I think yesterday’s match (4th ODI at Nottingham) just illustrated that in OD cricket, Australia apart, there are no clear favourites. The batting of the remaining top 6 or 7 teams can collapse at any time and hence they all have an even chance of beating each other on a given day. The nature of limited-overs matches means that unlike Test cricket it is difficult to fight back when in a corner. One-day cricket is a lottery. One side bats well, the other bowls badly, it is all relative. Very rarely do you get really close games in one-day cricket, they are few and far between if you actually look at it - one side normally gets on top and nails the other one. So it really boils down to how well you BAT on the day
Despite Razzaq’s heroic knock Pakistan just could n’t recover from the earlier collapse. Akhtar and Asif can only bowl 20 overs between them. As we can’t really drop Razzaq and Afridi, we can afford to have maybe two or three (if you include Malik or Hafeez) part-timers sharing 20 overs among them but I am a little worried about the remaining 10 overs. Rana is proving to be way too expensive and guys like Gilchrist, Lara, Ponting, SRT and Sehwag can easily go after him. Like Sami, Rana tends to bowl 1-2 bad balls/over. I would like them to try Shaid Nazir or Umar Gul.
And those of you who say that Rana can bat a bit that’s not a good enough excuse for me to play him if he can’t stop leaking runs. His main job is to bowl well. Besides once your top 6 or 7 batsmen have failed to deliver on a given day, it’s highly unlikey that your no. 8 or 9 batsman will bail you out of trouble
And it goes without saying that our fielding needs to improve by several notches if we are to seriously challenge the likes of Australia, India and South Africa
I for one won’t be reading too much into the ICC Trophy result. Even if Australia don’t win it, they would still remain firm favourites in my book to win the 2007 WC
Lets hope that we win tomorrow and take the OD series 3-1. A 2-2 result will be most disappointing.
Pak shud try Gul instead of Rana for 5th ODI. After his fabulous start in Aus, I just don't find Rana consistent enough for international level. Although he tries really hard.
This has been a total loss for Pakistan, we lost the test match series 2-0 (3-0) and now lost a ODI playing with our full strength against a depleted England which wud be categorized their C-team if not B.
Test series loss was camouflaged by the Darryl Hair-Inzi fiasco, fact is Pakistan suffered many defeats on a individual level. Opening again proved elusive, minus Shoaib and Asif bowling was terribly exposed, wicket-keeping was the worst in Pak history and captiancy lacked leadership and imagination.
PCB has already announced playing sixteen for the ICC trophy which has no change and except for the inclusion of Iftikhar Anjum rest of the team seems balanced. Ignoring Yassir Arafat and Shahid Nazir was unfortunate. Once again, cronyism has ruled the day and we have failed to learn from our mistakes.
I believe that a full-strength Pakistan team can compete with a full-strength England team in Tests in England.
First test at Lords - drawn
Old Trafford - England won fair and square
Leeds - Bad umpiring (2 or 3 clear edges and plumb LBWs not given by Hair and Doctrove) on the first day turned the game upside down. Pietersen was reprieved and he went on to add another 130 odd runs. That was a telling blow. I am not moaning here. Umpires are human and one or two bad decisions happen in every game and an international side should accept that but you can't really fight back when there are run of the mill biased decisions. That's as bad as cheating. Yes Pakistan did collapse on the last day (as would most test sides have) but they would not have been in that position having to survive the final day if the umpiring had been fair.
Oval - We dominated the game right from the word go. England were playing catch-up cricket for 4 days
So I think 1-1 or 1-0 to England would have been a fair result
england is only better than begladesh and zimbabwe in odis..pakistan should be beating them easily.if they want to win the world cup or the champions trophy,they definitely need to do better than this..i think south africa,australia and india are slightly better than pakistan
Inzy I feel comes so low down the order and runs out of partners. He should promote himself up the order.
The no. 6 position in one-dayers seems to be a problem one for Pakistan. Afridi's most successes have come at the top of the order so I would have him batting during the power plays rather than at any other time. So maybe Afridi and Farhat should open and Hafeez should come in at 6
Malik has done nothing of note outside the sub-continent so I am not sure if he's the answer.
My batting order would be
1-Farhat or Butt (once he has ironed out his weakness esp. against deliveries leaving him)
2-Afridi (Yes he's a gamble but he's more likely to deliver during powerplays)
3-Younis
4-Inzi
5-Yousuf
6-Hafeez (but is that fair on him?)
I think there was something else going on besides the obvious in the last ODI…
something fishy…either that or our team was not committed for some odd reason…
and I do agree with azhusain bhai…and I will add that even australia is not a 100% sure shot performer every time , however they are the most consistent team in world cricket today…but I don’t like goras ka bachay…
The no. 6 position in one-dayers seems to be a problem one for Pakistan. Afridi's most successes have come at the top of the order so I would have him batting during the power plays rather than at any other time. So maybe Afridi and Farhat should open and Hafeez should come in at 6
Malik has done nothing of note outside the sub-continent so I am not sure if he's the answer.
My batting order would be
1-Farhat or Butt (once he has ironed out his weakness esp. against deliveries leaving him)
2-Afridi (Yes he's a gamble but he's more likely to deliver during powerplays)
3-Younis
4-Inzi
5-Yousuf
6-Hafeez (but is that fair on him?)
I like you approach...same for your batting order, however its not good for hafeez to be down the order, where as if you remember australia, afridi has performed down the order as well...so that is the only change I would suggest, switch hafeez's spot with Afridi's..
Also, I am not anymore confident of Gul over Rana...and I don't think Pakistan will give Shahid Nazir another chance. If they do , we should put him in inplace of GUL/Rana.
One more thing, although really wild...
One other option is to give Akmal a rest and have Younis keep wickets, then put in Rana as an additional bowler as he can get a few runs in the slog overs...:D
We lose one match and all the conspiracy theories are coming out. We just lost a match, get over it and move one. No big deal and those saying that apart from Australia the other teams can collapse anytime should look at Australia ODI record in England last year. Of all the countries Australia lost to BD. Imagine if it was our team we would have been clamoring for Inzi's head along with the other 10 players. Australia didn't sack anyone after the affair. We over react all the time.
To be honest one thing I love about Pakistan's team is their unpredictability, that is the essence of this team and may it always stay like that. It makes Pakistan team what it is --- One of the most exiciting team to watch.
Ehsan bhai no one is criticising Pakistan here and you are very right there about Australia's indifferent performances in England last year. Having said that Australia remain the most consistent side in world cricket and although they do lose occasionally they do not collapse as often as say England, Pakistan and India do.
Pakistan will always remain a mercurial side (and I agree that's our strength) and our batting collapse yesterday could so easily have happened in an important world cup match. That's my big worry.
Although one defeat does not mean anything we should all bear in mind that this is Pakistan's best XI v England B or C
To a large extent England's problems in ODIs stem from a lack of consistency in selection. Pakistan and to a certain extent Australia and India essentially field the same test and OD sides with the exception of 1 or 2 players. Since January 2005 no fewer than 35 players have represented England in ODIs and England have won only 11 of those 37 matches. Add Flintoff, Harmison and Anderson to the present squad and it will look a lot stronger and more competitive.
Trescothick
Vaughan (c)
Strauss
Pietersen
Collingwood
Bell
Flintoff (vice captain)
Chris Read (wk)
Dalrymple/Giles
Harmison
Jimmy Anderson/Simon Jones/Hoggard
Inzi seems to be shielding behind the two Y's and comes in when lesser bowlers are on
Look at how the courageous Imran Khan (even though he was an all-rounder and not a specialist batsman) took it upon himself to play the better bowlers by coming in at 1-down in the semi-final and final of the 1992 WC in order to protect Javed Miandad who was the back-bone of our batting then. Every time Miandad walked out to the crease in the group games Pakistan were in deep deep trouble with both the openers gone for not many runs on the board. Salim Malik was also woefully out of form in that series which also influenced Imran's decision
Look at most other sides. Their best batsmen usu. bat at 2-down. Ponting, Lara and Kallis bat at 2-down
It was a great match and I think England deserved to win, primarily their approach was more mature than our, there are many reasons for it too.
First, their openers are far better than ours are. I am not underestimating Afridi or Hafeez but as compared to their openers, they do not have continuously performed as openers.
Second, their fielding was better than ours was. Akmal might needs to work on dives and be aggressive with his wicket keeping. Even if they won by eight wickets, our bowlers were not smashed like theirs. We have to understand that Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen are good batsmen and they made chuck of runs. Although our bowlers did, they best to keep the pressure.
In the end, I think if our openers had been more mature with their inngs and had not played stupid shots they would have gone on to make big runs. If we give them, the chance I am sure they will come through.
I really do not see any changes should be bringing in the team; we need to persist with this line-up. They are one of the most hard-working players around.
Finally yet importantly, once again in the midst of the game we are forgetting how Inzamam played. The team was under pressure when he came to the crease and we needed someone to play in an aggressive manner. There was no one other than Inzamam who again took the team on shoulders and made the best out the situation and his inngs. Razzaq is the man, he always will be...I love his ferociousness.
I think this should be the solution till the world cup.
1) Shoaib Malik
2) Kamran Akmal
3) Younis Khan
4) Mohd Yousef
5) Inzimam Ul Haq
6) Abdul Razzaq
7) Shahid Afridi
8) Rana Naveed
9) Shoaib Akther
10) Umer Gul
11) Mohd Asif
Yes it has its own flaws but I think its better than taking only 3 bowlers, 1 all rounder and 2 part time off spinner and Afridi who is sometime okay and sometime not that good when it comes to bowling.
Look at how the courageous Imran Khan (even though he was an all-rounder and not a specialist batsman) took it upon himself to play the better bowlers by coming in at 1-down in the semi-final and final of the 1992 WC in order to protect Javed Miandad who was the back-bone of our batting then. Every time Miandad walked out to the crease in the group games Pakistan were in deep deep trouble with both the openers gone for not many runs on the board. Salim Malik was also woefully out of form in that series which also influenced Imran's decision
Look at most other sides. Their best batsmen usu. bat at 2-down. Ponting, Lara and Kallis bat at 2-down
I disagree with your statement coz right from the start of Inzi's career he has batted at the same position, yes with seniority he has jumped up and down the order, but remember this is a transition in making Inzi will not last long after the WC07. Whenever that time comes by then Younis and Yousef will be the 2 pillars of the middle order.
Although i do think there r few weak areas like fielding and second string bowlers but nothing serious... and the positive out of that game was that even though there were few collapses but still we manage to post 235 which is a very respectable score.. I remember in 90's we use to collapse for 110 - 150 .. while having all those great batsman... Now i think there is some sense of responsibility and maturity is coming in every player of the team... ie. if two or three players have fallen than i shouldn;t be following their footstep...
But i think we need some one more energetic and young in place of RANA... i think we should pick up the best of the under 19 bowler who won us the final of under 19 against India and give him chance along with Shoaib, Asif and Razzaq.
and no need to make so many changes... Hafeez and Shoaib Malik should be preserved for opening.. i feel they will settle down soon. They look hardworking and thoughtful to me..
Guys I think sending Afridi down the order is a waste of his talent. As I mentioned earlier he's more likely to successfully slog during the power plays.
The problem is who do you bat then at 6 and none of you have answered that quandary
Hafeez
Afridi
Younis
Inzi
Yousuf
Malik (not too sure)
See guys how unpredictable we are. brilliant one day and play like a bunch of school cricketers on another day. All teams collapse but we seem to choke in pressure matches in a big way. This has always been my worry about this team. The Pakistan team personifies 'unpredictability' and takes it to a whole new level like no other team has ever done.
There is no doubting at all of the immense talent in this team. However I believe that it is our over reliance on our cricketing skills and the total lack of the mental aspect in our game which has often led to their demise. Our strategies or the lack of it and our blatant indiscretions on the field are mind boggling to say the least. One would have imagined that under a high profile coach like Bob Woolmer, Pakistan would have rectified this problem but sadly that does not seem to be the case.
All teams collapse but we seem to choke in pressure matches like no other team (cf. 1999 WC Final, 2001 NatWest Final v Australia). This has always been my biggest worry about this team.
And remember this is not even England's first XI. A 2-2 result (as seems likely) against a hugely understrength England side (no Vaughan, Flintoff, Harmison, Jones, Giles or Anderson) is unacceptable
