PAK-SL Test series....(merged)

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Pakistan name two uncapped players

Wisden Cricinfo staff

October 17, 2004

Danish Kaneria: in the squad for the Tests against Sri Lanka © AFP

Pakistan have included two uncapped players for their two-Test series against Sri Lanka, which starts at Faisalabad on October 20. Riaz Afridi, a 19-year-old fast bowler, has been named to further bolster a pace attack which already includes Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Naved-ul-Hasan and Abdul Razzaq, while Zulqarnain Haider has been named as the understudy to Moin Khan, their regular wicketkeerper.

Both Riaz and Zulqarnain have been rewarded for consistent performances with the under-19 team. Riaz was Pakistan’s leading wicket-taker in the under-19 World Cup earlier this year, with 19 at an average of 12.73, while Zulqarnain finished with 11 scalps in the tournament and contributed handily with the bat as well.

“We have tried to strike the right balance in the Test squad and have included Riaz and Zulqarnian as a future investment,” Wasim Bari, the chief selector, told Reuters. “Moin Khan is the number one keeper but we feel it is now time to start grooming a new keeper and also because we have long tours ahead of us.”

Apart from Riaz and Zalqarnain, Pakistan have also recalled Imran Farhat, Asim Kamal and Danish Kaneria. Farhat was dropped from the one-day squad after the Asia Cup, while Kamal, a middle-order batsman, and legspinner Kaneria have both been regarded as Test specialists by the selectors. Shahid Afridi, Iftikhar Anjum, Salman Butt, Bazid Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq, who were all in the squad for the recently concluded Paktel Cup, have been dropped for the Tests.

Squad
Yasir Hameed, Imran Farhat, Asim Kamal, Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik, Moin Khan (wk), Shoaib Akhtar, Muhammad Sami, Riaz Afridi, Danish Kaneria, Zulqarnain Haider (wk), Naved-ul-Hasan.

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The match schedule:

20-24 Oct: 1st Test (Faisalabad)
28 Oct-1 Nov: 2nd Test (Karachi)

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No taufeeq :|

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Re: PAK-SL Test series....

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by armughal: *
Riaz Afridi, a 19-year-old fast bowler, has been named to further bolster a pace attack which already includes Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Naved-ul-Hasan and Abdul Razzaq
[/QUOTE]

Exactly what Pakistan needs...another fast bowler.

Jyaada hain to kooch border ke is taraf bhej do...

btw, whatever happened to Gul and that chucker- Shabbir Ahmed.

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Re: Re: PAK-SL Test series…

Gul is still recovering from injury, n FYI shabbir is not a chucker :rolleyes:

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where is taufeeq :(

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riaz afridi:


FIRST-CLASS
 (2001/02 - 2004/05; last updated 16/10/2004)
                      M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave 100  50   Ct  St
Batting & Fielding   14   17   1   235   66   14.68   0   2    1   0

                      O      M     R    W    Ave   BBI    5  10    SR  Econ
Bowling             400.5  104  1352   48  28.16  6-68    2   1  50.1  3.37

LIST A LIMITED OVERS
 (2001/02 - 2004)
                      M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave 100  50   Ct  St
Batting & Fielding   14   12   3   174   66   19.33   0   1    2   0

                      O      M     R    W    Ave   BBI   4w  5w    SR  Econ
Bowling             108.1   13   515   15  34.33  2-24    0   0  43.2  4.76
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zulqarnain haider


FIRST-CLASS
 (2003/04 - 2003/04)
                      M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave 100  50   Ct  St
Batting & Fielding    9   14   4   430   78   43.00   0   4   40   0

 LIST A LIMITED OVERS
 (2001/02 - 2003/04)
                      M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave     SR 100  50   Ct  St
Batting & Fielding   16   13   2   166   27   15.09  60.58   0   0   17   5
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somtimes bob woolmer doesnt make sense - y is salman butt not there and imran farhat is ??

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by akpower: *
somtimes bob woolmer doesnt make sense - y is salman butt not there and imran farhat is ??
[/QUOTE]

May be bob woolmer doesnt have any say in selection

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Yeah its surprise to me to see Farhat back. The guy definetely got a big Parchi. No matter how bad he performs, he comes back in the team.

On the other hand not including Salman makes Farhat’s selection more suspiciuos. Salman needs more exposure on home grounds and Faislabad was perfect stage for his test debut :smack: The guy has shots and patience. All he needs is more chances. Perhaps his career will remain in uncertainity, as long as Farhat’s ghost is hovering around the opening slot. Too bad that Pakistan can’t even try Salman at home, that too against SL.

Taufeeq prolly be an automatic choice had it not been for sticking with Yasir for so long. The guy is unfortunate. I still remember Great Khan praising this guy’s confidence, he still advocates him.

Thank God finally Kamran Akmal is out of picture and so is Younis Khan’s new venture as ‘Pakistani Dravid :rotfl:’. Younis needs to invest whatever he has earned in last 5 years from cricket to start a naswar wholesale shop in Mardan. :stuck_out_tongue:

Let see how this ZulQ guy is. I hope we will find a new Saleem Yousuf or Rashid Latif soon.

Good that Woolmar is taking Rana seriuosly as a replacement for Shabbir/Gul. Atleast he is delivering when Akhtar and Sami are struggling. He is consistant too, same as Shabbir, who can do long spells in warm weather for five days. We know this is something our main striker, Akhtar can’t do, even in crucial time during test. He gets unfit if he bowls more than five overs spell. We need bowlers like, Sami and Rana who can bowl upto 10 over spell if the spinners are hammered. Welcome back Keneria.

And Afridi is dropped for the obvious reasons. Thanks khocha for great job during ICCCT and tri-nation trophey :k: You have earned your space in the ODI team :slight_smile: IMO.

Glad to see Asim Kamal back. He is an asset for Pakistan in long run. Atleast he can play 6 more years easily if remains fit. He can be our batting backbone in middle order, helping our classical and stylish Yoyo. When Inzi will be gone next year (probably) Asim and Yoyo would be the main batsmen in the middle order who can prevent a collapse. I urge him to work on his fielding.

For first test my team will be:

1.Farhat (provided that his parchi will work, otherwise it would have been Salman or Taufeeq)
2.Yasir (give him another series to regain his form)
3.Shoaib Malik (if not banned for bowling, will be equally good with ball as well in test)
4. Inzi
5. Yoyo
6. Asim
7. Moin (in karachi it would be ZulQ, with bat both will not be counted newayz, any supporting role will be a plus)
8. Rana
9.Sami
10. Akhtar
11. Riaz Afridi

Yes, we need to drop Razzler from tests if we want to play four specialist bowlers and six batsmen. We can’t play with 5 batsmen in current fragile batting form. Two allrounders, Malik and Rana are enough in test. We need to play more and more specialist batsmen and bowlers as possible. Asim needs to be in the team, as he was useful against spinners as well as fast bowlers.

*If Faislabad’s wicket is going to support spinners (traditionally it supports pacers) then we might need to kick Moin out and let Asim take the gloves so we can sqeeze Danish in the squad. But that would be a very Bold step.

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^
Younis is in the team…and I wouldnt be surprised if Pakistan use him in the middle order for someone like Asim Kamal. Having said that, I would like to see Younis play in test matches…because he has a much better test record than a one day record. He is definetly not a one day player…and I think if Inzamam, Youhana, Asim and Younis all play in the playing 11, now that should a great middle order. But the inclusion of Imran Farhat :smack: :smack:

And I would not play Razzaq or Malik in Test Matches…They’re both big hitters…and Mallik’s bowling is suited for ODI’s. Just like how Danish does well in test matches but bad ODI’s it would be the same Malik. Players like Afridi, Malik, and Razzaq should be kept for the ODI team. They all get wickets because they bowling is tough to score from, and in one day game, batsmen must score fast, where as in a test match…you have all the time you need. Malik should be replaced by Danish, Razzaq by another geniune bowler, and since Gul/Shabbir arent availble, I would go with Riaz Afridi. And Afridi should be replaced by a specialist batsmen, someone like Asim. My test team would look like:

Imran Farhat <—:bailan:
Yasir Hameed
Inzamam - Ul - Haq
Yousuf Youhana
Asim Kamal
Younis Khan
Moin Khan
Naved - Ul - Hasan
Mohammad Sami
Shoaib Akhtar
Danish Kaneria

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I’m looking forward to da’ test series, hopefully Danny will improve on his impressive test record to date for Pak, i hope he makes it into the odi set up on a regular basis in the future too and riaz afridi is quite a talent he was quite a handful in the u19’s quest for the world cup and we won it in shtyleeee :jhanda:

anyways i agree with smoothie’s comments above + mate i feel sami also has a big PARCHI the guy can make in the starting x1 with ease, doesn’t need to take wickets regularly, can bowl as poorly as he wants cos he is MOHAMMED SAMI :k: :rolleyes:

now coming to razi’s continuous selection in the test team, ever since his hand injury he has definitely lost his bowling touch, he is just mediocre not a genuine all rounder anymore, still he can make it into the side on his past consistent batting performances against the likes of the kiwi’s but i believe he as of late has lost his batting spark to which i feel has kept him into the side. he just can’t take wickets anymore, he jogs in to bowl and the enthusiasm is non existent, it’s time we started to look for a GENUINE all rounder alongside shoaib malik cos frankly razi is not delivering.

i’m also surprised @ the ommission of teenager butt he played reasonably well in the recent paktel gsm cup {odi} i feel he did enough to merit selection into the tests squad! + his cover drives r top notch :k: even farhat isn’t as elegant in that department. one for the future no doubt. :insha:

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Anybody planning on streaming the test matches? This is the 1st time I am posting, so please help?

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I’m so disgusted with their unpredictabilty and poor efforts that I don’t anticipate any enthusiasm any time soon. Test cricket is exactley what it is ‘Test Cricket’
The way Yoyo got out
The way Inzi got out
The shot selection of Moin khan
The sudden burst of stupidity of Yasir Hameed
The midecore knowledge of the on-field Captain
Lack of ‘Tactical Planning’ apart from givin Naved a new ball,
the list goes on and on,
and the Next series against the Ausies, Allah reham ker hum sab per,

My prediction is that Sri-Lanka will win this test based on their better endurance and commitment to the game..
:rolleyes:

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^ Bit harsh on a team which has won 7 of the last 9 ODI's. Come on give them some credit. what do you want a 100% records. These matches were won against India, SL, Zimbabwe and Kenya.

Not included above is a very narrow defeat against Australia.

Aren't we a tad harsh on our team. Give them a break.

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Raindance: don’t worry, there is no “Final” or “Semi-Final” in tests, so :insha: Pakistan should be able to perform better, possibly win both tests or 1-0 :smiley:

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ehsan: *
^ Bit harsh on a team which has won 7 of the last 9 ODI's. Come on give them some credit. what do you want a 100% records. These matches were won against India, SL, Zimbabwe and Kenya.

Not included above is a very narrow defeat against Australia.

Aren't we a tad harsh on our team. Give them a break.
[/QUOTE]

Adding to that, Team Pakistan is aiming to be a consistent team. And i am sure with time we will start winning big matches too. Right now what matters is a continuity within the team and the nice thing is that we are providing that with the team selection.

Yes we are not handling big matches well enough but team is on the way up. Thats for sure, so give them due credit.

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------------x------------
Sab tukay aur qaum ki bai-loos duaoun ka nateeja thay,
This team sucks only on paper they look some waht impressive.
:2guns:
Why can’t we be like Aussies,:snooty::smooth:

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Why can’t the Aussies be like us. It is not easy to be like Pakistani team or be a Pakistani team supporter. I have been a supporter of the team for over 30 years and all it got me is high blood pressure. :smiley: