Re: ODI Squad for India Tour
PCB have tried many opener since 2003 but none are able to perform. After the world cup 2003 PCB tried Taufiq and Hafeez and they both failed. We tried Hafeez and Imran farhat, Imran tried to play too flushing and usually got out by silly mistakes. Imran * tullay baaz * Nazir got some many chances but his shot selection is too poor and tried to hit every ball. Yasir * fisherman * Hameed also has shot selection problem, he needs to stop fishing. Taufiq * test class opener * Umer*, *he had failed few times in the past, poor foot work and very poor technic.Salman * fluent English speaker * Butt poor performance...silly mistakes, as VC he should play with responsibility.
Every now and then some of these players have shown some sign of improvement but there is no consistence in their performance.
Where are the Genuine Openers? Is Pakistan not able to produce genuine opener or is it because selectors are not willing look beyond nazir, salman and Hafeez?
In my opinon we can only resolve this issue by requesting Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan to take the responsibly to open in ODI. Both of these players are very experience in ODI format of the game If they became the permanent opener than we should be able to bring in a solid middle order from domestic cricket and plug him in the team. Bazid Khan, Adnan Raza, Usman Tariq, Fawad Alam and Shahid Yousuf... anyone of them should be a good choice for middle order. I would also move Akmal up in the order so he is not waisted at 7th or 8th position.
We will have to look beyond Misbha (33 years old) and Mohammad Yousef (34 years old) who probably won't play for more then 2 years (2009).
1- Younis Khan
2- Shoaib Malik
OR
1- ??? / Afaq Raheem /Khurram Manzoor / Khalid Latif / Imran Ali
2- Younis Khan
3- Shoaib Malik
4- Mohammad Yousef
5- Kamran Akmal
6- Adnan Raza
7- Fawad Alam
8- Shahid Afridi
9- Shoaib Akhtar
10- Umar Gul / Muhammad Asif
11- Yasir Ali / Najaf Shah