*Official* Pakistan in Australia 2019

[vcs]

Steve Smith seems to be getting better if anything. I wasn't sure whether he had the big hitting capability required for T20 but when he bats like tonight that's no issue.

Does Wahab Riaz have a good rep in T20s? I wouldn't have thought he'd be suited to this format.

He's like their Ishant, only without the late career improvement, who bowls a fiery but not particularly high-impact spell once every four years. Seems like they'll never get rid of him.

 

[trundler]

That back foot square drive is just an outrageous shot.

It has an ethereal quality. Not what you'd call elegant but it makes you go holy ****.

Babar deserves better than this trash team. Wahab and Irfan in 2019, fmd.

 

[vcs]

Wahab and Irfan are such rubbish selections in this format, after so many past failures. There's literally nothing to be gained from playing them in bilateral T20s at this age. They failed, but even had they succeeded, it would have been so futile.

At least they've moved on from Hafeez and Shoaib Malik.

 

[smash84]

Wahab and Irfan are such rubbish selections in this format, after so many past failures. There's literally nothing to be gained from playing them in bilateral T20s at this age. They failed, but even had they succeeded, it would have been so futile.

At least they've moved on from Hafeez and Shoaib Malik.

That too barely. Hafeez recently made some remarks about not being selected for the T20s. Thankfully at least misbah didn't pay heed to them and didn't pick him up.

The other problem is that the bowling stocks have been bare for some time now and nobody really knows what to do about it.

They've changed the domestic system this year, let's see if its able to throw up something better in a couple of years. I am not holding my breath though.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Who says Steve Smith is boring to watch? **** me they were some entertainment shots

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Man, that shot he played that went to the point boundary was insane. Was a treat to watch. The way he found the gaps. Greatest batsmen I have ever seen since the Prince.

 

[Daemon]

Feels like Smith has now turned his attention to the lesser formats after realising tests are too easy for him

 

[vcs]

Yeah those shots were fantastic. His offside game has a Caribbean flair to it.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Since he became a proper batsman (~2013) Smith actually averages 41 in T20Is, which is just about as good as anyone else who's not Kohli

His stats confuse people because most of his T20 career was as a bowler when he wasn't much of a batsman and since he became the modern Smith he's barely played T20s

 

[Starfighter]

Well his IPL performance hardly set the world alight.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Well his IPL performance hardly set the world alight.

eh it wasn't terrible. He averaged just about 40 and IIRC was his first series back at a proper level of cricket after the ban

 

[CricAddict]

eh it wasn't terrible. He averaged just about 40 and IIRC was his first series back at a proper level of cricket after the ban

Average matters much less than strike rate in T20s.

 

[TheJediBrah]

He definitely wasn't striking particularly well during the IPL but as I said it was his first proper cricket in only a year

 

[Spark]

He looked rusty as hell in the early IPL games I saw this year, but improved towards the back end of the tournament. Probably shouldn't be taken as indicative.

 

[Briggs]

What is the point of taking youngsters if you're gonna play same BS

 

[Burgey]

My extremely reliable sources tell me Dermo Sabba Abbott is playing this evening

 

[NUFAN]

430pm start local time. Why..

 

[Burgey]

Cos 730pm EDST

 

[NUFAN]

Yeah but its so much smarter to play perth games on a saturday or sunday.

Good bowling Abbott

 

[Briggs]

This pitch is definitely not for T20 cricket.