Pakistan back as a World Power in Cricket

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It’s nearly a year on from the disastrous WC campaign and following the dismantling of the old guard, I think it’s fair to say that we are back and ready to face the best teams in the world again. On the bowling front, Shoaib is taking his role as leading strike bowler with relish, backed by Sami, Shabbir and Gul in the wings. Kaneria has emerged to eclipse Mushtaq in this series and is the best young spin prospect in the world today IMO.

Finally the perennial weakness of the Pakistan batting line up looks to have been addressed by the foundation of a solid opening pair which really looks the part in Taufeeq and Imran. With Yaasir Hameed and Asim Kemal also providing plenty of positive contributions we look pretty well equipped to perform in both test match and ODI competitions. I don’t think we’ll be under-dogs against NZ when they arrive here, that’s how far we’ve come in a short space of time. I think the fact that we went into this test series missing important players in both matches yet came out on top against a side like SA shows that we are developing strength in depth, something we have never had in the past.

All credit to the Selectors for pursuing the re-building process under some strong criticismand team management, with a special mention to Javed Miandad for his coaching efforts.

:k:

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I agree with u bcuz having the most threatning and fastest bowling attack in the world, shoaib and sami can destroy anyone in any condition… A good middle order batsmen like Yasir Hameed, Inzi and Asim Kamal followed by good tail including Shoaib Malek…
Not to forget the openers Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar which are following foot steps of Saeed Anwar and Aamer Sohail:k:

I think Pakistan will emerge as a good team in their next tour of NZ where they will show their performance at their best:k:

Well played Pakistan and we can still do better:jhanda:

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Before saying Yes to that, I’d like to see our batsmen perform on livelier pitches in outside world. Yasir Hameed has not impressed against SAffies much in the tests, he averaged 18.5. Though Asim Kamal scored 99 in debut inning, he scored 0, 1, 38 and averaging 34.5, not very much impressing but okay.

We did very well in the test series, and fine in ODI. The first 2 wins had set our hopes very high but overall performance was good.

We are headed in right direction, we may not be an immediate threat to Australia in Australia right now but in time we will :jhanda:

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I think Pakistan played very well. With this series win they've nudged past India to 5th spot on ICC's Test Championship. But I will still give this team sometime before branding it as a power to reckon with. I'll wait until a definite unit of 12-13 players is formed, and plays on supporting pitches of S.Africa, UK and Australia. In the current circumstances (absence of key players etc) they've done very well and we must applaud them for the team effort. But we must not also forget that Imran Farhat who played brilliantly here didn't score too many runs against N.Zealand.

The outfit at the moment looks perfeclty balanced to form the core of players, with the exception of the wicketkeeper. We need a hard hitting wicketkeeper batsman who can, preferably, open the innings or play aggressively down the order. We will need him to be more consistent than Moin/rashid. Other than that; good blend of fast bowling with an equally good back up in the shape of Shabbir. Just as attacking, the opening batsmen, with a solid middle order. So the future indeed looks bright. Lets hope they play well on bowling pitches. They have passed their first test, but I firmly believe that their real test is still far ahead...Down Under.

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Pakistan is by far labled as a world power in cricket.
All credit due but pitches were batting friendly, so the real test will come in the series against New Zealand in New zealand, where detoriating pitches will test our batsmen.
But our bowling and fielding was great in this series, from spin to fast bowling was of high class.
I am impressed with Shabbir, if consistent, he can become Pakistan's 3rd seamer in the test series against New Zealand.

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That pakistan is a world power in cricket is a given. There's a huge following within and outside of the country which very few others can match, has had more than its share of great players and the PCB seems to be finally taking its job somewhat seriously (I say this based on the rare objective way theu dealt with the S.A refusal of the tour). Key at this point is balance 'hero' culture and prima donna attitudes and blend into "team first individual next"

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Pakistan can beat anybody - Miandad

Pakistan coach Javed Miandad believes his team are capable of beating anyone after forcing a draw with South Africa in Faisalabad on Tuesday to win the series 1-0.

**“It is a big win for us against a quality side which has a lot of all-round strength and experience. I feel if we play with the same spirit and discipline we can win against any team and that includes Australia,” Miandad said. **

Miandad, who took over as coach after a disappointing World Cup, guided Pakistan to a first test series win over South Africa and their first home series victory against a quality side since 1997.

**“I am very happy with our performance because despite not having some key players for this match everyone played like a unit and with commitment,” Miandad said. **

“I think in the last two series against Bangladesh and South Africa we have also unearthed four or five young players for the future who are willing to work hard.”

Miandad, who was also coach when Pakistan lost home series to Zimbabwe, Australia and England in recent years, said there was a difference in the present team.

**“They are willing to learn and work hard and be around for a long time. They have improved day by day.” **

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was full of praise for young leg spinner Danish Kaneria who took 11 wickets in the two tests.

**“If he continues to improve this way he is our biggest find for a long time,” Inzamam said. “He carried the burden of the bowling and I thought the South African batsmen were never able to relax against him.” **

Inzamam said the win over South Africa was a big one and gave full credit to opening batsmen Taufeeq Umar and Imran Farhat, who posted three successive century stands in the series.

“I am happy to say the team is now finally taking shape and we have found some good new players,” he said.

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as amazing as we played, we shdn't be branding them with nething as yet. i hope the media doesnt do that either. let them be.. let them perform like that in the next few series before claiming that they r world beaters.

but taking nothing away from the side, i think if they can show the same discpiline n grit, i think they will become world beaters very soon, just like miandad said

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Untill Pakistan can beat other teams in away games, they will not be considered a "world-class" team.

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^ They will do that too soon, inshallah!
And what else do they have to do to be considered “world-class” team? :rolleyes:

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by The Old Man: *
Untill Pakistan can beat other teams in away games, they will not be considered a "world-class" team.
[/QUOTE]

Agreed. But I expect that this team will be capable of doing just that and only time will tell.

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Pakistan back as a World Power in Cricket

Okay I thought it was Umair who first opened this thread. He is known to make such statements :hehe:

Anyways, Xtreme its too early to label them as a world power but I see a huge potential in our current squad. We have a good depth in both batting and fielding department something that has been lacking even when we were on our prime. Aus is another team that can replace all starting eleven players and would still manage to win the Wc.So yeah Pakistan does have a very good depth.It’s a good start. We still have a very long way to go. I will be excited when we excell on fast pitches. We are lacking strong leadership upfront . If we can find a good genuine captain then I believe we have a chance to be world beaters.

Overall I’m glad we won!Finally!

On a side note : SA is not even a second best team right now. I would rate Ind /Eng to be better than them.

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Yes we are back, people hoping that Pakistan would struggle for several years after changing to a young team will be greatly dissapointed. Great young players have emerged in every area including Yassir, Imran Farhat, Taufiq, Danish, Shabbir and Umar Gul (My opinion from the BD series although he enver got a chance against SA)

The keys are Danish and Yassir. Kaneria is a world class young spinner who could be a fixture on our side for many years. This in a time where many countries don't have great young leg spinners. Yassir is a huge find for Pakistan because of his versatility, he can open or bat strongly in the middle order. He also shows great promise at number 3.

All this in just a matter of a couple of months......

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This current Pakistani team surely has the talent to become the best side in the world...I just hope this team can be consistent .

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It is too premature to label anything about pakistan current team... yes we did really well against SA and we were without services of shoaib, sami and yoyo but again it was in our own back yard...plus dont forget, we lost one day series against them....

second, it is not the first time when we performed OK in a home series... we have done this so many times in the past but when the same team went abroad, we were pretty horrible...the real test is to perform well on a consistent basis plus to perform well out side the country...let me give an example.... just look at SA team.... most of their players visited pakistan first time... no donald, no rhodes, no hansie.....no zulu....their team is also pretty new... but they performed pretty reasonable.... defeated us in one day series, then played well in test matches and abt to win the second one... another example is NZ who did really well in india so far...

that is wut i want by pakistan.... when they go abroad, they dont have to win every match but they have to show a fight and play with a class.... no one will be upset with the team in that case...weather this team is a "world power" or just a zer power will be tested against kiwis... in last few years, NZ pitches are proved to be horrible.... indians as well as kiwis scored no more than 150 in almost every match....but indinas did put up a good fight in most of the matches... i hope we will be do better than that and will beat kiwis....

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by The Old Man: *
Untill Pakistan can beat other teams in away games, they will not be considered a "world-class" team.
[/QUOTE]

Word. You want to be world class, you should beat them home and away. The true test of a batsman is to play on pitches that dont suit you against a bowling attack as fierce as Australias. When we can beat South Africa at home and Australia at home, then we can be considered world class.

Old man can you pm the link to Goochy's forum? I have lost it and wish to just stop in and say hi.

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well guys, isnt it too early to say anything....this is the problem with us...if the teams wins one series, we start treating them as world champs and if they lose one, we treat them as a team worse than bangladesh....so guys, let us give some time to this team b4 concluding anything...

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by CM: *

Word. You want to be world class, you should beat them home and away. The true test of a batsman is to play on pitches that dont suit you against a bowling attack as fierce as Australias. When we can beat South Africa at home and Australia at home, then we can be considered world class.

[/QUOTE]

World class doesn't mean being the best in the world, otherwise we were never world class before either (we never beat Australia or South Africa away with Wasim and Waqar at their peak).

In fact this is the first time we have beaten SA home or away.

My definition of world class is being able to compete with the leading nations of world cricket with a realistic expectation of winning be it home or away. Crap sides will get beat even at home, I can guarantee you Zimbabwe or BD will be beaten by SA or Australia on their own turf.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by sherrybaba: *

Anyways, Xtreme its too early to label them as a world power but I see a huge potential in our current squad.

[/QUOTE]

I don't think it's too early at all. I have been watching them since we started the re-building a year ago, in that time we have beaten Zimbawe, Sri Lanka, ran England very close in a ODI tournament held in England with very litle preparation and now beaten South Africa at home for the first time.

I base my judgement on seeing the quality of some of our younger players coming through like Kaneria, Yaasir Hamid, Shabbir Ahmed, Sami, Asim Kemal and Imran Farhat. Kaneria already looks a class above Mushtaq for example who is an established star in his own right.

My view is that this team can compete with the top teams in the world again and I stick by that view 100%. Everyone seems to be forgetting that before this series against SA, w were all predicting they would wipe the floor with us.

We play NZ in 5 ODI's soon and I back us to win the series. NZ are a very competent ODI side and on good batting tracks the odds are even for both sides. I also think we will go to NZ and beat them in their own backyard. Let's see who's right.

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World power is an over-statement! The 2nd test vs SA was a winnable one...while the Pak team guided themselves to a draw...I don't see any punch in an effective strategy...We must do more...

We still have to do a lot in players' selection for particular mathes...statistics is not that all...look at Mushtaq Ahmed's or Mohammad Hafiz's performance...selectors should develop their insights far beyond...

Our physio department is virtually non-existant...had we not had injuries...we could have won the ODI series too...physiotherapeuts are imporatant and give adivises to players to how to perform with minimum risks of injuries or illnesses...a preventive measure...

Selectors must consult the coach and captain/VC prior to finalize the selection...this is non-existant in Pakistan too...afterall, the team as a whole under captainship and coaching have to execute the match to a possible victory...

Also consider some nice salraries for the players...

Last but not least, I was thinking about...how about some 'cheer leaders' for the Pak team during the matches and training... :)