Match thread - Pak XI v Rest of Pak (26-29 oct)

[Amjid Javed]

Pakistan XI
1. Inzamam-ul-Haq
2. Salman Butt
3. Shoaib Malik
4. Younis Khan
5. Mohammad Yousuf
6. Asim Kamal
7. Kamran Akmal (Wicketkeeper)
8. Abdul Razzaq
9. Mohammad Sami
10. Naved-ul-Hasan
11. Danish Kaneria
12. Iftikhar Anjum

Rest of Pakistan
1. Taufeeq Umar
2. Imran Farhat
3. Bazid Khan
4. Hasan Raza
5. Misbah-ul-Haq
6. Shahid Afridi
7. Zulqarnain Haider (Wicketkeeper)
8. Shahid Nazir
9. Umar Gul
10. Shoaib Akhtar
11. Mushtaq Ahmed
12. Faisal Iqbal

Match starts tmoz. lets hope certain players prove their fitness, some gain form and others countinue to do well!

 

[kas]

Pakistan XI
1. Inzamam-ul-Haq
2. Salman Butt
3. Shoaib Malik
4. Younis Khan
5. Mohammad Yousuf
6. Asim Kamal
7. Kamran Akmal (Wicketkeeper)
8. Abdul Razzaq
9. Mohammad Sami
10. Naved-ul-Hasan
11. Danish Kaneria
12. Iftikhar Anjum

Rest of Pakistan
1. Taufeeq Umar
2. Imran Farhat
3. Bazid Khan
4. Hasan Raza
5. Misbah-ul-Haq
6. Shahid Afridi
7. Zulqarnain Haider (Wicketkeeper)
8. Shahid Nazir
9. Umar Gul
10. Shoaib Akhtar
11. Mushtaq Ahmed
12. Faisal Iqbal

Match starts tmoz. lets hope certain players prove their fitness, some gain form and others countinue to do well!

this is a very good practise match. we will see how shaib akhtar performs against pakistan's best batting line up. and we will see hw pak batsmen perform against gul,akhtar and mushy.

 

[nedian21]

why they have put Afridi in rest of Pakistan. Also Shabbir shd be playing this match if he is cleared. Now I think PCB wont be playing Shabbir in this series. Who is the captain in rest of Pakistan.

 

[Toony™®]

hope farhat does well 2mrw! no hameed - shows how backwards he has gone.

 

[Amjid Javed]

why they have put Afridi in rest of Pakistan. Also Shabbir shd be playing this match if he is cleared. Now I think PCB wont be playing Shabbir in this series. Who is the captain in rest of Pakistan.

does it matter what team afridi is in??

It will be good for him to bowl @ inzi and co and also bat v sami/rana who he shud take apart!

 

[Toony™®]

why they have put Afridi in rest of Pakistan. Also Shabbir shd be playing this match if he is cleared. Now I think PCB wont be playing Shabbir in this series. Who is the captain in rest of Pakistan.

not really bothered where he plays...

as long as he plays in these games.

 

[HAFRIDI]

Afridi will be tested against in form rana which is good, will be an intresting match

 

[Gasherbrum]

afridi would be the second spin option for ROP whereas malik will fill that role in the first team.
the pakistan xi team does give a fair indication of who the mgmt considers our top 6 batsmen should be before going into this game. lets see if someone can throw up a huge performance here to change that.

 

[Shayan_Sohail]

Man i would love to see Akhtar bowl to Inzamam, that would be a sight.

 

[Saj]

this match will rubber stamp a few places in the starting lineup and no doubt push a few players to the back of the queue once again.

If you look through the 2 lineups, it makes you realise that we have a lot of decent players who just need to become a bit more consistent.

2 very strong teams indeed.

 

[fair_play]

this match will rubber stamp a few places in the starting lineup and no doubt push a few players to the back of the queue once again.

If you look through the 2 lineups, it makes you realise that we have a lot of decent players who just need to become a bit more consistent.

2 very strong teams indeed.

2 very strong team Saj, but difficult to get 1 strong team out of the two!

 

[Saj]

Fair Play wrote - "2 very strong teams Saj, but difficult to get 1 strong team out of the two!" haha superb quote.

Why is it that though FP ? Why do our promising youngsters become "has beens", forgotten or flatter to deceive ?

 

[deviously~fading~away]

Will any channel show these matches on tv? And does anyone which channel in Dubai? thnx

 

[B-Man]

well Pak X1 are favourites for me but i hope afridi and shoaib put up some good performances especially.

 

[fair_play]

Fair Play wrote - "2 very strong teams Saj, but difficult to get 1 strong team out of the two!" haha superb quote.

