Asia Cup 2004/ Pak Squad Announced

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Shoaib Akhtar picked in Asia Cup squad

Shoaib Akhtar has been picked in Pakistan’s 14-member one-day squad for the Asia Cup, their first outing under their new coach Bob Woolmer. The squad is along expected lines, though Imran Nazir edged out Taufeeq Umar and Shahid Afridi for the opener’s slot. The captain and vice-captain duo of Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana retain their responsibilities.

Umar Gul, who had been Pakistan’s match-winner in their second Test against India recently, has been left out of the side because his rehabilitation from injury is not yet complete. Pakistan’s bowling attack contains all their three much-vaunted fast bowlers, Shoaib, Mohammad Sami and Shabbir Ahmed. Naved-ul-Hasan, who bowls at a somewhat gentler pace, has also been picked. Abdul Razzaq gets a look in, but not that other mercurial allrounder, Azhar Mahmood.

The squad
Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Shoaib Malik, Yousuf Youhana, Abdul Razzaq, Moin Khan (wk), Younis Khan, Mohammad Sami, Shabbir Ahmed, Shoaib Akhtar, Imran Nazir, Danish Kaneria, Naved-ul-Hasan.

http://usa.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2004/JUL/011329_ASIA2004_07JUL2004.html

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I am surprised at the inclusion of Moin ahead of Kamran Akmal and also missing are Azhar Mahmood and most of all Asim Kamal. We have got to give Kamal a chance in ODI's.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ehsan: *
I am surprised at the inclusion of Moin ahead of Kamran Akmal and also missing are Azhar Mahmood and most of all Asim Kamal. We have got to give Kamal a chance in ODI's.
[/QUOTE]

Exactly my thoughts. Especially Asim Kamal deserves a place in the squad without any doubt.

44

Younis Khan given preference ahead of Asim, hmmmm. I hope no one gets injured in this tournament. Imran Nazir, cash kar le apna chance, warna Allah Allah kher salla.

45

It's very disappointing to see the exclusion of Kamran Akmal and Asim Kamal. Is this how the PCB rewards performances like the ones Asim Kamal displayed against India?

46

No Asim Kamal and Azhar Mehmood. :rolleyes: Why did they especially call Azhar to the camp if they weren’t even going to include hiim in 14-member squad. :2guns:

47

Over all the best squad we could come up with with the exception of Moin Khan/Kamran Akmal matter. I hope Moin khan regains his touch.

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Agarkar and Kartik dropped

Wisden Cricinfo staff

July 7, 2004

The Indian board has named a 14-member squad for the Asia Cup that contains no surprises. The only decision that was remotely arguable was the inclusion of Parthiv Patel as a specialist wicketkeeper, at the expense of a back-up batsman. The team management has recently emphasised that Rahul Dravid will keep wicket in one-dayers, which means that if any of the seven batsmen get injured, there will be no replacement, and either Patel or an extra bowler will play. Hemang Badani, Rohan Gavaskar and Ramesh Powar, the contenders for that slot, have all been omitted.

Badani, Gavaskar and Powar do have the consolation of having been named in the India A squad set to tour Zimbabwe later this month. But Ajit Agarkar and Murali Kartik have not even got that, being left out of both the senior and A squads. Explaining this decision, SK Nair, the board’s secretary, said: “They [Agarkar and Kartik] have got enough opportunities, and are part of the national set-up. We wanted to give newer players a chance in the India A side.” Kartik, who is hardly any more established than the likes of Badani, Sairaj Bahutule and Aakash Chopra, may not be too impressed by this explanation.

The India A squad will be captained by Bahutule and coached by Sandeep Patil and includes, among a host of promising players, the Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper, Dinesh Karthik, Delhi’s prolific opener Gautam Gambhir, and Mumbai’s tearaway fast bowler Munaf Patel.

**
Indian squad for Asia Cup
Sourav Ganguly (capt), Rahul Dravid (wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Parthiv Patel (wk), Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra.**

India A team for tour of Zimbabwe
Hemang Badani, Aakash Chopra, Gautham Gambhir, Sridharan Sriram, Rohan Gavaskar, Sairaj Bahutule (capt), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Amit Bhandari, Munaf Patel, Aavishkar Salvi, MS Dhoni, Ramesh Powar, Dheeraj Jadhav, Shib Shankar Paul, Yogesh Golwalkar. Coach: Sandeep Patil.

http://usa.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2004/JUL/011398_ASIA2004_07JUL2004.html

Pretty good team. Nice to see full strength Indian team after along gap. But then it is start of season. 1 or 2 matches and we will start seeing issues with Zaheer/nehra/Bhajju.

