Takeaways from Asia Cup 2022

[Extra_Cover]

One thing that is unanimous on this forum is disappointment after this Asia Cup. Most including myself believe that Pakistan were clearly a superior team going into the final and should not have lost to Sri Lankan team. Regardless credit where its due in Sri Lanka they have unearthed some real good talents that would serve them well in the long run. On their way to title Sri Lanka defeated both India and Pakistan (twice) and were legitimately deserved winners in this Asia Cup 2022.

The focus of this thread is obviously on Pakistan and looking back at things constructively as to how Pakistan team can improve upon these and become a better team going forward. Obviously with T20 WC around the corner we would be facing more stern challenge from the outset and as such we should be prepared both mentally and physically to tackle these. I will start with issues plaguing the current team and some of these are very obvious.

Things to sort before T20 WC.

1. Middle order void: I created a separate thread a year or so back highlighting this massive void that Pakistan team has now been carrying for over a year if not two. For over a year the good form of Babar and Rizwan has hidden this obvious void and it was a matter of time before they both lose form and this void is exposed. In my personal opinion the middle order of Ifti, Asif and Khushdil is a recipe of disaster and in an ideal world only 1 of these 3 can play and that 1 would also be debatable.

2. Death over bowling: This is becoming quite frustrating now that in the last 5/6 overs we usually lose the plot. This is also attributable to the fact that Babar through his captaincy ensure that last 5/6 is all delivered by fast bowlers which in my opinion is a disaster recipe. Any bowler no matter how world class he is should bowl only 1 over spell in the death and should never bowl 2 back to back overs.

3. Captaincy: As highlighted above I want Babar to be more proactive in captaincy. The plans made before the game are being done well as we can see how team starts the game but its usually in the middle when Babar loses the plot. For example for some reason he limits his opening bowler to 2 overs a piece at the start and hesitates to give him a third over even if his tail is up. He could have asked Naseem to bowl a third over in the final today and a lot of times when Shaheen is at top he only bowls him for 2 which is not very attacking captaincy. Similarly he is adamant to bowl Shadab between 6-15 and does not tinker with plans to surprise the opposition. In today's game Nawaz bowled only 1 over which is really bad captaincy whichever way you look at it.

Things that is going well and needs to be highlighted

1. Opening bowling: In Naseem we have found an opening bowler to partner Shaheen. Overall opening bowling from fast bowlers have been pretty impressive throughout the Asia Cup. A very encouraging sign.

2. Spin allrounders: In Shadab and Nawaz I think we have the best spin allrounders across all teams. Not only both are very capable with bat and ball they are also very good in the field and have good cricket acumen and game sense. We need to utilise them better going forward.

3. Rizwan: The guy has been super consistent for a long time now. Deserves special appraise. Some people on this forum bash him for not being very flamboyant or entertaining but I believe in this guy's ability to handle pressure games. If we have a middle order to back him he has the ability to see games home.

Now lets move onto to the most important part of this thread which is the next steps to make this team better. We all agree that we lack in certain aspects of our overall game plan and below I'm highlighting some of these aspects and how potentially we can improve upon this.

1. Middle order solution: The only name that comes to mind that can potentially save Pakistan in case of Babar/Rizwan failure is Shan Masood. The guy is in the best form of his life and should be there to see games through if one of the top order fails. The other one is unsurprisingly Haider. I would not be very unhappy if Fakhar plays over him but given Fakhar had a long string of failures now I want Haider to get his run in this side now in place of him.

2. Fast bowling allrounder: I wish we had someone like Pandya back in domestics who would fit this Pakistan team perfectly like a glove but unfortunately we don't. I would therefore have Faheem Ashraf selected to be part of the squad and play in instances where we go for heavy bowling attack.

Given we have a stretch of T20s lined up with England I would like the following XI to be given a chance. I have put forward my ideal T20 squad for the upcoming world cup. I hope this Asia Cup defeat can be taken on constructively and our team improved for good.

