Re: Pakistan will start favourites against English: Akram
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Last i checked Akhtar was consistently in his high 80s. Freddie aint express..so what? I doubt he fancies bowling close to 100mph deliveries.
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Freddy Flintof can go around 94-95mph. Simon Jones and Harmason are also over 90mph quite easily.
Re: Pakistan will start favourites against English: Akram
lolz:bukbuk:
Re: Pakistan will start favourites against English: Akram
On current form England will be favourites not Pak. Maybe with wasim and waqar in the side, we would have started as favourites later this year.... nah i can clearly sense a drubbing in the tests already :( but i think we'll take the odi's.
Big fred doesn't need express pace, as pace isn't everything. He has shown already in the ashes what a intelligent bowler he is with a consistent acurrate line and length. He works out the batsmen pretty quickly and then nails them. He will be a big threat in Pak for sure.
Re: Pakistan will start favourites against English: Akram
ODI's can go eitherway, it's that sort of game. But the real battles will be in the test arena. I don't expect bowling performances similar to the Ashes from England, as the conditions will be very different. Pakistan should utilize England's weakness against spin, Kaneria and Afridi should be ready for long spells.
They say only bowlers can win test matches but I think it's safe to say that it will be Pakistan's batting that will really decide Pakistan's fate. They can't afford those all too familiar and frequent "collapses" against this England side. Hopefully, they can take advantage of the familiar conditions and consistently post score of 400+.
Re: Pakistan will start favourites against English: Akram
^ High time mushy was recalled to the test squad. The guy really can’t do much more to really put a case forward for selection. Last season he took over 100 wickets in the county championship, this year he has something like 70+ wickets to his name. Definitely performing no doubt about that. I don’t know what the actual reason is for not selecting him. Maybe it is the familiar case of having personal vendettas’ and ending careers’ of cricketers for them, just like what they did to the gr8 waqar younis, made him retire he wasn’t ready to hang up his boots.
Re: Pakistan will start favourites against English: Akram
^ With Kaneria and Afridi in the team, Mushy is not needed. Why take backward steps? What good will Mushtaq be to Pakistan cricket 5 years from now? Waqar should have retired long before he actually did, the only reason he was in the team was because he was captain.
That's the problem with our cricketing heroes, they don't know when to call it quits. Just look at Moin still vying for a place. They need to learn from Imran and Wasim.
Re: Pakistan will start favourites against English: Akram
Wasim? only Imran is an example of a case where hero/legend knows when to hang boots.
Re: Pakistan will start favourites against English: Akram
Not looking good for our boys in green. I hope its a fun and exciting series just like the ashes were. Watch out for Yasir Hameed to explode in the series.
Re: Pakistan will start favourites against English: Akram
^ Is he gonna wear those bomb-belts that suiciders wear these days :p
Re: Pakistan will start favourites against English: Akram
pak. will give a tuff fight in test matches...
cuz we have bob woolmer (creative mind)
and i m sure pak will win ODI series, INSHALLAH
Re: Pakistan will start favourites against English: Akram
skhan Maybe u r forgetting, Wasim akram did a u turn on his retirement plan after our no show at the 2003 world cup. He wanted and to carry on for the benefit of the youngsters.
Waqar should've retired long before? hoosh main tu hou, he was still performing why quit? As long as you are good enough, you should carry on, age is not everything. That ganga devil Aamir Sohail was chief selector at the time and he had a lot to do with waqar's forced retirement. Look at the likes of warne and mcgrath, they aren't been forced to retire by mr. horns, they know they still have something to offer and are carrying on.
Re: Pakistan will start favourites against English: Akram
No, Wasim was at the top of his game till the very end. He was the leading wicket taker for Pak in the WC 2003. Waqar was given a fair run he should have no complaints. In the beginning he was successful, towards the end he totally lost it, therefore was axed.
Re: Pakistan will start favourites against English: Akram
My point was that Wasim didn’t hang boots either, his boots were taken away, just like Waqar.
Re: Pakistan will start favourites against English: Akram
I don't think we cna beat them in TESTS unless Kaneria and Akhtar fire big time but ODI's will surely be evenly contested.
I think we need Gul in the team instead of Sami ( Akhtar and rana will play for sure) as the third seamer because England team is full of aggressive batsmen and a bowler like Gul can put pressure by keeping it very tight and other pacers can ATTACK.
In Sami, Akhtar and Rana we have 3 attacking bowlers who go for plenty of runs and only Akhtar can take wickets regularly.
Re: Pakistan will start favourites against English: Akram
I don’t think rana is a good test option, atleast for now. Selectors more likely will stick to Akhtar, Sami, Gul or Nazir
Re: Pakistan will start favourites against English: Akram
Well i don't want Rana in the team either but it seems like he will still play because he is having a great season with Sussex and he might still get another chance but i would rather play Akhtar, Gul, Sami/Shahid Nazir.
Bob uncle may even play Shoaib, Sami and Razzaq.
Re: Pakistan will start favourites against English: Akram
Thats a very good combination of 3 pacer along with that Danish as spiner.