Pakistan announced its 16 member squad for the upcoming tri-series in Bangladesh.
Pakistan squad: Shoaib Malik (capt), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal (wk), Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar, Wahab Riaz, Fawad Alam, Bazid Khan, Naumanullah
BCCI has also announced its 15 member squad for the upcoming tri-series and the Asia cup.
Indian Squad Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha.
The most important lesson learned by IPL is that limited overs cricket is all about matchups, role players, and current form of players teams composed on the basis of big names fail miserably, its something which our selectors consistently fail to recognize, time and again senior players are selected on the basis of their experience, past performances and reputation, their current form is totally disregarded and they are given an automatic selection.
The selection of Younis khan, Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Fawad Alam, Mohammed Asif and Iftikhar Anjum is mind boggling.
Rao Iftikhar was clearly out of form when he played against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh earlier this year he appeared in only 4 matches of the domestic ABN Amro cup and took only 5 wickets.
In the last series against India he took only 3 wickets in 4 matches his average was 67 and econ rate of 5.74. Against Zimbabwe in 2 matches he took 3 wickets but his econ rate was a whopping 7.42. The selectors should have given a chance to young Mohammed Aamer or Sohail khan this current series was the best opportunity to test young players against a quality team like India. Aamer took 14 wickets in ABN AMRO cup and Sohail took 9. If the services of a veteran were required then why Yasir Arafat was overlooked, he took 22 wickets in ABN Amro cup, and took 7 wickets in the only test match he played for Pakistan in the last 12 months.
Mohammed Asif is also a surprise inclusion, his performance in IPL was dismal his econ rate was almost touching 10, he has still not recovered from that elbow injury and one thing I can’t understand why he is given automatic selection despite his frequent breakdowns and extremely poor form, when Shoaib gets injured he is maligned by the ex players and PCB and the press all over the world but this guy what ever he does goes un noticed, I think Shoaib Akhter should have been included in his place.
If you look at India’s side although Dravid and Ganguly performed much better than the Pak seniors in IPL still as a policy matter BCCI has decided not to consider them for the ODI’s just to get a smooth transition for the youngsters, somehow PCB and the selectors always bend backwards in front of the senior players, why can’t we rest Younis and Afridi for a series? Our board and the selectors do not have the spine to do that, Younis is the only other batsman in the team besides Yousuf who can score a long innings, but a detailed series by series analysis of his batting will reveal that he throws away his wicket on crucial junctures of the game in a despicable fashion, and when he scores runs they are usually at very low pace, and we have won very few matches because of his batting in the last two years, his reliability factor has dropped, in the ABN AMRO cup he played 8 matches and scored one 100 and one 50, a lot of players have better averages and better scores than him, I think its time that we start looking for his replacement, he will still be my top pick for the test team but not for the ODI’s or T20.
In limited International cricket those teams who have multi skilled players prove to be more successful, they have more depth more versatility and they can beat the opposition in so many different ways, but the key is that the players should be in form with both skills and not just one because the latter will cause huge problem with a teams balance and execution of roles and plans. Unfortunately in the last two years Pakistan’s biggest problem has been the bowling form of Malik and the batting form of Afridi only a fool can think that the former can bowl and the later can bat, as a result Pakistan is always short of one bowler and one batsman, the form of these players should have been strictly scruitnized in the ABN AMRO cup but Afridi played only 4 matches and Malik only 1 and still they got automatic selection, I fail to understand when the selectors will start considering the current form of players.
The opening problem was almost resolved when Khurram Manzoor, Khalid Latif and Nasir jamshed gave consistent performances, but we again made a mess of it by giving Kamran Akmal the role of an opener in several matches, the flaws in the technique of Salman Butt’s batting are still there, which raises the question about the usefulness of Geoff Lawson as a coach, Asif and Rao are out of form he couldn’t improve them, he is not helping the youngsters as whenever the senior team is not playing he is on vacation back home, the fitness of Shoaib Akhter and Gul is always questionable.The question is how Pakistan team is benfiting from his services? Where is the progress?
Now if we look at the match ups, India definitely has an advantage in the opening department it gets even worse when Shoaib Akhter is not in the team, their middle order consists of young, aggressive and in form talented players, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Raina and the two Pathan Brothers.Where as we have Younis, Yousuf , Misbah, Malik and Afridi other than Yousuf you cannot depend on any of these players, the only advantage Pakistan still enjoys, is in the pace department, but again we are behind in the spin department.
India are the clear favorites for the upcoming Tri series as all of their players are in red hot form although its yet to be seen if their players can carry their T20 form into 50 overs format.
None of the Pakistani batsmen is in proven form, we will again open with Kamran Akmal just to accomodate the fifth bowler as Malik is not going to bowl, with the inclusion of Afridi the batting will become more thinner, since Shoaib Akhter is not in the team bowling will all depend on Tanvir and Gul the rest of the thirty overs Indian batsmen can have a party. The youngsters Wahab Riaz, Fawad Alam, Bazid Khan, and Nauman Ullah might get a chance to play against Bangladesh, only Nasir Jamshed or Wahab Riaz has any real chance to get a match against India.