1. Babar (c)
2. Rizwan (wk)
3. Haider Ali / Fakhar Zaman
4. Shan Masood
5. Nawaz / Shadab
6. Asif Ali / Ifti
7. Mohammad Haris / Faheem Ashraf
8. Shadab / Nawaz
9. Shaheen
10. Rauf
11. Naseem

12. Fakhar / Haider
13. Faheem Ashraf / Mohammad Haris
14. Ifti / Asif Ali
15. Dahani
16. Hasnain

I know people would not like my XI for the selection of Fakhar Zaman and Ifti / Asif. On Fakhar, he is one of Pakistan's matchwinners and this guy has struggled on slow / low wickets. When there is pace in wickets this guy can be useful and as such on Australian wickets he might come good. Also he has that X factor associated with him that when he clicks he usually sees home the game. On Ifti / Asif continued selection, I'm never in favour of wholesale changes to a XI on eve of an important event. If we have persisted with these individuals with WC around the corner then it makes sense for one of them to be part of the lineup. On top of that there are not many renowned late overs hitter sitting in domestics that can do a better job so it makes sense to stick with these individuals and discard them to bring someone fresh after the WC.

[nextover666666]

Very good thread

And you touched base on so many good points

The middle over being the obvious
The fact you cant have all three khushdil, asif or chacha. I would say look towards the future and get rid of all three if i am to keep one it would be chacha only

Death bowling, and fielding at death or fielding in general is concern players bumping into each other on more than one occasion is a huge concern.

Better match awareness from batsman is concern.

How you described babar using his bowlers and captancy is spot on

Their is a lot of positives like you said
Fast bowling, the opening bowling, rizwan, spin bowling, not mentioed bur rauf ground fielding is really good as well. Of course rizwan is really the heart of pakistan batting.

I agree with fast bowling allarounder however i do not know if faheem Ashraf is best option


This pakistan can do very well but need to make tweaks and babar has to step up as a captain, needs to be more creative, like sending nawaz at number 4 vs india was a great tactic and need to make necessary changes according to match.

[shamaan]

Fakhar I was backing he has been beyond terrible and should be dropped.

[PakLFC]

Poor batting, poor fielding but good bowling. Nothing has changed in that respect.

[Farabi]

One thing that is unanimous on this forum is disappointment after this Asia Cup. Most including myself believe that Pakistan were clearly a superior team going into the final and should not have lost to Sri Lankan team. Regardless credit where its due in Sri Lanka they have unearthed some real good talents that would serve them well in the long run. On their way to title Sri Lanka defeated both India and Pakistan (twice) and were legitimately deserved winners in this Asia Cup 2022.

The focus of this thread is obviously on Pakistan and looking back at things constructively as to how Pakistan team can improve upon these and become a better team going forward. Obviously with T20 WC around the corner we would be facing more stern challenge from the outset and as such we should be prepared both mentally and physically to tackle these. I will start with issues plaguing the current team and some of these are very obvious.

Things to sort before T20 WC.

1. Middle order void: I created a separate thread a year or so back highlighting this massive void that Pakistan team has now been carrying for over a year if not two. For over a year the good form of Babar and Rizwan has hidden this obvious void and it was a matter of time before they both lose form and this void is exposed. In my personal opinion the middle order of Ifti, Asif and Khushdil is a recipe of disaster and in an ideal world only 1 of these 3 can play and that 1 would also be debatable.

2. Death over bowling: This is becoming quite frustrating now that in the last 5/6 overs we usually lose the plot. This is also attributable to the fact that Babar through his captaincy ensure that last 5/6 is all delivered by fast bowlers which in my opinion is a disaster recipe. Any bowler no matter how world class he is should bowl only 1 over spell in the death and should never bowl 2 back to back overs.

