Nazir missed selection by a 'whisker': Inzamam

[Awesome Anjum]

Khalil was preferred to uncapped Shahid Nazir, who only missed selection "by a whisker" according to skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq. "It's a young and inexperienced side but has a lot of talent," said Inzamam.

[Muddaser]

Same excuses coming from Inzamam.

Had enough of it!

[Muddaser]

Whisker eh?

Which explains why he isnt in the reserves.

If he missed it by a "whisker" then what about Abdur Rauf and Rao?

[umerz]

Younis Khan av Vice captain
Does that mean he will also be a part of ODi squad

[Officer Barbrady]

Let me just say the bowling attack doesn't inspire much confidence. Sami, Rana, Khalil and Kaneria. Well good luck !

[umerz]

Kahlil wont be any threat to indian BAtsman he will prove to be same as Fazl e Akbar.........Rana nAveed.....they will have to cope with his early swing........and sami will have to play his heart out and shud at least take 15-20 wkts in the series......Kaneria will go well i m sure

[Officer Barbrady]

We will probably see Razzak and Afridi bowling in the series. Good luck to them ! I for one am not too confident about their abilities with the ball in test cricket.

[Abdul Qadir 236]

Nazir was picked then they realised Khalil was too good to ignore.

[Officer Barbrady]

IF he missed by a whisker why isn't he in the reserves? Do they have a different criteria for reserve players??

[Abdul Qadir 236]

Great news about Younisbhai.

Who knows what went on, even Noddy could not understand!

[Raz]

Absolutely disgraceful that Shahid Nazir wasnt selected.

[Mercenary]

Razzaq does tend to step up without Akhtar around. He has played 5 tests without Akhtar since 2002 and his figures are...

14 wkts @ 34.36 avg. 64.5 SR. 3.2 eco

...nothing to write home about but recently he has got a new zip to his bowling and if picked as a third seamer i think he would do a better job than Khalil.

[Abdul Qadir 236]

Here is me thinking the delay was over Moin Khan!

[Muddaser]

Bob prefered Mohammed Khalil over Shahid Nazir!

This Guy is only here to destroy our cricket!!!

[Abdul Qadir 236]

well i dont want to be too vindicated here because i want pak to have best team as much as u guys.
i want penetrative bowlers, big scoring batsmen and a class keeper, same as rest of you. khalil is not even good enough for the bd team.

[Mercenary]

Isnt bari the guy who said Rao is a 'secret weapon' how do we know for sure Bob chose Khalil over Nazir?

You're just going on assumption like certain people did over Taufeeq last time.

[Abdul Qadir 236]

should be interesting what Bob says. who has emailed him?

[Awesome Anjum]

Inzamam said he had mixed feelings about the squad. "I am happy that Sami and Khalil passed fitness tests because they must have gained something in Australia. But I am sorry for Shahid Nazir who missed the bus by a whisker. He has actually been elbowed out by Khalil."

[Abdul Qadir 236]

well what hope do real bowlers have when razzaq and khalil and afridi get picked?

[Officer Barbrady]

Originally Posted by Mercenary Razzaq does tend to step up without Akhtar around. He has played 5 tests without Akhtar since 2002 and his figures are... 14 wkts @ 34.36 avg. 64.5 SR. 3.2 eco ...nothing to write home about but recently he has got a new zip to his bowling and if picked as a third seamer i think he would do a better job than Khalil.

As you said really nothing to write home about, in fact, quite ordinary. Which is why I would probably go with Khalil. If he is considered the third best seamer available then he better play. And frankly speaking whether Akhar plays or not, Razzak's priority should be playing for Pakistan. If he can't perform when a certain player is in the team it is he himself who should be asked to sit out and sort out his issues.

[Mercenary]

When Akhtar plays the other seamers automatically become stock bowlers because they need to bowl long spells to cover Akhtars nakhre!!

No way Razzaq and Sami can continuously attack when they are needed to fill in the overs Mr K cant!!

Without Akhtar there each bowler can concentrate on completing his own overs and attacking!

[Officer Barbrady]

Razzak has usually played as a 5th bowler and mostly bowls 15-20 overs in a day anyway. No more. I don't understand how that is too much for any medium pacers.

[nedian21]

***. i just saw the squad. Shahid Nazir shd have been there. and YK as vice captain. he has the biggest PAWWA of all time. after Imran Khan shab nai keh diya so he will be captain. the guy doesnt has a proper place in one day side. this is BS. he is an ok test player. and a rubbish one day batter. ALLAH hafiz hai hamari bowling ka

[Amjid Javed]

***! oh well if pakistan lose inzi and bob shud be sacked!

[Abdul Qadir 236]

Younis as VC and Taufeeqs return are about the only positives here.

