Nineteen-year-old batsman Umar Amin has been rewarded for his impact on the domestic season with a call-up to Pakistan’s 15-man squad for the first ODI against Sri Lanka on January 21 in Karachi. The team, the first picked by a new-look selection committee headed by Abdul Qadir, has gone back to traditional Pakistani strength, pace, but is not entirely without surprise.
Pakistan squad :
Shoaib Malik (capt), Misbah-ul-Haq, Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal (wk) , Sohail Tanvir, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Iftikhar Anjum, Saeed Ajmal, Khurram Manzoor, Sohail Khan, Yasir Arafat, Umar Amin
Re: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka - ODI Series, January 2009
Terrible squad…I dont see how Manzoor got selected ahead of Nasir Jamshed and how in the world can they justify dropping Fawad Alam? If like the article said, the wickets are going to be bouncier and quicker than the past and Pakistan would be relying on its strength, which is pace…then what is Saeed Ajmal doing part of the squad when we have Afridi and Malik who are more than good enough ODI spinners.
Only good decision I see is the inclusion of Umer Amin…hopefully he gets a game.
Instead of Sohail Khan, who hasnt really played that great in the ongoing Quiad-e-Azam tournament…They should have included Mohammad Talha…he’s been on fire in the tournament and had a great RBS 20/20 tounrament as well.
Salman Butt keeps losing his partner. Hopefully Nasir Jamshed will come back into the team, unless Khurram Manzoor performs.
Exactly...and Khurram Manzoor is a good player no doubt...but I would rather have him for test matches with Butt because he's not a big hitter...just like Butt. In this day and age, we need at least one attacking opener alongside a solid opener to take advantage of the power plays. Nasir Jamshed's aggression and big hitting was the perfect option with Butt rotating the strike and hitting the odd boundry.
The only reason I can see why the selectors dropped Jamshed was to select Umer Amin. Umer Amin bats up the order, usually at #3 or either opens...and I dont see him batting at #3, 4, or 5 because thats where Younis, Misbah, and Malik bat...and im sure Amin aint replacing any of those batsmen.
Re: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka - ODI Series, January 2009
and Schedule changed (once again) on SL request. Now they dont want to play game in Multan (on 27th) and wrap up the ODI series in 4 days due to “expected” Indian tour. So now we have games on 2 consecutive days in Karachi (on 21 and 22). Ullu k pathey 3 din aur ruk ker multan main game nahi khail saktey.
talk about “naeee nawaliee dulhan k nakhrey”
or “Allah husub daita hai tu nazakat aa hee jatee hai”
SL is acting like that one pretty gal in whole school class jo baqi sub ko ullu baeey rakhtee hai. We gotta pay it back with interest whenever possible !
Re: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka - ODI Series, January 2009
^ Actually I think its not the SL board which is causing the problem...its BCCI doing its best to disturb Pakistan through the back door. BCCI wants to be in Sri Lanka on certain dates and are pushing SL board to gets its way with the PCB. PCB approached SL first to play a series yet SL is only playing 3 ODI's against Pakistan but 5 with India and a T20 as well?
^ Actually I think its not the SL board which is causing the problem...its BCCI doing its best to disturb Pakistan through the back door. BCCI wants to be in Sri Lanka on certain dates and are pushing SL board to gets its way with the PCB. PCB approached SL first to play a series yet SL is only playing 3 ODI's against Pakistan but 5 with India and a T20 as well?
I don't know if BCCI is forcing SL board for these changes however the way I see it BCCI has spoiled a chance for PCB of having a 5 ODI,1 T20 and 3 Test series with Srilanka. It is my personal opnion but ethically BCCI should have let SL play with Pakistan.
It may sound like whinning but is there even a comparison between the amount of cricket India played in 2008 with what Pakistan played in 2008? India toured Australia, Srilanka, BD, Zimbabwe whereas Australia, South Africa, England toured India.There were altogether 18 tests which India played along wih several ODI's.
Pakistan on the other hand suffered as a result of PCB's incompetence and the double standards of foreign cricket boards.
What difference would it make if India doesn't play with Srilanka? Again this is my personal opinion with which you may or may not agree.
In this case obviously they wanted to schedule Srilankan tour in such a way that would give them some time to rest before leaving for NZ.
An itinerary announced by SL board todaylooks perfect with 5 ODI games and a T20 game between Jan. 29 and Feb. 10, allowing Indian team a rest of 10 days before their NZ tour.
