Guys like Shoaib and Afridi are on fire when Miandad is coaching. I think Shoaib will steal the tournament.
Afterall, its the same venue where he dismanteled the Aussies for 137 runs, along with Saqlain.
**Team is announced for the tournament… Shoaib makes a comeback…
Shoaib and new faces in Pakistan squad for Sri Lanka
The Pakistan cricket selectors Tuesday named a 15-man team for next month’s tri-nation one-day series to be played in Sri Lanka between May 10 and 23. Chief Selector Aamrr Sohail will, however, brief the journalists on the composition of the team at the Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday at 1130 hours.
Squad:
- Rashid Latif (captain) (wicketkeeper)
- Taufeeq Umar
- Mohammad Hafeez
- Yousuf Youhana
- Younis Khan
- Shoaib Malik
- Yasir Hameed
- Shabbir Ahmed
- Shoaib Akhtar
- Mohammad Sami
- Umar Gul
- Abdul Razzaq
- Faisal Athar
- Faisal Iqbal
- Danish Kaneria.
Itinerary:
May 10 – Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Rangiri Dambull Stadium - Dambulla
May 11 – Pakistan v New Zealand at Rangiri Dambull Stadium - Dambulla
May 13 – Sri Lanka v New Zealand at Rangiri Dambull Stadium - Dambulla
May 17 – Pakistan v Sri Lanka at SSC Ground - Colombo
May 18 – Sri Lanka v New Zealand SSC Ground - Colombo
May 19 – Pakistan v New Zealand SSC Ground - Colombo
May 23 – Final (D/N) at R.Premadasa Stadium - Colombo
**
Good to see Yasir Hameed finally making a seior squad.Thsi guy has won many matches for his departmental side.
Shoaib’s recall is intersting to say the least. He has enough discipline problems not to be considered for the team right now but on the other hand it would be great to see two more-then-95 mphs men opening the bowling for Pakistan. No other team has this previlage. Hope They two make a great opening pair :k:
Faisal Athar i heard is a good backfoot player which is a rarity in pakistan opening batsmen. They are front foot kings but they suck at backfoot play.
It would be intersting to see if Shabbir ahmad has corrected his bowling action and his speed is as same as it was whe he initially came. He was around 92-93 those days. Lets see…
BEST OF LUCK PAKISTAN 
The guys dropped from the sharjah sqaud i can recall are Naveed-ul-Hassan, Naved Latif, Misbah-ul-Haq.
Among these Misbah-ul-Haq is the saddest exclusion, whenever he has played has proved he is a good oneday player.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by saby: *
**Team is announced for the tournament..... Shoaib makes a comeback...
**
[/QUOTE]
Shoaib the blue eyed boy has been picked again despite very ordinary performance during the trials. :(
Why has Misbah been dropped? I think it is a shame, looks like politics to me. The guy performed well whenever he was called upon.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ehsan: *
Why has Misbah been dropped? I think it is a shame, looks like politics to me. The guy performed well whenever he was called upon.
[/QUOTE]
I think Misbah is dropped only for one reason, he is not so good a player of spin bowling as faisal iqbal is. and In Sri lanka murali dharan and company will be waiting for a spin-attack. Maybe thats why Faisal was picked over him.
Any pics of the new guys plus stats ?
Mic check one two.. we recordin'?
Yasir Hameed & Fasial Athar are new faces in the squad. That's good. In every tournament, we should give youngsters an opportunity to explore their skills. Faisal Athar is a good batsman, and I think he'll be try on the 3rd position. Also, Athar was great in the PCB Trial Matches.
Dunno about Yasir Hameed. Would anyone like to shed some lights on him, please? I was expecting Yasir Arafat to be selected as he's an all-rounder; and our team needs all-rounder. Rightnow, we have got three-->Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez.
Some of you might feel surprised as Misbah-ul-Haq hasn't been selected. I think he was alright in the Sharjah Tournament but in the PCB Trial matches, he didn't perform as selectors expected. Faisal Iqbal, who hasn't been really good in the ODIs, performed superb in Trial matches. This could be a reason why Faisal Iqbal was selected instead of Misbah-ul-Haq.