[Geordie Ahmed]

Why are some people having a go at Inzi and Bob Woolmer here, Its that BARI that needs a kick where the sun dont shine!

[Sid]

This is completely ridiculous! Once again the "all-rounders" take priority. And as for kh(z)alil, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he is out of his depth at international cricket - yes he may get a couple of lefties out, but the majority of Indian batsmen (and the more dangerous ones) ar right-handers....

As for this new excuse about Razzaq and Sami performing ONLY when Shoaib is not around is one of the most ridiculous things I've heard! Surely "international" bowlers should have enough commitment to perform their hardest regardless of who else is in the team. And as for that other excuse "these bowlers become stock bowlers" when Shoaib is in the team.....what utter bakwas! You're trying to tell me that these guys cannot read the game to know when to attack or defend.

People make out that this is the first time that a few pakistani players have caused disharmony to the team. If you look back in history, what would have happened if Waqar stopped performing just cos Wasim was in the team and vice versa? Waqar, Wasim and Shoaib played a lot of games together - did any one of them ever try and become the "stock bowler"??

In all fairness, if these bowlers dont feel like performing when Shoaib is around or if they dont have enough sense to attack at the right time, then it is THEM that should be pulled up in front of a PCB panel, NOT shoaib!

The truth is, our selectorial decision-makers (bari, bob and inzi) are gutless. They're happy with mediocrity as long as their jobs are not threatened. We need to get rid of these NEGATIVE characters from our make-up!

[Amjid Javed]

Originally Posted by Geordie Ahmed Why are some people having a go at Inzi and Bob Woolmer here, Its that BARI that needs a kick where the sun dont shine!

funny that i suggest u read noddy bhais post, selectors picked a 16 man sqaud with shahid nazir in it...! after conseltation with BW and inzi...

s nazir was left out.

so u shud get the facts right 1st1 :-^ :-^

[pakistani pride]

*** why no shahid nazir !!!!!!

Khalil is such a poor bowler i mean he cant even swing does not have pace so what will he do on ********* dustbowls ??????!!!!!!!!!!!!

very poor i am really dissapointed in Woolmer.....

[Officer Barbrady]

I agree with AJ. Khalil is Bob Woolmer's choice.

[Amjid Javed]

marooned, forget it...

geordie thinks bob and inzi can do no wrong

we all know baris an idiot thats only thing every1 agrees on!

[Sid]

I don't know why you all are surprised? Bob has always been one to prefer 11 half decent players than risking out and out match-winners.....he is a safety first coach. It might work with teams like SA and England, but this style is completely unsuitable for Pakistan. Let's face it, the PCB wanted a high-profile coach and just looked at names and misleading reputations. Bob is completely unsuitable with pakistan's style of play!

[Geordie Ahmed]

You guys unlike some ppl i will wait til the series has been played before i have a go at these players, attacking them before they have even played is silly!

Why cant you just support the team, you never know the players selected might do well.

how can you say for sure that Nazir is a better selection than Khalil?
Unless you have a chrystal ball that can look into the future i suggest you wait before you criticise (BUT that would be asking too much wouldnt it????)

[Flirta-P]

i laugh if kalil is man of the match it would be really funny to see your lots reactions after all this hating. Jus becuase he dont bowl at 90mph dont mean he gnr flop i fink he shud get his chance jus like mo sami does tell me y u lots love sami so much? wat has he done that makes him an automatic selection?

[Sid]

FP,

my days....ok khalil doesn't bowl at 90mph, but neither does he swing the ball!!

The guy is going bowhere at present. He may prove me wrong in the future, but he aint ready yet!

[Bailan]

"if kalil is man of the match"

thats if's and butt's .... a lot can happen, even Saqlain can hit a 50 on his day. But thats not the point, there are better bowlers in Pakistan and they should have been picked ahead of khalil.

May be we can bring back Kabir Khan, i think he can a MoM or 2 as well. he is still only 31

[JC]

Mercenary may i ask have you ever played the game at a reasonable level? you seem to have simplistic views dominated by the latest pronouncement by some commentator or other and seem to rely overly on statistics to make up for your lack of real cricketing knowledge?

[Abdul Qadir 236]

great post Sid.

[Amjid Javed]

sid on a roll today!

[Abdul Qadir 236]

Bob doesnt go for the kill. He is too negative which when it comes to the top teams means u get beat.
To beat the best teams u have to be aggressive, look them in the eye and believe u can win. Bob picks joke players because he doesnt believe in the specialist top class players. If BW doesnt believe in team, how can they believe in themselves?

[kamijani1]

Its a pity SN was left out. I am also surprised at the announcement of Younis Khan as captain. This is a guy who has never been a permanent member of the team, elevated to VC all of a sudden.

I wonder what Yousef Youhana is thinking right now. Is this the strategy applied by PCB to schmooze him out of the team slowly?

K

[Abdul Qadir 236]

superb decision, Younis is a world class batsman when given the chance.

[Jahangir Khan]

People were saying here that Mohd. Irshaad was too raw and inexperienced at the age of 22/23 to play test cricket, yet Khalil is of similar age and he has been favoured. At least we know that Irshaad has pace and Shahid Nazir swings it both ways, Khalil does neither.

At international level, you either need express pace or swing/seam. You are going to be murdered if you don't have these. Even Rao should have been considered ahead of Khalil.

Personally, I don't think Khalil will be selected cos Sami, Rana and Razzaq are all better than him.

[Abdul Qadir 236]

Pakistan have only 2 half decent seamers, fine if u have a great spin attack! they should go with 2 and 2 in all 3 tests.

[CrickFan]

There are still many morons around who feel that with this attack , they will get the Indians out twice in a test match .. Well Happy Hallucinating !!

[Abdul Qadir 236]

india beat aus with bahutule and kulkarni in the attack!

[Bailan]

Just curious ..... does Khalil have any relatives in the PCB or close connections.

because he is surely not in for his merit.

please yaar...stop pretending shahid nazir is our saviour. we've all seen him bowl. he's good and I like him too but he is no wasim akram. this is probably the best squad we could have picked!

[sajjad]

i like khalil, i think he will do well in the India series. How about a comparison of all **** bowler stats after the series n we can analyze if he was worth it or not

[Abdul Qadir 236]

no one is saying he is the saviour but he is better than Khalil. Some people just blindly believe in Bob, look at all the success he brought SA with their exciting brand of cricket that paid off against the very best.

how do you know he is better than Khalil Gary?? did you go to camp with him? did you stand at the other end and face his bowling? have you ever even watched khalil and nazir bowl together??? stop talking out of your rear end!

[sajjad]

i absolutely agree
everyone here talks as if they have grown up with these guys. they dont know **** about them.

make an opinion but for it to be effective it needs to be an informed opinion

exactly sajjad. what would shahid nazir have done in india that rana naveed cant? atleast khalil is left handed. and he is young and bowls with a lot of heart.

[sajjad]

im with ya...but ill hold my comments till after the series.

let those whose job it is to manage pak cricket do thier job....n stop goofing around online all day and do something constructive with ur time

[Abdul Qadir 236]

some ppl just do not see any wrong in BW.
Look at his record with SA, says it all.

[adi 101]

the guys a legend

[sajjad]

BW rocks..

[Abdul Qadir 236]

as he did with SA.

[sajjad]

nope he rocks a lot more now

men improve with age and experience

[Abdul Qadir 236]

he is doing same things

[sameer]

be it khalil or shahid nazir.in the end they don't makes any difference.they both are useless medium pacers who does well in seamers friendly condition.
we lacks talent in fast bowling .as simple as that.

[161]

Mohammad Samis Test Average : 47

Why do we keep playing him in test???
Does anyone know?
So what if he bowls at 95 mph ???

I am really saddened that Irshaad was not picked. Their is no point in continuing to play Sami in test.

PCB should have picked atleast 3 more pacers, cuz after sami, razzaq and rana get rocked for 1000 runs in the first test everyone will be crying to have them replaced.!!!!!!!!!!

[MWH]

I have to say my gut feeling is that picking Khalil over Shahid Nazir is a bad decision. In fairness, I have not seen Nazir at all since he last played ages ago, but from what I have seen of Khalil so far he doesn't exactly strike me as someone who will cause many problems for a batting line as strong as the Indians.

Only thing I could say here is that Inzamam has played more cricket than anyone here, so if he thinks Khalil is better one would hope he has solid reaosns for that. Regarding whose decision exactly it was, I would agree amjid that Bob Woolmer is likely to have had a big hand. Judging from the comments on his site he appears to be a big fan of the left-handed Khalil. All the best to Mo Khalil, and hopefully he can repay the trust that Inzi and BW have put in him.

Finally, after months of complaining directly or indirectly about Mr.Controversy, Inzi and BW have had their wishes granted with him out. If things go wrong this time, they won't have their favourite scapegoat to mention.

