Sonic Looks Back to the SL Tourny and Ahead to Eng

Back in Favour
By Imran
May 29 2003

With the Sri Lankan tournament over and a potentially tricky 3 match series in England, Imran offers his opinions on what is currently good and bad about Pakistani cricket.

Triangular Series (Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand), May 2003

Pakistan Squad: Rashid Latif (capt and wkt), Youusf Youhana, Taufeeq Umer, Mohammed Hafeez, Faisal Athar, Faisal Iqbal, Yasir Hameed, Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik, Danish Kanaria, Shoaib Akhtar, Shabbir Ahmed, Umar Gul, Mohammed Sami

Changes from the Sharjah Cup (April 2003):

Players out: Naveed Latif, Misbah-ul-Haq, Naveed-ul-Hasan, Mohammed Zahid

Players in: Faisal Athar, Yasir Hameed, Shabbir Ahmed, Shoaib Akhtar

Team performance

The recent triangular series in Sri Lanka turned out to be a poor series for Pakistan. Firstly the Dambulla wicket was very poor, offering plenty of encouragement to the bowlers but making it difficult to bat on. The poor techniques of the Pakistani batsmen were exposed, in particularly a lack of footwork (this problem has been around for some time). The top 3 batsman lacked experience and with Yousuf Youhana and Younis Khan out of form batting was always going to be an uphill struggle. There is no excuse for not giving Yousuf Youhana the no.3 slot, and grooming a youngster lower down the order, we need our best batsman to lead the way and set a platform for the rest of the team (this did not happen in this tournament). Shoaib Malik was the only bright spark on the tour, seizing the opportunity to show his all round game. The bowlers took advantage of the friendly conditions, but bowled too many extras (wides and no balls) that cost them the final; Mohammed Sami was the main culprit and will have to work hard in the nets to rectify the problem. Shoaib Akhtar deserves a special mention, as he bowled his heart out and showed that he still has something to offer the team, although he got banned for ball tampering I am sure he will bounce back. The poor tournament could work to the team’s advantage if they learn from their mistakes and show an improvement in their game. It also looks as if the batsmen will have an extended run in the nets, prior to the England tour.

Selection Issues

After the Sharjah Cup, the Pakistani captain wrote his regular article in which he praised the players for the victory and looked forward to working with them in the future. However only a few weeks later we find out that 4 of the players have been replaced. The selectors need to be consistent and need to show confidence in the players that they have picked. I understand that not everyone is cut out to be an international star, but we won’t know unless the player has been given a consistent run. If Shahid Afridi can bag 150+ appearances for the national side in one-day cricket, I can’t see why players like Hasan Raza, Imran Farhat or Bazid khan be given 10-15 games.

I was willing to give the chairman of selectors Aamir Sohail a chance. However after seeing how inconsistent his selection is and the policy of ignoring players like Imran Farhat or Hasan Raza I have lost faith in him. Pakistani cricket once again seems to be in the same mess as it was prior to the world cup, we cannot go on like this and some drastic changes need to be made.

Tour to England

Michael Vaughan has taken over as the new captain of the English one-day side, so it will be interesting to see how he does the job. The matches against Pakistan will be his first outing as captain, giving the Pakistanis the ideal opportunity to try and win the series. Nasser Hussain, Andrew Caddick, Nick Knight and Alec Stewart have all stepped down from one-day international cricket, so we can expect to see some new faces. Pakistan cannot afford to be complacent, as they are also going through a rebuilding phase but if they play sensibly and as a unit there is no reason why they cannot clean-sweep the series. I will be looking forward to the games, and seeing some of the new Pakistani players in action. The England squad will be announced on Thursday 29th May 2003, so watch out for a more detailed analysis of their side and how much of a threat will they pose for Pakistan (hopefully the follow-up will be posted on Thursday).

The Pakistani squad for the tour of England has been chosen, and it is one that has left me shocked. I would have found a place for Imran Farhat, Salman Butt, Naveed-ul-Hasan and Inzamam-ul-Haq in the squad. This is a short tour so there was no need to have picked 16 players, as there are adequate replacements playing club cricket in England. The recall of Imran Nazir does not make sense, as he has struggled domestically and can be seen as rewarding failure. Aamir Sohail mentioned that Imran Nazir looked in good nick in the nets – this is no basis for selecting a player.

My personal opinion is that the team will struggle in England, and the batting will let the team down. Although I hope the team perform well, realistically speaking I can’t see this happening. I will be disappointed if James Anderson and the other England bowlers demolish the Pakistani top order. I hope that the team do there homework on England, and put in a strong performance as this is the only way Aamir Sohail can be vindicated for his selection. As the top order lacks experience I would like to see one of the following: Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan or Yousuf Youhana promoted to the number 3 slot to bring some stability to the top order otherwise the middle order will find itself under immense pressure. The matches will be tough, but it is the ideal time for the players to show some grit and determination and prove critics like myself wrong.

Pakistan Squad to tour England: Rashid Latif (capt + wkt), Mohammed Hafeez, Faisal Athar, Imran Nazir, Yasir Hameed, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Azhar Mahmood, Bilal Asad, Shabbir Ahmed, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammed Sami, Umar Gul, Danish Kanairia.

Changes from the Triangular series in Sri Lanka (May 2003):

Players out: Taufeeq Umer, Faisal Iqbal, Abdul Razzaq

Players in: Imran Nazir, Misbah-ul-Haq, Azhar Mahmood, Bilal Asad