Pakistan have named their squad - Saqlain is out and Imran Nazir is in ( which IMHO is a very poor move - a batsmen for a bowler? and that too a ODI batsman?
For indians Zaheer is out of teh squad - Kaif has come in place of Gangs.
So how much difference does that make? I think india will feel the loss of Zaheer though he has not been in the wickets lately..
MULTAN: Chief selector Wasim Bari hinted on Wednesday there would be some change in the Pakistan team for the second Test against India but ruled out pushing the panic buttons after the defeat in Multan.
“We will be sitting down with the captain and coach this evening to discuss what has gone wrong in this Test. But we will not be pushing any panic buttons. Everything would be assessed sensibly and the team for the second Test would be announced accordingly,” he said.
The changes in the team expected are the addition of rookie fast bowler Rao Iftikhar in the squad as this time even the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has told the foreign curator Andy Atkinson to prepare a seaming and hard track in Lahore.
“We (selectors) have had a long discussion during this match and we have formed our own conclusions. But we also want to hear what the captain and coach have in mind. Their feedback is very important to us,” he added.
Bari was understandably disappointed with the performance of the team in Multan stating the fielding had let the bowlers down.
“I don’t think we can blame the bowlers for the defeat. There were number of chances offered on the first two days by the Indian batsmen and they were let down. I don’t think Virender Sehwag would have gone on to make a triple hundred and the situation would have been different if the chances had been taken by our fielders,” he said.
He conceded that he had proposed before the series the appointment of a specialist fielding coach for the team but said this decision was entirely up to the board.
**“It is no use criticizing or demoralizing the players now. What has happened has happened. We must also concede that India has played better than us in this match. There is definite need to regroup but it is more important to support and lift the morale of the players,” **he pleaded. However, even the chief selector was critical of the pitch prepared for the first test stating he was a bit surprised that Pakistan had not played to its strength.
actually the trend is bad...they played horribly in the last two ODIs and the same is continued in the tests.
but to write them off would be foolhardy..a lil bit usage of brain would be quite helpful..
My team for the 2nd Test is exactly the same as I would have picked for the first match assuming the pitch is going to have some grass on it.
1 Taufeeq Umar
2 Imran Farhat
3 Yasir Hameed
4 Inzamam-ul-Haq
5 Yousuf Youhana
6 Asim Kamal
7 Moin Khan
8 Mohammad Sami
9 Shoaib Akhtar
10 Shabbir Ahmed
11 Danish Kaneria
Three seamers should be enough unless it's a seamers paradise in which case Razzaq could play instead of Kamal. I prefer to play Kamal though as he looked like a decent player of spin bowling and Razzaq can't play leg spin.
Replacing Imran Farhat would be a bad move. Imran Farht scored more confidently than Taufeeq Umar. But than again Taufeeq is a proven test match player whereas Imran Nnazir is not. I would stick to both imran and taufeeq. Imran nazir cant play leg spin either. Rememebr how shane warne got him on most occassions in oct 2002? Kmble is no shane warne but its pretty dangeruos still
But i think They want to use Imran Nazir in sehwag mode. Best of luck to them if they actually do.
If Pakistan does not perform well with the bat or ball the first innings, I am not gonna waste my nights (11 pm to 6 am) watching them make blunders. This $hit ain't worth the loss of sleep.
These morons should not change team compostition. If anything bring Danish for Saqi and Asim Kamal for Razzaq. That's it. This should have been the original test eleven.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by funguy: *
These morons should not change team compostition. If anything bring Danish for Saqi and Asim Kamal for Razzaq. That's it. This should have been the original test eleven.
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by funguy: *
These morons should not change team compostition. If anything bring Danish for Saqi and Asim Kamal for Razzaq. That's it. This should have been the original test eleven.
[/QUOTE]
I think both me and ehsan picked that side for the first match. I don't think it's a good idea to bring in Nazir for a test match. It's crazy to have left him out of the ODI's then play him in a test. Taufeeq and Farhat might struggle against Pathan with the new ball but they should be stuck with. They are capable of getting hundreds, Nazir isn't.
If they play Nazir, it will only re-confirm my believe that the whole management team is stupid beyond belief. I love the way Nazir goes about his batting but this is not the time to bring him back. it is not fair to him either. If he fails, he will be out of the Pak cricket scene for a long time. And I can bet my bottom dollar he WILL flop.
If they include Imran Nazir then why not include Afridi as opener, and Razzaq and Malik as all rounder for the next tests, and we will be in full time reverse gear.
You brought up a good point about the timing and the hangovers from the lack of sleep. I completely agree especially because usually a headache and depression are part of the following day due to the performance of the Pakistani team.
I think brining in Imran Nazir would be a good point but what you wrote about the conditions that he would be brought in would be pretty tough and can jack-up his career pretty badly. But still i think something needs to be done with the batting. Imran Farhat is not a stud player at this level(thats my opinion). Imran Nazir being included is wierd. Why not bring in someone more experienced like Younis Khan or maybe even Saleem Elahi(who i think is trash), just someone with more experience who will not fold.
Only in Pakistan you would have an Imran Nazir opening in a test match and a Taufeeq Umer opening in a one day match.
As long as our cricket gurus are experimenting here, might as well, go with Afridi and Nazir opening pair. They can't do any worse than what Taufeeq Darpook Umer and Imran Nervous Farhat have achieved in the first test match.
