Re: 3rd ODI PAKISTAN v SOUTH AFRICA @ DUBAI - Nov 2, 2010
Captain I am not blaming anyone for the defeat just questioning the team selection and our whole strategy & approach during batting. I would take a fit Umar Akmal - true he can be reckless but he has better technique and hitting ability - over Asad Shafiq in ODI any day and both Yousuf and Gul should play. Farhat made runs today but his ultra go-slow approach also meant that the batsmen that followed him were under undue pressure to get on with it right from the start which might have contributed to their downfall as well. Pakistan traditionally have this bad habit of playing just tuk tuk in the opening overs and leaving everything till the last overs. We need to do better in the initial overs incl. first pp. No blame can be apportioned to Fawad for the defeat because he played his part with the bat. He sure made an error of judgement when he took that single on the 4th ball of the last over but he will learn from his mistakes and be better for it and the decision to send Ajmal ahead of Akhtar was another bad one IMO. And yes Younis and Afridi - well what can you say, any runs from him are a bonus - were the biggest disappointments today