Pakistan in South Africa

[Pak_cricketer]

What!?! Is there a source? Is he okay?

 

[Dare]

yea i saw it on cricinfo somewhere but as far as i kno its only 3 weeks with a torn calf muscle

 

[Gunner786]

squad is announced today

hoping for shoaib and asif to be selected,
and faisal iqbal deserves a long run as he seems the best successor to inzi

 

[Pak_cricketer]

Pakistan Squad for SA: Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Shoaib Malik, Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Asim Kamal, Faisal Iqbal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Zulqernain Haider (wk), Shahid Nazir, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sami, Danish Kaneria, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan.

Nice selection..

 

[Gunner786]

would have taken shabbir instead of nazir

the idiots once again making an excuse for shoaib

didnt he play the england odi series when he was half as fit as he is now?

the sooner we get paid selectors the better

 

[Dare]

yea well he wasnt fit for the england ODIs and he took Guls spot who deserved it more, and the layoff since than wouldnt have helped him anymore and it showed by the way he bowled in the 20/20s in Pakistan. i belive that it was a well deserved exclusion from the Test side but he still has a chance for the ODI squad, atleast Asif is back and fit to play, Gul and Asif should be a good new ball threat, wonder who will get the 3rd pace spot if they go with 3 pacers like india, would think that Rana has the biggest chance since he is the best batsman of the bunch and with Razzaq gone they need some tailenders to stick around for a while.

 

[Bilal91]

yeah thats a decent lineup for me...ASIF is back and ready to go and won that 'BEST FIELDERS AWARD' in the 20-20 cup...lol...although he dropped a catch in the final...anyways yeah SHOAIB didn't look that impressive in the 20-20 cup because of that short period without cricket but RANA looks back in form as well along with GUL...will be intresting to see how they perform on the pitches in SA...

 

[Ha$eeB]

Well i believe bowling should be challenging if Pakistan is going to give a hard time to South Africa, but the real critical thing is Pakistan's undependable Batting Line up. I do agree with all of you that Mohd . Yousuf is in the form of his life. But the thing is there is heck of difference between pitches in Sub-Continent and the pitches in South Africe. Plus Pakistan will only be playing one practice game before the real series take off. So Pakistan's Batsmen should be really work hard in order to save thier wickets plus the must learn quickly coz in S.A you dont often get a second chance..

Coming to the Bowling side, Asif will be the key player, I dont think Shoaib will come back even for the one dayers, i seriously doubt that considering his current fitness. However if Asif and Gul can come up with a strategy along with Rana Naveed as the supporting bowler, they can give tough time to the Africian Batsmen.

And atlast i would like to show my concern regarding Pakistan's fielding. If Pakistan wants to be successful in this tour, their fielding must be great or atleast should come to a respectable level.

Ciao~

 

[Gunner786]

if only shoaib was playing

 

[nightprowler10]

Good start to the tour for Pakistan. Both openers have made half centuries in the team's first inning of this tour. Of course, we had a good start to the England tour as well :|

Whoa. Hafeez just smacked 33 runs off 12 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes to bring up his century. I really hope this is isn't a flat track.

 

[Pak_cricketer]

Oh no! Faisal Iqbal is playing!
What happened to Asim Kamal?

 

[Bilal91]

well it looks like yousuf will definately miss the 1st test match becasuse his wife is due to have a operation, big blow for pak and inzi and younis will really have to perform well...

 

[Gunner786]

yousuf is out of the 1st couple of tests

and with akhtar not playing

big losses await pakistani team

 

[Gunner786]

shoaib akhtar hits form

this basically confirms the reports of inzi not liking shoaib and getting him dropped

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/pakistan/engine/match/274490.html

 

[Bilal91]

yeah but thats one match only...we don't know if he will carry that out throughout...he needed some match practice and hes getting it now and will be ready for ODIs...