England vs Pakistan, 1st Test: Tim Bresnan replaces Shahzad Ajmal following ankle injury
Pakistan’s young squad is all set to face the English side in the first test match to be played at Nottingham from 29th July to 2nd August, 2010. Pakistan’s cricket team is in England to play 4 test matches, 2 Twenty20s and 5 ODIs (One-Day Internationals) against the home-side. Pakistan has recently played 2 Twenty20s and a Test match home series on England’s soil against Australia; they defeated the Aussies by 2-0 in the T20 match series, and leveled the 2 Test match series. Pakistan is not hosting any home series since last year’s attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore.
The English camp faced first the setback before the start of the match as Ajmal Shahzad was declared not 100% match-fit. Tim Bresnan has been called as the replacement of Ajmal Shahzad. The ankle injury of Shahzad ruled him out from the first test match set to start today; he suffered the ankle problem while playing against Bangladesh in the third ODI, and he could only bowl four overs in that match. Later, he recovered from the injury and successfully played in a Clydesdale Bank 40 match for his county. Nick Peirce, the ECB chief medical officer, said: "Unfortunately Ajmal felt some discomfort following England practice at the NCPC [National Cricket Performance Centre] on Tuesday, and as a precautionary measure it is felt he is best to undergo rehabilitation on the ankle for the remainder of this week."
Tim Bresnan has been called up as the replacement of his county teammate. Bresnan, a 25 years old, is a fast medium bowler and also known for his batting abilities for his county side Yorkshire. Bresnan made his ODI debut back in 1996 at Lord’s against Sri Lanka; he only took one wicket and scored 16 runs in this match. He had to wait till 2009 for his Test debut when he played his first Test match against the West Indian side at Lord’s; he was able to take three wickets in his debut Test match. Bresnan, by now, has played in five Test matches and has taken 14 wickets with an average of 35 and scored 125 runs with an average of 36.54. Bresnan was part of the team that won the Twenty20 World Cup at West Indies. He is unlikely to play in today’s match in the presence of three fast bowlers James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Steven Finn. This series is of great importance for both him and Ajmal Shahzad to cement their places for the upcoming Ashes tour against Australia.
Pakistan is likely to field the same side that won their only Test match against the Australians in the last 15 years. Pakistan needs some serious efforts in the middle order, as the team is without the expertise of Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan. Umar Akmal should concentrate on his batting and try to play a mature Test cricket innings. Pakistan is without any solid options in the middle order to replace the nonperforming players. Shoaib Malik, the most experienced player in the side, needs to build his innings and score some runs in the middle. Azhar Ali played a wonderful innings under pressure while chasing against Australia. Pakistan has found Umar Amin as an all rounder, who can bat at the number 4 slot and bowls medium pace in the middle of the innings. The opening combination of Salman Butt and Imran Farhat is very important to build the innings.
Pakistan’s bowling attack is second to none in the current scenario: with the pace and seam of Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul, they can easily destroy any batting attack. Pakistan side would be depending on their bowling attack, as this attack is their trump card to win the upcoming matches.
England squad: 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Eoin Morgan, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Graeme Swann, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steven Finn
Pakistan squad (probable): 1 Salman Butt (capt), 2 Imran Farhat, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Umar Amin, 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Mohammad Aamer, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Danish Kaneria, 11 Mohammad Asif
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