Analysis of Pakistan’s three squads for the tour of Sri Lanka – Part Two
Continued from the previous part…
Misbah ul Haq has been retained as the captain for ODIs and Test cricket and cricket pundits are expecting that the middle-order batsman’s career in the shortest format of the game is over, however, Misbah has refused to announce
his retirement from T20 cricket and will keep playing at the national level.
He expressed, “It is the board’s and selectors’ decision about me and T20 cricket but I feel that I can play in this format and will continue to do so at the domestic level. I will be playing in the T20 events organised in Pakistan
including the planned premier league.”
There are some question marks in the announced squads for the other two formats of the game. The former Pakistan captain, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shoaib-Malik-c90088, is not there in the ODI squad, whereas, Imran Farhat and Azhar Ali have been selected in the side
for five ODIs in Sri Lanka.
Farhat has been given a number of chances over the years but the left-handed opening batsman has so far failed to cement his place in the national team. Some of the former cricketers believe that the cricketer from Lahore has been
selected again and again in the national team because he is the son in law of the former Test cricketer and ex chief selector, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Ilyas-c76945.
The return of Farhat in the squad is surely going to put young Nasir Jamshed under pressure. If Pakistan cricket is to move forward in the right direction, it must get rid of nepotism.
The young left-arm fast bowler, Rahat Ali, is the only uncapped player in the ODI squad. He has done quite well in first-class cricket in recent times and has caught the eyes of many former cricketers.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Afaq-Raheem-c42168 have been impressive performers in domestic cricket for almost a decade now and finally they have got the opportunity to prove their worth at the highest stage of the game. Both these batsmen have
made it to the Test squad.
Another surprise in the Test team is the recall of middle-order batsman, Faisal Iqbal, whose case is quite similar to that of Farhat. It remains to be seen whether Iqbal is given a chance in the series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 or not because
of a star-studded batting line-up.
Iqbal is very positive about his future and expressed after the announcement of the squad, “I am at the peak of my career as I’ve scored seven centuries this season and am targeting a strong comeback. I was a replacement player in
my early days but now I want to become the mainstay of Pakistan’s batting line-up for the remaining eight or nine years of my career.”
The biggest disappointment has been the exclusion of Umar Akmal from the longer version of the sport. Umar is the future of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 cricket as he is one of the most talented batsmen in the country. Let us hope that he is not restricted
to limited-overs cricket permanently.
Test squad: http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Junaid-Khan-c77037, Afaq Raheem, Mohammad
Ayub, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Aizaz-Cheema-c961.
ODI squad: Mohammad Hafeez, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Sami-c77289, Asad Shafiq, Aizaz Cheema,
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Imran-Farhat-c64218.
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