I'll start with the players who are automatic selections. They are,
Youhana Inzamam Asim Kamal Kamran Akmal Kaneria
Sami is getting a lot of negative comments these days. Depending on your perspective, he is underachieving or overrated or simply the most unlucky test match bowler in world cricket. Regardless of that, he is getting a bit overbowled by Inzamam. During the Perth cricket test, he bowled for the entire first session and during the Mohali test he again bowled without breaks for two hours during the two and half hour first session on the third day.
I think, Inzamam has to be careful here. And one thing that will help him a lot is to pick a support bowler for Sami who is suitable for a test match. Razzaq is not and neither is Rana Naved. I'd go with Khalil to open the bowling with Sami. For those of you who haven't seen him bowling, Khalil is a left-arm medium-fast bowlwer. His stock ball is the one that swings away from a right handed batsman. Early in his career, he used to bowl one that'd swing back but he lost that or at least he doesn't use it a lot anymore. I think, he'd be suitable to bowl to Ghambir since he won't allow him width to go for square cuts or cover drives. At least Ghambir 'll have to improvise, unlike when he faces across the line deliveries from Sami and Naved. For that matter, Sami can bowl round the wicket to both Sehwag and Ghambir. It's very vital for Pakistan to tie down the Indian openers and let them improvise for their runs. Getting one wicket before 40-50 runs is the only way, you can hope to limit Indian innings to about 300-350 mark. Sami and Khalil, in my opinion, are the two pacers that are most likely to get through the Indian openers.
So two more,
Sami Khalil
Now, let's consider the final four positions.
Younis Khan performed well in Australia. He had the higest run aggregate during the test series. Here's his record,
Name Mat I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct Younis Khan 3 6 0 259 87 43.16 50.48 - 1 2
In the last test before this series, he scored a 100 against SL and helped Pakistan in winning the match. I am not sure why his recent record hasn't been mentioned. Most of the attention is on him being vice captain and not performing in Mohali test. I think he should be in the team.
For the openers, I am not sure. Salman Butt scored a century in the test before the Mohali game, although he was out of sorts during the VB series and this test match. Both him and Taufeeq Umar fielded very poorly.
Now Yasir Hameed scored a 50 in each innings during the last Pak-Aus test. I am not sure why he wasn't considered. But then if he comes in, who'd he replace. And then what should be done with Razzaq. It's a stretch now to consider him an all-rounder and if he plays as batsman, the only position I can think of is the one-down.
So here's my Pakistan XI for the Kolkata test...
Salman Butt Taufeeq Umar or Yasir Hameed Younis Khan Youhana Inzamam Asim Kamal Kamran Akmal Afridi (if Eden Gardens pitch stays green) or Arshad Khan (if the grass is shaved off) Sami Khalil Kaneria
If Razzaq has to be included to give a fallback option as a fifth bowler, it'd get a lot trickier. In any case, he should never be picked as one of the four bowlers in the team. Pakistan team was very lucky to save the last test match and they will have to give the team a better balance.
My guess is that Woolmer will with an unchanged team.
I dont think he is not going to fiddle with Butt and Umar. There is no place for Yassir Hamid in an already packed middle order, and Woolmer will not open with him unless SB and TU fail again in Kolkata. I dont think that he is about to rest Sami or Rana just to bring in Khalil. I dont see him resting Razzaq after he saved T1.
Pakistan bowling needs a boost, that is for sure. I dont think that Razzaq bowled as poorly as everyone says (I am not saying he was great, or even very good). India's massive charge for victory got bogged down right after lunch on D2. Its not because Sehwag got out, as many news reports and commentators have said. Sehwag and SRT were both scoring at 1.2/1.3 over till VS got frustrated and got out. Razzaq bowled unchanged from one end through this hour and part of the next. I have not seen anyone give him credit for this. This is when the tide turned in the match, and it was because of AR's sharp bowling (and not negative, as OS has written on CI).
The only way additional bowling may be inserted in ths line up would be in Younis's place with AR propmoted to #3. I have a hard time seeing BW drop YK after one match.
pankaj4ublue@gmail.com wrote:> good selection. the best pak11 i can think of.
Younis Khan should not be played at all. He is so average with bat and taking a nap in slips. Its better to play shoaib malik as full batsman then Younis khan.
Razzak can not be dropped after his match saving inning. It may be hard choice. His bowling is very average in test match. But given its may be green wicket, he may get better.
Perhaps they will bring in afridi for butt or taufeeq, because of weather.