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Shoaib is pickedup again although only until yesterday they were saying that he is not 100% and accroding to our coach fitness was the basic criteria for the selection. I don't understand that if he is not fit right now then whats the point of taking him let him take some rest and pick someone else or give a newcomer chance. This has been a big problem with our team that the BIG players are given preferences instead of looking for a talent. Even if PCB has to drop somebody from the team they won't say that the player has not been performing instead they will make an excuse about his fitness or something. These players are not bigger than the game and the team on the whole look at Australia or india.
I really hope that woolmer get the things going and teach our players to be PROFESSIONALS.

50

i was so depressed after that lost against India
i dont wana..even see these matches!
but still
as a cricket lover cant stop
and a pakistani wish pakistan do win this time

51

I am amazed Asim Kamal is not there in the Pak team. He looked like a prolific run scorer to me during the India-Pak test series. Appeared to be cut out for one-day cricket. Is there something I dont know...?

However, I like Moin's selection ahead of Akmal. Moin is an asset with the bat in the one-dayers, his performance in the recent series not withstanding.

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^I totally agree, I was dissapointed that Kamal was leaft off the team. I think that they chose Yunis Khan over him, I can't imagine why. yunis has proven time and time again that he has little to no promise in being a match winning batsman. I don't know if there is another player in the world who bats in the middle order of a top level internation side and in 5-6 years still has'nt made a ODI century. That is absurd. Especially when you consider how often Pakistani batting collapses and exposes the middle order to long innings in an ODI.
Besides that, I also was'nt thrilled with Rana's selection. From everything I've seen there is'nt much to be excited about this guy. He is mediocre both at batting and bowling.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ehsan: *
I am surprised at the inclusion of Moin ahead of Kamran Akmal and also missing are Azhar Mahmood and most of all Asim Kamal. We have got to give Kamal a chance in ODI's.
[/QUOTE]

The Game Responds:

         *Et Tu, Brutus? How many times do I have to tell guppies to watch Kamran Akmal bat and then insist on his inclusion? Even Mohammad Sami shows better technique than this guy when it comes to batting, and I don't joke around with such comparisons. People, That Is All.*
54

A good squad...only change should have been was the Kamal should have been picked instead of Younis Khan. Younis is a useless batsmen...he's worse then afridi. At least Afridi is a match winner on his day.

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Younis is tipped as Inzi's blue-eyed boy. His inclusion proves that the captain does have a say in squad selection :)

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yeah witchdoctor is absolutely right. inzi trusts younis as although younis scratches around, he does hold one end steady while making 35 on lets say 50 balls. Knowing how prone pak team is to sudden collapses, Inzi insists on younis for this reason, whether valid or not. i have been told that this was one of the reasons why javed and inzi had selection disagreements. younis is too set in his own ways, and didnt heed to anything javed would try to teach or coach.

pak team has been a major disappointment, so no expectations in this tournament. if ary wasn't showing it for free, i am sure that probably many people won't even watch it. atleast wasim and waqar (both of whom had several years of cricket still in them, and both of whom should have been in the team) had more commitment than this creature called shoaib.

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Blast ‘will not halt Cup’](BBC SPORT | Cricket | Blast 'will not halt Cup')

Sri Lankan cricket authorities have said the Asia Cup will still go ahead despite a suicide bombing in the capital Colombo.
The Cup involving six countries is set to start next week but a bomb blast on Wednesday killed five people.

Sri Lanka Cricket Board spokesman Ray Illangakone told the BBC there was no reason to change the plans.

He said: “Not one cricket board has approached us and asked for a re-scheduling of the tournament.”

The tournament involving hosts Sri Lanka, defending champions Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong is set to run from 16 July to 1 August.

Illangakone said if the participating teams asked for more security, it would be provided for them.

" But its not a bad situation here and no teams have approached us so far regarding this," he added.

The secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India SK Nair said they were aware of the bomb blast.

He added: "Security is a matter of concern, though it was not discussed at the selectors meeting.

“We will be coordinating with the Sri Lankan board on this issue.”

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so who'll be sitting on the benches with naveed and imran nazir????
will it be malik or younis or kaneria????

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by armughal: *
so who'll be sitting on the benches with naveed and imran nazir????
will it be malik or younis or kaneria????
[/QUOTE]

I guess it´s gonna be Danish.

60

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by armughal: *
so who'll be sitting on the benches with naveed and imran nazir????
will it be malik or younis or kaneria????
[/QUOTE]

i guess its going to be kaneria