[Abdul Qadir 236]

I have no problem with giving players that have potential chances but what has Khalil shown really?

[Jahangir Khan]

I think Bob Woolmer is trying to introduce a bit of continuity. Because Khalil went to Australia and didn't do too badly in the odi's, BW thinks he deserves to stay in the side.

The fact is, Khalil has no pace, no swing and with 1 or 2 exceptions his wickets were the result of the batsman playing a bad shot rather than good bowling. Khalil could not swing the white ball in australia even though it is supposed to swing more than the red ball.

Unless he ups his pace or gets some swing going he will be useless if he plays in a test match with a red ball

[Gooner]

Well i heard alot about this Nazir, anyone seen him play? i just hope he isn't another Bazid Khan who was a total flop and quite a few people said that he was up to the international standerd but where proven wrong.

[Abdul Qadir 236]

BW and continuity?
come on!

[Jahangir Khan]

BW may not know exactly where everyone should bat but I think he wants to work with a bunch of 17/18 players over a long period of time to see how good they are rather than giving people one match and then dropping them.

Yasir Ali, Farhan Adil, Faisal Athar and Salman Butt were given one game each in 2002/2003 and then dropped altogether although butt later returned.

This time Imran Farhat has been dropped after playing a full series against the aussies. I can understand this because he wants to try taufeeq now.

Traditionally, Pakistan has been seen as an unpredictable cricket team by all observers but the selectors have also joined in with unpredictable selections. When are we going to have a bit of stability, if ever?

[Abdul Qadir 236]

Taufeeq is by far the best opener in Pak. Everyone knew it but Bari!

[Statman]

I feel so bad for Shahid Nazir and I dont understand the inclusion of Afridi on the test side. I would have kept Afridi for ODI's only. I just dont understand the logic here.

[Amir51]

Turning wicket and crumbling wicket = assisting Kumble = assisting Afridi. Sorry, I was doing my math homework.

Now, Afridi also has contributed with the bat. He played 2 sensible innings in Sydney(one test one odi) so I think he deserves a chance.

Nazir was the leading wicket taker at 12 a piece in QEA! Come on, he surely deserves a place if he cna perform that well in sub con conditions.

[Jahangir Khan]

I am also disapponted that Shahid Nazir has been omitted but I have another observation.

Ever since Shoaib Malik has been banned from bowling, the team has run into problems. Hafeez has been brought in and the batting order has been messed about with.

I think if Malik was able to bowl, Arshad Khan would not have been selected and his place could have gone to Shahid Nazir or Irshaad.

We may all be wrong though because Arshad Khan and Khalil might be our most successful bowlers in india (lol). I cannot quite pinpoint what bw has seen in khalil that the rest of us have missed. Maybe khalil will answe all his critics in india, if he plays.

[Amir51]

No, Arshad still would been picked. Arshad is a SPECIALIST spinner, opposed to a PART TIME spinner like Malik Or Afu

[pakistani pride]

i guess that Sami and rana will bowl alongside kaneria and arshad !

I really feel sorry for S. Nazir i mean the guy must have hoped that he finally will get a chance but bari is such a idiot !!!!!

[DesiMD]

Originally Posted by Awesome Anjum Khalil was preferred to uncapped Shahid Nazir, who only missed selection "by a whisker" according to skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq. "It's a young and inexperienced side but has a lot of talent," said Inzamam.

I agree with INZI!

[DesiMD]

Originally Posted by Muddaser Same excuses coming from Inzamam. Had enough of it!

i dont think these are excuses....cuz we have seen all of our players perform well at different times....so hopes and doors of success are always alive and open

[Abdul Qadir 236]

rubbish from Inzi, he is giving up the ghost before the series has started.

[zulfiqar]

SA also had a good captain in Cronje who often led from the front foot, etc. Inzi can do it for us too but in lsat series vs Aus (tests) ofcourse tat wasnt the case

[Amir51]

Khalil was preferred to uncapped Shahid Nazir, who only missed selection "by a whisker" according to skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq. "It's a young and inexperienced side but has a lot of talent," said Inzamam.

Sorry to say, but Inzi sounds like a idiot here. He goes the side is young and inexpierenced. If anything Nazir has more expierence than dinky paceman Khalil.

Nazir has to be a definete pick for Windies. With fast tracks like those and his pace, Windies struggle against short pitch bowling(like Harmison) with pace, and therefore he could be very lethal.

[Abdul Qadir 236]

Imran Khan, the best way to stop runs is to take wkts! Not for BW lol