Ok guys, Congrats to you all for reaching the final, and congrats to me that I m able to start a thread..
Match is on, 4th February, Melbourne. Starts 0315 Gmt. Forecast is bad. Houston, TX Weather Forecast, Conditions, and Maps – Yahoo Weather
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
i think pak shud give taufeeq a chance
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Yasir hameed has again failed to correct his techniques to play a straight G/L ball.
The typical shot he plays can either get him bowled or LBW so in fact "any" bowler has a clearcut advantage over him.
2ndly he takes vital overs to settle in and then gets out the way he does is a no no.
His fielding sucks too, and body language fit for slip cordone.
Simply not worth having on the national side. Specially on seaming and bouncey wickets.
Taufeeq Umer should be considered a better choice next time.
Hafeez to be replaced with Azhar Mahmood. Azhar being the man of experience can find form some how.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Pakistan has unearthed 3 gems on this tour - Rana, Akmal & Salman Butt amidst Inzi getting injured and missing 2 tests, akhtar getting injured, rape allegation, manager getting sacked midway thru the tour, imran blaming inzi for the losses, inzi contemplating retirement, younis heading back to pak.
If you think this has been a long tour for pak, think again - with Pak, all this is normal.
The outside elements tend to unite the team which is why towards the end of tours they are at their most dangerous.
Although butt has struggled with short pitched balls on the waca but in india, he should come good. Not such a disappointing tour after all. And on top of it all, this second or third eleven from pak will give the aussies a tough fight in the finals.
Yes, the aussies are the favorites, pakistan will miss catches, runouts, they will fumble in the outfield, they will be 50-4 but i am sure they will give the aussies a tough fight especially since he pressure is off. I think everyone in Pak was looking for pakistan to reach the finals. We had written them off. They will be excused if they lose to australia with such a young team which is why there won't be much pressure. They will come out all guns blazing I recon.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Who said Inzi was comtemplating retirement? He only talked about captaincy I believe.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
^ Thats right.
Raindance-- No player in Pakistan team is perfect. Yasir Hameed is a talented cricketer and needs to be in the team. He is a better bet than Hafeez when it comes to batting and as we are playing Rao instead of Azhar we need to strengten this department.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Saby - I'm comparing Yasser to another 'Bat' not an allrounder. Yasser techniques can not
improve unless he stop using single speed tennis gun for his shots practice.
His physical frame does not suggest that he can be a good fielder either,,so what do we have here,,,,,,another batsman limpy @ # 3 or so to play an enchor roll.
To be fair he should be tried for 2 - 3 more matches and thats it.
Otherwise 'Hasan Raza' could have been in the side since 1997, he is a much better crickter and an excellent fielder his highest score was 200 + some thing and a pleasure to watch.
Or would not be fair to Rizwan Ahmed / Kamal akmal,,,and may be few more,,,
Whats wrong with Taufeeq?
You'l see Bublo try Taufeeq from here on,,,:D
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Rainy, don't forget ... this is "Aussie" soil... may be when Yasir goes back to subcontinent he will regain his "form"? Yasir has played good knocks in tests but somehow lost his touch in ODIs, but I think we should persist with him for at least 1 more series.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Thats fine shine Captain1, I'm not discarding him either, the turn of the wheel will take care of that.
No player with fielding problems can ever improve him self praticing in Pakistan.
You need lots of guts to do it,,,If Imran Nazir can field well in Pakistan so can Yasir,, otherwise replace Yasir with Imran nazir , Imran will take the 1 down role happly,,
Catches wins matches ,,aisay he nahi kehtay,,,
On the contrary Salman Butt has used this Aussie tour to his benefit and the only backlog he has, is to control his temptation and shot selection he has good potential with the side.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
I wouldn't call Akmal a gem (as of yet) for two reasons.
1) He has a jhaaro pher style, which worked for Miandad since he was technically strong. But in long run Akmal will suffer. He was lucky for not getting out for atleast six times during his century. Some of the shots were with closed eyes litterally. This kind of shots are usually played by No. 10 or 11 batsmen (usually specialist bowlers who don't know heck about how to hold bat properely).
2) He needs to perform against Austraila and India to prove himself. Also he needs to improve his keeping.
But one thing is clearly visible that he is a dedicated player.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
^ Agreed about Akmal. As we have more capable bats/allrounders for that position, its a non issue.
1 down spot is the backbone of an inning, and usually a 'dug-in' role to stabiliz the slide. We need a batsman who can do that not waste 3-4 overs and then get out ^ .
In that case what he could not do with his batting should be able to compensate it with taking catches and some good fielding,,,,,,,,,
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
I think the fielding may well prove to the deciding factor between the two sides come Friday. Pakistan got away with it last time, but everyday is not Sunday.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
^ Apart from Salman spilling Sarwan. Pakistan's fileding was really good today against WI.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Sitters are a given. Nothing special about taking them. What I meant was converting half chances and catching catches that aren't usually caught. Making direct hits. Basically what the Aussies do. Splling an odd one may seem ok but it can cost the match especially if batsmen like Clarke and Gilchirst are given second chances.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Not really. That poor guy was given a chance in series against India in pressure situation, now you want him to play “FINAL” ? :nono3: He might get a chance in series against India as Yasir has not done anything extraordinary!
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
I agree that Aussies are a good fielding side but they have their own good days and bad days. Lately they have had abysmal days on field, dropping sitters but the problem is that aussie media doesnt highlight that. In last match pak had a bad day and aussie had a good day fielding wise but aussies are prone to fielding lapses themselves and such days dont happen to pakistan as frequently as they used to.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
I am affraid, who is next, God forbid. After Sunday's win Younis heard his father's news, and after yesterday's match Rana heard his father's news.
I hope all the players must be praying on mussalla after training session for the well being of their fathers :) OK thats a pitty joke.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Smooth that was in poor taste.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
After watching hihglights of Pakistan's last two matches, I must say that Pakistan won coz of Miracles, other wise our fielders didnt let any chance of dropping catches. Batting was excellent, bowling was great as well. But fielding was dead poor. There was Zero level support from fielders to bowlers, but ALHAMDOLILLAH our bowlers showed there class.
The only difference on Fridays match will be fielding, other wise Pakistan can forget about winning.
^ Smooth that was pretty sick.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
‘Pakistan can win the finals’ - Lara](http://uk.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2005/FEB/174133_AUS_02FEB2005.html)
After West Indies failed to qualify in the VB Series finals, Brian Lara, their captain, felt that Pakistan have the firepower to beat Australia in the best-of-three finals beginning on Friday at Melbourne.
Pakistan overcame West Indies by 30 runs in the crucial league game at Perth to seal a spot in the finals with Yousuf Youhana, who made his first century of the series, and Inzamam-ul-Haq making vital contributions.
Heading back home, Lara told ABC Sport, “The experience of Inzamam and Youhana and the attacking nature of Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq is very formidable. I think they can chase very well. Hopefully if they get the opportunity and put Australia under some pressure they can win this final. I don’t think it’s going to be one-sided.”
However, Lara warned, “Australia, of course, are favourites, and whenever they go onto the field they have eleven matchwinners and they can put the game beyond you at the halfway stage, but hopefully Pakistan can make a good series of it in the final.”
Lara went on to praise Pakistan’s splendid performance against Australia in their penultimate match of the series, when they hunted down a daunting target of 266. “I thought they played really well on Sunday against Australia,” Lara said. “Australia seemed to have a bit of a problem getting their batting together, and lost many wickets.”
West Indies were also on course to overcome a stiff target of 308 when they were 3 for 194 in the 33rd over. But the loss of three quick wickets for nine runs ended their hopes and they eventually folded for 277 and were forced out of the tournament.