PAKISTAN VS AUSTRALIA 1st ODI
Rameez Raja A very good morning to all our viewers! Welcome to the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium where today we see Pakistan take on Australia in the first ODI of the Habib Bank series. I am down on the pitch right now and I have to say that it is a very cloudy day here today in Rawalpindi. Looking at the pitch itself it seems quite hard and there seems to be a bit of grass scattered around; the pitch along with the overhead weather conditions should aid the fast bowlers. And that it why I think when the two captains were out here a moment ago and Ricky Ponting won the toss, he put Pakistan in to bat. There should be a lot of seam movement here for the pacemen.
Rameez Raja: Well, there's a few moments before the two teams come out to play, so let's take this time to look at the two line-ups:
Rameez Raja: Looking at the Pakistani XI: although they look relatively weak when compared to the Aussie XI, you have to bare in mind that these averages are based on First-Class performances, not ODI. As a few Pakistani players have not played a lot of domestic cricket, thus it makes their average look weak; we apologise for this as Sky Sports was supposed to display the players' ODI averages, but we seem to be having a few technical difficulties!
Moving back to the Pakistan line-up, it's good to see Shoaib Malik back in the side. The young man has been a great assest to the Pakistan, but ever since his shoulder injury back in 2006, Malik has been flirting in and out of the national side. But he is back now, and has a chance to make a good impression on the selectors.
Shehzad Malik burst onto the Test scene three years ago and hasn't failed to impress. Although he has a brilliant batting average of 45+ in Tests, in ODIs he hasn't performed as well. This is not entirely his fault, as the selectors can never seem to decide whether he should open in ODIs, and thus he, like his namesake Shoaib, has been in and out of the side the past few years.
Hasan Raza of course is Pakistan's new No. 3 batsman. And I must say, so far he has done a terrific job. We saw him make a career best of 118 in the recent ODI series against South Africa, and since then he has never looked back. Always the man Pakistan can rely on to help them out of trouble.
Mohammad Yousuf is the veteran of the team, a real fighter who is now Pakistan's best batsman. His ODI form has slipped recently, but following on from his good performances in the Test series Yousuf can really make an impact on this ODI series.
At No.5 is Faisal Iqbal. A recent addition to the team, Faisal now finds himself as one of Pakistan's key batsmen. Often he comes in when his team are in all sorts of trouble, and along with Raza he has become the player who can make a match-saving innings. His aggressive style of batting will make him a player to watch out for in this series.
Shahid Afridi. The captain. Many have critisized his style of play and his style of captaincy, and I would be lying if certain ex-Pakistani players weren't shocked at his appointment as ODI captain. Nevertheless, Afridi is now one of the senior players of the team, and contributes in most matches with both bat and bowl. How he performs will ultimately decide how his whole team performs.
At No.7 and 8 we have Abdul Razzaq and Zulqarnain Haider respectively. Razzaq is a genuine all-rounder who has recently performed very well for Pakistan. This good form has now cemented his place in the Test side, and he is a player who is currently full of confidence. Haider is Pakistan's new wicketkeeper and there has been immense pressure on him for the last year or so to do well. I am glad to see that this youngster has performed at the highest level of the game, and he definetly has a bright future ahead of him.
Then we have the Pakistani pace attack: Rana Naved, Ahmed and Asif. These three are deadly on their day. Asif is of course Pakistan's best bowler these days and that's exactly why he is ranked second in the Test Bowling Rankings! He always picks up wickets and is also very economical. Ahmed found his way into the national side last year and hasn't failed to impress. He is very dangerous early on in the innings as he can get the ball to swing; the Aussies will definately need to watch out for him. Rana Naved, even though he is now classed as a specialist ODI bowler, can be devastating on his day and can completely demolish a batting order. For proof you just need to look at his recent performances against South Africa- This man his completely capable of getting 4ers and 5ers.
Rameez Raja: Right, the Aussie XI now. Mike Hussey and Phil Jaques are Australia's solid opening partnership. They open for Australia in both forms of the game and also average above 40. This should give them a definative edge over their counterparts because unlike Pakistan, Australia have used the same opening pair for a few years now. Like Hayden and Langer before them, Hussey and Jaques are excellent batsmen who are very solid at the crease. Over the last few years, Hussey has turned into a world-class batsman and Jaques is now gaining a lot of experience at the highest level of the game.
Ricky Ponting is Australia's captain and one of their most senior and experienced players. Being captain hasn't been the easiest of jobs for Ponting recently; as not only has his team just lost a series to India, but after the series defeat Australia also slipped down to No.2 in the ODI Team Rankings. The media is stating that Ponting's time is up and that a younger player needs to take up the position, but this is his chance to shine and prove everyone wrong.
Then we have the superb Aussie middle-order. Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist. These players have all enjoyed success at the top level and will play a crucial role in this series. The one thing that strikes me about this line-up is how Hayden has been moved all the way down the order to No.5. Now, I don't know the exact reason for this; maybe it is because of loss of form, a tactical change or to give Jaques a chance up in the opening slot. Personally, I am not a big fan of this change. The way I see it is, the Australia either play Hayden and have him at the top of the order, or they don't play him at all! It's no use dragging him down the order where he won't perfom.
Last but certainly not least, we come to the Australian pace battery. Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie are both experienced fast bowlers who have faced Pakistan countless times before. With Akhtar out of the international scene for now, Lee has now officially become the fastest bowler in the game. His tremendous pace will aid him a lot on these hard, dusty pitches. S Magoffin is a relatively new addition to the Aussie side and we will have to see how he performs.
Rameez Raja: Well, it seems like the players are just starting to come out onto the field. We have a great match in prospect here, let's see how it unfolds...
