PakPassion's correspondent attended the ongoing Emerging Players Programe to see which players were looking to impress the coaches ahead of the squad selection for the South Africa series.

By Farid Khan (25th September, 2013)

Emerging players, who?

Yes, this was my reaction when I first entered the practice ground of the National Cricket Academy (NCA). The same old faces; Mohammad Hafeez, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Taufeeq Umar, Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz, Abdur Rauf, Aizaz Cheema etc... were on show. Other players who were present inside the NCA included Sohaib Maqsood, Ahmed Shehzad, Raza Hasan, Adnan Rasool, Nasir Jamshed and Zulfiqar Babar. They were busy in a net session which was supervised by coaches Dav Whatmore, Mohammad Akram and Julien Fountain. Mr. Intikhab Alam was also their monitoring the players' performances.

The most eye-catching performance came from the out-of-favour veteran all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, who blasted the ball to all parts. He smashed off-spinner Adnan Rasool for three flat hits, all of them colliding with the screen. Only the young left-armer Raza Hasan could keep him quiet to a certain extent. Mohammad Hafeez, who has not been in touch of late, was in no mood to appreciate him and made no eye contact whatsoever.

Ahmed Shehzad looked at ease as well and got his timing right pretty early. Bowling coach Mohammad Akram had a complaint or two, however, as he felt the youngster often makes his way to practice late in the afternoon, when other players usually pack-up.

Shoaib Malik and Taufeeq Umar's batting was a delight to watch as both of them looked to inspire the coaches and make a comeback into the national side. The former was also seen bowling some off-spin to Abdul Razzaq and looked gleeful.

Aizaz Cheema and Wahab Riaz bowled with lively pace, much to the delight of upcoming pacers, Ahmed Jamal and Zia-ul-Haq, who looked on and chanced their arms.

Misbah-ul-Haq and Saeed Ajmal were not to be seen and it can be deemed that both of them were provided with a well-deserved break. As the squad announcement for the South Africa series is beckoning, it will be interesting to see who makes the cut and who fails to do so.

Discuss!