I think we just got a taste of it. First test in Karachi against mighty, organized and aggressive South Africa. Team that is miles ahead of what we have to offer, bunch of kids who are talented but not groomed. For many years, we have seen Inzamam and Yousuf take us out of embarrassing situation. Just in past 4 years their contribution is admirable. Both of them did their best not to expose what have been an abysmal batting line up for past 7 years.
Now it is different, the hope that we had is gone and there is no plan ‘B’. Younis’s emergence can be attributed to Inzamam and Yousuf who shared many partnerships with him. Question is;
Where do we go from here? Who do you see anchoring Pakistan’s ship to victory?
Re: Pakistan Cricket after Yousuf Inzamam
Thanks PCB for sidelining players who could've given shoulder to the batting burdon for longer. The only hope we have for now is to let Asim Kamal, Misbah and Younis play for sometime together and that might bear some fruits but then again it will be a short term fix as Misbah and Asim have 3-4 years left (at max). I have no hope from Faisal Iqbal types. I had hopes from Yasir Hameed but then he has mostly been asked to open while he was a middle order batsman I blv.
Re: Pakistan Cricket after Yousuf Inzamam
I think Younis has to pick up his game; no doubt about it. After him I'd like to see Shoaib Malik, Asim Kamal, and Misbah.
Aside from them, it looks pretty bleak.
Re: Pakistan Cricket after Yousuf Inzamam
One sector that I would really like to see booming is the high-priority dilemma in the opening order, and the fact that we still have make-shift openers after the long-gone departure of Anwar and Sohail is nothing to write home about. In this, Salman Butt is a decent prospect and the guy has gotten ridiculed in the past and even I have been in the firing range but if anything needs to be sorted out, it is his batting rather than his post for vice-captaincy. It is no small feat that he is the deputy, someone who has yet to be a featured member in any form of cricket and yet handed the top-level reigns. Personally, I don't think the post itself is really significant in the longer scheme of things, it was done for the sake of moving on from the Asif scandal, and Butt happened to be there in a strike of luck as the first available person. After noticing how Younis Khan turned the captaincy down twice and Salman handed the post for the sake of being someone with a higher rank in the team solely because of the title and not the merit, I just don't think the post of vice-captaincy really holds a meaning. Always we find our backs cornered with politics sitting in the front row, and as long as Inzamam was the captain, there was no grooming period. The deserving players weren't given proper chances and a handful of others were fed from the silver platter so blissfully that they decided to go and join the ICL instead. Great for them, I believe they are representing Pakistan as much as you and I. But here we are, starting from square one. We were exactly at this spot at the end of 2003 World Cup, and the entire saga was repeated four years later. The first real series and we find ourselves picking the pieces and connecting the dots once again. The day we eliminate the face of politics from Pakistan cricket will be the day we might actually set our footprints in the International scene.
I have large concerns on the post of vice-captaincy, and feel that it should go to someone who is a regularly featured member of both the test side and the internationals arena. When you start throwing around names just for the sake of filling in the post, what good will that do to the people who are administering the game down to the people who are actually taking the field on any given day? 'Favorite card' has been a sole property of Pakistan cricket and it has exceeded it's shelf life in the past four years. It is perhaps discarded now and I am glad that such action has taken place.
Furthermore, a topic that had been discussed to death in the previous reign of our captain but by and large rarely being touched upon now is Shoaib Malik's batting order. I feel he is doing himself no justice by coming in after Younis Khan, regardless of the specialty which Younis is held in. Specialist batsman and whatnot, flush that down the toilet. Shoaib Malik should be coming in at number #3, and that is my firm stance on it. It strikes me as very strange as to why someone with such a genius of a mind as Malik would prefer coming down the order? All team members, and moreover captain, should be leading from the front. Shoaib Malik, regardless of the brand new post of his captaincy, is no exception.
Re: Pakistan Cricket after Yousuf Inzamam
It strikes me as very strange as to why someone with such a genius of a mind as Malik would prefer coming down the order? All team members, and moreover captain, should be leading from the front. Shoaib Malik, regardless of the brand new post of his captaincy, is no exception.
well he still has to prove that he has a genius of a mind especially in test cricket! enjoyed reading ur comments!