All great things come to an End finally.
Hats off the honest servants and role models of fitness and hardwork. Two players who played a key role in making us World Number 1 Test team after a longgggg time.
Misbah looks set to go after Aus tour while Younis will play 1 more Test series against BD (if it happens) or against West Indies.
So it's rebuilding time.
Now whenever a team is in rebuilding phase the most important decision to make is that who are young guns you opt to replace the retiring players. In Test Cricket you do not give Test caps easily and once you give somebody a Test Cap than you do not make replacements frequently unless someone has horrible performances or season.
While the selectors and team management will sit together they will have to look at atleast next 5 years.
First they will have to make a call as to where Asad Shafiq and Babar Azam bat ?
Should Asad return back to number 3 position with Babar at 4 ?
or should Babar remain at 3 with Asad at 4 ?
Well as a senior player Asad needs to bat at 3 or 4 so that He can guide the young Test players. Remember if you do not have a World Class allrounder at number 6 than most of the Tests you will win because of your batting will deoend on the performances of your Top 5 batsman. So Asad should not bat at 6.
Our Test middle order needs a left hander. Atleast one. The left right combination will help.
So when the vacancies are 2 than what are the options ?
1. Haris Sohail
In the most difficult batting conditions of last 10 years Haris Sohail played 9 Fc innings averaged 134 with 4 hundreds scoring 673 runs. No Fc batsman even was near him in either hundreds or average. This was 4 years ago. After 86 Fc innings he averages 52 with 11 Fc hundreds.
If he gets fit. Not only fit but Test fit. Remember even before knee injury he used to labour after scoring 30 or 40 and got out in 30's and 40's many time. Yes it was not because of fitness only but had mental aspect to it aswell. Do remember the extent of his injury, longggg layoff and him having not played a Fc match for 2-3 years now.
2. Fawad Alam
Unorthodox player with Unorthodox stance, limited shots and limited shot range. The guy has hunger for runs. Hunger which is comparable with Younis only and loves batting to it's core. He is a fighter. Averages 56-57 in Fc Cricket Pakistan's highest ever. He was made to open unnecessarily. Something he never did. Still he managed 160 odd. After having played 3 Tests only while averaging 41.66 with 1 hundred he was dropped. Well to be honest from 3 to 6 there was no spot for him.
At best He can be Pakistan's Chanderpaul if he succeeds in test level but remember Chanders shot range was wider and his offside play against pacers was far superior than Fawad's.
3. Saud Shakil :
An excellent player in the mold of Saeed Anwar. Timing, Placement, wide shot range. Good on both front and backfoot. Great attitude hardworker. Stylish, elegant, eyecatching player. Has an excellent start to both his FC and List A career. Averages 47 in Fc Cricket with 4 Fc hundreds in 27 innings. Has tasted relative success for Pakistan A aswell.The only disadvantage is less domestic experience. So are the selectors & team management ready to pick him at the age of 21 ? They should study that how many FC matches Kohli, Smith, Cook, Williamson, Develliers etc had played before they were given Test Cap and than make a decision.
4. Umar Amin :
Averages 12 in Test Cricket after 4 Test played in England. 6-7 years ago. Averages 39 in Fc Cricket after 105 matches. Elegant player with all shots. Mentally weak. Fitness and attitude wise he is fine. Current Fc performances post injury are not satisfactory while previous season was excellent. Is it a time for his recall or is he history now ?
5. Saad Ali
Saad Ali averages 42 in 67 Fc innings with 6 hundreds and 70 in 22 List A innings with 1 hundred. He is 23.
Those who have seen him bat say that his batting style resembles Alaister Cook's batting. Personally I have not seen him Bat.
6. Usman Salahuddin
Usman Salahuddin was given Odi debut needlessly 6 years ago when he was averaging 55 in Fc cricket and had done nothing special in List A Cricket.
Unlike the above 5 batsman he is a right hand batsman.
Usman is 26 years old and He has 19 Fc hundreds in 149 Fc innings at an average of 47. Usman has performed very well in 2 out of last 3 seasons and this year was an excellent year for him.
7. Mohammad Waqas Snr
Waqas is 29 years old and after 45 Fc innings He has 5 hundreds and averages 42. He has an excellent T20 record where his best knock came when he hit 6 sixes in an innings of 60 odd and Karachi drew a match with Rawalpindi due to him. They lost the match in super over.
Waqas has been treated harshly at regional level. This is why at 29 he has only managed to bat 45 times in Fc Cricket.
8. Umar Akmal
Umar has played 30 Test Innings where he played his last Test 5-6 years ago. He has 1 hundred and 6 fifties at an average of 36.
In Fc he has played 136 innings scoring 11 Fc hundreds at an average of 44. This season he played only 2 Fc matches where he scored a hundred and 2 fifties averaging 58.
You all have seen him bat, know about his batting IQ, maturity and his attitude/discipline history.
I have not mentioned a Test batting allrounder aged 36 and a batsman who destroyed career of Asim Kamal, Bazid Khan, Ayub Dogar and delayed comeback of Misbah. If you want to pick them fine.
So out of these 8 who are the two you would like to see in playing eleven in place of Misbah & Younis once they retire ?
Would you like to have one in the squad of 16-17 on bench ? Who should be the Bench player ?
Mods please add a Poll.