Salman Butt / Afridi Taufeeq Umar / Yasir Hameed Shoaib Malik Youhana Inzamam Asim Kamal Kamran Akmal Razzak Sami (if there is any other option, drop sami) Khalil Kaneria
jawad.ali@gmail.com wrote:> My guess is that Woolmer will with an unchanged team.>
I dont think he is not going to fiddle with Butt and Umar. There is
place for Yassir Hamid in an already packed middle order, and Woolmer> will not open with him unless SB and TU fail again in Kolkata. I
dont> think that he is about to rest Sami or Rana just to bring in Khalil.
dont see him resting Razzaq after he saved T1.>
Pakistan bowling needs a boost, that is for sure. I dont think that> Razzaq bowled as poorly as everyone says (I am not saying he was
great,> or even very good). India's massive charge for victory got bogged down> right after lunch on D2. Its not because Sehwag got out, as many news> reports and commentators have said. Sehwag and SRT were both scoring> at 1.2/1.3 over till VS got frustrated and got out. Razzaq bowled> unchanged from one end through this hour and part of the next. I have> not seen anyone give him credit for this. This is when the tide turned> in the match, and it was because of AR's sharp bowling (and not> negative, as OS has written on CI).>
The only way additional bowling may be inserted in ths line up would
in Younis's place with AR propmoted to #3. I have a hard time seeing> BW drop YK after one match.>
pankaj4ublue@gmail.com wrote:> > good selection. the best pak11 i can think of.
Can't be an unchanged side....Rana Naved is a doubtful starter with a shoulder injury and has not bowled at all since the end of the first test. I suspect his place will go to Mohammad Khalil but if the pitch looks like it will help spinners, Shahid Afridi or Arshad Khan will get the nod.
At the top even though I don't think it is smart, Salman But will probably make way for Yasir Hameed. Younis will be retained because he is the vice captain and because he was the most consistent batsman in the Australian series with a 42 something average in 6 completed innings. The
In the case that Pakistan decides that it wants to go in for an extra bowler Razzaq will be promoted to #3 and both Arshad Khan /Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Khalil will play
Nevertheless this is the team that IMHO will play at Kolkata
Hameed Umar Younis Khan Inzamam Youhana Asim Kamal Abdul Razzaq Kamran Akmal Sami Arshad Khan/Shahid Afridi Khalil
So if we go by what Inzi has to say today, there will one change in the top and one in bowling, and YK will stay. So the team probably looks like this:
Hameed Umar Abdul Razzaq Inzamam Youhana Younis Khan Asim Kamal Kamran Akmal Sami Kanaria Arshad Khan/Shahid Afridi/Khalil
I switched Razzaq with YK in the order. I think that Khalil is the most likely bowler to come in. I dont see Sami and Razzaq being the only pace bowling options. Afridi is the least likely, unless there is one more change in the top order and Razzaq is moved to open. Unlikely.
Younis Khan should not be played at all. He is so average with bat and> taking a nap in slips. Its better to play shoaib malik as full batsman then> Younis khan.>
Razzak can not be dropped after his match saving inning. It may be hard> choice. His bowling is very average in test match. But given its may be> green wicket, he may get better.>
Razaak is pretty ordinary in bowling. Including him automatically makes Pak play for a draw as they would never take 20 wickets with him as one of the main bowlers. You need atleast 4 real bowlers to get 20 wickets in a match. He strengthens the batting and weakens the bowling, so a draw is becomes the only option for Pak.
On 14 Mar 2005 15:56:06 -0800, jawad.ali@gmail.com wrote:
Pakistan bowling needs a boost, that is for sure. I dont think that>Razzaq bowled as poorly as everyone says (I am not saying he was great,>or even very good). India's massive charge for victory got bogged down>right after lunch on D2. Its not because Sehwag got out, as many news>reports and commentators have said. Sehwag and SRT were both scoring>at 1.2/1.3 over till VS got frustrated and got out. Razzaq bowled>unchanged from one end through this hour and part of the next. I have>not seen anyone give him credit for this.
In test matches, getting wickets is order of magnitude more important than containing batsmen. Throughout the whole of Indian innings, Razzaq never looked as a wicket-taking bowler. His inclusion in the test team as one of the *only* four bowlers is incredibly hard to justify. I don't think Pakistan can even come close to beating India with that kind of bowling attack.
We do need five bowlers (if Razzaq has to be included) and I still think Khalil is a much better choice than Rana Naved for the Kolkata test, especially when bowling to Sehwag and Gambhir.
This is when the tide turned>in the match, and it was because of AR's sharp bowling (and not>negative, as OS has written on CI).
I don't think that India did anything wrong during the final two sessions of the third day. They patiently built up a gigantic lead and gave themselves more than five sessions to snuff out any Pakistani resistance. It was a perfect position to be in.
Yes, Razzaq did turn the tide but with his batting. I am pretty sure he would have been thrown out of the team had he not batted so well. -- Noman
On Mon, 14 Mar 2005 21:38:10 -0500, "Razi Chaudhry" <razi.chaudhry@sympatico.ca> wrote:
Younis Khan should not be played at all. He is so average with bat and>taking a nap in slips. Its better to play shoaib malik as full batsman then>Younis khan.
Shoaib Malik actually has a pretty decent record in test matches. His last few innings have been,
23 not out vs South Africa 48 vs SL 59 vs SL 44 vs SL 53 not out vs SL (this one was a match winning innings, in partnership with Razzaq) 6 vs Aus 41 vs Aus
But Younis Khan also had a good run before the Mohali test,
124 vs SL 14 vs SL 42 vs Aus 17 vs Aus 87 vs Aus 23 vs Aus 46 vs Aus 44 vs Aus [He had the highest run aggregate in Australia and his average was second only to Asim Kamal, who played only one test for some reason] 9 vs Ind 1 vs Ind
I don't think the decision to drop YK is as obvious as you claim.
It's good to see that Inzamam has come out and said that Younis Khan won't be dropped for the next test. -- Noman GO Pakistan
Hameed Umar Younis Khan Inzamam Youhana Asim Kamal Abdul Razzaq Kamran Akmal Sami Arshad Khan/Shahid Afridi/Khalil Kaneria
Unlike Mohali and Dharamshala Calcutta will be quite hot and sticky. Sami pulled up dehydrated after a net session. Not sure if 3.5 bowlers is going to be enough to rotate in such conditions especially if one of them pulls up lame. However, Pakistan, taking into consideration the brittleness of their batting lineup, is unlikely to go in with an extra bowler unless ofcourse Razzaq is moved up to open the innings which IMHO is a bad idea to start with
As for the greentop that has been reported, I can't imagine the pitch remaining green in these conditions. So Arshad Khan is most likely going to get the nod. Afridi's only chance is if he is picked to open innings
Shariq
Razi Chaudhry wrote:> where is kaneria...>
--> Regards> Razi Chaudhry>
<shariq_tariq@yahoo.com> wrote in message> news:1110865062.792422.41490@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...> >
<snipped>>
Nevertheless this is the team that IMHO will play at Kolkata> >
<razarahman@my-deja.com> wrote in message news:1110923747.820833.321400@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...>
yeskay wrote:>> Razi Chaudhry wrote:>>
Razaak is pretty ordinary in bowling. Including him automatically> makes>> Pak play for a draw as they would never take 20 wickets with him as> one>> of the main bowlers. You need atleast 4 real bowlers to get 20> wickets>> in a match. He strengthens the batting and weakens the bowling, so a>> draw is becomes the only option for Pak.>
*** You're very correct in pointing that out. AR taking wickets are> only a bonus. Pakistan is really bowling 3 if he is the other change.
Frankly I was quite shocked that Pakistan played him as part of a 4 man attack. For quite some time now Razzaq has become essentially a ODI batsman who can bowl a bit. If you ask me, his weak bowling on D2 really opened the floodgates for India, as it did in the first session of D3 when at one point India got 50 runs in only 38 balls. And mind you, on D2 the conditions were ideal for seam bowling.
I agree with you that Afridi ought to play. Not only has he been successful against India in the past, but given the weak Pak attack his bowling will be a bonus. You are right, none of these guys can be expected to take wickets, but if one of them can bottle it up while Kaneria attacks at the other end it will be very useful to Pakistan.
Sami has to be in his last> series here, I don't expect an improvement at this point.>
I dont know how long this dead horse will be flogged. Sami is averaging almost 50 (unfortunately with the ball) in his last 10 tests. The first thing people ought to do is not take his name in the same sentence as Shoaib. Too many writers used to say "shoiab and sami" as if they were equals. Fact of the matter is that apart from Shoaib, there is no real threat in the Pak pace attack. But with Shoaib and Kaneria, they have two spearheads, which is something most teams not named Australia do not. Support these two with Shabbir and one more guy and you still have a formidable attack.
