Pakistan tour of England - June 2003

Zoab_Khan · June 4, 2003, 8:51pm

Yeah i am surprised at the lack of faith. I would be surprised if Pakistan didn't win at least 2 of the 3 games. I think they can win all 3.

Sri Lanka was a tough playing field and we still had the highest scores in the tournament. England conditins will not close to being that bad.

I think Imran Nazir can do very good for the team and him opning with Hafeez might help both becuase they can get going from their singles. Taufeeq Umar was too herky jerky and to unreliable. Lets see what happens. Yasir Hameed is another player that we will get to see more off and Misab i think can go half century every time the plays.

LahoriMunda · June 4, 2003, 9:01pm

I agree we have a young team with unexperienced players but expect of Inzimam we are not missing any batsmen. Our two main batsmen Youhana & Younis Khan are still in the team. Misbah's return is a welcome sign. So if we can just put some though in while batting and get reasonable scores I think our bowling is still good enough to defend.

Shoaib will be back for two ODI's after missing the first one, we have Sami who is bowling beautifully, Kaneria has impressed. Azhar can hopefully pitch in with a little more then what Razzaq was doing. Azhar, Rashid, Shoaib Malik and Shoiab Akhtar can very handy for late order assault too. Shoiab Malik has proved he has the guts to be a class all rounder. He might not able to pitch in everytime with a wicket but he goes through his over's quickly which is crucial for over rate speically with marathon starts of Sami and Akhtar. Plus Shoaib Malik have not been conceding a lot of runs. He keeps a tight line, does not try anything fancy and just bowl within himself. I think we will pull it off 2-1.

Peoples_Champ · June 5, 2003, 3:54am

Robbo from BBC knows how to tell it straight.
‘A bunch of no ones vs. Another bunch of no ones’

The series is pretty even, with either team taking it 2-1.

For England I’d watch out for Vaughan, Anderson, Kabir Ali, Clarke and Flintoff (if fit).

At least we will be witnessed to a Day/Night feature from Old Traford. ECB needs to organize more Day/Nights to attract the crowd. Also, is that rule at Lord’s still implimented about no noise and outside stuff?

ammarr · June 5, 2003, 4:44am

I think Pakistan might be able to sneak away with a win but yes it'll most probably be 2-1 for either side.

elahi · June 5, 2003, 5:00am

pakistan can win it if the young guys get hot
if we struggle early, things could really head south fast
the problem is the tendency for the batting order (including YoYo and Yunis) collapsing.
Thins may change is Misbah is finally given a chance and if Nazir plays
I think dropping Razzaq for Azhar was a great move. Azhar never got a chance in the World Cup and has played very well in Counties.

khumin · June 5, 2003, 6:42am

vs eNglaNd

i think our boys will do alright, a bit unfortunate not to see saleem elahi in the side as he is still a young player and cud be the next best opener after saeed anwar considerin his domestic average is around 50 and has shown a lot of potential

http://www-usa10.cricket.org/link_to_database/PLAYERS/PAK/S/SALEEM_ELAHI_07002227/

compared to imran nazir

http://www-usa10.cricket.org/link_to_database/PLAYERS/PAK/I/IMRAN_NAZIR_07008177/

with domestic average less than 30 but wid the current players avaliable i think the team shud be

IMRAN NAZIR
MOHAMMAD HAFEEZ
SHOAIB MALIK
MISBAH UL HAQ
YOUSUF YOUHANA
YOUNIS KHAN
AZHAR MAHMOOD
RASHID LATIF + ( C )
SHOAiB AKHTAR
MOHAMMAD SAMI
SHABBIR AHMAD

keepin in mind that shoaib malik is originally a number 3 player and has scored century at that position

plus no matta whatthey shud give misbah ul haq sometime to setttle down as they have given imran nazir 53 chances and even then his average is less than 25 on international level, doesn’t matter if he is a stylish player, end of the day that won’t make any difference at all

ehsan · June 5, 2003, 8:58am

Latif looks to the future](BBC SPORT | Cricket | Latif looks to the future)

Pakistan have been in good form since Latif assumed the captaincy
The upcoming NatWest Challenge will have long-term implications for Pakistan’s new-look team, according to skipper Rashid Latif.

Pakistan play England in a best-of-three limited-overs series later this month.

“Despite being a short tour, this tour will have long term implications and results will guide us how the rebuilding process is shaping,” Latif said.

Pakistan are in a transitional phase following their poor World Cup showing.

The fallout of their failure to qualify for the Super Six stage was the dumping of eight senior players - including World Cup captain Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram and Inzamam-ul Haq - and adding talented, unproven youngsters.

Initial results have been promising, and Pakistan, who depart Islamabad on Thursday, will arrive in England having won the Sharjah Cup and finishing runners-up in a tri-series in Sri Lanka.

Satisfied

“I am more than satisfied with the team’s performance since I took over but the England tour will test the skills of these youngsters because of changed conditions,” said Latif.

Despite stating his intention to retire from international cricket, Latif was given the reins after the World Cup because of his clean image.

Latif said his side will enter the NatWest Challenge as underdogs.

“We are the underdogs and a lot will depend on how our batting performs because our bowling is as good as England’s,” he said.

Pakistan’s 16-man squad has only one uncapped player in all-rounder Bilal Asad while opening batsman Faisal Athar has played just one limited-over international.

Express pacer Shoaib Akhtar will miss the first match at Old Trafford on 17 June, because of his two-match suspension on charges of ball-tampering in Sri Lanka last month.

The remaining two matches will be played at The Oval on 20 June and at Lord’s two days later.

sherrybaba · June 5, 2003, 12:38pm

Interesting to see, how LAtif enjoys calling his team “underdogs” very often . A good attempt to keep a low profile.

Mr_Xtreme · June 5, 2003, 12:49pm

Well the way the top order has performed he's right to call us underdogs. None of the inexperienced players has really made their place secure with a commanding knock although we have been bowling pretty well. When the openers start hitting fifties we'll be in business, until then you can only call it as you see it. I think Yasir Hameed might do well, and if Nazir has a couple of good games we'll be set up to win.

UMAIR316 · June 5, 2003, 2:39pm

How will Latif try to fit guys like Asad, Yasir Hameed or Athar into the team, concerning the fact that 2 openers will be Hafeez and Nazir followed by Mizbah, Youhana, Younis, and Malik. With allrounders like Latif, and Azhar Mahmood to follow. With Kaneria, Sami and Shoaib.

khumin · June 5, 2003, 2:47pm

vS eNglaNd

UMAIR316
Karachi Xpress

Posted 06-05-2003 03:39 PM

How will Latif try to fit guys like Asad, Yasir Hameed or Athar into the team, concerning the fact that 2 openers will be Hafeez and Nazir followed by Mizbah, Youhana, Younis, and Malik. With allrounders like Latif, and Azhar Mahmood to follow. With Kaneria, Sami and Shoaib.

Pakistan Zindabad!

U ARE RIGHT! I THINK ITS MORE LIKE TO GIVE THEM SOME CONFIDENCE TO CREATE AN ATMOSPHERE THAT IF U PERFORM U CAN MAKE UR WAY ITNO THE TEAM AND SIMILARLY GET A KICK AS WELL, PLUS I WOULDN'T MIND SEEIN YASIR HAMEED GET IN INSTEAD OF IMRAN NAZIR, REST I THINK THEY SHOULD LET HAFEEZ,MISBAH AND MALIK TO SETTLE DOWN AND THAT MEANS SHUD GIVE THEM ATLEAST 20 MATCHES, NOT TO FORGET YASIR HAMEED CUD BE THE NEXT KEEPER BATSMAN FOR PAKISTAN AFTER RASHID RETIRES IN A YEAR OR SO

earthquake · June 5, 2003, 9:37pm

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by UMAIR316: *
How will Latif try to fit guys like Asad, Yasir Hameed or Athar into the team, concerning the fact that 2 openers will be Hafeez and Nazir followed by Mizbah, Youhana, Younis, and Malik. With allrounders like Latif, and Azhar Mahmood to follow. With Kaneria, Sami and Shoaib.
[/QUOTE]

I think Assad will lucking to get a chance, Athar probably won't get a chance, Most likely Nazir & Hafeez will be opening with Yasir coming on 3rd and misbah coming on 4th.

How many matches will they play in England?

yaasir · June 6, 2003, 3:20am

Kaneria can play vital role in England series: Rashid

‘Real test of the team will come in different conditions and
against stronger opposition during the gigantic tour’

By Waheed Khan

KARACHI: Pakistan captain Rashid Latif believes that his young leg-spinner Danish Kaneria could play a vital role in England, particularly in the three-match One-day series.

“I will be watching with interest how he (Kaneria) adjusts to the English conditions because he has shown lot of improvement in the last two One-day tournaments in Sharjah and Sri Lanka and could be vital for us against England,” Rashid told ‘The News’.

The Pakistan squad departs on Thursday from Islamabad for the England tour, which includes four side matches and three One-day Internationals.

“He pushes the ball through the air and due to his height has an excellent high arm action. If he can develop the confidence to give more air and flight to the ball he can become a match-winning leg spinner. But his tendency to push the ball through is understandable as he has been brought up on the cement wickets of Karachi where to survive a spinner must bowl quicker,” he added.

“That is the area we have been working with him on the last two tours and he has shown the enthusiasm to learn quickly which is why I am confident he can be very effective against England particularly against players like Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Flintoff.”

The Pakistan captain said it would be interesting to see how Danish bowled in the side matches and if he was successful he would be preferred for the one-dayers also as it gave the team more attacking options. The 23-year-old youngster from Karachi has already picked up 42 wickets in 10 Tests and has taken seven in six one-dayers but more importantly he impressed everyone with his bowling in the recent triangular series in Sri Lanka.

Rashid admitted that playing against England would not be very easy as they were always strong on their home ground. “I think the only factors which give an even edge to the start of the One-day series is that they have a new captain in Michael Vaughan and they have also selected several new players but they still have lot of experience in their squad.”

“So far we have done well in Sharjah and Sri Lanka and I have enjoyed leading a side that is so enthusiastic and not resigned to being in the comfort zone.” “But the real test will come now in different conditions and against stronger opposition. Our priority is going to be to use these conditions to develop a reliable opening pair and all the four openers in the team would be given chances in the side matches.”

Rashid said that he would like to try out different combinations in the side games but would start with Muhammad Hafeez and Imran Nazir.

“But yes it is a fact that Hafeez and Bilal Asad have the advantage of also being capable bowlers in One-day cricket. But what is pleasing is that they and Imran Nazir are all brilliant fielders and when you have such fielders at catching positions it makes life so much easier for the captain,” he remarked.

Bilal Asad who is making his first tour with Pakistan is a opening bat and bowls fast medium pace while Hafeez besides being a opening bat has also impressed with his off break bowling in the nine ODIs that he has played so far.

Faisal Athar is the fourth opener in the touring side.

Rashid conceded that the biggest concern had been the number one two and three positions and to complicate matters Yousaf Youhana and Younis Khan had also not got big scores consistently in recent matches.

“The batting has been a problem and it has to click in England. But I am sure that the experience of Yousaf and Younis would be invaluable for us in the middle order in England.”

He said the return of Azhar Mehmood would be a big boost and also help overcome the absence of Abdul Razzaq.

“Azhar has been playing for sometime now in England and he will join the team by the 14th his presence should be important in the eleven to which he will bring balance.”

“I am not concerned with our bowling it is in capable hands and I am looking forward to see how well Shoaib, Sami, Shabbir and Umer Gul fare together on the English pitches.”

UMAIR316 · June 6, 2003, 3:23am

I agree with Latif, Kaneria will be a very useful bowler in the upcoming series. He is a special spinner, not only he is a leg spinner, but also he can bounce the ball really high, which comes to his advantage, usually we see spinners keep the ball low but Kaneria surprises the batsman with extra bounce.

Zoab_Khan · June 6, 2003, 10:45pm

What kind of player is Bilal Asad? Has he done anything in the first class level.

I think the squad for England should looking something like this:

Mohammad Hafeez
Imran Nazir
Yasir Hameed
Younis Khan
Yousef Youhana
Shoaib Malik
Rashid Latif
Shoaib Akhter
Mohammad Sami 10 Umer Gal 11 Danish Kaneria

I like this lineup. It gives Imran Nazir some experience a long with Ysir Hameed and Misbah Ul Haq. Maybe you play Azhar Mehmood in place of Umer Gal. But i don't wnat to see Shabbir Ahmed trolling on to the field. They need to lock that fool up.

Allah_ka_banda2 · June 6, 2003, 11:04pm

so what is the prediction for this ODI series...

Any guesses. :)

system · June 7, 2003, 1:44pm

Pakistan’s doing a pretty good job against Scotland and Dravid gone for a duck!

ehsan · June 7, 2003, 2:01pm

Dravid out first ball as Pakistan take control](http://uk.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2003/JUN/193218_PAK_07JUN2003.html)

It ought to have been a contest to savour, but Scotland’s Indian import, Rahul Dravid, was dismissed first ball as Pakistan took control of the unofficial one-day international at Glasgow.

After Rashid Latif had won the toss and chosen to bowl first, Shabbir Ahmed removed Ryan Watson and Dravid with successive deliveries to reduce Scotland to 5-2. Watson was caught by Younis Khan for 2, before Dravid nibbled a catch to Latif behind the stumps.

Scotland did fight back, reaching 77 for 3 after 17 overs as their other overseas import, the South African Jon Kent, added 47 for the third wicket with Jon Williamson, before he became Latif’s second victim of the innings, this time off the medium pace of Bilal Asad.

ehsan · June 7, 2003, 2:03pm




Scotland innings                                                R   M   B
RR Watson             c Younis Khan      b Shabbir Ahmed        2  12   9
JG Williamson         st Rashid Latif    b Shoaib Malik        36 110  50
R Dravid              c Rashid Latif     b Shabbir Ahmed        0   0   1
JC Kent               c Rashid Latif     b Bilal Asad          27  32  33
+CJO Smith                               b Shoaib Malik        26 125  65
IM Stanger            c Younis Khan      b Shoaib Malik         0   1   4
KJ Coetzer            c Rashid Latif     b Danish Kaneria       5  64  35
*CM Wright            lbw                b Shabbir Ahmed        7   9  24
GI Maiden             lbw                b Mohammad Hafeez     31  11  34
PJC Hoffmann          c Rashid Latif     b Danish Kaneria       9   3  10
RM Haq                not out                                   3   1   3
Extras                (b 1, lb 7, w 11, nb 4)                  23
Total                 (all out, 45.1 overs)                   169

FoW: 1-5 (Watson), 2-5 (Dravid), 3-52 (Kent), 4-95 (Williamson),
     5-95 (Stanger), 6-112 (Smith), 7-118 (Coetzer),
     8-132 (Wright), 9-153 (Hoffmann), 10-169 (Maiden).

Bowling                      O      M      R      W
Shabbir Ahmed               10      1     41      3 (3nb, 3w)
Umar Gul                     7      1     19      0 (1w)
Danish Kaneria              10      0     49      2
Mohammad Hafeez              2.1    0      8      1
Bilal Asad                   3      0     17      1 (1nb, 1w)
Younis Khan                  3      0     10      0 (1w)
Shoaib Malik                10      3     17      3 (1w)


Advertise on CricInfo 
Pakistanis innings (target: 170 runs)                           R   M   B
Imran Nazir           lbw                b Wright              38  51  39
Mohammad Hafeez       c Williamson       b Hoffmann             5   7   5
Yasir Hameed          c Watson           b Kent                 6  10  15
Yousuf Youhana        not out                                   3  30  30
Extras                                                          0
Total                 (3 wickets, 14.5 overs)                  52

To Bat: *+Rashid Latif, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Bilal Asad,
        Shabbir Ahmed, Umar Gul, Danish Kaneria.

FoW: 1-9 (Mohammad Hafeez), 2-18 (Yasir Hameed),
     3-52 (Imran Nazir).

Bowling                      O      M      R      W
Hoffmann                     7      3     13      1
Kent                         5      0     24      1
Stanger                      2      0      3      0
Wright                       0.5    0     12      1

Nancy_Drew · June 7, 2003, 2:04pm

Last Wicket: 52/3
Imran Nazir lbw b Wright 38 (51m 39b 6x4 0x6) SR: 97.44