3. Captaincy: As highlighted above I want Babar to be more proactive in captaincy. The plans made before the game are being done well as we can see how team starts the game but its usually in the middle when Babar loses the plot. For example for some reason he limits his opening bowler to 2 overs a piece at the start and hesitates to give him a third over even if his tail is up. He could have asked Naseem to bowl a third over in the final today and a lot of times when Shaheen is at top he only bowls him for 2 which is not very attacking captaincy. Similarly he is adamant to bowl Shadab between 6-15 and does not tinker with plans to surprise the opposition. In today's game Nawaz bowled only 1 over which is really bad captaincy whichever way you look at it.

Things that is going well and needs to be highlighted

1. Opening bowling: In Naseem we have found an opening bowler to partner Shaheen. Overall opening bowling from fast bowlers have been pretty impressive throughout the Asia Cup. A very encouraging sign.

2. Spin allrounders: In Shadab and Nawaz I think we have the best spin allrounders across all teams. Not only both are very capable with bat and ball they are also very good in the field and have good cricket acumen and game sense. We need to utilise them better going forward.

3. Rizwan: The guy has been super consistent for a long time now. Deserves special appraise. Some people on this forum bash him for not being very flamboyant or entertaining but I believe in this guy's ability to handle pressure games. If we have a middle order to back him he has the ability to see games home.

Now lets move onto to the most important part of this thread which is the next steps to make this team better. We all agree that we lack in certain aspects of our overall game plan and below I'm highlighting some of these aspects and how potentially we can improve upon this.

1. Middle order solution: The only name that comes to mind that can potentially save Pakistan in case of Babar/Rizwan failure is Shan Masood. The guy is in the best form of his life and should be there to see games through if one of the top order fails. The other one is unsurprisingly Haider. I would not be very unhappy if Fakhar plays over him but given Fakhar had a long string of failures now I want Haider to get his run in this side now in place of him.

2. Fast bowling allrounder: I wish we had someone like Pandya back in domestics who would fit this Pakistan team perfectly like a glove but unfortunately we don't. I would therefore have Faheem Ashraf selected to be part of the squad and play in instances where we go for heavy bowling attack.

Given we have a stretch of T20s lined up with England I would like the following XI to be given a chance. I have put forward my ideal T20 squad for the upcoming world cup. I hope this Asia Cup defeat can be taken on constructively and our team improved for good.

1. Babar (c)
2. Rizwan (wk)
3. Haider Ali / Fakhar Zaman
4. Shan Masood
5. Nawaz / Shadab
6. Asif Ali / Ifti
7. Mohammad Haris / Faheem Ashraf
8. Shadab / Nawaz
9. Shaheen
10. Rauf
11. Naseem

12. Fakhar / Haider
13. Faheem Ashraf / Mohammad Haris
14. Ifti / Asif Ali
15. Dahani
16. Hasnain

I know people would not like my XI for the selection of Fakhar Zaman and Ifti / Asif. On Fakhar, he is one of Pakistan's matchwinners and this guy has struggled on slow / low wickets. When there is pace in wickets this guy can be useful and as such on Australian wickets he might come good. Also he has that X factor associated with him that when he clicks he usually sees home the game. On Ifti / Asif continued selection, I'm never in favour of wholesale changes to a XI on eve of an important event. If we have persisted with these individuals with WC around the corner then it makes sense for one of them to be part of the lineup. On top of that there are not many renowned late overs hitter sitting in domestics that can do a better job so it makes sense to stick with these individuals and discard them to bring someone fresh after the WC.

Great post!

I agreed with most of the post so I am going to jump to the next steps. Some feedback and comments. Generally, I felt that Pak has to go for solidity and focus on the basics.

1) Shan Masood is a top order player and should not play lower than 1 down for best results.
2) Haider Ali also has gaps and he is looking good now because he was on the bench while those that got a chance did worse . He has shown ability to implode, but he is talented nevertheless. I doubt he has the technique to dominate world class bowling attacks in Aus if one of Babar / Rizwan fell early. Haider needs game time.
3) Fakhar Zaman is better on faster tracks for sure, but relies on risky shots that won’t always come though vs sides that have Nortje, Rabada, Boult, Etc He doesn’t seem like Pull shot is his strength.
4) Mohammad Haris is not a late order batsman
5) Faheem Ashraf has shown over so many games that he’s not a late order hitter. He could be a pick for 4 or 5 based on the way he plays.
6) aligned on Babar / Rizwan opening combo in Aus. They will do better in Aus than UAE.
7) Shadab and Nawaz looked more solid than some of the specialist batsmen. Nawaz looks very underrated. His balance and shot selection was second to none vs India. Shadab played a match winning knock vs Afghanistan. Both are effective vs spin and you need right/left combo. It’s time to give both men more responsibility with the bat. Don’t forget Hafeez and Malik didn’t start out as batsmen and were developed into that middle order roles over 4-5 years in early 2000s.
8) if a specialist batsman needs to be picked for hitting role, than Fakhar/Haider are better because they naturally play that fearless role. Khusdil and Ifti aren’t natural strikers nor lower order hitters. They seem to want to “get set” and if that’s the case, they should wait for their chance up there order.
9) Mohd Wasim is better than Faheem because he can be proper 6th option in Aus with his bowling being superior. With the bat, he is not afraid to swing it, which is what you need at that number most times.
10) Asif Ali plays pace much better than spin. He may enjoy Aus.

Babar
Rizwan
Shan
Shadab
Nawaz
Fakhar Zaman / Haider Ali
Asif Ali
Mohd Wasim
Naseem
Shaheen
Rauf

[Asif321]

God bless you if you still want babar Rizwan opening

[ask_analyse_act]

God bless you if you still want babar Rizwan opening

They cant be placed anywhere else now it seems , except in the bench.

I would go with

Shan Masood
Rizwan
Babar
Haider Ali
Hasan Nawaz / Umar Amin
Agha Salman
Nawaz
Shadab
Shaheen
Naseem
Haris

[Marooned]

Great post!

I agreed with most of the post so I am going to jump to the next steps. Some feedback and comments. Generally, I felt that Pak has to go for solidity and focus on the basics.

1) Shan Masood is a top order player and should not play lower than 1 down for best results.
2) Haider Ali also has gaps and he is looking good now because he was on the bench while those that got a chance did worse . He has shown ability to implode, but he is talented nevertheless. I doubt he has the technique to dominate world class bowling attacks in Aus if one of Babar / Rizwan fell early. Haider needs game time.
3) Fakhar Zaman is better on faster tracks for sure, but relies on risky shots that won’t always come though vs sides that have Nortje, Rabada, Boult, Etc He doesn’t seem like Pull shot is his strength.
4) Mohammad Haris is not a late order batsman
5) Faheem Ashraf has shown over so many games that he’s not a late order hitter. He could be a pick for 4 or 5 based on the way he plays.
6) aligned on Babar / Rizwan opening combo in Aus. They will do better in Aus than UAE.
7) Shadab and Nawaz looked more solid than some of the specialist batsmen. Nawaz looks very underrated. His balance and shot selection was second to none vs India. Shadab played a match winning knock vs Afghanistan. Both are effective vs spin and you need right/left combo. It’s time to give both men more responsibility with the bat. Don’t forget Hafeez and Malik didn’t start out as batsmen and were developed into that middle order roles over 4-5 years in early 2000s.
8) if a specialist batsman needs to be picked for hitting role, than Fakhar/Haider are better because they naturally play that fearless role. Khusdil and Ifti aren’t natural strikers nor lower order hitters. They seem to want to “get set” and if that’s the case, they should wait for their chance up there order.
9) Mohd Wasim is better than Faheem because he can be proper 6th option in Aus with his bowling being superior. With the bat, he is not afraid to swing it, which is what you need at that number most times.
10) Asif Ali plays pace much better than spin. He may enjoy Aus.

Babar
Rizwan
Shan
Shadab
Nawaz
Fakhar Zaman / Haider Ali
Asif Ali
Mohd Wasim
Naseem
Shaheen
Rauf

Come on you need to give Haider his chance now and surely he must bat above allrounders (Shadab).
If he clicks, Pakistan have one massive piece of jigsaw solved. If not, we lose nothing.

Faheem has no role in white ball imo. His list A average is lower than Wahab Riaz... It's in tests only he is an allrounder. In white ball, he is a glorified tailender.

[Extra_Cover]

Very good thread

And you touched base on so many good points

The middle over being the obvious
The fact you cant have all three khushdil, asif or chacha. I would say look towards the future and get rid of all three if i am to keep one it would be chacha only

Death bowling, and fielding at death or fielding in general is concern players bumping into each other on more than one occasion is a huge concern.

Better match awareness from batsman is concern.

How you described babar using his bowlers and captancy is spot on

Their is a lot of positives like you said
Fast bowling, the opening bowling, rizwan, spin bowling, not mentioed bur rauf ground fielding is really good as well. Of course rizwan is really the heart of pakistan batting.

I agree with fast bowling allarounder however i do not know if faheem Ashraf is best option


This pakistan can do very well but need to make tweaks and babar has to step up as a captain, needs to be more creative, like sending nawaz at number 4 vs india was a great tactic and need to make necessary changes according to match.

Thanks mate and some good pints from yourself especially around Rauf's fielding. However overall our fielding was well below par especially those schoolboy errors of not calling whilst catching. Our best fielders Shadab and Fakhar had a nightmarish tournament in the field. The disappointing fact is that young fast bowlers like Naseem and Hasnain are very bad in the field.

On match awareness from our batsmen then this is non-existent apart from consistent bats like Babar, Rizwan and to an extent our spin allrounders. No other batsmen give importance to singles / doubles which is pretty pathetic approach if you are so reliant only on big shots.

Overall I agree if Pakistan can make couple of tweaks then it can be in a good position going into the world cup.

[Extra_Cover]

Great post!

I agreed with most of the post so I am going to jump to the next steps. Some feedback and comments. Generally, I felt that Pak has to go for solidity and focus on the basics.

1) Shan Masood is a top order player and should not play lower than 1 down for best results.
2) Haider Ali also has gaps and he is looking good now because he was on the bench while those that got a chance did worse . He has shown ability to implode, but he is talented nevertheless. I doubt he has the technique to dominate world class bowling attacks in Aus if one of Babar / Rizwan fell early. Haider needs game time.
3) Fakhar Zaman is better on faster tracks for sure, but relies on risky shots that won’t always come though vs sides that have Nortje, Rabada, Boult, Etc He doesn’t seem like Pull shot is his strength.
4) Mohammad Haris is not a late order batsman
5) Faheem Ashraf has shown over so many games that he’s not a late order hitter. He could be a pick for 4 or 5 based on the way he plays.
6) aligned on Babar / Rizwan opening combo in Aus. They will do better in Aus than UAE.
7) Shadab and Nawaz looked more solid than some of the specialist batsmen. Nawaz looks very underrated. His balance and shot selection was second to none vs India. Shadab played a match winning knock vs Afghanistan. Both are effective vs spin and you need right/left combo. It’s time to give both men more responsibility with the bat. Don’t forget Hafeez and Malik didn’t start out as batsmen and were developed into that middle order roles over 4-5 years in early 2000s.
8) if a specialist batsman needs to be picked for hitting role, than Fakhar/Haider are better because they naturally play that fearless role. Khusdil and Ifti aren’t natural strikers nor lower order hitters. They seem to want to “get set” and if that’s the case, they should wait for their chance up there order.
9) Mohd Wasim is better than Faheem because he can be proper 6th option in Aus with his bowling being superior. With the bat, he is not afraid to swing it, which is what you need at that number most times.
10) Asif Ali plays pace much better than spin. He may enjoy Aus.

Babar
Rizwan
Shan
Shadab
Nawaz
Fakhar Zaman / Haider Ali
Asif Ali
Mohd Wasim
Naseem
Shaheen
Rauf

Another good post. We all have our arguments and I like yours that have been put forward. On some instances I would not agree with your arguments but I like the thought process. Some of my counter arguments are as follows:

1. Shan Masood: The reason I put him at 4 is because we cannot have 3 accumulators at top. Obviously the management can tinker the positions depending on the situation the team is in.
2. Fakhar is so on an off I cannot say what he would do next game. All I know he is that big match player that a team should have if they have enough dependable batsmen around it.
3. Haris and Faheem are not late order hitters which I agree. We cannot go back to Khushdil so I hope there is a rabbit which can be pulled out of hat here.
4. Mohd Wasim better than Faheem is not true. Mohd Wasim in a bang average bowler, someone you face in nets rather than in matches. With the strength Pakistan now has in its pacers I guess Wasim would not get chance anytime soon.
5. Asif Ali in Australia is another gamble which I might also take given I dont want wholesome changes on even of the world cup. I rather stick with players that have been invested in for the reason that is world cup and then discard them if they do not come through.

[mazkhan]

Neither rizwan or babar are openers they never open the batting in test and odis

So why open in t20 they either play in the middle order and replace the 3 musketeers or don't play at all.

We need openers who attack from ball 1 and utilise the powerplay.

[mazkhan]

Another good post. We all have our arguments and I like yours that have been put forward. On some instances I would not agree with your arguments but I like the thought process. Some of my counter arguments are as follows:

1. Shan Masood: The reason I put him at 4 is because we cannot have 3 accumulators at top. Obviously the management can tinker the positions depending on the situation the team is in.
2. Fakhar is so on an off I cannot say what he would do next game. All I know he is that big match player that a team should have if they have enough dependable batsmen around it.
3. Haris and Faheem are not late order hitters which I agree. We cannot go back to Khushdil so I hope there is a rabbit which can be pulled out of hat here.
4. Mohd Wasim better than Faheem is not true. Mohd Wasim in a bang average bowler, someone you face in nets rather than in matches. With the strength Pakistan now has in its pacers I guess Wasim would not get chance anytime soon.
5. Asif Ali in Australia is another gamble which I might also take given I dont want wholesome changes on even of the world cup. I rather stick with players that have been invested in for the reason that is world cup and then discard them if they do not come through.

I can assure you if we open with rizwan and babar

And still have the same 3 hacks in the middle order in chacha , asif and khushdil they team will be humiliated in Australia.

Most top teams will already have marked rizwans weakness with length on the offside and his zero foot movement

[nextover666666]

Thanks mate and some good pints from yourself especially around Rauf's fielding. However overall our fielding was well below par especially those schoolboy errors of not calling whilst catching. Our best fielders Shadab and Fakhar had a nightmarish tournament in the field. The disappointing fact is that young fast bowlers like Naseem and Hasnain are very bad in the field.

On match awareness from our batsmen then this is non-existent apart from consistent bats like Babar, Rizwan and to an extent our spin allrounders. No other batsmen give importance to singles / doubles which is pretty pathetic approach if you are so reliant only on big shots.

Overall I agree if Pakistan can make couple of tweaks then it can be in a good position going into the world cup.

Their is a cause of concern in the sense that their is some tweaks to be made, but I believe deadline to announce world cup sqaud is soon, even if it was not soon, knowing PCB, i feel like they will take the exact same sqaud and stick with the same batting order, excuse will be we made the finals with this exact same team.

Ideally 2-3 changes need to be in the squad ( which I do not think they will make any) we will be lucky if PCB makes 1.

