Sunday, July 12, 2009

What are they doing with Fawad Alam!?

I cannot believe what I am watching!

Fawad Alam making his test debut for Pakistan and opening the innings!

What is Pakistan doing?

Are they hell bent on destroying one of the most promising careers that has not even got going yet?

Fawad Alam has been the best batsman in Pakistan's domestic circuit for close to 4-5 years now, but he IS NOT an opener!

I am more than pleased to see him make his test debut considering that I have been writing about him for close to two years now.

But I am not happy to see him open.

He has never opened in his life! Not in domestic cricket, not for the U-19 side, not for any side!

For Pakistan to throw him at the deep end in his very 1st test match goes to show the lack of planning, and a lack of a whole lot of other things, within the team management.

Fawad might go on and do well as opener, but if he fails, it will be a major major blunder on part of the selectors and the team management.

Even if he does well, does it garantee him the opening spot? It should not; there should be specialist openers and Fawad should be batting in the middle order!

First the selectors don't select a reserve opener in the squad. Then when the team management decides to drop an out-of-form-one out of the XI, they throw a debutant, who has never opened in his life before, at the deep end of things.

What happened to Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal who have opened before?

It is just as if Pakistan doesn't want to give Fawad a proper chance to succeed at international level.

In ODIs and T20Is they bat him at 7 or 8, which hardly gives him a chance to bat; in a test match they ask him to open, which is one of the most difficult tasks in the game.

Just give him his position at number 5 or 6!

Make your pitch on this post...



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15 Pitched:

  1. Unknown said...
     

    I couldn't believe my eyes, Younis Khan should have either come himself or should have sent Malik to open, it wasn't fair but it seems he is going to score some runs in this match.

  2. Q said...
     

    Yeah Wasim.. and now it looks like it wouldnt have made a difference whether Fawad opened or came at 6.. same for Malik.. ha!

  3. pRAFs said...
     

    they seem to be going the Indian way,
    get the new guy in, make him open.
    watch him struggle against the new ball and then ask what the fuss was all about.
    its really bollocks.
    a middle order batsman made a scapegoat to save mallik's arse... shitheads

  4. Q said...
     

    Prafs,

    Right on you are.. I too think it was to save the behinds of some other more experience players.. Malik for one.. Fawad Alam had no business being out there opening the innings.. he did better than most but still..

  5. [a} said...
     

    Out, one by one! :( Nobody could have imagined such a low score! Sri Lankans are my favourites besides Pak, but WHY OH WHY Pakistan?

  6. Q said...
     

    [a},

    Welcome to Well Pitched.

    Pakistan were abysmal; I did not expect such a soft performance.

  7. khansahab said...
     

    Q

    Exactly my point. This has happened because of retaining Malik as a middle order batsmen.

    Malik has opened in the past and he should have been sent as opener. But Younis won't do that because he knows Malik will fail against swing early on. Fawad has never opened in domestic circuit.

    So he decided to ruin Fawad's career instead. This is politics at his ugliest.

    Fawad ended up being the 2nd highest scorer, if that means something.

  8. LiB said...
     

    Younas Khan was asked about Fawad Alam opening the innings in an interview after the day's play and this is what he had to say...

    "With Fawad's first class average he HAS to be part of the team and he is young and a has a great future, where to put him in the batting lineup is an issue, at the moment opening slot was the only place and with an innings to go it is too soon to say wether it was the right or wrong decision"

  9. Q said...
     

    Khansahab,

    I don't get it.. it surely should have been Malik opening..

  10. Q said...
     

    LIB,

    Fawad has had that first class average for a long time now, good that Pak realized that now... but opening with him was not the right decision, not in my opinion... Malik should have opened.. he has done it before..

  11. LiB said...
     

    Q,

    agreed 100% Fawad should not be made to open under any circumstances.. and if Butt was going to be dropped than one of Malik or Akmal should have opened with Khurram..

    and if my memory serves me right, everytime Malik has gone up the order, he has performed! correct me if im wrong..

  12. Q said...
     

    LIB,

    Ur right abt that.. I'm sure the stats will prove that too.. in Tests and ODIs, Malik has done much better opening and at 1 down than he has done lower down the order..

  13. Unknown said...
     

    It was a shocker for me as well. If the situation was indeed dire, then Malik should have opened. Btw, whats the latest on Nasir Jamshed? He seemed like a promising prospect. The last I heard, he had an injury in Dubai/Abu Dhabi.

  14. Q said...
     

    Hi Basil,

    Nasir Jamshed is definitely a promising prospect.. I guess he'll be back for the ODIs unless Pakistan go with Imran Nazir or stick to Ahmed Shehzad...

    I wouldn't have Nasir in the test side either..

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