For God’s sake and my sake, play three specialist bowlers if not four and PLEASE play six bowlers in total. Rana Naveed may have done okay in the end and made up for some shocking bowling with a couple of wickets but it baffles that we’re playing these dibbly dobblers when we have genuine pace merchants like Abdul Rauf, etc etc wasting away in domestic cricket.
And as before, Shoaib Malik and Razzaq should be expected to complete 10 overs COMBINED especially Razzaq. Razzaq’s bowling has totally gone down the tube since… So a sixth bowler is essential to make up for Razzaq’s lazy efforts. Playing an extra allrounder like Rana saab is not going to do anything for Pakistan. If the rest of the batting can’t, one Rana will sure as hell not. They should replace an unfit specialist (Shabbir) with a specialist.
If Shabbir comes back, he should take the new ball with Shoaib. Sami should come first change. I’m not sure if this should a permanent solution or not but at least for this ODI series, he must be “demoted”. He bowled very well towards the end of the inning. But in the start, his extra speed only serves to get the ball to the rope faster when the likes of Sehwag are in full flow.
And on other hand, one positive of having Shabbir open is that with his extra height, maybe he can get the ball up in the ribcage of the Indian openers and I don’t think they like those as much as they like fullish balls wide of off-stump. And secondly, since he’s primarily a line and length bowler, he might be able to stifle the runrate and that would bother the Indian batsmen especially Sehwag.
This is all the little green man told me for now. What did he tell you guys?
I totally agree. When I saw the team I was shocked. Which team in the world will play 3 all rounders and still be a bowler short. It is ridiculous.
I said when Paki team was announce that playing too many bits and peaces player isnt good. Play some specialist.
They should drop Farhat & Naved and briong back Afridi and Shabbir/Rao.
Both teams seem determined not to play spinners. The pacemen require the pitch to hold up. In a one day, particularly if you're bowling second, having a good spinner or two will be invaluable insurance.
For India in particular whose pace attack is somewhat useless, this is even more important.
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*Originally posted by Dhum Maro Dhum: *
And if you are spending all your time in GS like this, that would explain the mistakes!
Just kidding...no offense
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hey, I'm a PCB selector. I've got a God given right to pick the worst team combination possible majority of the times and also to screw over at least a dozen potential international players's careers during my tenure. It all comes with the territory. Try to understand yaar.
The bowling attack chosen today was wholly inadequate. You cannot go against one of the best batting lineup in the world with two regular bowlers. They need a minimum of three specialist and two or three all rounders.
The green man also told me that cut out those extras. Bowling 5 extra overs is no fun and makes no sense. Bowl within your limits. The two S’s should have this drummed into their heads.
nah, PP I wouldn’t drop Farhat just yet. He hit some beautiful shots today. Pity he couldn’t stay with Youhana otherwise Yoyo would’ve talked him through the innings.
The batting is fine. but it is very tempting to bring in one of Taufeeq or Nazir though that will unsettle our openers once again.
maybe getting a tattoo will help. right on the forehead - “I won’t bowl wides and no-balls” and give 'em a mirror to go with that. both of them seem to be obsessed with their hair anyway. I’m just brilliant.
I agree, Yasir guy doesn't seem to be comfortable facing C class pace attack on the home ground. He was shaky from the begining. Imran Farhat on the other hand was as confident as our great Saeed bhai used to be in home and abroad.
I think they should replace Yasir for Taufeeq. They are same kind of players, but technic and confidence wise, Taufeeq always inspired us. So he should get precedence. Its BS to say that he is a test player, he just proved it in the side match.
guys there is no way that Hameed will be dropped and he should not be either. He's been performing admirably for quite some time and in flow is quite a treat. Besides, you don't drop a guy who's been performing as consistently as Yasir has for just one bad match.
There has to be continuity and consistency if Pakistan is going to get anywhere. Look at teams like Australia- how much they stick with a core set of players. We must do the same with a guy as talented as Yasir.
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*Originally posted by sambrialian: *
guys there is no way that Hameed will be dropped and he should not be either. He's been performing admirably for quite some time and in flow is quite a treat. Besides, you don't drop a guy who's been performing as consistently as Yasir has for just one bad match.
There has to be continuity and consistency if Pakistan is going to get anywhere. Look at teams like Australia- how much they stick with a core set of players. We must do the same with a guy as talented as Yasir.
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I agree with this. If we have to accomodate Afridi, we will have to drop either Imran Farhat or Younis Khan. Younis Khan played really intelligently today so i would go with Imran Farhat. He has performed really well but we gotta adopt .horses for courses' policy.
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*Originally posted by sambrialian: *
guys there is no way that Hameed will be dropped and he should not be either. He's been performing admirably for quite some time and in flow is quite a treat. Besides, you don't drop a guy who's been performing as consistently as Yasir has for just one bad match.
There has to be continuity and consistency if Pakistan is going to get anywhere. Look at teams like Australia- how much they stick with a core set of players. We must do the same with a guy as talented as Yasir.
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^ I agree.Yasir Hameed and even Sami should stay. I would bring back shabbir to strengthen the lackluster bowling attack and drop naved. And yeah, maybe Afridi should be given a chance (can't believe I am saying this), and replace imran farhat.
I agree. I think after seeing Razzaq’s bowling the 1st ODI, we know how useless his bowling has become now. 9 over for 83 runs So the only reason for Afridi to come back would be as a sixth bowler, and if he can put some runs on the board, that will be a bonus. But to bring in Afridi, we need to frop Younis Khan or Imran Farhat. Who would you drop? Touch choice
i would love to bring afridi back into the team. if there is any chance for afridi to be successful, it will be on paki and indian pitches where ball does not move that much. i would like to bring him as opener and would like to stick with him for all matches. trust me, he could be our wild card and i am sayin this even though i am well aware of his dumbheadness.
for that purpose i would drop yasir hameed instead of imran. i have seen both of them playing and they r good players but i believe imran will be more valuable based on his better strike rate. If imran or afridi does not play well at all in next two matches, imran nazir should be tried.
Rana will be dropped even though i was impressed by his bowling. he seems very seasoned and clever bowler ( forget his first over. he only gave away 50 runs in next 9 overs and took 3 wickets). i guess shabir will come replace him. we can try pne more combination also and that would be bringing imran nazir in and dropping younis khan .
so here is my final suggestion. drop younis khan, yasser hameed and rana sahib and bring in imran nazir, shahid afridi and shabir ahmed.this way, we will have 6 bowlers with 4 specialists. afridi will open and imran nazir will be one down. trust me, nazir and afridi could be the real cards on these pitches.
Yasir Hameed should stay given he is not a big hitter or anything. He is a solid batsman and the pressure off scoring 7 an over was a reason for his wicket. I say take out Younis and bring in Afridi. We do need a sixth bowler. Rana should be replaced by Shabbir - specialist bowler.
The reason we had a tall batting order is because of our unpredictability. We played it safe to makre sure if there was a mini collapse there are batsmen down the order who can pull the team out of the trouble. At the same time weakend our bowling attack by overestimating the strength of Sami and Shoaib attack The assumption was that these two guys can claim early wickets and the rest bits and pieces of bowlers can easily apply the pressure on the batsmen.Now we learned the lesson. We aren't a superior bowling side. We are at mediocre level at best. We just cannot compromise anymore. Sami, Rana , Razzaq don't have any finish. We need to strengthen our bowling attack by bringing a sixth bowler.
So the only reason for Afridi to come back would be as a sixth bowler, and if he can put some runs on the board, that will be a bonus. But to bring in Afridi, we need to frop Younis Khan or Imran Farhat. Who would you drop? Touch choice 