Team balance

I am of the opinion that with Aamir at 8 and with Gul's test and one day cricket form, our balance is a bit off. Aamir is improving but he is not an 8.

My view is that either we get a strike bowler to replace Gul ... such as Talha and Wahab or go back to a good allrounder. That would be Razzak, Naveed or Yasir. I would prefer Razzak because he is the best batsman of the lot and in Aus that is what will be needed, but Rana isnt too bad either.

The problem is both Razzaq and Rana are tried and tested failures at the test level. Arafat still has time to improve but I definitely think he is the best of that bunch. Aamir is perfect for number 8 as far as I am concerned. Our balance is just really off because of YK not being there and thus making our batting top order really weak. Strengthening the tail is not going to help that I feel.

if 6 batsmen + keeper don't do the job for you, then what will an allrounder at no.8 do that will be so much more meaningful?

ok i do like the idea giving Aamir the opportunity to develop his batting at 8 but still believe for a big series like the Pak/Aus series he is too early at 8. I wont say Razzak is a tested failure like you did. He has made contributions in the past. Yes he never fulfilled his vast promise considering he was a guy who could bowl 90mph 10 years ago but he does average 30 with the bat and can ball wicket to wicket (and can reverse swing). With Aamir and Asif taking wickets from one end it will not be a bad idea for someone to stabilise the other end .. ala Aaquib during Wasim/Waqar days.

Having said that Yasir is not a bad bet either but I have yet to see him contribute with the bat at international level apart from a couple of cameos.

It is more like 28 with the bat and 37 with the ball which is just weak .

He has 5 scores of 50+ in 46 tests and only 1 5 wicket haul in that same period of time. He isn't doing enough to justify his place in the test side by far. As much as I love Razzle Dazzle he is just not cut out for test cricket. I think people just happen to super impose his Mohali and Karachi efforts to justify it but he has been a pedestrian in the side for almost all of the times other than that. Yasir is a much better prospect with the ball and he isn't a bad bat either.

As far as reverse swing is concerned, Razzaq just does not have enough pace to make that useful at the test level. You are suggesting Razzaq for the 3rd seamer position when Gul has that well and truly covered

OK we can argue on whether Razzak is the replacement or not but I am quite sure that Gul is not the best option for third seamer at the moment. He is lacking confidence and penetration at test level for a while now. We will need batting depth in Australia and therefore we may as well get a support bowler to asif and aamir and someone who could contribute with the bat at 8.

I think you may be hoping for too much in getting a mitchell johnson type bat at our number 8. I think Aamir will be able to contribute just fine with 20's and 30's (which is honestly all that is regularly hoped for from a 8) in Australia.

As far as Gul is concerned, I think you will find that his bowling is more suited to Australian pitches anyways so any concerns we may have at the moment will, in my opinion, be laid to rest once Gul gets there. Either way, even with the perceived lack of confidence he may have at the moment (the catches being dropped off him do not help either) he has still been bowling quite well as was shown in his first innings spell. He is the first choice for 3rd seamer and we will need his experience in Australia as well as his extra pace

I actually think someone like Arafat is a useful bowler for Nzland conditions and would play him over Gul.

Ofcourse, the batting will all be a bonus

in the absence of yk the only change i would make is to replace malik with arafat...

kamran akmal can go to number 6 and yasir slotting in at number 7.

That isnt possible. Akmal at 6, Arafat at 7 and Aamir and 8 is a very weak batting line up!

and what exactly have malik, farhat or khurrum manzoor done in this match so far? add to this the fact that we could have been chasing just 150 runs tomorrow or maybe just maybe even have won this match by now had we had 4 seamers plus ajmal...

agreed