Why is it that though FP ? Why do our promising youngsters become "has beens", forgotten or flatter to deceive ?

I wish I knew the answer.

My opinion is that the PCB has a lot to blame. When your success percentage of taking a talented pool of people and making them realise their potential is low, then its not just the individuals who are to blame.

In my opinion, its almost always management. I speak as a senior manager for a very large business myself - and I know that consistency of management commitment is the one common factor behind successful enterprises.

But for every success story there are 9 other bad ones. The world is full of very poor managers, who dont understand what they are doing, who are full of themselves, and take very poor and ill conceived decisions. In other words, they destroy the businesses they run though they make a pakcet for themselves in share options and bonuses etc.

The PCB is just one of those firms. They generally wreck youngsters - and here instead of blaming all individuals I would say the blame lies with the way the PCB oeprates/has operated.

 

[Mercenary]

I wrote to Woolmer asking him if he would play Pakistans first choice bowlers versus Pakistans first choice batsmen! He said this was something they would do definitely do in the Pak vs ROP match!

Akhtar, Gul, Afridi, S Nazir and Mushtaq vs Butt, Malik, YK, MoYo and Asim seems to be a good matchup.

It seems he put Sami, Rana, Razzaq and Kaneria in the ROP side to give it a good balance.

For me this confirms that Malik will definitely open with Butt. Akhtar (fitness permitting), Gul and Afridi will be first choice bowlers along with Kaneria. Mushtaq is under serious consideration for a starting place and how he performs vs Inzi, MoYo and Yk will determine if he plays.

That leaves one bowling spot for which Sami is first choice but Mushtaq could sneak in depending on the pitch conditions.

Good to see Gul making it!

 

[sehsan]

i desperately hope butt, malik and asim make some runs

 

[Amjid Javed]

akthar v inzi should be good. would love to see akthar clean up inzi early on!

 

[Amjid Javed]

i desperately hope butt, malik and asim make some runs

i hope so to inshallah!

 

[Monsee]

Good move to pit Akhtar against Pak team...this way we have a win win scenario

By facing Akhtar, Pak batsman will be quite ready to play Flintoff and Harmison's pace, and Shoaib's fitness and form will be thoroughly tested by bowling to our first choice batters

All Pak regulars will get plenty of batting practice against a Fast bowler (Shoaib), swing and seam bowlers (Nazir and Gull) and two different kind of leggies in Mushtaq and Afridi!

 

[kas]

i hope so to inshallah!

i want hassan raza,shoaib akhtar, imran farhat and umar gul to perform.

hopefully raza makes a century cos i desperately want him to pla against england

 

[Amjid Javed]

Good move to pit Akhtar against Pak team...this way we have a win win scenario

By facing Akhtar, Pak batsman will be quite ready to play Flintoff and Harmison's pace, and Shoaib's fitness and form will be thoroughly tested by bowling to our first choice batters

All Pak regulars will get plenty of batting practice against a Fast bowler (Shoaib), swing and seam bowlers (Nazir and Gull) and two different kind of leggies in Mushtaq and Afridi!

on the flip side expect double tons from faisal iqbal and misbah ul haq against the world class attack of sami/razzaq

 

[zorawar]

Yes I agree with Merc.. the first test line appears to be:

Butt, Malik
Younus, Inzi , Yousuf
Afridi, Akmal
Gul, Shoaib, Kaneria, Sami

Poor Kamal ...looks like he will get dropped although he has performed consistently in the tests leading upto this tour.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Yes I agree with Merc.. the first test line appears to be:

Butt, Malik
Younus, Inzi , Yousuf
Afridi, Akmal
Gul, Shoaib, Kaneria, Sami

Poor Kamal ...looks like he will get dropped although he has performed consistently in the tests leading upto this tour.

dont worry. it just shows the continual stupid inconsistances interms of selecting players.

Y khan, S Afridi were both recalled early in BW`S tenure as coach yet niether did it with any sort of form to earn a recall. yes mashallah they have justified inclusion. Other players despite handy performances in tests will be dropped due to bad domestic/warm up form! Others will continue to be.. whats the word?

Rubbish! although messers sami/razzaq wont be complaining!

It just goes to show some players get backing some dont!

