And what about poor old Azhar??? Why is he not in the team??? I think he is much better than any of the new youngsters in the team.
Wisden Comment
A flamboyant allrounder who was brought into international cricket as a 16-year-old legspinner and surprised everyone but himself by pinch-hitting the fastest one-day hundred in his maiden innings. Shahid Afridi is a compulsive shot-maker. This is exciting while it lasts but is too often his undoing. An Afridi virtuoso is laced with fearless lofted drives and short-arm jabs over midwicket. He is at his best when forcing straight and at his weakest pushing at the ball just outside off. Afridi’s legspinners are underrated but he boasts a vicious faster ball, and his allround skills are completed by agile fielding. His batting version of Russian Roulette too easily allows Pakistan’s selectors to drop him when he is talented enough to be moulded into a world-class allrounder. He also possesses the firmest handshake in international cricket.
If Wisden believe he can be moulded into a world class all rounder, then why isn't he????
Wisden Comment
Azhar Mahmood, the right-arm medium pace bowler and middle order batsman of immense potential, made his entry into the Test arena with no less than a bang. Playing in his first Test against the visiting South African team in 1997, he made 128 in the first innings and 50 in the second without being dismissed on either occasion.
Azhar has talent in abundance. As an all-rounder of great utility, he is a captain's player who can deliver the goods in both forms of the game - a middle order batsman of enormous talent and a seam bowler who can chip in with wickets in the time of need.
Now what you ppl gotta say bout this???
i dont see any talent in razzaq, but he comes in handy sometimes. he has recently lost his original form. as for azhar, the poor guy is a victim of our stupid selectors who are ignoring his performance in county, hope he is given a place in the team soon:bummer:
fully agreed:k:
:k: i wish aamir sohail was a guppy:hehe i bet he would be convinced that there is some talent in pakistan which is being ignored while some"takla" ppl are getting place in the team and are taking it for granted:mad:
It doesnt really matter what the damn wisden says as far as our team selection is concerned. They also called Warne's leg break that dismissed Gatting around the pads the ball of the century. Though I would pick Imran's indipper taking Gavaskar's off stump when he was leaving it the ball of the century or Akram's dismissal of Smith in the '92 final.
Azhar has been given a lot of chances speically in ODI's and he has failed to impress. He has shown some promise in tests but he is too flat a bowler and really dont justify his slection in the team as a batsman.
Razzaq on the other hand was going through a lean patch but he seems to be coming back in form. He has performed very well for Pakistan over the years. His bowling lacks the usual nip that he had but hopefully he will pick it up again.
Shahid Afridi has also shown what he is capable of doing but he is way too inconsistent. Secondly I dont know ehre he would fit in the team right now. We already have Shoaib Malik and Razzaq in the team and I think putting another all rounder in might not be very wise. Though the way Hafeez has been performing latley I wouldnt mind Afridi in the team. The both can score same number of runs but atleast Afridi wont waste as many balls as Hafeez does. The only spot Afridi can play on in the current team in as an opener. The only question is how many more chances should he get. I know he is young but he has played close to 200 ODI's and if he still hasnt played upto his potential then when will he??
So many defenders of Afridi 
For God’s sake, look at Azhar’s performance in recent Pakistan’s visit to England… he was performing brilliantly in county upto that point, now show me his peformance from him for our team!! it was negligible. Please, stop saying that he is playing so brilliantly in county.
Thanks
HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Wake up LahoriMunda, in which century are you living in?
Ever thought why Australia or South Africa are so successful? They are full of all rounders. Look at the Australian team
- A. Gilchrist
- M. Hayden
- R. Ponting
- D. Martyn
- M. Bevan
- I. Harvey
- S. Watson
- B. Lee
- A. Bichel
- G. McGrath
- S. Warne
- J. Gillespie etc. etc.
Almost all these players are all rounders
Look at SA
Andrew Hall, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Jacques Kallis, etc. etc.
ODI cricket is all about all rounders. Think it over
Come on people, Afridi aint that bad
Especially since this is the era of All Rounders
Look at Aus and SA and you will realise yourself
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by iqsoft: *
Come on people, Afridi aint that bad
Especially since this is the era of All Rounders
Look at Aus and SA and you will realise yourself
[/QUOTE]
are you a relative of afridi?
^^ or Afridi himself?? 
anyways yes i agre, he should be given a final chance under Rashid, Inzimam and importantly Miandad. coz it was him that brought some measure of consistency in Afridi during his prev coaching stint!
As always…I agree with you Saby Baji 
:nono: 
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by iqsoft: *
HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Wake up LahoriMunda, in which century are you living in?
Ever thought why Australia or South Africa are so successful? They are full of all rounders. Look at the Australian team
- A. Gilchrist
- M. Hayden
- R. Ponting
- D. Martyn
- M. Bevan
- I. Harvey
- S. Watson
- B. Lee
- A. Bichel
- G. McGrath
- S. Warne
- J. Gillespie etc. etc.
Almost all these players are all rounders
Look at SA
Andrew Hall, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Jacques Kallis, etc. etc.
ODI cricket is all about all rounders. Think it over
[/QUOTE]
You should wake up softy... its an insult to some of the names mnetioned above to be compared to Afridi. Anyway most of the players that you mentioned above are not really all rounders. Why dont you go and learn what an all rounder is. An genuine all rounder should get in the side on both batting and bowling skills.
The names you mentioned above are primarily either a batsman or a bowler who could do a little with either ball or bat. For instace Pullock is a world class fast bowler who could bat a bit too but he cant make it into South African side primarily asa batman.
The only person that could be considered a true all rounder from the above mentioned names is Kallis. He could get in the side as a bowler or a batsman.
Klusner is not in the team anymore. Bevan is an excellent batsman but only a part time bowler. Warne and Lee allrounder??? what are you smokin these days buddy.
Afridi does not merit a place in the side for either of his skills. He can not justify being in the team as a specialist batsman who can bowl a bit or a specialist bowler who can bat a bit. He is somewhere in the middle. Yes, he is a good fielder but that alone does not get anyone a place in the side, unless perhaps you are Johnty Rhodes.
LahoriMunda, mate, it is you who seems to be on a high or something. Take a chill pill man. Use your brain and think it over. You don't call Pollock an all rounder?? You don't call Klusener an all rounder?? What do you expect, eveyone to average 50 with the bat and 25 with the ball (like Kallis). Open your eyes pal. This ain't a dream. In ODIs, even someone like Brett Lee or Andy Bichel are genuine all rounders. They call wield the bat and score quickly at the end. Compare then to what pakistan has. Umar Gul or Shabbir ???? Who can't even hold the bat properly???? As for Afridi, he is a perfect ODI all rounder, I never mentioned anywhere that Afridi should be included in a test team.
I ain't no relative of Afridi, but his all round abilities make him an ideal candidate for the ODI team.
hey Lahori, can't you read buddy, read what I wrote carefully and the read what you wrote?????
LahoriMunda says:
"Pullock is a world class fast bowler who could bat a bit too but he cant make it into South African side primarily asa batman."
For a start buddy, its Pollock with an O not a U, secondly I never said he was a batsman. I said he was an all rounder. An all rounder is a player who can do more than one of the three primary tasks in cricket (i.e. Bat, Bowl, Field). Pollock is a world class all rounder. He is excellent with the ball, handy with the bat and good in the field.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by iqsoft: *
As for Afridi, he is a perfect ODI all rounder, I never mentioned anywhere that Afridi should be included in a test team.
I ain't no relative of Afridi, but his all round abilities make him an ideal candidate for the ODI team.
[/QUOTE]
If scoring 20 runs in 5 balls in 9 out of 10 matches and getting out in the second or third over is the characteristic of a perfect all rounder than show me a bad all rounder. The best thing the PCB ever did was to get rid of him. Even his county does not think he is fit to play for them let alone represent a country.
For a start, he averages a little more than the 20 runs in 9 out of 10 matches
Batting & Fielding
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
176 171 7 3887 109 23.70 101.48 3 22 65 0
Bowling
O M R W Ave BBI 4w 5w SR Econ
1118.5 42 5151 131 39.32 5-40 0 1 51.2 4.60
These figures are not that bad. A wicket a match, with an economy rate just above 4.5 is not bad. Averaging almost 24 with a strike rate of over 100, at least he does not waste deliveries.
Let me compare this figures with other openers who have been tried as replacements for Afridi:
IMRAN NAZIR
Batting & Fielding
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
57 57 2 1340 105* 24.36 75.49 1 8 16 0
O M R W Ave BBI 4w 5w SR Econ
4.1 0 19 1 19.00 1-3 0 0 25.0 4.56
TAUFEEQ UMAR
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
17 17 1 426 81* 26.62 56.87 0 3 8 0
O M R W Ave BBI 4w 5w SR Econ
11 0 77 1 77.00 1-49 0 0 66.0 7.00
Work it out yourself.