Shabbir Ahmed had some bowling action problem. Hope, he learned from the coach. If my memory serves me correctly, when Ahmed made his debut, his bowling speed was around 90-95 miles, I believe(correct me if I'm wrong).
I honestly got no comment on Shoaib's come back in the team. He really gotta fixed himself. As long as he keeps his mouth shut, he'll perform 110%, I tell ya.
Batting line looks great, though, I will missed Inzi. :( This would be a life-time tournament for everyone, specially youngsters; and I'm dead sure they will perform at their best.
We wish them Good Luck.
I think he will play as an opener coz we sure need a solid-yet-fast scoring opener .. number 3 slot is booked for Faisal Iqbal, i presume.
Yasir Hameed has scored some match-winning centuries in important mactehs like Quaid trophy final, oneday cup final and in trial matches (correct me if i m wrong here)… I have been hearing his name as a fringe player since last 4-5 years.. lets hope he does well :k:
Exactly, and plus the spinners issue where Faisal has an edge over Misbah, and spin is going to be major issue in SRi Lanka.
Yesh he was this fast, lets hope his speed isnt affected like Zahid’s was after his come back.
man we just kicked Sri Lanka’s ass and they’re back for more. 
GO PAKISTAN!
**Faisal Athar Career Statistics:
FIRST-CLASS**
(1998/99 - 2002/03; last updated 29/04/2003)
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 27 45 1 1603 167 ** 36.43** 4 7 23 0
O M R W Ave BBI 5 10 SR Econ
Bowling 2.2 1 11 0 - - 0 0 - 4.71
**LIST A LIMITED OVERS
(1998/99 - 2002/03; last updated 27/04/2003)**
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 15 15 0 456 91 **30.40** 0 3 9 1
O M R W Ave BBI 4w 5w SR Econ
Bowling - - - - - - - - - -
Note: No Faisal Athar pics available on net.
[thumb=B]yasirhameed.JPG[/thumb]
Yasir Hameed
**Yasir Hameed Career Statistics:
FIRST-CLASS
(1996/97 - 2002/03; last updated 28/04/2003)**
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 61 96 6 3311 207 **36.78** 7 16 45 0
O M R W Ave BBI 5 10 SR Econ
Bowling 121.5 11 527 6 87.83 2-46 0 0 121.8 **4.32**
**LIST A LIMITED OVERS
(1995/96 - 2002/03; last updated 27/04/2003)**
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 50 45 7 1271 109 **33.44** 2 6 19 0
O R W Ave BBI 4w 5w SR Econ
Bowling 55.4 272 13 20.92 **4-38 2** 0 25.6 **4.88**
I take my comments back. Yasir Hameed has been included in the squad as an all-rounder. 
By looking at the stats in First Class Cricket and Limited Overs, both Athar and Hameed are perfect. :k:
saby, I gotta tell ya something. Mohammad Hafeez - Faisal Athar duo will work as you said. Both are right-arm batsmen. Taufeeq Umer has struggled as an opener and so did Faisal Iqbal on 3rd spot. I don’t think Iqbal and Athar will be playing together in the same match. There must be some kinda switch/replacement between them as 4th, 5th spot is fixed for Yoyo and Younis Khan, therefore, I assumed on 3rd spot, it could be Taufeeq Umer or Faisal Iqbal.
Good to see the new look squad, very surprised not to see Mizbah not in the squad, I thought he was a good batsman. Him not playing well against spin is just the excuse.
How can a young player improve his batting against spin when he is not exposed to it.
Muhammad Shabbir was never fast, he is more like Razzaq, maybe a little faster.
I saw him the very first time in Sharjah under Moin Khan's captaincy, and he is pretty ordinary bowler.
The only disapointment for me is Taufeeq I don’t like this guy unless he improves, he had so many chances I wonder why they are still keeping him.
Can’t wait for the tourny to start, 2 weeks. :k:
I think they are under the impression that Taufeeq Umar will become a better player as time goes by. If you want real talent and the future of Pakistan cricket, they should be performing like match winners from their first couple matches.
Taufeeq has been part of the Pakistani side for a year now and he has yet to improve.
I think he is definite test material.
Controversial Shoaib named for tri-series
By Imran Naeem Ahmad
ISLAMABAD, April 29: The bad boy of Pakistan cricket, Shoaib Akhtar, was on Tuesday controversially recalled to the national squad for next month’s triangular tournament in Sri Lanka.
