Pakistan Discussion

[salman85]

Shahzad should be opening.I'm not sure if he has what it takes to be a solid middle order batsman,and the flat wickets would suit him as an opener.Quick starts.

Drop down Akmal Sr to the middle order,like he was in today's match against New Zelanad.

 

[Faisal1985]

Ahmed Shehzad seems like a decent opening prospect on Sub Continent pitches. Really enjoyed his innings in the T20 against NZ and then the brief innings in the 2nd ODI.

 

[Faisal1985]

Solid squad.

1) Kamran Akmal (wicketkeeper)
2) Mohammad Hafeez
3) Younis Khan
4) Umar Akmal
5) Mibah-ul-Haq
6) Asad Shafique/Ahmed Shahzad
7) Abdul Razzaq
8) Shahid Afridi
9) Shoaib Akhtar
10)Umar Gul
11) Saeed Ajmal/Abdur Rehman

That would be my playing eleven.

Bowling is quite thin...i wished they had another express pacer someone like Junaid in that side. But he never got a chance and I can't believe we are relying on Akhtar for the world cup. He can bowl fast but he is not the same and will get hammered on Sub Con. pitches.

 

[cricpk]

Ahmed Shehzad seems like a decent opening prospect on Sub Continent pitches. Really enjoyed his innings in the T20 against NZ and then the brief innings in the 2nd ODI.

Did you see his 90 + in Hong Kong Sixers final against Aus??????????

 

[Blaze 18]

Bowling is quite thin...i wished they had another express pacer someone like Junaid in that side. But he never got a chance and I can't believe we are relying on Akhtar for the world cup. He can bowl fast but he is not the same and will get hammered on Sub Con. pitches.

Umar Gul
Shoaib Akhtar
Abdul Razzaq
Shahid Afrdi
Saeed Ajmal
Mohammad Hafeez

It isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, quite a sold ODI bowling attack.

 

[salman85]

The bowling is very formiddable.I think people are looking into the loss of Amir and Asif too much.True,had Amir been in the squad,it would have made our bowling lineup one of the best in the tournament,but it is still a seriously good attack.Shoaib's fitness level is pretty good these days,so he is capable of bowling 10 overs a match in short bursts.Gul is very good with the old ball,and Wahab has been a revelation.All 3 generate great pace.Plus Ajmal has a lot of quality.Rehman isn't bad either.Overall,it's a very good attack.

 

[smash84]

Umar Gul
Shoaib Akhtar
Abdul Razzaq
Shahid Afrdi
Saeed Ajmal
Mohammad Hafeez

It isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, quite a sold ODI bowling attack.

i think u missed out wahab riaz, sohail tanvir, and abdur rehman for bowling.....lol.....ours must be the only bowling heavy squad

 

[Blaze 18]

i think u missed out wahab riaz, sohail tanvir, and abdur rehman for bowling.....lol.....ours must be the only bowling heavy squad

Riaz, Tanvir and Rehman aren't part of your first choice attack though, are they ?

 

[smash84]

riaz is i think....tanvir definitely NO.....abdur rehman can be decent on sc pitches........

 

[salman85]

Good stuff by Afridi and Misbah.I don't think there are any ill feelings between the two regarding the WC captaincy issue, as it was evident from the presentation today.I'm sure Misbah would love the captaincy,any player would,but he's not the type of guy you expect to crib over not being given the nod.And i guess even he's mentally ready to play under Afridi in the tournmane.Got to love the guy

Expect an official 'Afridi announced as captain for the WC' statement from PCB soon.

 

[Prince EWS]

This is such an un-Pakistan-like team. Often you'd associate them with having four or five big-name star players who could individually win matches and carry the side on a good day despite poor balance, passengers, players with poor attitudes, egotistical in-fighting etc etc. What they've got now is the opposite, but I kind of rate them a bit as a potential wildcard for completely different reasons to the norm.

I think what I like most is that everyone has such defined roles in the batting lineup. The top three are all pretty aggressive top order batsmen (Hafeez only in his latest stint, which indicates legitimate planning), even if they lack genuine class. Their jobs are generally to get the team off to a good start and take advantage of the first PowerPlay, even if they find themselves 3 wickets down. Hafeez, Shehzad and Kamran are not great one batsmen and I'd have to pause before even calling any of them good but they've been doing this role to an acceptable standard. Younis and Misbah come in to steady the ship after the early blast and prepare for the final assault; they really are vitally important. As someone pointed out before it's quite a shame that it's not Yousuf and Malik instead as they're far better middle orders accumulators in this form of cricket, but I think these two can get the job done. Even if they only strike at 70, I think they can get away with it as long as they make runs and guide the team towards the 40th over, as it allows Afridi and Razzaq to do what they do best and just come in hitting from the word go. There aren't many players in world cricket who can do that right from the start of their innings to have two who also happen to have a case for being included on bowling alone is what could set Pakistan apart from the others, and paper over the fact that Younis and Misbah can only score consistent runs at a sluggish rate. Umar Akmal too has a key role, bridging the gap between the accumulators and the genuine hitters. He's as dangerous as Afridi and Razzaq when he's in but he does need a few overs to get set, so six is ideal.

The bowling, too, is a well-planned group of players with set roles rather than one of the star quality we've seen in years gone by. Razzaq bowls at a shadow of his former pace but he moves the ball more than he ever has and his length has become immaculate. I questioned the decision to make him open up in recent limited overs matches but it seems to have worked splendidly so far, particularly when he's been partnered with the pace of Shoaib. Umar Gul comes on later with the view of saving most of his overs for the death where he's so effective, and having some hostile pace in the middle overs too works well against batsmen not tremendously used to that. Ajmal's a genuinely good limited overs bowler and I hope he plays - he can operate in the PowerPlays which is a huge plus for a spinner, particularly in a team only playing two proper quicks (Wahab may play instead and he won't be a liability but I'd go with Ajmal as I think he's real class). Beyond that they also have Afridi and Hafeez to bowl spin in the middle overs, two of the most under-rated ODI spinners going around judging by their records.

They don't have an Imran, an Anwar, an Inzy or a Wasim - in fact, what they do have could be arguably described as a group of hasbeen hacks, proven failures and underdone kids - but in a way that's a strength of this side; all the players know their roles and they all have the responsibility to contribute. What they lack is flexibility within them to arrest the situation in a crisis (if Umar comes in in the first 25 overs they're pretty much ****ed, for example), but if they do well in this tournament, which I think they could, it'll be on the back of a well-planned and structured one day outfit, rather than mercurial talents like we're used to seeing from them. I think this World Cup probably came six months too early for them, but full credit to Afridi, Misbah and anyone else who was involved in building this team. It's happened quickly and it's happened with the right players; not only in role but in character. I have more faith in them than I would in one that changed completely on a game-to-game basis and contained Butt, Asif, Aamer and Malik.

 

[smash84]

This is such an un-Pakistan-like team. Often you'd associate them with having four or five big-name star players who could individually win matches and carry the side on a good day despite poor balance, passengers, players with poor attitudes, egotistical in-fighting etc etc. What they've got now is the opposite, but I kind of rate them a bit as a potential wildcard for completely different reasons to the norm.

I think what I like most is that everyone has such defined roles in the batting lineup. The top three are all pretty aggressive top order batsmen (Hafeez only in his latest stint, which indicates legitimate planning), even if they lack genuine class. Their jobs are generally to get the team off to a good start and take advantage of the first PowerPlay, even if they find themselves 3 wickets down. Hafeez, Shehzad and Kamran are not great one batsmen and I'd have to pause before even calling any of them good but they've been doing this role to an acceptable standard. Younis and Misbah come in to steady the ship after the early blast and prepare for the final assault; they really are vitally important. As someone pointed out before it's quite a shame that it's not Yousuf and Malik instead as they're far better middle orders accumulators in this form of cricket, but I think these two can get the job done. Even if they only strike at 70, I think they can get away with it as long as they make runs and guide the team towards the 40th over, as it allows Afridi and Razzaq to do what they do best and just come in hitting from the word go. There aren't many players in world cricket who can do that right from the start of their innings to have two who also happen to have a case for being included on bowling alone is what could set Pakistan apart from the others, and paper over the fact that Younis and Misbah can only score consistent runs at a sluggish rate. Umar Akmal too has a key role, bridging the gap between the accumulators and the genuine hitters. He's as dangerous as Afridi and Razzaq when he's in but he does need a few overs to get set, so six is ideal.

The bowling, too, is a well-planned group of players with set roles rather than one of the star quality we've seen in years gone by. Razzaq bowls at a shadow of his former pace but he moves the ball more than he ever has and his length has become immaculate. I questioned the decision to make him open up in recent limited overs matches but it seems to have worked splendidly so far, particularly when he's been partnered with the pace of Shoaib. Umar Gul comes on later with the view of saving most of his overs for the death where he's so effective, and having some hostile pace in the middle overs too works well against batsmen not tremendously used to that. Ajmal's a genuinely good limited overs bowler and I hope he plays - he can operate in the PowerPlays which is a huge plus for a spinner, particularly in a team only playing two proper quicks (Wahab may play instead and he won't be a liability but I'd go with Ajmal as I think he's real class). Beyond that they also have Afridi and Hafeez to bowl spin in the middle overs, two of the most under-rated ODI spinners going around judging by their records.

They don't have an Imran, an Anwar, an Inzy or a Wasim - in fact, what they do have could be arguably described as a group of hasbeen hacks, proven failures and underdone kids - but in a way that's a strength of this side; all the players know their roles and they all have the responsibility to contribute. What they lack is flexibility within them to arrest the situation in a crisis (if Umar comes in in the first 25 overs they're pretty much ****ed, for example), but if they do well in this tournament, which I think they could, it'll be on the back of a well-planned and structured one day outfit, rather than mercurial talents like we're used to seeing from them. I think this World Cup probably came six months too early for them, but full credit to Afridi, Misbah and anyone else who was involved in building this team. It's happened quickly and it's happened with the right players; not only in role but in character. I have more faith in them than I would in one that changed completely on a game-to-game basis and contained Butt, Asif, Aamer and Malik.

wow..........a superbly detailed analysis......and I agree with most points that you have put in.........

 

[Fusion]

wow..........a superbly detailed analysis......and i agree with most points that you have put in.........

+1.

 

[Athlai]

Reckon thats pretty much spot on with the Pakistani potential we've been shown in this ODI series.

 

[G.I.Joe]

Yeah, top post from SPEWS.

 

[Xuhaib]

quite agree with PEWS but he's giving them too much credit, this is a strategy which they have just stumbled upon all it will take is 2 bad games and then they will be back to square one.

 

[salman85]

This is such an un-Pakistan-like team. Often you'd associate them with having four or five big-name star players who could individually win matches and carry the side on a good day despite poor balance, passengers, players with poor attitudes, egotistical in-fighting etc etc. What they've got now is the opposite, but I kind of rate them a bit as a potential wildcard for completely different reasons to the norm.

I think what I like most is that everyone has such defined roles in the batting lineup. The top three are all pretty aggressive top order batsmen (Hafeez only in his latest stint, which indicates legitimate planning), even if they lack genuine class. Their jobs are generally to get the team off to a good start and take advantage of the first PowerPlay, even if they find themselves 3 wickets down. Hafeez, Shehzad and Kamran are not great one batsmen and I'd have to pause before even calling any of them good but they've been doing this role to an acceptable standard. Younis and Misbah come in to steady the ship after the early blast and prepare for the final assault; they really are vitally important. As someone pointed out before it's quite a shame that it's not Yousuf and Malik instead as they're far better middle orders accumulators in this form of cricket, but I think these two can get the job done. Even if they only strike at 70, I think they can get away with it as long as they make runs and guide the team towards the 40th over, as it allows Afridi and Razzaq to do what they do best and just come in hitting from the word go. There aren't many players in world cricket who can do that right from the start of their innings to have two who also happen to have a case for being included on bowling alone is what could set Pakistan apart from the others, and paper over the fact that Younis and Misbah can only score consistent runs at a sluggish rate. Umar Akmal too has a key role, bridging the gap between the accumulators and the genuine hitters. He's as dangerous as Afridi and Razzaq when he's in but he does need a few overs to get set, so six is ideal.

The bowling, too, is a well-planned group of players with set roles rather than one of the star quality we've seen in years gone by. Razzaq bowls at a shadow of his former pace but he moves the ball more than he ever has and his length has become immaculate. I questioned the decision to make him open up in recent limited overs matches but it seems to have worked splendidly so far, particularly when he's been partnered with the pace of Shoaib. Umar Gul comes on later with the view of saving most of his overs for the death where he's so effective, and having some hostile pace in the middle overs too works well against batsmen not tremendously used to that. Ajmal's a genuinely good limited overs bowler and I hope he plays - he can operate in the PowerPlays which is a huge plus for a spinner, particularly in a team only playing two proper quicks (Wahab may play instead and he won't be a liability but I'd go with Ajmal as I think he's real class). Beyond that they also have Afridi and Hafeez to bowl spin in the middle overs, two of the most under-rated ODI spinners going around judging by their records.

They don't have an Imran, an Anwar, an Inzy or a Wasim - in fact, what they do have could be arguably described as a group of hasbeen hacks, proven failures and underdone kids - but in a way that's a strength of this side; all the players know their roles and they all have the responsibility to contribute. What they lack is flexibility within them to arrest the situation in a crisis (if Umar comes in in the first 25 overs they're pretty much ****ed, for example), but if they do well in this tournament, which I think they could, it'll be on the back of a well-planned and structured one day outfit, rather than mercurial talents like we're used to seeing from them. I think this World Cup probably came six months too early for them, but full credit to Afridi, Misbah and anyone else who was involved in building this team. It's happened quickly and it's happened with the right players; not only in role but in character. I have more faith in them than I would in one that changed completely on a game-to-game basis and contained Butt, Asif, Aamer and Malik.

The bold part is where i disagree.This Pakistan team,has one of the deepest tails we've ever had.Back in the day we had players like Waqar,Mushtaq,Aqib etc - your run of the mill hit or miss tail enders.Now the tail has players that seem to have batting ability,and players who can do more than play one or two balls.When a player of Razzaq's ability comes in it at number 8,you know that you have a pretty effective ODI batting line.Gul,Wahab,Rehman and Tanvir can all bat.True they won't be in the team at the same time perhaps,but i'm just highlighting the fact that the current Pakistani team does not have a traditional tail.Plus,there are players deep down the order who are known game savers.Razzaq is the one who comes to mind.He has two gears,block,or hit.And he has played innings of incredible patience and compusre over the course of his career.So Umar Akmal coming in at the 25th over is not something that will definitley screw over a match for us.Razzaq's ability to hit is well known,but his ability play sensibly is seriously underrated.He has all the qualities you need to stay at the crease without attempting to play an Afridi-ish shot.

The general pattern of how this team builds up an innings seems to be a throw back to the late 80s/early 90s - start slow,explode towards the end.Shahzad and Kamran are attacking players,whereas Hafeez is the more composed one.But you've not seen power hitting from this Pakistani side as we've normally come to expect in the first 15 overs.It's all been an innings building process where you go berzerk towards the end.

