I know it’s a bit too early but i am a bit excited about this tour now, India has a VERY strong ODI team and only Australia could have beaten them 4-2 in recently concluded ODI series, they have too many options now so Pak-Ind ODI series is going to be excellent.
I think we have to play Kami as an opener because we need 4 specialist bowlers down the order, Asif and Akhtar will be back to strengthen our bowling attack but i think we can afford not to have both of them in ODI team so here is my team for ODI’s against India:
Hameed
Akmal
Younis
Yousuf
Malik
Misbah
Afridi
Sohail Tanvir/Rao (whoever performs well in next 3 ODIs against SA)
Akhtar
Gul
Asif
Others in squad
Salman Butt
Mohammad Hafeez/Imran Nazir
Abdur Rehman
I'm not sure why ODI teams or test teams for that matter load up on batsmen down the order. I think logic tells us that if the first 5 batsmen have failed then the 6th will not make enough runs with lower order to win a match. However a 4th or 5th speicalist bowler can help you win a match.
*I seriously think we are missing a Razzaq-like hitter in the latter overs of ODI's. Afridi is a brainless shmuck at times, and cannot be relied upon to add 70,80 runs in the last ten overs. Akmal should be kept for the lower order so that he can add runs at the end if (and when) Afridi fails.
P.S: This post does not, in any shape or form whatsoever, hints at a test match return for Razzaq. Ever.*
As i said, i am just excited about the series because India has improved in ODI’s, it was gonna be another one sided thrashing for India so i am excited that your ODI team has actually improved and they will give us afight now.
Imran Nazir is no better than Afridi and i can’t stand him anymore, he is exciting to watch but he is unlikely to play more than one valuable inning in a series.
One more brave decision which we can take can solve a few problems.
1-We can' find even one decent opener.
2-Younis is NOT an ODI player (excellent test player)
3-Malik has done extremely well at 3, specially in India (or against India so he should return to number 3)
4-Afridi is batting too low down the order.
The decision is to play Younis as an opener, he is an experienced player and his presence can make a positive impact on the team so we can try playing this sort of team:
Butt/Nazir/Hameed
Younis
Malik
Yousuf
Afridi
Misbah
Akmal
Tanvir
Akhtar/Rao
Gul
Asif
Does it really matter where Afridi bats, he has played abut 250 matches and has an average of 25, and on average he plays about 20 balls every innings, he can play this number of balss and score these runs at any place in the order.
