Re: 16-man Squad Announced for Pak/England Test Series
woops 
thanks captain saab 
Re: 16-man Squad Announced for Pak/England Test Series
5 spinners (including two all-rounders; shoaib malik and shahid afridi) well this says much about the pitches. they are gonna be slow-turrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrning tracks, though one thing must be noted that the games (1st and 2nd test match) will start a tad bit earlier than the usual time and since its central Punjab the ball will seam & swing and will give definite support to the quickes only its upto them and the think tank how to use it to their advantage.
Goodluck nice team
Re: Pakistan V England/ Pakistani squad announced.
Again the burden will rest on the weak Pakistan batting line-up, how they perform will swing the verdict, simply batting has to be upto the mark. Hasan raza has the ability to open with Shoaib Malik, he has done in the past, even when he was in U-15/19 teams representing Pakistan.
I wont be surprise that they both come and open the innings.
Nice team and balance but heavy load of spinners wihich can mean only one thing, spinning tracks.
Goodluck to the team 
Re: Pakistan V England/ Pakistani squad announced.
I agree with fkhan, Malik is being forced into a position which is not suited for his style of batting, he is much better suited for one day cricket and not test cricket. Having said that, this guy has proven everyone wrong by maturing as a fine all round player with plenty of fighting spirit. With Butt not in form, it would have made sense by testing Bazid or Faisel in the opening slot, same goes for Asim Kamal, I like the guy, but if he is not in form, then he should be rested for his own good and let somebody like Misbah or Hasan Reza take his position.
No Umer Gul? A young and talented bowler is being ignored for experience and depth in our spinning arsenal. Mushy and Arshad Khan are well passed their peak and very close to the fag end of their careers. Both are lousy fielders and cannot offer much in terms of future prospects. Sometimes what our cricketing minds cook makes no sense and completly contradicts there own stated policies of looking forward.
With Shabbir still under the microscope, it wud have been much better if they had stayed with Umer Gul and let Shabbir work on his action.
Re: Pakistan V England/ Pakistani squad announced.
Welcome back Acrobi123 !
Re: Pakistan V England/ Pakistani squad announced.
This is freakin stupid. They included that IDIOT Mushy who is not worth anything and these PCB idiots have included him in the squad.
England on the way to 3-0
Re: Pakistan V England/ Pakistani squad announced.
ty Captain1,
teaser yaar its more like getting info on the english players and nothing else, He might only play 1 test match maX.
I think!
Re: Pakistan V England/ Pakistani squad announced.
Mushtaq is in the squad at the expense of Umar Gul who has perfoemd well in the domestic matches leading upto the series. The rest of the squad doesnt have any surprises. I dont know what combination they will try at the top of the order and what bowling attack we would really use with this team. If we include two specialist spinners (Mushtaq and Kaneria) then not only do we weaken our batting a bit since both those are pretty much clueless tailenders but also we have to keep in mind that on spinning tracks the ball will also start reversing sooner and this English attack can take advantage of that unlike the others. LEt's hope we go for livley pitches and include three seamers (Shoaib, Sami and Rana)
Re: Pakistan V England/ Pakistani squad announced.
So much for Imran Khan's advice, he had said that Umar Gul would be Pakistan's best hope. Well he wasn't even selected! Instead we get 2 middle aged spinners, whose recent performances have been mediocre. I feel sorry for Umar Gul, he had been training so hard to get back into the team ever since he was injured, and this is what he gets in return.
Looks like Pakistan all set to play 2-3 spinners on our typical dust bowl wickets. I am disappointed with Bob, I had hoped he would have the guts to try something different.
Re: Pakistan V England/ Pakistani squad announced.
Why Arshad Khan?? I would have preferred Gul over him.. .Mushy was gonna come after soo much talk abt him.. so that wasn't a surprise... so now kaneria, afridi, mushy n arshad... i hope they come thru...
teaser... housla rakho yar... nahi to Imran K. is gonna start bashing u
Re: Pakistan V England/ Pakistani squad announced.
Arshad Khan for Umer Gul? Talk about negative selection policies! Turning wickets won't give you jack; the English blokes have seen enough of Warne this year.
Re: Pakistan V England/ Pakistani squad announced.
I am dissappointed that Umer Gul has not been picked up. Why do we need both arshad khan and mushtaq ahmad in the team?
Re: Pakistan V England/ Pakistani squad announced.
We tried the spin havy approach last time, we lost. Saqi was our only bowler, and ok Danish has come-on leaps and bounds since then, but we must be weary of falling into the same trap.
Mushy has had his time. His performance in the warm up game was a joke, and frankly I believe has time he represented Pakistan in test cricket he failed to impress. Was a good bowler, now his time is over.
Frankly, this is going to come down to how our own line-up deals with the likes of Fred and Harmison. If we can put 300 on the board consistantly, we're in the hunt.
The India series at home showed that any movement in Asia (Pak specifically) is found only in the first session or 2 of day 1. After that, its usually a road. Hence solid openers are important.
We'll have possibly 3 spinners and 3 quicks in the line-up assuming we play:
Butt
Malik
Younis
Yousuf
Inzi *
Afridi
Akmal +
Akhtar
Sami
Gul
Kaneria
That line-up is weak. We should play the extra batsman, dropping either Afridi or one of the paceman. Its not WI were Shahid can blast tons, Eng can bowl with venom.
In short, we should hedge our bets and aim for balance, not rely on spin alone.
Re: Pakistan V England/ Pakistani squad announced.
No Gul?!
Ludicrous! Then Shabbir must come in I'd imagine for him. His height will be an assett.
Re: Pakistan V England/ Pakistani squad announced.
The ball will reverse a lot sooner on spinning tracks and with Flintoff and Harmison swninging it with top pace our batting line up will have difficulties putting up a good show. Nice green tracks would have suited someone like Gul and Rana perfectly. Just pitch it on good length on off and a little outside off and bowling those Aaqaib Javed like outswingers. Sooner or later batsmen will nick it. Plus Sami and Shoaib would also be able to cause problem with sheer pace. I really hope they dont go with the spin attack and put two spinners at the expense of Rana.
Re: Pakistan V England/ Pakistani squad announced.
Mohammad Sami doubtful for 1st test. Abdul Razzaq out for the whole test series.
Source: Geo Sports
Re: Pakistan V England/ Pakistani squad announced.
^ May be good omen for including Umar Gul or Yasir Arafat/Najaf/Irshad
Re: Pakistan V England/ Pakistani squad announced.
Muhammad Sami unfit for two weeks
LAHORE: Pakistani cricket team has been facing a series of difficulties, one after other, as another pace bowler Muhammad Sami was declared unfit.
Captain of Pakistani team Inzamamul Haq disclosed this while talking to Geo TV correspondent Abdul Majid Bhatti here on Tuesday.
Inzamam said during the training camp in Lahore Muhammad Sami developed the groin injury and needed two weeks to regain fitness, however, he said his fitness would be checked on November 6 but regretted that Sami’s participation against England in Multan Test was doubtful.
He said Pakistan still had a pace attack comprising Shaoib Akhtar, Shabbir Ahmed and Rana Naveedul Hassan.
All rounder Abdul Razzaq has already been declared unfit.
SOURCE: http://www.geo.tv/
Re: Pakistan V England/ Pakistani squad announced.
Great, series is weeks away from starting and 1 strike bowler and 1 allrounder already out. Gul would be the obvious replacement but the great PCB think tank didn't pick him in the 16 man squad.
Re: Pakistan V England/ Pakistani squad announced.
Both are pie throwing shmucks! I am quite happy actually.