****Official****Pakistan in South Africa

[Bouncer]

Originally Posted by Agent Nationaux

We are carrying 4 tailenders in the middle order.

Azhor Azhai the chosen one
Younis Khant bat
Mis Boobs
Shafiqi Rafiqi

A very worrying sign.

Life/cricket is better enjoyed when not spent under the rock that many have been living under since Nov 2010 -- Welcome to reality and cricket. Good to have you on this side.

[Bouncer]

Originally Posted by r3alist

Yes, I have said that before, he probably isn't doing younus any favor's with his slow approach, still rate him but there Is room for Improvement.

Forget Younis - It was big reason why Umar Amin played under such pressure in Eng in 4 tests in 2010 - he was thrown into the deep end without any thoughts behind on how to help him evolve as an international players, If I were captain/coach of those tests that amin played, I would have not batted him at 4, right after Azhar ali, you had a situation where with "solid openers" as Farhat in the 11 and right after openers were Azhar Ali @ 3 and Amin at 4, so almost every time amin went into bat he had the partner at the other end who was also trying to make into the squad regularly...and amin was always little over cautious and didnt play to his potential...not to forget, it was on one of the most challenging wickets that Pak has played in last 5 years. I would have played Akmal between Azhar and Amin, this would have released a bit of pressure on both Azhar and amin and would have gone long way in amin's development as a player.

This might have done wonders for Amin's career and now in 2013 we would have had a great middle order in Azhar,Akmal and Amin at 3/4/5 - but all the great chances of Playing on friendly conditions on UAE/BD/Zim/SL/WI/India were given to YK/Asad/Misbah and we are at risk of our middle order giving another bad performance like on UK 2010 tour.


Worst thing is; even this tour is not going to change the mentality of selectors and fanboys who will take one 50+ inning by YK/Misbah/Asad in this 3 test series and they keep playing the drum of lets keep these guys in the 11 - they know that next couple of series's are in WI/UAE/SL which means that if they somehow manage to keep YK/Misbah/Asad in side - on these challenging wickets of UAE/SL these guys will come up with at least 2 100's which will be good enough for them to get another three series's.

[MrPrez]

With all due respect are there actually any batsmen who have proven themselves able to do any better?

[Bouncer]

Originally Posted by MrPrez

With all due respect are there actually any batsmen who have proven themselves able to do any better?

As someone who has closely, very closely followed Pak cricket for over two decades - I can tell you Pak batting talents has absolute no lack of quality - in fact I will even go ahead and say that the promise, maturity, talent that I have seen in our domestic batsmen since 2008 is far beyond what I used to see in them in 90's. Batsmen like Umar Akmal, Ahmed Shahzad, Sharjeel Khan, Umar Amin, Azziz Ghumman and others whose name are skipping my mind ATM are far far better batsmen then many Pak batsmen who played domestic and even International cricket for Pak for years.

Here is my very very first impression of Haris Sohail on the very first day I saw this kid play (The Mod on that forum later added Shakil Ansar & Gohir Ali to title)
Haris Sohail, Shakeel Ansar and Gohar Ali | Cricistan - The Territory of Pakistan Cricket


Problem with Pak cricket is that these guys are either not picked, or when they are picked they are not given a long run, often they are given a run in the squad just so to give them an opportunity to fail at some point (which is not surprising because it is their first time playing at International level and adjustment from domestic to International (no matter how good you were at domestic level) does take time, But as soon as they start their learning curve and they should be persisted with in their learning curves at international level - the politically driven captain whose main job (for the most part) is to assure his tenure and his selection for future tours and selectors do not hesitate to raise the "Inexperience flag" and "immaturity flag" bring back the players that Captain is more comfortable having in the 11 (to ensure his tenure etc etc) under the blanket of experience and maturity etc etc.

These decisions get easily covered up as long as you keep batting on non challenging conditions which Pak test cricket has been going through last 2 years and in 90's it was blanketed under 50's scored by batsmen in twice a year sharjah tournaments and by strong bowling displays. But one just has to look at how those batting line ups stood up against SA/Aus and in Eng (2001/2006/2010) and you will understand the damage that gets caused by NOT giving consistent opportunities to new promising batsmen who deserve it.

[theegyptian]

Originally Posted by Kirkut

Mohammed Irfan was clocked at 153 kph in this match, he will destroy South Africa if he bowls at such pace with steep bounce.

probably be bowling at 130 after 10 overs. I'd be impressed if he managed to keep his pace high over the course of the series. Much more likely is he breaks down after the first test imo.
Not that it won't be exciting to see him bowl. The South Africans should be more suited to facing him that most nations also

[Briony]

Pakistan add pace for SA Tests | Sport24

Pakistan add two pacemen to their squad.

[Daemon]

Tanvir!!

Rory Kleinveldt has met his match

[smalishah84]

Originally Posted by Daemon

Tanvir!!

Rory Kleinveldt has met his match

[smalishah84]

a very good interview with Irfan

Interviews : Mohammad Irfan: 'My height was an advantage but I didn't know how to use it' | Cricinfo Magazine | ESPN Cricinfo

[r3alist]

@bouncer - Pakistan are already trying
to absorb too many player's into the starting 11, not ever youngster will be given a chance, although I agree on Haris Sohail, hope he gets a Chance soon, but also not sure what yK has done to you.

frankly I am glad that there are no akmal's in this squad. As good as Umar might be his temperament and attitude are all wrong, so really he is not cut out for playing at this level.

[smalishah84]

I think Pak should just declare and give the bowlers another go.

[smalishah84]

South African Invitation XI require another 222 runs with 6 wickets in 56 overs.

[smalishah84]

SA board XI trying to play for a win here it seems. Good run rate and good positive intent from them

[SeamUp]

Ended in a draw. Could have bee interesting if the remaining 32 overs were bowled. They needed another 120 to win with 5 wickets remaining.

Smith's 100th test as captain only a few days away now at the bullring.

[Heboric]

A slight positive (maybe) for SA is Ajmal not getting to many wickets against the dirt trackers