Matches vs New Zealand A are a great chance to identify Pakistan players for the South Africa tour

[AliMurtaza]

The two 4-day game series against NZ A is about to start from Oct 30. For some reason, selectors are yet to announce the side. Maybe they are waiting on visas for few of the players.

These 2 games and the 4-day game against England Lions give us great opportunity to identify the remaining players for tour of SA. We need a backup opener for Imam and Fakhar. Here my hope is that irrespective of what Hafeez does against NZ, he won’t be picked for the SA test series based on his overseas record. We also need 2 backup middle order batsmen for Azhar, Haris, Asad, and Babar. And finally, we need to identify 2 pacers that can partner Abbas and Mir Hamza. Here again my assumption is that Mir Hamza will do enough against NZ to get on the plane to SA.

So, here is my 14-man squad for the 2 4-day matches against NZ A

1. Sami Aslam
2. Abid Ali
3. Saad Ali
4. Iftikhar Ahmed
5. Usman Salahuddin
6. Saud Shakeel
7. M Rizwan
8. Kashif Bhatti
9. Hassan Ali
10. Junaid Khan
11. Shaheen Shah

12. M Saad
13. Ehsan Adil
14. Tabish Khan

Amir needs to continue playing domestic to improve his bowling.

 

[aloo paratha]

Your XI is so bad. We need to get Waqas Maqsood, Iftikhar, Rahat Ali, Umaid Asif ready for SA.

 

[AliMurtaza]

Your XI is so bad. We need to get Waqas Maqsood, Iftikhar, Rahat Ali, Umaid Asif ready for SA.

Sure, best of luck with Rahat, Waqas and Umaid. They will run through sides within 30 overs each time.

 

[Hasan123]

Why have you selected Iftikhar Ahmed ? He isn't good enough. Also an A tour should never have players near 30 and players who have played regular games at international level.

 

[AliMurtaza]

Why have you selected Iftikhar Ahmed ? He isn't good enough. Also an A tour should never have players near 30 and players who have played regular games at international level.

I selected him becuase he has truck load of runs in quaid trophy at a good average. His best format is tests. He, Saud, Salahuddin and Saad Ali are the 4 best middle order test prospects for Pakistan based on their runs in domestic. It would have been nice for all 4 to play together for 4 innings to see which 2 should be selected for SA tour as backup middle order batsmen.

Our impressions of Iftikhar are based on his limited appearances for Pakistan where he comes in and tries to hit from ball 1. I am yet to see him play a long innings and so won’t just discard him based on PP experts.