Stani Army

Pakistan got their World Cup campaign successfully underway today as they dominated a poor Kenya side to win by 205 runs. Shahid Afridi starred with the ball, taking 5 wickets for just 16 runs, recording the best ever figures by a Pakistan bowler at the World Cup.

Earlier in the week Afridi promised to do all he could to bring the World Cup trophy home after Pakistan were banned from hosting the tournament alongside India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh following the terrorist attacks of 2009, and he looked to make good on his promise with an impressive bowling performance.

Bigfreebet will have installed Pakistan as clear favourites, but their opponents were poorer than expected and sent down a joint record number of wide balls, unenviably matching the 37 the West Indies bowled in the 1991 tournament.

The Kenyans had begun the game well, and restricted a Pakistan batting attack looking to take advantage of their lesser opponents. Two wickets down with just 12 runs on the board, Kenya looked to replicate the success of the Netherlands against England yesterday by putting pressure on their esteemed opponents.

But the Pakistan middle-order came good as they accelerated through the innings, moving from 129-3 off 28 overs to an imposing 317-7; a figure which always looked out of Kenya’s reach

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Like their near neighbours on the sub-continent Pakistan will head into the cricket World Cup with the voices of their huge passionate support ringing in their ears.

Cricket is a religion in those parts, and while that has enormous benefits it also brings with it the pressure of expectation and the glare of the media spotlight with almost everyone in the country keeping an eye on their latest scores.

Pakistan have had more than their fair share of media attention in recent months, but upon their arrival in Bangladesh the players seemed quietly confident and content to concentrate on matters on the pitch.

Certainly the mood of this Pakistan team is key to their success. They possess the talent but it is their tendency to blow hot and cold that infuriates their passionate support – they know what the players can do, they just don’t always show it.

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Pakistan's new Test captain Misbah Ul-Haq showed the way with three half-centuries in four innings

Pakistan can come out of the drawn two-Test series against world number two South Africa with their heads held high. Though the argument may be that the wickets in the UAE were batsmen friendly, Pakistan’s reconstructed batting line up still held it’s own against South Africa’s, and South Africa had the better bowling attack. Let us also remember that Pakistan’s batsmen have struggled to pass 250 in Tests for a while now, batting paradise or not. Were it not for the time factor, Pakistan could have come close to or matched South Africa’s aggregated total in both the Tests, and that’s no mean feat.

The return of Younis Khan was a major factor in the ability of our batsmen to finally start playing Test match innings and setting Test match totals. The successful re-emergence of Mohammad Hafeez, Misbah Ul-Haq and Taufeeq Umar was also pleasing to watch. I have always been a big fan of Taufiq yet he is just one of many that have been the victim of selection favouritism in the past. He is a proper Test batsman.

Then there’s the emergence of the two youngsters Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq. For some reason, Azhar, despite being a reserved young man, seems to really irritate the opposition, ending up at the receiving end of some hostile bowling. He did so in England and here against South Africa also. But his composure and temperament was a joy to see. Shafiq came into the ODI side in England and you could immediately tell the young man was going to be here to stay. I was hoping to see him in the Test side much sooner as it was clear he had what it took to succeed. He got his chance in the 2nd Test though, in place of the out of form Umar Akmal, and he didn’t disappoint with a well played 61 in the first innings.

The biggest positive after the performance of our batsmen was the captaincy and personal performances of Misbah Ul-Haq

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Pakistan have made a number of changes to their Test squad for the two-Test series against South Africa starting this Friday. The most surprising is the inclusion of Adnan Akmal, brother of Kamran and Umar. Adnan, who is the second youngest of the three, keeps wicket and was called in as replacement for Zulqarnain Haider. Regarded as more of a specialist wicket-keeper, Adnan has been quoted as saying that he believes he is the best wicket-keeper in Pakistan. I’m not sure what older brother Kamran will think of that but I guess we will soon find out about the younger man’s credentials.

Want your child to play for Pakistan? Name him Akmal!

Adnan averages just under 23 runs with the bat in the domestics, which is 11 fewer than Haider and 7 fewer than his brother Kamran. If he is any good at keeping though, expect him to cement a place in the side as Zulqarnain has gone into retirement and Kamran is well known for his blunders with the gloves. It means it is a complete turnaround for the Akmal family

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Whilst the shortcomings of our batsmen have in the past been covered to some extent by our bowling prowess, now that our bowlers are having a hard time of things, it’s obvious we’re falling even further short of the mark. Of all the specialist bowers, only Shoaib could claim to be bowling well at the moment and he seems to be stuck together with bandages and supports these days.

My team: Hafeez, Shafiq, Younis, Misbah, U. Akmal, Razzaq, Afridi, Zulquarnain, Gul, Ajmal, Akhtar.

A number of things need to come off for Pakistan to be challenging in this ODI series against a powerful and adept One Day South African side; a side which has won it’s last five ODI matches.

Firstly, our openers need to form a partnership of at least 50 even if it comes up in the 14th over. With wickets in hand and Razzaq and Misbah (hopefully) coming in lower down, the score can be accelerated later on. Wickets in hand will also allow Umar Akmal to play his more natural and attacking game rather than getting confused and stuck at the crease trying to throw down the anchor. Younis also needs to quickly find form and glue the innings together.

As for the bowlers; Gul needs to step up to the mark and help out Shoaib, and Saeed Ajmal needs to rediscover his wicket taking abilities. Maybe concentrating on conventional spin and bowling slower will help

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Coach Waqar Younis has said that fielding will be a priority in the upcoming games against South Africa in the UAE. With the pre-tour camp placing particular emphasis on fielding, and coach Ijaz Ahmed holding the specific title of fielding coach, it does seem that a lot of time and effort is being given to improving the players’ fielding once they are in the international side. But what about what happens before that? What about the youth systems, the academies, the domestic sides? Are they getting this kind of help and attention too? By the time the players make it in to the international side, bad habits would have already set in. Surely it makes sense to tackle the fielding issue much earlier in a player’s development? How much improvement is it possible to see in a cricketer once he’s made it this far?

Pakistan street cricket - Waiting for a bat and a bowl

Yet the introduction of youngsters has seen some fielding improvements in the national side, but that is just mostly through athletic ability rather than good fielding technique. Some of the youngsters are still found wanting every game. There are signs that they are trying though. In the recent One Day series’ in England, we saw Umar Akmal take the field in football boots

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England had no answer to Gul's reverse swing

A quite brilliant spell of swing bowling from Umar Gul clinched Pakistan the third ODI against England at the Oval. Gul finished with figures of 6-42 which included three bowled dismissals. Through certain parts of the Test series and the previous two ODIs, Gul has looked a shadow of the man who holds the accolade of being the best bowler in Twenty cricket – the form of cricket which is harshest on bowlers. Gul does seem to be one of those bowlers that needs to be near optimum fitness in order to perform at his best. A few niggles whilst he has been over here in England may lay claim to why he hadn’t shown the type of bowling he showed today.

At most points throughout the England innings it seemed as a forgone conclusion that England would knock off the runs and go into a 3-0 unassailable lead. Indeed, Billy Doctrove who saved Andrew Strauss and England in the last game tried his best to do so again today when he for some reason did not refer a stumping appeal to the third umpire. Luke Wright was the batsman and Umar Akmal, deputising for his injured brother behind the stumps, did very well to time the stumping just as Wright’s foot was off the ground. Rather than go up to the thrid umpire and make sure, Doctrove immediately said no as Akmal appealed.

Earlier in Pakistan’s innings, there was a far less convincing appeal by England, and one that would be far less in line with the spirit of the game, when Shahid Afridi took evasive action to a throw which struck his bat and went onto the stumps. Docrtrove walked over to the stumps to replace the bails and seemed as if he wasn’t going to even consider it as a run out until Stewart Broad queried it. After taking a few seconds to think about it, Doctrove

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Pakistan 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.

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