Secondly in the event we have the exact same squad, than tweaking needs to be done in the batting order, and changes need to be also made during match situations as well. Again personally do not see PCB or team management or captain doing this.

[MenInG]

Many thanks to @Extra_Cover for this excellent thread.

Now added to our Beyond the Boundary section

http://www.pakpassion.net/beyond-the-boundary.html

[Extra_Cover]

Many thanks to @Extra_Cover for this excellent thread.

Now added to our Beyond the Boundary section

http://www.pakpassion.net/beyond-the-boundary.html

Cheers @MIG

[shamaan]

Great post!

I agreed with most of the post so I am going to jump to the next steps. Some feedback and comments. Generally, I felt that Pak has to go for solidity and focus on the basics.

1) Shan Masood is a top order player and should not play lower than 1 down for best results.
2) Haider Ali also has gaps and he is looking good now because he was on the bench while those that got a chance did worse . He has shown ability to implode, but he is talented nevertheless. I doubt he has the technique to dominate world class bowling attacks in Aus if one of Babar / Rizwan fell early. Haider needs game time.
3) Fakhar Zaman is better on faster tracks for sure, but relies on risky shots that won’t always come though vs sides that have Nortje, Rabada, Boult, Etc He doesn’t seem like Pull shot is his strength.
4) Mohammad Haris is not a late order batsman
5) Faheem Ashraf has shown over so many games that he’s not a late order hitter. He could be a pick for 4 or 5 based on the way he plays.
6) aligned on Babar / Rizwan opening combo in Aus. They will do better in Aus than UAE.
7) Shadab and Nawaz looked more solid than some of the specialist batsmen. Nawaz looks very underrated. His balance and shot selection was second to none vs India. Shadab played a match winning knock vs Afghanistan. Both are effective vs spin and you need right/left combo. It’s time to give both men more responsibility with the bat. Don’t forget Hafeez and Malik didn’t start out as batsmen and were developed into that middle order roles over 4-5 years in early 2000s.
8) if a specialist batsman needs to be picked for hitting role, than Fakhar/Haider are better because they naturally play that fearless role. Khusdil and Ifti aren’t natural strikers nor lower order hitters. They seem to want to “get set” and if that’s the case, they should wait for their chance up there order.
9) Mohd Wasim is better than Faheem because he can be proper 6th option in Aus with his bowling being superior. With the bat, he is not afraid to swing it, which is what you need at that number most times.
10) Asif Ali plays pace much better than spin. He may enjoy Aus.

Babar
Rizwan
Shan
Shadab
Nawaz
Fakhar Zaman / Haider Ali
Asif Ali
Mohd Wasim
Naseem
Shaheen
Rauf

Shan is batting at 3 I think for his domestic team and has done reasonably well.

[shamaan]

Another good post. We all have our arguments and I like yours that have been put forward. On some instances I would not agree with your arguments but I like the thought process. Some of my counter arguments are as follows:

1. Shan Masood: The reason I put him at 4 is because we cannot have 3 accumulators at top. Obviously the management can tinker the positions depending on the situation the team is in.
2. Fakhar is so on an off I cannot say what he would do next game. All I know he is that big match player that a team should have if they have enough dependable batsmen around it.
3. Haris and Faheem are not late order hitters which I agree. We cannot go back to Khushdil so I hope there is a rabbit which can be pulled out of hat here.
4. Mohd Wasim better than Faheem is not true. Mohd Wasim in a bang average bowler, someone you face in nets rather than in matches. With the strength Pakistan now has in its pacers I guess Wasim would not get chance anytime soon.
5. Asif Ali in Australia is another gamble which I might also take given I dont want wholesome changes on even of the world cup. I rather stick with players that have been invested in for the reason that is world cup and then discard them if they do not come through.

Wasim Jnr has better bowling stats than Fahim and can potentially bowl at theedeath.Fahim offers you more with the bat thou but he's injury prone and not in form.