Ultimate_Game Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 Hafeez as an opener epitomises the issues with Pak. They rather have bits & pieces players in their team (Hafeez, Afridi) than genuine batsmen or bowlers. Against low quality option this works but against better opposition this approach is bound to fail as Hafeez can neither score consistently as an opener or run through a decent batting lineup. As for Afridi we already know what he does against top teams with the bat and the ball :giggle:
thongale Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 I don't think Afridi is a bits and pieces player. He is a genuine leg break bowler, who has done well during last few years. It's when people treat him as a #7 batsman the problems start. Afridi at #7 was covered with Razzaq batting at #8 for all this time, but ever since Razzaq is gone it's showing up. If Hafeez can play at #7, Afridi at #8, Ajmal at #9, with two pace bowlers Pakistan will do well in SC. To do well overseas they have to find a seam bowling all rounder to fit at #7. They will need a keeper who could bat as well.
Number Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 But their genuine batsmen are far worse than Hafeez at times.:giggle:
Ultimate_Game Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 I don't think Afridi is a bits and pieces player. He is a genuine leg break bowler' date= who has done well during last few years. It's when people treat him as a #7 batsman the problems start. Afridi at #7 was covered with Razzaq batting at #8 for all this time, but ever since Razzaq is gone it's showing up. If Hafeez can play at #7, Afridi at #8, Ajmal at #9, with two pace bowlers Pakistan will do well in SC. To do well overseas they have to find a seam bowling all rounder to fit at #7. They will need a keeper who could bat as well. Wrong! Afridi's record, be it last 2 years or over his career, is below average against top teams. Check out his stats against the likes of India, Aus, Eng, SA & SL. If I'm not mistaken his bowling average against India is near 60 :omg: You can't have such a player play as a specialist coz you will never be able to defend any total against decent teams. With Hafeez & Afridi you only have room for 2-3 specialist bowlers and that won't get the job done givn the fact that those 2-3 bowlers are Gul/Cheema/Tanveer/Sami + Ajmal. In that whole group only Ajmal is a good enough bowler and rest are nothing special. So if you go with Afridi & Hafeez you are left with 2 below average bowlers (Afridi & Hafeez) + 2 average bowlers (Gul/Sami/Cheema/Tanveer etc.) + 1 good bowler (Ajmal) and no way can you consistently win with such an attack against a team with a decent batting lineup as we saw in the recent Ind-Pak game in Asia Cup where they couldn't even defend 329.
thongale Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 That is a different matter though! K. Akmal, Ali, Misbah, U. Akmal, #5, #6, Hafeez would be a frame to work with. Some how they could find a keeper who could bat, and should use Kamran Akmal as a batsman.
thongale Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 Wrong! Afridi's record' date=' be it last 2 years or over his career, is below average against top teams. [b']Check out his stats against the likes of India, Aus, Eng, SA & SL. If I'm not mistaken his bowling average against India is near 60 :omg: You can't have such a player play as a specialist coz you will never be able to defend any total against decent teams. With Hafeez & Afridi you only have room for 2-3 specialist bowlers and that won't get the job done givn the fact that those 2-3 bowlers are Gul/Cheema/Tanveer/Sami + Ajmal. In that whole group only Ajmal is a good enough bowler and rest are nothing special. So if you go with Afridi & Hafeez you are left with 2 below average bowlers (Afridi & Hafeez) + 2 average bowlers (Gul/Sami/Cheema/Tanveer etc.) + 1 good bowler (Ajmal) and no way can you consistently win with such an attack against a team with a decent batting lineup as we saw in the recent Ind-Pak game in Asia Cup where they couldn't even defend 329. He averages 36 with the ball against test countries (other than Ban and ZIM) in last five years, which is good enough for a spinner (not great stats, but good enough). Bowling average against India doesn't define a greatness of a player. Yes I agree that rest of the Paki bowlers are ****, but their real problems are with the batting. If Paki bowlers had Indian batting line up to support, I am sure that they'll win more matches than Indian bowling line up.
Ultimate_Game Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 He averages 36 with the ball against test countries (other than Ban and ZIM) in last five years, which is good enough for a spinner (not great stats, but good enough). Bowling average against India doesn't define a greatness of a player. Yes I agree that rest of the Paki bowlers are ****, but their real problems are with the batting. If Paki bowlers had Indian batting line up to support, I am sure that they'll win more matches than Indian bowling line up. Even if you average 36 as a spinner that means you are not good enough to hold the spot as a specialist spinner, and the India example was just an illustration of how Afridi performes against better teams.
Ahmed Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 He is a poor opening batsman with no technique at all. Don't know why people call him a techniqually sound batsman. Once the ball starts moving he is a sitting duck. He is in the team just because of his bowling. And if the management really wants him in the team they should push him down to #6 and somehow push Umar Akmal up to #3. We have better specialists in Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shehzad and Afaq Raheem. Even Azhar Ali can open. And what on earth is Taufeeq doing in the team? Poor poor player. That double century, allright it's a double ton, but must be one of the worst one.
maniac Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 Hafeez is a very good bowler and he can walk into most sides a frontline spinner but as a batsman he is worse than Harbhajan. Still a very good utility player to have in LOI sides
Ultimate_Game Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 Hafeez is a very good bowler and he can walk into most sides a frontline spinner but as a batsman he is worse than Harbhajan. Still a very good utility player to have in LOI sides Exactly but there's a limit to these "utility", or bits & pieces, players. You can't have too many Hafeez & Afridis in a team. Pretty soon Pakistan will need to make a call on who's the best "utility" player as you can't have more than one such player in the team and expect to succeed. England tried it in 90s with the likes of Hollioakes, Dougie Browns, Ealhams etc. and it didn't help them much.
maniac Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 Exactly but there's a limit to these "utility"' date=' or bits & pieces, players. You can't have too many Hafeez & Afridis in a team. Pretty soon Pakistan will need to make a call on who's the best "utility" player as you can't have more than one such player in the team and expect to succeed. England tried it in 90s with the likes of [b']Hollioakes, Dougie Browns, Ealhams etc. and it didn't help them much. They probably had better technique with the bat than some of Pakistan's frontline Test batsmen:giggle: Jokes apart Highly rate Hafeez's bowling....way ahead of Afridi
Clarke Posted June 30, 2012 Posted June 30, 2012 ^ You should be happy, no ? I'm bumping some threads on Jadeja etc during the T20 WC, maybe they'll contribute then :wall:
panther Posted June 30, 2012 Posted June 30, 2012 I don't care if he scores 500 he is not a test opener actually he's not even a test player.
Vilander Posted June 30, 2012 Posted June 30, 2012 Hafeez is a Turd. He is not test class. He is one of the brightest prospects in pak cricket atm, their best young player. He lacks basic technique to play in tests, he is surely on track to become one of pak all time great batsmen, his batting skills is much better than indian tailenders, he is best prospect for pak top order.
Utalk Posted June 30, 2012 Posted June 30, 2012 I don't care if he scores 500 he is not a test opener actually he's not even a test player. People are mixing test and ODIs. Hafeez had great series against SL and was decent with the bat against Eng.
Texan Posted December 23, 2013 Posted December 23, 2013 Mohammed Hafeez = Minnow basher Martin Guptill = Minnow basher
Iconoclast Posted December 23, 2013 Posted December 23, 2013 He does exceptolionally well against Asian teams I guess ...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now