 

[kas]

Yes I agree with Merc.. the first test line appears to be:

Butt, Malik
Younus, Inzi , Yousuf
Afridi, Akmal
Gul, Shoaib, Kaneria, Sami

Poor Kamal ...looks like he will get dropped although he has performed consistently in the tests leading upto this tour.

at the moment that looks like the most probable team but it all might change over next few days. if farhat makes a century and malik or butt struggle i cant see how they can leave farhat out. its the same for the bowlers whoever performs will play.no one can take the places for granted which is great to have as b4 ppl could and relaxed

 

[Monsee]

Hurricane Bradman is in full motion...cover your ears, and run for your life

Run Desis Run

 

[sehsan]

amjid: I think here u are talking about dropping kamal. I am his big fan too but if afridi can't open then we have to drop kamal and play afridi at 6 as if we will play afridi at 7, our bowling would be weak. So we have to sacrifie someone. The best option would have been to ask afridi to open. Afridi always talks about a team man and IF HE is a team then why is not williing to open.

 

[kas]

amjid: I think here u are talking about dropping kamal. I am his big fan too but if afridi can't open then we have to drop kamal and play afridi at 6 as if we will play afridi at 7, our bowling would be weak. So we have to sacrifie someone. The best option would have been to ask afridi to open. Afridi always talks about a team man and IF HE is a team then why is not williing to open.

i agree afridi shud open but only so hassan raza can play at no.6

 

[sehsan]

kas: why do u want to pick raza ahead of asim(who have done wonderfully well at 6). Hassan have to wait for his chance

 

[Amjid Javed]

amjid: I think here u are talking about dropping kamal. I am his big fan too but if afridi can't open then we have to drop kamal and play afridi at 6 as if we will play afridi at 7, our bowling would be weak. So we have to sacrifie someone. The best option would have been to ask afridi to open. Afridi always talks about a team man and IF HE is a team then why is not williing to open.

I couldnt care less what n.z side BW picks for the 1st test. Selection sadly is done on merit/performance only for certain players.

 

[Amjid Javed]

amjid: I think here u are talking about dropping kamal. I am his big fan too but if afridi can't open then we have to drop kamal and play afridi at 6 as if we will play afridi at 7, our bowling would be weak. So we have to sacrifie someone. The best option would have been to ask afridi to open. Afridi always talks about a team man and IF HE is a team then why is not williing to open.

If afridi bats 6 then fine. Hes been playing well, he would be seen as a batting all rounder in that postion and would need to do buisness with the bat.

 

[sehsan]

amjid: sami ko refer kar rehay ho kya? and who else?

 

[kas]

kas: why do u want to pick raza ahead of asim(who have done wonderfully well at 6). Hassan have to wait for his chance

kamal has done well at no.6 there is no doubt. but in my opinion hassan raza can do abetter job than him. i think hassan raza has more ability to make big centuries in that position. also he is in form wheareas kamal is in poor form. plus i think asim kamal was getting too cocky in the latter part of his short pak career. when he started he played cautiously and built his innings. whereas the last few innings he palyed risky from the word go and was giving chances to the oppisition. especiaqlly in india against anil kumble.

 

[sehsan]

dont u think if afridi bat at 6, our batting would be weak But aisa laghta hai kay afridi is going to play at 6

 

[sehsan]

kas: But how come you can drop a player who is consistently playing well for pakistan. I thought kamal did a good job in india

 

[kas]

kas: But how come you can drop a player who is consistently playing well for pakistan. I thought kamal did a good job in india

taufeeq umar had a good international record and was picked accordingly. at the time he was in poor form and he took that form into international arena. as a result he got dropped.

asim kamla is in poor form and he might end up like taufeeq umar ie out of the picture. if kamal performs in practise match then yes i dnt mind if he plays as long as he gets his form back

but i can guarantee u one thing. if hassan raza gets a few oppurtunities say if kamal fails. i doubt it if raza doesnt perform. he will hold that no.6 for years to come.

 

[sehsan]

i will say again hassan raza have to wait. His chance would come but i think this is not the time. Pakistan should win the series, i dont care whoever plays

 

[Anwar]

can we trust on afridi opening? u could do in tha sub continent but even then its risky i like afridi dwn tha order n he adds to the bowling attack aswell

 

[kas]

i will say again hassan raza have to wait. His chance would come but i think this is not the time. Pakistan should win the series, i dont care whoever plays

if pak have a batting collapse in first test i can see hassan raza being given an oppurtunity at no.6

 

[Monsee]

I actually think its good that we have so much competition between Hasan and Kamal...sadly, both will not be in the 1st Test team though cause Afridi will be the 6th man

5 batsmen (Malik, Butt, YK, YoMO, Inzi), Afridi, Akmal, and 4 bowlers (Akhtar (if all goes as we are hoping), Gull, Danish, Rana/Sami/Mushtaq (Although I don't think Mushie has it in him any more))

 

[Amjid Javed]

kamal has done well at no.6 there is no doubt. but in my opinion hassan raza can do abetter job than him. i think hassan raza has more ability to make big centuries in that position. also he is in form wheareas kamal is in poor form. plus i think asim kamal was getting too cocky in the latter part of his short pak career. when he started he played cautiously and built his innings. whereas the last few innings he palyed risky from the word go and was giving chances to the oppisition. especiaqlly in india against anil kumble.

cocky? I suggest you watch video tapes again of indian series. Asim seem to bat with alot of patience most of the time. so if sumone once in while plays agressive they become cocky?

i dont see or hear asim shooting his mouth of at oppostion or during games!

