Revolving doors: The constant shift at the opener's slot

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So Taufeeq Umar and Imran Farhat were chugging along sorta nicely at one stage, but that fell apart after Taufeeq’s obsession to commit to the front foot too quickly resulted in a string of low scores. Dropped, but not forgotten. Fair move.

The Imran Nazir-Yasir Hameed experiement was given hardly a tournament before it was discarded. Nazir deserved the boot this time. Time for him to work on some aspects before thinking of knocking on the door again.

With the Hameed-Farhat combo already yesterday’s news, the think-tank ought to have stuck with Salman Butt for a while. What was the point of bringing Bazid Khan in after Salman’s 1-inning failure?

Both Bazid and Misbah-ul-Haq thoroughly desrve their call-ups and should be included in the XI, but when the chance opens up, rather than at the expense of another promising player.

It may make sense to introduce and try out Bazid at the top when facing sunday bowling attacks like Zim, but wouldn’t it be even more beneficial to give a player like Salman (who’s already gotten the nod earlier) some more experience to prove his mettle against the same lallu-panju attack?

All 3 are promising players who’ve earned their calls through performance, and I’d love to see them given a bit of a time to develop into another Shoaib Malik story instead of being mishandled and become another Stuart Law one.

Band-aid solutions to cater to the wound of the hour don’t get you too far. We need to work out a combo that caters to what we need and then give it some time to develop and blossom. Which includes Bablu et all putting their foot down and saying “These are the guys we think have potential, and we’re willing to give them a fair chance”. And then stick to it. If that means a few poor starts the top, so be it- we currently have a solid enough middle-late order to weather early wickets. Would serve pak cricket’s cause better than going through the cycle of exhausting the handful of players by giving them 5 games apiece before recalling Salim Elahi as a filler for the umpteenth time. Woh bhi ab jawaan nahin raha bechara.

Developing solid, long-lasting opening partnerships requires a bit of time. Mutual understanding re: calling, running, negotiating the R.R etc. isn’t developed by the “Salam walakum, Khuda hafiz” method being employed currently.

The Anwar-Sohail, Langer-Hayden, Taylor-Slater legacies blossomed only because they were given sufficient time to do so and a chance to prove themselves.

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I would say that the best chance we have at a decent combo was Hameed - Farhat. I'm not a big Farhat fan, but he as a big score or two to his name. I can't stand Taufiq Umar, after his performance in the India series, I don't see a recall for him in the near future.
Maybe Saeed Anwer retire a year or two early??

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Yeah this problem has to be fixed. A decent opening pair is very important for a putting up a decent score. For pakistan, if the opening pair survives the first 10-15 overs and also manages to maintain a good average, it'll save the middle order a lot of pressure.

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I would say, give Salman Butt another chance against Zimbs. He has potential and is one of the finest batsman around.

In test though, I would like to see Tafeeq opening with Yasir. The guy IS the next Anwar-Sohail. All he needs is some confidence. He is one fairless batsman with hawk-eye. Some training on foot work by Woolmar can groom him into a mature substance for test cricket. If Asim backs them on No. 3 with Yoyo, Inzi and Malik to follow. Pak's batting in test will be rock solid.

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I think we have gotta quite a decent opening pair for TEst matches in Imran and Taufique...they didnt succeed in India series but who else did......?

and for ODI's yeah we clearly have a problem here....HAmeed some days plays well, but so far most of his good days have been resulted in scores of below 40, i dont know if he loses it 30 + or he just concentrates to score enough whoch will get him in the next game, and doesnt try to carry....his style of play is a concern for me too, he like playing against Medium pacers, where the ball come to him bat, but against spinners he cant seem to get the ball away for more than single......but thats something he can work on later....I would wanna try Salman But with hima nd see how that goes.....

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It looks bad as the day goes by. The management tries to go with left-left and right-right combo and didn't give them time to flourish*(uh oh, WAIT...the management got changed during the span, so clearly not the fault of the players)*

We will have '07 World Cup around the corner and still have this concern untill the management comes up with something. Mark on it.

As of what I suggest is, Pakistan should go with left-right combo of Yasir Hammed and Taufeeq Umer. Give them time. Shoaib Malik one-down is the best option. Younis Khan should be kicked out and Misbah should be in. Last few games, Yoyo came up big but still I think he has much to prove on the level of great pressure, playing against Aussies, Kiwis in big tournaments and even acting as a skipper in crucial times which has not been good for him.

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yaar Taufiq Umar has been given enough time in one dayers. I wouldnt drop him from the test team but somehow he doesnt produce in one day scene.

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yaaro, Taufeeq ho ya koi Rafeeq, the idea is to make a conscious, informed decision of the pair we think will work, and give them some time to prove themselves. Instead of picking 4-5 candidates and playing a 'chal gaya to chal gaya' russian roulette routine.

yeah, Taufeeq was given a decent run, and the faults in his game did show, but he's still a talented player who can come back strong.

anyway, jo hua so hua. Looking ahead, if Salman Butt has potential, give him a run, If it's Bazid Khan, try him out. (I think Bazid is a middle order bat rather than an opener anyway). But no need to push all the candidates through the door at one time. Yasir has earned his stripes as an opener IMO, and he can be an outstanding player for Pak if guided properly. Someone like Youhana should take him under his wing big time and guide him along.

elahi, you bring up a good point. Maybe Anwar retired a bit early, maybe it was the right time. His decision. What is of matter to Pak cricket is grooming upcoming talent while these big names are still playing, and not tossing them into the arena to fill the gaping hole once those senior names leave the scene. Wasim and Waqar's departure left a huge gap, and it was a good thing Shoaib was babied and shown the light in the beginning, otherwise we'd have a serious problem on our hands.

Re: the bats, there'll be another big gap when Inzi, Youhana etc. leave in a couple years time. Now is the time to bring in the batting talent, nurture their game, expose them to aussie, south african etc. wickets and show them the way. The aussies do this very well, Michael Clarke is a great example. He was destined to fill the middle order, and he was put on flights to as many international tournaments as was possible, be they in the form of "A" tours or just hanging out with the big boys, and given a few ODI games whenever the chance popped up. He's now confident and ready to embrace the international scene with a bang.

We may not have a good enough system at the domestic level yet, but we've always had an overflow of talent, all that's needed is guidance and direction. Bablu mian is a perfect candidate for the cause, let's chalk up a 2-3 year blueprint of all the wheels we want turning in the Pakistant cricket machine, and stick to it by keeping them well oiled instead of letting them go rusty the moment they start squeaking.

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The Game Responds:

      *One bad series for Taufeeq and these shmuck selectors put him out of the picture; the guy had so much patience and persistence, I couldn't believe he was a Pakistani batsman. I think he should be included in both the test and the one day teams to be honest. It will be a great loss if Pakistan manage to not use talent like that(which they have done in the past many times). People, That Is All.*
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Moin is out of form for long time, let's try Toufeeq Umer as WK.
I would keep Yasir @1 and try Bazid or Salman butt @2, Malik can't play underpressue try him @4.

01 Yasir Hameed
02 Bazid Khan
03 InzY (C)
04 Shoaib Malik
05 Yohanna
06 Toufeeq UMer (WK)
07 Abdul Razzaq
08 Shahid Afridi
09 Rana Naveed
10 Shoaib Akhtar
11 ROa iftikhar

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why dont we let afridi have another go at that opener's slot????

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taufeeq umar blows theres no need to waste time with him anymore.... they should persist with butt and keep farhat in the picture as well... i think woolmer wants afridi down the order which is a better idea... but if needed afridi can play anywhere really because he's goona play the same style regardless of his position in the batting order

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by armughal: *
why dont we let afridi have another go at that opener's slot????
[/QUOTE]

He is playing well down the order...so I think its better if we keep it that way :)

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[QUOTE]
Originally posted by the game: *
*The Game Responds**:

      *One bad series for Taufeeq and these shmuck selectors put him out of the picture; the guy had so much patience and persistence, I couldn't believe he was a Pakistani batsman. I think he should be included in both the test and the one day teams to be honest. It will be a great loss if Pakistan manage to not use talent like that(which they have done in the past many times). People, That Is All.*

[/QUOTE]

Thank you. :)

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Taufeeq umar has been given alot of chance n wasnt able to establish himself. Played some gd innings, but in others batted like he's never hold a bat. Maybe Woolmer can guide him properly. He got double-minded as to if he shd play his natural defensive game or be an aggressor.

I wouldn't mind if he gets a recall, although we have two potentially very gd partners for yasir hamid in bazid n salman. I hv a feeling one of em will become a regular. A note abt Shoaib Malik, he shd be given more chance at the one down spot but if, say, in the next couple series he cant do much then he shd be dropped down, n youhana can play the 3-spot. If both bazid n salman click, we can even play yasir at #3.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by akpower: *

although we have two potentially very gd partners for yasir hamid in bazid n salman. I hv a feeling one of em will become a regular.

[/QUOTE]

I think that is a fair statement. Butt, Bazid and Farhat are good choices and they should be persisted with, at least two of them. There is no need to hit the panic button as yet. I am quite sure Butt/Yasir and or Bazid/Yasir can be a good combo.

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Let at first agree that playing the new ball is not an easy job. “Opening is one of the most difficult jobs” Saeed Anwar, perhaps the most successful Pakistani opener ever, once said. Plus we have the “natural talent” of the Pakistani batsmen against the moving ball. Even if the conditions are not supporting seam and swing bowling the initial overs do exhibit movement of the seam making batting difficult.

It requires sound technique, temperament and experience to succeed as an opener. Pakistanis have a native problem against the moving ball and our selectors have been pushing up young inexperience players with deficient technique up there. All the opening options that we have had have some technique problem or the other.

Shahid Afrid
Imran Nazir
Imran Farhat
Yasir Hameed
Taufeeq Umer
Bazid Khan
Naveed Latif

Apart from this all our openers don’t work for the singles. Hence more hunger for boundaries and more risky shots. Lack of single adds to the pressure so it contributes to their down fall.

Here I think the selectors are to be blamed. For a start they should not have discarded Saeed Anwar. He was better of the above lot even when he retired and plus he was experienced and could anchor the innings and would have been the best way for Pakistan to groom younger opening batsmen.

But now I think they need to pick the best of them all to fill to opening spot and then persist with him. Another blunder of the selectors was to throw away Saleem Elahi. I am not a fan of him but I think again when we was “thrown way“ he had improved a lot. All in the name of rebuilding the team for WC2007. He was experienced and was playing much better. In fact in my view just about when he had become consistent and experienced he was thrown away.

But today from what I have seen of Salman Butt I think he seems to be the man. Maybe a little too early to say “the opener” for Pakistan but from what I have seen I think he is the best among the lot so far. I think he should be persisted with. That is if Bob Woolmer doest un earths a opener as Ramiz was saying he has asked to see the complete batting talent available and would want to choose from then.

Btw what happened to Mohd Hafeez? I don’t remember what was his problem and why he was dropped?

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by the_paindoo: *

Btw what happened to Mohd Hafeez? I don’t remember what was his problem and why he was dropped?
[/QUOTE]

He had seriuos technical flaws, just like Taufeeq Umar. Remember the miserable time against SA and BD?

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I think Bob should keep Salman butt, give him few matches and see how he performance

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Butt played well today .. i think they're gonna pull hameed out n give chance to sum other guy ..