Cricket Update: No Big Surprises as PCB Announces 16-Men Squad for ODI Series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754
Wicketkeeper batsman Kamran Akmal makes a comeback to Pakistani team as Pakistan Cricket Board announced the 16 men squad for the ODI series against New Zealand. There were no surprises in the squad and it was pretty much expected that Kamran Akmal would
make it to the ODI squad once he was cleared by the integrity committee of Pakistan Cricket Board. He was also named in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 was retained as the captain of the limited overs
setup.
There were rumours in Pakistan’s cricketing ranks that PCB is about to change Shahid Afridi as the captain and the Test captain Misbah ul Haq would be taking over the position in the ICC World Cup 2011. But the announcement of the ODI squad against the Kiwis
has brought the drop-scene of the whole episode. This is a pretty good move by Pakistan Cricket Board as Shahid Afridi can now completely concentrate on the mega event.
This was pretty much the expected squad as Sohail Tanvir, Misbah ul Haq and Ahmed Shehzad made a comeback in the 50 overs format of the game. Misbah was part of the ODI series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 but was excluded from the playing eleven after a couple of
disappointed performances. Ahmed Shehzad played an impressive knock in the 3rd T20 against the Black Caps which has earned him a place in the ODI squad. However, he might not get a place in the playing eleven with the comeback of Kamran Akmal who
is an automatic choice to start the Pakistani innings along with Mohammad Hafeez.
Sohail Tanvir has also made a comeback which is a good sign for Pakistan cricket as he has proven his worth in international cricket, especially in the limited over formats. He was named the best bowler in the first edition of Indian Premier League. His
comeback is more useful in the absence Muhammad Aamir and Muhammad Asif.
The only surprise exclusion was of Muhammad Yousaf’s as he was once again ignored by the selection committee. This is quite a huge u-turn by Pakistan Cricket Board as Yousaf was the one who was drafted in the Pakistani line-up without any practice during
the controversial tour of England last year. Muhammad Yousaf is a class batsman and can still serve the country well but may be his fitness and poor fielding is a hurdle behind his exclusion now.
Pakistan would be having the services of two specialist spinners in shape of Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman along with the captain Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez. However, the only headache for Afridi and Pakistani management would be to choose the best
2 fast bowlers between Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanvir and Tanvir Ahmed as Abdul Razzaq is almost certain to play.
Pakistan’s middle order batting is the real concern as it has the tendency to collapse very often. Younis http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Khan-c71319, Misbah ul Haq and Umar Akmal would have to take the responsibility of holding the Pakistani innings together during the middle overs.
Over all it was not a bad effort by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohsin-c77587 Khan and company as they have limited number of resources, especially after the spot-fixing controversy.
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