 

[kas]

I actually think its good that we have so much competition between Hasan and Kamal...sadly, both will not be in the 1st Test team though cause Afridi will be the 6th man

5 batsmen (Malik, Butt, YK, YoMO, Inzi), Afridi, Akmal, and 4 bowlers (Akhtar (if all goes as we are hoping), Gull, Danish, Rana/Sami/Mushtaq (Although I don't think Mushie has it in him any more))

the only way one of them can play is if afridi opens or they go wuth afridi at 7 and therefore one bowler short.

i prefer if afridi opens, cos he cant do any worse than the previous lot

 

[sehsan]

and afridi did a decent job in india. I failed to understand why he doesn't want to open

 

[kas]

and afridi did a decent job in india. I failed to understand why he doesn't want to open

cos if he gets out early then he has to sit for a day and a half and watch other ppl bat and he will regret playing a stupid shot. whereas if he bats at no.6 he can look forward to his batting and if he gets out he dont have to watch the rest of team bat 4 ages.

thats my opinion. also he prob thinks he can make more runs at 6 where the ball is old

 

[sehsan]

lets hope he makes lot of runs at 6

 

[sehsan]

wasey pathan itna sochtay nahi hain jitna tum na keha hai

 

[Shayan]

bloody hell, a top 6 consisting of Butt, Malik, Younis, Inzi, Yousuf and Afridi does not fill me with much confidence, because two of the players, Malik and Afridi, cannot be relied upon to get big scores. I would like to see Asim there, just to give us some more stability. If that means dropping Malik and having Afridi open, then so be it, Afridi is a better bowler then Malik.

 

[Sheikh_Ji]

I don't see how everyone is so sure that Afridi will play.....
Agreed, Afridi has done a really good job in the last few test matches he has played...but Afridi shot himself in the foot by making such a big fuss about not opening...
the chances he got in the West Indies were due to injuries/bans to Inzi, malik and YoYo. In India he was opening the innings. So unless someone gets injured, i cant see where Afridi will fit in.
90% of the people on this forum seemed convinced that Asim Kamal won't play and opinion seems to be divided between Afridi and Hasan Raza as to his likely replacement. Again I don't see any justification for this. Asim Kamal is coming off from a good International season. BW has indicated that he thinks quite highly of him. Logically, Inzi and BW would place Asim's recent international performance ahead of his domestic performance. Both coach and captain have also made it clear they will not experiment with new guys in this series. Everyone seems to assume that they're only talking about bowlers here and the likes of Mansoor Amjad won't get a chance against England. But i think this criteria also fits Hasan Raza......his domestic form may be fantastic...but he has not played any international cricket for a long long time. And throwing him in the deep end against a fit, in-form and firing on full cylinders English team could be very detrimental for his career..... So unless Asim fails miserably against the English in the first 1-2 tests...I dont see Hasan Raza playing either

 

[kas]

bloody hell, a top 6 consisting of Butt, Malik, Younis, Inzi, Yousuf and Afridi does not fill me with much confidence, because two of the players, Malik and Afridi, cannot be relied upon to get big scores. I would like to see Asim there, just to give us some more stability. If that means dropping Malik and having Afridi open, then so be it, Afridi is a better bowler then Malik.

wat u said is 100% true. afridi open so can have specialist batsmen at no. 6

 

[Sage]

and afridi did a decent job in india. I failed to understand why he doesn't want to open

because england actually have a good new ball attack

 

[sehsan]

so does it mean he is scared?

 

[kas]

so does it mean he is scared?

if thats the case then most of the players are scared. no one likes to open agst a new ball in test cricket.tendulkar opens in one day but in tests he bats lower down.

 

[Sage]

afridi is not an opener
he knows as much

remember the shower incident?

 

[waquas_uk]

im guessing noone covering this game

 

[kas]

will it be the same squads for the 20- 20 as it is 4 the 4 day game??

 

[DM]

I'd love to see Afridi, Akhtar and Sami justify their talents tomorrow.

 

[zorawar]

I just hope none of our main batsmen get hurt by Shoaib....

I will be very interested in seeing the batting order for the Pak XI.

 

[hasan316]

can anyone post the score?

