History in the making.
Asif_k finally said something which actually makes sense. :k:
Hahahaha! Oh my! Shoaib taking over as Vice Captain? I had to squint my eyes to make sure i read it right! - My god that’s screwed up - but this probably does put an end to the speculation - Shoaib is in this Pakistan side to stay - and it probably does show the commitment and faith from the side in him - it is now down to him to prove them right.
It will now surely be impossibly for Pakistan to get anything out of the Test Series with Inzamam missing won’t it? Inclusion of Moin Khan is definitely good who’s a good keeper as well a batsman.
I predict 1-0 victory for Proteas!
I think Moin is a temporary cover for Rashid whose declared aim was to retire after the series in NZ. The fact that he has resigned captaincy does not mean that he has retired. So let him play till then and someone can take over from thereon.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ehsan: *
I think Moin is a temporary cover for Rashid whose declared aim was to retire after the series in NZ. The fact that he has resigned captaincy does not mean that he has retired. So let him play till then and someone can take over from thereon.
[/QUOTE]
We might have different news sources but I haven't read anything about Latif retiring after New Zealand tour but I'll take your word.
Then shouldn't we have done the same for Wasim and Saeed, they were performing nicely in WC, why were they dropped.
And anyother keeper could have "temporarily" replaced rashid Latif, why bringing an old horse back for couple games which will obviously cause more rifts in the team.
So will PCB be wanting Moin to comeback after Rashid retires?
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by UMAIR316: *
We might have different news sources but I haven't read anything about Latif retiring after New Zealand tour but I'll take your word.
Then shouldn't we have done the same for Wasim and Saeed, they were performing nicely in WC, why were they dropped.
And anyother keeper could have "temporarily" replaced rashid Latif, why bringing an old horse back for couple games which will obviously cause more rifts in the team.
So will PCB be wanting Moin to comeback after Rashid retires?
[/QUOTE]
Ask the PCB, I didn't make the decision? Rashid was brought back for one year till the end of the NZ series, that was the deal at the time.
youhana is the captain? kool:k:
so whos in the squad?
is it announced?
if Moin is back… then that will b the best thing for Pak in this series!
Youhana must play @ #3 to prevent middle order collapse
My Team for 1st Test match..........
01 Yasir Hameed
02 Taufiq Umar
03 Yousuf Youhana (captain)
04 Misbah-ul-Haq
05 Asim Kamal / Faisal Iqbal
06 Shoaib Malik
07 Moin Khan (wicket-keeper)
08 Mohammad Sami
09 Shoaib Akhtar (vice-captain)
10 Danish Kaneria
11 Shabbir Ahmad
How come nobody mentioned Junaid Zia ??? 
ok I agree with Talha , 1-0 victory for Proteas :-\
Asif_k you nailed it :k:
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Asif_k: *
ehsan, Xtreme - When it comes to Waqar, both of you dont get tired of explaining how his bowling days are over and how Pakistan should be looking for the future and blah blah blah, but the moment moin khan, who happens to be your favorite, is selected (who is 33-34 now), you guys didn't lose a second in approving his selection as soon as the news broke out as if he is the future of Pakistan cricket. However the fact is totally opposite - Moin has not played International Cricket for almost 2&1/2 years now and in domestic cricket he is more popular as Mr. Butter-fingers than the Moin Khan he used to be.
That moment your fav. was selected, all this talk of rebuilding and preparing a team for the future world cup etc took back seat ? Isn't it double standards on your part ? Care to explain ?
[/QUOTE]
We are compairing apples with oranges here. Moin Khan is 32 and not 34. A wicket keeper/ batsmen can play for a much longer time than a bowler. Firstly Waqar has lost his edge and bite and secondly we have enough fast bowlers who can take his place. That does not mean that they are as good as him, because he along with Imran and Wasim was one of the best around.
Moin on the other hand if required can carry on for a while and as I said above I think he is a temporary replacement anyway. The only other alternative which I am aware of is Kamran Akmal and from what I have seen of him he is not of test standard. So with Rashid withdrawing I don't think we had a choice.
Asif you can disagree, but that is my view. Yes Moin is my favourite but so is Waqar. I look for what is good for Pakistani cricket and in my view return of Moin in the absence of Rashid is good news.
So there is no double standards here. Looking to the future is one thing and in case of hte bowlers we do have a choice and can do that. In case of the wicket keepers we are stuck unless you know of names we are not aware of.
Moin might be my favourite but he is certainly not my God. :)
ehsan - You haven't seen Moin Khan's Birth Certificate either (just like most of us have not seen Waqar's Birth Certificate), so it's hard to tell what his real age is, he certainly doesn't look 32 to me. Your logic of Wicket Keepers playing longer than Fast bowlers doesn't hold any ground because Hadlee played untill he was 38-39,Akram & Ambrose until 37, Walsh until 39. And as far as I know all of them were fast bowlers of top level and ended with 400+ wickets. Moin hasn't played international cricket for almost 3 years now and I dont think he should have been recalled now, I dont have anything against him, infact I am a huge fan of Moin's game(Check KK Archive for that) and I think he is a champion and a match winner.
It's also absurd to think that Pakistan doesn't have choice in Wicket Keeping. How many wicket Keepers have been given chance to prove that ? Imagine If Pakistan kept playing Waqar, Wasim & Shoaib - No one would have heard about Shabir, Gul etc ( they would have vanished like Md. Zahid). Similarly If Pakistan were really serious about rebuilding a team for future then instead of recalling moin khan pakistan should have given chance to anyone of Kamran Akmal, Humayun Farhat, Naeem Ahmad, Adnan Akmal, Amin-ur-Rehman etc. Please dont tell me that you have never heard the names of these young wicket keepers.
Last but not the least - If need be I wouldn't mind dropping/Changing my God from my Team for the sake of rebuilding an Indian Team for Future.
Pakistan is no short of wicket keepers, there are many talented ones are out there, the problem is that if we keep switching between Moin and Rashid, how are we going to find one.
Off the W/K you have mentioned I have only heard of Kamran Akmal and Humayun Farhat. Akmal has not performed at International level and why PCB has not tried the others I don't know. At the same time Rashid and Moin were performing at their peak so probably their was no need to try the others. I still say that W/K can perform longer than fast bowlers. Of the bowlers you mentioned apart from Walsh the others were really not performing that well towards the end of their careers. Regarding bowlers again, Shoaib and Sami both broke thorugh when the W's were still there. Class shines regardless.
Asif, this argument can go on and on, lets just say we agree to disagree on this point.
I agree that Moin coming back now is too late. We needed his champion spirit in the WC. But with Rashid out it's too tough a series to blood so many youngsters in one go. I haven't seen enough of anyone else to recommend so I can only go by what I know. Kamran Akmal doesn't look like a natural w/k but maybe he'll prove me wrong.
As for Waqar, if I was convinced he was a better bet than younger players like Gul and Shabbir then I'd consider he should carry on, but with his decline in pace I don't think he is. What you are also forgetting is that the team spirit was dead for a year under his captaincy so I don't think there's any hypocrisy here at all. Each situation is different and Waqar needed to be put aside for the good of the team. I only consider Moin a short term replacement as well, in a less tough series we will try a new guy.
Allah-u-Akbar
Hall ban won’t hurt SA, says Symcox
Marcus Prior
October 15, 2003
South Africa go into the first Test against Pakistan in Lahore on Friday deprived of the lung-busting allround skills of the banned Andrew Hall, but the former Test offspinner - and ex-national selector - Pat Symcox still believes they will be too strong for their hosts.
Hall’s ban - one ODI and two Tests - for his altercation with Yousuf Youhana in the one-day series, which South Africa eventually won 3-2, was upheld on appeal this week. But Symcox - Man of the Series the last time South Africa visited Pakistan, in 1997, when he starred with both bat and ball - does not believe that Hall, a combative allrounder, will necessarily be missed.
“I don’t think South Africa will miss Andrew Hall at all,” Symcox told Wisden Cricinfo today. “He does not bowl out-and-out pace, and whoever replaces him will probably be a similar type of bowler. I don’t see him as a guy who is going to run up and take six-for in a Test match. He could do a good job and pick up one or two, but he’s not going to be a matchwinning bowler in Pakistan like Makhaya Ntini could be. And I don’t see him having a great influence with the bat at No. 9. I think the games will be won and lost at the top of the order.”
Under Graeme Smith, their young captain, South Africa are still searching for a settled side, with important questions still to be answered by the middle order and the back-up bowlers to Shaun Pollock and Ntini. However, Symcox believes South Africa will have enough in their armoury to win, especially against a Pakistan side that will be without their captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, who has a leg injury.
“We’re well equipped to beat them in the Test matches - we’ve got momentum on our side,” says Symcox. “Pakistan have also seen that pace is not going to beat us. We’ve shown we can handle Shoaib Akhtar and co., and I would think the guys are pretty confident right now. Pakistan have to look at other avenues now. I don’t know if they have got the batsmen to post really big scores.”
Symcox went on: “I would have gone the spinners’ route from the beginning and played Shoaib plus one other seamer, and then had Saqlain [Mushtaq] and Mushie [Mushtaq Ahmed] bowling. But to use your spinners well you need to post big scores, and I don’t think they’ve got the batters to do that.”
Although Herschelle Gibbs is struggling for form with the bat, the South African top order has been strengthened by the arrival of Gary Kirsten, the veteran left-hander whom Symcox pinpointed as central to the tourists’ cause. "Gary is absolutely crucial because he understands the need for patience in a place like Pakistan. You’ve got to have the mentality that scoring a hundred in Pakistan is not the same as in other places - runs are harder to come by and it just takes longer.
“What we know is that if you get in, it is vitally important to stay in, because it’s tougher to come to the wicket later on when the ball’s older and reversing and spinning. If you don’t set up the innings and lose three or four wickets you can lose a good position very quickly. Someone has to bat through.”
Meanwhile South Africans continue to express their dismay at Hall’s ban, with the majority feeling that he has been harshly treated. The former Test fast bowler Fanie de Villiers said this week that 99% of the callers to his TV cricket show were unhappy at the severity of the sentence handed down to Hall.
de Villiers added some opinions of his own, about the way the affair had been treated by the ICC and its chief executive, Malcolm Speed. “This shows the incompetence of the ICC,” said de Villiers. “Their decision is both diabolical and disappointing. They are a bunch of old fools on the ICC. I’d like to know if they actually even spoke to the players.”
Teams
Pakistan (from) Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Yousuf Youhana (capt), Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Asim Kamal, Shoaib Malik, Moin Khan (wk), Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Mushtaq Ahmed, Danish Kaneria, Shabbir Ahmed, Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal (wk).
South Africa (from) Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Gary Kirsten, Jacques Kallis, Boeta Dippenaar, Jacques Rudolph, Neil McKenzie, Mark Boucher (wk), Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini, Alan Dawson, Paul Adams, Robin Peterson, Charl Langeveldt, Andre Nel.
pretty hash words. 
Its true, Hall is an ordinary medium pacer and I can't see him troubling our batsman.
South Africa should go in with extra fast bowler.
I suppose Andre Nel will be Hall's replacement.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ehsan: *
I suppose Andre Nel will be Hall's replacement.
[/QUOTE]
yeah and with the current attitude he will replace Hall as a banned player too :)
IMO Shoaib Malik would play instead of a sixth specialist batsman coz it will give another bowling option to Youhana, not sure how good a test player he is/will be. Though it will give a thin look to the already troubled batting lineup. In other case, i would go with Faisal Iqbal.
Taufiq Umar,
Imran Farhat
Yasir Hameed
Yousuf Youhana
Asim Kamal
Shoaib Malik/Faisal Iqbal
Moin Khan
Shoaib Akhtar
Mushtaq Ahmad
Mohammad Sami
Shabbir Ahmad/Kaneria
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by saby: *
.... In other case, i would go with Faisal Iqbal.
...
[/QUOTE]
Why not Misbah? Is he not in the squad?