Pakistan ODI Squad Announced

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Pakistan v West Indies

Afridi and Nazir left out of ODI squad
Osman Samiuddin
December 1, 2006

Pakistan have left out Shahid Afridi from the 14-man squad announced for the first ODI against the West Indies. Shahid Nazir, despite impressing through the Test series, has also not been considered, alongside Faisal Iqbal and Samiullah Khan Niazi.

Afridi has been in desperately poor form through the year managing just 114 runs from 17 matches at an average of just over eight. His 14 wickets have also come at a relatively high cost. Younis Khan will lead the team in Rawalpindi in place of Inzamam-ul-Haq, who will be serving the final part a four-match ban for his part in The Oval Test fiasco in August this year. “He hasn’t performed so well domestically,” Wasim Bari, the chairman of selectors told Cricinfo. “But the door is open always and he can do well on the domestic circuit and make a comeback.”

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, overlooked for the ongoing Test series, has been recalled, alongside Danish Kaneria, Yasir Hameed and Mohammad Sami. The latter three were not in the squad for the Champions Trophy in India in October.

Bari said that Kaneria was selected keeping in mind the team’s future commitments in South Africa and the World Cup. “Anil Kumble has been successful in South Africa and we are going there soon so he might be a handy option in the ODI series there.”

The West Indies have already announced their one-day squad with Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards, Daren Ganga and Omari Banks returning home after the Test series. Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Smith and Ian Bradshaw have arrived as replacements.

The first in the five-match series will be played in Rawalpindi on December 5, followed by the second at Faisalabad (Dec 7), third in Lahore (Dec 10), fourth at Multan (Dec 13) and the final game in Karachi (Dec 16).

**Squad:**Younis Khan (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Yousuf, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Rao Iftikhar, Umar Gul, Mohammad Sami, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Danish Kaneria, Abdul Rehman.

Osman Samiuddin is Pakistan editor of Cricinfo

Cricinfo

Mohammed Sami is back to give some batting practice for the West Indians. Shocked and surprised that chacha Arshads name is not in the list - will we see him make a surprise apperance during the series?

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Re: Pakistan ODI Squad Announced

Kaneria will play 1st ODI get spanked, and than be dropped again.

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Re: Pakistan ODI Squad Announced

kaneria in one dayers is not a good idea.shane warne does'nt play one dayers cause leg spinners are mostly good on a 3rd or a 4th or 5th day test match pitch not on flat tracks in one dayers.and kaneria is a horrible fielder which may mean 10 or 12 extra runs on a bad day.kumble is line and length bowler he doesnt spin or attack that much thats why hes doing ok in south africa.good move to bring back sami.pakistan needs one more strike bowler with rana struggling.dropping afridi i guess the right move.he needs to show more commitment and focus..although i think his bowling will be missed.

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Re: Pakistan ODI Squad Announced

Laloos dropped the pinch hitter Afridi...
I am not his fan but as people here have said, I share the same view...if sent in at the right position Afridi's quick fire 30-50 always boost a win!

And OMG to Sami .......
I think they are trying to nail Younis's captaincy coffin...makin sure every chnce he gets shows a failure for him as a captain....

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Re: Pakistan ODI Squad Announced

Pak ODI without Afridi is a henious crime. This guy is a great asset to the ODI team due to his utility in all three departments. I mean he would kill the opposition in home fixtures. This is a ridiculous mistake.

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Re: Pakistan ODI Squad Announced

^ i agree. I was pissed off at Afridi being left out. I was in a meeting when i read the news i threw coffee at my boss and told every one to go screw themselves. I dont care if Afridi gets out on nought. The fact of the matter is when you know he is gonna be coming down to bat soon you get butterflies in your belly, all the hair in your arm stand up, you stop breathing for a few seconds and get transported to another universe. The way he pumps you up is like no other player ever in the history of cricket. Screw PCB

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Re: Pakistan ODI Squad Announced

This is all an strategy by Pak selectors for utilizing Afridi for the world cup in march. Going by Afridi's history, after he is dropped for a longer period of time, he comes back and starts performing really well. Most likely Afridi will be picked for the world cup squad.

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Re: Pakistan ODI Squad Announced

I think Afridi will retire from ODIs now :cb:

Apart from that, why in the world would they drop Shahid Nazir, its not as if we have Asif or Shoaib Akhtar waiting… wait, they bring back the great Sir Shah Hazrat Rao Iftikhar :dhimpak:

I LOVE U
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Re: Pakistan ODI Squad Announced

SAMI is back :dhimpak:

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Re: Pakistan ODI Squad Announced

afridi might call it a day.his performances in the domestic competitons have been bad.i think hes lost interest and focus

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Re: Pakistan ODI Squad Announced

Its a tough decission, but lately Afridi has not helped his case either. They way he has been batting is like he doesn't care what team really needs from him. He needs to collect himself and get motivated to perform again as he did with his last comeback in 2004.

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Re: Pakistan ODI Squad Announced

Shahid Nazir & Arfidi are unfortunate to lose out and I wonder what was the crime of poor Samiullah Khan Niazi. But do keep in mind that this is only the squad for the very First ODI with the WI. Its not the squad for all 5 one dayers so we have hope that justice will be done in other matches. But knowing the trends of PCB, who knows.

They dont have middle order batsmen to replace Inzamam for the First ODI. Looks like Yasir Hameed will place in his place... and they would shuffle the whole batting order bringing in Yasir at # 3.

Sami & Chacha Rao are back in the squad (what the hell is up with the Selectors). I think Chacha Rao has taken over from Chacha Arshad...LOL

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Re: Pakistan ODI Squad Announced

Its not the droping of Afridi that surprising me, rather it is the inclusion of KANERIA and his comparison with Anil Kumble. Imran used Mushtaq but he was a better fielder and batter than Kaneria, and There is no comparison of Kaneria with these two when it comes to ODI.
Matches Wickets Runs/Ov Avg. BattingAvg
Kanreia: Test 43 183 3.01 32.85 ---
ODI 16 12 4.56 49.16 3.0 and in total 6 runs.

Kumble Test 110 533 2.63 28.75 ----
ODI 266 331 4.29 30.77 10.71

Mushtaq Test 52 185 2.92 32.97 ----
ODI 144 161 4.26 33.29 9.95

Bari might be out of his mind. If you really need a leg spinner then bring in an alrounder with a bright future, I mean MANSOOR AMJED.

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Re: Pakistan ODI Squad Announced

Afridi is left out of the ODI squad coz his performance was not good in recent future, giving him extened rest can do alot of good for him and I have no doubt that he will be selected for the Saffies tour. Similar could be said for Sami, but it baffles me why on earth you need to force Sami in the team (not in picked 14 players) but in the team of 11 with such Pepto-bismal performance one after another. Its a sorry state that Samiullah and Nazir are left out and even Iqbal since Inzi is not in the 14 I was thinking maybe Iqbal will get an odd chance but I guess not. After seeing th 14 players I think experiment is on the mind of think tank.

Kaneria, is an okay bowler when it comes ODI's, Leg-spinner is always a risky business in ODI's but how the captain utilize him is key to his and team's success, if there was anything else they could have done was rested Akmal for the ODI series and use another keeper. But oh-well this is PCB for you

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Re: Pakistan ODI Squad Announced

Afridi's exclusion was just. However, do not worry Afridi'ites. He will be back soon enough. Inzi and Woolmer love him. I would really like to see Asif and Akhtar in there; West Indians wouldn't know what hit them!

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Re: Pakistan ODI Squad Announced

Nazir has bowled very well so far in the series...it is unfair to drop him. He is a line and length bowler, I think he'd be successful in ODI cricket, definetly a better option than the garbage Sami which Inzi and co keep presisting with.

Afridi..welll...its hard to say. He has been in horrible form and he's isnt doing great either in domestic cricket...so I guess it might be a good idea to let him work hard for his place. Even though it so dishearting to see a Pakistan ODI match without him playing :( He brings so much life and energy to the game.

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Re: Pakistan ODI Squad Announced

When will Pak selector start giving new kids a chance? Do we have to wait for the next debacle of some sort? WC07 is right around the corner and no new faces in the squad, such a pity. Of all the ppl, Inzi sud be the first to support trying out new players since his career started only when Khan gave him a chance of his lifetime in WC92.

Rao Jee may not be the most attractive looking bowler but has the ability to be economical, having said that when faced by a belligerent Gayle, Ponting, Herschel Gibbs then u need strike bowlers who can take wickets. Probably a Samiullah Niazi or someother boy should have been given the chance.

Batting wise we seem to have a balanced side, its good to see Yasir Hameed back in the side.

Finally, when are the selectors going to find a backup wicketkeeper? For crying out aloud, this Mutka standing behind the stumps has dropped or missed more opportunities than all other wk combined in Pak history.

Afridi booms booms have faded with his lack of application or loss of passion for the game. He is a great talent, if he has not yet recovered then I agree he sud wait and improve his attitude.

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Re: Pakistan ODI Squad Announced

All in all squad is good but Im dispointed with selectors for droping Shahid Nazir.

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Re: Pakistan ODI Squad Announced

Afridi will be back soon enough....