Pakistan V Bangladesh - Test and ODI series.

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Cricket: PCB name seven uncapped players in test squad: KARACHI, Aug 16: Pakistan have named seven uncapped players in their squad for next week's first test match against Bangladesh. Veteran batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq was included in the 15-man squad named today by chief selector Aamer Sohail.

Squad: Muhammad Hafeez, Taufiq Umar, Yasir Hameed, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousaf Youhana, Misbahul Haq, Rashid Latif (captain), Shoaib Malik, Umer Gul, Shabbir Ahmed, Danish Kaneria, Shoaib Akhtar, Saeed Bin Nasir, Muhammad Khalil and Farhan Adil.

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Pakistan look to future

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I am back with a mission - Inzamam-ul-Haq

I see this squad selection as a balance combination of youth and experience players. From Veteran players, only Inzamam-ul-Haq made it back into the team. Good on him. He’s gotta have to prove himself; and I believe he’ll make a strong comeback like always. :k:

It’s nice to have Misbah-ul-Haq in the squad along with Saeed Bin Nasir and Farhan Adil. We’ll see how the young guns perform in the International spot. With Yasir Hammed, Yousuf Youhana and Shoaib Malik in the side, the batting department looks pretty strong.

It’ll be interesting to see how the team comes up with the final 11-member squad on the eve of 1st Test. I’ve a feeling the officials(Coach & Manager) will give a chance to Mohammad Khalil along side with Shoaib Akhtar. Nice to see Nani-Danny in the squad…woohoo…

What troubles me is the opening pair. Taufeeq Umer has a lil bit taste of Test-Cricket whereas Mohammad Hafeez will make his debut. We tried them in two tournaments and it didn’t work, though, it’s too early to draw conclusion but Taufeeq Umer lacks his footwork. I really hope he got rid of his flaws, otherwise, Farhan Adil would be my choice along with Mohammad Hafeez. Two Righties will make a Fight.

As a whole, the squad selection truly shows that PCB selection committe is trying different kinds of combination after every other major tournament. In order to find a solid player(be it a bowler or batsman) with a consistent, it is, indeed, good but PCB selectors shouldn’t do it in the upcoming series against Saffies.

Anyway, we’ll see how far things go after the end of the Tests-ODI Series with Bangladesh. This is a series where Sr. players like Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana will try their best to make a comeback and Jrs. wanna make a first impression among selectors and the fans of Cricket.

Lastly, it’s good to have Cricket back in Pakistan. :jhanda:

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man i really hope they play kaneria. that dude is very good.

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^^ I agree specially since we saw how McGill blew the Bagali batsmen out even on a lush green track, Kaneria will be more then handful for them on spinning tracks.

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no Abdul Razzaq :(

Pakistan Test squad: Rashid Latif (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Taufiq Umar, Yasir Hameed, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Umer Gul, Shabbir Ahmed, Danish Kaneria, Shoaib Akhtar, Saeed Bin Nasir, Mohammad Khalil and Farhan Adil.

DROP PLAYERS
Abdul Razzaq, Hasan Reza, Najaf Shah, Abdul Sattar, Jaffer Nazir.

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Good squad, and I am definitly delighted of the fact that Razzaq wasn't played.

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Razzaq was not dropped. He came back from England after terminating his contract with Middlesex due to knee injury and was not considered for selection due to that injury. The team announced is just for the first test match. If Razzaq's injury heals he might be back for either the second or third test.

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http://www.dawn.com/2003/08/17/spt2.htm

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**KARACHI: Seasoned all-rounder Abdul Razzak will miss the first Test against Bangladesh due to a knee injury, which had also forced him to terminate his contract with English county Middlesex earlier this month.

Razzak, who returned home early from England and reported for the Pakistan training camp on the first day was not considered for selection on Saturday as he is carrying a knee injury.

The News **

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by LahoriMunda: *
Razzaq was not dropped. He came back from England after terminating his contract with Middlesex due to knee injury and was not considered for selection due to that injury. The team announced is just for the first test match. If Razzaq's injury heals he might be back for either the second or third test.
[/QUOTE]

The fact that Razzaq is not a test player, he shouldn't be included in the squad anyways.
He is not an attacking test bowler, and he rarely bats well, so I don't see any point in him being included.

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exactly :k:

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it all depends on who you trust more. Dawn or the News. And then too, the report of a journalist or the man responsible for selecting the team himself.

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Pakistan aiming for first home series win since 1998

KARACHI, Aug 18, 2003 (Reuters)

Pakistan, winless in a series at home since 1998, have a prime opportunity to start reversing that trend when the first of three tests against Bangladesh begins on Wednesday.

Bangladesh have lost 20 out of 21 tests, most of them inside three days or by an innings, and have never scored more than 160 against Pakistan.

Pakistan have batted just three times in their three tests against Bangladesh scoring 546-3, 490-9 and 465-9. But Pakistan captain Rashid Latif was still cautious.

“I don’t want to look to history for confidence. The fact is we have not won a test series at home since 1998,” said Latif.

"Bangladesh come here after some respectable performances in Australia when you had some critics predicting they would lose in one or two days.

“I would be surprised if this Bangladesh side is not more competitive against us.”

Pakistan have lost test series to Australia, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and England since 1998.

But they have also seen several tours cancelled since the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States and the consequent conflicts in the region. Just two tests have been played at home since then and the last proper series was in late 2000 against England.

Bangladesh are fresh from a two-test whitewash at the hands of the Australians and coach Dav Whatmore said his side must use that experience in Pakistan.

“We just have to build on the confidence we gained in Australia. The batsmen have to do the little things right and we can be competitive,” he said.

Whatmore, who guided Sri Lanka to two test series wins in Pakistan, the 1996 World Cup final and the Asian test championship title, will be relying on Hannan Sarkar and Habibul Bashar for the bulk of his side’s runs.

Bashar has been his team’s most consistent and prolific batsman with 1,362 runs and has scored three half-centuries in six innings against Pakistan.

He has also faced Pakistani legspinner Danish Kaneria, who has 25 wickets in his three appearances against Bangladesh, with the most confidence.

Even if Whatmore does formulate a plan to neutralise Kaneria, his bowlers face the prospect of tying down recalled batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq.

The 33-year-old was one of five Pakistani batsmen to score centuries in the only other test between the two sides in Pakistan, at Multan in 2001.

He also notched a record breaking 329 runs at Lahore against New Zealand, in one of the only two tests at home since the game in Multan.

I think the star of this series will definitly be Kaneria, he has been unstoppable in the last 2 test series played in the subcontinent, against New Zealand in Lahore and against Bangali in their backyard.
I am actually excited about this upcoming series, its been a long time since we have seen a complete test series in Pakistan.

So does anybody if dishnetwork or who is going to be showing the series in North America.

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** Heavy security as Test cricket returns to Pakistan **

Link

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has implemented strict new security measures for the return of Test cricket after a 15-month absence. The match might be fairly low profile - Pakistan take on Test whipping-boys Bangladesh - but the PCB is leaving nothing to chance.

The first Test starts at Karachi on Wednesday, and even though only a small crowd is expected, the stadium will have a heavy military and police presence.

Rameez Raja, the PCB’s chief executive, insisted that there was no cause for concern. “Security was never a problem in Pakistan,” he said. “It was just a myth. People in Pakistan are waiting for cricket. I don’t think their interest lessened due to Pakistan playing home series on neutral venues.”

The PCB will be keen that the matches against Bangladesh go without any hitches, as a packed season will also see them host home series against South Africa and New Zealand.

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**Pitches prepared for first Test disappoint Miandad, Rashid **

By Waheed Khan

KARACHI: The Pakistan coach and captain spent considerable time on Monday pondering over the two pitches prepared for the first Test against Bangladesh.

