England vs. Pakistan: Tim Bresnan replaces http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ajmal-Shahzad-c42489; Azhar Ali impresses all
England announced a last minute change to their 12-man squad when Ajmal Shahzad was replaced by Tim Bresnan for the first test against Pakistan on Thursday. The change comes as Shahzad suffered an ankle injury which will keep him out of the first test match against Pakistan, starting from the 29th of July, 2010. Ajmal is likely to regain his fitness in a week’s time and will make a comeback in the second test which will be played at Edgbaston. With an already strong bowling attack that is featuring James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Steven Finn, chances are that Tim Bresnan will not be part of England’s playing XI.
Interestingly, it was Tim Bresnan’s injury that allowed Shahzad to make his test debut against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747. Ajmal was quick to impress the English selectors and was preferred over Tim for the first test match against Pakistan. It is only because of Shahzad’s ankle injury that Tim is making a comeback into the twelve man squad. ECB’s Chief Medical Officer, Nick Peirce 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."
Both Shahzad and Bresnan are fighting to cement their places in the test squad for England. It will be interesting to see how these two bowlers will perform in the upcoming series against Pakistan. England will play a four test match series against Pakistan which will be followed by two T20 matches followed by a five ODI match series. Ajmal is ruled out of the first test match but is likely to make a comeback in the second. His fitness will be continuously assessed by the medical staff of the English team. "We expect Ajmal to make a full recovery. He hasn't been ruled unavailable for the 2nd NPower Test starting next week. He will continue to be assessed this week before a decision on his fitness is made." Nick Peirce said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s youngster Azhar Ali is happy for his contribution in the second test match against Australia. Azhar’s 110-run partnership with Imran Farhat allowed http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 after a long break of 15 years. A comeback by Mohammad Yousuf or Younis Khan can threaten Azhar’s place at number 3. However, Ali is fully aware of his responsibilities in the team and hopes to become Pakistan’s best batsman in order to justify his place in the playing eleven. "I agree that the No.3 position is a very important one. I want to be the best player that I can and I see batting at number three as a great challenge. It's an opportunity for me to show what I'm capable of and it helps my confidence to know that the team management has trusted me to bat at such a pivotal number.” Azhar said.
Azhar Ali received a lot of praise because of his temperament and technique in his first test match at Lord’s. Azhar was quick to adjust on the number three slot in Pakistan’s batting line up. Pakistan’s batting line has recently faced a lot criticism for throwing away their wickets at crucial junctures of the match. Azhar was seen as someone who showed some grit and determination and stayed on the crease against a probing Australian bowling attack. Pakistan’s number 3 and 4 slots are occupied by two youngsters in the shape of Azhar Ali and Umar Amin. Manager of the Pakistan cricket team, Yawar Saeed labeled Umar Amin as the “future Vivian Richards”. Amin has so far failed to convert his small starts into big scores. It will be curtains for Amin and Azhar if they fail to perform against England in the 4 match test series. Pakistan’s star batsman Mohammad Yousuf recently came out of retirement and has shown his desire to play for the national team.
Azhar is confident that he will not disappoint in the upcoming series against England. "I look forward to the challenge of the upcoming Test series against England. They're a very good team and we're going to have to be at the top of our game to compete with them but I'm confident that this Pakistani team will give as well as it gets," he said.
Tags: