Re: Views on VB series/Opening pair problem (Merged)
When did you see him drop catches apart from Langer let off in first test match, only one stumping missed in this VB series.
Re: Views on VB series/Opening pair problem (Merged)
*Now if only they would make Shoaib Akhtar captain, the team will be perfect. Really.
[thumb=H]Shoaib2004choti5640_8266943.JPG[/thumb]
"I'm your next captain, boys. Follow me!"*
Re: Views on VB series/Opening pair problem (Merged)
It has been an interetsing series...
when it started.. we had big problems during the test match.. not 100% performances by anyone in the team.. we lost badly in the test matches.. once again, we thought that team justs sucks.. but during the VB series we had some dramatic changes and outcomes
Firstly, Shoaib goes back to Pakistan.. I have always like his pace but his attitude is not the best in terms of team commitment.. to me his going back meant more trouble for Pakistan but Rana .. of all the ppl i suspected pulled up his socks and bowled really well.. atleast he make me rethink about his capibilities and Shoaib's influence on team..
The Bad from VBSeries
1. Top order not working consistently.
2. Umpiries are against us for some odd reason hehe
The good from VB Series
1. We showed some GREAT positive attitude change in the team. Inzi, Yoyo, razzaq, afridi and rana really made the difference.
2. We need yasir as one down and Salman and kamran to open (this gives us an option to keep Khalil in the team, we need it.. we don't need part-time bowlers)
I am sure there are many ways to critizes the team but I for one say that we competed really well.. some umpiring decisions went against us but that is the reality of the game can't make it the scapegoat..
if you look at the two finals we lost the first one by 20 odd runs and the second by 35 odd runs... so its not that we can't chase it.. we just need our openning to sort things out and InshaAllah we will be a great team..
Thank you Pakistan for a great series, I really enjoyed it and hope to see some good series against India :)
Re: Views on VB series/Opening pair problem (Merged)
Hafeez will be gone once Shoaib Malik is cleared from his bowling. Hafeez as a batsman reminds me of Wajahatullah Wasti. Both of them are slow players with limited strokes to offer. They just wait & wait until they get the right bowl to hit..
Re: Views on VB series.
DISAGREE
HAFEEZ PLAYED FAST BOWLERS AS CONFIDENTLY AS NEONE IN THE LINEUP. HE JUST GOT OUT IN THE TWO MATCHES BY PLAYING LOSSE SHOTS AND ALSO DUE TO RICKY PONTINGS EXCELLENT CAPTAINCY. HAFEEZ GAVE US A BOWLING OPTION WHICH WE SO BADLY NEEDED.
Re: Views on VB series/Opening pair problem (Merged)
i dunno what to say abt this comment! i really dont!
Re: Views on VB series/Opening pair problem (Merged)
There were definitely a few plus signs coming out of this VB tournament. Its disappointing that we lost both finals despite our bowlers restricting Australia to gettable totals. The team is pretty much set with about 7-8 players with automatic selection. We only now need to fix the remaining 3-4 slots. Since Pakistan plays more ODI's than Tests, so lets talk about ODI team for a moment.
The confirmed members of the team are
1. Inzimam
2. Youhanna
3. S. Malik
4. Razzak
5. Afridi
6. Rana Naveed
7. Kamran Akmal
That kinda leaves us with some choices both in bowling and in batting. Depending on how some of our strike bowlers come back after injuries, we can play around with Sami, Shabbir, Umer, Khalil and Rao Iftikhar. All of them are talented players.
Batting has some good prospects. Despite his initial shine in Australia Salman is indeed shaky and needs to improve his technique. The technique problems linger on for both Yasir as well as Taufeeq. I had not seen Taufeeq in a while, and seeing him bat yesterday reminded me that till the lad gets rid of his break dance move before playing each shot, he is going to struggle to cement his place. In an ideal world, we will have Salman and Yasir open the innings, and Malik comes at #3. However, it goes without saying, in an ideal world, Pakistan will win all its matches as well.
Re: Views on VB series/Opening pair problem (Merged)
[quote]
The confirmed members of the team are
1. Inzimam
2. Youhanna
3. S. Malik
4. Razzak
5. Afridi
6. Rana Naveed
7. Kamran Akmal
[/quote]
u r right on.... it was interesting, i read on cric info that inzi and youhann gets more time to polish their bats as they wait for first three players to come back to pavilian with doing nothing. lol.
