I would like to see Butt dropped for tomorrow’s game
My team will be:
Imran Nazir
Kamran Akmal
Mohammad Hafeez (can’t drop him after today’s bowling performance although he was a bit expensive in his second spell)
Younis Khan
Shoaib Malik
Shahid Afridi
Misbah-ul-Haq
Fawad Alam
Asif
Umar Gul
Sohail Tanveer
However all is not lost if we lose against Australia as long as we don’t lose by a huge margin and SLA don’t beat Australia.
Correction: I found out just now that no points are carried forward from the group stage of twenty-20 WC i.e. every team starts on 0 points in the super-eight round. So Australia currently have 2 points, Pakistan 2, Sri Lanka 0 and Bangla 0. If SLA beat Australia it will boil down to the net run-rate. Still we should try and win every game and not rely on the results of other games.
Re: 18th Game Group F: Pakistan v Australia at Johannesburg, Tuesday 18 Sept. 07
Pakistan possess the variation - Rameez Raja
would like to change the opening pair for the crucial game against Australia, maybe Pakistan should drop Imran Nazir because he seems to be low on confidence and either Misbah or Younis should move up the order.
Re: 18th Game Group F: Pakistan v Australia at Johannesburg, Tuesday 18 Sept. 07
Fawad has to come in for Butt.....is it time he gets tried out.
Butt: Slow Opening batsman+ good fielder
Fawad: Won all the awards for T20 07 in Pak(Player of Tournaments, Bowler of tournament and couple others), Aggressive batsmen+useful bowler+ cant be worse fielder than Butt.
Re: 18th Game Group F: Pakistan v Australia at Johannesburg, Tuesday 18 Sept. 07
It's much easier to beat the Aussies in a 20/20 than in an ODI or a Test. But then again, they aren't World Champions for nothing. It's time for Imran Nazir (if he plays) to show some magic. And Afridi is due for a big innings too.
Re: 18th Game Group F: Pakistan v Australia at Johannesburg, Tuesday 18 Sept. 07
butt is the vice captain so i doubt he’ll be dropped; nor do i think he should be dropped. lets not repeat our mistakes from the past; we have to stick to a opening comb. like glue. chopping and changing just lowers their confidence and their full potential is not harnessed.
aside from that: inshAllah Pakistan will win tomorrow .
Re: 18th Game Group F: Pakistan v Australia at Johannesburg, Tuesday 18 Sept. 07
The opening partnership should NOT be changed at this point. In a crucial match against the Aussies, you don't want to throw in a new player - the sheer pressure of the situation may be too much to handle for him. On the other hand, players who haven't clicked in the last two games have had all the live match practice that's needed for them to step up to the plate and perform now.
Re: 18th Game Group F: Pakistan v Australia at Johannesburg, Tuesday 18 Sept. 07
Aussies batting would be their main threat. Their openers looked in good touch whatever little I have seen of them in their games and Ponting is a class act. He has not done anything of substance in this tournament so far so he is due for a big one as well. We all know what Symonds is capable of and Hussey is also a belter. So they bat well and they bat deep. If we bat first a score of 189 like today might be competitive but I doubt it would keep Aussies at bay. We'll need over 200 agaisnt them. If we bowl first we need to try and restrict them under 200. All three seamers (Asif, Gul and Tanvir) have done well in the last two games. Asif has take a little more stick then the others but he has also provided the initial breakthrough in the last couple of games. Good thing is he bowls well to south paws so it might actually work in his favor that Gilchrist and Hayden open for Australia. If he can knock one or both over quick we'll be in with a real shout.
.