Also,i think the World Cup has come at the right time for the team.A Pakistan side is always going be more dangerous in short bursts of 15-20 games where they hit form,than in a long consistent period like Australia or South Africa.The form they've hit in the New Zealand series happened at the best possible time.Hitting this form back during the England tour would have probably made the energy and passion fizzle out by the time the WC arrived, but now with the big tournament around the corner, the entire puzzle is taking shape at the best possible time for a team like Pakistan.

 

[Xuhaib]

all I want Pakistan is to make the semis I love watching WC semi finals for some reason.

 

[salman85]

You should be lucky you aren't South African.

 

[Himannv]

This is such an un-Pakistan-like team. Often you'd associate them with having four or five big-name star players who could individually win matches and carry the side on a good day despite poor balance, passengers, players with poor attitudes, egotistical in-fighting etc etc. What they've got now is the opposite, but I kind of rate them a bit as a potential wildcard for completely different reasons to the norm.

I think what I like most is that everyone has such defined roles in the batting lineup. The top three are all pretty aggressive top order batsmen (Hafeez only in his latest stint, which indicates legitimate planning), even if they lack genuine class. Their jobs are generally to get the team off to a good start and take advantage of the first PowerPlay, even if they find themselves 3 wickets down. Hafeez, Shehzad and Kamran are not great one batsmen and I'd have to pause before even calling any of them good but they've been doing this role to an acceptable standard. Younis and Misbah come in to steady the ship after the early blast and prepare for the final assault; they really are vitally important. As someone pointed out before it's quite a shame that it's not Yousuf and Malik instead as they're far better middle orders accumulators in this form of cricket, but I think these two can get the job done. Even if they only strike at 70, I think they can get away with it as long as they make runs and guide the team towards the 40th over, as it allows Afridi and Razzaq to do what they do best and just come in hitting from the word go. There aren't many players in world cricket who can do that right from the start of their innings to have two who also happen to have a case for being included on bowling alone is what could set Pakistan apart from the others, and paper over the fact that Younis and Misbah can only score consistent runs at a sluggish rate. Umar Akmal too has a key role, bridging the gap between the accumulators and the genuine hitters. He's as dangerous as Afridi and Razzaq when he's in but he does need a few overs to get set, so six is ideal.

The bowling, too, is a well-planned group of players with set roles rather than one of the star quality we've seen in years gone by. Razzaq bowls at a shadow of his former pace but he moves the ball more than he ever has and his length has become immaculate. I questioned the decision to make him open up in recent limited overs matches but it seems to have worked splendidly so far, particularly when he's been partnered with the pace of Shoaib. Umar Gul comes on later with the view of saving most of his overs for the death where he's so effective, and having some hostile pace in the middle overs too works well against batsmen not tremendously used to that. Ajmal's a genuinely good limited overs bowler and I hope he plays - he can operate in the PowerPlays which is a huge plus for a spinner, particularly in a team only playing two proper quicks (Wahab may play instead and he won't be a liability but I'd go with Ajmal as I think he's real class). Beyond that they also have Afridi and Hafeez to bowl spin in the middle overs, two of the most under-rated ODI spinners going around judging by their records.

They don't have an Imran, an Anwar, an Inzy or a Wasim - in fact, what they do have could be arguably described as a group of hasbeen hacks, proven failures and underdone kids - but in a way that's a strength of this side; all the players know their roles and they all have the responsibility to contribute. What they lack is flexibility within them to arrest the situation in a crisis (if Umar comes in in the first 25 overs they're pretty much ****ed, for example), but if they do well in this tournament, which I think they could, it'll be on the back of a well-planned and structured one day outfit, rather than mercurial talents like we're used to seeing from them. I think this World Cup probably came six months too early for them, but full credit to Afridi, Misbah and anyone else who was involved in building this team. It's happened quickly and it's happened with the right players; not only in role but in character. I have more faith in them than I would in one that changed completely on a game-to-game basis and contained Butt, Asif, Aamer and Malik.

Top post and a good read. Agree completely.

Wondering if Rehman might feature on some pitches.