Well we have seen so many being tried..
Yasir
Salman
Nazir
Farhat
Hafeez
Malik
Afridi
Akmal (not really an opener)
…and on and on..
is there any way we can find some one as prolific / outstanding / remarkable / ingenious as one of our most favorite openers in Paksitan’s history Saeed Anwar?
Any one coming up in our local circuits, or even from above.. we need to find some one soon!
Your thoughts…
Re: In search of: The next saeed anwar
I don't think people on this board will like me for saying this, but here it goes anyway. I don't think we should be looking for a Saeed Anwer. He was a flashy opener who could thrive in the presence of another settled opening partner, but wasn't a consolidator himself. Such players are of great value when you have at least ONE established opener, something we haven't enjoyed in ages.
All the people you have listed above, were picked becuase of their 'aggressive' batting style, and I still believe that each one of them could have succeeded had we had AT LEAST one solid batsman at the other end.
Before we can find another Saeed Anwar, we need to find another Shoaib Mohammed, Mudassar Nazr, or even better a Rahul Dravid. People who don't give their wickets away easily. Once we have that opener, we can afford to have a flashy, aggressive opener at the other end, and THEN it could even be Afridi.
This is where Woolmer and Inzi have made one mistake. You need to combine young players with experienced ones at the other end. We have been trying inexperienced flashy players at positions 1-3 which has resulted in frequent collapses. I think the decision to have Yousuf-Inzi-Younis come at 4,5,6 respectively, was purposely designed to lift the team in the event that it suffered a collapse. This approach worked for about a year. However, a better way would have been to pair young players with experienced ones UP THE ORDER, and reduce the possibility of having a collapse to begin with.
Re: In search of: The next saeed anwar
Dare I suggest a REVOLUTIONARY approach to Pakistan's opening problem: A new batting order (for ODIS):
Younis Khan - people didn't like him here becuase he was unproven. but he's been practically opening in every ODI lately anyway, and succeeding
Your flashy/aggressive/tulla-player- Malik/Hafeez/Butt in that order
Re: In search of: The next saeed anwar
I agree with sir dig alot
it was once considered that salman butt could be the next saeed anwar when he was in form
Re: In search of: The next saeed anwar
Utter Blasphemy
Saeed Anwar is the only and best opener Pakistan has ever had. Arm chair critics don’t even deserve to say his name. 
&%&
Re: In search of: The next saeed anwar
That line looks real good. I wish if they could try this in the champions trophy. I would open with Younus and Hafeez.
Here it goes.
Younus + Hafeez
Malik <— he has played at number 3 and I think he will be more affective
Yusuf
Inzi <— I think Inzi should be at 4 but than Yusuf sahib will under to much preasure playing at 5
Akmal
Razzaq
Afridi
Shoaib
Asif
Gul
Re: In search of: The next saeed anwar
Sir Dig dig…I can agree to a lot of what you said if you had not missed this one major point:
Saeed’s biggest score (a record still waiting to be broken in ODI history) of 194 against INDIA was nothing but accumulation paired with his natural timed and stroke played “aggression” if you can even call it that.
In general his strokes were mostly so sweetly timed that you could hardly even hear the bat-ball sound (and mind you stump mics were there) why because he hit mostly thru the line and with the swing. Compared to todays openers who are not all the time but still quite
a lot really trying to “hit” the ball out with “power”..
But again, the point of the thread is to discuss who can be a better opener for us like Saeed was for so long.
All in good spirit though, keep it coming…
Re: In search of: The next saeed anwar
And for God's sake, don't pair up two left handers ever again. It worked for a brief period when Anwar and Sohail were both at their peaks, but after them, I am growing tired of our left handers giving slip-catch practice. Ideally, we want a left+right hand combination, but if not possible, the second best option would be two right handers, and only then two left handers as the last option!
Re: In search of: The next saeed anwar
I have to agree completely with Sir Dig A Lot. Before we get a Saeed like opener, we need a more composed and safe bat at the other end. Once, there was a talk about training Asim Kamal as opener. I think (based on what I read) Kamal himself was not comfortable with the idea. and Woolmer once mentioned on his website, that he wants his batsmen to be comfortable playing at any position. I think he indirectly pointed at Kamal, because the question was related to him. Anyways Kamal is a safe bat, no question in my mind. Safer than Faisal or Hafeez. Woolmer is a very good coach but he is not perfect. However it amazes me how he keeps repeating this particular mistake.
Re: In search of: The next saeed anwar
Top thread AA and Sir Dig a Lot I agree to most of the points you made. You seem to have a good grasp of cricket. I don't see why Younis Khan could n't be tried as an opener. Afterall dravid does the same job for India. Although Saeed Anwar was a flashy batsman (as most left-handers are) he had the ability to play a long innings. Majestic timing and placement were his hallmarks. He was however a bit suspect against rising and sharply lifting deliveries. Butt for a time showed great promise but seems to be low on confidence at the moment which explains his lean patch lately but I feel that the PCB should persist with him rather than shun him for good. He needs to iron out certain weaknesses esp. against deliveries that leave him off the pitch.
So I would try this lineup in CT
-Younis
-Butt (I prefer a left-right combination)
-Yousuf
-Inzi
-Afridi
-Hafeez or Malik (but is it fair on those two)
-Razzaq
-Akmal
-Akhtar
-Gul or Rana or even Shabbir (should be available to play from Dec. 2006)
-Asif
Re: In search of: The next saeed anwar
Thanks GA – 
– again funny signature…
I would do this to your line up..I would split it into 2: ODIs and TESTS
Then you get:
CT and ODIs in general:
-Younis
-Butt - I agee w/left hander - But I can’t rule out Farhat as backup.
-Yousuf
-Inzi
-Malik
-Afridi (moved down one slot - as I don’t him steadying things if wickets fall)
-Razzaq
-Akmal
-Akhtar
-GUL or Shabbir (should be available to play from Dec. 2006)
-Asif
Tests
-Hafiz
-Butt --I agee w/left hander - But I can’t rule out Farhat as backup.
-Younis
-Yousuf
-Inzi
-Malik
-Afridi (good to capitalize if upper ones do their jobs)
-Razzaq
-Akmal
-Akhtar
-Asif
-Rana or Shabbir (should be available to play from Dec. 2006)
ok…now who is making us as selectors…
Re: In search of: The next saeed anwar
What Pakistan needs is a Mudassar Nazr nor Saeer Anwar. :) Definitly in test matches. People like Mudassar, Mohinder are more relevent in todays tets cricket that ever before.
Re: In search of: The next saeed anwar
I go with following
Hafeez (backup: Yasir)
Kamal
Younis
Yousuf
Inzi
Razzaq
Malik
Akmal
Rana
Akhter
Asif
Kaneria (#12)
Re: In search of: The next saeed anwar
Younis is most unlikely to open. He is one of the best bats in the team and must play at 3rd (if Malik is out), 4th, 5th place or better drop him instead of wasting him.
We have not checked following combination to open yet, I guess:
Shahid Afridi + Abdul Razzaq
Anyways,
Searching an opening combination means replacing Farhat with Hameed, Hammed with Butt, Butt with Farhat,....... It looks like these positions are used to extend contracts of a few players.
Instead of introducin a new player into the team (to open) every month, there is a need to stick with one combination. Give them at least 2 years and then get rid of them if they still struggle and try a new combination.
Re: In search of: The next saeed anwar
We have not checked following combination to open yet, I guess: Shahid Afridi + Abdul Razzaq
I am just shocked that you would suggest this.
I can't remember the last time when Pakistan had enough wickets in hand and still weren't able to bat aggressively and socre (or chase) a big total. The key is "number of wickets in hand".
140/3 after about 35 oves is the perfect platform to build on, and with the current Pakistani middle and late order, I have no doubt that we can even score 400 runs if we have enough wickets in hand by the time we get to 40th over.
The problem we have been having is that we lose too many wickets early in the innings, and our middle and late order have to play defensively to conserve wickets, instead of trying to score quick runs.
So how do you suggest to solve our weak opening pair: By combining Razzaq and Afridi? This is just outrageous. MORE OFTEN THAN not we'll be two wickets down within the first 15 overs, and the rest of the batsmen will spend all their time getting out of the hole instead of scoring easy runs. Pardon me for sounding condescending, but unless you are less than 20 years old, you should be ashamed of your cricket knowledge for having put forward this suggestion!
Re: In search of: The next saeed anwar
^^ second that ... need a some one who think they are meant for opening the innings..or have shown they can and not get out....
and Sir dig dig , Saeed did do that on more than one occasion, even someone like me who has little knowledge, can remember an innings when he not only scored but carried the bat in an ODI innings as well.
Re: In search of: The next saeed anwar
^^ Antumul: You are saying it a second time, and I think you must have misunderstood my comment about Saeed. I agree that he was a unique player who had the ability to score big innings and he often did, as is evident from his record. Happy now :) I was never criticizing Saeed Anwer, my previous comment only highlighted the fact that people long for Saeed's stylish strokeplay but forget the big innings part and often overlook it when searching for a new opener.
Re: In search of: The next saeed anwar
Re: In search of: The next saeed anwar
Instead of experimenting same openers that have been tested at least 10s of time, it is not a bad option to open with some players like Kamran, Afridi and Razzaq (all of them already a part of the team) and bring extra bats to follow them at the end of the innings.
Yes in ODIs, (Afridi +) last 10 overs usually decides the game for Pak but there is slow scoring (20 overs to 40 overs). Now if our openers waste initial overs, and the middle-order wickets are lost to balance that, there are no bats at the end, and we are out of the game. In general, to win a game, the openers must survive and keep a healthy run rate. Otherwise last 10 overs may be wasteless, most of the time, as we will be short on wickets.
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/showthread.php?t=230123
So if a new combination is used to open, then its OK, but it is useless to (stick with &) open with Farhat, Hameed, Butt,… (yes Butt was not used as often).
Re: In search of: The next saeed anwar
^^ I repeat, I really hope that you are under 20 years old if you are insisting on trying Razzaq and Afridi as openers. This is not a 12 over galli match man.