****Official****Pakistan in South Africa

[smash84]

I'd place him as No.5 in my All time ODI XI - right after Ricky Ponting ( no.4 )...

Sachin
Gilchrist
Richards
Ponting
AB de villiers
Symonds
Klusener
Akram
Garner
Muralitharan
Ambose

How does Ambrose make it ahead of McGrath or Donald in an AT ODI XI?

 

[blankwave]

Well done SA! Very glad morkel is back in the side! I couldn't believe that they left him out in the previous match even though he was fit. AB is playing really well but I feel our batting line up is still vulnerable to collapse especially with mclaren not in the best form with the bat.

Irfan is looking more and more dangerous. Looking forward to seeing how he develops over the next few years.

Missed the bowling performance so can't comment, although my love for McLaren appears to have been rewarded once again. Huge nightmares will ensue when Jacques returns. Does he come in for McLaren, or for one of the top 6? McLaren would have been the obvious choice until he turned into the dominant force he's been recently.

I think the best thing would be for kallis to replace him and for him to replace tsotsobe so it would be steyn, morkel, kallis, mclaren, peterson, duminy. I doubt that will happen though.

 

[Yas]

The decline of Razzaq has hit Pak hard. Without a genuine all rounder the balance of the team is totally ruined! Not sure what happened to Hammad Azam but Pak need to unearth one quickly!

 

[Prince EWS]

I'd definitely say Wahab gets kicked before Afridi though, with Afridi moving down to 8th. He'd play a Klusener role if I was the Pakistan decision maker.

Yeah that obviously works at home, but that's 30 overs of minimum to get through and Afridi has been bowling pies lately, so it makes it difficult.

 

[smash84]

yeah, Afridi has lost his bowling too of late. The guy should retire one and FOR ALL. Not make his 19th comeback

 

[kykweer.proteas]

Missed the bowling performance so can't comment, although my love for McLaren appears to have been rewarded once again. Huge nightmares will ensue when Jacques returns. Does he come in for McLaren, or for one of the top 6? McLaren would have been the obvious choice until he turned into the dominant force he's been recently.

Mclaren definitely deserves his place, well played Ryan, Question is, will there be place for robbie p when duminy comes back?

 

[kykweer.proteas]

Well done SA! Very glad morkel is back in the side! I couldn't believe that they left him out in the previous match even though he was fit. AB is playing really well but I feel our batting line up is still vulnerable to collapse especially with mclaren not in the best form with the bat.

Irfan is looking more and more dangerous. Looking forward to seeing how he develops over the next few years.



I think the best thing would be for kallis to replace him and for him to replace tsotsobe so it would be steyn, morkel, kallis, mclaren, peterson, duminy. I doubt that will happen though.

That last ball six against New Zealand to avoid the whitewash might be exactly why we need players like Mclaren in the team. He might not be flashy and might not bowl at 150km/h (which means very little these days). We keep looking for a klusener, but i recon Mclaren has shown enough with the bat and ball to be our No.7

 

[Xuhaib]

imo it was stubborn team selection that cost Pakistan the series. There is no way Younis Khan should play over Umer Akmal in on odi line up. Despite all his brainfarts Umer is averaging close to 40 at a SR of 85 over the last two years while Younis has been striking at 62 with an avg of 23.Afridi one freak innings aside was a complete liability with both bat and ball.

 

[MrPrez]

Mclaren definitely deserves his place, well played Ryan, Question is, will there be place for robbie p when duminy comes back?

I don't reckon it's Robbie P vs Duminy at all. Duminy will probably take a spot from either Berhardien, Ingram or Miller. Kallis is probably down to take the place of McLaren but I wouldn't mind him taking another of one of the 3 aforementioned's places.

That said, I'd love for Duminy to take Robbie P's place. It would be best for team balance, for mine. With Kallis and Duminy back in our top 6, there really is no excuse to be playing a bowling AR at number 7. My team would be.

1)Smith (yes, over de Kock)
2)Amla
3)Ingram
4)Kallis
5)de Villiers
6)Duminy
7)Faf/Berhardien/Miller
8)McLaren
9)Steyn
10)Morkel
11)Tsotsobe

Not quite sure who I'd have at number 7. Right now I'd possibly lean towards Miller, but I reckon if you gave it a few months I'd choose Berhardien. If we were picking for a number 6, Faf would be right up there. At number 7 I'd rather have someone like Miller who can walk in and smack from the get-go. That said, I actually wouldn't be surprised if Ingram was dropped and everyone shifted up a position, with Faf at 6 and Miller/Berhardien fighting for 7. I still back Ingram, but there could be some Warriors bias in there.

 

[kykweer.proteas]

I don't reckon it's Robbie P vs Duminy at all. Duminy will probably take a spot from either Berhardien, Ingram or Miller. Kallis is probably down to take the place of McLaren but I wouldn't mind him taking another of one of the 3 aforementioned's places.

That said, I'd love for Duminy to take Robbie P's place. It would be best for team balance, for mine. With Kallis and Duminy back in our top 6, there really is no excuse to be playing a bowling AR at number 7. My team would be.

1)Smith (yes, over de Kock)
2)Amla
3)Ingram
4)Kallis
5)de Villiers
6)Duminy
7)Faf/Berhardien/Miller
8)McLaren
9)Steyn
10)Morkel
11)Tsotsobe

Not quite sure who I'd have at number 7. Right now I'd possibly lean towards Miller, but I reckon if you gave it a few months I'd choose Berhardien. If we were picking for a number 6, Faf would be right up there. At number 7 I'd rather have someone like Miller who can walk in and smack from the get-go. That said, I actually wouldn't be surprised if Ingram was dropped and everyone shifted up a position, with Faf at 6 and Miller/Berhardien fighting for 7. I still back Ingram, but there could be some Warriors bias in there.

I still have to back Smith in england though, sure he has been under pressure most of his career, but you cant deny his stats as an opener in south africa, Im sure he would average above 50 in ODI's and above 60 in tests had he played most of his career in asia.

I'm sure no one will agree with me, but Steyn I feel has been a weakness for south africa in ODI's. I don't argue with the greatness of the man in tests, but in ODI's he is just to expensive and just doesn't add more than Kleinveldt would except for reputation, Also Kleinveldt can easily score a quick 20-30 with huge blows. Robbie P has grown dramatically as a player the last year, not a great player, but like mclaren has a lot of fight.

My team:
Smith
Amla
Kallis
AB
Duminy
Faf
Mclaren
Pieterson
Kleinveldt
Morkel
Tsotsobe

 

[Rasimione]

My team

De Kock(wk)
Amla
Kallis
AB Devilliers
Duplessis
Miller
Duminy
Mclaren
Morris
Steyn
Morkel

Tsotsobe
De Lange
Van Zyl
Robbie P

 

[smash84]

Possibly the worst thread to dig out and make this comment on