I think Imran Khan was spot on in his analysis.
Pakistan’s one-day team doesnt have the right balance. We need to cut down on the bits and pieces players and stick with specialists.
We need 5 batsmen, 1 all-rounder, 1 wickie and 4 STRIKE bowlers. Each bowler should be a wicket-taker in his own right and not just a ‘containing bowler’ who can bat a bit!
The team should look like this…
Sedate Opener - the person who kicks off the innings should be a non-aggressive SOLID opener who can hold down one end for at least 20-30 overs. He doesn’t need to score at a run a ball he just needs to keep the score ticking over with singles and doubles. I would recommend Taufeeq Umer
Positive Opener - the other opener should be a bit more flashy and score at a faster rate but still not be overly aggressive. The plan should be for these guys to stay in for the first 10-15 overs and keep wickets in hand so that we can launch later in the innings. The early assault style has never really worked for Pakistan and we should always play to our strenghths. I would recommend Imran Farhat
Converted Opener at 3 - we should have a converted opener batting at 3 because our middle order tend to struggle against the new ball and collapse if an early wicket falls. This player should be more aggressive than the first two but still capable of holding down one end. I would recommend Yasir Hameed
Accelerating Batsman - here we should have a batsman who can motor the score along deceptively getting boundaries without any1 noticing. He should be a dependable batsman and i would recommend Yousaf Youhana
Shielding Batsman - this batsman should be able to either push the accelerator into the floor or rescue us from a dire situation. This batsman’s job would be to protect the tail (including the wickie and the all-rounder). He would have to be very dependable and i would recommend Inzamam Ul-Haq
Batting All-Rounder - Pakistans weakness is batting so our all-rounder should be a batting all-rounder who only bowls 4-6 overs. Two or three of the top-order batsmen would have to share the other 4-6 overs between them! I would recommend Abdur Razzaq
Specialist Wickie - we should ALWAYS have a specialist wickie and not a batsman who can keep. Why? Well because both shoaib and sami bowl in excess of 95 MPH and our upcoming spinners (danish, tariq and mansoor) all spin the ball a mile. So we should always have the best wickie available. If he can bat then thats a bonus! I would recommend Moin Khan
Wicket-Taking Spinner - we should never give a specialist bowlers position to an all-rounder or to a containing player. We should always have a bowler who looks to take wickets. By playing a containing bowler we are effectively giving away 50-70 runs and 60 deliveries for free every match because the opposition will score AT LEAST a run a ball from a containing spinner! I would recommend (for the short term) Saqlain Mushtaq
Wicket-Taking Fast Bowler - we need two wicket taking fast bowlers who are lightning quick BUT with discipline too! I would recommend Mohammad Sami
Wicket-Taking Fast Bowler - we need two wicket taking fast bowlers who are lightning quick BUT with discipline too! I would recommend Shoaib Akthar
Wicket-Taking Medium Pacer - we need some1 who is going to be bowling L&L but also be looking to take wickets too. Once again if we try to use a containing bowler we are effectively giving away 60 scoring deliveries with little or no threat to the batsmans wicket! I dont think Shabbir is any good in ODI’s and Rana isnt a long term solution or even a proven short-term solution. I would recommend giving a one-series run to a left armer like Mohammad Khalil
We need to play specialist players because bits and pieces cricketers will never get us anywhere. People may argue over the players but i think the composition is right.
However what we CAN do is to develop some players secondary disciplines like Sami’s batting and Taufeeq/Farhat/Hameed’s bowling. They dont have to become bona-fide all rounders but just good enough to do a job when and where they are needed.
Sami could be trained to hold down one end (no crazy shots like today) and Farhat-Taufeeq-Yasir could be asked to share 6 overs between them unless Razzaq is having a good day when they may not need to bowl at all.
Thats the only way we can progress as an ODI team and start to win consistently!!!