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Interesting squad announced
By Tabrez Janjua for Stani Army in Pakistan Cricket
137 ViewsPakistan have announced the squad for the upcoming ODI series and Twenty Internationals against England and there are a few interesting changes. It does seem that one squad of 16 has been announced for both formats with the likes of Abdur Rehman and Shoaib Malik who had made the 14 man Twenty20 squad that beat Australia 2-0 earlier on the tour, missing out this time around.
The fortunes of Yousuf and Malik seem to be going in opposite directions
Shoaib Malik’s exclusion for the last Test against England came as no surprise but his exclusion from this limited over squad is slightly more surprising. With Fawad Alam and Mohammed Hafeez coming back in, maybe Malik’s role would have been seen as being covered adequately enough. Hafeez’s inclusion also means that there is no place for Imran Farhat, who strangely enough, is probably more suited to the shorter form.
Most interestingly, Mohammed Yousuf has completed his come back by being named also. One would think that he’d only be used in the ODIs but I for one am certain he could do a job in the Twenty20 see-ball hit-ball form of the game. Younis Khan was overlooked because, according to captain Shahid Afridi, he has not sorted out his dispute with the PCB. In what seems a very unsympathetic and ruthless statement, Afridi said: “I asked the chairman PCB about the situation with Younis twice. But the clearance wasn’t given by the PCB. I did what I had to do”. Make of that what you will.
An inclusion that I am certainly in favour of was that of Azhar Ali. With the absence of Younis Khan, Azhar should go straight into the ODI side to bolster the middle-order batting line up. He has all the attributes: technique, temperament, talent, to become a permanent fixture in our ODI side for years to come as I am sure he will be in the Test side.
As expected, Shoaib Akhtar also retains his place from the squad that faced Australia in the Twenty20s earlier in the tour. With Wahab Riaz also included and Akhtar’s level of fitness considered, it will be interesting to see if Akhtar makes the ODI team. If he does, it may well be a straight battle between Umar Gul and Riaz for the final spot with the other two taken up by Asif and Aamer. We must not forget Gul’s deadliness in the shorter form and that Wahab has been quite expensive in this form in the past. Although, with Abdul Razzaq and Saeed Ajmal also in the squad, and considering the fact that Afridi will bowl himself, it will be interesting to see how many pacers are included in the attack from the five of Aamer, Asif, Gul, Akhtar and Riaz. Certainly that’s one area in which we’re spoilt for choice.
All in all, it looks a very exciting squad with plenty to work with for captain Shahid Afridi ahead of the World Cup:
Squad for the five ODIs and two Twenty20s:
Shahid Afridi (capt), Salman Butt, Shahzaib Hasan, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Yousuf, Azhar Ali, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Fawad Alam, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Asif, Mohammed Aamer, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Wahab Riaz.
Reserves:
Sarfraz Ahmed, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Irfan, Abdur Rehman.
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August 24th, 2010 at 8:12 pm
Overall not a bad call:
1 – Malik is better in limited over but actually its time to show him the other way, so good one.
2 – Shazaib has failed so far and this should be his last chance, his game is only slogging and going hard at it so T20s are best for him but he has use little bit of brain too. Not every one could be Afridi.
3 – Hafeez is a failed case, we could have added someone else instead of him at first place but if he has been selected it should be his last chance.
4 – Yousuf and Asif will probably only play ODIs not T20 which is not a bad call.
5 – Azhar Ali is a good call for ODIs even though he has limited shots but he can play some role in middle order around crazy hitters like Umar and Afridi.
6 – Fawad Alam is positive add but I want to see him in test squad but he is worthy late order ODI player but not sure about his role T20s
7 – Adur Rehman exclusion is a bad call, he is a handy left arm spin bowler and can be interesting if we need more spinners or one of them is absent. But probably they don’t think they need him when they have Ajmal and Afridi in squad.
8 – Wahab Riaz doesn’t look like a good limited over prospect and I feel he will be trashed all over in T20s or ODIs.
9 – Last but not least YOUNIS KHAN is once again not considered just bcoz of Ijaz Butt and his stupid ego. This is the worst thing and no body in bothered about it in current team. Afridi is happy to not having another senior, old captain and possible captain candidate. Management is happy for not having such person who can create trouble for them. Only Younis and Pakistan cricket is at loss.
Next six months are very exciting as we will continue to play some quality cricket against South Africa and New Zealand in New Zealand, add Younis Khan, Abdur Rehman, Hammad Azam/Hasan Raza/Irfan to this squad and I think we have our world cup pool ready. Let hope dirty politics keeps away.
August 24th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
I would have picked Yasir Hameed instead of Hafeez, and Mohammed Irfan deserves a chance to show what he can do especially in these bowler friendly conditions. Razzaq’s batting being wasted in T20, he needs to open the innings.
August 25th, 2010 at 4:36 am
Minutes of Afridi- Ijaz Butt meeting
Butt: Afridi these are the players I am going to give you. Take a look at the list.
Afridi: After looking at the list, Butt saheb Sir! What about Younis?
Butt : Just gives a nasty look to Afridi.
Afridi almost peed in his pants.
The brave Pathan gathered some more courage and in a quivering voice said: Butt Saaaaaaaab no Younis!
Butt: Ullu de pathay Oh tera mama lagda aye, tenu Udhi aini yaad aa rahi aye tey tenu vi uday kol bhaij dena waan, dono ral key Machian pharna.
The brave pathan started crying.
Nahin Butt saheb gutakhi muaf, mein tu aisay he pooch raha tha, aap ka faisala sirr ankhoon per, he is out of form aur waisay bhi uss kay nakhray bohat hain, main tu bas media ko jawab dainey ke liye pooch raha tha.
Butt: Acha bakwaas bund ker te aye list chuk te aye drama bahir ja key media dey samnay kar. Sunn naal uss ch@#### Mohsin nu we ley jaiye.
Afridi. Wipes off his tears and says Jee sir I will do that and leaves Butts office.
The moment he steps out of Butt’s office he dials Younis Khan’s number and says Salam Youni Bhai, yaar I’m very sorry I tried very hard but Butt and the selectors had already finalized the team. I just cursed Butt and Mohsin out that how can you do that Pakistan cricket needs Younis Khan and even threatened to quit but Butt started crying and begging and said it’s a matter of his respect and honor.
Youni Bhai he is 70 years old after seeing him begging I gave up but I promise you in the next series if they don’t select you I will quit.
Younis: After listening to Afridi just puked and hung up and started dialing Rashid latif’s number.
August 25th, 2010 at 7:19 am
@Mudassar @ CricketVibe.com –
Some good points. I would say though that Hafeez is technically a better batsman than Malik and his bowling is more penetrative.
I think even if Shahzaib fails this time, he an go away and work on his game and come back in the future. There’s still a lot of potential in him. He’s a powerful boy.
Thing which concerns me about Fawad in limited overs is that he finds it difficult to hit the big shots and accelerate the score at the end. I personally think he should just concentrate on Tests.
Rehman is decent and I do like him but with Ajmal, Afridi, Hafeez and Fawad being able to bowl spin, his place was always under threat.
I think Wahab will go for a few too.
In regards to Younis, I think it is clear that Afridi just couldn’t care less. Maybe if we had batting collapses like in our Test side then he will begin to change his mind. That’s what Salman Butt and Waqar Younis did in regards to Yousuf. There was animosity towards Yousuf before, until they needed him.
August 25th, 2010 at 7:22 am
@Wasim –
It’s as if you were there!
I think you have represented the two faces of Afridi quite accurately. Have you noticed he gets agitated when questioned about Younis?
August 25th, 2010 at 10:33 am
@Qamar –
I think Hafeez probably got the nod over Hameed because of his bowling. I’m surprised they haven’t tried Irfan in some form of the game yet especially after the hooha about his rise. They need to try him to find out.
As for Razzaq opening in twenty20, that’s exactly what Dominic Cork, Razzaq’s captain at Hampshire, asked him to do in the domestic twenty20 competition. It paid off, Hampshire were champions of course.
August 25th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
The PCB just daren’t put these three together in one team you know. It will be war otherwise.
August 25th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
@sunny –
Which three Sunny? Yousuf, Younis and Malik?
August 26th, 2010 at 5:55 am
Pakistan are in a good position to square up the series, again a lot will depend on the bowlers and fielders, on a batting pitch Ajmal’s role will be vital, I hope he is not put under undue pressure by the English press by suspecting his Doosra which they attempted last week.
Umar Gul is fit but the team management should persist with Riaz he shouldn’t be dumped like Haider he bowled way better than Gul.
Yousaf always scores in the first match after making a come back and afterwards fails, hope he takes full advantage of the batting surface a big innings is due from Butt, and Umar Akmal, I have no expectations from Kamran Akmal.
On the Odi selection I am upset at the selection of Hafeez and the exclusion of Rahman. Shahzaib hasnt gotten many chances so he deserved another one it’s not fair to discard promising young players after one or two failures, PCB is trying to implement continuity here but still they are missing one senior batsman.
Wahab will do just fine in Odis if he gets a chance if Akhtar is fit he will play.
August 26th, 2010 at 10:03 am
I have always been impressed by Hafeez because of his skills as an all round player, a decent batsman who can bowl and field well. But unfortunately he hasnt clicked at international level. So its good that he has been selected on top of Shoaib Malik and Farhat, if he performs then he will be an important asset for the team in the worldcup.
As always disappointed on younis being dropped from the team because of PCB chairman’s personal grudge, but this time both the captain and the chief selector have passed the blame to PCB chairman in clear words …. why is this buffoon allowed to run it as a family run business is mind boggling.
Irfan should have been selected in the team instead of Wahab Riaz ….. Wahab is not a one day bowler. Tanvir has been dropped from the team without playing a single game. We have to consider the future as in UAE against South Africa, Asif will not be playing so who will replace him in the team?
I earlier talked about Aamer Sajjad and Asad Shafiq and look what they have done in the first match they played for Pakistan A, wish they were selected for england tour too.
http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/463544.html
Wasim’s anger at Afridi is understandable as he has deservedly dropped Farhat Parchi from the team
August 26th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Asim
Jingoism jeet gaya parchism thuss:))
August 28th, 2010 at 8:50 am
Did someone suggested Wahab Riaz is a better bowler then Umer Gul?!?!
August 29th, 2010 at 2:48 am
Yes he is Gul took just 4 wickets in two matches which were played on mine fields. Just because he didn’t played this match doesn’t make him better.