Pakistan announce 16-man squad for first Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi

[MenInG]

Lahore, 1 February 2020: The national men’s selection committee has named a 16-player squad for the first ICC World Test Championship fixture against Bangladesh to be played in Rawalpindi from 7-11 February.

The selectors have recalled off-spinner Bilal Asif at the back of his 43 wickets in nine Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches, while Faheem Ashraf has been drafted in the side due to his all-round skills that were backed by his six wickets in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final against Northern.

Two changes have been made in the side that was named for the two ICC World Test Championship Tests against Sri Lanka. Kashif Bhatti and Usman Shinwari have been left out, but they remain in the red-ball plans and have been advised to continue their training and preparation.

While Kashif didn’t play against Sri Lanka, Usman made his only appearance in the Rawalpindi Test where he took one for 54.

Squad

Azhar Ali (captain) (Central Punjab)
Abid Ali (Sindh)
Asad Shafiq (Sindh)
Babar Azam (Central Punjab)
Bilal Asif (Central Punjab)
Faheem Ashraf (Central Punjab)
Fawad Alam (Sindh)
Haris Sohail (Balochistan)
Imam-ul-Haq (Southern Punjab)
Imran Khan Snr (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)
Mohammad Abbas (Southern Punjab)
Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper) (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)
Naseem Shah (Central Punjab)
Shaheen Shah Afridi ( Northern)
Shan Masood (Southern Punjab)
Yasir Shah (Balochistan)

Chair of the men’s national selection committee and head coach Misbah-ul-Haq said: “We have followed the horses for courses policy for the Test against Bangladesh. I know the two players who have been left out will be disappointed, but they remain firmly within our plans for the red-ball cricket we are scheduled to play later this year.

“Kashif Bhatti has paved the way for Bilal Asif considering there are left-handed batters in the Bangladesh top and middle-order, while Faheem Ashraf has been preferred over Usman Shinwari due to his all-round abilities.

“Following our convincing victory in Karachi, I don’t envisage any major changes in the playing line-up but we have tried to cover all our bases just in case the wicket has any surprises for us.

“We ended 2019 on a high with a victory over Sri Lanka and have made a good start to 2020 by winning the T20I series against Bangladesh. I understand the Test will be a different ball game but I am optimistic we will maintain our good form and translate that into another strong performance that will contribute significantly in the overall confidence building of the Test side.

“We are aiming to collect maximum points from the two upcoming ICC World Test Championship matches against Bangladesh so that when we take the field for the Lord’s Test against England on 30 July, we are in a strong contention for a top-two finish by the end of the 2020-21 season. This is what our aspiration is and that’s what are aiming and striving for.”

The Pakistan team will depart for Rawalpindi on 3 February, where it will fine-tune its final preparations from 4 February.

 

[saeed5646]

Offie was important due to bd have plenty in lineup but i am not sure it should've been bilal asif .

 

[iRfaN_LA]

Faheem ashraf and imran khan snr again? God save us.

 

[saeed5646]

This must be oldest squad going around in test cricket .there are plenty of 30+ player in squad.
Imran khan 30+
Azhar ali 30+
Asad shafiq 30 +
Abid ali 30+
Bilal asif 30+
Imran khan 30+
Yasir shah 30+
Haris sohail 30+
Shan masood 30+

We are doomed in test cricket .this is alarming in every sense

 

[saeed5646]

Seems like management is pretty much settle for 5 to 6 position in icc test championship.

Easy formula for misbah and co win home test matches at any cost and pray for miracle in overseas test

 

[shah_1]

No continuity for Usman Shinwari

Shouldn't Imran Khan Snr be dropped first. What a farce

 

[angrypathan]

Bilal Asif and Imran Khan are awful selections.

 

[shah_1]

Offie was important due to bd have plenty in lineup but i am not sure it should've been bilal asif .

It should have been Sajid Khan.

 

[saeed5646]

It should have been Sajid Khan.

Obviously sajid khan is alot better and also better spinner than bilal asif but misbah seems reluctant to debut youngsters for "tough" opponent like bd .

 

[Greenstorm]

God, save us from Misbah.

 

[Hawkeye]

Test team is well settled. Becoming a force after our perpetual losses.

IK snr is not a long term prospect but he won't play anyway in the xi.

Otherwise, solid team. Just one questionable selection.

We just won our first series in a long time, reversed the darkness, but people obviously will still slit their wrists in this thread.

 

[SARJ_BD]

I thought we will be seeing Nauman Ali

 

[saeed5646]

Playing 11
Shan masood
Abid ali
Azhar ali
Babar azam
Haris sohail/fawad alam
Asad shafiq
M Rizwan
Yasir shah
Bilal asif
Shaheen
Naseem shah

 

[shah_1]

Playing 11 ��
Shan masood
Abid ali
Azhar ali
Babar azam
Haris sohail/fawad alam
Asad shafiq
M Rizwan
Yasir shah
Bilal asif
Shaheen
Naseem shah

Faheem is playing at 7. Didn't you see team 1 line up in the practise match?

 

[Sunny_majoka]

what kind of gider singhi this man imran khan sr has?

 

[PakPremi]

Playing 11
Shan masood
Abid ali
Azhar ali
Babar azam
Haris sohail/fawad alam
Asad shafiq
M Rizwan
Yasir shah
Bilal asif
Shaheen
Naseem shah

Mohd Abbas will be in the team as part of 3 pace attack, so only one of Bilal or Yasir will play.

 

[Bleedgreen4ever]

I don't understand the point of carrying Yasir Shah.

Trash bowler. Need to groom Zafar Gohar.

Misbah's myopic approach as usual

 

[Shoaibbtt]

This must be oldest squad going around in test cricket .there are plenty of 30+ player in squad.
Imran khan 30+
Azhar ali 30+
Asad shafiq 30 +
Abid ali 30+
Bilal asif 30+
Imran khan 30+
Yasir shah 30+
Haris sohail 30+
Shan masood 30+

We are doomed in test cricket .this is alarming in every sense

Age is negligible what matters is your performance.

 

[Shoaibbtt]

I thought we will be seeing Nauman Ali

I’d have picked Zafar Gohar instead.

 

[Danyaalr01]

If it is the same pitch as the last Rawalpindi test, then drop Yasir again and play Faheem at 8.

 

[Shoaibbtt]

I think it’s quite disgusting that you left out Kashif bhatti and usman shinwari over what was a silly little practice game otherwise the argument to drop them without getting a game is baseless.

 

[Hawkeye]

I think it’s quite disgusting that you left out Kashif bhatti and usman shinwari over what was a silly little practice game otherwise the argument to drop them without getting a game is baseless.

They want an off spinner. Kashif is in their plans but the strategy is playing an offspinner against BD. Shinwari is dropped because they wanted an all-rounder so Faheem is in.

Read the press conference in the other thread before mindlessly calling things disgusting.

 

[Abdullah719]

They want an off spinner. Kashif is in their plans but the strategy is playing an offspinner against BD. Shinwari is dropped because they wanted an all-rounder so Faheem is in.

Read the press conference in the other thread before mindlessly calling things disgusting.

Why wasn't IK snr dropped instead?

 

[shah_1]

They want an off spinner. Kashif is in their plans but the strategy is playing an offspinner against BD. Shinwari is dropped because they wanted an all-rounder so Faheem is in.

Read the press conference in the other thread before mindlessly calling things disgusting.

It makes no sense to pick ImranSnr over Shinwari

 

[angrypathan]

Why wasn't IK snr dropped instead?

IK snr wasn't in the squad for the last series. He wasn't dropped, he was added, which makes it all the more infuriating

 

[shah_1]

Obviously sajid khan is alot better and also better spinner than bilal asif but misbah seems reluctant to debut youngsters for "tough" opponent like bd .

Played for the same region, very close to each other.

 

[Hawkeye]

Why wasn't IK snr dropped instead?

Only ik snr is a questionable pick as I've already said.

Otherwise, a great squad. You can't make everyone happy.
When it is 99% spot on, it's good enough.

Besides ik snr or Shinwari wouldn't have played anyway. Faheem will play.

 

[Abdullah719]

IK snr wasn't in the squad for the last series. He wasn't dropped, he was added, which makes it all the more infuriating

Unfortunately, he was. Seems to be highly rated by the management.

http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/showthread.php?290628

 

[Shoaibbtt]

They want an off spinner. Kashif is in their plans but the strategy is playing an offspinner against BD. Shinwari is dropped because they wanted an all-rounder so Faheem is in.

Read the press conference in the other thread before mindlessly calling things disgusting.

Misbah has no logic and yes it is disgusting if you make a stupid assumption to drop someone without even playing them. If anything yasir should’ve been dropped for bhatti or even Zafar Gohar, he’ll get spanked by the Bangladesh batsmen.

I think you are a blind fool who believes anything misbah tells you.

 

[JibranAnsari]

So most of the 11 will be 30 plus , I think the three exceptions will be two Shahs and Babar Azam. All nations plan for the future but we don't believe in building a team for future.

 

[JibranAnsari]

The team will be

Abid
Shan
Azhar
Babar
Shafiq
Haris
Rizwan
Bilal Asif
Abbas
Naseem
Afridi

 

[Shoaibbtt]

The team will be

Abid
Shan
Azhar
Babar
Shafiq
Haris
Rizwan
Bilal Asif
Abbas
Naseem
Afridi

Most likely but Haris should be replaced.

 

[Hawkeye]

So most of the 11 will be 30 plus , I think the three exceptions will be two Shahs and Babar Azam. All nations plan for the future but we don't believe in building a team for future.

) ) )

When you can't find any fault in the team, then "why some people are over 30 years!!".

How low can you go? Why don't you ask this from 30+ Kohli, Rohit Sharma or other teams?

After years we've got a strong team and you still find lame reasons to whine and slit wrists. More than Half our team is youngsters or inexperienced debutants. Babar, Rizwan, Naseem, Shaheen, Abid, Bilal, Shan.

Yet we're gonna slit wrists.

Just glad you aren't a selector.

 

[JibranAnsari]

) ) )

When you can't find any fault in the team, then "why some people are over 30 years!!".

How low can you go? Why don't you ask this from 30+ Kohli, Rohit Sharma or other teams?

After years we've got a strong team and you still find lame reasons to whine and slit wrists. More than Half our team is youngsters or inexperienced debutants. Babar, Rizwan, Naseem, Shaheen, Abid, Bilal, Shan.

Yet we're gonna slit wrists.

Just glad you aren't a selector.

Strong team? Lol , didn't we got beaten like babies against the Aussies. One test match and we are very strong. Your 3 thirties , Yasir Asad and Azhar have been misfiring for two years now. Problem is that the board doesn't believe in building a team which can perform for another 10 years , they are trying to save their face tomorrow and hopelessly failing in that too.

Rohit and kohli have been performing for ages and you are comparing them with the underperformers like Asad and Azhar? Come on boy , wake up.

 

[minamino]

Pathetic squad. This is why FC system needs to change. Otherwise players like IK Sr and Bilal Asif will keep on coming back.

 

[Saj]

All-rounder Faheem Ashraf and off-spinner Bilal Asif have been recalled to Pakistan's Test squad for first of two Tests against Bangladesh, which will be played in Rawalpindi from 7 February.

Ashraf had been sidelined from the home series against Sri Lanka in December, while Asif's last appearance dates back to December 2018 against New Zealand.

The duo gets a recall on the back of excellent performances in the Qaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan's domestic first-class competition. Asif returned 43 wickets at 23.16, while Ashraf had bagged eight scalps and scored two fifties from four innings during Central Punjab's winning campaign.

Making way for them in the 16-man squad are left-arm spinner Kashif Bhatti and medium-pacer Usman Shinwari.

"We have followed the horses for courses policy for the Test against Bangladesh," selector and head coach Misbah ul Haq said. "I know the two players who have been left out will be disappointed, but they remain firmly within our plans for the red-ball cricket we are scheduled to play later this year.

"Bhatti has paved the way for Bilal Asif considering there are left-handed batters in the Bangladesh top and middle-order, while Faheem Ashraf has been preferred over Usman Shinwari due to his all-round abilities. Following our convincing victory in Karachi, I don't envisage any major changes in the playing line-up but we have tried to cover all our bases just in case the wicket has any surprises for us."

Both Tests will be a part of the ICC World Test Championship. Pakistan took the T20I series 2-0 and also won the one-off ODI. The second Test will be played during the second leg of the tour at Karachi's National Stadium in April.

Squad: Azhar Ali (c), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Bilal Asif, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Shaan Masood, Yasir Shah

 

[Shafi]

Fahim as an all rounder?Yasir is far better than him and even Amir, Wahab or Sohail Khan can score more than him. This guy just don't have any muscle to hit 4s unless its 10- 20 m circle and bowlers are very poor.

 

[Shafi]

Pathetic squad. This is why FC system needs to change. Otherwise players like IK Sr and Bilal Asif will keep on coming back.

Even then better players were not be picked if the selectors are biased.

 

[Shafi]

Strong team? Lol , didn't we got beaten like babies against the Aussies. One test match and we are very strong. Your 3 thirties , Yasir Asad and Azhar have been misfiring for two years now. Problem is that the board doesn't believe in building a team which can perform for another 10 years , they are trying to save their face tomorrow and hopelessly failing in that too.

Rohit and kohli have been performing for ages and you are comparing them with the underperformers like Asad and Azhar? Come on boy , wake up.

Cannot argue with Misbah fans. Any player Misbah choose is World Class even if their record or performance is pathetic.

 

[Titan24]

I think Faheem is gonna play most likely as he should unless Haris or Fawad are trusted to ball 10-15 overs. Shaheen and Naseem are pretty young so there should be a 5th bowler in my opinion of we are gonna keep playing both of them in tests and keep them fit too for next 2,3 years. After that their bodies will more developed and prepared for the regular test and international cricket workload. Aslo I think Faheem is a better longer format batsman as his FC average vs List A also shows.

Shan
Abid
Azhar
Babar
Asad
Rizwan
Faheem
Yasir
Shaheen
Abbas
Naseem

 

[MRSN]

Pathetic squad. This is why FC system needs to change. Otherwise players like IK Sr and Bilal Asif will keep on coming back.

what about Yasir Shah. Misbah is s stubborn person in reality so when something he is criticised for he does again to prove people he was right. There has to be some medical term for these people. [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]

 

[Titan24]

I really think management should try some other spin options in Sajid Khan (An offie) and Zafar Gohar, Nauman Ali, Kashif Bhatti (SLA). All three are better decent lower order batsmen as well.

Yasir doesnt provide much control as I and many others have mentioned quite a few times and recent Pak test wickets have been pretty decent for pacers so a spinner who can control one end is a better option. Also he hasnt looked in a good rhythm for sometime.

 

[Mirpur express]

Naseem & Shaheen are there to help some of the babas in the team with mobility issues... it’s a Misbah type team , win or draw at home at any cost as for away tests ,well we saw that in Australia , good luck to Fawad Alam hopefully he scores a big ton in Karachi before they drop him again..

 

[ads101]

Guess I'd go with
1. Abid
2. Shan
3. Babar
4. Haris
5. Azhar
6. Asad
7. Rizwan
8. Yasir
9. Abbas
10. Shaheen
11. Naseem

Would have liked to see Sami Aslam as cover in the squad given Masood hasn't exactly been amazing, averages under 30 still after 19 tests and scored a century when everyone else did too. I'd have preferred Saad Ali or Usman over Fawad, looking to the future, I really think only point of bringing fawad back is as captain. I get picking Bilal if they want an offspinner strategy tbh, if they want to play 2 bowlers especially, best to have variation. Faheem on the other hand don't really get, why we need extra batting over bowling at our own home.

Not thrilled with the squad honestly, seems pretty bad. The first XI will probably be virtually the same as last test series which is fine, but the bench players add very little to this squad.

 

[TeymurBlake]

Whenever a Pakistan squad is announced I somehow funnily enough always have the same reaction. There's much to be desired by this squad. So many players missing and so many random players added. I guess this is Misbah's direction.

 

[Mujtaba2900]

This must be oldest squad going around in test cricket .there are plenty of 30+ player in squad.
Imran khan 30+
Azhar ali 30+
Asad shafiq 30 +
Abid ali 30+
Bilal asif 30+
Imran khan 30+
Yasir shah 30+
Haris sohail 30+
Shan masood 30+

We are doomed in test cricket .this is alarming in every sense

You haven't seen indian test squad probably

 

[IAJ]

Faheem ashraf and imran khan snr again? God save us.

Complete rubbish. Misbah is joker. You already have Abbas as a senior bowler, then select some new names yaar.

And doesn’t this country of 120+ million people have a single decent spinner apart from Yasir Shah?

 

[Red Devil]

Imran Khan

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

I think this is probably the best squad that Misbah could have selected. Barring Imran Khan the squad looks good. I think Faheem Ashraf never deserved to be dropped from the test squad in the first place while Bilal Asif has earned a place with his performances in the QeA Trophy, where he took a lot of wickets on unhelpful pitches.

 

[Rellu_Katta]

i would prefer to have Harris Sohail and Fawad Alam both in the team.

Asad Shafiq needs to go... he is the worst batsmen to have played these many games for pak

Abid Ali
Shaan Masood
Harris Sohail
Babar Azam
Azhar Ali
Fawad Alam
Rizwan
Yasir
Bilal
SSA
Naseem

dont know how Yasir will bowl to be honest... have lost confidence in him..... but dont have anyother option as yet... maybe a left arm offie? Zafar Gohar or Umer Khan?

Abbas shld be in the mix too but dont know if he can fit in a 2 spin 2 fast attack

Faheem Ashraf is a garbage selection.... Ammad Butt (untested but much better potential) or Aamir Yamin (much better bat, equivialnt bowler to Faheem) should have been preferred

 

[the Great Khan]

Pretty solid squad..some of the wrist sitters want the u19''s to be drafted in lol..

Against Bangladesh this side should be competitive..need to make early inroads and we should be OK.

Want to see fawad get a chance over haris

 

[hitthestump]

Usman Shinwari is in and out of the team so much that even by Pakistani standards it is getting ridiculous.

Either he spends a couple of seasons in domestics to hone his skills or you decide there's enough there to let him grow with the national team. Make a decision on the guy already.

 

[coy0607]

What's the point of selecting 16 players for 1-test? Especially since the CS and Head Coach are the same person... Why not just select 12 or 13.

PS - the squad is uncreative and boring, as was expected from Misbah's test selection.

 

[Markhor]

Sorry but this is a collection of players that cannot go higher than 5th place in the rankings.

There are far too many passengers being carried like Azhar, Shafiq, Yasir, Imran, Fahim, Asif and Imam.

 

[shah_1]

What's the point of selecting 16 players for 1-test? Especially since the CS and Head Coach are the same person... Why not just select 12 or 13.

PS - the squad is uncreative and boring, as was expected from Misbah's test selection.

For consussion rule I think?

 

[aloo paratha]

I wish we could move past Bilal Asif but I guess go deserves it after his QeA final performance.

 

[ahmadharis1]

Honestly surprised Zulfiqar Babar wasn't selected

 

[Maher96]

test team is settled. No major changes and see fawad replacing to fill the middle order. Most likely to play at 5. Remember it’s just 1 Test. So we will play with

S Masood
A Ali
A Ali
B Azam
F Alam
A Shafiq
M Rizwan
Y Shah
S Shah
N Shah
M Abbas

Sounds like a world number one test team to me Kia mashallah pyari naam select kia hai.

 

[Hawkeye]

Pretty solid squad..some of the wrist sitters want the u19''s to be drafted in lol..

Against Bangladesh this side should be competitive..need to make early inroads and we should be OK.

Want to see fawad get a chance over haris

That is exactly what some people want. )

More than half the team is already in 20s, other too inexperienced. Only Azhar, Shafiq and Yasir are experienced.

Yet the wrist slitters want everyone dropped and replaced with no names from U19s.. despite having a settled Test team that just thrashed SL and won after a long time..

Meltdown over Bilal Asif who did well on unhelpful QeA wickets is amazing. And he's also an offspinner.. there's no alternative for an offspinner I think. People will never be happy. Everyone seems to have their own favorites who they want selected at any cost.

Yes Yasir is becoming a passenger and I'm sure they'll be thinking about dropping him if he fails again.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Who would the better spin option for the England series be? Yasir or Bilal?

 

[ahmedzee]

Clueless once again this chief selector Misbah. He picks bilal and faheem over the final of QeA trophy, but ignores kashif bhatti, Sami Aslam, Noman ali on consistent 2-3 years domestic performance.

Absolutely pathetic and clueless. I can’t wait till this guy is fired. He should be no where close to pakistan cricket. Singlehandedly he led the demise of Pakistan cricket in limited overs. His test formula was always home oriented, which is to do whatever it takes to win at home and pray for overseas win. That formula still stands, as his friends like Imran khan jr is selected. Imam is also a questionable selection. If you are going to hve another opener, select sami Aslam who is a proven opener.

 

[ZamanFan]

They want an off spinner. Kashif is in their plans but the strategy is playing an offspinner against BD. Shinwari is dropped because they wanted an all-rounder so Faheem is in.

Read the press conference in the other thread before mindlessly calling things disgusting.

Hahahaha

Kashif Bhatti has been deselected from the bench and he is in PLANS rofl.

Btw congratulate you for Misbah selecting Arthur's favorite and no. 7 batter Faheem, shows how much confidence Misbah has on this team.

He has replaced a specialist bowler with an allrounder in a test match who won't make to the final XI. Pitc will be sub standard and unhelpful for spinners. Ine can see Misbah's planning

Great opportunity for Bangladesh to win overseas, 6 panicking PAk batsmen easy pickings. They only need to overcome young fast bowlers and they'll do well in this series. Nice opening provided by Misbah.

 

[Hawkeye]

[MENTION=151482]ZamanFan[/MENTION], okay, if that helps you sleep better then fine. I'm glad we've started to win Tests again. The previous darkness saw us losing Tests even at home. Not happening again.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

For one test they've announced 16 players that too with 3-4 as openers lol

They'll still not select Fawad in the playing XI despite naming him like the previous 2 tests against SL. His inclusion is just to hush the noise made by the people who went on for years about his non selection despite being the only one averaging over 50 in FC cricket in the last few years.

On top, nearly 10 of the 16 players are over 30 as already mentioned by another person where other teams are looking to include youngsters and have done so, PAK seem hellbent on going backwards in today's world.

 

[moghul]

Why you need a 16 man squad for a solitary home test , why not just 12 ?

Why youngster Imran Khan in 16, that spot should have gone to some older player like Sameen Gul.

 

[hitthestump]

test team is settled. No major changes and see fawad replacing to fill the middle order. Most likely to play at 5. Remember itÂ’s just 1 Test. So we will play with

S Masood
A Ali
A Ali
B Azam
F Alam
A Shafiq
M Rizwan
Y Shah
S Shah
N Shah
M Abbas

Sounds like a world number one test team to me Kia mashallah pyari naam select kia hai.

With 5 players sharing surnames it's probably best we go on first name basis from now on lol.

Decent line up but i think they'll sneak in Bilal Asif somehow given he got special mention in Misbah's interview.

 

[Kroll]

Some awful selections but it's expected. But how the hell is Yasir Shah selected again? We might not get wickets from him but I'm sure we'll get his cheesy smiles when he's getting a phainta.

 

[GreenKhan]

Clueless once again this chief selector Misbah. He picks bilal and faheem over the final of QeA trophy, but ignores kashif bhatti, Sami Aslam, Noman ali on consistent 2-3 years domestic performance.

Absolutely pathetic and clueless. I can’t wait till this guy is fired. He should be no where close to pakistan cricket. Singlehandedly he led the demise of Pakistan cricket in limited overs. His test formula was always home oriented, which is to do whatever it takes to win at home and pray for overseas win. That formula still stands, as his friends like Imran khan jr is selected. Imam is also a questionable selection. If you are going to hve another opener, select sami Aslam who is a proven opener.

His test formula worked . We became consistent at our adopted home and unbeatable. Which is what most good teams strive to achieve .

Overseas we did ok under him . Drawn series in England, won a test series in New Zealand and also lost one . Won in West Indies , Bangladesh , Sri Lanka . Got hammered in Australia but had a few close matches ( nothing new there) and also got hammered in South Africa ( nothing new there ). The only bad result was the drawn series in Zimbabwe .

If we can achieve similar results under him as coach and become a force at home and get decent results overseas we will be doing well .

 

[Hasan123]

Why can't we try a new spinner instead of Yasir?

 

[Markhor]

Why can't we try a new spinner instead of Yasir?

Too much effort.

 

[LordJames]

There is no justification for Imamul Haq to be in the squad, how many openers do they want?

 

[Omer2002]

Its bound be same team as last match ..

 

[ZamanFan]

[MENTION=151482]ZamanFan[/MENTION], okay, if that helps you sleep better then fine. I'm glad we've started to win Tests again. The previous darkness saw us losing Tests even at home. Not happening again.

Lol how many tests has Misbah won? 1. And Misbah has lost 2 tests and 5 T20s in couple of months. If Sarfaraz was still captain you would've posted 13 personal posts against him on this performance so understand your purpose, but the way you write posts is huge comic relief for many of us. Its pure propaganda but really hilarious.

The best thing about this squad is how overconfident Misbah is that Bangladesh will crumble against Pak fast bowlers. There is no Plan B, so hope Bangladesh performs better than their expectations. This will help PCB realize what calamity they have committed in making Misbah as coach and chief selector.

 

[Nasty Naz]

Man seeing this terrible selections such as a fake all rounder in Faheem and Bilal getting selected, it makes me wish we had a prime Hafeez right now. Not only would he be an improvement on Shan as an opener, it would also give us that proper 5th bowler where we don't resort to poor tactics such as playing Faheem or selecting Bilal because we don't have an offie to get lefties out.

Honestly, it will be such a disadvantage if Faheem plays. It basically means there's only 5 batsmen, WK and the rest is tailenders. One of those five batsmen is also Azhar. One of them has an average under 30 (Masood), and one of them has only played two tests. Babar is still establishing himself in Tests meanwhile Shafiq has established himself as someone that is merely decent but not exactly reliable.

So yeah, what a team.

Personally, my XI would be:

Abid
Azhar (unfortunately I am forced to include him)
Haris
Babar
Fawad
Shafiq
Rizwan
Bilal
Shaheen
Abbas
Naseem

Haris/Fawad can bowl some spin and Azhar can do some leg spin as well. Strong batting order to bat Bangladesh out of the game.

 

[sshakir411]

Will Misbah and his buddy Waqar play Fawad or are they going to persist with Harris Sohail because his cover drive against India in the 2015 WC were incredible?

 

[Khan12]

Will Misbah and his buddy Waqar play Fawad or are they going to persist with Harris Sohail because his cover drive against India in the 2015 WC were incredible?

Harris is miles better then that rubbish. Just to refresh your memory he won us 2 world cup matches last year.

 

[Hawkeye]

Harris is miles better then that rubbish. Just to refresh your memory he won us 2 world cup matches last year.

Yep, Haris is indeed better. But way out of form. Not sure what happened to him.

 

[PakLFC]

Why is there such a big gap between the first and second Test?

 

[angrypathan]

Why can't we try a new spinner instead of Yasir?

Because the new spinner might actually succeed

 

[the Great Khan]

That is exactly what some people want. )

More than half the team is already in 20s, other too inexperienced. Only Azhar, Shafiq and Yasir are experienced.

Yet the wrist slitters want everyone dropped and replaced with no names from U19s.. despite having a settled Test team that just thrashed SL and won after a long time..

Meltdown over Bilal Asif who did well on unhelpful QeA wickets is amazing. And he's also an offspinner.. there's no alternative for an offspinner I think. People will never be happy. Everyone seems to have their own favorites who they want selected at any cost.

Yes Yasir is becoming a passenger and I'm sure they'll be thinking about dropping him if he fails again.

lol, so true. We hear statements like clueless, and unprofessional when the very people who are making these statements have probably never had to make difficult decisions in their lives. Its as if nothing is ever good enough. its a part of the footballification of society. In english football fans are known to act in a similar way..lose a few matches and draft in a new manager etc..some people bring this brainless discourse to pakpassion..

then we have the criticise for criticsms sake just to become popular..you know the type..even if pakistan won the world cup these characters would complain they didnt win the last tournament so this one doesnt count.. or say this is the last time we'll win because they dont like the selector or coach etc..

and finally we have the hidden Indians. Who pretend to be pakistanis. some who I suspect have been doing it for so long they now pass off as Pakistanis lol..