imranrabb said:
Considering pakistan were missing inzamam,razzaq,malik,gul,shabbir,saqlain,taufeeq(no idea why he wasnt picked) and moin pakistan didnt do to badly in the last two tests.This would be my future line up for tests
Sorry, but out of your list only Inzamam is a real loss, and going by his recent form and captaincy, his absence may have been the sole reason Pakistan played more competitively in the 3rd test. Razzaq and Malik are, at this point in their careers, one-day players more so than test players, and only one, if either, should be picked in a side. Gul seems to show potential but he's not the kind of player that you can say would have been a difference maker, and the same goes for Shabbir. They would have helped certainly, but I wouldn't take their absences into consideration when grading the Pakistani performance. Saqlain is a bowler past his prime and Taufeeq was never good anyway. He would have been just as bad as Imran Farhat ended up being.
My assessment of the Pakistan team on their tour of Australia, player-by-player, is as follows:
Salman Butt: A+
He really put on a superhuman type of effort when his teammates decided they had become allergic to Day 4 and 5 cricket. I really am impressed, and considering his gutsy and collected performance in the BCCI Jubilee Match in Kolkata, Pakistan seemed to have discovered a star.
Younis Khan: A
Another guy who has shown he deserves an extended run in the team. He's repaid Woolmer's faith in him, and delivered as much as a Pakistani batsman could have in this series. Unquestionably needs to be in the regular test lineup.
Asim Kamal: A
Again, he put on an exemplary performance when his teammates couldn't or wouldn't. He's shown time and time again (his performance in the 3rd test versus India is another example) that he's a solid #6 batsman and should be given a test cap every time Pakistan plays a test match.
Yasir Hameed: A-
Played in only 2 of the 3 tests, but showed he has the goods. I really think he's best off at #3, but he's shown that he can open as well. A quality, quality batsman.
Yousuf Youhana: B+
He made a nice century, but more is expected out of him, especially as he is such a senior player, the vice-captain, and the likely captain-in-waiting. He needed to put more of a stamp on the series.
Danish Kaneria: B+
Kaneria took 15 wickets when he was asked to be both a strike bowler and a workhorse bowler. He was asked to eat up overs and take wickets against a rampaging Aussie lineup when fellow leggie Shane Warne was finding no help for his own legbreaks against a far worse Pakistani lineup. He's cemented his status as Pakistan's premier spinner. A future permanent #11 in my opinion.
Shoaib Akhtar: B+
If he didn't injure himself after delivering every other ball, he'd have gotten an A. He held up his end of the bargain, bowling with pace and with intelligence. When the idea of shortening his run-up came up, everyone jumped to the conclusion that oh well he gets so tired and injured, he should shorten it and bowl more overs. But no one mentioned that for every 80 overs, he was already bowling 20 of them! Is it reasonable to expect your express fast bowler to bowl more than 20 overs before the new ball is taken? But still, he's the kind of guy who gets injured while sleeping. Shortening his run-up won't do anything but make him mad.
Shahid Afridi: B
Hmm, one idiotic innings, one semi-intelligent innings until an idiotic end. That's Afridi in a nutshell. Did better than his all-rounder buds Razzaq and Malik though. He should really be the 1st choice all-rounder over Popeye and Chucker.
Kamran Akmal: B
Showed potential, especially with the bat, nearly getting to a half-century batting with the tail. He should be stuck with over Latif or Moin.
Inzamam-ul-Haq: F
Horrible batting in the 1st test, horrible captaincy and leadership throughout. He really let his team down. He should consider handing over the captaincy to Youhana or ever Akhtar. His bad back is surely a sign that he needs to lose more weight.
Mohammad Sami: F
Not a test-class bowler, unless test-class means bowling quickly. Might be a good first-change bowler, but should not be given the new ball.
Abdul Razzaq: F
Go find Olive Oyl.
Everyone else pretty much gets an F too. I just got tired! Oh, one more thing
My future test line-up:
Salman Butt
Yasir Hameed
Younis Khan
Inzamam ul-Haq
Yousuf Youhana
Asim Kamal
Kamran Akmal - WK
Shoaib Akhtar
Danish Kaneria
Last 2 bowling spots should be between Naved-ul-Hasan, Gul, Shabbir and Sami. It might not hurt to introduce a couple of new faces either, though I don't think Khalil or Asif is the answer. Maybe Riaz Afridi, or a couple of the U-19 guys.
Sorry for the long post!
