By- Munazza Rehman
Opening has been one of the major issue for Pakistan, in past years. Since after Amir Sohail n Saeed Anwar pair, Pakistan couldn't find such opening pair again. Saeed Anwar was a world class opener of his era. His average in Asia was 50.03 whereas, overall average was 45.52 (tests). I think openers' average must be 35+ and if it’s 40+ then it’s excellent.
Opening and one down positions are the most difficult positions to bat. Opening batsman requires a lot of patience. They should know, which ball has to be left rather than try to hit and catch out in slip. Most of the Pakistan’s batsman can't face the new ball too with that much of confidence. As the new ball comes, settled batsman starts struggling.
For the past years, PCB used more than 15 openers in different combination. Some of them are;
Imran Nazir 31.81
Imran Farhat 31.85
Taufeeq Umar 37.98
Naved Latif 10.00
Mohammad Hafeez 39.28
Salman Butt 31.10
Yasir Hameed 26.00
Shoaib Malik 42.60
Kamran Akmal 35.77
Khurram Manzoor 27.40
Nasir Jamshed 12.75
Azhar Ali 32.16
Shan Masood 24.00
Ahmed Shehzad 43.05
Sami Aslam 35.66
Some of them, performed but after few failures, they had been dropped and this lose their confidence. As they failed, they had been dropped, then again selected after few series and this cycle continues without any improvement. In my opinion, openers are always criticized for failures most rather than the whole batting lineup. Yes, I know openers are the backbone of batting lineup. But due to this, players always scared to bat at top order.
Openers for this test series, Hafeez, Shan Masood, Sami Aslam.
I think main issue with Hafeez is that he is not performing with the bat, rather than dropping catches. Saeed Anwar was also one of the bad fielder of his time. But due to his batting, his fielding was ignored. Hafeez has been good but in Asia. It’s famous for him, “Bunny Outside Asia”. Now a days, his shot selection is poor.
Shan Masood is defensive too much. His shot selection is average. He can buildup innings slowly and gradually but main issue with him is that he is not stroke making player. He is not ideal for 50 overs or limited overs.
Positive point of Sami Aslam’s technique is that he knows his domain and plays according to it. He waits for the right ball to hit rather than tries to hit each and every ball which may cause damage. His shot selection is good due to which he has bright future. But it's too early to predict that Pakistan found an opening batsman in the form of Sami Aslam.
Opening has been one of the major issue for Pakistan, in past years. Since after Amir Sohail n Saeed Anwar pair, Pakistan couldn't find such opening pair again. Saeed Anwar was a world class opener of his era. His average in Asia was 50.03 whereas, overall average was 45.52 (tests). I think openers' average must be 35+ and if it’s 40+ then it’s excellent.
Opening and one down positions are the most difficult positions to bat. Opening batsman requires a lot of patience. They should know, which ball has to be left rather than try to hit and catch out in slip. Most of the Pakistan’s batsman can't face the new ball too with that much of confidence. As the new ball comes, settled batsman starts struggling.
For the past years, PCB used more than 15 openers in different combination. Some of them are;
Imran Nazir 31.81
Imran Farhat 31.85
Taufeeq Umar 37.98
Naved Latif 10.00
Mohammad Hafeez 39.28
Salman Butt 31.10
Yasir Hameed 26.00
Shoaib Malik 42.60
Kamran Akmal 35.77
Khurram Manzoor 27.40
Nasir Jamshed 12.75
Azhar Ali 32.16
Shan Masood 24.00
Ahmed Shehzad 43.05
Sami Aslam 35.66
Some of them, performed but after few failures, they had been dropped and this lose their confidence. As they failed, they had been dropped, then again selected after few series and this cycle continues without any improvement. In my opinion, openers are always criticized for failures most rather than the whole batting lineup. Yes, I know openers are the backbone of batting lineup. But due to this, players always scared to bat at top order.
Openers for this test series, Hafeez, Shan Masood, Sami Aslam.
I think main issue with Hafeez is that he is not performing with the bat, rather than dropping catches. Saeed Anwar was also one of the bad fielder of his time. But due to his batting, his fielding was ignored. Hafeez has been good but in Asia. It’s famous for him, “Bunny Outside Asia”. Now a days, his shot selection is poor.
Shan Masood is defensive too much. His shot selection is average. He can buildup innings slowly and gradually but main issue with him is that he is not stroke making player. He is not ideal for 50 overs or limited overs.
Positive point of Sami Aslam’s technique is that he knows his domain and plays according to it. He waits for the right ball to hit rather than tries to hit each and every ball which may cause damage. His shot selection is good due to which he has bright future. But it's too early to predict that Pakistan found an opening batsman in the form of Sami Aslam.