After being dropped for the Sharjah tournament earlier this month because of a dismal showing in the recent World Cup in southern Africa, Shoaib earned the selectors’ nod as did uncapped duo of batsmen Faisal Athar and Yasir Hameed and fast bowler Shabbir Ahmed.
Chairman of the PCB, Lt Gen Tauqir Zia himself announced the squad at the KRL Stadium for the tournament that runs between May 10 and 23 and also involves Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
The squad sees four changes from the side that won this month’s Sharjah Cup under Rashid Latif with batsmen Misbah-ul-Haq and Naved Latif, all-rounder Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan and fast bowler Mohammad Zahid out. They have made way for Faisal and Yasir, and pacers Shoaib and Shabbir.
Faisal, a right-handed batsman, made his first class debut in the 1998-99 season and has scored 1603 runs at an average of 36.43 with four centuries. He plays for Hyderabad and Sui Gas. In domestic one-day matches, he has 456 runs to his credit in 15 outings, averaging 30.40.
Yasir on the other hand plays for Peshawar and PIA. He is another right-handed batsman has scored 3311 runs in 61 matches at an average of 36.78 with his highest score being 207. In domestic one-dayers, he averages 33.44 having scored 1271 runs with 109 his best.
Shabbir, who was charged for chucking by match referee Peter van de Merwe of South Africa in Toronto in 1999 and was finally cleared by Michael Holding in 2000 is also in the party, which Gen Tauqir hoped would do well in Sri Lanka.
Pakistan are due to play the hosts in their first match on May 10 and will then take on New Zealand the following day.
While Gen Tauqir said he expected the team to put in their best, he warned the players that a small case of indiscipline would mean the first flight home. “The team management has been told not to tolerate indiscipline and send the player home as quickly as possible.”
Meanwhile, responding to a question on the continuing omission of upcoming all-rounder Yasir Arafat, Gen Tauqir said that since there will be turning wickets in Sri Lanka, another all-rounder Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan, who plays for Allied Bank, had also not been included. “Obviously if he is not in, there was no point in taking Yasir along.” But the General made it clear that Yasir could walk into the squad any day now. Both players were however not on the list of probables that had been named for the camp at Lahore.
Squad: Taufiq Umer, Mohammad Hafeez, Faisal Athar, Yasir Hameed, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Faisal Iqbal, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik, Rashid Latif (captain), Danish Kaneria, Umar Gul, Mohammad Sami, Shoaib Akhtar and Shabbir Ahmed.
http://www.dawn.com/2003/04/30/spt4.htm
So much for a new selection comittee when General selects on his own. We can kiss rebuilding process goodbye as long as this guy’s in charge :rolleyes:
Dropping Misbanh was stupidity.
Over all decent team.
Misbah
I think Misbah should have been on the team also. He's obviously better than Faisal Iqbal, but he's a shoe in for every tournament. Happy to see Shoaib back, hope he's got his act together.
Tufeeq Umar has been really ordinary ever since he's started on the team. I think he's a better test player. I don't understand the justification for replacing Imran Nazir with him last Sept. And now that they're ready to give players time to mature I'd love to see Imran back on the team. Just hope he gets his act together soon also! I can't understand the motivation for not wanting to try out.
So why is it that they've moved Yo from #3? He has his best average there and Faisal Iqbal is not good enough to play there. He's really slow.
Mohammed Hafeez is great though, just hope he starts transfering the strike faster and that we get someone better to open with him. Looking forward to seeing these new guys perform.
Good luck Pakistan!!
Just 11 more days!
Misbah is a good batsman.....should have been included
You have been banned again???
Misbah should have replaced Faisal Iqbal. I hope they try/bring back other openers soon. Its not really required to play slow until 35 overs if we can find a charging opening which would mean play fast in first 15 overs, then just keep moving innings at 3-4 runs per over than fast again after 35 overs.
No Thrash Talking From Akhtar.
Pakistan recall Akhtar
From correspondents in Islamabad April 30, 2003
“I will serve the country to the best of my abilities,” said Akhtar.
“If my well wishers are unhappy I will do my best to make them happy with my performances and behaviour,” he said.