Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
Yup…who can forget the sight of those deadly reverse swinging toe crushing yorkers he bowled. The batsman lying on the pitch and the stumps shattered.
One of the greatest sights in cricket…ever.
Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
Moin Khan can’t bat 11 times. 
Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
My All Time Pakistan 11 Team Manager: Ehsan Bhai 
Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
yes i know that much…but he can Wicket keep can’t he?..and its not just his Wicket keeping that makes him so brilliant, it’s his whole attitude and responses towards each game he plays/ed. It’s important to judge a player of any sport based more on just their ability to hit or score a few good runs/goals and whatnot. I truly believe this man is the pinnacle of excellence in his ability to keep the team going, after all their is no “i” in team.
Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
Waisey aaps kee baat hai, I am a great fan of Moin. Ask Saby, we always fight on Moin. But he is no match to Wasim Bari. I have seen both play. Moin is a better batsmen, but when it comes to keeping no one in Pakistan comes close to Bari. In the 70’s he was known as the second best wicket keeper in the world after Alan Knott of England.
Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
Unfortunatly im too young to comment on Wasim Bari’s wicket keeping and cricket life in general, i don’t recall ever watching him play I have however heard of him and i suppose should make a consious effort to watch him in action. You see, im fairly new to this supporting Pakistani cricketers, my mother, bless her, used to make us support England instead of Pakistan, she believed that we should support our National team and basically liked upsetting my dad
Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
^ Stick to this forum and you will learn a lot about Pakistan's cricket. :)
Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
im not so sure i want to anymore, nobody understands my love for Moin :( and plus iv given up on trying to keep up, theres always too much to going on for me to understand everything. Iv even given up on Football and Boxing...i suppose i should stick to being a girl and concentrate on buying shoes.:D
Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
shoaib doesn't deserve to be in that team
Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
Here is my Best Pakistan Eleven of all time, and I will explain in detail as to how I came to my decision:
First the competing candidates for each spot in the Eleven (Based on their respective records, averages and scoring when it mattered the most):
Openers:
Hanif Mohammad
Shoaib Mohammad
Mudassar Nazar
Saeed Anwar
Honorable Mention, but not good enough to be even considered: Sadiq Muhammad, Majid Khan, Aamir Sohail
Middle Order
Zaheer Abbass
Javed Miandad
Saeed Ahmed
Salim Malik (We are evaluating their ability and record as cricketers, not model
citizens)
- Inzimamul Haq
Honorable Mention, but not good enough to be even considered: Yusuf Youhana, Ijaz Ahmed
Wkt Keepers
Imtiaz Ahmed
Wasim Bari
Tasleem Arif
Saleem Yusuf
Moin Khan
Rashid Lateef
Allrounders
Imran Khan
Wasim Akram
Asif Iqbal
Mushaq Muhammad
Mudassar Nazr
No honorable mentions
Spinners:
Abdul Qadir
Iqbal Qasim
Tausif Ahmed
Mushtaq Ahmed
Saqlain Mushtaq
No honorable mentions
Fast Bowlers:
Fazal Mehmood
Imran Khan
Wasim Akram
Waqar Younis
Honorable Mention, but not good enough to be even considered: Sarfaraz Nawaz
Out of these 23, we have to consolidate a playing 11, and here is my Eleven:
Openers:
Hanif Muhammad
Saeed Anwar
Hanif Muhammad provides the sheet anchor role as well as the willingness and the determination to occupy the crease, that is all so scarce in the modern Pakistan batsmen. Not to mention his 337 against West Indies in West Indies against a attack that included Wes Hall, Charlie Griffith (the most feared fast bowler of his era), Sobers and Gibbs and that too on steam rolled pitches of West Indies and after you have been asked to follow on. In my opinion the best innings by any Pakistani.
Saeed Anwar, for his attacking play, a perfect foil to the subdued Hanif Muhammad, his ability to play all around the wicket, his being a left hander, and his off side play, which have never been a particular forte of Pakistani batsmen. Not to mention that he scored centuries against all top opponents on their turf and most importantly in winning cause, not dead rubbers. His 188 not out against Indian in Calcutta, 176 against England at the Oval, and his 118 against South Africa at Durban all in winning causes stand out the most.
Zaheer Abbas, simply because there have not been any number 3 in Pakistan's history who scored as prolifically as Z did, and his 2 double hundreds against both England and India do not hurt either. But he did have a chink in his armor, New Zealand, averaged the lowest against them.
Javed Miandad, need I say more. The street fighter, never say die attitude. All the shots in the book and some, his improvisation peerless, reintroduced the reverse sweep after it had laid dormant for years. His centuies against all opponents and winning causes. Highest average amongst the pakistanis, in both ODIs and Test. Most test runs by a Pakistani. Six double centuries, only Bradman, Wally Hammond have more. One of two players in the history of tests whose averge never dropped below 50 throughout their career. A complete batsman in both forms of the game. The best batsman produced by Pakistan. And the way things are looking for batting in pakistan, will be the best for a long time to come.
Now here comes probably the most contentious and controversial decision to make, who to pick as your number 5. Three candidates to chose from Saeed Ahmed, Saleem Malik and Inzamam. From the outset I will drop Inzamam, because, I think his non-challant, absent minded attitude and disinterested attitude would not fly in any top class team, his running out of his partners does not help either. But most importantly is his inability to score when it matters the most. Plus his mediocre record against top teams is his undoing, he averages 34 against Australia, 34 against India and this average drops to 23 in India, 33 against South Africa drops to 27 in South Africa. The highest averages he has are against Bangladesh and New Zealand, not really the top teams. So the contest is between Saeed Ahmed and Saleem Malik. For those of you not old enough to know, Saeed Ahmed, was a dashing middle order batsman a true world- class player and had he played for either India, Aus or England, we would have heard a lot more about him. He scored in excess of 500 runs in the same series in West Indies in which Hanif Muhammad scored his famous 337. Not to mention he was one of the fastest to have scored 1000 runs and 2000 runs in test cricket. Plus his spat with Dennis Lilllee adds a bit of a mystique and charm to his character, I admire that. Salim Malik, despite his short comings in other areas, was certainly a great player, in both versions of the game his destruction of the Indian bowling in that fateful one day in Calcutta speaks volume of his abilities. His wristy stroke plays were a treat to watch and also his ability to score when it mattered the most was also a factor I consider in chosing him over Saeed Ahmed, particularly his match and serises winning 214 against Shane Warne and the Australians stands out.
Keepers are another contentious position and here is a surprise for everyone, I would pick Taslim Arif, for the simple fact that he has an average of over 62 in tests, and his mighty 7 hour 210 against the Aussies stands out as his best. I would pick him over Bari any day and would even pick him over Rashid Lateef simply because of his batting prowess, a perennial defect in Pakistani cricket. Plus, Bari could’nt bat for his life if he had to.
Imran and Wasim Akram as well as Waqar Younis are all walkins. No question about it.
Now the only remaining issue is who to pick as the spinners. I have two spots left, and three to pick from Iqbal Qasim, Qadir and Mushtaq Muhammad. The easiest decision, but rather surprising to most amateurs and novices of cricket, but not so much to the connoisseurs of the game, is Iqbal Qasim, a left arm leg spinner with an average of 28, pretty good for spinners and in a side in which you are competing with other great bowlers for wickets, even better. Plus his record against the Indians, the best player of spin speaks for itself and also he provides a variety. We are down to either Mushtaq Muhammad or Qadir for the leg spinner’s spot. This is another tough decision. Even though Qadir was a world class spinner, could walk into any side, his average of 32 is atrocious to say the least and the Indians took a particular liking to him. In his place I think Mushtaq Muhammad, a competent leg spinner would have to do. Plus in a side which is stacked with bowling allrounders such as Imran and Wasim, to pick another specialist bowler would leave the batting even more vulnerable. Therefore, Mushtaq with his 10 test centuries and an average of 40 is a better candidate another Qadir.
So there you have it.
Hanif Muhammad
Saeed Anwar
Zaheer Abbas
Javed Miandad
Saleem Malik
Tasleem Arif
Mushtaq Muhammad
Imran Khan
Wasim Akram
Waqar Younis
Iqbal Qasim
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Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
^ im liking the fact that you at least mentioned Moin Khan, but love, did u have to go into so much detail?
Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
Dear, the only reason I went through all that trouble was to elevate the level of discussion taking place here, plus I was extremely preturbed by some of the names mentioned i.e. Majid Khan, Showboat Actor, Bari and etc. If minimulism the name of the game, then I will take a note.
Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
i hear you love, i was somewhat disturbed by some of the names mentioned aswell.
Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
Moin Khan sucks though.....
Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
ok, now youv just lost any respect i could have ever had for you...i.e your final team sucks. :)
Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
Kidding, I've met him a few times.....
Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
Che Guevara, god damn , thats the post of the year. Someone should pay you. I am going to browse this site and read that for fun at work tomarrow
My 11
Saeed Anwer
Hanif Muhammad
Zaheer Abbass
Javed Minadad
Inzimam
Salim "Slim" Malik
Imran Khan
Rashid Latif
Wasim Akram
Waqar Yunis
Abdul Qadar
Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
SirCheGuvera,
Thanks for making the effort to elevate the level of discussion. Since this was a light thread and people were generally not critiquing others choice, it was OK. But now that your highness has proposed the best 11 and elevated the level of discussion, let me point a few things about your 11, which goes as follows:
-
Hanif Muhammad
-
Saeed Anwar
-
Zaheer Abbas
-
Javed Miandad
-
Saleem Malik ???
-
Tasleem Arif ???
-
Mushtaq Muhammad ???
-
Imran Khan
-
Wasim Akram
-
Waqar Younis
-
Iqbal Qasim ?
There is no argument on the first 4. #5 and #6 spots should go to specialist batsmen and nobody would buy the logic of preferring Salim Malik over Inzi (except for a matter of personal likes and dislikes and you are free to make a choice). Otherwise, I don’t see why you are so allergic to Majid Khan. Even Saeed Ahmad would be a better choice at this spot.
The best ever batsman Pakistan could find in #5/6 spot was Asif Iqbal and you did not do justice by putting him the specialist allrounder’s category and then eliminating him. Just look at all his big scores and the circumstances in which he got those runs. His bowling was an addition to his batting and he could prove useful on seaming tracks.
Preferring Taslim Arif over Bari, Imiaz, and Rashid Latif…?? Test match cricket requires a specialist wicket keeper. You can’t afford to have someone who can make a 50 but drop vital catches/stumpings. Taslim Arif’s wicket keeping abilities, by no means, are anyway closer to the 3 mentioned above. And you chose him because of a double century on a dead track on which 1 single innings by both sides could not be completed. 13 wickets fell in the complete test match. what more can I say!
Preferring Qasim over Qadir is yet another debatable issue. In test match cricket strike rate is also important and not just runs per wicket. Qasim was more successful on spinning/slow tracks while Qadir, being a wrist spinner could prove effective in most conditions. However, I will not critique this decision too much since Qasim was also my favorite bowler 
Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
Well Asif Iqbal could have been easily included, but certain players' inclusion is predicated on the conditions a match is being played in. And in our case, we played and still play most of our cricket in the subcontinent, not too friendly to the seamers. Asif Iqbal's inclusion as an extra seamer is not prudent when you already have three of the best of all time. As far as his batting is concerned I rate it only marginally, if that better then Mushtaq Ahmed's batting and since Mushtaq was also a leg spinner, who after a long time, perhaps since the days of Kardar, instilled a fighting spirit back into Pakistan cricket when he was the captain, won against the windies, his inclusion cannot be understated, would be a good Captain/Vice Captain candidate.
Qadir's exclusion was difficult and I may have erred on that (besides there is only a marginal differenct between his and Iqbal Qasim's strike rates), but I do not regret excluding Bari. Bari should not even be mentioned, he was plain overrated. The real contest is between TA and RL, TA apart from his 210 against Aus, did have fighting socres of 90 and 45 against the Indians in India, where everybody else struggled in the series prior. The reason I persisted with TA is like I mentioned earlier, our inherent vulnerability in the batting. We need to bolster this, heck even Miandad could be pressed into doing the wkt keeping job. But I do agree to an extent that at the test level you need a specialist wkt keeper because the job is the most strenous and under appreciated. So I won't argue with Rashid Lateef.
Perhaps your aversion to TA is that he was a stoner.......
Re: Best Pakistani Test Team since 1952
Ponder shonder on this! Guys, 
Saeed Anwar
Amir Sohail
Rameez raja
Muddaser Nazer
Ejaz Ahmed v*
Imran Khan *
Rashid latif
Mushtaq Ahmed
Azhar Mahmood
Wasim Akram
Waqar Younis
Kaashhh 