Why was Azhar Mahmood picked?

He was a tried and tested failure for Pakistan yet Bob specifically requested him. Why? It was therefore convenient for Bob to dismiss our win over Surrey where Azhar bowled 9.2-0-60-0! And the boys said he was rubbish compared to TKhan. He may have had experience but then so has Mark Ramprakash and England dont go back to him. Still in Bobs defence he did not know a lot about Pakistani players and was going on what he had seen or heard before.

[dan hudson]

You can't judge a player on a single performance!

I would suspect Woolmer knew of his good performances in recent years for Surrey in county cricket and wanted his experience of limited overs cricket in a tough VB Series.

I mentioned his dreadful odi record over 100+ games!!!!!!
And county cricket does not make a good player Dan, as u well know. It partly wrecked Saqlain. It is not what it was. I feel the only truly strong domestic competitions are Pura Cup, SA, Duleep Trophy and Sri Lanka isnt bad.

[dan hudson]

Sri Lanka better than county cricket? That just makes you look silly, Gary.

County cricket is stronger now than it has been for years, especially in Division 1 of each competition.

Who would you have picked instead of him?

Well I dont know about Sri Lanka but they always seem to produce the best team they can for such a small nation. I would have picked Shahid Nazir instead.

He has been a success in England for Surrey in recent seasons. Maybe Bob thought it would help to have a decent seamer in Australia.

So has Mark Ramprakash!
Mushy has been the best bowler in county cricket!
He wasnt picked! Oops, he is a specialist!

doesnt S Nazir have better bat and bowl avg than Fat Azhar in odis?

Gary, what is it with your obsession with leggies?

Test cricket is a game for specialists. ODIs are for bits-and-pieces players. (Not my opinion)

Exciting to watch and can be devastating on all tracks. The best odi team dont have ONE bits and pieces player! see u later for the game.

[dan hudson]

What's Brad Hogg then? By your definition he is "bits and pieces" at its worst.

[Nawazb]

azhar is not international standard anymore, cant warrant a place in the side with his bowling or batting

[Nawazb]

i think for the india sries we should try out bilal asad who has performed better than azhar domestically and overall is a better batsmen than him and a useful medium pacer

Your bro loves him! I think Pakistan need their genuine batsman to bowl.

[Amjid Javed]

azhar was injured (giving birth to first child)

oh dear how cold hearted of me.