The current year will be very important for the world cricket as most of the teams are rebuilding their core and are trying to enhance their bench strength in preparations for the 2011 WC. Both India and Pakistan are going through the same phase and are struggling to find good players who are ready for International cricket its mainly because of poor coaching standards of domestic cricket in both countries The young players either learn by playing against the senior players or they learn from a mentor or coach, unfortunately in Pakistan most of the senior players do not play domestic cricket and prefer to play overseas for monetary reasons, India on the other hand is changing its domestic cricket by introducing IPL and ICL, their young players will get instant exposure to top class international players in near future and they will be better equipped to step into International cricket. Australia is a prime example, they have almost effortlessly reconfigured their core after the retirement of key players their new players have made a smooth and effortless transition into International cricket, this shows that Australia has the most depth as far as their bench is concerned and their new players are completely ready for International cricket before they are drafted.
In the recently concluded series against Zimbabwe Pakistan tried a lot of young players most of them came with a lot of promise and hype preceding them but only a few left any positive impression, almost all the new pace bowlers with the exception of Kamran Hussain were flat and single dimensional none of them was able to move the ball in the air or of the seam, Sohail Khan was the quickest but his average speed was not in 140’s it was in 130’s and the fastest ball he bowled was only @142kph he looked over weight didn’t had a smooth run up and even struggled to bowl a well directed bouncer. He has the talent but he needs to improve his skill level otherwise he will be another Sami in the making, Kamran Hussain swung the ball in both directions although he lacked speed but he can prove to be dangerous in shorter version of the game and on tracks suitable for swing bowling he needs to improve his speed out of all the left handed bowlers he was the only one who could swing the ball in to a right handed batsman. Abdul Rauf had pace he is well built but he was bowling all over the place and failed to swing the ball his run up was good but still needs to be improved. Wahab Riaz was the quickest amongst all the new recruits he is tall lean and has a smooth run up and was not afraid to bowl short the only thing lacking was swing he is young and if he is coached well he can be an exciting prospect for us in future, Pakistan tried three new openers out of which Khurram Manzoor and Nasir Jamshed impressed everybody its too early to say if they will be successful against tougher oppositions but they do have the talent and Pakistan should invest on them in future. Fawad Alam was also tried but his bowling is average he is a good batsman and if he improves his bowling skills he will certainly stay in the team for a long time to come, I was most impressed by Sarfraz Ahmed he is energetic and has good reflexes he is our future keeper.
Pakistan will have to revert back to Shoaib Akhter and Umar gul for the Australian series, Akhter was demoted in the central contract categories, which he has not signed, it seems he wants to keep his options open, by signing on a Rs200,000 per month contract he does not want to tie his hands he is doing movie deals and endorsement deals in India and is trying to signup for county cricket all these ventures are far more lucrative financially than the central contract therefore he snubbed it, he knows there is nobody in the country who can take his place and he can dictate terms.
PCB will never be able to find replacement of Shoaib unless and until they either hire Wasim or Waqar for coaching, bowling is an art and you need a mentor or coach.
A lot of criticism is being hurled at PCB and selectors for trying out so many players against Zimbabwe, I think both India and Pakistan should stay the course and should continue to try out young players until they are satisfied by the Team and its bench players, they might lose a series or two during the process but that is not a high price keeping in view the long term dividends.
Looking at shoaib’s fitness he needs atleast 6 months of serious cricket with all those fitness programs. One quick fix for him to discard from odis .. and told him that pak cricket needs him only for tests .. and he is free to play anywhere he wants to .. but need fitter shoaib when test matches are around.
Shoaib wants to join the ICL now. Pak should start looking beyond Shoaib and let him do whatever he wants. Shoaib is a poor fielder and is unfit most of the times, so instead of wasting time on him, they should instead concentrate on developing young fast bowlers.
Wasim, I like the background of the site, but it is a little difficult to read the text which is in italics.
Shoaib Akhtar finally couldn’t keep his lips sealed for too long and has lashed out at PCB for displaying double standards about his fitness,he said the board on one hand has not given me a central contract citing my fitness problems and on the other hand they have appointed me as a captain of the Federal areas team,he also stated that he is not interested in central contract as he is always available for his country and he is still the fastest bowler in the world which he will prove on sunday at Gaddafi Stadium, he also asked the board officials to do some effort and come watch his performance.
Well Shoaib should look at his recent performances and only then he should open his mouth he might still be the fastest in the world but only for four overs in a match,PCB has given him a chance to prove his fitness he might be able to prove his physical fitness but who is going to determine his mental fitness, IMO a mental exam is required in his case.
Amit.p and Samy
I think its Geo tv which will telecast the pentangular cup matches,I appreciate your feed back, I have changed the layout again let me know if you like this one.
I have also posted the video clips of u19 WC, Jamshed and Anwar Ali were great but we have to keep in mind that they were playing in England and against an U19 team also the we never know while watching the videos how much the pitch was assisting them, the only reason I am saying this is because after the U-19 WC these guys failed to give any breakout performance in the domestic cricket,again a talent mismanagement from PCB, they should have nurtured these guys over the last two years.In the videos the third bowler Akhter Ayub even he looks much better than Rao and some of the other bowlers in Pakistan senior team.
My favorite ball is when Anwar Ali clean bowls Rohit Sharma and Jamshed cleans up Aussie skipper Enrique.
I will post the videos of Mohammed Ramiz and Mohammed Aamer these guys are the new pace sensations Ramiz is 17 and Aamer is only 15, Aamer is tipped to be the next Wasim Akram by Mudassar Nazar.
M. Y. Kasim, Houston. Tx.
I am really sorry to hear about your health. I wish you well and best of health for future. I agree that you should have freedom to express your views which I always like.
Best wishes
Awas
Yes, the selectors should’ve tried Anwar Ali and Jamshed over Niazi, Hussein and the others. Both look very promising.
An attack containing Gul, Tanvir, Ali/Jamshed and Rao can be very useful against Aus.
Wasim,
.
U r quite fast …. i really like this layout(minus color) .. u can put light green or blue or nething lighter with text darker … its just my suggestion … not to be taken that seriously if u dont like my preference
Ptv is i think broadcast in india … thats the only pakistani channel we have viewed in india .. btw which local channel got the right of telecast.
If i was selector i wud have preferred jamshed over kamran hussain … kamran is too slow though got both swing.. u r quite rite he is just another pathan. Two of the modern day great fast bowlers Akram and Mcgrath have influenced younger generation a lot .. but i am still waiting to see anybody even close to them. Clark is good only on grassy wickets .. quite ineffective on other kinda wickets(contrary to Mcgrath who took wickets everywhere). Other Mcgrath clone is simply waste. On the other hand W. Akram clones are little bit more successful … but they forgot one thing that Akram cut of his pace only in later age. I wonder why young fast bowlers are not getting that much inspiration from Waqar.
As far as pakistan bowling is concerned my money is on anwar ali and jamshed ahmed (only if selectors are reading this
).. and hope CF will be uploading the clips of upcoming pentagular cup.
My Dear Waseem,
Why involve me in the ongoing feud between you and Mr. Javed A. Khan? I have said or indicated nothing to suggest to that effect.
As I have already said earlier on this site that I am almost 74 years old and suffering from Lung Cancer and have no desire to hurt anybody’s feeling.
Since this subject has come up, I will humbly request you to post what I am about to narrate. I recieved an e-mail from our good friend Khansahab that he, Mr. Javed A. Khan and Mr. Awas and you, Mr. Waseem Saqib have decided to revive Pak….!!
I was pleased and excited and sent few bloggs which was posted not under my usual title M.Y.Kasim, Houston, Tx. but Mohamed Kasim, presumably to hide my identity from the readers which at that time I did not know since it is my name (Mohamed Yahya Kasim is my full name). I was later told that Mr. Waseem is no longer with them and all the five or six bloggs sent by me will not be posted since it contained references to Cricketfiles. I dont recollect such instances. Again I was told to re-submit those bloggs. I dont have the time or the inclination to do it.
I am proud to live in a country and society where freedom of speech and expression is guaranteed.
I once again implore Mr Waseem Saqib to publish this blogg as I am not a typist and it took a long time type this blogg.
May God Bless You.
Mohamed Yahya Kasim (M.Y.Kasim, Houston, Tx.)
Thanks for posting the clips of U19 WC, This is the first time I have seen Jamshed Ahmed and Anwar Ali bowl, I was wondering WTF these guys have been ignored by the selectors so far.
Amit:
I have fixed the language on the site, I apologize for any in convenience I know this layout is a bit dark and the text is a bit too bright I will fix it as soon as I will get some time, but I like this layout.
The only thing I know about the broadcast of pentangular cup is that the rights have been awarded to a local Pakistani channel, I know you are in Mumbai and I am not sure if you can tune to local Pakistani channels.I have not heard anything about International broadcast rights but will update if I find out something.
Also I will try to update the video highlights on CRICKETFILES,
You are right about Anwar Ali and Jamshed Ahmed from the clips I have seen so far they appear to be much better bowlers than Niazi, Kamran Hussain is not bad he can swing the ball in both directions and he can bat also, the only problem is his age and his speed he seems to be another I Pathan in the making.
I trying to gather clips of these young bowlers and will post them on the site.
Does anybody know ab’t the telecast of pentagular cup matches in india ? … even the highlights .. or CL is going to post highlights of those matches. This cup i believe is quite similar to challenger’s cup held in india to give chance to newer players to play alongside with national players and good for selectors to pick a few guys(if not for national team then atleast they guide where to work on). I am looking forward to see anwar ali’s performance in upcoming matches (couple of hours back seen the highlights of 2006 U19 WC against india)… boy! what a devastating bowling performance he gave in the final. Its pity that selectors ignored him in the zim series … and given chance to niazi and kamran hussain …. both were quite mediocre atleast compared to ali.
Selectors job i think is becoming quite mechanical nowadays … they dont want to indulge in spotting talent rather than going by the records … everybody knows how easy for a batsman to score runs on these flat pitches and if u bowl wicket to wicket with subtle movement(and mediocre speed) u end of taking wickets. Prime example in india is randeb bose (30+ yrs old) … always ends up in top 3 wicket takers .. and he is anything but a fast bowler.
BTW wasim .. quite a suave look of the site … though somewhat darkish
and control language is quite incomprehensible for me … i m just following my routine and intuition 
LOL at Joker Afridi Khans post on Pakspin about me, the guy sees me every where because i have kicked his butt on every forum, his knowledge about cricket starts with Afridi and ends at him.I dont find his comments worthy of discussion anymore they are biased and insulting to fellow bloggers and are full of praise of only one player you know who? Ignorance is always arrogant the way he has been insulting poor Hassan and others because of his ignorance on Pakspin is a clear example.
Mr. Kasim please ignore this clown he is a complete idiot and he is only trying to bait me to come and write on Pakspin, Cricketfiles has improved a lot over the last two weeks we have added a live chat feature, daily cricket news from around the world, Video panels on the side bar and pretty soon you will be able to watch live matches on cricket files. I am also turning cricketfiles into a news hub for cricket you will see a lot of news links in the coming weeks.If the news is about cricket you will be able to find it on cricketfiles starting from next week.
And please do not pay any attention to his cheap propaganda about CF.
PCB should have marketed this tournament in a better way,I dont know if the matches will be shown abroad or not but they should have tried to sell the TV rights overseas, This tournament will generate a lot of interest,Punjab’s bowling is weak so my money is on Sindh.
Excellent analysis Hassan and in future these teams should make up Pakistan’s entire domestic competition much like it does in Australia with the 6 state teams. It includes all the cricketers and ensures tough competition. It will surely enhance the quality of the cricket played by these men.
My bet is on Sindh they have a more balanced team.
Historically the Pentangular was contested between the top 5 teams from the two major first class domestic competitions – the top 3 from the Patrons Trophy and top 2 from the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.Now the tournament will be fought on provincial basis and will generate far more interest.
It will be a war between four players who seem to have a tug of war between them for captaincy i.e Malik, Afridi, Younus, and Shoaib Akhtar.
Punjab abd sindh teams look to be the strongest, Malik will be leading Punjab which includes players like Misbah, Mohd. Yousuf, Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal, Nasir Jamshed, Naved Latif, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Zia, Abdul Rehman, and Asif.
Sindh team also looks quite strong and includes players like Shahid Afridi (Capt),Khurram Manzoor,Khalid Latif, Hasan Raza, Faisal Iqbal, Asim Kamal, Fawad Alam, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Sami, Sohail Khan, Danish Kaneria, and the former u-19 star Anwar Ali. Plus they also have Rizwan Ahmed, who made his ODI debut in the 5th ODI against Zim and Naumanullah who is the leading scorer in this years domestic season.
Shoaib Akhtar’s team includes internationals Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar, and Bazid Khan.Shoaib’s team is quite strong bowling wise but does not have any renowned batsman but it still can create an upset.
Younis Khan has with him Yasir Hameed, Samiullah Niazi, Wajahtullah Wasti, Fazl-e-Akbar, and the returning Umar Gul.
Balochistan includes Imran Nazir, Abdur Rauf, and Kamran Hussain.
The competition is definitely something to look forward to. It includes the top international stars, the leading domestic cricketers, and a bunch of future prospects for Pakistan.
This tournament will not only provide the selectors an opportunity to assess the form of all the players but will also provide an excellent practice for the national players ahead of the Australian tour.
I predict a Sindh Vs Punjab final,lets see who wins, both teams are equally strong.
It is good to see that PCB has taken a very right and bold step forward by annoncing the names of almost all the deserving players for the Pentangular Cup tournament.
This will, hopefully eliminate all the suspicions and chances of favoritism in the selection of national teams.
Unfortunately, I find the names of Najaf Shah, the left-arm fast medium bowler and Jamshed Ahmed, one of the success story of under 19 world cup winning fast medium bowler missing. As I have been saying since I started posting on this blogg, Pakistan desperately needs a pool of fast and fast medium bowlers and must not rely on only Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammed Asif and Umar Gul but find, nurture and groom as many as they could on the same scale as Australia and South Africa where there is a fierce competition for every berth and not the player dictating and making demands and ” Nakhras”.
The above two posts should be ignored by readers as they were posted by that “Joker Khan from Mantreaal” thinking that I am the one who is posting on Pakspin under the above names.
I feel sorry for that Idiot.
Posted by: faisal at February 6, 2008 3:49 PM
I saw a lot of people sporting Afradi in this thread and previous. I don’t know why are people sporting Afradi. What are you impressed with? Afradi is a big chump. Nobody is discussing his performance against good teams if you are blaming Malik that he got runs against poor/mediocre team then why are you giving credit to afraid against poor teams he always performed against mediocre teams on batting paradise pitches like in India, Pak SL and Sharjah that’s it, but if you check his performance against good teams in overseas and even in subcontinent he is pathetic in both form of game here is prove
Afradi in test matches against good teams
Vs
Australia 1998-2005 Mat 2 Runs 74 Ave 18.50
England 2000-2006 Mat 6 Runs 238 Ave26.44
I don’t consider NL as a good team but even against them poor Afradi
New Zealand 2002-2002 Mat 1 Runs 0 Ave 0.00
Afradi In
In Australia 2005-2005 Mat 1 Runs 58 Ave 29.00
in England 2006-2006 Mat 2 Runs 49 Ave 16.33
Again I don’t consider SL and BD as good team
in Sri Lanka 2006-2006 Mat 1 Runs 14 Ave 14.00
Now Afradi’s performance in ODI’s against good teams and remember in ODI’s Ave below 30 means the guy is pathetic and pitiable
Vs
v Australia 1996-2005 Mat 27 Runs 439 Ave 16.88
v England 1997-2006 Mat 17 Runs 271 Ave 18.06
v South Africa 1996-2007 Mat 22 Runs 500 Ave 23.80
v West Indies 1996-2006 Mat 25 Runs 440 Ave 18.33
I don’t consider BD and Kenya as good team but look at his Ave
v Bangladesh 1997-2002 Mat 8 Runs 173 Ave 28.83
v Kenya 1996-2004 Mat 4 Runs 61 Ave 20.33
Now Afardi in overseas
in Australia 1996-2005 Mat 29 Runs 551 Ave 20.40
in England 1999-2006 Mat 21 Runs 231 Ave 12.83
in South Africa 1998-2007 Mat 16 Runs 225 Ave 15.00
and again I don’t consider SL, BD and Zimbabwe as good team
in Bangladesh 1998-2002 Mat 14 Runs 289 Ave 24.08
in Sri Lanka 1997-2006 Mat 9 Runs 89 Ave 14.83
in Zimbabwe 1998-2002 Mat 7 Runs 104Ave 17.33
I think nobody can complaint that he didn’t get enough chances. He has been playing for last 12 years now. If I were selector I would have dropped him long ago. A player after playing 253 Matches and has career over 12 years, couldn’t get maturity, what can I say………its just pathetic…
Posted by: Second Opinion at February 6, 2008 10:41 AM
Javed A. Khan, Montreal
“After all we have Younis/Yousuf/Afridi who are far better than Sachin/Ganguly/Laxman/Sehwag/Dravid and some of the rubbish Indian young upcoming players.”
