Openers

While this has long remained a problem in Pakistan cricket, it is quite refreshing to see a plethora of young talented openers in the domestic circuit such as the likes of Ahmed Shehzad, Nasir Jamshed, Sami Aslam, Babar Azam, Sharjeel Khan, Azhar Ali, Imran Butt amongst many others. In the U19 World Cup in 2010, captain Azeem Ghumman had to bat in the middle-order due to the large number of openers in the squad. This seems to suggest there will be a lot of competition for the openers' spot in the future

Middle-Order Batsmen

While Pakistan cricket is known more for its bowlers than its batsmen, there are quite a few batsmen who could play in the middle-order for Pakistan in the near future such as the likes of Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Fawad Alam, Umar Amin, Usman Salahuddin Haris Sohail and Sohaib Maqsood. Shafiq, Alam and Akmal have already enjoyed success in international cricket, Amin has managed to seal a place in the Champions Trophy squad and Salahuddin, Haris and Maqsood are turning the heat on Pakistan's senior batsmen. In the last two editions of the U-19 World Cup, many talented Pakistani middle-order batsmen were on show including the likes of Umar Waheed, Imam ul Haq and Rameez Aziz 

Fast Bowlers

"You shake a tree in Pakistan and fast bowlers fall like leaves" - Ravi Shastri

Pakistan has always been known for producing quality fast bowlers such as the likes of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and Aaqib Javed. While the quality of the current fast bowlers may not match those which Pakistan have produced before, they still possess a quality fast attack boasting bowlers like Umar Gul, Junaid Khan and Mohammad Irfan. Other fast bowlers who have achieved success in domestic cricket and may represent Pakistan cricket in the Champions Trophy include Ehsan Adil and Asad Ali. Zia ul Haq, Mohammad Aftab and Ahmed Jamal are other talented players who may represent Pakistan in the future

Spinners

Pakistan has also produced many quality spinners over the years such as Abdul Qadir, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq and Saeed Ajmal. In some recent matches Pakistan has fielded upto 4 spinners in some games! The spin dominance is likely to continue as there are many talented performers in the domestic circuit like Zulfiqar Babar, Raza Hassan, Yasir Shah, Usman Qadir and Misbah Khan

All-rounders

This is one area where Pakistan seems to be lacking in. While Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq have performed well in the all-rounder roles recently, there seems to be a dearth of quality all-rounders to replace them in the future. In particular, it is the fast bowling all-rounders that are a diminishing breed with Hammad Azam and Anwar Ali being the only names that spring to mind while Mohammad Nawaz or Mansoor Amjad could play the spin all-rounder role

Wicketkeepers

This is another area where Pakistan seems to be lacking in. Pakistan have tried many players for this role in the recent past such as Kamran Akmal, Adnan Akmal, Umar Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Zulqarnain Haider, Mohammad Salman and Shakeel Ansar but none have performed satisfactorily underperforming either with the bat or gloves. Even in the U19 World Cups the performance of the wicketkeepers have been unsatisfactory with Pakistan often using make shift keepers. Mohammad Rizwan seems to be the only young talent who can fill in the wicket keeper role in the future. The best solution to this problem is to identify a good keeper-batsman and give him consistent chances.

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