 

[Lightning]

Pak X1 will fall on their faces facing Shoaib. That's my prediction.

 

[hasan316]

i wish Shoaib gets inzi on golden duck and end up with 6/20 in 7 overs
SOHAIB is the man who can save us against ENG.

 

[shagufta]

hasan316 u ae a true fan of shoaib !!!! i am too. see how i am defending him other thread

i wish Shoaib gets inzi on golden duck and end up with 6/20 in 7 overs
SOHAIB is the man who can save us against ENG.

 

[Shayan_Sohail]

I wonder if Shoaib is going to test our batsmen with short pitch deliveries?

Again, Shoaib vs Inzi is the main attraction for me.

 

[Toony™®]

afridi may open, maybe not this game. but one of the matches - after all it is at home!

 

[hasanahmad]

whats the score

 

[safehands46]

Opening afridi would be the biggest blunder. Firstly because his technique makes him vulnerable to the new and short ball. Also because he is afraid of the new ball. As we saw in the windies. Afridi should be used as a handy player in the lower order. As for hasan raza and asim kamal only one will play at the expense of say abdul razzaq. Its a total negative philosphy to play with the extra batsmen. If we want to win we need bowlers who will perform.

 

[Amir_rulez]

If we want to win we need bowlers who will perform.

exactly.. but is Razzaq one of them?

 

[Toony™®]

Opening afridi would be the biggest blunder. Firstly because his technique makes him vulnerable to the new and short ball. Also because he is afraid of the new ball. As we saw in the windies. Afridi should be used as a handy player in the lower order. As for hasan raza and asim kamal only one will play at the expense of say abdul razzaq. Its a total negative philosphy to play with the extra batsmen. If we want to win we need bowlers who will perform.

but, on the subcontinent, the rule of thumb is different for him!

 

[inzamam_1]

score updates ? much appreciated

 

[Anwar]

who is actually showing this match?? score updates plz

 

[tahaqureshi]

I think its going to be one of those matches tht only get updated at the end of the day

 

[Rudi hater]

Pakistan XI
1. Inzamam-ul-Haq
2. Salman Butt
3. Shoaib Malik
4. Younis Khan
5. Mohammad Yousuf
6. Asim Kamal
7. Kamran Akmal (Wicketkeeper)
8. Abdul Razzaq
9. Mohammad Sami
10. Naved-ul-Hasan
11. Danish Kaneria
12. Iftikhar Anjum

Rest of Pakistan
1. Taufeeq Umar
2. Imran Farhat
3. Bazid Khan
4. Hasan Raza
5. Misbah-ul-Haq
6. Shahid Afridi
7. Zulqarnain Haider (Wicketkeeper)
8. Shahid Nazir
9. Umar Gul
10. Shoaib Akhtar
11. Mushtaq Ahmed
12. Faisal Iqbal

Possible duel would be between:

Inzi vs Shoaib
Salman vs Gul
MY vs Mushtaq
Asim vs Shoaib Malik
Afridi vs Razzaq
Taufeeq vs Sami
Hasan vs Danish

 

[Rudi hater]

It looks like shoaib is getting hammered...lol

 

[pakistani pride]

haha anybody got score updates ?

 

[Wasim_17]

score update?

 

[yk]

^ No one can find one!

It will probably be on pcb.com.pk at the end of the day.

 

[desidude]

I agree completely with Sheik_Ji that chances of Afridi opening in the test matches are very minimum. Also, I dont want to see Butt in the test squad at all as he is simply not ready for this format of the game. Pakistan has to rely on players who have proven them in the past rather then experimenting in this series. These two warm-up games will give an excellent opportunity for all the players who have credentials to open the game. I think from number 3 to 6 all slots are filled including Asim Kamal. It would be a huge blow to Pakistan's lower middle order if the team management tried to fit Hassan Raza or Razzak with Asim Kamal. Pakistan should play only one all-rounder and that has to be a spinner as one opener. Someone who can bowl in tandem with Danish. Malik has fancied his chances by declaring that he is fit and seems like the first two bullets will go to Malik and Bazid Khan.

 

[Naz]

It looks like shoaib is getting hammered...lol

really, do you have the score, where can we get scores from?

 

[yk]

^ he's joking, ure so gulable!!!

he said it becoz of the possible duel between Inzi & Shoaib, as posted by Rudi Hater.

 

[Naz]

well i wudlnt be suprised even if it was true. Great oppurtunity for the big man to express himself through his bat at what he thinks about shoaib as he never really could let all his anger out at him like a ponting or a graeme smith would. Im supporting inzi in this duel.

 

[usman7]

are there any score updates?