I do not agree with you on Kamran Hussain and Mansoor Amjad,
Kamran can swing the ball on any surface, he also knows how to reverse swing,he can hit as hard as Afridi, Mansoor took more wickets than Afridi scored more runs than Afridi in the ABN Amro cup.
Why IPL’s performance’s should not be considered? Was it not cricket?
When was the last time Malik came batted at #3? I dont look at the records past 12 months as they are irrelevant.
The current form is the Key.
If one good domestic season does not reflect the form or talent of a player then one bad match by a new comer is also not a reflection of his talent.
Most of the new players who were selected were never given any extended run, some of them didn’t even got a chance to play.PCB should Just follow the example of BCCI, I think by playing their youngsters against Australia and other good teams they have given them a lot of confidence and now most of them are ready for International cricket.
Just take out the Zimbabwe and Bangladesh series and check the ODI averages for the last 12 months, 24 months and 36 months for these players you will be surprised nobody has an average above 20, except MOYO.
Criteria for selection – consistent performance at the domestic level.
Not 1 good season, but many good seasons.
The way it happens in Australia.
I do follow the domestic tournaments and like you also covered them on Well Pitched.
The thing is that players you mention – Mansoor Amjad, Rizwan Ahmed, Kamran Hussain – they are not international level players.
Atleast not from what I have seen of them.
Mansoor ot lucky with those 3 wickets against Bangladesh in the 20-20. And he started his career as a leggie and then transformed to more of a batsman cos his bowling fell apart..today he can do a bit of both but not as good as Malik or Afridi, or even Alam for that matter.
Rizwan Ahmed is a useless bowler. And he can’t bat, at least not as well as Malik or Alam can.
Malik is a proven performer with the bat. Don’t look at the IPL but see his performance as a 1 down for Pakistan in ODIs.
As for Kamran Hussain – again a 30 year old medium pace who got wickets against Zimbabwe. But u can just imagine what the Aussies and the Indians will do to him.
Yasir Arafat, I agree we need him in the XI. He’s a good bet and Im not sure why he has been sidelined.
As for the batsmen who performed in the Pentangular, they are all in the side – Nasir, Naumanullah, Bazid.
My only problem was Rao. I would have had Sohail Khan instead.
You’re right about the 6th bowler option. But I would like Nasir to open. I would drop Younis Khan instead..
Q I don’t know if you follow the domestic tournaments, but I do I covered both Pentangular cups on this site and there are plenty of players who can replace these three,
I have no problem with Nasir Jamshed opening but Malik in order to get a fifth bowler will go with Kamran Akmal against India, we are in this predicament just because Afridi can’t bat and Malik can’t bowl, there are plenty of players who can bat and bowl, Mansoor amjad, Rizwan, Kamran hussain,Yasir Arafat. We lost a few to ICL.
But I have always been saying if you don’t have quality allrounders then play one specialist batsman and one specialist bowler, you will be in a better position than playing two out of form all-rounders who are not good at any thing.
Please check Asif’s econ rate against good teams in the last two years then probably you will agree with me, he has lost some pace, he cant swing the ball consistently as he was doing before his doping scandal, he is only a threat with the new ball in ODI’s he always becomes a liabilty in the later overs. His friendly pace helps the batsman to belt him all around the park, modern day batsmen practice three or four shots for balls bowled at any particular line and length, his good length bowling with limited or no swing is no longer a threat, he has never mastered reverse swing that is why in later overs he is always expensive.
Its funny that just today I wrote about him that he gets away with every thing, people do not go after him as viciously as they do against Shoaib Akhtar,and today he is making the headlines again for the possession of opium, I believe it is considered as a performance enhancing substance by WADA. Anyways he is dead meat now, so there is no point in discussing about him.
I am happy for Sohail Khan that guy deserved to be in the team because of his performance in the domestic arena.
Let me ask you one question? What should be the criteria for selection? and How a youngster can get selected in the national team?
Fair arguements Wasim, but who would you replace Afridi and Malik and Younis with?
U need to stick to 2 openers and PCB is doing that with Nasir and Salman. Khurram and Khalid were tried but for now Nasir has been preferred, which is fair I think.
As for the middle order – there really isnt anyone apart fromn Younis, Yousuf, and Misbah that Pakistan can rely on. Bazid and Naumanullah, who had succesful domestic seasons are there as back up. Either one can play instead of Younis.
As for the bowling – Asif is ur best bet. Failure in the IPL is no issue. The drugs in Dubai is, but thats besides the point. He needs to be playing regularly for Pakistan to come back to his best.
Rao – I agree, he should be no where there. I would like to see Sohail Khan instead.
Or even Yasir Arafat.