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What are the possible reasons for Multan Sultans' failure in PSL X?
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Before I start my suggestions can I just say, this is not a thread to debate whether or not Misbah should remain in the team, whether he should be captain, does Afridi need to go etc. Even their strongest supporters would agree that it would be beneficial to Pakistan for them to rest for the Zim series and try some new players.
Also, some of these players may have been selected for the U-23 cup, but after the apparent cancelation of Moin Khan's contract etc, we cant be sure. Even then I would say that international duty always comes first and will benefit these youngsters much more. If anyone disagrees we can debate this.
This is the team I suggest, although there are certain positions I am not certain about and would happily agree with suggestions.
Azhar Ali (C)
Nasir Jamshed
Babar Azam
Umar Akmal (Wk)
Haris Sohail
Fawad Alam/Umar Amin
Hammad Azam/ Mohammad Hafeez
Anwar Ali/ Mohammad Talha/ Asad Ali
Junaid Khan
Mohammad Irfan
Raza Hassan
1) At the top it really is time to bring Azhar Ali. I know immediately people will bring up strike rate, tuk tuk and many dont rate him in ODI's. But the limited chances he has gotten, he has actually done very succesfully opening, in fact better than anyone else I can remember for the past few years. (Please can someone post the stats to confirm this). His strike rate cannot be lower than what the Pakistan batters have done recently. I must reiterate that it is important for him to open since that is where he is able to play those release shots and therefore settle in which isnt possible when he comes lower down and so he isn't as successful. I hate to drop Shahzad so quickly but Azhar is more deserving. Appointing him captain is bold but I sense a calmness in him and considering he has captaincy experience at domestic level, I feel like he could do well as skipper.
2) Jamshed should be persisted with I feel.
3) He has done very well at different levels for Pakistan for a while now and is someone a lot of us have been following. It would be great for him to debut here and get some light experience.
Middle order) The batting order for these three is adjustable and people can argue about that but we need to identify these young batsman and support their development. I'm sure not many of you will have a problem with Umar and Haris, at least to give him further chances. As for the other position, it is between Fawad, again someone who has great numbers and has proven effective if not pretty in the past, but someone who greatly divides opinion. As for Amin, it is sad that he hasn't scored but maybe should be persisted with a bit longer.
7) Hammad could to be given a chance here or I'm sure many will be shocked with the Hafeez suggestion. But here is my logic. By his batting performance recently, he deserves to be dropped. But his bowling has been very useful and he helps provide balance to the team. If and only if he agrees to drop down to 7, it could help to get him back to performing for Pakistan. There are also many young players in the top order and it couldn't hurt to have a bit of 'experience' just in case.
8) It would be good to find a solid third seamer and Anwar is chosen for his batting prowess + recomendation from Akram, but again I am open to suggestions for this.
9) Junaid Irfan and Raza Hassan I'm sure people will agree with. It won't hurt to rest Ajmal since he's so necessary for us in all there formats. Maybe even Irfan could be rested if someone else needs exposure.
Other players I did consider include Yasir Shah. You will agree that maybe Hafeez aside, there are really no TTF's in this team and many players that can be hugely important for pakistan, even if a couple of them click.
Please discuss any players you feel are more deserving, or any that should not be in the team, preferably with reasons and some logic.
Discuss!
Given the fact that Steven Smith is included in the Australian Test team for the Ashes, I think he is mightily underused when it comes to the bowling department. I think this because when considering the reality that he is not a batsman with enough ability alone to warrant a Test place, one must accept that he needs to bowl more regularly in order to even slightly justify his place in the side.
Now, not for one moment am I suggesting or merely vindicating that his inclusion in the Test side (or even in the Limited over Internationals teams) is justifiable, but if he is to be included in the team his bowling needs to be taken advantage of and he himself needs to contribute with the ball because his batting is not worthy enough to deem him for international selection without contemplating other facets of his game.
Moreover, I firmly believe that he is heavily ignored by Michael Clarke when it comes to what he offers with the ball as I believe, although it often proves expensive, his leg-spin bowling is a wicket-taking option (even more so in England which typically features pitches which spin upon the final days of a Test match), evident in the way he bundled out three English batsman late on Day 1 of the Lord's Ashes Test match. This is because he is able to generate copious amounts of turn (because of the amount of substantial amounts of revolutions he applies to the ball -even exceeding the amount produced by Graeme Swann on many an occasion) and is also able to bowl with some variety - the flipper he delivered to dismiss Matt Prior is an example of this.
