In his latest blog for PakPassion.net, former Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Zahid talks about Pakistan's squad for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, the bowling attack, the batting line-up and and chances of lifting the trophy.

by Mohammad Zahid (29th May 2013)

The personnel included in the squad is always the most important factor in the success of a side as they embark on their quest for success in major international tournaments. Picking the best players, whilst also ensuring the management team and captain have options should they decide a change in strategy is needed during the course of a tournament, is an important balance that must be achieved. The combination of pace bowlers Pakistan have selected for the ICC Champions Trophy is the right one for the conditions, with very good bowlers for all types of pitches – bounce, swing and seam. 

In the absence of Umar Gul, the squad is missing some vital experience but despite the loss of Gul to injury, Junaid Khan and Mohammad Irfan are very capable of leading the attack. With respect to the third seamer position, and having watched closely the matches Pakistan have played against Scotland and Ireland, Wahab Riaz can concede the odd boundary, but he's also capable of taking wickets. That's a very important skill, particularly in competitive tournaments like the Champions Trophy and to me, Wahab can be a match-winner. He can struggle with line and length but there is always that hope that his bowling may show a little more consistency after working with Wasim Akram and Mohammad Akram at the recent bowling camp held in Karachi a month ago. His batting strength must also be considered an asset given Pakistan's struggles with the bat up the order and his passion cannot be doubted.

The batting line-up certainly has some question marks. The selectors made some bold decisions, including leaving out Umar Akmal who has been given many many chances to perform in the national team. His talent cannot be questioned, but I feel he needed this shock to re-focus him, to sit down, analyse his game and identify the reasons for his lack of performances. He's not the first talented youngster to have been sent back to domestic cricket to work on his game and he certainly won't be the last. This is an opportunity for him to work hard and come back stronger like many other cricketers have done before. The ball is in Umar's court. 

It was a good decision to replace Younis Khan with the technically sound Asad Shafiq in the limited overs team. Younis had been struggling for a while now and Shafiq showed his ability to tackle top quality bowling on the recent tour of South Africa, as he has done previously. Pakistan need clarity on team roles as well. After the decision to drop Afridi, is Shoaib Malik being selected due to his ability to bowl? If so, are there better specialist batting options available, particularly given Pakistan's struggles with the bat in recent times where they collapsed against the Associate bowling attacks of Scotland and Ireland. Early season conditions in England will be similar to those Pakistan experienced in those matches with lateral movement and no significant bounce. It's going to be a very tough examination for the Pakistani batsmen and there are serious question marks over whether they can pass this test. If the batting posts competitive totals, Pakistan can win. 

The Pakistani bowlers are capable of defending totals as low as 170 or 180. In the recently-concluded South Africa series, Mohammad Irfan was a handful for all of the batsmen and the spin attack is the best in the world. Pakistan's batting is an issue, something that has been a historical problem. 

Overall, Pakistan's chances in the Champions Trophy are good but as usual it comes down to whether the batting line-up, which has been notoriously brittle in recent times, is able to negotiate the conditions and the quality bowling they will be facing. I have no doubt that if the batsmen do their job well, the bowlers are more than capable against any line-up Pakistan will be facing.

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