaze 18]

That is Pakistan for you. Impossible to predict.

 

[Leg Cutter]

That is Pakistan for you. Impossible to predict.

hahaha nice words for pakistan but still pakistan's combination looks so good
let's see what happen

 

[Maximus0723]

I am pulling for Pak, though only after India

 

[smalishah84]

I think you're seriously confused about Pakistan's chances in the WC.In the semifinal predictions thread,you say how Pakistan look great.Here you're constantly mentioning how Pakistan will get destroyed and the world is coming to an end.

Undecided much?

I am buoyant about our chances due to our bowling attack. The batting is ****.

Whenever I get the feeling that our batting just might fire enough to put a decent score on the board I write that our chances are good.

OTOH when I feel that our bowling won't perform in some crucial matches and of course our **** batsmen won't do anything so I feel that our chances are bad.

As Blaze says that is Pakistan for you. I hope you understand me now. Although I won't bet on it

 

[smalishah84]

great article by Saad Shafqat

World Cup 2011: Battle-hardened Afridi the lynchpin for Pakistan | Cricket News | ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[salman85]

Not entirely false.Unlike others,i do rate him very high as a captain and he does have the charisma that you require to raise a team.

 

[nidoccj]

Since this topic is related to Pakistan cricket. I want to know from you guys, how will you compare captency of Shahid Afridi and Misbah ul haq? who is better? and what you people think, are they capable enough to make brave decisions like Imran khan or wasim akram? or it is just the luck that Team is performing under their captency?

 

[salman85]

Afridi the captain > Misbah the captain.

Pretty much like the same thing in Imran's time.Javed was better tactically,but Imran was the better motivator and man manager.Afridi has taken over Imran's role and Misbah is playing Miandad's.I love Afridi's captaincy,but i'm sure Misbah has had his fair share of input in it.

 

[smalishah84]

Afridi the captain > Misbah the captain.

Pretty much like the same thing in Imran's time.Javed was better tactically,but Imran was the better motivator and man manager.Afridi has taken over Imran's role and Misbah is playing Miandad's.I love Afridi's captaincy,but i'm sure Misbah has had his fair share of input in it.

Salman I am beginning to agree more and more with you as time passes

 

[nidoccj]

Afridi the captain > Misbah the captain.

Pretty much like the same thing in Imran's time.Javed was better tactically,but Imran was the better motivator and man manager.Afridi has taken over Imran's role and Misbah is playing Miandad's.I love Afridi's captaincy,but i'm sure Misbah has had his fair share of input in it.

Ok. But i see that afridi have more confidence in hafeez than razaq. razaq is outstanding allrounder with strong Bowling, whereas Hafeez, no doubt give many good performances, but he is not good in bowling as razzaq is. and we see in t20 WC semiFinal, afridi give 4 overs in a row to hafeez, and watson hit hard, but afridi did't change the bowler. these things have great impacts on results. sometimes captain's decision can win the match for the country, and sometimes these decisions turns the table for other team and many times we lost matches from wining positions just bcoz of bad decisions by the captain.

Your Comments on it?

 

[salman85]

Razzaq isn't a strong bowler IMO.He's lost his pace,the line and length is still there but he has become very toothless.Hafeez is better overall crickter than Razzaq IMO.Better fielder for starters.He almost always looks in good batting touch,times the ball superbly.Razzaq is very hot and cold as a batsman.He will either destroy you or be ineffective,there is no inbetween.In terms of bowling both of them are probably at the same level,primarily defensive bowlers.but if i wanted someone to take wickets i would back Hafeez more than Razzaq TBH.

 

[Prince EWS]

This is such an un-Pakistan-like team. Often you'd associate them with having four or five big-name star players who could individually win matches and carry the side on a good day despite poor balance, passengers, players with poor attitudes, egotistical in-fighting etc etc. What they've got now is the opposite, but I kind of rate them a bit as a potential wildcard for completely different reasons to the norm.

I think what I like most is that everyone has such defined roles in the batting lineup. The top three are all pretty aggressive top order batsmen (Hafeez only in his latest stint, which indicates legitimate planning), even if they lack genuine class. Their jobs are generally to get the team off to a good start and take advantage of the first PowerPlay, even if they find themselves 3 wickets down. Hafeez, Shehzad and Kamran are not great one batsmen and I'd have to pause before even calling any of them good but they've been doing this role to an acceptable standard. Younis and Misbah come in to steady the ship after the early blast and prepare for the final assault; they really are vitally important. As someone pointed out before it's quite a shame that it's not Yousuf and Malik instead as they're far better middle orders accumulators in this form of cricket, but I think these two can get the job done. Even if they only strike at 70, I think they can get away with it as long as they make runs and guide the team towards the 40th over, as it allows Afridi and Razzaq to do what they do best and just come in hitting from the word go. There aren't many players in world cricket who can do that right from the start of their innings to have two who also happen to have a case for being included on bowling alone is what could set Pakistan apart from the others, and paper over the fact that Younis and Misbah can only score consistent runs at a sluggish rate. Umar Akmal too has a key role, bridging the gap between the accumulators and the genuine hitters. He's as dangerous as Afridi and Razzaq when he's in but he does need a few overs to get set, so six is ideal.

The bowling, too, is a well-planned group of players with set roles rather than one of the star quality we've seen in years gone by. Razzaq bowls at a shadow of his former pace but he moves the ball more than he ever has and his length has become immaculate. I questioned the decision to make him open up in recent limited overs matches but it seems to have worked splendidly so far, particularly when he's been partnered with the pace of Shoaib. Umar Gul comes on later with the view of saving most of his overs for the death where he's so effective, and having some hostile pace in the middle overs too works well against batsmen not tremendously used to that. Ajmal's a genuinely good limited overs bowler and I hope he plays - he can operate in the PowerPlays which is a huge plus for a spinner, particularly in a team only playing two proper quicks (Wahab may play instead and he won't be a liability but I'd go with Ajmal as I think he's real class). Beyond that they also have Afridi and Hafeez to bowl spin in the middle overs, two of the most under-rated ODI spinners going around judging by their records.

They don't have an Imran, an Anwar, an Inzy or a Wasim - in fact, what they do have could be arguably described as a group of hasbeen hacks, proven failures and underdone kids - but in a way that's a strength of this side; all the players know their roles and they all have the responsibility to contribute. What they lack is flexibility within them to arrest the situation in a crisis (if Umar comes in in the first 25 overs they're pretty much ****ed, for example), but if they do well in this tournament, which I think they could, it'll be on the back of a well-planned and structured one day outfit, rather than mercurial talents like we're used to seeing from them. I think this World Cup probably came six months too early for them, but full credit to Afridi, Misbah and anyone else who was involved in building this team. It's happened quickly and it's happened with the right players; not only in role but in character. I have more faith in them than I would in one that changed completely on a game-to-game basis and contained Butt, Asif, Aamer and Malik.

Gun post IMO.