Pakistan Cricket News: Pakistan Test Team announced
Pakistan cricket continues to amaze us, as it has not failed to throw one surprise after another. This time the PCB has decided to announce their test team for the two test match series against South Africa in UAE, and apart
from a number of surprise inclusions, the selection of the captain is what has got everyone talking. A man who was all set to be a forgotten name in Pakistan cricket is back and is also named the test captain. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972, the middle order batsman who was
left out of the team after the nightmare tour of Australia, has made a shock comeback and will now be leading the team in two tests against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757.
The 16 member test team was announced by the PCB on Friday and included the name of another forgotten man, Taufeeq Umar. The left handed opening batsman is one who benefits from Salman Butt being out due to the spot fixing
controversy. Taufeeq Umar has also not played for the national team for a while now, and it’s typical of the PCB to keep going round and round in circles and have the same faces showing up in the team. Imran Farhat, the other left handed opener in the team,
is also lucky to have to a place in the team given his average performance on the England Tour. In the middle order, Azhar Ali, the right handed promising youngster has been retained. He played a crucial role in the test win against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 at the Oval.
Asad Shafique is also another young player who impressed many with his calm and composed approach; he will be making his test debut after some good performances in the ODIs against England. Muhammad Yousuf is also in the side to give some stability to the
middle order with the talented but unpredictable Umar Akmal. His brother Kamran has been dropped due to a stomach virus. Zulqarnain Haider will be taking his place behind the stumps.
In the bowling department there are 3 specialist spinners; Saeed Ajmal, the reincarnation of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Danish-Kaneria-c1314, who was dropped after the 2nd test
against England is also back in the line-up and left arm orthodox Abdur Rehman is the 3rd spinner in the team. In the fast bowling department the biggest surprise is the return of Muhammad Sami - he was dropped after the T20 World Cup
and in the absence of Shoaib Akhtar he may be able to provide the raw pace required. Umar Gul, Tanvir Ahmed and the left-armer Wahab Riaz make up the rest of the line-up. Another surprise is the inclusion of Sohail Tanvir. The left arm bowler has been tagged
as a T20 and ODI specialist and he has been included in the test squad though his participation is conditional on his fitness.
The merry-go-round of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 cricket does not end here though. Team manager Yawar Saeed had made himself unavailable for the management job and now once again it’s Intikhab Alam who will be the manager for this tour. This
is the same man who accused Pakistani players of being mentally retarded, and not fit enough to represent the country.
How the same man can be appointed as manager is beyond explanation; the morale of the team and cohesiveness would be a worry. So many individuals in the squad including manager, coach and players have various unsettled issues
among each other. They would be together for five ODIs and two Test matches. Another episode of the soap opera called Pakistan cricket looks set to unfold at the UAE next month.
Tags: