Pakistan's team for 2003

Entertainment Cricket and Other Sports
1

Clearly, this tournament in England has shown that there is some work needed on the team before 2003.

The first basis for any team must be two stable opening bastman. Anwar and Elahi/Afridi cannot fulfill this role. Anwar has, I fear, passed his peak with no sustained period of productive innings for Pakistan following 1999. The time has come to drop him.

We must work hard on excellence in the field. As was shown in the 1999 World Cup, we can field with some precision and accuracy. It, however, must be a sustained effort. Not a virtue we employ for big tournaments.

Here is my team, as i think it should be formed over the next few years, in time for 2003.

BATSMAN 1 (Dunno who this could be)
Abdul Razzaq
Yousif Youhana
Inzamam ul Haq
Younis Khan
Azhar Mahmood (vc)
Shahid Afridi
Wasim Akram
Rashid Latif+
Saqlain Mushtaq
Waqar Younis*

Additional squad members
Shoaib Akhtar
Imran Nazir

I don’t know who could open the batting as number 1 - suggestions please?

I believe Afridi is an integral part of the team. However, he should feature further down the order so that he comes into bat during the last 10 overs. His ability to score quick fire runs would be vital late on in an innings espeically if he were complemented by the talents of Akram at the other end. He also adds an extra bowling element and is a strong fielder.

This is a team that can bat to number 9 and has 6 bowling options. Coupled with discipline on the field (and off it) - surely we’d be unstoppable.

The key to the batting must be 2 solid openers. I never worried in the days when Rameez and Sohail opened. You could guarantee that Pakistan would be 50-0 after 10 overs and thus the impetus for a fantastic springboard was laid down for the rest of the batting.

We have never replaced them.

2

A.s.a

What Abt Imran Nazir?????? He is a brilliant batsman with the right temper...
Allah Hafiz n take care

3

good to know that Wasim Akram will be around in 2003.

4

Considering Imran guided us to a world cup aged 39 and Akram is only 35, I see no reason why he should not be around in 2003 with such a fantastic strike and economy rate.

Glad to be of some reassurance to you old monk.

5
  1. Nazir
  2. Wasti - slow but good
  3. Youhana
  4. Inzi
  5. Younis Khan
  6. Moin or Rashid - doesn't matter
  7. Azhar
  8. Razzaq
  9. Saqi
  10. Waqar
  11. Any fast bowler other than shoiab - he sucks.

Shoaib and Afridi aren't players they are arrogant fools who think they can play cricket.
More show off than players.

Our's not to reason why,
Our's but to do and die:

6

Hi!

http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/smile.gif

I think we need to concentrate on our TEST cricket more; ideally the same team for tests and one-dayers should be employed. That way you get continuity.

Right. No matter that I really love Waqar and Wasim and that over the years they have been seen to be the most effective bowling pair in history and are both legends the time is right NOW to look for their replacements.

Some bowlers who have played here and there but are not in the squad for some reason ?

Muhammad Akram – he looked v. good and is quick as well as accurate. He is a talent that should be nurtured with a LONG run in the test and one-day teams under the guidance of the 2 W’s before they retire.

Shoaib–despite his fitness problems he is an asset and any bowler who can bowl 97.7 must be kept. He needs to get fit, concentrate mote on line and length and not just try breaking the 100 mph barrier all the time. With the correct guidance he can STILL be the bowling sensation of the decade (along with Brett Lee who is brilliant.)

Muhammad Zahid–never seen him play but heard he is even quicker than Shoaib! What happened to him?? I know he had a back injury playing for Notts but since then…

I think we MUST get the Waqar/Wasim replacements ready and playing as soon as possible.

Other than that with Saqi as a world class spinner and Abdur Razzaq we have a top bowling attack for both forms of the game.

Batting:

Saeed Anwar is arguably our greatest batsman other than Miandad ever–how can we even THINK of dropping him just cos of a bad patch?! Along with Inzi and Youhana he will form the backbone of our batting for a while yet insha Allah.

The other opener is a problem but I was impressed with Saleem Elahi. Good, solid player and a perfect foil for Anwar’s swashbuckling antics at the other end. Then Inzi at 3, Youhanna 4, Younis Khan (or someone else??) at 5, Abdur Razzaq 6, Rashid Latif 7, Wasim 8 (till his replacement bowler–Muhammad Akram??), Waqar 9 (till his replacement bowler–Muhammad Zahid??), Saqlain 10, Shoaib 11.
12th: Mushtaq Ahmad…
This gives us four specialist bowlers + Abdur Razzak
A wicket-keeper who can also bat and 5 batsmen.

What say you?

7

Any team needs its mix of young and old. The youth providing a flair and exuberance whilst the old counter-balance this with experience and rationality. On these grounds I would have to reiterate that Akram must be in South Africa, 2003. He is arguably one of the greatest bowlers of all time with an unparalleled ability to control the ball unlike others. This coupled with his knowledge of the game and experience as a captain makes him a natural asset to any one day, or test, side.

I understand there is a debate over Afridi. I feel he is guilty of perhaps being a bit too extravagant with the bat. He must learn patience and the virtue of play a dot ball after having hit a six off the previous delivery. He must appreciate that he cannot hit every ball to the boundary. Hence I would advocate that he bats further down the order coming in when risky shots are needed and quick fire innings are accepted - during the last 10 overs.

Despite this kink in his armour a lot of the credit for Pakistan's remarkable victory at Lords over England must go to him. His bowling was phenomenal and disciplined whilst his extraordinary catch was a pivotal moment in the game. Tight bowling and good fielding are virtues severely lacking at present and consequently, for me, Afridi would remain firmly in my plans.

I have not heard much about Sami Mohammed although i am assured he is an exciting talent. Does anyone have some detailed information/stats on him? I'd appreciate some more information on him.

8

brejrins...look at aus, dunno y i'm doing this, i despise that team, anyway...in all honesty, they are an excellent outfit...lets look at their replacements...in the bowling department...they've got gillespie, and damien martyn, and then for batting they've got a few batsmen appearing in the middle order slots...

soo...lets see...we've got more variety in the pakistan club than any other team, in both bowling and batting...youhana will be here for atleast two world cups, wasti is good, saleem elahi, imran nazir(excellent fielder), shahid afridi(he did play very well in his first test match, none of that quick fire shots) and not to forget hassan raza, and imran farhat...and the bowlers...well whatever happened to shahid nazir, and muhammad zahid? so much for fast bowling...moving to spinners...there used to be this new guy, umm yeah...moin khan's bro, and who else...this other guy...he was a leg spinner...something mansoor...forgot his name...he was good...anyway...we also need to look out for a wickie, humayun farhat, is good...i think the answer to pakistan's woes is...stick with these players thru thick and thin, local exposure mil cho ka hai inn bundoun kou...and are very successful and are justly chosen for the pakistan national team...but when they go out and play outside of pakistan, the pitches are different, all in all atmosphere/conditions, and whatever is completely different...and i'm not talking about international as in sharjah and the sub-continent...it's more or less like pakistan with the exception of sharjah...anyway...the board has to stick with these new guys cuz they are the future of pakistan cricket...we are losing with the legends on the national team...so we mite aswell lose with the new guys...i don't mean to put the national team down for some losses...i am one of those that support the team thru wins and losses and don't resort to asking for their heads when they lose one match...but the selectors have really gotta think about the future of pak cricket...who knows maybe the opening batting pair of imran nazir and imran farhat will be legends and maybe the opening bowling pair of shoaib akhtar and muhammad zahid will be the most feared...hey anything is possible...waqar and wasim came out of nowhere...

"There as many ideas in the minds of men and women as there are stars in the sky, it is your job to hold on to one and make it come true"
Anonymous

9

Very true - Wasim and Waqar did come out of no where. Whilst we are losing the old legends, we will simply generate new ones. As you say, we must persevere. I believe we have the best raw talent in the world - even more so that the Australians. They are just a far more superior professional outfit.

A lot of people have mentioned Elahi. I have not been impressed with him. For me, he seems to be too inconsistant only scoring massive totals sporadically and then making a minimal contribution in between. Batsmen 1 and 2 MUST deliver everytime to give the other batsmen some sort of platform.

10

With Pakistan's knack of pulling out surprises from out of nowhere, I'd say we should have at least 2-3 capable newcomers in our squad come WC 2003.

And as long as they're fit and performing, the rest should should include: Anwar, Youhana, Nazir, Inzi, A.Razzaq, Saqlain, Waqar and Moin/Latif.

And if these are still putting on a good show: Mahmood, Younis Khan, Shahid Nazir, Shoaib Malik.

For those of you mentioning elahi and esp. Wasti, they have a very bad flaw when negotiating the moving ball outside off, and it doesn't help that foot movement is minimal.

11

If we want to win the 2003 World Cup and do far better than we have been doing against the best sides in the world...ie Australia and South Africa in both tests and ODI then we have to play youngsters from now on.

That means -

No more Wasim Akram - Its about time he goes for heavens sake. He is past his prime..he went past a long time ago. Since he doesent want to retire, he should just be dropped for good.

Saeed Anwar - Bye Bye. He has not learned anything by watching his dismisalls. Also he has become very weak mentally since 1998 and he has no idea what a senior player has to do. His batting in OLD TRAFFORD in particular was disgusting and should have been the end of his career. He`s younger than Akram so if he gets his act together then maybe he can play buy for now BYE BYE.

Azhar Mahmood - A useless player. Likes to talk a lot but always gets hammered against the top sides with both bat and ball. The Aussies have made a sheep out of him. His batting is limited to the "fellow who got 3 hundreds against RSA years ago". He needs to be dropped.

This should be the side for the 2003 Cup

Imran Nazir (Best opener in Pakistan today)
Imran Farhat (Great technique - loves fast bowling)
Yousef Youhana( Gets nervous against top teams but is a class player)
Inzamam Ul Haq(Can last till 2003 and despite ups and downs is our best batsman)
Mohammad Wasim(Is a solid,class player who is still very young at 23. He likes to nudge the ball into gaps and is a proper middle order player who should bat at 5 instead of being sent in as a sacrificialm lamb at number 1 or 2)
Abdur Razzaq(The best allrounder to come from Pakistan since Imran. He can do it all.)
Shahid Afridi(Needs to be in the team-can be a floater who can be sent to open once in a while - when were chasing a big total but not when were batting first - he can bowl,is aggressive and is a good fielder)
Shoaib Malik(The best fielder in Pakistan.Is an allrounder,young,energetic and will be a major success in the field in 2003)
Moin Khan(He is the better batsman of the 2 top keepers and will be the one to last till 2003. He is younger,fitter,and a brilliant ODI player)
Waqar Younis(The Captain. Should retire after the World Cup - win or lose. He`s a fighter and likes to lead by example)
Shoaib Akhter (Will be the star in the World Cup. Needs to be given proper time to rest, and play a lot of domestic cricket before coming back into the team. Should be played in important games instead of every game that comes along)

Other members -

Saqlain Mushtaq
Danish Kaneria
Mohammad Sami
Younis Khan
Hassan Razaq

12

here is my squad
1)Imran
2)Afridi (openers)
3) yohanna
4) inzi
5) khan
6) Latif
7) Razzq
8) Azza
9) akaram
10) Saqi
11) Waqi

stand by
Hamayoon Farat, Shabir Khan

PCB should stop spending there money and time on shoihb Aktar. he comes for a game play half game get sick then he rest for a year! what joke how many games has he played in lost 2 years?? there is so much talant in pakistan i m sure PCB can find way too many bowlers then Shoihb!

what do u guys think about my team

13

My team for ODI matches:

1.) Saeed Anwar
2.) Imran Nazir
3.) Inzimam-ul-Haq
4.) Yousuf Youhana
5.) Abdur Razzaq
6.) Shahid Afridi
7.) Rashid Latif
8.) Shoaib Malik
9.) Waqar Younis
10.) Saqlain Mushtaq
11.) Muhammad Sami

I think Younis Khan is an excellent test player but he hasn't been that impressive in ODIs as he can't take pressure.

Imran Nazir is an excellent and ideal opening partner with Saeed Anwar. I think he hasn't gotten any chances to bat. I think we should remeber his great performances in the Sharjah Cup in 2000 and Asian Cup.

We all know Wasim will not be fit in 2003, and he hasn' been taken wickets lately both test and and ODIs. M.Sami is an excellent replacement for him, he may not be as a good as a bowler Wasim used to be but he is great bowler.
Like someone mentioned above that Imran Khan was 39 when he retired, you have to look both batting and bowling and he was a such a great batsman also and he was the captain at that time so Pakistan couldn't affort to loose a such a great allrounder.

I think Pakistan needs more than one spinner and picked Shoaib Malik over Mushtaq Ahmed because he is also good with the bat.

Thank you, come again

14

[quote]
Originally posted by Hollywood:
**If we want to win the 2003 World Cup and do far better than we have been doing against the best sides in the world...ie Australia and South Africa in both tests and ODI then we have to play youngsters from now on.

That means -

No more Wasim Akram - Its about time he goes for heavens sake. He is past his prime..he went past a long time ago. Since he doesent want to retire, he should just be dropped for good.

Saeed Anwar - Bye Bye. He has not learned anything by watching his dismisalls. Also he has become very weak mentally since 1998 and he has no idea what a senior player has to do. His batting in OLD TRAFFORD in particular was disgusting and should have been the end of his career. He`s younger than Akram so if he gets his act together then maybe he can play buy for now BYE BYE.

Azhar Mahmood - A useless player. Likes to talk a lot but always gets hammered against the top sides with both bat and ball. The Aussies have made a sheep out of him. His batting is limited to the "fellow who got 3 hundreds against RSA years ago". He needs to be dropped.

This should be the side for the 2003 Cup

Imran Nazir (Best opener in Pakistan today)
Imran Farhat (Great technique - loves fast bowling)
Yousef Youhana( Gets nervous against top teams but is a class player)
Inzamam Ul Haq(Can last till 2003 and despite ups and downs is our best batsman)
Mohammad Wasim(Is a solid,class player who is still very young at 23. He likes to nudge the ball into gaps and is a proper middle order player who should bat at 5 instead of being sent in as a sacrificialm lamb at number 1 or 2)
Abdur Razzaq(The best allrounder to come from Pakistan since Imran. He can do it all.)
Shahid Afridi(Needs to be in the team-can be a floater who can be sent to open once in a while - when were chasing a big total but not when were batting first - he can bowl,is aggressive and is a good fielder)
Shoaib Malik(The best fielder in Pakistan.Is an allrounder,young,energetic and will be a major success in the field in 2003)
Moin Khan(He is the better batsman of the 2 top keepers and will be the one to last till 2003. He is younger,fitter,and a brilliant ODI player)
Waqar Younis(The Captain. Should retire after the World Cup - win or lose. He`s a fighter and likes to lead by example)
Shoaib Akhter (Will be the star in the World Cup. Needs to be given proper time to rest, and play a lot of domestic cricket before coming back into the team. Should be played in important games instead of every game that comes along)

Other members -

Saqlain Mushtaq
Danish Kaneria
Mohammad Sami
Younis Khan
Hassan Razaq**
[/quote]

Imran Nazir (He is young and should be guided by coach and senior players. Also needs to be coached on keeing his body close to the bat. He is the future prospect)
Imran Farhat (Haven't seen him much)
Yousef Youhana(is a very good player but lacks sense)
Inzamam Ul Haq(Can last till 2003 and despite ups and downs is our best batsman)
Mohammad Wasim(Lacks basic technique. Plays across the line and this weakness has been exposed. Cannot last long against bowlers like McGrath)
Abdur Razzaq(The best allrounder to come from Pakistan since Imran. He can do it all.)
Shahid Afridi(Needs to be in the team-can be a floater who can be sent to open once in a while - when were chasing a big total but not when were batting first - he can bowl,is aggressive and is a good fielder)[Afridi has quick reflexes and good hand-eye coordination. He is basically a baseball type player who plays with a horizontal bat. He should be allowed to play his natural game, but instructed to leave certain types of balls alone]
Shoaib Malik(The best fielder in Pakistan.Is an allrounder,young,energetic and will be a major success in the field in 2003)
Moin Khan(He is the better batsman of the 2 top keepers and will be the one to last till 2003. He is younger,fitter,and a brilliant ODI player)[He is an intriguer and was rightly dropped. Rashid Latif is a better keeper and batsman and can guide other players]
Waqar Younis(The Captain. Should retire after the World Cup - win or lose. He`s a fighter and likes to lead by example)
Shoaib Akhter (Will be the star in the World Cup. Needs to be given proper time to rest, and play a lot of domestic cricket before coming back into the team. Should be played in important games instead of every game that comes along)[Lacks discipline and common sense. Has the chance of breaking the 100 mph barrier but his night frolicking and booze will destroy him]

Other members -

Saqlain Mushtaq
Danish Kaneria
Mohammad Sami
Younis Khan
Hassan Razaq**
[/QUOTE]

One must understand that whenever Pakistan team has done well it is minus the star players. Some of our our star players namely Wasim Akram, Moin Khan, Saeed Anwar and Saqlain Mushtaq are 'party baz'. They have made tons of money by betting and have no urge to perform well for Pakistan. Gen Tauqir Zia has understood this and has weeded out one bad egg. The next to follow is Wasim Akram followed by Saeed Anwar. Saqlain should be next because, like I said he has lost his urge. Imagine a slow bowler ranked in the first three, bowling no-balls and wides in the last over of the match.

The sooner these 'Porus ke Haathi' are removed the better.
As for Azhar Mahmood, yes, his 3 centuries against SA were scored before they discovered his weakness. He can never score a century again.

15

**
[quote]
Imagine a slow bowler ranked in the first three, bowling no-balls and wides in the last over of the match.**
[/quote]

Is this a reference to his last over against England at Lords - A game Pakistan won? I felt his bowling was highly commendable. In a high pressure situation he kept his nerve and bowled fantastically well. He only bowled one legitimate wide - the other clearly hit the batsmans hand, as TV replays have shown, and was the umpires mistake.

The last ball was also very cleverly bowled as he sensed the batsman coming down the wicket early and quickly adjusted the pitch of the ball slightly wider so as to ensure his subsequent stumping.

It was a patent reminder of what, not only Saqlain but the entire team is capable of. Don't forget England only needed 43 from 60 balls with 7 wickets in hand.

16

[QUOTE]
Originally posted by The Godfather:
**** "Is this a reference to his last over against England at Lords - "

b No! He always does that. Of late it has become a regular feature. Did you follow the series against New Zealand. He allowed the opposing batsman to complete his century by bowling two no-balls when there was only the lst delivery of the match left. He cannot dismiss the top batsmen and only shows his 'talent' against tail enders. He has lost his nip and needs to be jolted out of his trance.

17

Fair enough, living in England i don't really get the opportunity to watch too many of Pakistan's other matches, so I can't comment on the New Zealand series.

18

Aren't most the squads being mentioned here the same as the current squad?
Do you guys think we can win the World Cup with this Squad?
Personally I am not that hopefull...

19

I think it is more a case of management than the players. I still believe that Pakistan has the best raw cricketing talent in the world. Even more so than the aussie's. I believe we need decent coaching and back room consistancy.

Personally, I don't think we are ready to compete properly for 2003 world cup yet - but then again, thats the beauty of Pakistan cricket team. '92 was only a mathematical possibility...