Rana. The best. I personally disliked him. but man man, i have seen courage, responsibility and very polite attitude.
Razzaq back in form. Afridi had played really well. I think pakistani people and all nationa and team should be happy that their performance jumped from worst to way better. I tell the only reason. I mean only reason. Its that choora in the team who broke the moral. i beg pakistani sleectors not to take shoaib actor. plz i beg.
i also suggest all of us sign on the petition i m writing to icc for bad bias umpiring. we would have won matches if umpiring was fair. i will post a link sometime thi sweek and will send a written copy along with all of your names to ICC.
Re: Views on VB series/Opening pair problem (Merged)
verbal diarrhoea 
Re: Views on VB series/Opening pair problem (Merged)
So you are saying that one incident per match is ok? Maybe they are, but that doesn’t make a GOOD keeper, far from it. I notice you ignored all the fumbles behind the stumps, plus not to mention run out screw ups. If you want to consider the test series, I am sure you can recall even more dropped catches and missed stumpings.
I am not saying he shouldn’t be in the team, I still think it’s a much better option than bringing one of the old horses like Moin or Rashid back. BUT, lets call a spade a spade, he is an average keeper.
Re: Views on VB series/Opening pair problem (Merged)
^ Give akmal some time to settle in . Everyone makes mistakes.You can't just rule him out as "average keeper" on the basis of one tour.. I personally think he did pretty good job in keeping and also showed a good presence of mind ( the assist he made in the runout). He could be our next Rashid latif! lets hope so !!!
Re: Views on VB series/Opening pair problem (Merged)
abhii pitay gaa yeh , yaa baad main.
Re: Views on VB series/Opening pair problem (Merged)
What about rana's commitment that he showed ?
Re: Views on VB series/Opening pair problem (Merged)
i agree with skhan. he is an avergae, probably below avg keeper. in each match he messed up. guy couldnt grab th eball. not to mention drop catches and run out screwup. v disappointed. though is very energetic and has positive attitude, he is not to compare with moin and latif. its rediculous.
Re: Views on VB series/Opening pair problem (Merged)
we really had a great tour… just as I had expected we did really badly in tests and performed really good in ODIs.
Most of us already have concluded the summaries/findings, I agree with some and disagree with some.
I appreciate Salman Butt and Yasir Hameed as openers, Taufeeq was really unlucky as he was asked to play in yet another crucial game without letting him play previous games … really bad decision!
Hafeez was very lucky that Shoaib Malik was banned from bowling and he got to show his performance but as usual he failed with the bat. No more words for him.
Inzamam really got to stick longer, experience should be utilised now… 5 fifties from 7 games 
but he really could’ve converted at least one 50 to a 100! he just threw away his wicket in frustration!
Youhanna Shabash! but stop running wildly, he almost run out twice in previous game!
A Razzaq, Afridi and Shoaib Malik are vitals for our ODI squad.
Rana 
, Mashallah has won hearts with dedication and lion hearted performance! I hope he has same control over the ball’s swing in India where the wickets will be much slower and suitable for spinners. (consider it pre-tour warning!)
Rao though bowled slower on average than Razzaq but he troubled batsman more than Akhtar or Sami could’ve! How many times have you seen Australia scoring less than 4 per over specially in first 15 overs? Last match was a Gilchrist special and Rana was the victim, Rao still bowled much better!
Khalil, unlucky lad dislocated his shoulder in previous game will need time and I’m sure will definitely pickup when he comes back, but not sure about his success in India.
Faisal pointed out some automatic selections for next tour. I’d like to add or complete the team 
:
Salman Butt
Yasir Hameed (Taufeeq Umar as stand by, to be included only in final ODI 
)
Shoaib Malik (for ODIs) … Asim Kamal (for Tests)
Youhanna
Inzamam
+Akaml
Razzaq (for ODIs)… Irshad/other new bowler (Shahid Nazir?)
Afridi (for ODIs) … Khalil (hopefully gets fit in time)
Rao
Rana
Dinesh Kaneria
I think we should persist with Kamran Akmal as keeper though I found out Humayun Farhat is still playing domestic cricket (someone said in past that he isn’t playing anymore). We should keep Kaneria in all games (tests/ODIs) as Indian wickets will mostly be suitable for spinners… having two part timer spinners and one specialist will be just fine!
