Karachi (around 8:37 PM – second roza of Ramadan COMPLETE, iftar just demolished with dates, roti, salan and hot chai, body settling but mind still razor-sharp from that Geo News clip – no holding back tonight)

Seniors, if they want themselves 
to be seen, they should behave like
some, just like Sun does with the 
whole solar system, where each and
every celestial body's barycenter 
hovers inside or within SOL, at least
behave like that, otherwise don't frat 
as if you've done anything good by 
winning lone 2021 World Cup Game, 
at least I have been following TV 
broadcasts from 1998, from 2004 
onwards, our collective treatment led 
to this situation we are right now,

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20 February 2026  

Yaar, second roza alhamdulillah – mouth like sandpaper by Zuhr, stomach roaring by Asr, but Maghrib arrived, dates crushed, water downed, and calm rushed in. Simple iftar, family around the table, short dua for sabr and strength. Karachi evenings dipping cooler, azan hitting deeper when you're fasting. No extravagance, just raw shukr for the essentials.

But even on day two of the fast, cricket refuses to exit my brain. Super 8 opener against New Zealand tomorrow, pressure mounting, and the fast strips everything to the bone – no distractions, no quick crutches to dull the edge. While breaking fast I kept thinking: this team needs the same iron discipline we're living right now: patience through pain, consistency without compromise, ZERO shortcuts. No ravenous greed for flash fame, no bloated ego obstructing the path. Just GRIND, adapt, DELIVER when the stakes are sky-high.

The body screams during the fast – hunger clawing, thirst scorching, exhaustion creeping – but the mind forges into a blade. That's EXACTLY what cricket demands under pressure: laser focus amid chaos. Babar, Shadab, Shaheen – when form vanishes, it glares. You CANNOT hide behind "experience" or fake "maturity" when runs and wickets evaporate. Like how thirst escalates by late afternoon but I POWER THROUGH knowing iftar is coming – the team MUST bulldoze slumps with ruthless practice and zero excuses, not position shuffling or fairy-tale narratives.

And speaking of shuffling – I’m CALLING THIS OUT LOUDER THAN EVER, ASSERTIVELY AND UNAPOLOGETICALLY: Coach Mike Hesson claiming Babar Azam is a "typical number 3 batter" is UTTER RUBBISH and I am NOT buying it for one second! Babar is NOT a typical No. 3 anymore – he is ADAMANTLY plagued by a GLARING, UNFORGIVABLE problem rotating strike, getting hopelessly bogged down, SLAUGHTERING momentum when the run rate demands acceleration. So why in the HELL keep shuffling his position like he's some disposable lab rat? NO WAY! Define his role with IRONCLAD CLARITY and DRILL IT RELENTLESSLY until he OWNS it – or STEP ASIDE!

Instead, at that pivotal spot, Salman Ali Agha would be an ABSOLUTE PERFECT FIT – calm under fire, rotates strike like a machine, accelerates when the moment demands. Pair him with Usman Khan who brings raw aggression. If one batter anchors with unshakeable resolve (like the sun in our solar system), others play accordingly, rotating around a COMMON CENTER OF MASS – the barycenter. YES, THAT'S RIGHT: planets and the sun revolve around a shared barycenter, not just blindly orbiting the sun alone. Babar MUST BE that defined, unmovable common center – SEIZING FULL RESPONSIBILITY, anchoring under crushing pressure, and letting others orbit around him with practice-forged awareness. NO MORE HALF-MEASURES – OWN IT OR GET OUT!

Look at Virat Kohli in the 2024 T20 World Cup Final against South Africa – anchored under INSANE pressure, rotated strike FLAWLESSLY, took TOTAL responsibility like a TRUE KING. If Babar wants the "king" crown screamed from every rooftop, BEHAVE LIKE ONE – STEP UP, OWN the innings, DON'T HIDE behind position changes that EXPOSE your glaring flaws!

I might disagree with Pakistani journalist Sanaullah on some things, but I CAN'T DISAGREE HERE – he ABSOLUTELY NAILED IT when he demanded Babar and seniors take responsibility to FORM that common center so younger players can rotate around it EFFECTIVELY. And let's back it with Sanaullah's brutal stats: Babar's Test cricket record? 61 matches, 4,366 runs, average a MEDIOCRE 42.39 (not even top 10 among players with 75+ innings since debut), 9 centuries, 30 fifties, strike rate a SLOW 54.46. From 2020-2022 peak? 20 Tests, 1,989 runs, average 54.7, 5 centuries, 14 fifties – elite. But since then? PLUMMETED. Sanaullah hammers Babar's last 6 ODI scores were DISMAL (29, 27, 11, 7, etc.), showing the SAME strike-rotation failures bleeding into white-ball. In T20Is as captain: 1,396 runs in 41 games, average 42.30, but strike rate a PATHETIC 132.19 – that's NOT king-level domination! When Pakistan scores 200+: 10 innings, 641 runs, average 80.13, SR 168.24 – great. Outside those? Rotation collapses, SR tanks, team suffers. Sanaullah's point is CRYSTAL: seniors like Babar MUST lead with stats that SCREAM excellence, not drag the team into mediocrity with ego-driven denials.

This game awareness – reading situations, adapting, rotating strike under pressure – is LEARNED through RED-BALL CRICKET, grinding endless sessions, facing relentless spells, building unbreakable stamina.

Just like me on my bike during Karachi rains. I used to SLIP and CRASH on glassy roads in the wet, tumbling a couple of times, bruising myself badly. But after those painful falls, and especially navigating the recent MASSIVE Karachi floods, I made it home SAFE every single time – because I PRACTICED AWARENESS: knew EXACTLY how my bike would skid, ANTICIPATED puddles and potholes, ADJUSTED speed, leaned PRECISELY. Practice MATTERS.

And this is where I get even MORE assertive: we NEED foreign coaches embedded in the Pakistani DOMESTIC circuit – RIGHT NOW. The National Team should NOT be treated like we're still doing Chemistry lab practicals from Matriculation days – mix this, heat that, hope it works. National side is MBA level – high-stakes, high-pressure, zero margin for error. Coaches are REQUIRED at the GRASS-ROOT and domestic level because match awareness, hands-and-eyes coordination, game sense, strike rotation, pressure handling – ALL of that is DEVELOPED THERE, not suddenly at the highest level when the world is watching.

Domestic circuit must be kept at the SAME STANDARD the National Team is facing – otherwise players in the national side will treat domestic cricket as cheap, a mere formality. Take Sahibzada Farhan as the living example: he worked HARD, went back to domestic multiple times, no social media hype, no shortcuts. I first heard about him from Dr. Nauman Niaz on Caught Behind when that YouTube channel was still young – around the time Australia toured UAE for Pakistan's Test series under Sarfaraz Ahmed's captaincy, that's almost 8 years ago. Had we respected our domestic circuit properly, Farhan could have been in the national side 4 years earlier, and we would have had a CONTINUOUS pipeline of new the Sahibzada Farhan's by now.

But like one thing I learned from Looney Tunes – the Dynamo effect – this is EXACTLY what Pakistan cricket and Pakistani society is suffering from. A new road gets constructed, bulldozed days later because of lack of coordination between authorities. Nobody wants to go back to the drawing board to sketch the whole skeleton of how-it-should-be-done. Personal vendettas, ego clashes, short-term thinking – nothing for the country. I am no perfect individual, far from it, but even I know this is being done on personal vendetta, taking nothing on the nation.

We keep repeating the same mistakes: seniors nag juniors, take credit when things go right, dump blame when they go wrong. Domestic cricket is treated like a stepping stone instead of the FOUNDATION. Foreign coaches in domestic can bring structure, discipline, tactical depth – raise the bar so national players don't look down on it as "cheap." Hands-and-eyes coordination, game awareness – that's built at the roots, not suddenly at the top.

Shaheen Afridi – knee pain for three years, no proper fitness test, played injured. DROP HIM if he's not 100%. Salman Mirza took 3 wickets last match; KEEP HIM. Amir is right: pacers need support, but Shaheen’s fitness is now a CLEAR LIABILITY.

Shadab Khan – panel ripped him, and I agree: recent 50+4 wickets against weak teams – no impact in big games. Bring Abrar Ahmed – mystery leg-spin that NZ struggles against. Bench Shadab for Faheem or Nawaz. DONE WITH EXCUSES.

Bowling is too spin-heavy (Shadab/Abrar/Usman Tariq/Salman Mirza), only Faheem as specialist pacer with limited overs. DEMAND Naseem Shah back for swing and new-ball bite. Spinners dominate Premadasa, but captain Agha MUST use seamers early.

Devil’s advocate on toss: If NZ wins it and forces us to bat first on RPS, with their swing bowlers (Henry, Jamieson, Ferguson) fully potent, we’d COLLAPSE. Top order shaky against swing – Babar defensive, Saim raw, Rizwan tentative. Apart from Sahibzada Farhan (grit, SR 140+, handles pace), are we capable? NO – 40/3 in powerplay, game over. Toss saves us sometimes, but real teams WIN REGARDLESS of who bats first. We’re not there yet.

Panel's frustration is PERFECT: NZ batting frightens, our system FLAWED, injured players forced, fixed XI despite clear failures. PCB – NO MORE FAVORITES, NO MORE EXCUSES. Foreign coaches in domestic – NOW. Raise the bar at the roots.

Super 8 starts tomorrow. Changes NEEDED: Fakhar in for Babar, Abrar/Naseem in XI, better pace use, defined roles, PRACTICE responsibility.

Watch the full panel: https://youtu.be/Z2CE3FMAAqg – TOUGH LOVE we DESERVE.

You agree – drop Babar, Shadab, Shaheen? Bring foreign coaches to domestic? RANT in comments.

Murtaza Moiz  

@MoizMurtaza  

CricSphere Blog

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