The Selection Committee headed by Mr. Abdul Qadir has announced following 15 players for the first One Day against Sri Lanka at Karachi on 21st January 2008.
1. Shoaib Malik – Captain
2. Misbah-ul-Haq
3. Salman Butt
4. Younis Khan
5. Shahid Afridi
6. Kamran Akmal – Wicket Keeper
7. Sohail Tanvir
8. Shoaib Akhtar
9. Umar Gull
10. Iftikhar Anjum
11. Saeed Ajmal
12. Khurram Manzoor
13. Sohail Khan
14. Yasir Arafat
15. Umar Amin
Notable omission is of Fawad Alam and Nasir Jamshed, although both had decent performances in the recent domestic tournaments but due to tough competition they lost their place in the team, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Talha also failed to win Abdul Qadir’s approval despite the fact that their domestic performance has been far superior than the bowlers who got selected.
I don’t think Qadir has done a good job with the selection.
The selection of six fast bowlers doesn’t make any sense as we all know the wickets will be flat and even if they have planned to make supporting wickets and use Pace as their main weapon then they should have strengthened the batting line up.
Nasir Jamshed, Saeed bin Nasir and Fawad Alam deseverd to be selected. They should have dropped the out of form Salman Butt and Rao Iftikhar.
Umer Amin is the only new face in the team.
Amin was the second-highest run-getter in last month’s RBS Pentangular One-Day Cup, scoring 254 runs at an average of 84.66 and strike-rate of 89.12. A sound left-hand top-order batsman, he has impressed on several Under-19 tours and was also part of Pakistan’s Under-19 squad at last year’s World Cup in Malaysia.
“He is a real prospect and the coach and captain were both keen to have him in the squad, to encourage him and groom him further,” Salim Jaffer, one of the selectors, told Cricinfo. “He has impressed a number of people this season.”
It is interesting to note that the above 15 players are announced only for the first Odi, we might see some changes in the second Odi.
Scorpi
That has been the problem all along he is no longer an all rounder his role in the team is just of a bowler but he can’t be axed because of team politics, and to be very honest there is no all rounder good enough to replace him, his bowling has been alright. I think the selectors made a blunder by not selecting Fawad Alam and Nasir Jamshed in their absence Malik does not have different combination to choose from, the situation is quite equivalent of handing him a default eleven.
Interesting… am puzzled on why they have not strengthened the batting now that Yousuf is not there in the middle order.
You reckon since they play Afridi anyway, they could boost the batting by adding another established batsman.
I think the selectors have not given Malik much of a choice although he is going to pick the final eleven but he doesn’t have much of a choice, I think if the selectors had chosen Nasir instead of Arafat, and Fawad Alam in place of Rao Iftikhar, Malik could have made several combination out of the 15, but now he will have to take some bold decisions to pick a winning combination.
Since there is no Mohammad Yousaf in the squad the batting looks thin, if Malik is going to include Umer Amin in the lineup he will have to drop one fast bowler and play with just five bowlers, with Shoaib Akhtar in the line up he can’t take that risk. So either he will have to drop Shoaib Akhtar or drop Sohail Khan from the line up.
The team management has been given the ultimate authority to pick the final eleven.
In past Malik has been accused of favoritism although he never had any say in the selection process.
This time when he has gotten the power he should use it honestly because unless he delivers positive results he is can’t save himself.
I would pick:
1-Khurram Manzoor
2-Salman Butt
3-Younis Khan
4-Misbah ul Haq
5-Shoaib Malik
6-Kamran Akmal
7-Shahid Afridi
8-Sohail Tanvir
9-Umar Gul
10-Shoaib Akhtar
11-Sohail Khan/Saeed Ajmal(depnding on the pitch)
I would prefer 5 bowlers and include Umer Amin in the squad if the wicket is bouncy.
LAHORE, Jan 14: The Sri Lankan cricket team’s tour to Pakistan, scheduled to commence from Jan 18 for three ODIs, saw yet another change on Wednesday as the itinerary was reduced from ten days to seven for the first leg.
Earlier, the Sri Lankans were to play its first ODI in Karachi on Jan 21, the second in Lahore on Jan 24 and the third in Multan on Jan 27. However, according to the new schedule which has been finalised between the two boards on Wednesday, Karachi will host back-to-back matches without any rest day on Jan 20 and 21. The third and final ODI will be organised in Lahore on Jan 24 as Multan has been excluded.
“We received a request from Sri Lanka Cricket asking to wrap-up the tour tour by Jan 25 and the PCB accepted it at once. The new itinerary has been finalised by the consent of the two boards,” said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Operating Officer (COO) Salim Altaf.
Earlier, the third ODI was shifted from Faisalabad to Multan on the advice of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. The PCB, however, informed the Prime Minister about the new development and with his permission eliminated Multan from the itinerary.
Though Salim did not give any reason behind the Sri Lankan request, it seems the visitors are keen to wrap up the Pakistan leg in order to host India soon afterwards.
In the second leg, Sri Lanka will again tour Pakistan from Feb 14 to play two Tests matches and a three-day warm-up. But as Sri Lanka are likely to hosts India from Feb 1 to 15 to play five ODIs and one Twenty20, some changes in the itinerary of the second phase could also be made.
Sri Lanka has emerged as a big beneficiary of India’s cancelled tour of Pakistan which was scheduled to be held from Jan 4 as both the countries are going through tense political relations following the Nov 26 Mumbai attacks.
“Every thing is going smoothly and the PCB is making top level arrangements for the tour,” Salim said.
It is learnt the PCB had printed the tickets for the first two ODIs, according to the previous schedule (Jan 21, Jan 24) and will now have to get them reprinted for the back-back ODIs in Karachi.
Meanwhile, it has been reliably learnt that the PCB contacted
the Bangladesh Cricket authorities to reschedule the Pakistan
tour, asking the BCB to reallocate the matches in February instead of March.
Sources said the PCB is planning to leave for Bangladesh to complete the five ODI series soon after the three ODIs against Sri Lanka are played. The PCB wants Pakistan team to return from Bangladesh by Feb 15 to face Sri Lanka in the Test series. However, the PCB is awaiting a final reply from Bangladesh.
SP
It all depends on the wickets if they made supporting wickets then they will play 3-4 fast bowlers but if they made flat tracks then Saeed Ajmal will play alongside Malik and Afridi.
In the absence of Yousaf I don’t think that our batting can survive on supporting tracks.
regarding your six pace bowler complaint i can see that qadir must have thought of afridi (who is more of a bowler now) and malik and i don’t think pakistan will be looking to play two specialists spin bowlers anyway…