Afridi and Razzaq shouldn’t play tests… Afridi has temprament problem and Razzaq has “spinner” problem.
Looking ahead for a good series against India now !
Re: Views on VB series/Opening pair problem (Merged)
^ Despite all the controversies and alleged statements Shoaib should be in this squad 
:k:
He will be / should be an automatic selection for his excellent Test bowling figures down under 
:elmo:
No Shoaib! No win in India, 
Re: Views on VB series/Opening pair problem (Merged)
sure, breakup the “forming” unit and let it be a one-man team! :k: he will definitely take the 22 wickets in the 10 overs he bowls in each test!
Re: Views on VB series/Opening pair problem (Merged)
Shoaib is found “Guilty” of 0% of any allegations or accusations so far.
So why judge him for what the media says. Or what the Indians like to hear.
I don’t like this when the “Crazy fans” act like this and hold a public hanging with out trial.
It’s just that people quite rightly hate him for his bragging loud mouthing or what ever, but I think that is some thing personal. 
:k:
Re: Views on VB series/Opening pair problem (Merged)
Name Mat I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St Team
MJ Clarke 8 8 2 411 103* 68.50 85.44 1 3 5 - AUS
**Inzamam-ul-Haq 8 8 1 364 74 52.00 91.45 - 5 4 - PAK
Yousuf Youhana 8 8 1 318 105 45.42 85.48 1 2 - - PAK**
S Chanderpaul 6 6 1 314 85 62.80 81.34 - 3 1 - WI
BC Lara 6 6 0 307 156 51.16 99.03 1 1 2 - WI
DR Martyn 7 6 2 240 95* 60.00 82.75 - 2 3 - AUS
RR Sarwan 6 6 1 235 87 47.00 77.30 - 2 - - WI
**Shahid Afridi 8 7 1 231 56* 38.50 167.39 - 1 2 - PAK**
WW Hinds 6 6 1 201 107 40.20 76.42 1 - - - WI
**Shoaib Malik 8 8 1 195 66 27.85 72.49 - 2 4 - PAK
Abdul Razzaq 8 7 1 188 63* 31.33 87.03 - 1 1 - PAK**
RT Ponting 8 8 1 184 78 26.28 64.78 - 1 4 - AUS
**Kamran Akmal 7 7 0 183 124 26.14 78.54 1 - 5 2 PAK**
A Symonds 7 6 0 165 91 27.50 75.00 - 1 2 - AUS
SM Katich 5 5 0 128 76 25.60 79.01 - 1 3 - AUS
Inzi and Youhanna in top 3.
Name Mat O M R W Ave Best 4w 5w SR Econ
B Lee 8 74.2 4 341 16 21.31 4-38 1 - 27.8 4.58
GD McGrath 6 54.4 11 178 15 11.86 5-27 - 1 21.8 3.25
**Naved-ul-Hasan 8 70.1 0 409 14 29.21 4-29 1 - 30.0 5.82
Abdul Razzaq 8 70.5 2 366 13 28.15 4-53 1 - 32.6 5.16**
GB Hogg 5 43 0 227 10 22.70 5-32 - 1 25.8 5.27
**Shahid Afridi 8 77 0 348 10 34.80 2-38 - - 46.2 4.51**
IDR Bradshaw 6 50 4 237 9 26.33 3-47 - - 33.3 4.74
PT Collins 5 38 3 160 8 20.00 5-43 - 1 28.5 4.21
JN Gillespie 6 53.5 2 233 8 29.12 3-62 - - 40.3 4.32
**Mohammad Khalil 3 24 0 144 5 28.80 2-55 - - 28.8 6.00**
MS Kasprowicz 4 30.2 1 124 5 24.80 2-38 - - 36.4 4.08
DS Lehmann 7 33.3 0 196 5 39.20 3-44 - - 40.2 5.85
DJJ Bravo 5 38 0 209 5 41.80 2-39 - - 45.6 5.50
**Iftikhar Anjum 6 49 2 256 5 51.20 2-67 - - 58.8 5.22**
WW Hinds 6 25 0 176 4 44.00 2-62 - - 37.5 7.04
Re: Views on VB series/Opening pair problem (Merged)
^ VB Triangular
How about 3 com series,:elmo: