Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
I personally would like to see Asif or Gul instead of Sami and one of Yousuf or Hasan dropped, I prefer Yousuf to be dropped for Asim as it’d be unfair for Hasan to play only one match and then vanish into oblivion for another couple of years then he will become Misbahul Haq.
Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
There is no need to fix a “broken” thing, but if its not working as desired or if there is room for improvement then why not upgrade it? 
Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
Oh no… Please no to Yasir Hameed, rather keep Shoiab Malik and try him again and let him settle down. He has a terrible technique and the English bowlers will give him hard time…
Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
***There is no need to make many changes in the team, except few; M. yousef replaced by A. Kamal (if he is injured and out).
In case of M. Sami well what can we say about him 
just when he was to be tagged as a waterboy, he just made his way in, much will depend on the wicket prepared by the curator’s. If you add afridi, to the 11 then the upcoming pitch will be much more dead and placid. I hope not. Once again Pakistan batting needs to do more just scrape runs here and there.
Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
I want Afridi in for somebody... most likely its gonna be hasan, but i wana give this guy one more chance before we see him off from test cricket...
replace yousul with kamal, only if he is not 100% fit..
Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
Even though its never a good idea to change a winning combination, some changes seem obvious.
Rest of the team appears to be well settled, would love to see players like Yasir Arafat, M Asif get a chance to play but not just yet.....
Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
^ I dont think Shoaib should be replaced and should play all 3 matches. The only change I would make is Razzaq for Hasan raza.
Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
Ehsan bhai,
We are already one up in the series, pressure is now on England. It wud be a mistake to persist with a player who cannot open niether has the required technique to do so. Everytime we send in our openers, pressure will be on Pakistan cause one of them doesnt have the right technique.
More importantly, this is just one series which can set the rhythm right for a good opening pair which will carry us through 2006 and into the world cup. If our experiment with Malik proves to be a failure in all three matches then what? Back to square one. Pakistan will once again continue to struggle with its batting and we will always be dependent upon our middle order for damage control. Its not just Malik we should be supporting, but all those players who can make a difference and make our batting stronger, not weaker.
Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
I think it would be really cruel if Hasan Raza was dropped. He may have flopped in this game but surely he should be given another chance after being off for so long? Dropping him would kill off any confidence and izzat the guy has.
Yousaf out - Afridi in
Sami out - Rana in (or maybe Umar Gul)
I think those changes would give us a far better batting line up for a flat wicket like Faisalabad and an extra bowling option. And Rana needs to be given a run of test matches and perhaps being dropped will kick Yousaf into gear.
Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
^^ the above recomendations should be implemented and I am pretty sure they will be as we have the upper hand in the series and we can take a slight chance with doing what stasky have mentioned above..
Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
I would sit Raza out (for good) and bring in Razzaq/Afridi. We should stick with Malik as opener and give Youhana another chance to take responsibility.
Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
I think they will stick with the same team perhaps change Hasan Raza for either Asim Kamal or Shahid Afridi. I dont know if Razzaq is fit yet or not otherwise he will make his way back in the side. Sami bowled well on the last day, his spell was fiery and hostile and I think he saved his place due to that spell. Mohammad Yousaf will only sit out in he is injured. I would personally like to give him a swift kick in the rear end and drop him altogather for a series just like we drop others for having a bad attitude I would do the same to Yousaf for playing test cricket for his country with such no serious attitude. But Yousaf enjoys great respect from Inzamam and Inzi will stick with Yousaf if he is fit.
Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
Pakistan but capitalize on England's weakness against legspin, Afridi would be perfect candidate to come in for Raza.
Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
Afridi should come in the second test but seriously guys just look at this batting line up and tell me if its not vulnerable
Malik
Butt
Inzi
Younis
Yousuf
Afridi
This is no time for experiment. Pakistan with an offensive approach can win the series at Faisalabad. I think kamal has to come in the side replacing hasan. Afridi can only come if woolmer chacha decides to end "experiment malik". In my personal opinion they should opt for keeping afridi and kamal in the side. Pakistan should try their best to be offensive in order to kill the english team at Faisalabad.
Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
Agree. Rana will add the depth to the tail that shabbir has not been able to. We are all guaging Rana’s bowling on his performances up till the WI series. He is a totally changed bowler now bustling with confidence after his county summer this year.
My recommended changes: Afridi for Raza, Rana for Shabbir.
Woolmer has confirmed they will play Malik as opener for all tests. So the lineup should look something like this:
Malik
Butt
Younis
Inzi
Yousuf
Afridi - replaces Raza. Adds legspin/ fielder / bat options.
Akmal
Rana - replaces Shabbir. Strengthens tail with the bat.
Sami
Akhtar
Kaneria
Sincerely,
Captain Lota
Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
Shoaib Malik *is *a regular batsman. Or has he not lived up to your high standards yet?
What batsman do you suggest should replace Malik and how is that batsman better than him?
Sincerely,
Captain Lota
Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
Not my standards dear friend, but those set up by his fraternity. Malik has yet to score big in test match cricket (10 appearances). Players like Sehwag who are used as a comparable scored centuries on debute while batting down in the order, can u say the same for Malik? Sehwag was promoted to open for India in test match cricket because he was primarily a batsman with established credentials, even then there was tremendous opposition.
Shoaib Malik is/was primarily a bowler who can bat, no doubt he has improved as a batsman, but down the order may I add. When we talk about test cricket we sud talk about Specialists for the given assignment. Malik is a fine all rounder, his position in the team sud compete with Razzak and Afridi.
Taufeeq Umer, Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed all are regular openers with established credentials. These are just 3 examples, look at our domestic cicrcuit, we have two players for each team who are regular batsmen with established credentials. There only misfortune is that they have yet to play for Pakistan and demonstrate their potential. Shoaib Malik was good and fortunate to show his credentials, thus our confidence in a known entity. But, on a professional level you cannot depend on individuals, emphasis must be placed on institutions and our cricketing institution is the domestic circuit which should/must be our guide.
Iam a great believer in our domestic talent pool, just look at the bowlers, we have M Asif, Najaf Shah, M Arshad, Yassir Arafat, Rana Amjad all these bowlers can walk into the Pakistan team provided they are given a chance. One of the catalyst which probably motivated our front line bowlers was the threat of being replaced by bowlers of strong credentials. Similarly, batsmen playing in the domestcic circuit should be given the same respect and confidence. When u have replacements available, frontline players will always be on their toes and there will be no room for complacency.
Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
all stay except for raza who should be replaved with afridi
Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
Why are you comparing him to Sehwag? We dont have a Sehwag or anybody with similar qualities in our team or the talent pool. Dont expect Malik to develop into a Sehwag overnight either although he showing much better signs of improvement compared to the rest of our openers' crop.
You still havent told us who you recommend should take his place in the current situation and why that candidate is better than shoaib. The three examples you gave, Taufeeq Farhat and Yasir have all been given plenty of chances and they have not lived up to any expectations. Atleast Malik has shown the confidence to stand up to the new ball and hammer it around the park unlike the above three who just cannot get past flirting on the off side and edging candies to slip fielders.
Consider Malik another experiment just as there have been so many in the past. I back Woolmer's decision to keep the same Malik/Butt opener combo for the rest of the two games.
Sincerely,
Captain Lota
Re: Pakistan V England 2nd Test Match, Faislabad
Inzi said on GEO last night that there wil be one or two changes, depending on the pitch. I think Raza wil go and Razzaq/Afridi will come in.