http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Imran-c64193 Nazir’s fallibility against the new ball - Part 2 - Opinion
Continued from Part 1...
His defense is also anything but impeccable to say the least. Lining up to hit the ball through the off side has always been his initial trigger movement, which eventually leads to him not being able to play in swingers or leg cutters. Instead of defending
such deliveries with the full face of the bat, Nazir has been seen charging down the track or looking to flick the ball through the leg side for a boundary or a six. At times he pulls it off which leads to a roar in the large Pakistani contingent in the crowd,
but most of the time he disappoints and silences his supporters.
Recklessness is basically the last thing that a side like Pakistan needs, in the lead up to the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World T20 of 2012. Recent history has shown that Pakistan has witnessed top order batting collapses of all sorts, and an opener who continues to prefer brawl
over brain has also put them in precarious situations more often than not. Perhaps, the selectors have considered his various onslaughts in the Indian Cricket League and other domestic T20 competitions as a premise for his sudden inclusion. Not many would
doubt Nazir’s flamboyance against an array of top quality bowlers in those tournaments, which had set up stadiums in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 and Sri Lanka, alight. Yet what the selectors often tend to sideline as a genuine fact is that a batsman’s ability to come up with a
breathtaking innings in the domestic circuit, and pulling it off at the international level, are two different things.
Nazir currently averages just 20.41 in T20 cricket in as many as 19 games that he has played for his country. His strike rate stands at a startling 129.47, but this asset tends to become immaterial in light of the amount of times he had been dismissed softly.
The last time Nazir could play a match winning innings in the format, was in 2009 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 at Dubai, where the below par Kiwi bowling attack failed to expose Nazir’s technical failings. Yet, against more potent attacks, Nazir has been susceptible,
despite the onus on him to make a significant contribution with the bat when everyone else falters around him.
In light of these facts, it is plausible to assume that Imran Nazir and the Pakistani batting line up would be facing some of the most potent bowling attacks in the world in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758. All of the team’s Group Fixtures will be played on the green top at Pallekele,
which is a track that offers plenty of movement for seamers. In light of this, considering Nazir as a possible long term fixture at the top of the order would be a fallacious consideration, as his tendency to play a rash shot looms high. Instead, a player
like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Nasir-Jamshed-c78752, who has a far more compact technique and can annihilate attacks at the same time could be a much better option against the swinging ball for a team like Pakistan, which is known to capitulate under pressure.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 as a side which is known to capitulate under pressure should be mindful about which players should be included. In light of their limited batting prowess, they can ill afford to experiment or put the burden on players who are known to disappoint.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Imran-Nazir-c64248, unfortunately, fits the definition of a player who is known to put the team in a precarious situation, rather than rescue the team out of troubled waters.
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