Despite acknowledging that this may have a detrimental effect upon Ashton Agar's confidence (who, although apparently not so, may feel a little nervous having been brought in to attain a Baggy Green cap in his debut Test - both Ashes debut and regular debut - not to mention the fact that he is only 19 years of age), I still think it would be salubrious to the team's performance if he was given the ball with greater regularity, because, after all, the process of winning a Test match is done by acquiring all 20 of the opposition's wickets.
Discuss!
Captain Misbah ul Haq, Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal guide Pakistan to ODI series victory against the West Indies
Result: Pakistan won by four wickets
Toss: Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Teams:
Pakistan: Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Misbah-ul-Haq, Haris Sohail, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Asad Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Junaid, Mohammad Irfan
West Indies: Devon Smith, Johnson Charles, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Chris Gayle, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Bravo Darren Sammy, Tino Best, Sunil Narine, Jason Holder
West Indies Innings:
Misbah-ul-Haq, after winning the toss and electing to field first, opened the bowling with Mohammad Hafeez. West Indies had a fairly slow start to proceedings as the first two overs didn’t yield a run even. The first boundary came in the fourth over, when Johson Charles got a lucky escape off Mohammad Irfan. That wayward over cost Pakistan 14 runs. Mohammad Irfan continued to leak runs, when Devon Smith top-edged him for six in his very next over.
Misbah-ul-Haq made an abrupt bowling change and introduced Junaid Khan into the attack, who obliged in his very first over with the wicket of Devon Smith, who was caught sharply by Mohammad Hafeez in the slips. He made 7(14).
Darren Bravo made his way out in the middle to support Johnson Charles, but was taken out by Junaid Khan for 9(21), when he edged behind. The umpire wasn’t sure, but Pakistan went for a referral and got that decision in their favour. Out came the centurion from the last game, Marlon Samuels. He started off cautiously as he often does and was dropped by Asad Ali off his own bowling. Johnson Charles decided chance his arms and stroke Asad Ali and Shahid Afridi for three fours in successive overs. Marlon Samuels joined the party soon and slammed Shahid Afridi for a six and a four.
Mohammad Irfam got the better of his partner, Johnson Charles, in the next over, when he tried to flash the short ball. He departed for 43(71). Chris Gayle, who was once again demoted, came out to bat. The runs seemed to have dried up until Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels targeted Mohammad Hafeez in the 35th over. That over brought a much-needed 16 runs for the home team.
Straight after the drinks break, Junaid Khan got Chris Gayle’s wicket, when he was caught brilliantly by Umar Akmal for 21(34). Lendl Simmons came out to bat and right away went after Saeed Ajmal. A four and a six and 12 runs were leaked in that over of Saeed Ajmal.
In the very next over, Mohammad Irfan, got rid of Marlon Samuels, when he was caught outstandingly by Shahid Afridi for a slow 45(89). The captain, Dwayne Bravo, was the next man in. Meanwhile, Saeed Ajmal had the last laugh, when Lendl Simmons, in the quest to hit him for a six, was caught by Mohammad Hafeez on the fence. He made a brisk 25(26).
Dwayne Bravo was in no mood to set and slashed hard at everything in offer. He smacked Asad Ali for a four and a six before managing a four off Saeed Ajmal in the over before. Junaid Khan was also on the receiving end and was taken to the cleaners by Dwayne Bravo. His innings finally ended, when he skied one off Saeed Ajmal before hitting a flat six the ball before. His cameo innings was worth 48(27).
The local lad, Darren Sammy started off with a four off Saeed Ajmal and did the same with Junaid Khan in the last over, which had a controversial run-out decision in it. The over cost 14 runs and West Indies ended up on a high and put up a competitive 242/7 on the board. Darren Sammy remained unbeaten on 29(18)*.
Fall of Wickets:
1-26 (Smith, 6.4 overs)
2-44 (DM Bravo, 12.4 overs)
3-98 (Charles, 25.3 overs)
4-131 (Gayle, 35.2 overs)
5-159 (Samuels, 41.2 overs)
6-170 (Simmons, 44.1 overs)
7-223 (DJ Bravo, 48.4 overs)
Pakistan Innings:
Pakistani openers got off to a composed start. Nasir Jamshed had a few nervy moments, but Ahmed Shehzad looked confident as he played some dashing shots on the leg-side, mainly off Tino Best's bowling. Darren Sammy then replaced Best, who looked erratic. Sammy initially kept things quiet, but Jamshed then dispatched a short delivery of his, after which the runs started coming easily. As Shehzad and Jamshed comfortably rotated the strike, Pakistan's score reached 40 for 0 after 8 overs. This ensured that they made the achievement of the highest opening partnership of the series theirs. The openers hit a boundary every now-and-then and made sure that they set a solid base for the middle-order.
West Indies then turned to their trump card - Sunil Narine. Shehzad looked scratchy against Narine, unable to pick his deliveries. But he made sure that he gets runs from the other end, and the scoreboard kept ticking. Things were going quite smoothly, until Nasir Jamshed yet again got run-out. A mix-up happened in the middle after Shehzad nudged a Darren Sammy-delivery on the leg-side, and Jamshed was out against the run of play. Not for the first time, Pakistan's run-rate dropped after the wicket. They blocked deliveries from both ends. Just as Hafeez was beginning to look settled, he top-edged a delivery bowled by Sammy and had to make the long walk back to the pavilion.
Misbah joined Shehzad at the crease. The two took the team to a comfortable position. At the halfway mark of the innings, Pakistan were 95/2, with Shehzad raising his bat to the crowd after reaching his 50. Soon after, Misbah played an aerial shot on the leg-side to Marlon Samuels and got 4 runs, which took the score past 100. West Indies then turned to Tino Best, hoping to get a wicket. But it didn't help their cause as Ahmed Shehzad smashed him for consecutive fours. Tino conceded 10 runs off the over. In the next over, the 50-run partnership between the pair came up. This showed how well the two had batted.
The runs kept coming off Best and the others, and Pakistan seemed to be in a good position. But just as they were looking to take the game away, Shehzad mistimed a pull shot and got caught-out. This brought Haris Sohail in. Pakistan played out a few quiet overs, before Dwayne Bravo leaked 14 runs in the 34th over. Jason Holder then bowled a tight over, before it was time for the batting powerplay. Going into the powerplay, Pakistan required 98 runs from 90 deliveries with 7 wickets remaining.
Pakistan didn't start the powerplay off in such a pretty manner, scoring only 15 runs in the first 3 overs. But what made things worse was Haris Sohail's wicket, which came at the last bowl of the 38th over as Haris edged a Tino Best delivery while trying to square-drive it.
The powerplay wasn't such a good one for Pakistan, as it yielded only 18 runs and also gave West Indies a wicket. After the powerplay, they needed 80 runs from 10 overs with 6 wickets in hand, and Umar Akmal was at the crease along with the skipper. If Pakistan were to win this, one of Umar/Misbah had to attack the bowlers, and Umar did just that. He smashed Jason Holder for three consecutive boundaries, which was followed by back-to-back boundaries by captain Misbah in the next over off Narine's bowling. The equation was now looking easy for Pakistan.
West Indies took a review in the 43rd over, hoping that Misbah would be given out caught-behind. But the 3rd umpire gave it not-out, and Misbah-ul-Haq survived.
Umar Akmal got out just before the rain break, after hitting a six and a four, leaving Pakistan five runs ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis score.
After a 20-minute rain delay, Afridi came out and hit Bravo for a timely four and six before Misbah hit a full-toss straight to the fielder with just one run needed from four balls. Ajmal managed to scramble a single off the penultimate ball to win the match and the series to cue celebrations in the Pakistan camp.
Fall Of Wickets
1-51 (Jamshed, 10.4 ov),
2-64 (Hafeez, 16.4 ov),
3-123 (Shehzad, 30.2 ov),
4-160 (Haris, 37.6 ov),
5-226 (Umar Akmal, 47.4 ov),
6-242 (Misbah-ul-Haq, 49.2 ov)
Match Summary:
The Pakistani run-chase, held together by Ahmed Shehzad and Misbah in the middle-overs, was bolstered by some lower-order hitting by Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi to bring the side home.
Next Game:
Saturday, 27th July - 1st T20I: West Indies v Pakistan at Kingstown
__________________
Asad Ali has been given another chance in the 5th ODI to try stake a place in the team. Do you think he deserves more chances in the team?