Wow! Incredible! Is this a statement from a learned critic OR ramblings from a troubled individual? Any cricket lover from either side of the border will attest to the quality of these players, the only flaw being the inconsistency of Afridi and Sehwag.
I think PCB’s incapacity to rein in talent like Shoaib Akhtar is the cause of the present mess. Younis’s reluctance to lead when given the opportunity was a major setback, as he is a respected batsman and could have delivered. PCB should think outside the box and enlist such individuals in management courses and teach them how to lead teams and get the best out of them.
A Zimbabwe series in not a true test of strength, however the Aussies will be different. They are almost, but not quiet invincible as India has twice stopped their 17th test win.
Abdul:
If Pakistan includes Asad Rauf in their team then it will be very hard to beat them.LOL
MY odi team vs Australia will be ………..
1) Nasir Jamshed
2) Khuroom Manzoor
3) Younis Khan
4) Mohammed Yousuf
5) Misbah Ul Huq
6) Shoaib Malik
7) Shiad Afridi
9) Sohail Tanvir
10) Asad Rauf
11) Umar Gul
12th man : Fawad Alam
The teams for the pentangular cup has been announced,this is the first time in the history of Pakistan cricket that all the senior players will be playing this tournament.PCB should be lauded for moving into the right direction, the teams appear to be balanced, Shoaib Malik will lead Punjab,Afridi will lead sindh,Younus Khan will lead Nwfp,Shoaib Akhtar will lead federal areas, and Naseem Khan will lead Balochistan.
The teams are as follows:
http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/335286.html?CMP=OTC-RSS
Your feed back regarding your favorite team is welcome.
Mr.Kasim you are right in pointing out about Anwar Ali he should also be given a chance as none of these guys were express and if he can bowl @ 150 then he deserves a chance regardless of his domestic performance, when Waqar was drafted he used to bowl all over the place it was Imran who gave him confidence and told him just bowl fast and the rest is history, Sheer pace has no substitute.
Nadeem:
Yes I missed Rao’s performance, I think he lacked motivation and maybe he was disheartened for being dropped from the team so often.He is certainly a god bowler he was just off color in this series.
Saurav should have been in the team,BCCI must not be serious about winning the series with only 2 senior batsmen India cannot
beat Australia.
Wasim Bhai:
Great analysis,but you missed one thing Rao has been playing almost regularly in the Team look at his performance at least all of these guys performed better than him.Zimbabwe was a weak team but recently they have beaten West indies and Australia, they are getting better.At least some of them should get a chance against Australia otherwise this whole exercise will be in vain.Continuity of policy is the key here.
We got the preview of the available talent and you have done a good analysis,these players are not ready for International cricket,the sad part is some of them have played domestic cricket for the past 6 or 7 years and even then their skills are raw. Bring Wasim Akram back for a month.
Excellent analysis. The selectors did not select few more deserving youngsters. I was saying this before the series began that even if we lose a couple of matches, which was unlikely, we should utilise this series to try out as many promising lads as we could. Anwar Ali,Jamshed Ahmed, Mohammed Irshad
and other emerging fast bowlers have been over looked. They should also been given an extended run. We need very desparately a pool of fast bowlers, our batting is alright and we did solved the opening problem, hopefully.