Both Javed Miandad and Rashid Latif inspected the two pitches with great interest and sources say they were not happy with the pitch, which was offered to them for the Test by the chief curator of the Board Agha Zahid and the National Stadium curator Ehsan Arain. Sources said that **Miandad was not happy with the main pitch prepared as it had a dry look about it and appeared to be a surface on which variable bounce would become more noticeable as the match progressed and batting would not be easy.

“Miandad complained that if Pakistan can’t prepare sporting tracks with consistent bounce and pace against Bangladesh than it is a tragedy for the Pakistan team,” a source said.**

In fact due to the reaction of the Pakistan coach and captain to the pitch number one for the Test, the two curators and the ground staff are now thinking about offering the second pitch for the Test.

The optional surface has some grass on it and looks fresh and not surprisingly it had not been decided until Monday evening which pitch would be used for the Test match which would be the first in Karachi since December 2000 when England defeated Pakistan in a dramatic end to the match in fading light.

England’s win was the first ever by a touring side at the National Stadium in nearly 35 years time. Sources said that Miandad was also not very keen on recalling more senior players for the coming matches and had shot down the idea of recalling leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed for the series against South Africa.

“His argument is that since the rebuilding process has started the Board and selectors should not unnecessarily go back to the seniors and instead have more confidence in the youngsters and give them a proper run,” the source stated.

Miandad is said to be a strong supporter of young leg-spinner Danish Kaneria and believes it would be unfair to drop him at any stage in the international domestic home season to make way for Mushtaq Ahmed.

Miandad it seems has also been convincing Rashid Latif on this point of view.

The Pakistan coach apparently also feels that the Board needs to review the responsibilities and authority it has assigned to the selectors, Board officials and team officials in its charter of duties.

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**Pak-BD Test fails to attract cricket lovers **
By our correspondent

KARACHI: The normal hustle and bustle associated with the advent of a Test match in Karachi is sadly missing this time and on Monday one saw more security and PCB officials around the stadium than the pure animated cricket fan.

One reason for this lack of interest in the match could be because it involves the bottom placed Test team Bangladesh and a result in favour of Pakistan is a foregone conclusion.

Another one could be that even the burgeoning middle class in these times of economic hardships and inflation is holding back for the Test and One-day International that would be played against South Africa at the National Stadium in September and October.

But what was noticeable was that till Monday afternoon the organizing committee had not been able to put tickets on sale for the Test match because they were apparently held up in the excise and taxation department for stamping.

But than this time the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) officials have been denied their customary right of organizing the match and this task has been given to the nominated Sindh Cricket Association (SCA).

And the organizing secretary Irfan Mirza clearly has more on his plate than he can tuck into since he is already busy with various projects as the Board’s General Manager Projects & Development.

In fact if there is one aspect that has overshadowed the organization of this Test, it has been the ongoing dispute between the KCCA and the SCA/PCB.

The KCCA officials on Monday spent their day consulting their legal advisor and submitting documents to prepare a case of contempt of court in the Sindh High Court against the SCA and PCB. Having not been allowed to select the Karachi team in the National Under-19 Championship the KCCA officials believe they have a solid contempt of court case against their opponents who selected and played the Karachi team in the same tournament despite a status quo order from the court.

But it is all in bad taste and it is sad to see that the KCCA officials have been forced to keep away from all organizational aspects of the Test match, an organizational task they customarily have handled all these years.

But this clearly either did not bother the Board officials and they were the busiest people in the stadium on Monday but still a close second to the Ten sports production team that was busy setting up its plenty of equipment for the broadcast of the match. It is but a reflection on the Board that just two days before the match the Ten sports producers were seen questioning the Board officials as to what had become of a important request from them send to the Board some time back.

Their advance request was for the construction of a small-fabricated tower inside the ground to hold the television camera at square leg to show slow motion replays for the television umpire.

Thankfully some of the board officials and organizers realized rather late how critical the tower was to the telecast of the match and work started on war footing to cover up for the blunders of a few in the Board.

And in all this one hardly saw any cricket fan or autograph hunters eager to catch a glimpse of their favourite cricketer and get their signatures. If the Pakistan or Bangladesh teams had any legion of fans pushing to watch their net sessions, it were the local and foreign media personal and even they arrived pretty late for the session.

A change from the past when the media used to throng the stadium since early morning on the eve of a match to get quotable quotes from the teams.

Perhaps a rude reminder of how times and cricket have changed in Pakistan and how Test cricket has generally given way to One-day Internationals. And all this lack of interest although Karachi is hosting a Test match for the first time since December 2000.

One can only hope that the scenario would be more lively, animated and cheerful when the South Africans are in Karachi later this year.

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New-look Pakistan all set to take on tired Bangladesh

New-look Pakistan all set to take on tired Bangladesh
Wisden CricInfo staff - August 19, 2003

Pakistan is looking forward to the first Test against Bangladesh at Karachi on August 20. Not because it offers a chance to rack up some easy runs and wickets, but because it is the perfect platform on which to build a young team for the future. Seven of the 15 players in the Pakistan squad are uncapped and it is a great opportunity for the newcomers to get a feel of international cricket against easy opposition.

Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, spearheads of the side for more than a decade, are both absent. Saeed Anwar has retired, and Saqlain Mushtaq is not available due to his county commitments with Surrey. Rashid Latif, captaining Pakistan for the first time at home, said: “This is a new side full of talent and has done well in one-day tournaments and now we hope that the new boys put the team on the right track with this Test.”

One of the newcomers who has done well in one-day cricket is Mohammad Hafeez, the allrounder who played a key role in Pakistan’s victory in the quadrangular tournament in Sharjah. Taufeeq Umar, the left-hand opening batsman who has sparkled brightly on occasion but has lacked consistency, gets another chance to cement his place in the side. Misbah-ul-Haq, who had been dropped after a miserable series against Australia last year, gets another chance to show that he has what it takes to cut it at the top level.

The burden of the batting, however, will be borne by Yousuf Youhana and Inzamam-ul-Haq. Inzamam returns to the side with a point to prove – he was dropped after Pakistan’s World Cup debacle, and his future appeared to be in doubt for a while. His looming presence underscores the impact he has on the psyche of lesser teams – he may not be green, but for the Bangladesh side, he’s a hulk all right.

Shoaib Akhtar will be spearheading the pace attack, with reliable spin support from Danish Kaneria. Kaneria has taken 25 wickets in the three matches he has played so far against Bangladesh, and his relish for them will be enhanced by the way they were taken apart by Stuart MacGill recently.

The Bangladesh team, which is more or less the same side that lost to Australia recently, will not give in easily, though. “This will be different from the last time we played against Pakistan as we are progressing well and hope to put up a better show,” said Khaled Mahmud, their captain. “We know how desperately we need to lift ourselves and with some positives from the tour of Australia we hope improvement will come.”

Dav Whatmore, who took over as coach just before the tour of Australia, said, “Pakistan are not as strong as Australia and so we will try to put in a better show,” he said. “[The tour] is a testing ground for us and we have to prove our mettle.”

Bangladesh’s batsmen have, in the past, shown some mettle – but not for long. Their propensity to throw away starts is reflected perfectly in the Test record of their most successful batsman, Habibul Bashar, who has crossed 50 on as many as thirteen occasions, but has only one hundred to show for his efforts. Bangladesh have always had silver linings – now they must get rid of that darned cloud.

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I have a sickening feeling BD will score it’s first ever test victory during this tour. :bummer:

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^ You must be joking.

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well dont know about him, but i also have this gut feeling that Pakistan will have one or more bad sessions :bummer: Sincerely hope i m wrong :frowning: