Umar Gul and Younis Khan have come out and said how they’d love to beat India but there’s a trophy out there up for grabs, a tournament, so let’s concentrate on that. Holding the Champions Trophy as well as the Twenty20 World Cup will strengthen any argument about Pakistan being the side to beat in the shorter form of the game so there’s plenty of incentive there.

The other group (B), is made up of England, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka.

So to the team. This is a real tough one as the 50 over form, though criticicsed, still does throw up different challenges to the twenty over game. Having said that, the abilities of our players would probably see the Pakistan 50 over team the most similar to its twenty20 team than any of the other countries. The one change which will probably be a given is Mohammad Yousuf coming in to strengthen the middle order. Here’s my picks:

Imran Nazir
Kamran Akmal (wk)
Younis Khan (c)
Mohammad Yousuf
Umar Akmal
Naved-ul-Hasan
Shahid Afridi (vc)
Umar Gul
Saeed Ajmal
Mohammad Aamer
Mohammad Asif

Fawad Alam
Iftikhar Anjum
Misbah-ul-Haq
Shoaib Malik

The tail does seem a  bit long but there’s no point taking Asif if he’s not going to play. We have 60 overs available from our bowlers so options for the captain if a bowler has an off day. Admittedly, it’s a bold batting line up as 50 overs is a long time but they’ll just have to step up to the mark, particularly the opening pair. It’s encouraging to see competition for places as two players who were dead certs not long ago, Misbah and Malik, will now find it tough to find a place in the team in my opinion.

Will Pakistan come out as winners? Well, with the short format and a potentially difficult group, a good start is vital. Get that and I think it’s a real possibilty. Watch out for Umar Akmal and Mohammad Aamer.

If you keep in mind Pakistan’s tour to Australia which follows the Champions Trophy, then bringing Asif back now would be the right thing to do in my opinion, but whether the selectors thought of this is another matter. This will be a vital series for us and we’ll need our best bowling attack and Asif would certainly fit into that category as he’s arguably the most talented seam bowler in world cricket.  The Australian tour comprises of 3 Tests, 5 ODIs and a Twenty20. If Asif was not picked for the Champions Trophy then it would be very difficult to justify his inclusion in a team to play Australia, especially with the 3 Test matches coming up first.

The fact that the Champions Trophy is a short tournament in which he’ll come up against quality but where the result won’t matter as much as it would in a WC tournament, makes it a good place to return. If he does fail, then at least he’ll fail here and not on a long and important tour.

As for whether he deserves any more chances, he’d probably point to the ones Shoaib Akthar has been given. But rather than use Akthar as an example of what he can get away with, Asif should use him as an example of what not to do and take his chance this time as it may be his last.

Of course, Gul’s was not just any achievement but a record, a first ever 5-wicket haul in International Twenty20s with his spell of 5 for 6 in three overs against New Zealand. Maybe the ICC didn’t want a Pakistani clean sweep so decided to spread the awards out. It’s either that or Daniel Vettori must have been on the ICC judges panel.

The other issue I had was the fact that the next Twenty20 World Cup is going to be held in April 2010, meaning that we will not even hold the title for a year. I will not go over it in detail as to why as Q has done a fine job of this over at Well Pitched, but it all stems from the cancellation of the Champions trophy in Pakistan in 2008. I suppose it does make sense but it’s just sad we will probably be the shortest holders of the World T20 title. It’s first winners, India, held the honour for almost two years. I suppose whether it’s two years or two minutes, at least our name will be permanently engraved in the record books as Champions, 2009.

Now that I’ve got that off my chest, I would just like to give our two unsung heroes a mention. They were, in my opinion, Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik. Akmal showed his vastly improved glove work and gave us some lightning starts at the top of the order. Shoaib Malik, was probably our best in the field, taking two spectacular catches, one of them a vitally important pressure catch to dismiss Jacques Kallis in the semi-final. Yet, what was most impressive about Malik was his role in the two instances when Afridi performed with the bat. His cool headedness, composure and ability to pace the innings whilst keeping Boom Boom from going Bust Bust, was a critical element to our success in the semi-final and the final.

Overall, I was glad we defeated the two undefeated sides left in the competition (Souh Africa an Sri Lanka) to take the title because the haters would just not have let that one go.

The Pakistan foreign ministry has informed the sports ministry that it was not safe to send Pakistani players to participate in the second season of the IPL. Those already with franchises have been dropped whilst the five players that were due to go up for auction have been withdrawn.

Should the situation not change, Pakistan’s ICL players can expect to be told not to travel to India also once the ICL starts again. Questions regarding the inclusion of Pakistani players in the ICL after the Mumbai attacks arose last December when Kiran More, an ICL executive board member, told cricinfo that the participation of the Pakistani contingent was “not favourable”.

The loss to the IPL of the likes of Sohail Tanvir, who was the bowler of the tournament by far, and the loss of the Lahore Badshahs to the ICL, will be something not easily replaced.

The time has come for Pakistan cricket to close ranks. As is looking likely, the PCB will recognise the ICL (even though the players may not participate), they should then begin to form their own Twenty20 tournament comprising of its own players from the IPL and ICL, and invite cricketers from other countries by offering them good financial rewards. May be this is one way in which the revenue, retained from the postponed Champions Trophy, can be spent. It will be a positive step in trying to alleviate concerns about the security in the country, and a way of getting Pakistan cricket back on it’s feet.